Waterford Lakes
Homeowners Association Minutes & News
August 16, 2018
Attendance: 27 residents, 5 Board Members, PSG (Susan
Keene & Larry Edwards)
Call To Order: 6:40pm
Pledge of Allegiance
Approval of July Minutes
Treasurer’s Report (thru July 31, 2018): Checking: $24,553
Roofing
Reserve: $109,952
CD
(reserve funds): $51,357
%
of Budget (after 7 months) 53%
Profit/Loss
to date: $7705
Don
Ulrey, Treasurer, reported that our CD was renewed in July for 13 months, which
was the shortest term offered. Our rate
went from .25% to 2.25%. He anticipates
rates to be even better when the CD renews once again.
Committee Reports:
Social
Committee:
Ladies
we are scheduling a visit to the Ayres
Tea Room at the Indiana State Museum
for lunch in early December. We are trying to reserve the first Friday in
December. Reservations must be in by August 31st to Geri
Conway (317-268-4353).
Monthly Men’s Breakfast at Emmy’s: Come join us Saturday, September 8th at
9:30am.
Biscuits & Gravy Breakfast rescheduled to Saturday, October 13th 8am-10am.
Cards
were sent to Dee Brewer and Sharon Simmons who recently had surgery. We hope
you are all recovering nicely. Dave
Miller passed away August 23rd.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Janell.
Community
Phone Directory Committee:
You
are receiving the updated 2018 directory with your minutes. I want to
personally thank Peggy Burke (426 Waterford Lane) for maintaining the database
and laying out the directory again this year.
When Peggy moved in 3 years ago, she asked how she could help. And of
course, we had some ideas! Thanks to
Nancy Fitzgerald for binding the directories.
Landscaping
& Architecture Committee
We
would like to remind you that Mr. Sandavol
has the Board’s permission to trim low hanging branches that interfere with his
mowing. We do not want anyone hurt.
We recommend aerating your lawn in
September. It is one of the best
things you can do for your lawn. If you
are willing to water daily, you may wish to consider over seeding with
the aeration service. Aerating is the
process of punching small holes all over your lawn. The most effective type of aerating is with a
gas-powered machine called a core aerator that pulls out small cores of grass and
soil. Air is critical to healthy root
growth. Aerating your lawn breaks
through the thatch layer (providing a better habitat for microorganisms),
enables the roots to breathe, and improves water and nutrient penetration. Signs your lawn needs aerating: water puddles
after rain or irrigation; water runs off lawn after only a few minutes of
watering; worn areas where people walk; parts of lawn just can’t seem to stay
moist. The heavy commercial lawn mowers
compact the soil forcing air out. Eventually, the grass declines and starts
turning brown due to the lack of air and water to the roots. The ground in
Waterford Lakes is very hard and compact anyway. The topsoil was hauled off by
the builder and compacted clay soil (from dredging the retention ponds) was
spread around the buildings during construction.
If
your lawn is looking bare and worn, it may be time to over seed with aeration. Aeration
allows the seed to go 2-3 inches deep in the ground where deep roots can form.
The deeply rooted grass takes longer to come up and you will see the benefits
in the spring. After over seeding, water thoroughly, but be careful not to wash
the seed away. Keep the grass seed lightly
watered for the first two weeks so the seed does not dry out. The best way to control weeds is to grow a thick
lawn.
Most
lawn fertilization companies offer aeration services. When
aerating, be sure to mark your sprinkler heads with flags if you have an irrigation
system.
Overwatering your lawn can create
problems. What determines if your grass needs water is how dry
the soil. Soil moisture is determined by air temperature, humidity, wind speed,
rainfall frequency and amount, soil-type and overall condition of the
grass. The proper way to water a lawn is
very simple: thoroughly but infrequently
(wet the soil five inches deep). A lawn can be watered any time of day but
it is best to avoid watering in late afternoon or evening. Early morning is a good time. Watering every day or even every other day is
overwatering. Daily watering keeps the porous spaces in the ground filled with
water instead of oxygen, which is vital to the growth of grass. Without oxygen the root system will be shallow
and possibly suffocate and die. Shallowly
rooted grass plants are easily stressed. This in turn makes them more
susceptible to disease and insect damage. Roots are not easily visible but they
determine the health and beauty of your lawn.
Overwatered lawns often have the weeds that are more difficult to
control. Fertilizer that is applied to
an overwatered lawn is washed past the roots before it can be absorbed by the
grass plant. Consequently the lawn will
lose color faster. Setting your
sprinkler system once in the spring will ultimately not work. It needs to be more hands on. Mother Nature has the final word!
Brown spots in your yard can come from a list of possibilities: insects, grubs, fungus, heat & humidity,
and oxygen deprivation. With the slow release fertilizer that is used, it
should not be from the application.
Old Business:
1.
The question was
raised about the status of the roofing project. Larry Edwards explained that
the 4th unit is scheduled for this month.
Hopefully, Edwards Roofing will be able to complete the 3 other units
between September - December.
New Business:
1.
John Shew suggested that the Board consider aerating the yards
since this has not been done in about 6 years. He also raised concern over the quality of the
fertilization service we are receiving from Growing Image. The feeling among the residents is that the
weeds are worse than they have ever been.
The Board
met with Bridgette at Growing Image following the meeting. She said “spurge” has been a real problem
this year with the weather. Spurge is an aggressive weed with widespread seed
dispersal, drought tolerance, and an extensive taproot system. The pre-emergent, used in the 1st
& 2nd application do not touch this type weed. To tackle this problem, we will be receiving
a special application Tuesday, August 28th (30-30-6 slow
release nitrogen + iron to help green) with a spurge & mulberry control. They will follow up with a 4th
application the beginning of October (30-0-5 quick release
nitrogen). They like to apply weed
killer with a liquid application to adhere better to the grass plant with a
granulated fertilizer. Keep in mind this
can be a slow reaction as the weed killer goes down to the roots. It will continue
to work all winter and you should notice a big difference in the spring. Ideally, you should wait 24 hours, allowing
the treatment to dry before doing a light watering.
Keep in mind
when we kill the spurge there will be more bare spots potentially in your
yard. This is another good reason to
aerate and over seed.
2.
Linda Osborn
suggested that we work on getting a group rate for aeration/ or aeration with
over seeding.
The Board
has arranged a group rate for aeration services through Growing Image. If you are interested, contact Brandon at PSG
(317-837-9860) by September 10th.
You have 2 options: aeration only
or aeration with over seeding. Growing
Image will use a grass seed mix of tall fescue & blue grass. They will invoice you by mail upon completion.
Aeration
Only Aeration
+ Over Seeding
Most Yards $45 $90
Large Yards (corners) $60 $120
3.
Rita Emge raised the question: What has been planned
for the willow trees that are dying
around the retention ponds bordering Waterford Lane. The Board has received quotes to remove the
willows. The estimate is $500 each
to cut down and remove the stump. These
are on the list to be put in the budget.
We are currently over budget for trees this year with 4 months to
go. We have to prepare for additional
Bradford Pears to split before the year is out.
We may have to spread out the removal of these willows over time. The
one on the eastside of Waterford Lane would ultimately be first on the list.
6. The Board has asked PSG to put an RFP together for snow removal
services. We will begin the bid
process to find a company that will provide better quality work/service without
tearing up driveways, yards and landscaping.
Considerations will include: the type of equipment, method of plowing,
availability, and reasonable rates. Snow
removal is to include driveways, front sidewalks and stoops.
7.
Anne Inman led a discussion on the pros and cons of
having a rental restriction policy. Randy
Simmons, who has gone through this process in Florida, cautioned us on the
challenges of enforcing rental policies and potential costs for legal
services. Overwhelmingly, the residents
in attendance were in favor of amending the Covenants to include: a rental ban,
grandfathering provisions, hardship exceptions, short term rental ban
(AIRB&B), and lease provisions. The
Board has created a special committee, chaired by Anne, to work through policy
specifics, tracking, enforcement, challenges, resident/owner education, roll
out and voting. Recommendations will be
made to the Board and PSG. You will be
kept informed throughout the process.
Ultimately our attorney will draft the Amendment. Current rental units will be grandfathered so
don’t panic!
8.
The Biology Dept. at Franklin University has obtained a federal permit to do research on the
migration of mallard ducks in urban areas.
Since we have a lot of ducks in residence, they have chosen Waterford
Lakes as one of their sites. They have set up a trap along the Dan Jones retention
pond to trap and band ducks for about 2 weeks with Board permission. The trap is set daily for an hour and the
ducks are immediately released after being tagged. This is being done in the counties
surrounding Marion County. Too bad it
isn’t the geese being trapped!
Door Prize Awarded: Martha Bosma
Winner! Meeting Adjourned: 7:30pm
Next HOA
Meeting Thursday, September 21st at 6:30pm
A Message from the Board
An
essential element of HOA lifestyle is that individuals must sometimes
subordinate their wishes to what is in the community’s best interest. In HOA’s, owners give up certain rights for
the HOA’s benefit at time of purchase.
You might call our HOA a “common interest community”.
The
Board made a commitment to residents, when the HOA assessment was increased
from $125 to $150/month in January, 2017, that fees would not be increased
again for some time. We took on the roofing project with the understanding
there would not need to be a special assessment. The Board is very cognizant of the fact that
many residents are on fixed and limited budgets.
The
Board is juggling many priorities and challenges with an aging community that
demands more maintenance, more repairs, and more upkeep. At the same time, we committed $6000/month of
our budget for the roofing project through 2025/2026. We have a long “wish list” needless-to-say. As
our community ages, healthy reserve funds take on more importance. A strong volunteer effort saves resources.
The
Waterford Lakes HOA Declaration of
Covenants is very specific as to the responsibilities of both
homeowners and the Association. We are a
planned unit development (PUD) not a condo community. In a PUD, you own your lot not the
Association. The Covenants state, “each
Owner shall be responsible for maintaining and keeping his or her Lot and all
improvements thereon in a good, clean and sanitary condition, and shall do all
work, thereon, which is not required hereunder to be performed by the
Association including the interiors of patio areas and patio fences.”
The
general duty of the Association is “maintenance, repairs, replacements and
upkeep of the Common Area”. “In addition
to the maintenance of the Common Area, the Association shall provide exterior
maintenance upon each Lot hereunder as follows: paint, repair, replacement and
care of roofs, gutters, downspouts, and exterior building surfaces. Such exterior maintenance shall not include
glass surfaces, screens and screen doors and window fixtures and hardware,
patios, and such other items the Board
of Directors may designate as long as such items of exception shall apply to
all units equally.” The Covenants
also says the Association is responsible for lawn maintenance including mowing,
fertilization and trimming. It shall not include the care and maintenance of
shrubs or trees that were not originally planted by the Declarant or flowers or
other plants on any Lot.
A Checklist is in the 2018 Community
Phone Directory that lists the responsibilities of the Owner and
Association.
We
are a Community that cares about each other and everyday someone extends a
helpful hand to help another neighbor.
We see the value of our homes increasing and Waterford Lakes has become
a much sought-after Community.