This information was posted on Nextdoor Norchester, but it is not clear if it was actually sent to all subscribers. I am repeating it here in case it didn't make the cut.
Many words have been shared this month regarding our new trash service company, Texas Pride. No denying, there have been problems. Last night we visited with friends who live in Champions Forest. Champions Forest switched from Waste Management to Texas Pride late last year, for the same reasons we switched – they wanted to keep a service similar to what they were used to. Well, they had startup problems with Texas Pride, too. The problems were resolved, and Champions Forest is now happy with the services from Texas Pride. They said that the TP management really cares about doing a good job, and they are very active in their relationship with the Champions Forest community. They also shared some other information about TP. TP has been picking up many contracts from the WM decision to go to automated pickup. It is probably temporarily overloading their capabilities until they acquire more trucks and more people. But the friends believe TP will get eventually get it right. One more bit of information that I did not know. My friends told me that WM wanted to increase the monthly fee an additional $6/month for the automated pickup. Is this the path of progress through automation? You can review more about the Texas Pride switch by going to our website at https://www.norchester.org/current-topics#trashpickup.
Norchester is not alone in its HOA funding dilemma. Many HOA’s throughout the country are experiencing the same issues as we face today. I have extracted some comments from an article written by Judy Thomas with the Kansas City Star. The link to the full article is http://www.kansascity.com/news/special-reports/hoa/article92506602.html
“Homeowners in Bellingham, Wash., got a jolt last fall when they learned their HOA was proposing an increase in annual dues from $832 to $1,237 to pay for much-needed repairs and regular maintenance .
Sudden Valley Community Association board members said the nearly 50 percent increase was necessary because the previous board had ignored even routine upkeep on the beleaguered property, leaving some buildings in serious disrepair.
The homeowners rejected the increase in a vote in November. But board members said the situation was so dire that if funds weren’t approved soon, they would have to start shutting things down. Homeowners ended up approving a smaller increase early this year.
Across the country, a growing number of homes associations are facing a critical problem: a lack of sufficient reserves.”
…………..
“HOAs facing severely underfunded budgets often must resort to levying special assessments on the owners … in order to pay for needed repairs or maintenance,” it said.
Underfunded reserves can also make it more difficult for homebuyers to secure financing. Lenders are reluctant to approve loans when an HOA isn’t meeting its financial obligations, the real estate department said.
Last fall, residents of the Las Brisas community in Las Vegas were incensed when they found out their HOA was proposing to raise dues from $154 to $255 a month, a 65 percent increase.
The board said the association hadn’t been properly funding its reserve for decades, and the state of Nevada was threatening to place it in receivership. The HOA’s new management company said the fund contained $20,000 but should have been at $1.3 million.
“That’s the overarching problem,” said Carson Horton, co-founder of Capital Reserve Consultants, an Oregon-based company that conducts reserve studies for condominium and homes associations. “Nobody is concerned with the long term.”
Boards often are reluctant to raise the dues because of pressure from homeowners, Horton said, and because they’re afraid the homeowners won’t be able to afford the increases and will stop paying altogether.
“It’s a vicious cycle,” said Horton, who has called the underfunding “the other housing crisis.”
With the aging of homes associations, maintaining adequate reserves is more crucial than ever, Horton said.
“It’s a serious problem, and it’s only going to get worse,” he said. “The central issue is what happens to a community when it gets to be 30 or 40 or 50 years old. …
“These properties are poised to be the slums of tomorrow.”
End of Article.
Norchester residents – we must find a workable solution to proper funding of the Norchester Maintenance Fund by the end of 2018.
(Posting from Matthew Stout)
I look around our neighborhood and I see that our neighbors are still making repairs to their houses and recovering from Harvey. My wife and I received very minimal damage compared to other neighbors – just doors down, and many streets over – yet we are having a hard time of it. It’s disheartening to see people still struggling after having been dealt such a hard blow, and the time that it is taking to recover is wearing on everyone.
One thing that I have noticed is that yard maintenance is taking a back seat to home repair. Some people have had to cancel their yard service in lieu of contractors, and yards are being left as an afterthought. Issuing Deed Restriction violations and fines does not seem like a very neighborly thing to do at this time, and would be generally counter-productive. I was thinking this was a place that we could come together as a neighborhood and help each other. For those people who are not capable (physically or financially) to mow their own yards, I thought we could try to organize a brigade of volunteers who have the time and/or the lawn mowers to try to help.
This is just an idea in its infancy, so there details to work out. We would need volunteers who are reliable and dedicated, and lawn mowers volunteered. And we would need to cooperation of the neighbors in need, as well, to make sure the call to aid comes before the yard has grown past the height that a push lawn mower can manage and requires a landscaping company with larger machines.
The FEMA lots have been marked so they need to be taken care of by FEMA. But we should be able to co-ordinate an effort to help the neighborhood as a whole. It would be one less things to worry about until Norchester is back on its feet again.
When I started Norchester.org a couple of months ago, my primary goal was to get information about Norchester in one place for all to easily see. I wanted to quickly get all of the important documentation pertinent to our residents available for them to see/download. Most of that has been accomplished to date. To do this, I picked an inexpensive, easy to use, limited functionality website program in order to get it done quickly. Kind of a “website building program for dummies”. I had used a comparable one several years ago for a personal website. I needed something similar since I have stayed in the website dummy classification. Recently, Cathy Dunn (our Board President) asked if I could do some sort of forum on the website. What I found was that our website package includes a simple blog feature. Unfortunately, it appears to be a one person blog. Not the best way to get what we want, but that’s where we are for now.
When I started using the blog page, I did not intend to become the Lone Ranger. Still don’t. What I think can be done with the limited functionality available is for me to post thoughts from others for them on the blog page. I’m not sure how this will work until I have tried it. I have provided information, at the top of the Blog page, on how to send me your thoughts. When somebody does that, we’ll see how it works out.
Since I am the funnel for new postings, in reality I am acting like the Lone Ranger (but unfortunately don’t look like him). Matthew Stout (on our Board of Directors) has expressed some valid concerns about the potential for censorship or delayed posting of time critical topics. Until somebody sends me something to post, it’s hard to be sure what I will do, no matter what I say. So – test me. At this point I have not even seen a comment to my current postings. I don’t know if that means:
· Nobody cares
· I am so brilliant that everyone agrees with all I have to say
· Nobody has read any of this
· The keys on your computer don’t work
· Nobody has tried to send a comment
· Somebody has sent a comment, and the website doesn’t display it
The last two are my focus. I need somebody to help me ferret out the last possibility. Anyone. Is anyone out there?
Gee, it’s lonely being the Lone Ranger.
We are all residents of Norchester. Whether you just purchased your home or have lived here 50 years, we have a common bond – the welfare of Norchester. We are a diverse lot. Young and old. Many ethnic backgrounds. Wide economic classes. Our common desire for the continuing prosperity of Norchester, regardless of other differences, will be our pathway to success as a subdivision in which we are all proud. This pathway includes each of us acting as a responsible and civil neighbor.
The subdivision is technically run by the Norchester Maintenance Fund (NMF). The NMF is a corporate not-for-profit entity. So we must operate like a business. Our organization’s business is actually run by mostly unpaid volunteers – your neighbors. The Board of Directors and our various committees are unpaid volunteers. We do pay fees to a management company to help accomplish some of the tasks common to most business entities such as accounting, paying bills, etc., but the essence of our organization is managed by volunteers – your neighbors. Keep that in mind if you have a disagreement with someone speaking for the subdivision. Your difference may not really be with the person, but with the position of the Norchester Subdivision on the subject. If you disagree, please don’t make it personal.
When you were a kid, you were probably often told “you can’t always have your own way”. Well, as a member of the subdivision, that statement still holds. There is a current campaign underway to update our governing documents. As part of this, the Board of Directors has determined, after rigorous analysis, that the annual lot fees must be raised. The fee increase is based on the needs of the Norchester Subdivision. This is not a personal view of a resident so much as a consensus of our Board, our Committees, and many of our residents – your neighbors. If someone honestly disagrees with the necessity to raise the lot fees, that is one of our prerogatives as individuals. Please, though, do not consider the fee increase requirement as a personal opinion of just a few people. When the time comes, vote your conscience. And, if the increase is passed by the required 2/3 majority, we ask you to peacefully accept “you can’t have your own way” and join together with all residents – your neighbors – to keep Norchester successful for the future.
This Norchester.org website is all about the Norchester Subdivision, the Norchester Maintenance Fund (NMF), and the Home Owners Association (HOA). Our most important current concern is the need to increase the HOA fees to the level that will sustain our community. The website page Current Topics is a MUST READ for all Homeowners. Every resident in Norchester needs to digest the information on that page, and then get engaged in conversation with your neighbors about what we need to do. This is where we live folks. Let’s come together to keep Norchester a fine neighborhood of homes.
