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| One pond in late summer |
It's spring and that means it is time to get out of our winter hibernation and into action here at BLMH. I actually began the planning process in January and provided the board with a multi-page list of issues and objectives during the January 2015 HOA meeting. As I have frequently stated to owners and a variety of board members, we have about 8 months to get done whatever it is we hope to accomplish in mild weather. It is absolutely necessary to "hit the ground running."
I gave the board and any owner who attended the January meeting a thorough but brief summary of the issues and what I will be working on for our HOA this year. When an owner complains about transparency, I suggest they attend these meetings. I am being very, very transparent.
One of the tasks for the Architecture & Project Director is to conduct surveys. Currently the HOA has a Maintenance Director and an Architecture Director. For this HOA that is a first; those duties were never previously shared. However, we also were short staffed. We work closely together and share the duties and responsibilities. For that reason we conduct some of these surveys together and with management.
It can be a daunting task. We have 84 4-unit garages, 84 wide driveways, 336 decks and concrete patios, three independent waterfall-stream-pond systems, several large decks and a gazebo. Etc. The surveys can include streets, storm sewer inlets, walks and hundreds of exterior electric lights. It's good to be watchful for tree issues, or other building exterior problems. Drainage is an ongoing project and so that's another area of scrutiny. We've made a lot of drainage improvements since 2010.
With such an extensive property, a complete and thorough survey of everything each year may not be possible. I remind the reader that we usually have six volunteer board members and another 330 owners. None of the 330 other owners are presently on any committee. It falls upon our maintenance, management and the board to do these tasks. I've taken the position that if owners want more, then they should get involved.
Why these surveys? In an extensive property such at this one, it is necessary to set priorities. Owner or resident complaints can be useful, but in HOAs there is a tendency with boards to see that "the squeaky wheels get the grease." Some owners want to keep fees from increasing and will make sacrifices for that purpose. So at the ends of the spectrum we have the complainers who will manipulate the system if possible and then there are the others who keep a very low profile with the assumption this will keep fees lower than they might otherwise be. Unless the board is diligent the squeaks will spend the money.
Frequency
How frequently should these surveys be conducted? For more permanent structures, such as driveways, a survey independent of our maintenance workers may be adequate every other year. For garage floors, perhaps every three. Some of these things don't change dramatically from year to year. However, walks can tilt or shift and so that may be an annual event.
Driveways
For example, in September I did a survey of the 84 driveways on the property and rated them. The purpose was to get an idea of what would be necessary in 2015. That information was used as the basis for another survey with the maintenance director and our professional manager. That work was completed and a summary has been sent to management. We'll use this to obtain bids, determine the scope of work and solicit board approval. It is important for owners to realize that it takes an entire board to make these decisions. I go out of my way to provide information and I prefer not to second any motions I have presented. After all, I wouldn't make the presentation to the board if I didn't think the issue had merit. It is ultimately the decision of the entire board to proceed or not. If the board stonewalls, or votes "no" then the initiative doesn't pass.
In conjunction with the driveways we are also adding concrete aprons where there are none, and a narrow walk. So it was necessary to determine which driveways had these, which did not and to inspect the garage floors; there is no point to adding an apron to a garage floor in serious need of replacement.
Garages
Another survey a few years (April, 2011) ago was 84 garages. That survey generated a comprehensive report and it was used to replace a number of 4-unit garage floors. A summary was provided to owners in a newsletter after my earliest survey of garages several years ago. I've only been on the board for about 5 years. I've transformed some of the processes in that time.
I included an article in the May, 2011 HOA newsletter on this, The article is brief and provides some insights into the method used:
Clicking will open a New Window> May 2011 HOA Newsletter including Garage Survey
Streams and water systems
Last year, we replaced a bridge on the property; where there are streams and waterfalls there will be bridges. Some are concrete and others are wood. We are replacing the wood bridges with more permanent man-made materials. Last year management agreed to survey all streams this spring so we could determine a 5-year plan. We do have this included in our 2011 reserve study. However, getting boards to allocate the funds is not an easy task.
These are significant architectural features of BLMH. It is a fact that nearly half of our residents, about 46% are either on a stream, waterfall or pond, or have an view of these.
Here's my summary video of the survey. We are currently repairing a pump system. These streams are completely man made. The survey video is supported with written materials.
Nice photo.
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