MVF Board approves Activity Card Distribution Policy updates, pool membership pricing and pool schedule

At the January 23 Montgomery Village Foundation (MVF) Board of Directors meeting, the Board approved changes to the Activity Card Distribution Policy and the Annual Pool Membership pricing, as well as the 2025 Pool Schedule. The changes to the Activity Card Policy include the addition of the Village Center Townhouse Units to the list of communities eligible to receive an Activity Card; and an increase of $30 in the outside Annual Pool Membership (APM) pricing to  raise Single Memberships to $555, Pair Memberships to $565 and Family Membership to $615. Director of Recreation and Parks Duncan Mullis noted the increase remains comparable to other pool memberships in the area, and there is no “joining” fee in the form of a bond or an initiation fee, which is required for many private pools.

When creating the 2025 Pool Schedule, MVF staff considered geographical location of pools, pool usage, pool features, swim team use, programming needs and staffing. The Board approved three changes to the schedule: Hurley Park Pool will remain open until Sept. 14 to offer an extended season to accommodate the renovation work at Stedwick Pool; Lake Marion Pool will close on Wednesdays and Stedwick Pool will close on Thursdays to accommodate Lake Marion Lasers Swim Team B-Meets; and the format of the 2025 Pool Schedule was updated for ease of use.

Other Agenda Items

In other actions, the MVF Board:

• Awarded the bid to renovate the tennis courts at The Heights Recreation Area to Pro Recreation, LLC DBA Sport Systems at a cost of $153,000 and authorize an additional 10% for unforeseen circumstances.
• Awarded the 2025 engineered wood fiber installation contract to Gold Leaf Group for the price of $42.50 per cubic yard, including when the total cost is greater than $11,000 to complete the project.
• Authorized EVP Mike Conroy to execute a contractual agreement with Aquatic Environmental Consultants, Inc. for pond management services at a cost of $18,995.
• Reaffirmed the December 26 email vote authorizing EVP Mike Conroy to negotiate and execute a contract with CareFirst for health care benefits for MVF employees for the 2025 plan year.
• Reaffirmed the December 26 email vote authorizing EVP Mike Conroy to sign the 2025 insurance contracts for an amount not to exceed $291,717 and to lock in the Crime Insurance policy for a three-year term.
• Appointed Lorraine Lennon and Alicia Woolf to the Recreation Committee and Maelyn Cokes to the Communications Committee.

President’s Remarks

During her remarks, President Doniele Ayres presented two Community Service Awards: first, to David Jacobs who departed the Montgomery Village Sports Association after 25 years of dedicated service, including serving as president for 17 of those years; and to John Driscoll for being an active volunteer in the Village for 20 years, serving in many capacities including on his local board of directors, MVF committees and the MVF Board of Directors.

Executive Vice President’s Report

MVF EVP Mike Conroy extended a “thank you” to all the snow removal contractors for their efforts during the January snow events. He acknowledged the difficult and stressful work and applauded their dedication to making sure residents could safely traverse their neighborhoods and the community.

Conroy also noted that the 2025 Maryland General Assembly Session had started, and MVF is expecting that several bills from previous sessions will be reintroduced along with some new bills. He said MVF staff are monitoring bills, including property manager licensing, establishment of a task force for common ownership communities, governing bodies and annual meetings, a governing document database, board member training, reserve account funding, and the recently reintroduced Homeowners Bill of Rights. MVF has been in favor of the spirit of the Bill of Rights, but against the bill itself because a lot of the provisions that are outlined conflict with Maryland common interest, community law and association governing documents. Conroy said MVF will be resubmitting a letter of opposition that outlines areas of conflict and improvement. He added that MVF will continue to support the task force on common ownership communities to foster collaboration on legislation year after year.

Conroy also noted that MVF is working with Senator Nancy King on two condominium bills that aim to help condominium associations manage their fiduciary duties, specifically being able to pass budgets while retaining some services, which has been a hurdle in the last several years. MVF is also working to keep insurance claim costs lower for the association as both deductibles and claims continue to increase.

Treasurer’s Report

MVF CFO Daniel Salazar presented the Treasurer’s Report for the year-to-date (YTD) and month ending December 31, 2024. He noted that the December financials were in draft form and unaudited. He reported that the annual year-end audit is underway, and any adjustments or accruals would be noted in the final audit report.

Salazar said that MVF ended the year with Revenues of more than $11.3 million, Operating Expenses just under $9.1 million and a Net Income of about $2.2 million. He noted that for Operating Expenses, there was a net loss of $42,000, however, MVF budgeted to use $314,000 of Undesignated Reserves, resulting in a favorable $272,000 ahead of the budget.

Salazar reported that more than $1.6 million was contributed to the Reserve Fund as prescribed in the budget and in accordance with the last Reserve Study. Estimated YTD Capital Reserve Expenditures totaled $1.37 million. He said that Capital Contributions Fees were favorable to the budget by $74,000. As of December 31, Salazar noted 403 units sold in Bloom Village and 28 Overlook Condominiums units had been sold.

Regarding Investments, MVF’s portfolio has increased by 9.4% YTD with an ending balance of $8.4 million, which is up $718,000 over 2023. At the end of December, the Delinquency Rate was 8.0% (686 units), which is in line with the 10-year average for the month of December. Salazar added that MVF finished 2024 with the allowance for bad debt balance of $345,000 and saw total write-offs from foreclosures and bankruptcies of $12,000. He recommended raising the allowance by $45,000 for 2024, bringing the total allowance for bad debts balance to a conservative balance of $389,598, covering about 56% of assessment outstanding receivable balance ($699,128).

Next Meeting

The next MVF Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 27, via Zoom. A virtual “Meet the Candidates” event is scheduled from 7 to 7:30 p.m. before the meeting begins, also on Zoom (using the same log-in details found in the packet). This is another opportunity for residents to familiarize themselves with the candidates running for the MVF Board of Directors, ask questions and enter into dialogue about prominent issues. Residents are invited to attend; full meeting details and the meeting packet will be posted online at www.montgomeryvillage.com the week before the meeting.