QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER
September 30, 2010
Well, not much went on during the summer. Not even very nice summer, the weather just couldn’t make up its mind whether to be cold or warm. The dry winter caused a lot of loss with the trees and landscape plants. Most of the homeowners have responded to that by replacing the trees with new ones. Those trees will need extra TLC for two years. That means supplemental watering each week. The sprinklers just don’t give the tree roots enough water when they do the lawns.
The one uncompleted project is the sign post at the intersection of Paradise and Meadow Glenn. Monica has all the parts on-hand and the post on its way, so that should be taken care of soon. I think everyone who has taken the time to set the city’s sign back up after it has blown over needs a thank you, so Thank You!
ELECTIONS FOR HOA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Just a heads up, but this is the third year for the present Board of Directors, so the homeowners in the Orchards need to think about volunteering for a Board position. I’m of the opinion that every resident homeowner if not every homeowner needs to be a part of the administration of the HOA by volunteering for at least a year. It is easy to criticize the Board, not so easy when you are in the position of implementing the CC&Rs and By-Laws. Please give it your serious consideration.
Due to the economic times we have a lot of homes in the Orchards sitting empty, some in foreclosure or short sale. The lawns and landscaping at these properties really look bad. Establishing landscaping is a long-term process; beautiful yards take a time commitment. When landscaping dies we look like a neighborhood in decline not one where the homeowners have pride in their homes and yards. If you are trying to sell your property the unkempt look is sure to make it harder to sell. Either you or your property management company isn’t doing the job you agreed to do when you bought into a homeowner’s association.
Those homeowners who have renters need to give them a list of the By-Laws so that they are aware of the rules associated with being in an HOA. The Rules and Regulations are shown on the back of this Newsletter, along with the associated fine. They include not keeping your garbage can out of sight, parking in the Fire Lane and nuisance activities, including parties.
The Board of Directors has not started having meetings again. I have been told that they are in the process of agreeing to a day of the month to meet. Remember that the meetings are open to all homeowners. If you have an issue that you want to bring to the Board, let them know ahead of the meeting date so they can arrange to put it on the agenda for discussion. The Blogspot should give you the date and time of the meetings. You can also send an email to the HOA address to ask about date and time or send in a request for an agenda item.
In accordance to Article III, 3.12 (4) and the State of Washington RCW 64.38.020 (11) the following is the fine schedule for violations of the Covenants, By-Laws, and Rules and Regulations for the Orchards: Revision 2/5-4-2007.
Property: including but not limited to unkempt landscape, lawn maintenance, junk or garbage in front yard or visible from the street (not screened with properly approved fence) -- $50 per week until resolved.
Fences and Outbuildings: including but not limited to damage to the common area fencing, private fences in disrepair, fences or outbuildings not approved by the ARC committee -- $50 each violation per month until remedied.
Parking/Vehicle Restrictions: including but not limited to: blocking the sidewalks, impeding the passing of an emergency vehicle, blocking another’s driveway, parking too close to a stop sign or intersection (curbs are marked with red paint) or parking in the front yard of a property -- $50 each vehicle per occurrence.
Animal Restrictions/Control: Primary response for animal issues in Cheney is S.C.R.A.P.S. No action will be taken by the Board unless that agency is proven to be consistently, unreasonably unresponsive.
Trash: including but not limited to cans being left out past the day of collection, trash in cans not being properly lidded so that the trash blows into other’s yards or the common areas of the neighborhood, trash dump in swales (including grass clippings that someone dumps. -- $50 per occurrence, per month until remedied.
Drainage Swale Maintenance: including but not limited to failing to plant the swales in grass and keep them trimmed and weed free, failing to make sure the flow of drainage water is not impeded, homeowners may not fill in any drainage area or degrade the swale in any way -- $50 per occurrence, per month until remedied plus cost of restoring swale to its correct state.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
June Newsletter (posted a bit late due to blog error)
QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER
June 30, 2010
There were several things accomplished in the this quarter in The Orchards. The curb and storm drain cover on the corner of Meadow Glen and Silverthorn was repaired. Didn’t fix the problem of the puddle collecting there, but that was an engineering problem caused by the developer. With the rain that we got this last winter and continuing this Spring, that is certainly evident. I think that the storm drains put in by the mailboxes on Silverthorn have helped with that runoff though. The other item was to have the asphalt cracks sealed and that was accomplished also. The street sweeper has also been through. In fact, he did Paradise also!
The Board directed me and Jessica Dempsey to meet with the City of Cheney Park and Recreation Department to talk with them about the park situation in the Orchards. In 2007 we voted and proposed to the city our wishes for the development of the park at the end of Meadow Glen behind the Holiday Inn. Paul Simmons and Todd Ableman came out and did a walk-around with us, and Paul seemed enthusiastic about going forward with the proposal if grant money can be secured. All of the paperwork that we had submitted to the City for consideration in the 2008 budget had gone missing with the change of personnel, and it has been a job to recreate that paperwork and get copies to him. We were also asked to talk with John Johnson, a city engineer, about the rainwater runoff from Murphy Road all the way down the hill through the Barrington’s parking lot and the undeveloped field to the north (?) of the apartments which is all draining into our runoff swales that run behind the houses on Silverthorn and then down Meadow Glen and the larger swale that runs behind the Holiday Inn. The outcome was not as satisfying as we had hoped for. The agreement with the city is that the swales are to be maintained with grass to filter the rainwater. There has been erosion along the runoff swale, causing the large river rocks to dislodge up at Silverthorn and areas along the Holiday Inn side, where there is no vegetation, are eroding and will need to be addressed. Bottom line is that we are a private neighborhood and can make some changes as long as we do not affect our neighbor’s property adversely.
The maintenance person has asked Mr. Sprinkler to address the sprinkling system. The repairs done to it following the first bad winter were incorrectly sized. This spring when they tried to start up the system two leaks were found in the soaker system which services the Silverthorn landscaping. I won’t know until the July meeting if those issues have been resolved, but Greg Bell who lives by the park, says that they are running, and I don’t see leaking.
Nothing happening with the Yard of the Month which was proposed. I have tried to interest the Cheney Gardeners in coming into the Orchards to look at some of our yards though. They are still young, but there are some of our neighbors who are doing a really nice job in plantings and architectural details. Please send me your email address if you want to receive further newsletters. (For those homeowners who got a hand delivered copy of newsletter this month)
June 30, 2010
There were several things accomplished in the this quarter in The Orchards. The curb and storm drain cover on the corner of Meadow Glen and Silverthorn was repaired. Didn’t fix the problem of the puddle collecting there, but that was an engineering problem caused by the developer. With the rain that we got this last winter and continuing this Spring, that is certainly evident. I think that the storm drains put in by the mailboxes on Silverthorn have helped with that runoff though. The other item was to have the asphalt cracks sealed and that was accomplished also. The street sweeper has also been through. In fact, he did Paradise also!
The Board directed me and Jessica Dempsey to meet with the City of Cheney Park and Recreation Department to talk with them about the park situation in the Orchards. In 2007 we voted and proposed to the city our wishes for the development of the park at the end of Meadow Glen behind the Holiday Inn. Paul Simmons and Todd Ableman came out and did a walk-around with us, and Paul seemed enthusiastic about going forward with the proposal if grant money can be secured. All of the paperwork that we had submitted to the City for consideration in the 2008 budget had gone missing with the change of personnel, and it has been a job to recreate that paperwork and get copies to him. We were also asked to talk with John Johnson, a city engineer, about the rainwater runoff from Murphy Road all the way down the hill through the Barrington’s parking lot and the undeveloped field to the north (?) of the apartments which is all draining into our runoff swales that run behind the houses on Silverthorn and then down Meadow Glen and the larger swale that runs behind the Holiday Inn. The outcome was not as satisfying as we had hoped for. The agreement with the city is that the swales are to be maintained with grass to filter the rainwater. There has been erosion along the runoff swale, causing the large river rocks to dislodge up at Silverthorn and areas along the Holiday Inn side, where there is no vegetation, are eroding and will need to be addressed. Bottom line is that we are a private neighborhood and can make some changes as long as we do not affect our neighbor’s property adversely.
The maintenance person has asked Mr. Sprinkler to address the sprinkling system. The repairs done to it following the first bad winter were incorrectly sized. This spring when they tried to start up the system two leaks were found in the soaker system which services the Silverthorn landscaping. I won’t know until the July meeting if those issues have been resolved, but Greg Bell who lives by the park, says that they are running, and I don’t see leaking.
Nothing happening with the Yard of the Month which was proposed. I have tried to interest the Cheney Gardeners in coming into the Orchards to look at some of our yards though. They are still young, but there are some of our neighbors who are doing a really nice job in plantings and architectural details. Please send me your email address if you want to receive further newsletters. (For those homeowners who got a hand delivered copy of newsletter this month)
October 2010 Meeting
The next HOA board meeting will be Monday, October 11, 2010 at 6pm. If you would like to attend, please email the board or contact a board member for meeting place.
Thank you!
Thank you!
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