Facebook Group for Briarcliffe Owners

I've opened a new Facebook group for BLMH owners.  This will be an informative and "No Hold Barred" Group about the Association and the activities of the board.

It should be fun.  I'll be bringing my effective experience on the board to my unique and informative insights after 15 years of experience in this HOA. From time to time I'll have some "insider" board member comments to post.

Remember the days when the current president was denigrating the ROCs with remarks like "Communication is not their Forte".  Well,  now the shoe is on the other foot. so we didn't get a newsletter. Not a surprise.  The board members who pushed for a frequent newsletter and wrote 90% of the articles have departed from the board.

I even "ghost wrote" newsletter articles for other board members, simply to inform owners.

Here's some background information of the terrible mess created by earlier board. Now, the "president" is back and the push is on to raise fees. LOL. Yep, we are talking about a one trick pony "Raise the Fees", LOL. With half of our owners new since 2009, they are unaware of who led the charge that created the following:

Over a period of 11 years, from 1998 to 2009 the boards under current leadership ramped up fees at an average annual rate of 6.85%. Owner fees nearly doubled over that period, reaching about $295 per month in 2009.

By by the fall of 2008 the angry owners had enough. The president and most of that board was replaced. Yes, that is our new president.

• In 1998 I understand the reserves totaled $86,321.
• By October 2008, with Lakecliffe Drive failing, the board had allocated only $90,208 to Paving and that included all streets and 84 driveways.  
• The roofing project began in 2005 at 1775-1777 Gloucester, the address of the president at the time. (Yes, the same one)! That roof had previously been re-shingled in 2001, according to a 2006 letter my management. That was the only roof completed prior to 2009. 
• By 2009 the reserve allocation for roofs was lacking about $1,241,000, which is the reason the board prior to 2009 stated during board meetings that it would replace roofs “at the last possible moment” and maybe one or two per year. There was no formal pronouncement, but I concluded this was because of funding issues. 
• There was no money allocated in the budget for water main failures, yet they had occurred frequently commencing 2001 or so. 
• There was a large and growing backlog of other projects, as the board attempted to accumulate sufficient funds for the roofing project. Yet, no formal information to owners.
• There had never been an independently conducted outside reserve study for the association.

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