2013 ANNUAL REPORT TO MEMBERSHIP Shadow Woods Subdivision Association
2013 ANNUAL REPORT TO MEMBERSHIP
Shadow Woods Subdivision Association
October 17, 2013
This is the annual report to the membership of the Shadow Woods Subdivision Association required under the By-Laws of the Association. This report contains: a review of operations in 2013; details of common area maintenance and capital improvements for 2013; spending for 2013; dues and budget for 2014; and a proxy/ballot for the election of members to the Board of Directors. The following board member is up for election: Alan Wolfe. Three open positions are also on the ballot.
The annual membership meeting of the Shadow Woods Homeowners Association will be held at Rochester Hills City Hall Auditorium on Wednesday, November 20, 2013 at 7:30pm.
Review of Operations for 2013
Officers and Board members for 2013:
President / Terry LankerVice-President / Dave Reese
Treasurer / Linda Brown
Secretary / open
Committees
Treasurer's Committee / Linda BrownSocial Committee / open
Maintenance Committee / Dave Reese
Capital Improvement Committee / Al Wolfe
Neighborhood Committee / Bruce Brown
Communications Committee / Beth Tilove
Safety & Security Committee / open
General Operations
To avoid a future shortfall of funds, the board has developed a savings account for the Deferred Maintenance Fund. This fund has been establishedto pay for future dredging of the commons storm water basins, repairs to the Shadow Woods private storm sewer system, major cleanups following (ice) storms and/or other unexpected expenses. In September of this year the board voted to add $12,000 to this fund. As of the date of this report, the fund has a balance of $44,050.37as detailedon page 7 of this report in the financial statements.
In 2013due to medical reasons, Patricia Mitchellwas forced to resign from the board. Patricia had served on the board since 1999. To fill the void, Linda Brown has volunteered to expand her role as Treasurer with support from Patricia. On behalf of all Shadow Woods residents the board extends a very grateful thank-you to Patricia for all her many hours of service. Patricia did diligent duty for the subdivision and we will miss hera lot. Thanks also to Jennifer Salvalaggio for her efforts in being the association secretary until her recent resignation.
In August the board voted to accept the oil and gas lease offer of Land Services in Traverse City for the 25.32 acres of subdivision commons land. This resulted in a signing bonus payment of $3,798. The signed lease was similar to the lease the city signed but the shared revenue fraction is one-eighth not the one-sixth that the city received. The signed lease is the same as the city’s in terms ofthe non-entry clause and does not allow hydraulic fracturing.The board spent $863 on attorney fees investigating thismatter. An additional $180 was spent to rent the room at Adams high school for the subdivision’s special informational meeting in April. Special thanks go to board members Beth Tilove and Bruce Brown who spent many hours investigating the issues on this subject.
Committee Activities Reports:
Communications Committee Activities
Subdivision Web Site| Please visit regularly for subdivision relatednews, newsletters and neighborhood classified ads. You can also check Subdivision Deed Restrictions and other important sub info at this site.
Subdivision Emails| To facilitate contact between the Board and residents, we have established an email address for the Association, . Announcements, events, invitations and news are sent as needed. To be included, send an email to that address, or use the “Contact Us” link at our website. Include a comment about being added to the Contact List.
Subdivision Newsletter| The Shadow Woods Newsletter is no longer printed on paper and mailed to residents. It is sent electronically and also posted at our website. If you want to receive the newsletter via email, send your request to .
Subdivision on Facebook | Residents of Shadow Woods who want to stay up-to-date are encouraged to “Like” the “Shadow Woods Subdivision” on Facebook () to find news on the “wall”, view photos, see events and engage in discussions.
New Resident Packet| We hope to reach new residents with our New Resident Information Packet. This packet includes: a list of all board members, duties of each member, email addresses and phone numbers, deed restrictions and other information helpful to new residents. Shadow Woods board committee member Beth Tilove distributes the packets when she receives information on new home purchases. In the event you need a packet, or if you know someone who needs one, contact Beth at or 248-375-1309.
Social Committee
In August Heather Elle resigned her position as chair of the Social Committee. Thanks to Heather and her husband Tom for their efforts while serving on the board.
Shadow Woods Garage Sale| The subdivision’s garage sale was held the first Thursday through Saturday in May. The Social Committee handled newspaper advertisements for the sale, which is free of charge for those residents who wish to participate.
Holiday Decorating Contest| Our annual holiday Decorating Contest was held in December. Three residents each won a $25 gift certificate to the village of Rochester Hills. Winners were announced via sub email.
Great Yards Contest | Scheduled to be held in 2014.
Social Events| Our Social Committee hosted a June Summer Barbeque for all residents and Halloween party Easter Egg Hunt for young children. A complete list of previous events is available online at .
Neighborhood Committee – Deed Restrictions
The neighborhood committee is responsible for assisting residents in the enforcement of the deed restrictions for the common good of all residents. Many of the recent investigationswere done in response to resident complaints. Furthermore, the neighborhood committee frequently surveys the subdivision and has sent over 233 letters in the past 20 months asking residents to comply with the deed restrictions.
Whenever a city or state infraction has been committed, the proper authority should be contacted. The city ordinances can be found on the city’s web site and any resident can call the enforcement department at 248-656-4615 or submit a concern online to request an investigation. Please be aware that trash, rubbish or junk must be removed from properties within seven days as per the city codes. Please contact Bruce Brown with any questions or concerns at t.
Safety & Security Committee
In August James Thomas resigned his position as chair of theSafety & Security Committee. Thanks to James for hiswork while serving on the board.
Through the efforts of the Safety & Security Committee speed humps have been installed on the boulevard section of Timberline Drive. Residents have reported vehicle speeds are much reduced. The city paid half of the cost. The subdivision’s share was $6372.02. Funds were taken from the Capital Improvement budget.
Over the past year our subdivision has not experienced any major safety or security problems beyond those to be expected in a subdivision of this size. This year we have experienced a few minor reports of vandalism. Please keep your eyes and ears open and report any of these incidents to the Oakland County Sheriff (Non-Emergency Phone 248-858-4911).
Maintenance Committee
The Maintenance Committee is responsible for planning and supervising the maintenance of the approximately 30 acres of area owned by the subdivision association and the green belt along the adjoining roads. This maintenance is mandated by the city of Rochester Hills.
Some of our contracted services include mowing, trimming, edging, fertilization and weed/crab grass control of these areas. They also provide for trimming, feeding, insect control and pruning of small trees / shrub areas. Additional contracted services include planting and maintaining the flowers at our entrances, and weed control and weed removal in all mulched areas to maintain an attractive appearance.We contracted MCA Associates for the summer chemical weeding and manual weeding to our entrances, islands, and cul-de-sacs.
The board is very pleased with the appearance of the entrances. Please help give Dave Reese, chairman of the maintenance committee a well deserved “thank you” for the fine looking, flowered and well groomed entrances.
We have been able to skip mowing twotimes this year for a savings of $1,856. Additionally, United Lawn Care has stated that whenever they apply fertilizer and weed control to our commons areas, they will make wide circles around the new trees along Brewster and Tienken so that no harmful chemicals disturb them.
Images Unlimited was contracted to paint repair vandal’s damage to the sign in Keystone Park at a cost of $225.
After some heated discussions, the city has repaired the swale at Brewster and Tienken which isnow much larger with gradual sides and much more downhill slope. New grass seed covers all bare dirt. This was another job well done by the maintenance committee.
We were fortunate in that we did not have any unanticipated storm sewer problems this year. It is only a matter of time until we have more repair costs incurred. Our subdivision’s yardshave a network of some 31,253 lineal feet of storm sewers, 20 inlets and 118 manholes that collect both sump water and rain water runoff from homes. This water eventually runs to the North and South retention basins which drain to the local water shed. Through the freedom of information act, we have found that our subdivision (not the city) is responsible for the maintenance of the subdivision’s non-street side storm sewers. The city only maintains the storm sewer drains in the streets. A deferred maintenance budget item for the storm sewers is included in this report.
The maintenance committee also contracts out the holiday lighting at our subdivision entrances each holiday season. Please contact Dave Reese at with any questions or concerns.
Capital Improvements Committee
The board reallocated a good deal of the Capital Improvements Committee budget to Safety & Security Committee for the cost of the speed humps and therefore only a minimum of improvements were completed.
The concrete at the Snowmass entrance to the North retention area has been removed and the ground leveled. Wood chip piles from the woods were added to this area and also spread around the path in the woods. The cost for removing concrete and moving wood chips was $400.
Precision Lawn Irrigation was contracted to install new controllers at three entrances for the sprinkler systems. The cost was $660 for these three controllers. Now all entrances have new controllers.
As always, the maintenance and capital improvement committee chairs work closely together to coordinate sprinkler and electrical repair as well as making sure the common grounds are well tended. As for next year, we will continue to work to improve our subdivision.
Please contact Al Wolfe at with any questions or concerns.
Treasurer's Committee
The Treasurer's committee has the responsibility to assist the Treasurer in the collection of dues and assessments and to maintain detailed records of the members’ dues status. These dues help us pay for the subdivision services we require. Our By-Laws stipulate that we have our Annual Meeting/Report issued for November;therefore, we are showing our expenses for the fiscal year October 1, 2012 through September 30, 2013.
SWSA 2013 Spending
Projected 2014 Income and Expenditures
In view of the lease signing windfall, the Board has votedto keep the 2014 dues at the 2013 level of $173. This assessment will allow us to afford ongoing general operations and continue to build the deferred maintenance fund.
SWSA 2014 Budget
Oct. 1, 2013 to Sept. 30, 2014
Notes on the 2014 Budget
- Revenue: Due to harsh economic conditions and property foreclosures, the amount of uncollected subdivision fees is greater this year as compared to prior years. Liens continue to be filed against those properties having unpaid fees.
- Website: In 2013, $308.25 was spent to retain the website for three years.
- Deferred Maintenance Fund: This fund has been created to pay for future repairs to the private storm sewer system, dredging the commons storm water detention basins, major cleanups following (ice) storms and/or other unexpected expenses. At the end of the 2013 fiscal year the fund currently contains $44,050.37. These funds are held in a savings account at PNC bank.
YEARS / ITEM OF DEFERRED MAINTENANCE / ESTIMATED ANNUAL AMOUNT
2012 to 2027 / Dredging Commons Storm Water Basins
$30,000 / 15 years = / $ 2000
2012 to 2030 / Storm Sewer System (50 year life, installed circa 1980)
$180,000 / 18 years = / $ 10,000
TOTAL / $ 12,000 per year
2013 Annual Membership Meeting
The By-Laws of the Shadow Woods Subdivision Association provide for at least one membership meeting to elect Directors and conduct such other appropriate business. The Board has called the annual membership meeting on Wednesday, November 20, 2013 at 7:30pm to be held at Rochester Hills City Hall Auditorium. One of the purposes of this meeting is to elect members to serve on the Board of Directors for three-year terms. The names of the candidates running are included on the attached ballot. The attached ballot may be presented at the membership meeting on November 20, 2013. Prior to November 20, 2013 ballots may be submitted to the association in the form of a proxy by mailing it to the address printed on the envelope provided. Postage is not included. If you are unable to attend the annual meeting be sure to return the ballot in the envelopes provided.
The form of the ballot allows secret balloting as required by the By-Laws. Please follow the directions on the ballot carefully. Detach the lower portion, marked BALLOT, and seal it in the small envelope marked BALLOT. This will contain your secret vote. Insert the signed upper portion marked PROXY along with the sealed BALLOT envelope into the large envelope with the address of the Association printed on it. The proxy must be included so that we can identify eligible voters. When received, proxies will be checked for eligible voters and the sealed ballots will be secured for subsequent counting.
It is important that you, the homeowner, vote on the election of Board members. Please plan to attend the Annual Meeting or send in your proxy!!
Respectfully Submitted,
Board of Directors
Shadow Woods Subdivision Association
October 17, 2013
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