F.Y.I. The Newsletter of Edgewood Townehouse Association
PO Box 5424, Eugene, OR 97405April 2012
Important Dates:
Next Regular Board Meeting: Tuesday, May 8, 6:30 PM
Quarterly General Meeting: Tuesday, April 24, 7:00 PM
(Notices of any special board meetings are posted in the Clubhouse 3 days before date of meeting per Bylaws)
Hospitality Activities:
By-the-Brook Book Group: By-the-Brook Book Group: Wed. May 9, 2 PM
Tuesday Afternoon Teatime: May 15, 3 PM in the Clubhouse.
Contents:
Message from the Board;
Board Meeting Minutes: 4/10/12;
Announcements
Reports: Facilities; Emergency Preparedness, Clubhouse, Website; Treasurer's;
Monthly Banking Activities [Omitted]
Profit and Loss [Omitted]FYI Info:
Substitute Editor: Toni Horodysky ( )
MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD
To Preserve, Restore, and MaintainEdgewood Townehouse Association is a Planned Unit Development and has a rich and unique history that spans over forty years. A PUD is a residential land designation which promotes large scale, unified land development or an exclusive community (FYI, March 2011 edition). Donald Lutes, John Amundson, and Lloyd Bond, the architect, planner, and landscape architect respectively who designed our beautiful community (FYI, January 2012 edition) set the tone for enduring traditions that continue today. So, what makes living at Edgewood attractive and comfortable for us? Well, it’s the little things that we all practice as traditions.
Waste management and recycling are two of those practices. For the majority of us, Wednesdays are waste and recycling pick-up day. Rolling your waste and recycling containers back into your garage after they are emptied and not leaving them in the driveways over night adds to the serene vistas in our community. One practice that helps the drivers collecting waste and recycling is to place your containers at least six (6’) feet away from garages and roof eaves. The equipment that stretches out to grab the containers needs space to safely clear garage doors and gutters.
Another practice that adds to the ambiance of Edgewood is parking our vehicles in our garages. From time-to-time, our guests and our service providers park overnight in the guest spaces. Even some of us, at times, need to park our vehicles outside overnight. For just a few nights, please place a “Guest Parking” placard on the dashboard. For longer periods, submit a Parking Waiver Request, available at the clubhouse. This is especially important for large recreational vehicles that need to park in our Overflow Parking lot on a temporary and limited basis.
One of the most invaluable and appreciated traditions at Edgewood is the spirit of volunteerism. (FYI, May 2011 edition) One, not often recognized, reason for the success of non-profit homeowner organizations is the contributions of our homeowners’ expertise, experience, and volunteer service in positions that serve the day-to-day business of operating our Association. The success of Edgewood Townehouse Association is founded on volunteer leadership that has steered the course of our community for over forty years. Thanks to everyone presently serving in leadership positions and to those who have served in the past for contributing to our success.
Bruce Trafton
President, Edgewood Townehouse Association ( )
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Meet and greet your neighbors at the Quarterly Meeting on Tuesday, April 24, at 7 p.m., at the clubhouse. Dessert will be served at the end of the meeting.
EDGEWOOD TOWNHOUSE BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING APRIL 10, 2012
Call to Order: Bruce Trafton called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM. Present were Russ Fryburg, Suzy Wojcik, Linda Johnson, Toni Horodysky, Jennifer Smith, Doug Cone, Bruce Trafton, and Jolene Baron. Excused was Susan Klein. Also present was Frank Gaddini.
Approval and Acceptance of Minutes: A call was given to approve and accept the minutes of the March 13, 2012, meeting, as published in the FYI newsletter. Toni moved that we do so. Seconded by Linda. Motion passed.
Treasurers Report: Three homeowners were delinquent with their dues. Frank and Toni met with one of the homeowners who is significantly behind, and the homeowner agreed to get caught up by April 30, 2012. The Association rolled over a $__ CD into a 36-month term at __%.
State of Facility Report: A written report was submitted. Frank read his report for the board. Damage control cleanup from the recent storm was the main activity of the month, and 6 dumpsters were filled after the storm. During the month of April, two more dumpsters will be filled. The college students worked very hard to help with this cleanup, thus saving us many dollars over commercial companies.
Standing Reports
- Budget Report: No report.
- Clubhouse Committee: No report submitted.
- Grounds: Written report was submitted.
- Swimming Pool: Closed for the season.
- Welcome Committee: Four new homeowners will be getting welcome baskets for new owners put together by Fran Gaddini. There were five townhouses sold in the last six weeks.
- Website Committee: Written report submitted.
- Emergency preparedness: Toni will compose written reports for the FYI.
Old Business
Homeowner insurance policies -- There was much discussion about requiring homeowners to have homeowner insurance coverage. The board would need to revise the bylaws to require such a change. Several board members will meet with the Association State Farm agent and an adjuster to learn more about our insurance coverage.
Signage -- The work on the signs has been at a standstill this past month due to the massive cleanup from the March storms. In the future it’s possible to use a stylized font for our site with wood that has been salvaged. It will be necessary to postpone most work except for grounds cleanup.
Pool lounge chairs -- An attempt will be made to paint the lounge chairs to determine if it is possible to refurbish them.
New Business
Parking waiver requests - None submitted.
Continued discussions of homeowner/realtor packet and CCR&s revisions - This is one of our goals that has been on the list of “to do’s”. Several board members will contact other associations for information on how they proceed with sale paperwork. Rental policy will be added to our list of policies to review.
Reserve funds cap - There should be a percentage of our total value in reserve funds. There was some discussion about how much should be in the reserve fund account. It is possible to have additional cash in another fund “sinking” for repairs and improvements, or catastrophic events.
Announcements
Dates for standing reports –The standing reports should be submitted for board meetings by the Thursday before the meeting with the exception of the treasurers and web reports. Reports and minutes for the FYI will be one week after the board meeting. One week after the board meeting, the “Message from the Board” should be submitted to the FYI editor.
Signage – Political or Real Estate - There are no signs allowed on the property. Signs may be displayed inside the window of the individual homeowner.
Garage doors and garbage cans – Homeowners should keep garage doors closed except when in use. Garbage cans should go inside after the pickup on the same day. The cans should be at least five feet away from the buildings to allow for easier pickup by the collector.
Next Board Meeting: May 8, 2012, 6:30 PM
Next General Meeting: April 24, 2012, 7:00 PM
Russ moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:00 PM. Jolene seconded. Motion passed.Respectfully submitted,
Suzy Wojcik, Secretary ( )
March 2012 Facilities and Operations Report
Frank L. GaddiniMarch at Edgewood Townehouse can be described with one word- extreme. Extreme rain. Extreme snow. Extreme wind. And, extreme expenditure! Tree limb and grounds cleanup on our nearly twelve (12) acre site after the storm became our single maintenance activity of the month distracting us from many other planned projects. We filled six (6), twenty (20) yard dumpsters with tree limb debris during the last two weeks of the month. This is extreme, in that over the past two years we average only two (2) or three (3), twenty-yard dumpsters per year. We also consumed a large portion of our contract laborers budget, completely consumed our tree maintenance budget, and tolled heavily on our waste/recycling budget as we managed the aftermaths of the storms. We will make adjustments through the year to keep our budget in balance though.
With the amount of tree limb debris remaining on the grounds, it may take us through the end of April before we restore our grounds to their normal tidy appearance. So, your patience will be appreciated as we slowly move forward with our cleanup efforts. Fortunately, though, our facilities and buildings were left undamaged by the now infamous March 2012 storms.
Regarding our Capital Projects, March saw the first of our annual siding restoration and repair projects as we began our first project the last week of this month. We also continued our program of overhead garage door replacements. Four (4) of the ten (10) doors approved by the Board are now installed and April’s two (2) overhead garage doors have been ordered. Another unusual event that occurred during the month was the removal of a family of nutria. Nutria, a beaver-like, rodent-like pest that is invasive and not natural to our state’s wildlife, was captured and removed by professional wildlife experts in accordance with Oregon Fish and Wildlife laws.
Although we recorded and completed fifty-nine (59) jobs tasks during the month, grounds cleanup was the lion’s share of our work. March 2012 lived up to its Roman and Greek (Ares) name’s-sake – Mars the god of War – as we march ahead with our campaign to restore Edgewood to its park-like setting.
Until next month, have a peaceful Spring!
Are You Ready? (continued)
The Red Cross kit described in the March issue of FYI mentions “important documents.” The last issue of AAA newsletter “Via” has the following:
“Photograph and list your household valuables, along with estimates of their worth. Keep close records of all your accounts – insurance, banking, credit, loans, – including the account type, number, expiration date, and customer service numbers for each.
“Photocopy the crucial contents of your wallet - AAA card, driver’s license, credit cards – front and back. Once you’ve documented everything, make three copies. Keep one at home, one in your emergency kit, and another with a family member or trusted friend.”
I would add that you might photograph or video every wall, closet, and drawer in your home, not just your “valuables,” in case your insurance company questions you or you can’t remember every single pot, book, and shirt in your home.
I would add a backup of important computer files, scans of favorite family photos, photocopies of birth, marriage, death certificates, and trust documents. Having photocopies will do in an emergency, and will make it much easier to apply for certified copies. You might consider listing logins and passwords -- of course, you disguise the passwords, i.e. you would just write “a17,” instead of “abracadabra17.”
According to my younger daughter who evacuated New Orleans during Katrina, her first purchase was a car charger for her cell phone. Sometimes after a disaster local phone lines are out or jammed, while long distance works, so everyone in your family should agree to contact a person out of the area to tell them they are OK.
We still need a few more people to volunteer as group leaders in case of a disaster.
Submitted by Toni Horodysky, ( )
_______________________________________________________________________________________________April Clubhouse Report
The clubhouse is undergoing some improvements. You may have noticed, if you’ve used the building recently, some office furniture and bits of other office paraphernalia outside the office door. A new built-in desk and shelving has replaced an old and out-of-date arrangement inside the office. During the process, old file cabinets of dated material are being evaluated and documents either discarded or re-organized for better storage. It’s a big job and thanks go to Frank G., Bruce T., and Toni H. All have been working hard on this project.
Once the office is completed the carpets will be cleaned, a replacement lamp will be purchased and we’ll be ready for summer. Get your reservations in soon!
Enjoy the facilities!
Bev Day, Clubhouse Chair ( )
Edgewood Townehouse Association Website, April 2012
Toni Horodysky, ( )Our website, www.edgewoodhoa.org had 59 visitors who looked at 169 pages during the period March 9 to April 6. This increase in activity is due to the pending sales of several units at ETA this past month. Prior to creating the website in December 2008, our former Presidents had to make copies of CC&Rs, By-Laws, Rules, and 12 months of FYI’s. Our website allows the potential buyers and real estate agents to view the information directly.
Treasurer Report, April 2012
Toni Horodysky, Treasurer ( )One of the CDs set aside towards our $ __ insurance deductible matured in late March. We rolled it over into a 36 month CD paying __% at Oregon Community Credit Union. We have now closed all our accounts at Umpqua.
Recent sales activity resulted in many questions from real estate agents regarding our rental rules, etc.
Our spending for the first quarter matched our budget well. Thanks to our recent storms, we expect to exceed the amount budgeted for tree removal and pruning.
April 2012 ETA Grounds Committee Report
The recent record snowfall, followed by a severe windstorm several days later, put our usual spring grounds maintenance and care program on hold. Frank Gaddini, our ETA Director, was able to round up enough hourly employees (most of whom are students), despite finals at the U of O and the Easter holiday, to fill seven dumpsters with debris. More debris has to be removed, several dangerous tree limbs dealt with, and the damage assessed, as well as getting back on schedule.
The storm’s damage was somewhat assuaged by the appearance of pink, red, and purple blossoms along Brae Burn and Westbrook Way.Jerry Wojcik
ETA Grounds Committee Chair
[Phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and street addresses have been removed for privacy reasons.]