Willow Springs Watch

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Vernon Terry
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Willow Springs Watch Volume 18, Issue 3 April 2017 www.eastvillageofvenice.

com The revised Willow Springs documents have been approved by Willow Springs homeowners and are now with the attorney to complete details so that they can be implemented.

1 Willow Springs Watch Volume 18, Issue 3 April From the President's Desk Jane Harris check us out at The revised Willow Springs documents have been approved by Willow Springs homeowners and are now with the attorney to complete details so that they can be implemented. A major change is allowing yard sales (Article 7.4). Your board has determined that for the safety and convenience of homeowners having a yard sale and people attending the sale, it will be held at the East Village Community Center where there will be ample parking, including handicap parking. Additionally, there will be bathroom facilities, tables for displaying goods and protection from the elements. Another benefit will be the protection of our irrigation system. An ad hoc committee, composed of Willow Springs homeowners, will develop specific yard sale criteria such as day and time. Another ad hoc committee being developed is one which will use the newly revised covenants to create a list of acceptable standards for the board to use in reviewing architectural requests from homeowners. This list will be available for all homeowners to reference. A dependable and efficiently operating irrigation system is the top priority your board is addressing at the moment. Our commitment is to provide excellent service by timely response to homeowner requests. We will be picking up irrigation box requests Monday- Friday, and adding an irrigation address, wsirrigation@aol.com, for those who wish to use that method of communication. Our goal is to serve Willow Springs homeowners as efficiently and timely as is appropriate for a volunteer board. Because we are a volunteer board, irrigation telephone calls should be reserved for emergencies only. There is a form which we are asking you to complete. By completing this form you allow your board to communicate with you electronically Willow Springs news, events, newsletters etc. John Johnston will be adding this form to our website for you to print out and a copy is included on the last page of this newsletter. Place the completed form in the mail box marked Lawns at the mail center. (continued on page 2)

2 (continued from page1) Our new board member, Michaele James, is a technology guru and as such has agreed to collate this information for Willow Springs with copies to Keys-Caldwell. And speaking of your board, you will be meeting them in the May newsletter. Finally, I want to thank Tom Rugh for the many hours (days, nights, weekends, holidays) of service to our community. He has set a standard the rest of us will not be able to maintain. I would be remiss if I did not also recognize the many hours Art Madonia has donated to Willow Springs. Because of Artie's efforts our common areas always give visual pleasure to us and our visitors. On behalf of all homeowners, thank you both. Notes from March Board Meeting Nominations for board positions were opened to the floor with Michaele James nominated and approved as a new board member. Jane Harris, president, reported that the new telephone directory should be ready by the middle of April. She said that she would be in contact with other HOA's in our Master Association to see about saving money on shared expenses such as lawn care, chemicals, and irrigation. Mike Bell gave the treasurer s report. Irrigation has been costing a lot and he suggested we would be overspending the budget if this continues. As Architectural Review chairman, Mike presented two requests which the board approved. John Johnston, who was unable to attend the meeting because of illness, reported that there would be some web site corrections forthcoming so it is more user-friendly. Jane reported that irrigation continues to be a concern. She suggested the following: The volunteer group will continue with day-to-day issues and locating and cleaning heads. Routine maintenance will be contracted to maintain field (home and common property) irrigation. Consultation with a new vendor recommended decreasing the amount of chlorine being used presently, with the goal of stopping chlorine use. This will begin immediately. There are two known vendors that are available for wrap around service for landscape, irrigation, and chemicals. She will be looking at these vendors, and others, for bids and services for fiscal year Regarding communication of problems homeowners are having with their irrigation it was suggested that they use the irrigation mailbox at the Mail Center, or use the new irrigation , wsirrigation@aol.com. For the rare emergency call Jane directly. The mailbox notes will be picked up Monday through Friday. You should expect a response within 48 hours. Jane is planning to have a complete report on the status of the irrigation system at the May meeting. A town hall meeting is planned for 9 to 10 a.m. at which time the May board meeting will commence. Every Willow Springs homeowner is invited. Remey Harris reported on Trugreen. He is very satisfied with the service they are giving our neighborhood. It was suggested that mowing and chemicals need to be on different days. Someone will be checking with the mowers to see about moving this to another day of the week. Remey said we need rain to really activate the chemicals that were spread on our lawns. Trugreen offered insect treatments for lawns at an additional cost of $3,000. This offer might be considered at a later time. (continued on page 3)

3 (continued from page 2) The meeting of the Master Association was reported on by Celless Beck. There is continued progress being made on the bathrooms and locker room renovations. The annual meeting is April 13 at 10 a.m. To help facilitate cleaning up after pets there have been boxes with bags for picking up after our dogs installed throughout the area. The cost per unit was $100. The pickle ball and shuffle Board courts have come in under budget. Some of the equipment in the workout room has been breaking down. The board is looking at leasing equipment so that there will be repair included in the arrangement. There will be Wi-Fi in the meeting room eventually. Jim DeBrucker was unable to attend the meeting because of illness however it was reported that he is checking with paint contractors and will present vendor bids to the board for consideration. As plans are formulated, dates will be shared with neighbors as to when their houses are scheduled for painting. The scheduled time for painting is Dennis Gerber, special projects chairman, reported that he is looking at lighting for the neighborhood in response to some homeowners who have requested better lighting. This is considered a long-range goal. There was a request to our board regarding harvesting Tilapia fish from our lake. After discussion of pros and cons the board gave the request approval with Remey volunteering to be the Tilapia coordinator. There was a motion, seconded, and voted on, to have a community yard sale one time a year at the community center with the date and time determined by the board. The board responded to a letter written by the owner of Lot 3. A letter will be sent in reply regarding the board position. This is now an open position as defined in WS documents for board member attendance requirements. Regarding Sales and Rentals in our neighborhood there are three homes for sale. They are lots 3, 47 and 26. There was a lengthy discussion about the terms, clean slate, latches and estoppel. Our board will seek clarification from our attorney. The board is creating an ad hoc committee to develop covenant-based standards for all Willow Springs homeowners. The term decorum was addressed at the meeting. This is something neighbors need to bring to all board meetings. Being good neighbors means not raising voices, use of appropriate language and consideration of time constraints The next meeting date is May 4 at 10 a.m. immediately following the second Willow Springs Town Hall meeting. Celless Beck Vice President To Review Contracts I am Karen Yerich, your newly appointed vice president, and I have been given the responsibility of reviewing current and future vendor contracts to ensure Willow Springs is getting the most value for our money. This will help our community maintain its historical esthetic standard, and perhaps create an even better one. I hope to see you at the next meeting. Karen Yerich

Treasurer s Report Mike Bell Save for the future. Put money aside. Save your pennies. Those are phrases that so many of us have heard all our lives.

As your Treasurer, it is my job to review the financials monthly, and report to the community on our current financial status and areas where we could use improvement.

The board is taking steps to explore alternatives to improve the current irrigation system within the financial constraints of our current budget.

4 Treasurer s Report Mike Bell Save for the future. Put money aside. Save your pennies. Those are phrases that so many of us have heard all our lives. Throughout my life, I have always set money aside in order to reach predetermined financial goals. As your Treasurer, it is my job to review the financials monthly, and report to the community on our current financial status and areas where we could use improvement. As many of you know, irrigation is a large and costly expense for our community. The board is taking steps to explore alternatives to improve the current irrigation system within the financial constraints of our current budget. In addition to our annual maintenance expense for irrigation, I will work with the board to create a reserve fund for irrigation, so that we can put money aside in order to fund future improvements to the irrigation system. Our current quarterly maintenance fee includes reserve funds for roof cleaning, exterior restoration (painting of the homes), structures and grounds, pump house replacement, and roads. It is important to look at the current costs to perform these services, and to forecast the future costs for these items. History tells us that costs tend to increase over time. But, we can write our own history by making sure that we put aside funds on a quarterly basis in order to prepare ourselves financially for the long-term capital projects in our community. Welcome Committee Sandy Buxton Hello to our brand new or fairly new Willow Springers. I have volunteered (what was I thinking?) to welcome all of our Newbies. If you have moved to Willow Springs in the past year and have not been officially welcomed, please contact me. You may me at sandybeach110@verizon.net, call or text me at Please let me know your name(s), your address. phone number(s), (s), and if you are a year-round or winter resident. This will let me know the best time of year to contact you. Our president, Jane Harris, is working on a new directory and as soon as she finishes, I will be out to greet you with a list of your neighbors and other info. To all the women, we have monthly Ladies Luncheons. Women take a turn and pick a place to hold the luncheon, advertise it on our community bulletin board by the mailboxes and give Phyllis Hammer the info to send out in an . It is a great way to meet the ladies of Willow Springs, eat and have fun. We also have restarted a community gathering and about every three or four months will have a pot luck gathering at the East Village Community Center. I understand the next one will be in July. Our first one on March 31 was a big success. We had over 50 people attend, lots of food and met a lot of our new neighbors and enjoyed time with some of our long time neighbors. Thank you Diane Sernatinger, Michaele James and Angie Johnston for taking on this task. You did a great job! Willow Springs is a friendly community and we watch out for our neighbors. If you missed out on the previous events, I hope you will try to attend some of the upcoming ones.

5 The Social Scene Willow Springs Social a Success Our March 31 Willow Springs social was a huge success. On behalf of Michaele James, Angie Johnston and myself we thank you for your enthusiasm, generosity and fabulous food. The turnout was more than we could have possibly hoped for. It was wonderful getting to know the new residents and catching up with all of our neighbors. We would like to continue our socials and right now we feel that four times a year would be ideal, hopefully at least two, possibly three in season. If you would like to volunteer to help or have an idea for a theme party, please contact us. Also your feedback regarding a summer social would be appreciated. Thank you again! Diane Sernatinger Ladies Luncheon at Old Salty Dog The April Willow Springs Ladies Luncheon will be held at noon Wednesday, April 26, at the Old Salty Dog (on the island). Betsi Hallman and Irene Warman are planning this one. You may make a reservation until Monday, April 24, by contacting Betsi at or ehallman1@verizon.net, or Irene at or Webb.Warman@gmail.com Looking Ahead April 26: Willow Springs ladies luncheon, noon, the Old Salty Dog (on the island). May 4: Willow Springs town hall meeting, 9 to 10 a.m., at the clubhouse. May 4: Willow Springs board meeting, 10 a.m. at the clubhouse. Don t forget the form on the last page of this newsletter!

Hollin Meadows Swim & Tennis Club

Hollin Meadows Swim & Tennis Club November 7, 2013 Message from the President Members: You are invited to attend the Club s Annual Meeting and End of Year Party on Monday, November 18, 2013 at 7:30 pm