President’s Report to the Directors of the River Creek Owners Association August 5, 2008
While many of us are enjoying summer vacations, the Management staff and the committees are gearing up for a busy fall season. We will be working on our annual budget and preparing for our annual meeting to be held in November. We are also in the process of appointing an elections committee to oversee the election for the one open seat on the Board of Directors. Our Second Annual Family Fun Day will be held in Confluence Park on Saturday September 13. We also hope to host a Police and Fire Safety session as a part of the event. Family Fun day started last year as a 10th year community anniversary party, but was such a great success that we decided to make it an annual event. Our special thanks to the River Creek Club, which is co-sponsoring the event again this year. We have begun the discovery phase in the water rates suit against the Town of Leesburg and look forward to the trial in late December. I am sorry to announce that due to the statewide transportation funding shortage, the permanent paving of Edwards Ferry Road will be significantly delayed. Fortunately the temporary paving surface is holding up fairly well.
The Development transition process will also be a major focus this fall. The Management team met with the Developer this month to accelerate the bond inspection and release process. We have completed our list of major infrastructure issues and will forward the list to the Developer later this month along with an updated list of expenses which the Association feels are the responsibility of the Developer. In early July we forwarded a revised draft of the Club Declaration to the Developer and the Club. We are trying to schedule a review session later this month.
The Covenants Committee submitted their final version of the revised design guidelines for the Board review in June. The Board made some changes to the basketball goal section. The draft language regarding basketball goals is more restrictive than the current 2006 version of the Design Guidelines, but not as restrictive as the Committee had suggested. This draft has been on the website since late June, and the Board heard public input at the July and August Board meetings. The Board is expected to vote on the revised guidelines tonight. We will also be appointing a new Chair for the Committee this evening.
At our June meeting we approved the new playground design suggested by the Grounds Committee’s Playground Sub-Committee. The approval contained a funding contingency for the $48,000 to $50,000 project. I am pleased to report that we have completed the funding phase, largely due to the joint Club and Association golf membership drive which generated $33,000 towards our goal. The balance of the project is expected to be funded from amounts reserved in our long term replacement fund. We have already removed the landscape lumber from around the current playgroup to address a potential safety concern. We hope to complete the installation of the new playground equipment for Family Fun Day.
The Communications Committee is completing the final details for the new joint Association/Club quarterly print publication. The Committee plans to hold a contest to name the new publication. The first issued is expected late this year. The Committee expects to select a chairperson later this month, which will allow Margaret Mortimer to step down from her role as acting chairperson. The committee currently has openings if there are residents that are interested in joining. Interested parties should contact Tony Johnson.
The Safety and Security Committee continues to review the performance of the security service vendor, which has agreed to retrain many of the officers. The new traffic counter and remote security camera are working well. We have requested the draft plans for the Shoal Creek guardhouse from the Developer and are still hopeful that the permanent guardhouse will be completed by early 2009. As a reminder the Shoal Creek gate will now stay open until 9:00 P.M. Monday through Saturday and residents can gain access by showing their transponders versus a photo ID. The level of vandalism this summer remains well below the level experienced in prior years. We did experience a large house fire this month which may have been caused by illegal fireworks. If you see any illegal activity you should contact the Sherriff’s department directly and then notify the security gate.
The Finance Committee has made some adjustments in its investment policy to better protect the assets of the Association. The financial results through June continue to run slightly better the budget. Our delinquent dues balance continues to run at a higher rate than in past years and is higher than it was earlier this year. The Committee has completed its review of the 2007 tax returns and has approved a proposal for audit and tax services for 2008. The 2009 budget will be the primary focus of the Committee over the next two months.
The Special Rules and Regulations Committee met two times in July and has now completed a review of about 2/3 of the current rules and regulations. They hope to complete the revision project before the end of the year.
I would like to thank all the volunteer Board and committee members and Tony and his staff, who make River Creek a place we are proud to call home!
Thanks
Stew Curley
River Creek
B939/L24