2024

Dear Wynncrest Homeowner,

The annual meeting of Wynncrest Homeowners Association was held on October 9, 2024, at Crestview Middle School at 7:00pm. Thank you to those of you who were able to attend.  The following matters were discussed with 24 households represented in person or by proxy.  This was not a quorum.  The meeting was called to order by trustee Craig Sorce.  Trustee Randy Roth was present.  Trustee Lori Roach took minutes.

HOA Dues Increase and/or Special Assessment

All three of the current trustees are up for re-election.  All three current trustees wish to conclude their term of office.  Should no successor trustees be elected at this meeting due to lack of volunteers or lack of quorum (30% of the homeowners), the trustees will contact the City of Wildwood to appoint successor Trustees.  This could result in an increase to homeowner assessments.  This topic was discussed further in the agenda topic “Election.”  Please remember your Annual Assessment is due January 15 each year. 

Grounds & Landscaping

General Maintenance Update/Spring Walk Through

Our current landscaping company is Bloom Lawn and Landscaping.  We did a spring walk through with Bloom this year to point out areas of improvement and importance for them.

In the past when we have reviewed other bids, Bloom has been the most economical.  We are currently looking at another bid, checking for not only cost but also for references from other HOAs.  The current board members have also tried to save HOA funds by completing some maintenance ourselves including, cutting down smaller dead trees and branches, clearing out some underbrush and raking the ponds of algae.  Thank you to Randy, Craig and his son Dillon for their work.

Sprinklers

The control panel at the west entrance needed replacement.  In addition, due to a combination of the maintenance needs of a 20 year old system and an improper shut down in winter of 2023, we sought out an new irrigation company.  The system had several leaks this summer.  New thicker pvc pipe was installed by Sprinkler MD.  New heads will be needed next year, due to some that are leaking.  The east system seems to be working well currently, although that controller is also ageing.

Path lights

New path lights were installed this year by Bloom.  Over the years, the old upright lights have been broken and damaged and were no longer working.  The new lights are low-profile and installed in concrete pads on the sides of the path.  We believe these new low-profile lights will not be harmed by mowers and make damage less likely by other means as well.  When Bloom installed these lights, they used extra wire to replace some of the older landscape wiring.   This fixed some of the landscape lighting issues.  There is a light in the east entrance that is currently being repaired.

Lake & Waterfall

Fountains

Two years ago, lights on the lowest fountain went out, these were replaced by LED lights (halogen no longer an option).  Lights on the middle fountain were also replaced by LED lights when they were no longer working.  In the upper pond, one fountain is no longer working and is at the Pump Shop awaiting rebuild.  We anticipate this to be completed for summer of 2025.  This will be a large expense of approximately $14,000.  The fountains are not just for aesthetics, but also help circulate the water, control algae and keep the ponds healthy.  As part of the spring clean up this year, Bloom trimmed back the cattails by the falls.  The falls run M-F 5pm-9pm and S-S 8am-9pm.

Pond Algae

To help control the algae in the ponds, the board has been treating the ponds with pond dye and raked the lower pond when the algae is over grown.  We recommend future boards continue with this treatment.  A member suggested we contact Aquatic Controls as a resource for lake management.

City & Village Updates and Portal

City & Village has a new portal system that will house directory information and where homeowners can view and pay their assessments.  The portals address is cityandvillage.cincwebaxis.com .  Homeowners can find more information about accessing the portal at wynncresthoa.com and at cityandvillage.com

Budget update for 2024 and Proposed budget for 2025

The HOA ended 2023 with a balance of $120,277, which is the Beginning Balance for 2024.  We received $85,000 in Revenue from assessments (all are paid for 2024, some paid end of 2023).  Four homeowners are delinquent from 2024.  We anticipate to have total expenditures of

$133,027.  The increase in expenditures this year are largely due to roughly $15K for the new path lights, $14k for sprinkler repairs, and $14k for fountain repair/rebuild.  We estimate

2024 with $72,249.  For 2025 we anticipate no major expenses and a nearly balanced budget ending 2025 with $72,323.  Please note that the budget presented at the meeting had actual expenses through August 31, 2024.  As of the time of this Homeowner Update, September expenses have been added to the budget and included with this mailing.

Election

Craig Sorce and Lori Roach have been on the Board since being elected in October 2019.  Randy was appointed by Craig and Lori in 2020 after Mo Dannenburg left his position.  Quorum was not reached for the meeting and no election could be held.  A member of the HOA requested a special meeting be held in January.  According to the Declaration:

“Special meetings of the Members may be called at any time by a member of the

Board of Directors. Special meetings must be called by any member of the Board upon receipt of a written request for a special meeting signed by at least (10) members of the Association. No business shall be transacted at a special meeting except as stated in the Notice thereof.” (Article 5 Section 7).

Although this request was not in writing and was not signed by 10 residents, the board will nonetheless hold a special meeting in January.  Please see the enclosed filer for official notice details of the meeting.  We will send a second reminder with a proxy after the first of the year.  If you cannot attend, please complete a proxy.  This allows someone to vote for you and for the meeting to have a quorum to conduct an election.  Lisa Crouch and Maggie Wright volunteered to serve on the board.  There is still one more volunteer needed to service on the board and fill the trustee vacancy.

At the special meeting to hold an election all three seats will be open.  The board can foresee three outcomes:

• We have quorum either in person or by proxy and are able to hold an election. We have a three volunteers (or more) and are able to hold an election.
• We do not have a quorum and cannot hold an election, but we have three volunteers who can be appointed by the current board to serve until the Annual Meeting where another attempt at an election can be held.
• We do not have enough volunteers for all of the three open seats. Should this happen, the City could appoint directors to fill any vacancies.  This may or may not be a resident of the association and could result in an assessment increase.

“Where the provisions of this Declaration cannot be fulfilled by reason of unfilled vacancies among the Directors, the Wildwood City Council may upon the petition of any concerned resident or property owner of the subdivision, appoint one or more Directors to fill vacancies until such time as Directors are selected in accordance with the terms hereof. Any person so appointed who is not a resident or property owner within the subdivision shall be allowed a reasonable fee for his/her services by the order of appointment, which fee shall be levied as a special assessment against the property in the subdivision, and which shall not be subject to any limitations on special assessments contained in this Declaration or elsewhere.”  (Article 5 Section 4).

Open Discussion

Members in attendance expressed frustration with other homeowners who do not maintain their yards and landscaping.  Members present were concerned with untimely mowing of certain lots, resulting in tall grass and weeds, as well as landscaping that is overgrown with weeds.  A member suggested the Declaration would allow for the HOA to have a yard mowed or maintained, sending the bill to the homeowner in question.  Should that bill not be paid, there could be a lien placed on the house.  The current board believes that all residents want a well-maintained neighborhood and that we will all strive to do our best to keep our yards and landscaping on par with our home values.

Members present also expressed concern with residents who speed through the neighborhood.  Please keep in mind your speed and do not become distracted when driving through the neighborhood.

Homeowner Responsibility

The trustees thank the residents for their continued commitment to the high quality of our neighborhood.

As a reminder,

• Be cognizant when you or your guests are parking on the street to not double park or impede a neighbor’s driveway,
• Keep trash cans out of view of street,
• Make sure to abide by natural resource protection restrictions,
• If you have trees over hanging the sidewalk of your property, please trim back for sidewalk traffic,
• Please remember to pick up and dispose of the waste from your dog when walking through the neighborhood,
• Please keep your yard mowed and weeds in landscaping trimmed back.

Please visit https://wynncresthoa.com/ .  Here you can:

• View the Declaration
• Find information on the City and Village Portal
• Volunteer for your neighborhood
• Make a request for an improvement