Franklin Villager January 2016
2015 YEAR END RECAP
Master Association
The Master Association spent a lot of time talking and planning for projects but most of them were not started in 2015.
* Pool House renovations – will be started in the Fall of 2016 and be completed in the Spring of 2017. The building will be gutted, remodeled, and have the interior layout reversed with a small addition on the pool side. The bathrooms and meeting room will be available year round and be heated.
* Walking trail – Plans are to have the first phase of the walking trail completed in 2016 from the East Gate to Ashton.
* STOP sign enforcement – the speed bumps were a bit much and were replaced with a STOP sign adjacent to the existing ones on the berm but in the middle of the street to try and get owners to at least try to come to a full stop.
* Storm Water Maintenance – The engineering firm has completed their assessment and will be briefing the MA soon. The MA wants to take over storm water management from each individual village as storm water effects all villages.
* Capital Improvement Fee (CIF) – MA clarified the CIF to include any outside and inside owners buying another property would still pay the CIF.
* Sullivan House – With the Sullivan House now open daily and available for meetings, the MA approved raising up the floor to the first floor bathroom to make accommodation easier. Project to be done in Feb. 2016.
* Entrance signage – New thicker village directory signs were being replace in December.
* Marketing Advisory Group (MAG) – Through advertising in the Philadelphia Inquirer and Chester County Times, as well as the updated web page (avg 1600 hits/mo) and the two Community Day open houses, the sales and appreciation of homes in the Mill have increased nicely. In 2015 85 homes were sold & closed at an average of 46 days on the market. Another 12 have sold with 59 days on the market and will close in early 2016. There remains 44 homes now for sale .
* Sunoco Logistics- Sunoco will be running new pipeline past the Mill on Boot Rd on the way to Marcus Hook. The large trees on Boot in front of Giant will be gone. The MA is negotiating now with Sunoco for new landscaping. Currently being offered $50,000+.
* Community Center handicap entrance to upper level – Latest proposal is a partially covered ramp starting out front. The elevator proposal at approximately $175,000 is out.
* Master Association 2016 budget – A .97 cent increase from the Greenhill Sewer Association was passed through so the 2016 budget will go up by less than $3.00/qtr.
Franklin Village
* Concrete Sidewalks – completed the third phase of the installations. Balance of walkways and pool entrance will be completed in 2016. Sidewalks are wider, safer and look great.
* Walls at Mill Road and the lower cul-de-sac were repaired and painted.
* Ice melt – Calcium Chloride is still the best for melting snow at low temperatures and shouldn’t deteriorate our new concrete walkways. For those leaving early before the walkways are shoveled, a quantity of ice melt is available in Jeanette Schmid’s (598) trash bin.
* Dryer vents were cleaned in 2015. They should be done every 2 years.
* Houses will be checked yearly for termites at village expense
* Pool renovation- The pool will have the bottom and sides re-plastered in early 2016. Also the stain above the skimmers will be removed. We may also stain the concrete for aesthetic purposes.
* Garage Door replacement program – With 34 bottom panels rotting and the replacements no longer available we will be replacing all the garage doors with a steel, insulated door with a wood grain finish. The side jambs will also be replaced with kiln-dried lumber and prefinished to match the doors, hopefully to eliminate the rotting at the bottom of our current jambs. Also any openers not meeting current code will have to be replaced at owners’ expense, bringing the village garage doors into code compliance. We have negotiated a very competitive price for a top-of-the-line opener with a battery back-up. New garage doors will be paid for by borrowing from the reserves and a payback covering 4 years at $50/quarter. $50 X 16 quarters equals $800, the cost of the doors.
* Franklin 2016 budget – For 2016 our quarterly fee will increase by $108 ($58 to cover increased costs + the temporary $50 to repay the reserves for the garage doors.) We are still near the lowest quarterly charge compared to most of our peers.
* 538 has finally sold and should close by the end of the month.
* Jack Fulmer has volunteered to chair the Maintenance Committee. Thanks Jack!!
* 2015 budget: According to Jay Harter the budget shortfall has been reversed and we will end up with a small surplus.
* Schedule of meetings for 2016 has been distributed. Mark your calendars.
OTHER NEWS: If you have a neighbor who is ill or hospitalized, please contact Erna Graham at 610-431-6229 and leave her a message with the person’s name and unit number and she will send them a greeting card from the Village.