The following summary is provided by Diane Tomasik, resident and Webmaster.

President's report

Board president Dennis Rohan opened the meeting by discussing a resident's question about whether Islesworth could withdraw from the Martin Downs Property Owners Association. Such a withdrawal would require approval of 100 percent of the Islesworth ownership, all the mortgage holders, the other homeowners associations in Martin Downs, and the water district. Also there are benefits to being in the MDPOA, notably the roving security patrol.

Architectural Review Committee report

The ARC has requested that shrubs planted in the drainage easement between lots 103 and l04 be removed, noting that no plantings should be made in the drainage or utility easements. Planting could damage underground pipes or cables.

Residents who want to replace their garage door window inserts must match the existing pattern.

A great deal of discussion surrounded a request for a fence around lot 75. A safety issue was raised regarding neighbors' visibility pulling out of their driveway. Also, utility easements came into play. The plans and request for the fence was revised and resubmitted.

Dennis Rohan noted that the exterior of every Islesworth house was photographed in April 2002. These photographs will be place in the lot files for recordkeeping.

New business

The lighting at the front entrance "takes a beating" because of the nearby middle school. Some of the wall lighting was broke with a hammer. In the past, decorative lighting has been yanked out and thrown into the yank. Such vandalism hurts the appearance and budget of Islesworth.

A motion was approved to replace the broken slide on the playground. A resident with a landscaping company offered to provide cypress mulch at cost to be placed in the playground area.

A landscaping committee will be formed in order to create a plan for upgrading and replacing dead and dying plants around the community. Homeowners were urged to do their part to keep their yards in good condition, with regular fertilizing, trimming and sprucing up.

The board also wants to begin planning for future major costs -- such as repairs to the roads, fences and pumps. Islesworth is the only community with a 5 percent cap on the amount that the maintenance fee can be raised each year. This restricts the working budget, and may mean that large assessments would be necessary in the future. Such assessments could be avoided with incremental, perhaps temporary, increases in periodic fees.