North Entry Landscaping Project, Landscaping Issues, and Supporting Budgets

Landscaping after Demolition - South side of north entry -May 2021

Landscaping after Demolition - North side of north entry - May 2021

Before the North Entry Landscaping Project began:

What went wrong at the North entry project?

During the annual meeting one owner inquired about the torn up landscaping and improvements at the Northern entry, and asked about the unusual delays. "There have been additional 6 weeks delays in materials." was the board response.  However, the September 9 agenda included this item: "North Entrance Landscaping Proposal.......".  Apparently the board didn't put all of the pieces of the project into place when the demolition began. It seems it was unable to direct management to purchase the landscaping until the September 9 meeting. 

Work began in May and here we are, 5-months later.  A better approach would be to get the drawings made, get bids, get any permits necessary, order the materials, hire the contractors and then schedule the work as necessary to coincide with material delivery.  That apparently did not happen.

Instead, early in spring the association contractors, as directed by the board via management, demolished both sides of the entry landscaping. 

The delay may also be attributed to permitting issues. But that would be a smoke screen by the board. It is really important for boards to put on their "thinking caps" and ask pertinent questions during the board meetings. The board has not offered any information to owners to justify a 5-month delay.

The new stone entry marker in the photo below is close to the street and the City of Wheaton does have frontage restrictions.  In the photo below the stone monolith is about 18 feet from the Lakecliffe Street curb. The distance to Briarcliffe Blvd is about 35 feet. I don't know if this created a permitting issue, but the board does. 

Situation as of late September

Finances and Fees required to pay for this - from where?

The association budgets do not reveal the actual state of association reserve finances. The budget merely shows the allocation of fees to reserves.  It does not indicate how much was spent in the current year from reserve accounts (the "Replacement Fund").  See Note 1 at the end of this post.

After significant effort on my part and a year of delays I received a copy of the 2018 audit in October, 2020. It indicated the following:

• $1,057,921 reserve balance 2017 ("Replacement fund").
• $683,539 reserve balance 2018 ("Replacement fund").
• $265,765 Operating Fund Balance 2018 (unspent).
• $939,304 Combined Operating Fund and Replacement Fund balances.

From the above, it can be construed that the boards 2010 to December 2018 did an exemplary job, pushing forward and completing many maintenance and replacement initiatives while controlling fees. Using tight budget controls it seems that a surplus of more than $250,000 was accumulated in the O&M budget. That is money collected, but not spent for operations and maintenance. Kudos to my pro-active board members. (Note 2).

Yet, in October 2018 the board voted for a 1.88% fee increase, completely aware that according to their budget a substantial O&M surplus, about $124,000, had been created by the board that preceded them.

The 2015 reserve study update with board input allocated $170,639 for landscaping replacements for the entire property for the period 2015-2024. That included trees, grass, shrubbery and any other plantings.   According to the budgets provided to owners, during the period 2014-2021 the boards allocated an additional $188,349. 

There is no specific line item to improve, rather than replace, the entry landscaping. However the board decided to do this in 2021.  That decision and this "improvement" is the subject of this post. 

The board has discretionary power of how to spend the reserve "Replacement Fund". Money can be moved from one category to another.  For example, street funds can be moved to landscaping replacement. 

Boards can also increase annual funding of the reserve categories in the "Replacement Fund" and it is prudent to do so if special issues are identified.  This is why boards added annually to the funding for trees and landscaping in the budgets.

However, the purpose of the reserve funding is the long term replenishment of funds for the Replacement Fund.  For example, the first roof at 1777 Gloucester as part of a large, nearly $1.5 million re-roofing project which began in 2002 is already almost 20 years old. The next phase of the roofing project will begin within 10 years. 

The boards of 2014-2018 were aware of the issues the association faced because of dying and diseased trees.  Our Operating & Maintenance budgets include an Arborist firm for care of the trees. Even if a board does not walk the property and take notes, the board is given status reports as to condition by the arborist. This information is forwarded to the board via monthly Management Packet for each meeting. Pro-active board members do frequently walk the property and take notes, leaving their pet behind. 

As the costs and magnitude of the tree problem was revealed, the boards over the period 2014-2018 allocated additional funds annually to deal with it. The boards increased the funding of reserves allocated to this (the "Replacement Fund"). However, other categories were not reduced. This was not a "rob Peter to pay Paul" situation. Overall reserve funding objectives were maintained. I can't state what occurred in October 2018 to the present because I left the board at the end of September, 2018.

However, even though there are replacement fund categories, precisely how and when reserves (Replacement) funds are spent is solely at the discretion of the board, which is why the replacement of dead shrubbery, or other remediation such as replacement with sod,  was passed over in 2019-2021.

Budgeted Replacement Fund Increases, don't necessarily result in owner fee increases

Here are the board budgeted increases to the the Replacement Fund to address dying and diseased trees. Landscaping related directly to drainage was handled in other categories, including O&M maintenance contract hours. 

It is to be noted that reserves can be increased without raising fees, which is why there was no fee increase to owners in the budgets of 2015 and 2017.  The budget of 2014 included a 1.00% increase, and the 2016 budget included a 1.50% fee increase; from 2014 to 2018 the increases totaled 0.50%.  Furthermore, any annual O&M budget surplus may be moved to the Replacement Fund.  However, because budgets are prepared in October, surpluses in the budget are merely projections and may not actually be realized:

• 2014 budget: Additional $18,852 budgeted to the Replacement Fund to deal with issues related to condemned fireplaces (funds never used for this purpose, because it was unnecessary).
• 2016 budget: Additional $57,739 to deal with trees.
• 2017 budget: Additional $22,902 reserves for Landscaping issues (dying shrubs).
• 2018 budget: Additional $22,902 reserves for Landscaping issues (dying shrubs).

The boards of subsequent years 2019-2021 maintained the posture of the earlier boards. Replacement fund allocations to reserves were increased above the base reserve amounts:

• 2019 budget: Additional $22,902 reserves for Landscaping issues.
• 2020 budget: Additional $22,902 reserves for Landscaping issues.
• 2021 budget: Additional $20,150 reserves for Landscaping issues.

The reserve studies completed prior to 2018 did not include the Viburnum Shrub die-out as a need for fees expenditures, because the problem had not yet been identified. The problem was noticed in July 2017 as I was walking the grounds. I took photos, the arborist was consulted, and the board and management were notified shortly thereafter.

The budgets do not reveal the actual state of association finances in the reserves, the "Replacement Fund".  The budgets do indicate the allocation of fees each year to reserves.  The budgets do not indicate how much was spent from reserve accounts. 

Only the financial documents including the annual audit, Balance Sheet, Income and Expense Statements, etc. indicate actual reserve fund spending. The annual audits provide additional information, including any transfer of O&M budget surpluses to reserves, or short term borrowing from reserves for O&M expenses. That information is not readily available to owners. For example, it is not on the official Association portal.  (September 26, 2021).

Avoiding dealing with other Landscaping Problems

I have to assume that the boards of 2019-2021 decided to defer dealing with the Viburnum shrub problem, which exists throughout the property. Instead they decided to improve the North entrance landscaping. This indicates a different priority or agenda. It also implies that the board decided there are ample funds allocated in the reserves (the "Replacement Fund") at current fee levels to deal with the dead and dying shrubbery. 

As for the delay to the North entry project, I assume the board presidents 2019-2021 did not provide sufficient board oversite or were perhaps the champions for the new entry landscaping. It seems the Treasurer ignored the reserve studies, and the entire board ignored the die-out of the Viburnum shrubs.  

What will the board of 2022 do? (Elected September 2021)

There are currently three board members with combined board experience exceeding 50 years. They have been, and will continue to be, the motive force on the board and should bear the brunt of responsibility for the issues.  The Landscaping Director did not get sufficient votes to remain on the board. She/he has been thrown under the bus.

Will the three most experienced board members advocate the raising of owner fees to deal with acute landscaping problems? Or will they move funds from streets, concrete and so on to deal with the landscaping replacements?  Will they "kick the can down the road" as some did prior to 2008?

A sampling of the Photos by me, provided to earlier boards:

Fireblight identified in 2018

Dead Tree 2018

Infected and dying Viburnum shrubs July 2017

Click for link to "About these Dying Shrubs"

Allocation of Resources, Board awareness and the Reserve Study

Boards were made aware of the Viburnum shrubbery issue via photos and discussion during association meetings. The problem did not surface until July 2017.  To make future boards as well as all owners aware, the "Guidance" insert of the September 2018 newsletter included this under the item Surveys and Projects: "From 2019-2022, the viburnum shrubbery should be replaced."

The most recent reserve study included this board approved communications exchange with the firm doing the study:

Board Committee: "Items 4.500 and 4.501. In 2016 we expended more than $100,000 for landscaping restoration. We have lost about 100 trees in three years and more are diseased. A substantial amount was expended to remove these trees, some large. In the 2016 budget the association allocated an additional $57,739 for trees and related restoration. The project of 2016 removed scars, did grading, installed turf, removed and replaced trees and  added plantings. This is in addition to the drainage work as part of the current phase of the roofing project. Because of the age of this property, no trees will be planted where water main replacement would damage them. We anticipate an additional $66,270 in 2017-18. About $17,195 in 2019, and similar amounts adjusted for inflation in 2020 and 2021. We can certainly include these expenditures. We will also show a subsequent project [per year] of approximately $17,200  + inflation [commencing] in 15 years. " (Emphasis mine).

In 2016 the board approved these comments. At the time there had been no discussion of improvements to the North entrance, nor were there subsequent discussion in 2017 & 2018 for a replacement of the North Entrance landscaping and signage. 

In 2017 there was no mention in the Reserve Study notes and board comments about the replacement of thousands of dying shrubs, because that need had not yet been identified. The beetle was first identified in July 2017. At the time the full magnitude of the problem was not realized.

I have a concern that the boards of 2019-2020 are pursuing a narrow agenda, preferring to defer the shrubbery replacement while doing less urgent entry re-landscaping.  This board approach may increase owner fees in the future as needed replacement is deferred and the "can is kicked down the road".  Problems will eventually surface as they did in 2008.  

That is similar to the situation I encountered while a board member in 2010.  During eight years I did a lot, but some board members may have a personal agenda. That is why I am no longer on the board.

Cost of grass goes beyond replacement and includes water consumption

Furthermore, the board has returned to the old, ineffective method of covering dead spots or tree removal scars with grass mat.  We shifted to sod in select areas during the period 2014-2018.  If the board insists upon grass mat they could specify a better quality and might get better results. There were good reasons to use sod on our non-level, rolling grounds.  After grading, the placement of sod held the soil beneath in place, and quickly took root. Yes, sod may be more costly, but all of the water to grow grass is costly.. as is the labor to put the hoses in place.

Sod and grass mat each use a lot of water to stimulate growth, so why spend owner fees to water inferior mat?  The association is paying about $5.05 per 100 cu. ft. of city water. A 3/4 inch hose can use 23 gallons per minute. Furthermore, we are paying maintenance workers to string hoses and collect them each day for this purpose. 

Watering for one hour consumers about 200 cubic feet and costs the association $10.10 in water bills.  The association has about 15 acres of green.  A few year ago we had 95 scars under repair. If each scar was repaired and was watered for one hour, once per week the cost to the association for water to grow grass was $960 per week.  Drainage work and repairs require even more grass.  

Our landscaping is complex. I've posted about that in the past. Perhaps it is time to post about the contractors involved, methods and coordination issues.

Too bad the board doesn't read this blog. But then "You can't fix stupid" and it is largely the other 330 owners money that is being spent. Ditto for the owners who pretend they live in an apartment. When I decided no longer to be on the board it was with the realization that I was at best a servant. One can argue the pros and cons, but I had eight years of experience on the board to draw upon when I post here.  I honored all of my agreements and kept my fiduciary duties and commitment. Owners have benefitted. I'll be selling or renting my unit.

Here's a link to the viburnum issue:

Link:  Viburnum Shrub Issue

Dead Viburnums, July 2018, one year after this problem was identified

For a little perspective and history about the landscaping at the association, I suggest one click on the following link.  It will include all posts with the labelling Landscaping which includes the posts about the Viburnum issue already linked, above. Only six posts are visible at a time, and so to view the older posts, one must click on "older posts" at the end of the sixth.

Link: Landscaping Posts

Notes:

1. I question the accuracy of the "Assessment Income" numbers in the budgets.  For example, the 2020 budget presented to owners showed that 75% of the annual assessments had been collected as of September 30, 2020.  In other words, all owners were current at that time and there were no delinquencies. If anyone reading this checks earlier budgets, they will see that this is consistent.   I do appreciate that management cannot predict the future, so it is not possible to predict with certainty what will occur from October 1 to December 31, each year, pertaining to assessment income. Yet the annual budgets and owner fee adjustments are prepared using September 30 data each year.  The assumption is made that all owners will pay their fees fully and on time. The "Contra" or "Bad Debt" items in the annual financial reports provided to the boards finds this to be inaccurate. 
2. Many of the projects were described in the official Association newsletters. Here is a link to a blog post which includes a series of links to view 10+ years of newsletters, or download individual PDF copies.  As of 9/27/2021 these are not available at the Association portal. Link:  Click to view or download newsletters

(C) 2021 Norman Retzke

Briarcliffe Lakes Manor Homes Newsletters - Links

 

December 2008 Briarcliffe Lakes Manor Homes Newsletter Treasurer's topic
Hint: Click to enlarge

I updated 9/25/2021 to add a link to three of the 2019 newsletters, warm weather tips, Newsletter template which was provided to board in October 2018, and a copy of the street map. Faulty links repaired. Links are later in this post.

Note: As a board member 2010-2018 I expanded the scope of the newsletters and viewed them as educational material for current boards and owners, and also as useful source material for future boards and owners.   It was a method to pass along "expert knowledge" to future boards.  In fact, it was the only method because there is no such mechanism in place at the association.

Earlier boards placed links to the newsletters on the "official" association website.  The removal of the newsletters by the 2019-2020 boards thwarted my intention. In fact, the newsletters are but the tip of the iceberg. 

As a consequence of the recent board action which deleted the newsletters, I uploaded copies to my cloud storage and posted links on this blog. As a result this information remains available to the public, to new owners and to board members. It is my opinion the recent board action was to the detriment of the performance of boards, and to the owners. 

If you need additional information, you can email me via the link to the right.

Be aware I am no longer a board member and therefore I am not bound by any fiduciary duty to the association: "Briarcliffe Lakes Manor Homes" and "Briarcliffe Lakes Homeowners Association". 

===

I have posted links to earlier newsletters in this post.  There were some really interesting things about the association in the earlier newsletters. The  above is a clipping from the Treasurer's Report in  the  December 2008 newsletter. This was published by the new board, after the old lost the election. Owners had expressed concerns about the finances and the fees of the Association.  The December newsletter answered some of the questions avoided by an earlier board.

During my brief, 8-year tenure on the board, certain board members did their best to prevent this type of information from being discussed in front of owners, much less be printed in the association newsletter. My attempts were rebuffed and certain board members argued that information they deemed as sensitive was "executive privilege". Today, some are inclined to run the association this way.

However, newsletters provide owners with their only reliable information about the association, other than letters mailed to all, which are infrequent.  Newsletters don't replace the financials and governing documents, which also should be read and studied by all owners. However, getting a copy of the financials is not easy in this association. 

Newsletters provide insights into the character, capabilities and leadership of a board.  Perhaps that is why the current board stripped most of the newsletters for the period 2008-2018 from the official website before it was taken down by the 2020 board. The current board (2019-2020) also stripped the email addresses of board members from the newsletter. Such communication is not allowed. 

The new "portal" for residents and owners has limited newsletters available. As of 9/23/2021 those available to owners include only:

• June 2021 Newsletter.pdf
•  February 2021 Newsletter.pdf
•  March 2020 Newsletter.pdf
•  November 2020 Newsletter.pdf

Note: I advised management that the "Rules and Regulations" documents on the portal are incomplete.  Rule changes about antennas on the buildings and the carpet/noise rule that occupied so much time during 2018 board meetings is not on the G&D Management website nor at the new "Portal".  These were on the BLMH.org website prior to being taken down. Management acknowledges the portal is incomplete. No word about when it will be "complete".

I was very involved in creating the association newsletters when I was a board member.  As a fiduciary I viewed communications with owners to be very important I also viewed the newsletter as a valuable tool.  "Everything can be resolved in communications" is an old expression.  The newsletters informed our owners, who are the shareholders of this not-for-profit corporation of what the board was doing as their representatives, presented plans, made requests and also presented some problems. I viewed this as responsible communications with our shareholders.  Of course, some owners didn't like what they read in the newsletter.  They could voice their opinions and vote for change when the opportunity was presented.  Being on the board is merely an opportunity to perform work, and if owners don't like a board they can do things about it. 

On finally achieving a position on the board in 2010 I began nudging the newsletter and those who prepared it in another direction.  In December 2008 the new board did take a stab at a more factual newsletter, but that changed. The association is not a social club and but the newsletter began to look like it was, with "Owner of the Month" articles, articles about architecture in "Merry Old England" and so on.

When I achieved a board position in September 2010 I wanted to expand beyond this.  Newsletter were normally four pages with a "Winter Tips" insert. The newsletter grew to as many as six pages. 

Owners had been complaining "Where does our money go?"  Of course, they are given annual budgets, but those don't list the actual dollar amounts in reserves and the cash in banks of the association.  I made a pie chart from the budget and brought it to an Association meeting.  I suggested it be included in the newsletter. The Communications Director liked it, and so it was included in May-June 2011.  A copy of that chart is at the end of this post. That was a first of many steps.  While I was on the board there was great resistance from some board members to running the association as a business.  

Clearly, not all board members understand the need for robust communications. Boards are prohibited from creating multiple classes of owners. In other words, all owners should be communicated with equally and fairly.  Not all owners attend monthly meetings. For offsite owners this may be impossible.  A newsletter is a means for equal treatment of all owners. Not all board members agreed during my tenure. Today, with the arrival of ZOOM meetings, it may be easier for all owners to attend, if they have the technology available. However ZOOM also provides a shield for boards.  A common refrain from the board when asked questions is "We'll get that to you".  One owner (not me) is still waiting for the financial information she requested nearly two years ago.  This is why I videotaped board meetings using my own equipment. This was intended to make everyone more accountable and keep people on their best behavior. Some board members did work around this by saving general discussion items for "Executive Privilege" closed door meetings. That was not proper, and he/she knew it. But it did shield discussion from owner observation, which was the purpose. 

Owners need to provide ZOOM enabled communications technology at personal expense.  This may not be the case for board members, who may have technology and support provided to them by management at owner expense. 

For whatever reasons, it is my understanding that the annual meeting a couple of days ago via ZOOM was attended by most of the board and only a handful of owners who were not board members, or board candidates.  That's indicative of the consequences of a lack of board commitment to robust communications and is also indicative of where owners lie with such tech. 

Obviously, old school newsletters are superior in practical terms.  They can be referred to by owners and the written word cannot easily be misconstrued or denied. One board member frequently argued that we can't make owners read the newsletters so it was a waste to provide them.  My rebuttal was always "It is our duty and responsibility to provide the information with easy access. What owners do with the information provided is their choice." 

The most recent association newsletters are not indicative of the lack of breadth of newsletters in 2019-2020.  At one time you could open them and compare by going to the links at the official BLMH.org website.  A sea change in communications occurred in September 2018 with the departure of three board members.

Perhaps I'll scan and upload the newsletters of 2019-2020.  

In September a couple of weeks prior to the 2021 election the board had management take down the public BLMH.ORG website. With that, all links were removed. Newsletters prior to 2020 are no longer available online.  I don't know why the board found it necessary to take away that web access for newsletters, etc., but they did. Perhaps it will be restored. Via email Management stated that the new portal is a work in progress. However, the new portal does not allow public access.

Commencing May 2011 I prepared and managed most of the newsletters until fall of 2018.   I have MS-Word originals and PDF copies of these and a few others. I also have hard copies in the 7 boxes of stuff I have about this association. I also have videos of many of the meetings I attended after 2008, and all of the board meetings when I was on the board. I provided the technology, as usual. 

I have uploaded the pdfs of the electronic copies that I have; I haven't scanned all of my hard copies.  Here are links, arranged by year. 

Links to folders with Newsletters, by year:

Briarcliffe Lakes Street Map

Newsletters 2008

Newsletters 2009

Newsletters 2010

Newsletters 2011

Newsletters 2012

Newsletters 2013

Newsletters 2014

Newsletters 2015

Newsletters 2016

Newsletters 2017

Newsletters 2018

Warm Weather Tips March 2018

Guidance - Newsletter Insert - September 2018

Newsletter Template October 2018 - MS Word version given to board

Newsletters 2019

Preparing the newsletter was difficult. Writing the many articles was not an easy task, with a purpose to provide information and to educate owners and future boards. I was running a business which involved an extraordinary amount of travel. I was President and Systems Engineer for a high tech Industrial Automation - Process Control firm I created. Some board members were also working full time. The newsletter were considered an imposition by some board members.  That included  retirees who certainly had sufficient time to do this.  After all, at a bare minimum commitment, one article every 60 days, reading two management packets and attending two meetings was really not much of a duty, was it? Each month management provided the board with a packet of information. It was 60, 90, or more pages long. Finance, contracts, legal, maintenance, rules and violations etc. were within.  Each and every board member could draw upon that information as well as the discussions during the open portion of meetings.  I kept copious notes.  It really isn't that difficult to get a lot of information as the basis for newsletter articles. 

A skimpy newsletter which contains the phrase "The board is very busy." is a real contradiction.

Board members were requested during each board meeting to prepare a brief article and submit it with a "by when" date.   They had 60 days to meet the publishing date. A few played their power games or perhaps they were simply lazy. I got so desperate to collect sufficient information on all aspects of the association from each board member, in their own words, that I would make multiple phone calls; emails were sometimes ignored. As a final resort I would interview board members, ghost write their articles and with their permission publish under their name. Frankly, I thought this was ridiculous.  It was obviously a power trip and perhaps a sadistic game. 

I would finally get sufficient text the day before the final printing day, sometimes handwritten. Then I'd have to figure out how to format the newsletter and shoehorn it all in, or expand the text to fill all of that white space. On the maintenance and architecture aspects there was absolutely no limit to the material I had available and ditto for finance. Of course, I was supposed to get "permission" from some board members to edit their text, if I ran out of room in the newsletter.  Sometimes I let the spelling errors and so on go through, as well as poor formatting.  I fully understood the covert FU attitude.  

In general, six newsletters were prepared each year.  For budget reasons they were printed in Black&White but the originals when I did them were in color. I provided a color PDF file of each newsletter to management for posting at the association website. B&W copies were posted on the bulletin boards by board members and a few owner volunteers, who walked the property and did this.  It was one of many, many tasks which were done so as to keep owner fees "as low as practical".  One copy was posted for each unit in each building. Management mailed copies to offsite owners.  The actual printing was the easiest part as I would prepare a MS Word document, print it as a PDF file and email to the printer. A board member or myself would then pick up the printed copies. Copies to be mailed would be delivered by a board member or volunteer to the management office. 

A lot of my time on the board was spent walking the property making problem lists, notes about possible improvements, managing the management, creating financial documents and spreadsheets, participating in or leading infrastructure condition surveys, and so on. On occasion another board member would assist me. 

In my spare time I revised the "Winter Tips" which were discussed by the board.  I even prepared a "Warm Weather Tips" which was sidelined.  It was heavy on keeping rules and a lot of common sense. It was intended to provide owners with timely reminders and reduce rules violations, and address a board member complaint that "The owners don't know the rules." I provided a laptop computer to the "Welcoming Director" so she/he could update the "Welcome Packet".  That effort was from 2011-2013. I stopped assisting in the preparation when it became obvious there was no interest in annual updates.  I don't think there is a current copy available at the portal or on Management's website. Such communications is no longer deemed important by the board.

I always had a camera with me and so I took thousands of photos and a lot of videos to document the issues, whatever they might be.  In all, about 1 TB of data. During site surveys, many conducted with management I photographed what we discussed, in addition to taking copious notes. On my own, I made stream condition videos, driveways, exterior of roofs visible from the ground, window sills, brickwork, drainage and so on. One year I even took a whiteboard, marked addresses on it and took a photo of each and every driveway, all 84 of them.  This was to assist the board and management in determining which driveways to replace each year. I have a different approach to managing the managers and view them as a part of the team. I've posted some of this here, on earlier blog posts. 

A lot was presented to boards during meetings and some found their way into the newsletters.

I also took general photos. I selected one for each newsletter and put it on the masthead. Not everyone appreciated my "NORMR60189" tag on those photos.   I handled that by saying "Send me your photos and I'll include one on the masthead of the newsletter".  There were no takers, as I recall. I gave a digital camera to a board member to use.  Not one picture over the span of the year or so.

By fall of 2018 after an even more rancorous, contentious board year, worse than 2015.  Some materials I prepared were ignored. The water main project which could save the association $millions and reduce future owner fees languished while the board argued about noise restriction rules and other trivia.  There are limits and I had reached mine. Three board members decided they would not run for re-election and I was one of them. I'd met my goals which I set in 2008 when I first decided to run for the board. My final newsletter articles were prepared on August 16, 2018.  It included a "Guidance" insert to inform owners and prepare new board members.  One of the things about BLMH is the "old school" board members don't train or mentor.  The association is their personal fiefdom. The first thing the new board of October 2018 did was to raise fees, even though their prepared budget dated October 2018 indicated a more than $100,000 surplus for the year 2018.    

In October 2018 I prepared a MS-Word template for the newsletter and gave it to the board and management. With that task I was done. I was no longer a fiduciary and no longer required to be "nice" to the individuals who made my life difficult when I was a board member, drove off a very competent member, attacked others to drive them off, and then with the champions gone, raised fees unnecessarily in the fall of 2018.  The entire board passed that fee increase, even though the numbers indicated it was not necessary. I sent a stern and very detailed email to management and asked them to forward to the board. I never got a reply from the board. 

Pie Chart, May-June 2011 Newsletter

Here's the Pie Chart I prepared for a newsletter of May-June 2011, using the budget data provided to all owners. This was intended to better illustrate and communicate the issues. That was an expanded, 6-page newsletter:

Clicking on this image will enlarge it

Post updated 9/25/2021

(C) 2021 Norman Retzke

BLMH Website no longer available as of September 2021

 

WWW.BLMH.org no longer exists

I was able to access the HOA website a week ago, but a neighbor reported that they received an error when attempting to reach the website over the weekend.

I attempted to go online and got the error above.

The problem with the "deletion" of the website is that a lot of data, be it older newsletters and so on, has also been deleted. The current board purged a lot of the older newsletters from that website in 2020 and 2021.  Controlling information seems to be a theme with this board. "Autocratic" is a term that comes to mind. But, oh, aren't these board members the "representatives" for the owners, and aren't they supposed to be "fiduciaries"? To readers, I can say that this association has been in this place before and it did not end well for owners. 

I emailed management and the service manager confirmed that the website has been taken down.  Apparently the new HOA portal is intended to replace the website. However, the new portal is under construction and is incomplete.  Furthermore, the website was public. The portal which replaces it requires an invitation to access from management and each person granted access has a unique sign-on and password.

In other words, access is restricted.  An owner who is in the process of a sale discovered his/her Realtor and the buyer can no longer freely access documents because of the unavailability via the old website. 

I emailed management and did get a response. 

My email to management: 

"The website www.blmh.org is not available.  I get an error message when I attempt to access it.  Is this a result of action by management, or is it a technical problem?

Please advise me.

The new portal, only available to subscribers via management is not complete.  That makes certain documentation about the association unavailable at this time. Which raises other questions.  Are non-owners allowed to subscribe to the new portal? How are interested buyers to get access to a range of information about the association? "

Here is what the management office had to say about this, via return email:

"This google website has been deleted due to the site no longer being able to be edited because of it being outdated.   The Board made the to decision to delete it because owners can now sign up for the portal.  We are working on uploading approved docs/policies. If an owner emails us regarding a docs we know has not been uploaded yet – we will assist the owner.  No owner at this time has requested they need something they can’t find."

Here is a link to the new portal. It seems only owners will be granted access.  What about potential buyers and Realtors? They will need to go to the management website, is my guess.

Website:    BLMH Online Portal Access

Here's a link to the management company website:

Website:    G&D Property Management - Briarcliffe Lakes

(c) 2021 Norman Retzke

Board President Presentation

Reserve Fees 2002-2016 - Part of Video

I'm posting a link to a video because of the change to the HOA approach to online access.  Certain information will not be available but to BLMH owners.  The website WWW.BLMH.org was removed by management at the direction of the board a few days ago.  A new "portal" for the association is under construction and will be very limited in scope.

I began this blog on September 7, 2008.  There are presently 705 published posts. 

I may expand it with the removal of the BLMH.org website by the current board.  Odd timing, as the election is a few weeks away and any new board members will have no say on this.    Older newsletters were removed earlier from the website. With the ending of the website they are all gone.  I may upload them with links here. 

The diagram above is from a video I created for owners. I've included a link to the video in this post.

After significant effort by me, and equally significant effort by opposing forces in our HOA I was elected to the board of this HOA in 2010.  Eight years later I declined to run in September 2018. There were valid reasons, including the departure of the other board members who were the motive force for most of what was accomplished during that period. I saw no point in being a part of the board of 2018 and beyond because I saw no commitment to transfer the water mains to the City of Wheaton by that board. For example, even the most recent "candidates forms" for the 2021 elections doesn't mention the water mains and the newsletters which had been published every other month were changed immediately after my departure from six times per year to four.  I did create and send a MS Word template document for the newsletter to the board at the time of my departure.  I also provided a link to board members via email to management about a variety of important issues, with data.

There hasn't been a lot about the Water Mains transfer to owners in the last year and the board seems to hide behind management. Yet, the board makes all decisions.  

When I was on the board I could only do so much considering the headwinds posed by a few other board members. One voting block of three did its best to stonewall my efforts. 

I had taken on the production of the newsletter in 2011 because of my commitment to communications with our owners, who are our shareholders and do pay all of the bills via their fees. I left the owners and the board with a "Guidance" insert in the August-September 2018 newsletter and I created an elaborate presentation similar to the one in the link on this post. It was presented to any owner who attended the September 2018 annual meeting, as were all of the others from the period 2010 to 2018.

For anyone interested, here is a link to a YouTube video presentation which is a version of a presentation I made to the owners of our HOA in September 2016.  This is not representative of the methods and communications of the current board. In fact, with the removal of the website older newsletters, etc. are no longer available to the general public. 

President's address to Owners, September 2016

 (c)2021 Norman Retzke