Stratford
Manor
Newsletter
December 2022 / January 2023
Edition
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President's Corner:
The holiday season is a wonderful time of the year, and I think most of us felt joy - perhaps even relief - to see it arrive. It has been a difficult and challenging year for all of us, and perhaps the most frustrating one for me over the five years I have served as your President.
Two of the Association's Board's important goals for 2022 - winning the handful of owner votes needed to ratify our proposed new Declaration and completing our paving project - went unfulfilled. That, in turn, prevented us from tackling some of our other goals for 2022, including updating other governing documents and developing a comprehensive policy on short-term rentals.
We also experienced a significant boost in expenses, many of which were related to the aging of our community and made worse by high inflation. As a result, our expenses for 2022 exceeded our income, forcing the Board to increase annual owner assessments for the first time in three years.
But we also can point to a few bright spots in Association activities, including a return to in-person Board meetings and a live Annual Owners Meeting last month. The latter was especially welcome, with nearly, 40 owners represented in person or by proxy.
Last year also saw us launch a conversion of streetlamps to LED lights, reducing the need for future repairs, and make extensive repairs to our perimeter fencing, thus extending its life by a few more years. In addition, we continue our efforts to remove diseased trees and dangerous tree limbs hanging over owners' homes, with the goal of protecting us all from damaging winds.
Last but not least, we managed to overcome a crisis involving the sudden loss of our landscaping service in October. With only a couple of weeks' notice that Year-Round Landscaping was leaving, select members of the Board managed to identify and interview several firms and select one to recommend to the Board to Serve us during the winter months until we can establish our long-term needs. That firm, Gum Grove Services, has gotten off to a great start with picking up leaves and debris, as well as mowing.
Yes, we have had our share of disappointments in 2022, but the Board's commitment to Stratford Manor owners kept us all going, and we are already busily preparing for a new set of opportunities in the new year.
(John Gullett, President)
HOA LEADERSHIP AND GOALS SET FOR 2023 -
The Stratford Manor Association's Board for 2023 dove right into preparations for next year's work at its final 2022 meeting in December, electing officers and committee members and adopting a new set of operating goals to guide its efforts in the coming months.
John Gullet, Donna Groller, Bob Lucas and Frances Hodges were reelected to their respective officer positions, and newly elected board member Doug Marmon has already volunteered for two committees and a couple of special assignments.
The Landscaping Committee has new leadership in 2023, with Frances Hodges assuming the role of Chairperson. She succeeds Nancy Allen, who chose to step down after several years of heading up that committee. "Nancy has agreed to chair a new subcommittee of Landscaping, called Tree Maintenance," said President Gullett, "so we will continue to benefit from her extensive experience."
Other Committee Chairpersons include: Donna Groller, Governing Documents Committee; Madoline Wallace, Nominating Committee; and Betty Blackburn, Social and Welcome Committee. "We also continued our outreach to other owners who are willing to help various committees with their activities," said Mr. Gullett, "with the addition of Joey Thompson, of 120 Wellesley, to the Landscaping Committee." Non-board members reappointed include Richard Wahlert on the Infrastructure Committee and Barbara Lucas on the Social and Welcome Committee.
At the same Dec. 14 meeting, the Board adopted a new set of goals for 2023, including: developing and implementing a revised, affordable plan for improving roads and parking lots; obtaining the remaining votes needed for approval of the new Declaration, followed by work on a short-term rental policy, as well as selecting a landscaping firm to a full-year contract.
Hiring a permanent landscaper involves considerable work for the Landscaping Committee, which is developing an RFP (Request for Proposal) to send out to interested vendors, including the current landscaping service, Gum Grove. The Committee will also conduct evaluations of our community's landscaping challenges due to lack of irrigation and come up with solutions that are both effective and environmentally friendly.
Staford Manor News Briefs -
Let there be light! —The SMA Board has approved a proposal from newly elected Board member Doug Marmon to replace the old solar light on the entrance sign at Wellesley and Sloane with a more-powerful light utilizing newer solar technology. If it does the job, a second new light will be installed at the unlit entrance sign on Kenilworth. The third entrance sign, at the Wellesley neighborhood entrance, is hardwired to a nearby lamp.
Tree work pays off in windstorm—One of the SMA’s expense items that skyrocketed in 2022 involved tree maintenance, as an unusually high number of reports of problem trees and limbs prompted several service calls by R & K Tree Service, Stratford Manor’s official arborist.
“It’s difficult to plan for tree work,” said Nancy Allen, Chairperson of the Tree Maintenance Subcommittee. “Mother Nature has a mind of her own,” she said, “and she has kept us busy eliminating hazardous tree situations. The safety of our residents is our guiding principle, even as costs climb. And we can all take comfort in knowing that our well-maintained trees withstood the severe winds that swept through our community just before Christmas.”
Kenilworth paving issues addressed—In response to owner concerns expressed at the Annual Meeting about imperfections in the pavement work on Kenilworth’s parking lot, the Infrastructure Committee asked an asphalt repair contractor to inspect the lot and provide them with an objective analysis. “He said the seal coating, which was applied after the remedial repair work, was applied too thick,” said Committee Chairman Bob Lucas. “Owners were then allowed to resume driving on it before it had fully dried, thus creating many of the marks that are the subject of owner complaints.”
Trash Pickup Schedule -
Jan. 4—Recycling, bulk pickup & trash (Wednesday pickup due to
holiday); Jan. 10—Trash only;
Jan. 18--Recycling, bulk pickup & trash (Wednesday pickup due
to holiday); Jan. 24—Trash only;
Jan. 31—Recycling, bulk pickup & trash; Feb. 7—Trash only;
Feb. 14—Recycling, bulk pickup & trash;
Feb. 22—Trash only (Wednesday pickup due to holiday); Feb. 28— Recycling,
bulk pickup & trash.<
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Have a wonderful
holiday season
And a prosperous New Year!
Board Meeting Dates:
Feb. 8; April 12; June 14; Aug. 9; Oct. 11, and Dec. 13. (Board meetings are on Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. unless notified otherwise, each meeting will be held at Abbitt Management, Suite 205, 11835 Fishing Point Drive, Newport News, VA. The Annual Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 15th at 7:00 p.m. at Christ United Methodist Church.
