I often watch a favorite judge program when I'm busy with quiet type work. Often they get to a point in the case when the judge says, "we're going to have to rule with a little rough justice here." Review the following three resident problems. What happens to them, and all members in the end is not a little rough justice, but is in direct violation of governing documents, and a huge debt that we all pay. Again, I have quotes from resident letters. Their names are removed along with any other identifying information, to protect the innocent from any of your wrath, or from this board. Having been a victim of it, I don't want it to happen to you.
STORM TREE PROBLEM - October 22, 2016 # 1:
Here is the letter: "I need help. Trees on the golf course, very, very, near my house are in a dangerous state. The one broke in half about 20 or 30 feet up. The 40 ft. limb is resting on my Live Oak, at the moment preventing it from falling on my house." There is no response from the board in the correspondence file. I had heard what happened to this resident. They were contacted by the board, and told that the offending tree was on golf course land, and not their responsibility. Frankly, that is the way it needed to be handled. Our governing documents do not allow the board to use our assessment funds to correct this situation. I believe the resident paid around $400 to have this problem resolved.
STORM TREE PROBLEM - June 26, 2017 # 2:
Here is the letter: "after all the rain, there is a tree in the canal in front of our house (street named removed). Would the HOA please contact the property owner so he can take care of this little problem, before it becomes a big problem." There is no response from the board in the correspondence file. What is important here is that a fellow resident recognizes that the board has a responsibility - according to our governing documents - to notify the resident who owns the lot to clean up the problem at that resident's expense.
STORM TREE PROBLEM, - March 1, 2017 # 3
Here is the letter: "Additionally, as a result of the 1000 year old flood and recent hurricane, I paid a lot of money to remove several trees that fell into the canal from the canal bank adjacent to my property. As a friendly neighbor, I sent a letter via email (December 4, 2016) to my friend Larry McMillin (see below), asking the WPA to ensure (and deal with) the several trees that fell in the canal from the other side of the canal bank near the lot on (removed address) and surrounding unoccupied lot be removed. To date I've heard nothing."
Same resident's earlier email: "Please have WPA address this and contact the owners as the trees and brush are preventing the unencumbered us of the canal." There was no answer in the correspondence file from the board on either of this resident's emails. Again, what is important here is that a fellow resident recognizes that the board has a responsibility - according to our governing documents - to notify the resident who owns the lot to clean up the problem at that resident's expense.
COMMENTS:
The following comments are mine, and not to be cast on the writers. Again, there are no written answers from the board in the correspondence file. I know letter number one was answered, I don't know how, but why wasn't it documented in the correspondence file. What kind of management is this? I'm not spending time on that issue today. What is important here is that all three of these residents paid to take care of this.
I know who has to pay. Here is a quote from an article I wrote in February 2017:
"I took this picture this morning. Trees like this have fallen, and been hanging over the canals since the storm last fall. Months ago, the board said that they were impacting navigation. Not only does this lack of attention speak to how committed they are to those canal lot owners, and their properties (illegal proposed dredged - violating too many of our governing documents), and keeping Wedgefield beautiful, and maintaining our home values in general.
Who pays for the tree removal? They didn't elaborate when they talked about it months ago. If a tree fell in your yard during the storm, it was your cost to clean it up. Why hasn't the board contacted canal lot owners who have trees falling into the canals, and told them to clean this up? What use the restrictions, and ARC to keep up a standard? Unheard of in Wedgefield, with this board." END OF ARTICLE QUOTES
In the end, you and I paid $7,950.00 to remove trees from the canals on private lots. Your board had exhausted the emergency storm fund before the original clean up was complete, transferred more money into it, and yes transferred more money again into it to cover the cost of the $7,950.00 to remove trees from PRIVATE PROPERTY. I KNOW, THESE THREE RESIDENTS PROBABLY KNOW, IT WAS THE WRONG THING TO DO. Yesterday, I reviewed the file. We'll discuss the paperwork, WPA minutes, etc. related to this project. It is all SLIMY!
Who pays for the tree removal? They didn't elaborate when they talked about it months ago. If a tree fell in your yard during the storm, it was your cost to clean it up. Why hasn't the board contacted canal lot owners who have trees falling into the canals, and told them to clean this up? What use the restrictions, and ARC to keep up a standard? Unheard of in Wedgefield, with this board." END OF ARTICLE QUOTES
