March 2012 Newsletter Delivered

Look for your neighborhood newsletter in your mail! It will keep you up to date with the latest information related to our neighborhood.

MARCH NEWSLETTER 2012

Hello all.  The HOA board wishes you well.  Most of us HOA board members are new, and are now feeling up to speed with the responsibilities we have.  We also feel the desire to make the best decisions we can for our neighborhood.  A list of the new board members, their contact information, and various responsibilities are below.  First, I would like to thank Roger and the previous board.  I have only begun to understand all of the responsibilities of the board of our HOA, but I think they have done a commendable job.  They have sacrificed their time and energy to do the work that we just expect to get done as we pay our dues.  Roger has decided to stay on for another year (and hopefully more) as Vice President of the board.  

• Damon Campbell-President (campbell.damon@gmail.com )
o Clubhouse details (e.g., reservations, cleaning issues, etc.)
o Pool keys or pool access
o General questions or concerns
• Roger Furher-V.P. ‎(rwf4837@yahoo.com) ‎
o Pool Maintenance
• Nichole Sorensen-Secretary (nichole.sorensen@gmail.com )
o Landscaping
o Communication Rep/ Newsletters/Blog/Google Group
• Dede Hatten Walker-Treasurer (dedehatten@hotmail.com)
o Statement Auditing
o Contact with Bookkeeper/Specialty Management
 
The reason for this newsletter is to communicate a few initiatives we would like you to know about.  

1) HOA Blog.  I think since the neighborhood began, we have used a google group to do most of our communications outside of these types of newsletters.  However, we are hitting some road blocks with this process.  No one on our current board has access to send out new messages, update email addresses, etc.  We are still looking for that information, but we are going to try something new in the interim.  The following website is a blog (http://bradshawridge.blogspot.com/) that contains much more information than we could afford to put in a news letter.  We will also continue to update this as information is needed to be disseminated.  It will also allow ongoing conversations (through comments).  You can sign up (subscribe) for updates through email if you wish, or ignore it if you don’t want to be bothered.  We plan to pass this blog on to the next board members, or perhaps they will have a different way they want to communicate to the neighborhood.
2) Finances: attached you will find a report of how money was spent last year.  We understand through Specialty Management (the company that handles the bills and paperwork for our HOA) that it is common practice to give this out each year.  By the way, I think they (Specialty Management) do a good job.  Before being on the board I had thought it may be a waste of money.  Now, I can’t imagine having the HOA board do all that they do for us.  Anyway, please take the time to review that information and provide any feedback or questions via the blog.
3) Current needs: Please see the blog for an update on our current efforts and questions to you.
4) Landscaping: Please see the blog for an update on our current efforts and questions to you.
5) Pool:  Currently we are fairly pleased with the situation of the pool.  There are still needs for helping new and old home owners get oriented with the pool keys and policies.  We have some reports of uncontrolled use.  But, costs of the pool seem to be reasonable.  Roughly $300 a month in peak season.  We do need to stress to residence that we need to keep the pool clean and tidy.  This isn’t a hotel pool, please leave the pool in better condition than you find it.
6) Please consider running for the board next year.  This year’s elections only resulted in three residents being elected to the board.  After the fact, the board voted to appoint another member, but we still have one vacant spot on the board.  My concern is that many residents believe that they are too busy or that pay dues is enough to address our neighborhood issues.  I assure you I only plan on doing this two years max.  We should all take a turn, or we will end up increasing our dues to hire a management company to make simple decisions and minimal effort.  If we all volunteered our time for one or two years, we can avoid this eventuality.
7) Garage Sales: Saturday, March 24th and Saturday, October 6th.

At this time, this is all we wanted to let you know.  Keep following the blog, or email with ideas, comments, questions, or concerns.  
Thanks,
 
HOA Board Memebers