FINANCIALS: Jay showed the village’s budget for 2020, which included information on the water leak which cost $2K or 3K in water bills but over $20K to fix.
Pest Control: We did not pay for inspections this year but we did pay for 2 remediations, so we’re about $1K over budget.
Maintenance: We had 2 or 3 water problems in the beginning of the year along with the water leak mentioned above.
Alarm Update: Back in January and February we found out that everyone had to update their alarm system due to FIOS. We were the first village to do it, however it wasn’t in the budget so we were over budget $5K.
Power Washing: We were going to power wash homes only but ended up doing the homes, garages and walkways so we were over budget.
We were about $14K over budget. The above items are the reason for being over budget. We knew back in March or April we would have this problem so we came up with an assessment in April which was due in July. The assessment was $300 for homes which came to $26K. This left us with a surplus of $11K.
Budget: Fixed expenses were mostly the same as last year. There were some increases from vendors. We are still budgeting $30K for snow.
The Master Association gave us an increase of $5 per month per home, which is a $15 quarterly increase. Our insurance went up and Management went up slightly but the new amount is good for 3 years.
Power Washing won’t be done next year. Pest Control will be done in 2021. Pool expense remains about the same. Landscaping was increased due to a number of trees that had to come down. Gutter Cleaning is done twice a year, $2K. So in essence, our expenses will go up about $10K and the village fee will go up $15 a quarter for a total increase of $30 per quarter, including the MA increase.
Reserves: Our reserve fund is $596,000 and by the time we get to 2025 we will be well over $1M. The roofs will be done sometime between 2025 and 2028. Brighton was recently assessed $5K for their roofs. We have one of the lesser quarterly fees, at $1680. A lot of people want to know how much of that amount goes to the Master Association. The total we pay is $191 a month or $575 a quarter, 34% of our quarterly assessment of $1680 for 2021. 34% of the MA’s budget goes to telecommunications, phone, internet and cable, as per the contract we have with Verizon. A lot of people moving into Hershey’s Mill say that their reasons are the grounds, the maintenance, and the openness of villages. The grounds maintenance is $461K and #2 Security, $627K.
Upgrades: Elevator up and running to all 3 floors.
Technology Committee: They have secured the PECO energy audit for us for free. You get light bulbs and power strips from PECO. Kanes are updating our dot.com marketing page and our dot.org web page. One of the things we will be able to do is set up our own village web page and not have to pay for it.
Pipeline: They are done in front of the shopping center. The MA is going to get the parking lot back to the way it was without the top 2 rows cut off.
The Adelphia pipeline was on hold for some issues but it will start to work again. No drilling or digging will be done by us. They are merely changing the direction of the product movement.
No open houses until further notice. There are only 10 homes available right now.
MA has been circulating the COVID updates from the governor. The new issues that came out a couple of days ago will be implemented soon.
PECO outages: We had another outage and the MA was in touch with PECO. Some of it was due to trees and some due to transformers. 2 weeks ago they were working on both the lines and transformers on Greenhill.
If you drive past Devonshire you will see the new road there. It’s an emergency road from Cornwallis which had only one access. It won’t be used except for emergencies.
Painting and paving: The West Gate and North Gate are done. The Community Center parking has been re-configured and a number of additional spots added. The speed bump on Mill Rd. is going to be enlarged,
Tech Group has had a number of calls about phone scams.
Sports Group: They may be moving the 2 bocce courts to the grass area by the shuffleboard courts, adding a 3rd bocce court and moving the shuffleboard courts to grass area near the wood shop. They are also adding a fire pit and outdoor bathroom.
Community Center: They are contemplating a 2 story addition on the library side to add more rooms for meetings, pool, ping pong, Pilates, yoga, a cash bar area and a fitness center. It is in the preliminary stages right now. Funding will come from the CIF funds – when someone purchases a home here there is an entrance fee of $1650 and it will now be $1680 for Franklin and the MA gets $2280 in their CIF fund.
That money will finance the Community Center for the people who moved here in the last few years and those moving in here in the future. They are talking about taking out a ten year mortgage. They get $2280 for every new sale and they budget for 80 sales a year for $182K. Since this started in 2014, every year has averaged at least 110 homes for sale. So they are pulling in 250K. There is currently $350,478 in the CIF fund and that is what they are using the for the CS addition. On a monthly basis, if they were to borrow 2M they estimate the monthly bill would be about 11K and they are pulling in $15K. There would be plenty to pay off the loan and have a surplus. The drawings aren’t done yet but they wanted more work on the fitness center. About 3000 SF would be added n each floor. It would take out some of the parking, so they would get additional parking by cutting into the hill by Sullivan House. They wouldn’t lose any parking spots.
This is pretty preliminary. They just approved the architect and we’ll be getting some schematics in a month or two. This is a project that will not be built if the presidents don’t approve it. If they feel that any of the money going to this project would have to be charged to the quarterlies it won’t be built. They are very adamant that they can get this done without affecting any fees that we pay the MA.
Upcoming: Gutter cleaning will be done in late fall, when most of the leaves are down. We get mulched every other year and we are due in 2021. Termite testing is paid for by the village every other year. If remediation is needed, the village pays for that. We didn’t pay for testing this year but we did pay for 2 remediations. Franklin Security boxes have been updated. The new ones in the future will be wireless and less maintenance.
Signs: Some of the villages have upgraded their signs. We thought we should upgrade ours, but we found that Eaton got 2 new signs and they were $5400. Since we need 3 signs, it would cost over 7K. Dom and I looked at all the signs. Dom is a former paint company owner. We think we will upgrade our signs, taking them down, sanding them, cleaning them and repainting them in the HM colors of red and gold. The one sign on Mill by the North Gate will be moved about 20 feet south so it can be seen by people entering from the gate.
Homes for sales: None are currently for sale in FV but we do know that 525, a Donegal will be up for sale soon. In the entire Mill there are only 10 houses for sale, prices are going up. A Marlboro in Eaton just sold for $550K.
Social Committee: Plans all our events. Hopefully, we will be able to look forward to better days. We had an Ice Cream Social and an Oktoberfest and Bocce on Thursday. We still do not have a chair person but we have some new people on the committee. We are talking about the possibility of having an event in the spring. We had to cancel our yearly Holiday Party. Social Committee members: Peggy Covatto, Mary Ann DiNunzio, Louise Harter, Carolyn Hinckin, Lynn Kocher, Kathy Kroos, Martha Marshalak, Linda Tordone, Jackie Welle and Hope Wood. Many of them are new residents. We could use a few more people on our committee. If you are interested, please contact any of the people list.
FV Volunteers – We have always been one of the better villages in the Mill due to our residents volunteering for committees.
Pool: The pool is closed unless you feel like ice skating. It was a disappointing turnout this summer, due to health worries. The exercise classes took place in spite of small turnout. The new pool cover was not delivered. They re-installed the old cover, patching it up so it survives the winter. We have not paid them for the new cover and won’t until it’s installed. The water at the pool is now turned off. The pool cost to residents is about $20 a quarter. If you don’t use the pool, you may still attend the social events held there.
Communications: About 14 people are still not receiving the HM Technology emails so Judy is sending them out to these people individually and trying to get them posted on HMTV.
Architectural: We’re doing well trying to get the village to the point that our decks and patios, etc look the same. Again, anything done to the outside of your unit, front or back needs an architectural request form to be submitted to the committee.
Landscaping: We cancelled our walk-around due to the virus. We took down 12 trees, removing the stumps and putting down grass and mulch. We had 2 large trees come down at the end of summer, so we were just slightly over budget. We met with Chris Morris, who replaced Mike Neale. Mike left rather abruptly, so Chris is not up to par on what is waiting to be done. They will be trimming some of our shrubs that are growing up above windows. If they don’t get this done, we will expect a credit towards our spring work.
Decorations: Michelle Cohen put up the Halloween decorations with the help of Peg Wolcken. We got a nice response to our request for donations. I have already restrung 5 wreaths and bought lights for the snowman. I put lights on the trees on Chandler because of the nice weather. We have 3 volunteers right now. We are going to spread the decorations around so people don’t have to go in Anne Fussell’s garage to get them. We will get some nice greens for the sleigh. There’s about $135 left for spring decorations. We have no committee, just volunteers. It would be nice to have a committee to meet and decide about decorations for the different yearly holidays. If you are interested in joining the committee, please contact me. Please come out at 11/28 11AM to help. Thanks to everyone who donated.
Welcome: We are up to date with one house remaining to be visited.
Michael Pincus: Mike has handled the update of the rules for 2020 and reviewed the bylaws, covenants, easements. They were filed with the county.
Issues: Some people have had problems with rubber washer hoses. They should be replaced with metal enforce ones. They are not expensive and they last forever. Rubber hoses wear out and can leak. If you leave your unit for any length of time, please turn off your hot water heater. Water heaters should be replaced every 10 years. Set light timers and let Security know.
If you have not removed your annuals, please do so before winter and cut back your perennials. If you have hoses outside and there is water in them, they will freeze up and burst. If you have an exterior bulb on your garage or one on the roadway that is unlit, please contact Rich Jurgan for replacement.
If you have a bathroom in the basement, flush it once a week. We had about $3K in extra water bills due to a leaking toilet in a basement.
If you have to leave home early during snow, you can obtain snow melt from the trash bin at 598, just bring a container and shovel or scooper.
Walking Trail: Judy Jurgan attended the MA meeting in my absence. The MA wants to finish the portion of the trail behind Franklin. From our legal counsel we learned that the MA can approve this without a village vote. We turned them down twice. They are pressing us again, sending out a blog to all presidents from Glenwood regarding our reluctance to approve. The insurance committee is recommending a walkway for safety. I had some comments from a few presidents who already approved it. The pressure is on.
Some points against: The walking trail is miles long and there is more than 1 trail in the Mill, it doesn’t make sense that we need one to go all the way around. (Over 5 miles)
Walkers that are currently walking through Franklin Way would use the trail behind Franklin: probably not.
Walkers from Eaton, Kennett and Springton would walk up the hill to the new trail to get to the big pond, probably not.
Walkers that walk in through Franklin now would be safer with 24 feet wide streets than a six ft. trail, Yes
People passing each other on the 6 foot trail would still walk in the street to get by – probably.
Princeton folks currently walking through Franklin Way would switch to the walking trail. Probably not.
The screening provided for Franklin would save the village money. Probably
Would the screening provide more privacy for those on Chandler than currently exists. Yes
Are there residents on Chandler who do not object to the walking trail. Yes but they are in the minority.
Would striping a 6 foot walking trail on Franklin Way save our village and the MA $100K. probably
The new proposal is to increase the width of Chandler from 26 to 33 feet wide, which they say they are allowed a 33 feet width on Chandler and that, technically they have a 3 foot easement on each side of the street. So they could take 3 feet from Franklin and 3 feet from Glenwood and establish a 6 foot walking trail on the Franklin side for walkers. They would provide striping for safety. They would not provide any screening for Franklin.
Council has discussed this. This will not happen this year because asphalt companies close down for the winter. We are waiting to see the legal document stating they have the right to do this.
“Discussions” ensued but there was no resolution or agreement.
The meeting was adjourned.