I was recently presented with an opportunity to purchase a new lawn mower. The opportunity arose because I did not do some basic maintenance on my old and excellent Honda resulting in a seized engine.
I admit to this costly failure because there are parallels here between my now defunct Honda and our HOA.
Fennel Ridge HOA is not healthy. While we have funds to cover our regular operating expenses, we have no reserve. Should a strong storm come up and destroy community fences, we don’t have the cash to fix them.
This isn’t the fault only of the previous HOA board. We have all played a role in this, including myself. We are at fault because we haven’t done the maintenance. We haven’t been attending the HOA meetings that have been held. We haven’t been asking for the financial reports and disclosures we are entitled to. We haven’t been holding our HOA board accountable.
We have been complacent and are therefore complicit in the state of our HOA.
I am HOA president because I responded to the letter of May 24th from Dave Baus, our previous president, in which he solicited for HOA members to form a new board. I had initially volunteered to be the secretary but when no one else put their name forward for the president’s position, I agreed to take this role instead.
So, what to do?
My vision is to bring our community back to where it was twenty years ago when we had a new community. We all waved at each other as we passed and were willing to chat when the opportunity arose.
To achieve this vision, we are going to have to communicate more. As a homeowner I want to know what the board is doing with my money. I want to explore ways that will bring the neighborhood together, this newsletter being a starting point.
In the meantime, we, your board of directors, are putting together an operating budget for 2025. We look forward to your support at our general meeting which will be announced soon.
Thanks – Dave Scott