Enforcing
the Rules
Posted October 23, 2008
For some years now the Board of Directors has empowered the Compliance Committee to ensure that residents are complying with the rules and regulations of our Ternbridge Documents. The Compliance Committee makes regular inspections of Ternbridge and sends a letter of any violation to the Homeowner.
The resident has 30 days to correct the violation
A second inspection is then conducted and if the violation has not been corrected a second letter is then sent to the Homeowner.
The resident is given a further 15 days to correct the violation
If, after a third inspection, the violation has still not been corrected a notice is sent to the Homeowner that the case has been sent to the Grievance Committee who will authorize a fine as indication in the third letter. The Resident is encouraged to attend the Grievance hearing and is given an opportunity to explain why the fine should not be assessed.
The resident is given a minimum of 14 days notice of the date of the hearing
The Grievance Committee is set up in accordance with our By-Laws and in accordance with the rules of HOAs as established by Florida Statutes.
The Compliance Committee focuses on regular maintenance items in an attempt to maintain the quality of Ternbridge. Among the items they look at are, but not limited to:
Power washing roofs and driveways
Landscape maintenance
Trash can location
Overnight street parking
Enforcement of ARB rules for ALL external modifications
Condition of house painting
The removal of lawn signs
Any other noticeable violation
Please maintain your property and comply with notices when received from the HOA and avoid fines which have been assessed against a number of our fellow residents
The Board of directors appointed the compliance committee to take on the additional responsibility of the Architectural Review Board. This board has the responsibility to review and make recommendations to the board of changes requested by homeowners.
This review will encompass all external changes, painting, additions, tree planting, landscape changes, etc.
At the moment the ARB is a non visible board comprising of non residents and the system for application is unclear.
The board wants every resident to have a speedy decision of their requests and the new ARB will adopt new procedures for this activity to make it easy for residents to apply for changes.
The compliance committee met in December, 03 to plan the next inspection of Ternbridge, as mandated by the Board of Directors. The inspection will take place on February 8, 2004.
The committee will focus on the curbside appearance of each lot and this generally includes, but is not limited to the following items:
1. Roof cleaning
2. Driveway cleaning
3. Mailbox condition, paint, repair or replace.
4. Tree trimming, particularly over sidewalks and roads.
5. House paint condition
6. Missing or dead tree replacement.
The committee does not like to cite our neighbors for violations and we ask everyone to personally inspect their property and correct any deficiency, before our inspection, which is scheduled for early January.
Violations are embarrassing for all parties and can in some cases lead to fines and even legal actions, which no one wants.
We can avoid these conflicts and we want to see the continuation of the increase in the value of our homes and the tranquil life in Ternbridge.
If you have any questions about the upcoming inspection or the expected condition of your properties you can e-mail either Haag Management or the Chairman of the Compliance Committee.
Reminder, please do not undertake any rework on your property, modifications, painting, etc, without first talking to Haag Management.
As we all know the value of our properties in Ternbridge is rising and in order to keep our community in this position we must all be responsible for maintaining our homes in accordance with the documents and standards of Ternbridge
With approval from the Board of Directors, the compliance subcommittee has developed a procedure for notifying residents of violations on their property. A letter will be sent to those residents notifying them of the violations and giving them time to correct the problems.
A copy of this letter is provided for your review so that it will be fully understood if you receive such a notification.
Please click Compliance Letter to read the document.
The committee met to discuss two subjects:
a) Supply and procedure for upgrading mailboxes
b) Review procedures for new compliance notification letters.
Mailboxes. Our work continues to
find a source, at a reasonable cost, of new mailboxes matching the design of the
existing Ternbridge standard. A prototype is currently being built and it should
be ready for our review shortly.
The existing mailboxes were built using non-treated cedar lumber and the
dimensions are such that this material is a special order and difficult to
obtain. This material is not ideal for the application and is very expensive to
replace.
This prototype, which will look the same as our existing mailboxes but will be
made from commercially available pressure treated lumber at an affordable cost.
Since all mailboxes must meet a common color scheme we have recommended that the
Association will make paint available to the residents. A submittal will be made
to the board, for their review, when this work is completed.
We realize the urgency to finalize this work since there are a number of boxes
in the community that must be repaired, replaced or re-painted at this time.
Compliance Notification Letters.
Working on the assignment from the board that we evolve a procedure to notify
residents of items that must be brought into compliance with the documents, we
discussed the following:
a) We reviewed a draft of several form letters that will eventually be sent to
all residents, for their information, and we will refine this into a final draft
over the next few weeks.
b) An inspection process will be formalized, which will document violations that
must be corrected.
c) A procedure for transmitting this information to the board for their review
and handling is being evolved.
d) Final recommendations will be completed in time for submittal to the board
for the next board meeting.
1.MAILBOX REPLACEMENT
Many mailboxes in the community are or will be in need of replacement in the near future. The material used for the present mailboxes appears that it will be in short supply in the near future. We are working with carpenters and mailbox replacement businesses to offer a suggestion to the board for the November 7 meeting for future replacement. One committee member is getting specifics on a replacement box built from other materials and we also have option of other styles.
2.HOMEOWNERS CHECKLIST.
We discussed the idea of a homeowners checklist that would be sent to the community with quarterly dues, so that all would be aware of what they are responsible for and with dates to come into compliance. This committee would go around the community once a year and take a visual survey to see those that are not in compliance and cite them.
3.BULK TRASH.
The home at 6678 NW 70 Place has bulk trash lying around for three weeks. Notify Haag Mgt. and the board to help this situation.
Next meeting October 10th, homeowners are welcome and encouraged to join.
As all residents know, all mailboxes must conform to the documents of our association. Here is a report from the compliance committee.
This study was driven by the need to replace a growing numbers of mailboxes in Ternbridge.
The current box is made of 3X12 cedar lumber, a material not known for its weathering properties. The reason it was made of cedar is evidently due to the fact that there is no other lumber with dimensions close to 3X12 readily available. Therefore, trying to make an alternate box identical or similar to the present design using pressure-treated lumber or plastic derivative (both of which would last almost indefinitely) is not feasible.
This is unfortunate, because it will take a good 2-3 years to gradually replace the current boxes, as they fall apart. If we want to maintain uniformity of mail boxes we must either replace all of them at same time with a new type (i,e, same as in Gordon's) or keep replacing them with the existing type made of cedar. I was warned though that cedar in this size is becoming harder and harder to get.
The cost of replacement of the existing box with the same type is $285 installed. The cost to replace the boxes with cast Aluminum ones similar to Gordon's is $290 installed.
Val Kachioff.
Today's discussion;
1. Proposals for tree trimming of sidewalk trees in Ternbridge will be forwarded to the board meeting on 7/25/01 and recommended by this committee at approx. $6 per tree to be done once per year. In future years as canopy develops there will be less and less trees to trim.
2. Mailbox replacement in coming years, what style do we replace with and do we allow only one choice. This will be discussed after some preliminary fact finding on styles and cost.
3. Briefly touched on stray dogs roaming Ternbridge. Board meeting will discuss on 7/25/01
The first meeting of the sub committee was held on June 26th and was attended by: Bob Smith, who was elected chairman, Bill Santacruz, Kathy Stevens, Val Kachioff, Joan Caccavo, Cecil Lander and representing the board, Dennis LaVigne.
STREET TREES:
The first matter discussed was the condition of the trees between the sidewalks and the road, the maintenance of which is the responsibility of the Homeowners. Many trees throughout the community have to be trimmed so that residents can walk safely on the sidewalks without danger from low limbs.
There is a federal law that dictates that all limbs must have a minimum clearance of 80" above sidewalks and Homeowners are responsible for this maintenance.
Among other things we:
1. Talked about getting a bid from 3 sources to see the economic feasibility of just having an outside source come in 1 or 2 times per year and do the entire community
2. Talked about sending a letter with future assessment and demanding that all residents comply or face billing from community for those not complying.
3. Ended discussion with Bill Santacruz agreeing to get 3 bids to see feasibility
UNSIGHTLY OBJECTS:
Touched base on the trampoline and the large satellite dish and concluded that we hope the people involved would do the right thing, both seem to be attempting to comply with regulations.
COMMON AREA:
Discussed the common areas, no issue at present time
NEXT MEETING:
We will have another meeting toward the end of July with more info on the above subjects, and any other issues brought to the attention of the Sub Committee. All recommendations will be presented to the board for its disposition.
INTERESTED MEMBERS:
If you are interested in joining this committee or if you have items that you would like discussed at the next meeting, please send e-mail to Haag Management