Fountain Trace Homeowners Association Directors

Fall/Winter 2021 Newsletter

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The Fountain Trace Board of Directors for 2021 wishes everyone a safe and happy holiday season and hopes this newsletter finds everyone healthy and enjoying the season.

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Annual Fountain Trace Homeowners Association Meeting

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The annual homeowners association meeting is being planned for February 8, 2022 at Crosspoint Church at 5737 Cemetery Road.  We will open the doors at 6 pm to give homeowners a quick chance to personally meet the Directors and then the meeting will begin at 7pm.  As a reminder, Association dues of $325 are due in full by 31 Jan 2022.  Dues not paid by that date will incur late fees of $25 each month until they are paid.  Dues must also be paid in order to vote on any items at the meeting.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

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Aggressive Dogs Near Road

 

We have received several complaints concerning dogs aggressively barking and charging towards neighbors as they walk in the neighborhood.  Owners are responsible and liable for their pets if they exit their property.  We know most owners have the electric fence, but the batteries do fail and some pets can charge through the fence.  Please maintain fences and collars in top condition. If you have an aggressively barking dog, we propose that you may want to move the electric fence line further from the street.

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Since the last newsletter we have seen increased compliance with the maintenance of vacant lots.  However, the following violations below are common violations and we have received multiple complaints.  We appreciate your attention in correcting these items.

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Repeated Covenant Violations:

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Trailers, boats, RVs cannot be kept on any lot unless housed in a garage or basement

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Multiple complaints have been received concerning trailers and or boats parked in driveways or on lots for more than a week.  We understand trailers are needed temporarily for landscaping or moving and we are not typically concerned when a trailer is occasionally at a residence for a day or two.  If you believe you have an extenuating circumstance please contact the Directors and we will discuss with you the situation.

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Lots are not being Maintained

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“Vacant lots shall not be allowed to grow more than 15 inches before mowing is required.” – Article V; Restrictive Covenants for Fountain Trace

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We continuously receive complaints about several lots not complying with the covenants concerning grass height and general maintenance.  120 out of 125 Lots are consistently and properly maintained, however we have a few repeat offenders.  We notified these lots and sent out assessments to them and received the assessment as well compliance with the majority of the lots.  If you own a vacant lot, you are responsible for maintaining the grass all the way to the street.  This is the same as every lot in the Association.
 

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Assessments

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As mentioned in the previous newsletter, the Board of Directors has noticed that the $50 per violation assessment does not necessarily deter repeat offenders to covenant violations.  We have discussed an increasing assessment for same violations or an overall higher assessment.  We do want to make the assessment more conducive to compliance versus being an inexpensive way to store RVs, trailers, etc. or avoid the cost of lot maintenance.  Therefore, we are researching the cost to store an RV or trailer around town and the cost of vacant lot maintenance and plan to take the highest cost and add an amount onto this to create the new assessment fee. This would make compliance the cheapest alternative for any covenant violation.  We plan to offer this increased assessment for a vote at the annual Association meeting.

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Lot 119 Legal Proceedings

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The Directors have received a notice from the Kentucky Court of Appeals that a 3-judge panel has been assigned to hear and consider the appeals on the previous rulings on the case.  The scheduled date is February 24, 2022.  We look forward to an amicable resolution to this matter.

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Repairs and Improvements

 

As your Directors we are extremely focused on where every dollar of your money is spent.  We have been and continue to review all maintenance costs (grass cutting, landscaping, fertilizer, irrigation, etc.) and are searching for cost efficiencies and quality control.  Through this review and after receiving several estimates, we have changed landscaping contractors as of October.  We are now using SOKY Landscaping.  The overall costs will be similar and we were able to reduce the number of contractors needed for maintenance.  Any increases this year were offset by volunteer man hours from the Directors.  Although Premier Landscaping did a good job with lawn maintenance, we were not satisfied with the quality control of the irrigation maintenance.  This created several repair costs to the Association as well as increased water and electrical costs.  This was the primary reason for the change.

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Front Fountain Repair and Renovation

 

After extensive work on the front fountain, it has been determined that there is an internal leak on the fountain that is creating an exorbitant water usage bill.  After turning off the front and rear portion of the fountain, it was determined that the center “pool” is defect free and consistently holding water.  Estimates to repair the fountain consist of approximately $800 just to find the leak which would include removing rock and concrete.  Also, an initial estimate of $2500 to repair the rock and fountain.  The water for the fountain is county water and has been costing almost $1700 annually.  Since we have turned off the water to the front and rear portion we have not received any homeowner complaints about the fountain not operating.  Therefore, the Directors will bring up for a vote at the annual meeting a plan to only have water in the center pool and to place a decorative fountain in the center pool at a cost of less than $500 for the fountain.  Also, the front and rear area can be filled in with soil and landscaped with flowers.   We believe this to be the most cost effective beautification solution for the front entrance fountain and look forward to hearing from you at the annual meeting.

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2021 Board Accomplishments

 

The following items have been accomplished over the past year.  We will review these items at the annual meeting and will be happy to go into more details of any items at that time.  We want to keep the Association advised of our work.

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-    Architectural Review Committee (ARC)
       o    Devised online form for Homeowner use 
       o    Provided specific direction for Homeowner to provide ARC details and enable prompt feedback from the ARC to the Homeowner
       o    Changed form submittal to go to entire ARC and Director President, not just one member
       o    Changes resulted in typical response to Homeowner within 48 hours

-    Regular Board of Directors Meetings as well as Special Meetings to address issues
       o    Board met at least every 2 months insuring good communication and follow up on assigned tasks
       o    Insured all Directors were informed and involved in each decision and expenditure
       o    Regular Association Newsletter posted throughout year keeping Homeowners informed of Board actions.

-    Repairs (Man hours annotated were cost free due to volunteer from Directors and others)
       o    Uncovered over 30 sprinkler heads that were buried (30 man hours)
       o    Adjusted irrigation sprinklers to water correct areas (10 man hours)
       o    Discovered and made repairs for multiple irrigation leaks (20 man hours)
       o    Repaired well for pond (50 man hours)
                  Well is deeper
                  Upgraded parts
                  Allows higher water level protecting liner with no water costs
       o    Repaired pond fountain timer and adjusted timer so it does not run continuously
                  Cut electricity costs in half
                  Researching costs savings using smaller pump and different spray pattern
       o    Cleaned front fountain (45 man hours)    
       o    Repaired and installed timers for front entrance lights saving electricity
                  Original timers were buried and lights were direct wired and on 24/7 (10 man hours)
       o    Replaced front entrance irrigation timer at no cost (timer and labor donated)
       o    Documented tasks for irrigation, lighting, fountain for future Directors
       o    Installation of 5 new street signs were completed

-    The total cost of the repairs, improvements, and street signs was $12,305
       o    Thousands of labor costs were saved due to volunteered man hours
       o    Hundreds of dollars of electrical and water cost savings from repairs

-    Attempted to procure Association mailbox in the neighborhood
       o    After a year of back and forth with USPS were told unable to place mailbox at vacant lot (6 man hours)

-    Christmas decorations installed at front entrance.  Saved approximately $200 from normal contracting cost from Deemers.  (6 man hours)

-    Completed year on budget even with numerous repairs and able to maintain $50,000 in reserves

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If you have any suggestions for neighborhood improvements, especially any cost-saving measures, the Board of Directors welcome your input.

2021 Board of Directors:

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Steve Grilli              President

Kirk Tisdale             Vice President

Chip Rice                Secretary

Mark Minotti            Treasurer

Joe Macrino            Member At Large

Todd McNeilage      Member At Large

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Architectural Review Committee (ARC);

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Chris Champion       Chairman

Todd McNeilage

Kirk Tisdale

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