Stonebrook Subdivision
Formation of Home Owners Association
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I've been doing a little thinking about the meeting we've had regarding Stonebrook Homeowners Association. Please don't think that I'm in anyway trying to "take charge" it is not my intention I would just like to ask a few questions and throw a few things out to think about.
Questions for Tammy;
What is designated as community property?
Are the street lights operated by the city or HOA? If HOA, what is expense?
You mentioned the light on the sign was turned off, what was the bill each month for it?
The water on the irrigation system is turned off, what was the bill each month for water?
Did we ever have a leak in the irrigation system? If so was it fixed? What was the elevated water bill?
Does Ld Austin actually own the HOA now or does the bank gain control of it?
How was the vote set up? Does each lot get a vote? If so did the lot have to have a home one it? Would the purchaser of the property get a vote for each remaining property?
You mentioned the only expenses now being mailing costs and maintainance, is this correct?
Do you have a list of all complaintes filed? (Not who filed them, just what the complaints themselves).
Can we get the list of vendors that where used in the homes built? One of the residents mentioned seams seperating on their windows.
Questions for fellow homeowners:
Based on the little information I've been able to gather let me throw out my thoughts and then pose a few questions. As I said in the meeting, "I don't want 2 foot tall grass hiding a car on blocks in my yard" and really wouldn't care for it in the neighborhood either. There are however somethings that according to the homeowners assiciation are violations that could stand review.
Do we really mind if homes have enclosed garages if they are done neatly?
Parking is difficult with the steep grade of some of the driveways, or with number of vehicles (mine included). This can generate a problem "running the guantlet" as one of neighbors so aptly put forth in the meeting. Parking on one side of the street opposite mailboxes would allow the mailman to deliver mail and widening the drivable path. Would this simple fix handle both complaints of not enough room to drive thru and mail not being delivered?
It was dicussed that we had been paying $310 a month year round for maintainance. We have a landscaper in the community who think would be willing to significantly reduce this cost, shouldn't we take advantage of this?
Do residents want to do some of the work, perhaps freeing up money for other things if needed?
Another complaint voiced at meeting was a mosquito problem with the drainage pond. Mosquito control has to be done at every home, the pool cover, ditches, and the pond and can actually be fairly inexpensive if everyone participates. (Dumping water out of buckets around the house, making sure gutters are cleaned, etc...
My biggest complaint was lack of communication, simply not knowing what was going on. To be honest, this is the first year I've not paid my dues because I didn't know if they would move to Florida. I would love to see this be one big happy community; Justin and Lori (hope I spelled Lori correct) have threw a couple get togethers which I think would be great on a community level. I for one would love to know my neighbors and may have found a way that would help with this and the HOA communication problem. I found a free website service for communities at www.neighborhoodlink.com and have built us a totally free site (it runs advertisements on the page) for Stonebrook Subdivison. I've not added anything to the site yet, but thought it would be a great place for a community calander, neighborhood discussions, posting of vendor phone numbers, maybe even to announce our first block party.
Anyway, didn't mean run on so long, just prefer there be water in the pool before I jump off the diving board. Could we perhaps set up another meeting?
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Answer from Tammy:
Hi guys,
I will try and answer the questions as best I can.
1. The HOA owns three tracts of land that can be seen on Catawba County GIS website. The PIN numbers are as follows 370107688637, 370107684656, and 370107686687. Here is the link to the website: http://www.gis.catawba.nc.us/website/Parcel/parcel_main.asp
2. The street lights are owned by the city. You have no cost in them
3. The sign is on the same power bill that operates the irrigation system. Without the irrigation on the bill should run around less than $20.00 per month.
4. The irrigation has been off for over two years. The last time it was operating the developer did have to fix some leaks but I would imagine that if it is turned back on you will have more leaks to fix. We have leaks about every year on the ones we operate. The minimum water bill is around $20 for an irrigation system. the monthly cost will depend on how much and how often it runs. The developer was paying the cost to repair the irrigation system and the water bill before it was cut off.
5. The bank will have nothing to do with the HOA. It will go to you all as the homeowners.
6. Article 4 of the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions spells out the voting rights. Basically, yes each lot has one vote. The vote goes with the lot and it does not have to have a home on it to get a vote. However, if someone purchased two adjoining lots and had them combined they will get only one vote for the new larger lot.
7. As of now there are no contracts with anyone that you would be responsible for. The only things you will have going forward are what you choose to do.
8. The complaints that I recieved over the last couple of years have been as follows: a. Parking in the street and impeding traffic flow b. grass not be mowed and weeds in mulch beds c. The pool not being open d. a few calls about campers, trailers, (see restrictions for what is allowed and what is not) e. a few about cars being parked in yards on grass - that is a city violation as well. f. one call about a home owner working on cars in the driveway all the time. I contacted them and that was stopped because it was consider running a business from the home due to number of cars g. Of course the final two about the two homes that closed in their garages You all just need to read the restrictions carefully and think about what you may or may not what to try and change. You will need at least a 67% vote to make changes to anything in the restrictions.
9. I will attach the most recent list I have from Mark Henson of Henson Construction. You may want to call mark to see if these are correct for your individual homes. The last number I have for Mark is 828-217-2066.
I hope this information has been helpful and look forward to working with you all to get the assocation turned over as soon as possible to you so that you can get things going. |
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I thought the meeting went well. I'm looking forward to getting everything settled but we have a good start so far. |
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