Garman Homes is having a BIG open house event on Tuesday on Wellspring Drive.  There may be many, many cars there.  They are anticipating a lot of traffic and wanted to notify the neighborhood before hand.

We understand there is some confusion regarding the recent increase in HOA dues.  The Board has worked with TLC to further clarify how and why the recent increase was retroactive back to January of 2010.  The short answer is due to the sale of TLC to Kohn-Ell Association Management Services in late 2009/early 2010, it was impossible to arrange and hold an annual meeting any earlier than we did; and due to the way the HOA was created, any increase in dues is calculated for the year.

Based on our covenants (section 7.3a and 7.3b), dues for Bridgewater are annual dues.  The Board decides on the schedule for paying the annual amount. Some choose to pay once a year, some semi-annually, some quarterly and some monthly.  When Anderson started Bridgewater's HOA, they chose to pay quarterly, and this has not changed.  The dues amount of $320/year is consistent.  When TLC sent the letter about the increase, they divided the payment into quarters because we pay our dues quarterly.  I suppose an option would have been to invoice the $20 increase upfront receive the same $75 payment for the 3^rd and 4^th quarters.  At the end of the year, the dues are still $320.

It is important that the residents know that the Board isn’t trying to “pull” anything on the homeowners.  The delay in the annual meeting was a result of the purchase of TLC and was held as soon as possible.  The annual meeting was announced to all residents and everyone was invited.  The proposed Budget in the mailing announced the dues increase to $320/year ($80/quarter) and was ratified at the annual meeting.

Moving forward, the Board is planning on holding the future annual Homeowners Meetings in November or December to prevent any further confusion with the budget.

We regret to inform you that a court order was issued yesterday (May 27, 2010) converting the bankruptcy status of Anderson Homes, Inc. and Vanguard Homes, Inc. to a Chapter 7. We have been your local builder for thirty years and are deeply saddened to deliver this message. Although we have done our best to continue honoring our warranty policy over the past year in bankruptcy, we know that some homeowners have outstanding warranty items or are still within their one-year warranty period. Unfortunately, it is no longer possible for us to fund any warranty repairs. I will be working with Residential Warranty Corporation (RWC) to clarify our company’s status in order to ensure that they will now be facilitating all warranty claims directly at anytime within your 10-year warranty period. Please refer to your RWC warranty manual for more information about the policy and you may call RWC at 1-800-247-1812 for more information about how they will handle claims under these circumstances. I will unfortunately no longer be available to answer specific warranty questions or requests.

Within the next couple of weeks I will be providing you with more specific information about the bankruptcy. If you have outstanding warranty repairs you may choose to consult with an attorney about your ability to file a claim through he bankruptcy court for reimbursement of warranty expenses you’ve incurred. In an effort to communicate this message quickly, I have e-mailed as many of you as possible. I am sure you have neighbors who I do not know how to contact by e-mail. Please feel free to pass along this information as needed, however, please know that homeowners that closed after 9/1/2009 have a different 10-year warranty company (Bonded Builders, Inc) and not RWC. They will continue to contact this company for their warranty needs.

We realize that this may leave you in a difficult situation and hope that the overall value of your home helps to compensate for the trouble and expenses you may incur.

Sincerely,

Nikole Smith

Anderson & Vanguard Homes, Inc.

 

Pool hours are 07:00 to 21:00.

Homeowners Dues must be paid in full to access the Pool.

Swim at your own risk, and have a great Summer!

Since moving to the new web host, we can now send email notifications to the Yahoo Group whenever a new article is added to the website.  The intent of this is to improve the communication between the Board and Community.

If this goes well, future implementations could possibly involve individual notification through email or SMS when articles are created or edited.  Workgroups for different committees could also help plan future community events, in the future.  This should help us all collaborate even better to make Bridgewater an excellent place to live!

Paving - According to the Town inspector, Anderson was going to pave the roads but could not do so because of chapter 11. The town didn't hold that up. Also, if you notice, at the lower intersection of Wellspring and Arctic Ridge, there is a big 2-3 inch crack in the road. Our concern was that the hill was sinking. We spoke to the inspector at lenght about this. He has inspected that hill several times and it is not eroding. The street did settle a bit causing the crack. Anderson will be required by the town to dig that end up, re-pave it and put in new curbing...of course when they get out of chapter 11. It's unfortunate but bottom line end of story for now, there is nothing we can do to get the roads paved.

Anderson Homes is now in the process of reorganization and anticipate exiting Chapter 11 in the April-May time period. When we do exit we will be considerable smaller that we were during the past 10 years or so.

Our plan for Bridgewater is to sell some of the lots to another builder. I believe this is the best approach for both Anderson Homes and the residents of Bridgewater. The quicker the remaining lots can be built on and lived in, the faster the homeowners can expect their property to appreciate. We have a couple of homes sold and under construction and expect to have couple more very soon.

We are intending on building the townhome section ourselves and should begin marketing soon.

This has been a difficult time for all of us and I appreciate the patience by the residents in Bridgewater. We will still have a few difficult months ahead, but hopefully the worst is behind us.

If you have any more questions or need some additional detail please don’t hesitate to ask.

David Servoss

Effective immediately TLC has been purchased by Kohn-Ell Association Management Services and will be under new management. Theresa Cathey, President of TLC, will no longer be owner and has chosen to retire. All other employees will no longer be employed with TLC effective Tuesday, January 12, 2009.

As far as the services provided to your HOA, nothing else will be changing. The name TLC Management, the phone numbers, due payments, etc. will be the same. Connie Mensing will be taking over as the neighborhood contact; you may reach her by e-mail at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . She is also accessible by phone: 919-534-1600 x2.

Dear Homeowner,

I would like to update you on the status of Anderson Homes’ and Vanguard Homes’ journey through Chapter 11 Reorganization.

We have received approval from the courts to finish the homes that were started prior to our Chapter 11 filing in March. Our lenders have also been approved to loan the funds needed for construction to finish those homes and we have the commitment from one of our banking partners to fund new contracts for presold homes. In fact, we already have one new home under construction and three more in the permitting and design selection stages.

We are currently working on our Chapter 11 emergence plan and expect to have it submitted to the courts for approval by September and accepted in October or November. After its approval we will emerge from Chapter 11.

I would like to thank you for being patient and understanding during this difficult time. We know that we will soon be able to look back at this as an experience that has made us a stronger team.

As a homeowner, it is important for you that we continue doing new business in order to fund warranty issues as they arise – we need to continue to bring in revenue on new sales so we can distribute it back to repairs for existing homes covered by our warranty. I am asking for your patience in this regard, as over the last year our volume has decreased substantially, we have had to reduce our personnel by 80%, and it was necessary that we move our corporate office to another location. (549 Pylon Drive, Raleigh, NC 27606). Please know that our warranties have not changed, and we will continue to give attention to service repairs.

Some of you may have received notice of liens on your property. If the date of service was prior to the date you closed on your home, then you are protected by the Title Insurance Policy you received at closing, and you are not required to do anything. If those liens have been perfected by a lawsuit, then please notify the Title Insurance Company of that. In the rare case that the date of service was after your closing date, and before March 17, 2009, please send us the specific information. As soon as we find out what the appropriate action is, we will notify you.

It is important to remember that although our financial position has changed from previous years, we are still building quality Energy Star and certified Green Homes and will continue to be the Energy Star leader in the area.

I will attempt to update you regularly as we work our way through this process. Thank you again for being patient, understanding and showing compassion during this trying time.

Sincerely,

Dave Servoss, CEO

Just a quick status update on the state of the builder in our neighborhood. As many of you have noticed, they have entered into their final phase of development and are starting to pre-sell for the townhome community. Here are some answers to commonly asked questions:

1. When is Anderson going to begin building on the lots again? Do we have a hard date?
   Within the next 60 days: they will be finishing building any lots that were started, they also will be starting 2 new buildings on vacant lots.
2. Can Anderson address the overgrowth on the some of their vacant lots and mow them?
   They are scheduling to take care of the overgrowth on the vacant lots, and will have them all taken care of within the next 30 days
3. Could you arrange for an abandonedcouch to be picked up off of LOT 15 (Arctic Ridge Way)?
   I have arranged one of our contractors, Ryan Coombs to remove the couch from lot 15 - he is checking around with dump sites to see how much it will cost to dispose of this item, as soon as he gets back to me with the best one I'll let the board know
4. The sidewalk under the power linesin the common area on Wellspring is covered in mud. Can the landscaper address this?
   I have forwarded on the information of the sidewalk area that needs cleaned to the landscaper to have him take care of this

 

Please come out, have some fun and support 8 of our community residents who are playing softball this season with Holly Springs Park and Rec. Below is a link to the calendar of the games if you would like to come out and lend support to the "Smokin' Bats" team this season. The team is being sponsored by our own Patrick Fish and his wife Michelle who are the owners of Kid to Kid - Cary (http://cary.kidtokid.com). The other members of team are:

Chris Deshazor
Bob Mayhew
Robert Bruscia
Jamie Herubin
Ryan Furr
Joe Dixon
Mike Williams

Hope to see you there!!

The new valve has been installed, and passed inspection. As well as the restrooms have been cleaned. This means the pool is reopened!

The pool has been closed while the construction of the Retaining Wall is being completed. During construction, a faulty RPZ valve (something for the firedepartment) next to the parking lot was discovered. When turned on, the faulty valve along with the recent heavy rains are contributing to the original errosion problem and are significantly delaying the completion of the Retaining Wall.

As such, we have turned off the water flowing through the RPZ valve which resulted in the closure of the Pool. The Pool cannot open until this valve is corrected. This valve had a 1 year warranty that ended in June of this year. Since this was first discovered and reported to the Board near the end of July, we may not have much recourse at this point. However TLC and the Board are continuing to investigate all options. There may still be a question as to who was supposed to make sure that it was winterized last winter. At the end of the day, it will cost around $740.00 to have the RPZ valve corrected, which will come with a 1 year warranty on work performed.

The plumber will be installing the new part tomorrow and the inspector will check it out on Friday. After he does the pool can reopen. Elite has already turned the pumps back on so it should be good to go on Friday after the inspection (I don't know what time that will be).

The work has started on building the retaining wall to prevent the slope from slipping again. In the mean time, CLC has been able to fix the problems which prevented the pool from opening on time this year. So as promised, the Pool is open for business before the July 4th weekend! Enjoy!

The vote to assess a one-time charge of $200 to fix the problems with the Pool passed with a count of 111 (yeh) to 8 (neh). This exceeds the 2/3 majority vote of quorum, so the assessment will proceed forward.

TLC will be sending out official letters regarding the assessment results to each homeowner later this week. An invoice for $200 will also be sent to each homeowner. Prompt payment is important so we can contact the contractors to begin work immediately. After 30 days with no payment the Special Assessment will be considered past-due and the normal penalty fees will apply.

The HOA Board is also pursuing all possible avenues to recover this cost, and will keep the neighborhood informed with any significant progress when it happens. When/If we are successful in recovering the costs, another neighborhood meeting will be called to vote on what to do with the surplus. Whether it's refunded to each homeowner, or applied to something else.

A Special Assessment is needed when a governing body (such as the HOA) plans to undergo a project in which others will receive a direct and unique "benefit" from the project. In this case, the HOA Board would like to fix the back hill next to the neighborhood pool so it is safe to open. To do this the HOA needs to raise funds outside the approved budget, which is what the vote is about.

Everyone should have received a letter from TLC communicating the upcoming vote for the neighborhood pool. There have been many concerns expressed through the Yahoo group, some of which may be answered here.

1. Why did this happen?
   • The back hill behind the pool lost some of the earth supporting the back cement slabs, and because this was not noticed or reported, it ultimately caused the earth to slide down the hill which makes the surrounding area next to the pool unsafe for use. A side effect of this is the fence falling, which is what prompted many of us to first realize the problem.
   • The current opinion of engineers who have inspected the site, as to HOW this happened, is that an abnormal amount of concentrated rain water and/or drainage caused the earth to slip down the hill.
   • It was not foreseeable by the engineers who originally designed the site and Pool that anything like this could have happened.
   • It was not foreseeable by the Town of Holly Springs that anything like this could happen under reasonable use of the site.
   • Proper errosion control on the back hill may have prevented this from happening if it was done immediately after construction was completed. We all received a similar notice when we bought out houses, where "If you leave ground unlandscaped, it corodes. Correcting errosion that occurs after closing is your responsibility." Unfortunately, this area was left unlandscaped after the builders finished.
2. Who's fault was it?
   
   • There is no single party to place blame with.
   • The company which constructed the Pad where the pool resides build the Pad per code, and the Town of Holly Springs passed the Pad construction.
   • The company which built the Pool and surrounding area built them per building code, and the Town of Holly Springs passed its final construction.
   • The landscaping company was not contracted to manage the back hill behind the Pool. However their new contract (starting in 2009) does state the landscaping company will manage this hill.
   • TLC Management is the HOA Management company. They handle the paperwork and has zero authority to take action unless specifically directed by the HOA Board. Unfortunately, to our knowledge, nobody in Bridgewater brought this problem to TLC or the HOA Boards attention until after it already happened and was too late to take corrective action.
3. Why wasn't someone watching this to see if it would become a problem?
   • No. In conversation with multiple HOA Managment companies, none of them walk/drive through the neighborhoods they manage to inspect code enforcement. It is the responsibility of the residents of the neighborhood to report problems to the HOA Board and/or HOA Management company.
   • If anyone has dated documentation and/or photographs where they brought this to TLC's attention before September of 2008, please contact the HOA Board.
4. How do we know it won't happen again?
   • With the proposed fix, it is highly unlikely that the same problem will happen again. The retaining wall project has been submitted to an engineering firm, where they arrived on-site and designed a plan to correct the problem. This plan also must pass the Town of Holly Springs inspection during and after construction is complete. The grade of the hill will also be much softer, which is highly unlikely to collapse. The plan will go through the same sort of scrutiny that retaining walls that our Highway roads and bridges go through (when a retaining wall is involved).
5. Why didn't we have insurance against it?
   • When the Pool was finished and Insurance Companies were contacted, the Insurance Company advocated for liability coverage. None of the other neighborhood pools they cover carry anything more than liability. If coverage was done for the entire Lot where the Pool resides, this would have dramatically increased the amount needed to Insure it, which would have translated into higher HOA Dues.
   • The HOA Board took the advise of the Insurance Company, being they cover multiple neighborhood pools, and opted for only liability coverage.