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Village Grande at English Mill Homeowners AssociationHome . About . Committees . Board . Resources |
HOA Happenings
Boards Corner
from VGEM News Latest Issue (March to May 2025)
Did you know the snowstorm of January 6, 2025, was unofficially nicknamed "Winter Storm Blair" by The Weather Channel? The storm brought blizzard conditions to many states, but thankfully we measured right at four inches. (According to our Snow Captains) Our contractor, Shore Point Landscaping started working on Monday afternoon and finished just a little after 11:00pm Monday evening. On February 2 in Cobbler's Knob, PA, Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter. Let's hope he was wrong. However, as winter ends, we look forward to emergence of spring, with warmer weather and the start of our outdoor activities, tennis, pickleball, bocce, the opening of the outdoor pool, and of course, the Wednesday night grill. Spring also brings with it renewed activity from our dedicated ACC members who will be walking the community to ensure that our properties sparkle and outshine other communities.
As many of you know, our landscape contractor unexpectedly closed shop as of December 2024, which left us without a contractor for 2025. The Trustees have been diligently searching for a replacement, and by the time this newsletter reaches you, they will have filled that void.
We all know how costs have increased over the past several years. Our community faces those same financial cost burdens, just on a larger scale. The Board has several major projects underway to hold our monthly maintenance fee-increases to a minimum. One cost-saving project this spring will bring two new irrigation wells online to make us less dependent on expensive city water. The Board hopes to replace all city irrigation water with well-water in the next term.
The Board also recognized that our By-Laws are outdated to the tune of 22+ years, and they need to be following New Jersey state directives. This means taking a hard look at increasing our initiation and capital investments fees. More to follow on this subject.
Please make every effort to attend our Open Session meeting.
Previous Activities
from 2017 to 2018
Attached
is a letter that describes the check
receiving process and the monthly operations report.
Janurary
14, 2018. A Technology Task Team was formed to make recommendations to the
VGEM Board of Trustees on long term (3-5 years) plans for technology. The
goal is to enhance operational efficiency of the HOA in areas of finance,
governance, communications, document storage and retrieval, and systems
monitoring. Additionally, the recommendations consider optimization of the
VGEM resident's daily experience living within the community.
Tech Library.
September
26, 2017. This is an Indoor
Pool Repairs letter from Dr Horton. It also contains a cover letter
from Jim. A copy is posted at the clubhouse.
August
8, 2017. The Board of Trustees wants to keep our membership abreast of items
that are being addressed by your Board. Below is a brief list of items you
may find to be interesting. They are not intended to be minutes of any meeting
or discussion.
1. Election – Horton’s representative on our Board of Trustees has resigned. The Election Committee has initiated the election process for the 5th homeowner Trustee.
2. Contracting Policy – The Board has received a report from the Contract Policy Committee with recommendations for a policy relating to our Contracting process. A summary of this report will be presented at our September open Board meeting, and the Board plans to draft the policy based on the results of this report in the near future.
3. When to fly Flag at half-mast – The current unwritten policy of flying our flag at half- mast when notified of the death of an HOA member is unwritten. Because opinions on this issue vary widely, we are surveying the membership to assess how the community feels.
4. Fiscal Year – Changing the fiscal year (currently Jan 1 – Dec 31) to October 1 – September 30 should better align with major cost factors and Trustee terms and should improve turnaround time of our audits.
5. Landscaping – There are various issues related to Landscaping including HOA responsibilities in Common Areas and on Owner properties, costs and how to address specific issues.
6. New Well – Board discussed initiating the RFP for a new well on Bluebell. Intent is to have well available for the 2018 irrigation season.
7. Use of Grande Room – The policy on use of the Grande Room is being reviewed by the Community Rules Committee for recommendations.
8. Parking – The Community Rules Committee will clarify our rules pertaining to the parking of oversized/recreational vehicles.
9. Guests – The Community Rules Committee will clarify our rules pertaining to Guest use of recreation facilities.
10. Snow Removal – A competitive RFP has been issued for Snow Removal starting 1/1/2018. Award should be made at our November meeting.
11. Landscape Contract – There is a task team developing a scope of Work for competitively bidding the Landscape Contract. Current Contract expires 12/31/18.
12. Recreation Facilities – A Task Team has been formed to recommend a plan on facilities needed to accommodate various community activities.
13. Future items - The Board developed a prioritized list of Items to be reviewed this year.
14. Budget – The Board is starting discussions on the 2018 Budget. A full presentation to the membership will be made in November.
15. Transition – The Board continues to work on Transition issues, and cost management
This information is intended only for the Village Grande residents, and may contain information that is confidential or privileged. If you are not a Village Grande resident, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this information is strictly prohibited.
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