Bentwood Farms - Mallard Pond Homeowners Association

March 2000 newsletter

May 31, 2000

(note that this is not how it looks in print... Next month we will format the newsletter to fit on our website!)
Notes from the President
By Jim McGrath

We've endured the Y2K bug (what a farce) and a lot of snow. Now it's time to think about Spring! Soon enough we will be planting flowers, fertilizing and cutting grass. We, as the Trustees of our Homeowners' Association hope to relieve you from much of the administrative burden that lies with the running of our neighborhood. We recently had our annual meeting and elected three Trustees whose position had expired. When you see the following new Trustees, please congratulate them, and offer your assistance: Jim Miller (who is also on the Architectural Control Committee) and Nick Lacy. Also re-elected for another 3 year term is Sharon Lach. At our first meeting after the elections, positions were assigned to each of the Trustees for the coming year. Please feel free to call any of us if you have any questions or comments about the Association.
?˜ Jim McGrath- President 575-1854
?˜ Nick Lacy- Vice President 863-2624
?˜ Curt Anderson- Treasurer 861-1206
?˜ Jeff Fix- Secretary 751-8657
?˜ Sharon Lach- Grounds/ Social 861-0325
?˜ Jim Miller- ACC liaison 575-2237
?˜ Jerry Foltz- Special Projects 864-7862

During the past year, we were able to accomplish several improvements to the neighborhood, including examining what it will take to "fix" the pond, the erosion of which could cause serious damage to the pond wall. The cost of this fix will be substantial, and has led us to not reduce our annual dues this year so that we will have the necessary funds to correct the pond. A previous survey indicated that our homeowners wanted streetlights and our signs lit at the entranceways. This was recently completed. We also completed some missing sidewalks, and intend on adding sidewalks in a few more areas this year.

During the coming year, besides continuing to beautify the neighborhood with additional plantings of trees, shrubs and flowers, we will be embarking on a total rewrite of our Association Regulations and Deed Restrictions which need to be updated and clarified. If you would like to be on a committee that will look into this, please give me a call. We continue to look for ways to improve our neighborhood, aesthetically, financially, and socially. One recent suggestion was a web page for the Association, and an e-mail address (which Jim Miller set up for us, please see below). We will be looking into the feasibility of a web page. If you have suggestions, or other comments which need to be addressed, please feel free to contact me, or one of the other trustees; we are here to help make this Association one of the best. We need your feedback, which includes coming to our monthly meetings, normally scheduled to occur on the first Monday of each month. We have now secured the Violet Township offices as our normal permanent meeting place. Please come see them and give us some ideas on how to make things even better.

Treasurer's report
The board would like to thank all homeowners for their support in regard to the association's responsibility for maintaining our community areas. As noted above, several improvements made to our neighborhood have improved the appearance and value of our community. These improvements have or will incur large expenses that we believe are necessary and part of the trustee's duty in supporting and managing our development. As previously described, they include the lighting for the entranceways on Refugee Road, and continuation of two side walk runs which improve safety, meet the Americans with Disabilities Act, and present a finished image of our development. We have held off reducing this year's annual fees primarily due to the maintenance improvements that are expected and required for the pond. In addition, we have found ourselves in the need of legal counsel as a result of home-owners refusing to follow approved regulations as stated in the deed restrictions or ACC guidelines. We are expecting a large expenditure in FY 2000 for pond maintenance and are determined to complete the project so we can reduce our dues for FY 2001. The lighting improvements will add to our net costs for electric but the board believes that this improvement adds value to our community. The primary benefit is safety. Secondarily, many homeowners asked to improve visibility at these intersections. We have also allocated funds for community events and for welcoming new residents. We solicited three bids for lawn care services and have selected the lowest cost based on services offered. We have elected to stay with the company that performed the work last year. On the fourth page is the detail of our 1999 expenditures and year 2000 budget. Again, the board thanks you the homeowners for your support.

The year 2000 dues billing, in the amount of $80, is also in this mailing. Please take a few minutes and send in your check now. This will prevent additional time and expense of reminder mailings.

Social Committee
Trustee Sharon Lach has been diligently organizing our community. She has formed a Communication Committee to help improve the lines of communication between the board of trustees and the homeowners. Please thank the following ladies for volunteering to walk or ride the various newsletters, flyers, and phone directories to your door or mailbox: Carla Searfoss, Jennifer Hellmich, Billy Kelly, Lori Goddard and Kim Wright.

We have a small group of ladies on the Social Committee. More volunteers are needed for both groups. Please thank the following ladies eager to help, Director- Andrea Turner, Co-director Sharon Lach, Brenda Blais, Denise Denunzio, and Lynn Foltz. Our technical advisor is Tammy Shvach. There will be a meeting of the social committee at Sharon's Friday March 10th, at 7pm. Anyone interested in either group, please call Sharon 861-0325. Sharon also runs the "Welcome Wagon". If you have a new neighbor, please try to call Sharon so she can get a Welcome folder to them. Sharon also acts as our grounds trustee. She is responsible for ensuring all of our common areas are maintained. If you have any questions or concerns, please call. Her ongoing projects include updating the community map and phone directory.


Do You Know Where Your Dog Is?
For those of us who have them, dogs are important family members; well worth the work and attention they require. All of us appreciate dog owners who are responsible; who carry the necessary clean-up tools while walking their furry friends, and train them to stay on their own "turf". However, some dogs are free to wander, and leave "deposits" in neighbors' yards. If your dog likes to wander, please take control of the animal, and be a considerate neighbor.


Are You Connected?

If you are Internet-connected and have an e-mail address, please share it with your Homeowners' Association. Wherever possible, we would like to communicate by e-mail, instead of by "snail mail" and plastic bags on the mailbox. E-mail is faster, cleaner, and a more convenient way for many of us to receive valuable information about our community and its events. Perhaps most important, e-mail might save us hundreds of dollars per year in postage and other costs associated with getting printed matter into the hands of home-owners. When the Association saves money, we all save money.
In case you are concerned, your e-mail address will be safe with your Homeowners' Association. It will not be given out, sold, or used for any commercial purpose, we promise! Please e-mail your name and address to:
Duck-Pony@netexp.net. In the 'subject' line, put "Duck & Pony E-mail".

PLEASE SLOW DOWN!
Once again, the residents on Bentwood Farms and Steeplechase Drives have asked the Homeowner's Association Trustees to ask fellow residents to please slow down when driving in the neighborhood. As everyone knows there are many small children in our neighborhood. Driving cautiously is a responsibility that we all share in making our neighborhood a safe, fun environment for our children to grow up in. Please, Please, Please slow down when driving in the neighborhood. Please remind your guests to do as well. A few seconds saved by speeding through our community is not worth the risk of injuring one of our precious children.
Since we have had so many complaints of speeders, we will be researching the use of stop signs, speed bumps and more involvement from our local Sheriff's department to keep our neighborhood safe. Beware!

Subdivision garage sale
Our Community garage sale is currently scheduled for the 5th and 6th of May, 2000. Start accumulating all your "gently" used items to sell to others. We will be advertising in the local papers for this neighborhood-wide sale.

Don't forget-
On the back side of the dues billing is a survey
which we want you to fill out and return! Thanks