December, 2008
The Wynncrest Homeowner’s Association (HOA) had a very well-attended meeting this past November 12, 2008. We had an update from the Board of Trustees regarding the status of our situation stemming from the abandonment of the development by Levinson. We also had an update from both the Association’s attorney, Robert Epstein, and Joe Vujnich, Director of Planning and Parks from the City of Wildwood.
Levinson has been declared in default by the Royal Bank who provided working capital financing to Levinson’s. The bank has since repossessed all collateral associated with the loan which includes the 13 unfinished lots, and the spec house located on Wynncrest Ridge Drive, which has been sold recently. We learned that the bank is endeavoring to sell the remaining 13 lots to one developer, but has not completed that transaction as of our annual meeting. When this transaction takes place, the Board will meet with the new developer to discuss our expectations with regard to architectural control over design, style of house, colors, cleanliness of building sites, etc. In accordance with Wynncrest By-Laws and Indentures, the Board of Trustees has full control over architectural standards for any new builder.
You will note that Royal Bank has engaged a company to clear the empty lots of building materials left by Levinson, re-grade them, and establish satisfactory erosion control, as well as over-seed them with winter wheat to enhance the looks of the lots. This project should be completed by early December. The bank has assured us that the lots will be maintained and mowed while they are vacant.
The City of Wildwood held an $816,000 bond with the Royal Bank, which has been called, and the full amount has been received by the City. They will use the proceeds of this bond to complete the many unfinished projects on the common ground around and including the ponds, waterfalls and fountains as well as replacing street concrete slabs after all lots have been built out, replacing damaged sidewalk sections, opening the stub street to the sub-division adjacent to Wynncrest, as well as replacing street trees that were of a non-approved species, and planting trees on the homes finished during this past year. The stub street has had construction materials removed, along with a trailer, and is now opened. The small island in the middle will be landscaped this spring by the City.
The street tree project has now been completed with 80 new trees planted, watered, and mulched. We will see the 8 dead trees located around the ponds cut and removed in the near future.
The damaged sidewalk sections will be marked in the near future as well. Replacement of these will take place late winter or early spring. The City has agreed to remove silt that tends to cover sections of the streets from the empty lots following heavy rains. Additionally, the City will provide snow plowing for the newer section of Wynncrest, even though these streets have not been formally dedicated to the City. This service will be provided at no cost to the Homeowner’s Association. The City will also install a safety fence around the open foundation in the cul-de-sac at the end of Wynncrest Falls Way.
The 2 model homes, 2 unfinished houses in Plat 5, and the large empty lot on Wynncrest Ridge Court are essentially owned by the Enterprise Bank. The bank has not gone through foreclosure with Levinson on these properties. So, we do not have any current news on the status of them. We will report as soon as we have factual information on these properties.
The City has engaged a professional engineering design company to review the design of the ponds, waterfalls, and fountains and provide recommendations and cost estimates to correct the many problems. We have had an initial meeting with the engineer assigned to this project. He anticipates that the study portion of his project will take a few months to complete, but hopefully, we will have the findings by this spring. Erosion problems associated with the upper 2 ponds may be corrected before that time-frame though. Your Board of Trustees will stay very close to this important project. The City will provide new landscaping around the lower pond whenever all construction work has been completed from the engineering study.
The legal update informed us that the HOA has been jointly named along with Levinson Realty and Building Company, in a lien placed against the common ground, by Kelpe Construction in the amount 0f $189,000. This is the company who performed most of the construction work around the ponds this past year. Our attorney has indicated that it is simply too early to provide comment about this matter, as it is primarily in the hands of the Royal Bank and the City of Wildwood, and will probably take quite a number of months to resolve.
The attorney also covered an infraction of our Restrictions by a homeowner that has not been resolved, and the homeowner’s present at the Annual meeting voted by a 2 to 1 margin to proceed from a legal standpoint as necessary. We have one additional open infraction incident that we have been advised will be taken care of hopefully, by the time you receive this Newsletter.
An election was held for the one open position on the Board, and Curt Cherry was elected for a 3 year term.
The Board presented a budget for 2009 that called for an increase in annual dues to $600., which was approved. City and Village, the financial firm that handles all of our financial matters, will issue bills after January 1, 2009 for payment by February 15, 2009. City and Village has provided excellent work for us, and has been extremely cooperative in all matters. They have collected all past due bills with one exception, and that homeowner has had a lien placed against their property by the HOA.
Gerald Moss volunteered to design and landscape the cul-de-sac circle at the end of Wynncrest Ridge Drive, and has been provided a budget by the Board to do so. It is now completed, and it looks great. Thanks, Gerry!
We will have a new web-site fully operational by December 1, 2008 – address: www.wynncresthoa.com. We invite you to view it and use its capabilities. We will provide periodic newsletter updates to keep you informed as to what is happening in Wynncrest. This web-site will list the e-mail addresses of your Board members.
A motion was made to change Section 5, Article IX-Restrictions, from the current allowed of number of household pets from 2 to 3. The motion was denied due to lack of a second for the motion.
We continue to have some homeowners who complete improvements on their property without filing an Improvement Request Form for approval. Satellite dishes, basketball backboards, fences, pools, hot tubs, additions, and changes to front elevations are covered by this Restriction. Your Board has viewed 17 of these requests this past year, and in all cases has turned them around very quickly so as not to slow a project. It makes it very difficult for us if an improvement is completed without our knowledge. Please fill the request out and forward it to one of the Board members, and we will process it quickly. You can get a copy of the form from any one of us, as well as an electronic copy as soon as the web-site is up.
If you are still with question about some aspect of Wynncrest, please feel free to contact any one of us for response.
Next Homeowner meeting will be in May, 2009, date to be advised.