March 25

2022 Board Members:

Emary Walker- Re-elected

Peter Glover

Ken North

Blake Barnette

Todd Fillyaw

Henry Morgan- Re-elected

Lori Beth Smith- Elected

Elizabeth Smith- Elected Treasurer

Becky McClellan- Elected Secretary

Per the covenants, the Board met on Wednesday, March 23, 2022 and Emary Walker was elected President and Peter Glover was elected a Vice President.

Upcoming Events:

Easter Egg Hunt- April 9th, 11am, the Clubhouse. Thank you to those that took eggs at the meeting to fill. Please contact Emary Walker to set up a time to return them.

Laurelwood Day- May 21st, the garage sale will start at 6am, the crawfish boil will start at 2pm at the clubhouse. We are working on details to add a craft fair for our neighborhood artists. We are also looking for businesses that are interested in sponsoring the event, details will be available soon. We should have a finalized shirt design next week and will post a link to order.

Pool Opening- We will continue to monitor the weather and hope to have the pools open before the end of April. We will be making repairs or replacing the fence at Pool 2, We have completed bids for the project and will vote on the contract at the next board meeting. Keep an eye out for updates on the status of pool 2’s opening as these repairs may impact the opening date.

Laurelwood Beautification Day: With the opening of the pools we are planning a spring clean up day! We invite all those willing and able to join us in cleaning up our common areas. Projects include, cleaning pool chairs, making sure other pool furniture is painted, painting the bridges at the lake, planting flowers in the pots around the pools, etc. If you know a group that needs community service hours we would love to speak with you about helping at this event.

Business Updates:

The fiscal year ends March 31, 2022. The financial report will be available after the yearly audit is completed by the CPA.

The board voted to increase dues at the 3rd quarter board meeting. This was effective January 1, 2022. Dues were increased 10% ($24 a year). As always, we earmark funds annually for future projects to help protect residents from extreme special one-time assessments.

The Board voted at our 3rd quarter meeting to hire a web developer to help us add the pay online feature to our website (this is now active) and to help us clean up the overall appearance and ease of use of the website. We are hoping to relaunch the website in the next few weeks.

The Board voted at the 4th quarter meeting to exercise the 1 year extension clause in our landscapers contract. Kaminski Lawn Management has done a wonderful job over the past 2 years and we thank Mike for all of his hard work. Bids for the pool maintenance contract have been acquired and we will vote on this at the next board meeting. We are opening bids for the cleaning contract, if you are interested in bidding on this contract please let us know.

Reminders:

We have a pet database that helps us get lost pets back to their owners, please visit www.laurelwoodofms.org to register your pets if you have not already done so.

Parking on the street is a constant issue, while this is not in the HOA’s jurisdiction it is a city ordinance and you could be ticketed for leaving vehicles on the road. Please also be mindful that parking at pool 2 is limited and we will begin to tow vehicles that park overnight at the pool, signs are clearly posted.

Spring time is right around the corner and this is the perfect time to spruce up your home and yard! The Covenant Commitee will be sending reminders to some homes regarding mailboxes that need attention (post and box must be black), rotten wood, roof and paint appearance and overall yard violations. We need to all work together to keep Laurelwood a premier place to live in Flowood and we ask that you take care of the appearance of your home.

As always we need your help!!! We would love for you to get involved and join one of our committees!

Architectural Committee

Covenant Committee

Event Committee

Welcome Committee

Lake Restoration Committee- this is our newest committee to assist the board in making decisions for the extensive erosion issue at the main lake. We are looking for individuals to help with bids, possible grant assistance knowledge or general knowledge of such issues.

If you want to get involved please comment or message us so we can add you to the contact list!

Questions asked from the general membership:

Question: Is there anything that can be done about the amount of rental properties in the neighborhood?

Answer: There is currently nothing in the covenants or bylaws that prevent rentals. In order to change them we would have to acquire 75% of the owners permission.

Question: Who handles the issue with cars parking on the street?

Answer: this is handled by the Flowood Police Department. If you have an issue please contact them.

Question: Why does the HOA pay for internet and Phone service?

Answer: there is internet service run at both pools, this is used to control the card access system and the security cameras. The cell phone is a central phone that houses our general email and takes calls/texts from residents. this phone is monitored by board members on a rotated schedule. Phone Number 601.421.5152 Email: info@laurelwoodofms.org

Question: Are the financial reports completed by a CPA? Why is the 2019-2020 report rounded off?

Answer: Yes, a CPA works with the HOA on a quarterly basis, he also completes the audit at the end of the fiscal year. The 2019-2020 report is not rounded, to view this report along with others please visit www.laurelwoodofms.org

Question: Who takes care of cleaning at the pool facilities?

Answer: We are currently accepting bids for the cleaning contract. We also have a contract with one of our wonderful residents, Ki, to take care of basics around the pools (taking the trash out, straightening chairs, etc.) If you see him out and about on his super cool bike please say hello! He does a wonderful job for our community.

Questions: Who handles the paving of streets?

Answer: This is handled by the city. They allocate funds to repave streets annually. There is a rotation and certain streets in our subdivision are paved each year. AdCamp was the company contracted this past year