November 2024
Dear Neighbor:
Thank you for taking a few minutes to read this note. The Board has worked hard this year to continue to maintain and update the neighborhood as budget allows.
In recent months it has been noted to us that some homes are not maintaining their lawn and landscaping as well as they should. While we annually will note mailboxes needing work, dead trees needing removal, garbage cans needing to be put away, and many other items, we have not done as much with weeds in the lawn and landscaping issues.
We would like to form a committee with 1-2 neighbors in each section of the neighborhood: Garden, Highland, Orchard & Village. This committee, along with the help of 1-2 board members, can meet this winter and come up with lawn/landscaping guidelines. Then, in the spring, when grass and landscaping is growing, the committee can assess which houses, will need to receive notification outlining what needs to be improved. With 330 homes, the committee can assess one section at a time.
Per our covenants, if you are planning to make changes to the exterior of your home: color or material changes, revisions or additions, and landscaping, you must complete an ARC request and receive approval before beginning any work. We need 3-4 new volunteers for the ARC committee to review applications as they come in. I must stress to all homeowners that ARC applications must be submitted for any exterior work, even if you are repainting the same color, or planting a shrub, you must submit an ARC application before work is begun.
If you are interested in participating with either the Landscaping Committee or ARC Committee please reach out to Denise at AMI or myself or any other board member. This is a large neighborhood and it takes a village to manage, so we would greatly appreciate having some additional neighbors helping us.
With regard to HOA Board open positions, Debbie Pittard, our Treasurer, is planning to re-run in the the Garden/Highland, and PJ Lavelle is planning to re-run in the Village. We will have a position available in the Orchard section and encourage neighbors to consider helping on the board. Please feel free to email or call me to discuss if you have questions about the board positions.
This past year we have tackled some necessary upgrades, including:
- Tree removal of diseased/dead or dangerous trees. Many trees have been removed and others will be evaluated next year.
- Continued increases in the maintenance of our extensive common areas. We have over 80 acres of common area that require continuing maintenance.
- Exterior fence repairs – we had to replace 25 panels of metal fencing that had rusted.
- Repaving of the 3 eyebrow streets off Inverness, Colonial & Towne that the city will not repave.
- Removal of the broken teeter totter and ordering a new piece of equipment to be installed next year.
- Broken pool lounge chairs – we had over a dozen of the pool lounge chairs broken & removed and we will be purchasing at least a dozen new ones for next summer.
Your board members contribute much more than just their time for the monthly board meetings, and I want to thank our Board for their continued efforts taking care of the pool & playground, taking down the umbrellas, picking up trash and keeping all the areas clean and neat. Also, extensive efforts monitoring our 80 acres of grounds, addressing issues when trees need trimming or removal. We are also very lucky to have several neighbors who jump in to help with these efforts helping to maintain the neighborhood.
As in years past, we continue to deal with common complaints/issues:
- Garbage cans clearly in view from the street, stored outside the garage
- Yard and home maintenance issues, including overgrown areas around patios and decks, clearly visible from the street, weeds and lack of trimming, overgrown bushes or trees that affect sidewalk travel
- Mailboxes in need of repair or replacement
- Cars parked overnight on the street, in front of neighbors’ homes, and cars parked on driveways blocking the sidewalk
- Pet feces left in neighbor’s yards
- Garage carriage lights burned out
- Non-Residents using our pool, basketball court & playground. Your guests are of course welcome to use our facilities with you, but we are aware there may be non-residents with a key fob using our pool. Please do not allow non-residents regular use of our facilities.
The board continues to revisit our Reserve Study. Identifying those community assets and their life cycles, in order to plan capital budgeting in the future. Our budget this year contains an annual assessment increase of $44.00 for the year ($11.00 per quarter) as allowed by the Association Covenants and Restrictions Article VII Section 7.2(i). Thus, for 2025 the quarterly dues will increase from $236/quarter to $247/quarter.
Please remember, your board members are your neighbors and we are all interested in maintaining our neighborhood in the most effective manner.
We encourage you to visit our website https://shelbornegreene.com/ as new information can be found there when available. On the website, we have a tab labeled Board Meetings. There you can see board meeting dates, plus the minutes from the previous meetings. The Vault contains helpful documents including the ARC form, Solar guidelines, Fence guidelines, Rental restrictions, CCRs, and more.
Please also join our Shelborne Greene Facebook page that we try to keep as a private group only for our neighborhood.
Thank you!
Carol Schuler
HOA President
317-379-8256