President's Corner
● The Governing Documents Committee was already working with the Association’s outside attorney on modernizing a key legal document that dates back to the 1980’s and no longer meets our needs.
● The Infrastructure Maintenance Committee was guiding our newly retained engineering firm as it began work on a master plan to repair or replace major elements of our infrastructure, including roads, curb, etc.
● The Landscaping Committee spent the month of January working closely with our lawn service to ensure that Fall’s leaves got picked up and, at the same time, helped develop a proposal to beautify Sloane Place’s median.
● The Architectural Control Committee has already taken on the task of researching and redrafting our guidelines for exterior painting of the homes in our community, and it’s a challenging job.
● We also spent time over the holidays and during the frigid winter weather of the past few weeks developing our 2021 goals, culminating in Board approval of a final list at our February meeting. These provide us with an extra-sharp focus on what we want to accomplish this year.
Many of these activities are covered in this issue of your SMA Newsletter. What you won’t see are the many hours of hard work already spent in this new year by the volunteering owners who are Board members and Committee members. We are extremely fortunate to have these dedicated volunteers—your neighbors-- working on behalf of you.
Next time you see one of them, perhaps you should say, “Thank you.” Because of them, our lovely community is as strong and vibrant as ever.
— John Gullett, President
The SMA Board has approved a Landscaping Committee proposal to give the highly visible median on Sloane Place a new look: decorative landscaping designed to enhance the appeal of the two-lane stretch of road in that neighborhood.
Committee Chair Nancy Allen presented the proposal—a concept she and her committee developed in concert with Year Round Landscaping-- to directors at their regular February meeting. “We invested considerable funds a couple of years ago in improving the look of the street frontage strip on Kenilworth Drive, “said Ms. Allen. “Now we want to bring new life to the Sloane neighborhood.”
The landscaping project, which will get under way in the next week or two, will feature two visually connected groups of trees and decorative grasses at strategic locations in the island. The trees will be connected by top soil and mulch.
“This was a challenging project,” said Ms. Allen. “Without an irrigation system, we have been unable to grow grass there so we had to select elements that are drought-resistant.”
Ms. Allen said the cost was affordable and, given the potential for immediate positive impact, the board voted to move ahead with the work.
Fence repairs behind Sloane just became more challenging
The SMA’s latest reserve study estimated that our perimeter fencing was good for another three years, but that may turn out to be too optimistic. Sagging pieces of the fence behind Sloane Place were repaired last fall, but newly weakened sections were discovered late in the year and required additional repairs.
“This was probably the original Stratford Manor fence in that neighborhood,” said Landscaping Committee Chair Nancy Allen, “which means it’s probably over 35 years old. We may have to consider replacing it sooner than expected.” She said the Infrastructure Maintenance Committee will be looking at various options regarding the material to be used in any new fencing erected there, including wood and vinyl.
“It’s important to keep in mind that other sections of our perimeter fencing are in better shape,” said Ms. Allen, “but if possible we would like to settle on a new standard for fencing throughout our entire community before replacing the section on Sloan.”<
Got a beef with a neighbor? Leaving a note rarely works
An angry homeowner sent Abbitt Management a note she found on her door recently—a note that told her to clean up her yard. Unlike the “friendly reminder” letters Abbitt occasionally sends out, this note was unsigned. It’s no surprise that the homeowner resented the message; most of us would. The correct way, and usually more effective, is to send your complaint to Abbitt Management (at associations@abbitt.com), who will put it in the system for reviewing such messages. Plus, you remain anonymous to the other person.
Stratford Manor News Briefs
Landscaping activity— Most homeowners who still had leaves piled on their patios heeded a January request from the Board to pick up the leaves and put them in a bag or in the trash. “We had an issue last year with patio leaves being swept out into the common areas,” said Landscaping Chair Nancy Allen. “The lawn service refused to pick them up last year without our paying extra,” said Ms. Allen. “So we went on the offensive this time and sent a friendly reminder to all owners who still had leaves on their patio. “It must have worked,” she said, “because we haven’t seen a repeat of last year’s violations.”
Meanwhile, Year Round Landscaping is nearly finished with cleaning up the common areas and has started work on trimming the crepe myrtles and pulling weeds. Still to come: applying pre-emergent, and starting mulching.
Legal review of documents under way— Governing documents Chair Donna Groller gave Directors a status report at their Feb. 10 meeting on a major effort to update the Association’s governing documents, beginning with our “Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions of Stratford Manor.” This is a fancy name for a core document that must be modernized to conform to current state law and court decisions.
“It’s highly legalistic in nature,” explained Ms. Groller, so we are focusing on coming up with layman’s terms to explain the changes when we take it to the owners.” She said the revisions are necessary to give the SMA clear authority in today’s environment, “but we don’t envision any changes to our current rules.”
Ms. Groller said owners will be asked to vote on the newly redrafted Declarations in the coming weeks, following the roll-out of a communications strategy to explain the revised document and answer any questions.
Engineer launches work on infrastructure project— TAM, the engineering company hired by the SMA board to help develop a master plan for repairing or replacing major elements of our infrastructure, has begun work on a site plan of the community that will serve as a valuable resource as the multi-year project moves forward.
The engineers have been slowed recently due to Covid-19 restrictions, but they have already created a photo album of our road conditions, curbs, and sidewalks.
“They are in the process of developing
a layout plan for the Committee to follow,” noted Infrastructure Repair/Replace
Committee Chair Bob Lucas. “After this, they will be developing bid documents
and specifications for the work we want done.”
Feb. 17— Wed. pickup due to holiday--Recycling, bulk pickup & trash
Feb. 23— Trash only
March 2—Recycling, bulk pickup & trash
March 9— Trash only
March 16— Recycling, bulk pickup & trash
March 23— Trash only
March 30— Recycling, bulk pickup & trash
April 6— Trash only
April 13—Recycling, bulk pickup & trash
April 20—Trash only
April 27—Recycling, bulk pickup & trash
If your container was missed during collection, call 757-933-2311 within 24 hours.
Trash and recycling receptacles should be curbside no earlier than the evening before scheduled collection day and removed from the street by the morning after collections.
Bulk trash, which is collected on the same schedule as recycling, may be put out the weekend before scheduled collection.
