Everyone likes to blame the golf course for the loss of value in their homes. But it's still my contention that the board has a big part in this. They do not enforce rules and regulations in regards to the standard of living in our community.
Case in point. A friend who lives in another area of Georgetown told me that she came to Wedgefield last weekend for the garage sale. She accidentally ended up in the condo area and was surprised about how bad they looked and the fact that they are part of our community. She is correct. Take a ride or walk through this area and you will find:
* fences that are rotting and need painting or replacement.
* mold growing on the sides of buildings.
* rotting wood on the sides of buildings.
* garbage cans tipped over in the road.
* bikes, toys, and basketball hoops scattered along sidewalks.
* broken lattice on fences.
* Dirt for grass.
* Cars parked on dirt for grass or whatever grass is left.
* Visible lawn furniture, garbage, and toys in piles behind privacy fences
* Rotting condo signs.
* Grass and weeds growing in parking areas and sidewalks.
* The pool bathrooms in need of painting and possibly repair, (heard the pool was vandalized last year... go figure!)
And this is only the condo area..... if you know what I mean.
Folks... if this area continues to deteriorate, count on your housing values to decline, especially for those who live on or off of Wragg's Ferry Road. Let's face it, with this standard of living, comes crime and unwelcome visitors and no one pays top dollar for a house that is within a short distance of a BAD neighborhood. You have to wonder how many times law enforcement has been to this area to answer complaints. Now, not all the condo owners are neglectful. There are buildings in good shape, but I'm sure they won't sell for top dollar when their neighbors don't care and are most likely renters with no respect for themselves let alone the property they are occupying. Do these condo owners even screen their tenants or is it all about the easy money? Is this fair to the owners who actually have pride?
So why isn't Inge complaining about this during the monthly board meetings? She's the condo liaison and rarely has anything to report except no one responds to her welcoming calls. Does she see squalor developing in her neighborhood? Are her eyes wide open when she walks out her front door? What are her standards? Does she have any concern for the future of this area or her own safety? And then there's Jacky Walton, our Prez. He owns and rents out one of these condos. It's how he's able to warm a seat on the board. Is he concerned that his neighborhood is dragging Wedgefield down? Maybe if he were forced to actually live in his condo things would change.
Georgetown is a poor town with many many deteriorating neighborhoods. Wedgefield is a desirable and safe community because people care and have pride in their homes, (well a majority of us really do). If Wedgefield gains a reputation of having bad neighborhoods housed with questionable residents, and crime becomes an issue, it will only go downhill from here. Don't let Wedgefield fall prey to poor governing. Speak out people. Write the Wragg, write the board, come to meetings.... help raise and maintain the standard of living in our community and despite the fate of the golf course, your house will have value. Good homes and good people equals a desirable community to live in whether or not the golf course is open.
THE WEDGEFIELD EXAMINER COMMENTS:
There is always the risk of angering someone when I comment on a resident's comments. It happened last weekend, if the grapevine is correct. Once again, I believe I know who the trouble maker was, and quite frankly I'm back to that old phrase "consider the source". Back to the business at hand.
This writer is correct about the condition of the condo area. They are correct in holding president Walton responsible. A few years ago, a resident who owns a home here, and a condo, made a complaint regarding a disgusting mess next door in the condo area. That resident provided pictures, etc. to the appropriate condo board, and through a process insisted that the condo board lawyer get involved. There is a lesson to be learned by all of us wherever we live in Wedgefield by this story. First, you need to know that the attorney was the condo board attorney first. I'm told he is also president Walton's personal attorney (haven't asked). The WPA had to fire their current attorney at the time, and the board hired the condo, and president Walton's attorney (if true).
Back to the condo issue of a few years ago. So the attorney decided to visit the condo area, and look around before he wrote the offending condo resident. After that glorious tour, he was said to tell the complaining resident, that since many of the condos offended the same issues as listed in their complaint, that they couldn't bring legal issue to this one. Residents, the condo boards had let things go down hill in too many cases, for too long. That is what we are on the road to here. You have to help force the board to clean up our place, use the covenants, restrictions, and by-laws now, before we can't do anything. Remember who our president is, who our lawyer is, and the fact that the board, and you, are letting it happen here. Get to the meetings and speak up. Write the board, and demand that they start following our governing document standards. Get this board out of here. Run for board yourself, with no agenda other than to follow the governing documents, and clean up Wedgefield!
HERE ARE SOME OF THE PICTURES OF THE CONDO CONDITIONS AT THAT TIME. WE ARE ON OUR WAY TO THIS, AND WON'T BE ABLE TO FIX IT LEGALLY IF YOU CONTINUE TO TRUST THESE BOARD MEMBERS.
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