Towne Lake Garden Association

With the well monitoring test period ending next month has anyone heard if the water rights are a done deal? It would be hard to believe giving up all that potential revenue without a long drawn out court battle taking years to settle while the projected water rates climb higher and higher over the coming years because of the drought. Their attorneys are on retainer, and I'm not sure if we have even hired one yet.

Are we going to have to pay for the water that was metered this past year? And, how are we actually going to be billed, will it be monthly, quarterly? If we are going to pay via monthly assessments will we be adjusting our assessments as water rates change, and just how soon are our assessments going to change?

If assessments do go up over $130/month home owners that decide to sell might find it a little difficult to find a buyer with assessments so high. I think the cost will be even higher in the coming years, maybe closer to $175 a month if the drought continues.

The cost of filling the lake with dirt might be high but at least it's only a one time cost, save for the landscaping that would be a fraction of the cost of keeping a lake filled with water.

There just seems to be so many unanswered questions, and the main 2 are when and by how much are our assessments scheduled to increase?

Too bad there's not some rare ducks raising ducklings here that we could get a grant for.

My only advise is that you read the newsletter or attend the monthly Working board meetings or monthly information meetings the last Tuesday of each month.

Your volunteer neighbors (Board of Directors) will do their best to describe the step by step measures being taken to preserve your property values & to keep our dues reasonable.

The next step is to have a geophysical log completed on our well by Haskins Pump Service.  The easement was cleared Saturday for the craine to back into position.  If all goes well (sorry for the pun) we may have the log completed this week.

Your 2009 DOB

I think a thorough, intelligent job is being done to ensure that residents of Towne Lake have the answers they need to keep their property values and the amenities of the neighborhood at their highest possible level.

Thank you, Kevin Ott!

As I've posted before my disability prevents me from volunteering and/or attending meetings. Perhaps I can speak with an attorney, and see if there isn't some way, through the Americans with disabilities Act, to have the BOD set up a web conference whereby residents with disabilities can view the meetings online and post questions via a message board. What's more, I do read the newsletter that's precisely why I posted this topic. I think most residents really want to know when and by how much our assessments are scheduled to increase. These aren't particularly, unreasonable questions to ask and have answered.

I don't think anyone questions the thoroughness or intelligent way the BOD operates as long as it's open and transparent. The gate cameras come to mind the way they were done without Real Manage taking bids and being allowed to do what we pay them for. I believe the excuse was what does it matter as long as we save money, only to find out it was a big waste of money because the cameras were of poor quality. Now, I'm sure residents can contact Real manage to find out they were allowed to do their job and take bids for the geophysical log, and we will be able to get copies of all the companies that submitted bids, and Haskins Pump Service won't turn out to be a friend of a Board member like what happened with the gate cameras. I have faith we learned from our mistakes of the past.

As for residents having the answers we need to keep our property values and neighborhood amenities at their highest levels, I think we are all up to speed on those, and everyone appreciates all the hard work. The only information we seem to be without is by when and how much will our assessments be going up. With all due respect, I really don't understand why these 2 questions are being danced around.