2015 Environs Committee Report

The Environs Committee, made up of Mr. Palmer, Ms. Baldwin, and Dr. Wolcott, is a three member sub-committee of the full Board of Directors charged by the Board with making recommendations regarding the short and the long term utilization, maintenance, repair, management, and improvement of the Common Areas.

The Association funds these activities in three ways:

· Annual Assessment income;

· Fee paid by the State Highway Authority to obtain a 10-year access easement to allow the ICC to perform major improvements to the surface water drainage along the northern boundaries of the Association;

· County reimbursement for some qualifying efforts to place indigenous plantings and/or to control surface water run-off.

The more significant routine maintenance and repair activities during the past year included:

· Regular mowing and trimming of the Common Areas;

· Repairs to the slide in the Tot lot;

· Replacement of 50+ yards of shredded bark within the Tot Lot;

· Staining/Waterproofing of the bridge along the path to the Tot lot from Oskaloosa Drive;

· Re-planting of perennials at the entrance to this pathway and adjacent to the benches at the midway point.

Routine maintenance and repair for the upcoming year will address;

· Regular mowing and trimming of the Common Areas;

· Proper trimming/weeding of ornamental plantings;

· Staining/Waterproofing of the two community bulletin boards;

· Replacement of two benches along Indianola Drive;

· Correcting poor surface water drainage adjacent to the pathway from Oskaloosa Drive to the Tot Lot.

Major improvement activities during the past year included:

· Year three of the five year program (discussed separately) to manage the Common Areas by selective tree removal and planting involving the Common Area running from Indianola Drive at the Bulletin Board to the Association property line at the commercial strip on Crabbs Branch;

· A “Self-Help” project during which volunteers planted indigenous decorative grasses, ornamental shrubs, and trees at multiple locations on the Common Areas.

Major improvement activities during the next year will address:

· Conducting year four of the five year program to manage the Common Areas in the area running from Buena Vista Terrace to the County park land;

· Consideration of creating “dry gardens” in this same area to control erosion caused by surface water run –off (see below);

· Consideration of creating a walking pathway from Buena Vista Terrace to the County park land with adjoining rest benches (see below).

Activities within the Association Area, but not under Board Control:

· In 2014-15 the WSSC exercised its rights cross the Common Areas in two places to conduct repairs to some of its large pipes north of the Association area; That work is now done, and the WSSC is in the process of remediating the damage done to the grass of the Common Areas.

· The ICC Project to improve/expand the Park wetland to the north of the Association property has not yet begun (even after several years in planning). When it starts, it will have a major and prolonged impact on the Common Area to the east of Indianola between HOA 1 and HOA 2 and the Common Areas running from Oskaloosa Drive north to the park land.

Five Year Program to Manage the Common Areas

Background: Approximately seven years ago, the Board realized that it had no long-range plan to manage the trees and ornamental plantings on the multiple Common Areas. The (predominately) white pines that the original developer planted to maximize rapid screening from the Common Areas had grown without regular culling and shaping, were losing large branches with each windstorm or heavy snow, and in many locations were crowding each other out.

The Board hired Potomac Gardens Nursery to have their certified arborist create an inventory of all trees on the Common Areas above 6 inches in diameter and to recommend to the Board a long term management plan to ensure that the Common Areas remained a strong asset to the Association. The arborist’s report recommended the immediate removal of several trees whose condition he felt made them present a danger; the planned and staged over time removal of many (primarily white pine) trees to increase the likelihood of the long-term survival of others; trimming the deadwood from many trees (again primarily white pine); and the planting of many new indigenous trees of multiple varieties.

The Board immediately removed the trees identified as dangerous, and created a five year plan for removal and trimming of existing trees based primarily upon the arborist’s recommendations and for the planting of indigenous replacements trees. The Board’s plan allowed for spreading the program over five years ensuring that it could be funded from existing assessment income without requiring a special assessment.

· Process and Decision-Making: The Board established (and has since followed) a yearly process for its consideration of each stage. This yearly process involves: discussion at annual meetings and at monthly Board Meetings; mailings to the community; holding an open meeting with abutters; and eventual approval by the Board of a final plan for the year. This is Year Four of the Project, which includes the area between Buena Vista Drive and Mahaska Drive; Year Five will involve the boundary between Buena Vista and the commercial strip on Crabbs Branch.

Prior Years’ work involved:

· Year One: Common Area running from Oskaloosa Drive to the Tot Lot. (Completed)

· Year Two: Common Area running from Indianola Drive to the Red Cross Building on Crabbs Branch. (Completed)

· Year Three: Common Area running from Indianola Drive at the Bulletin Board to the Association property line at the commercial strip on Crabbs branch (Completed).

Common Area Major Improvements

The Board placed the money received from the State Highway Authority in payment for the access easement needed by the ICC Project and discussed earlier in a separate account to be used for significant improvements to (not routine maintenance of) the Common Areas.

To date, the Board has approved expenditures from that fund for:

· The asphalt walkways connecting the Tot Lot to three streets within the Association;

· The bridge along that pathway;

· The benches, table, and decorative planting along that pathway;

· Removal of stumps from trees removed from the Common Areas either because they had been damaged, they endangered the Tot Lot area, or as part of years 1 and 2 of the Common Area project discussed earlier;

· Planting of some large trees near the Tot Lot.

Costs of pathway, benches, dry gardens, etc. under consideration in the Common Area running from Buena Vista to the Park land would be paid for from this fund. (NOTE: it is possible that a County fund to improve surface water run-off will partially reimburse the Association for any dry garden creation)