Author: Margaret Callahan

Franklin Villager March 2016
Master Association Update
1. The East Goshen Twp managers met with the presidents for approval of a proposal to add a paved road from Cornwallis Street across to Chandler. Cornwallis is South of the Mill. The state is making the township add a second access road to Cornwallis for emergency and safety reasons. The road will be protected at both ends by a locked gate which the emergency people would cut with bolt cutters if an emergency happened and the other end of the street was blocked. Esthetically, only Devonshire would be effected. The presidents approved the proposal with a small committee set up to see the final plans
2. Sunoco Logistics is estimated to be starting the 20” pipeline along Boot Rd this Fall. They are proposing drilling 24hrs a day with a diesel machine that makes some noise. The Village of Quaker will be impacted the most with a few other villages also impacted with sound and vibrations. Some of the villages also have wells for their electricity systems and are concerned. The MA has an attorney working on the issues.
3. Sullivan House bathroom remodeling is complete. The MA and Sullivan House will split the $9200 cost for new porch furniture.
4. The earthen dam between Kennett and Lincoln will be breached as the pond is filled with silt. The stream will not be effected by this change.
5. Each village was asked to fill out a brief form for our insurance company explaining how they maintain the village and documenting any capital expenses spent the last 3 or so years.
6. The contract with Comcast is up in May of 2018 so a committee has been formed to start negotiating with Comcast and Verizon for more stations, less expensive internet service and higher internet speeds.
Franklin Village Notes
1. Rules for 55+ communities were discussed. Children under the age of 18 are not allowed to reside in 55+ communities.
2. At the February Village meeting the budget was discussed in detail. We ended up a little in the black for 2015. Our 2016 budget includes a $50/qtr. increase to pay back the Reserve Fund for the new garage doors. This $50 will last for 16 quarters ($800). The balance of the quarterly increase ($58) is to cover increased maintenance and snow plowing fees. Even at $1458/qtr we are very competitive with our peer villages.
3. Our Reserve Fund should be in good shape to cover our next large project (road surfacing) in 2019.

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.

Franklin Village September 2015 MA and Council notes

Master Association 9-3-2015 meeting notes

1. Sullivan House – Harrisburg L & I granted a variance for the bathroom at Sullivan House. The contractor will apply for a permit from E Goshen and should start raising the floor in Jan or Feb.
2. Merrifield Curve road safety improvements – The M A will be adding an “All Way Stop sign” at the entrance and strengthening the guardrail posts for safety reasons.
3. Walking Trail update – The township wants to see water run off details for the trail. MA may switch to pourus concrete rather than providing a water runoff engineer report..
4. Stormwater Management – Uhler Assoc. Engineers is still doing their survey and estimate for taking over storm water management for the MA.
5. Interior directional signage – MA is looking at newer/thicker signs.
6. Garden Committee – Since a couple was caught filling the dumpster with household goods MA passed a resolution of a $200 fine for dumping household goods in the dumpster at the gardens, and will post a sign listing the fine.
7. Insurance proposals – Lindsey will be submitting proposals from the insurance companies they represent and also Nationwide will be bidding. According to Ed McFalls there seems to be more stability now in the insurance market and rates may only change by +/- 5%. The insurance quotes will go directly to each village president.
8. CIF (Capital Improvement Fund) discussion – People buying in to the Mill pay 2 CIFs. One to the village and one to the Master Association; and according to the real estate people this has had no effect on sales. A question was raised as to whether a current Hershey’s Mill owner who either moves to another village or buys a house for investment needs to pay the MA portion of the fee. This was followed by a long discussion and tabled to a committee to rewrite the explanation and be voted on at the next MA meeting.

Next meeting Oct.1, 2015

Franklin Council Sept. 14, 2015 meeting notes

1. Meeting was called to order and the August minutes were approved
2. Financial Report – Jay Harter – Not much changed through the July financials. Will be scheduling a finance committee meeting to work on the 2016 budget after August financials are available.
3. Garage door discussion – With at least 34 bottom panels needing replacement we decided it made no sense to replace them with the same type as they will probably be just as bad in a few years. Other villages are having the same problem. Glenwood is replacing their doors as needed a few at a time with doors that don’t need maintenance and are prefinished at approx. $700+ per door including new tracks and stops. This cost would be not much more than replacing our bottom panels, side trim and repainting. As a result we are meeting with Smoker Door
Company, currently doing work for Yardley and Devonshire for a quote. Council also discussed that folks getting new doors should pay to have a new door opener installed to meet code.
4. Garage Door colors – It was also suggested that we look at colors other than brown for new doors. Inverness has painted their doors a tan color. We will discuss at the Village Sept 29th meeting. Owners might want to check out the colors other villages have used as we’ll be asking for input.
5. Dryer Vent cleaning should be start soon. You will get a call to schedule from Kevin Free and owe $45 to him after cleaning.
6. We are waiting for a quote from the engineer company in repairing cracks at 556
7. Termite inspection is ongoing under our contract – expect a phone call first.
8. Concrete Walkways – We have given DiStefano a punch list of a couple of items not done yet. All walkways scheduled for 2015 are completed.
9. With water usage shared equally by all owners we ask that no lawn watering be done. In a drought the grass will go dormant but will comeback as the weather cools and it rains. The exception to this is newly plants shrubs, trees and grass.
10. 538 Franklin is now owned by the bank and hopefully will be sold soon. By law we will receive 6 months of fees. The rest will be written off as part of our financials and not assessed. We have established a “bad debt” account to help defray/mitigate future issues like this.
11. Judy Jurgan is working to establish a “Franklin Web page”. Then all Village published rules/regs, announcements, pictures etc would be available on the web for reference.
12. The finance committee wil be having a meeting to work on the 2016 budget as soon as August financials are available.
13. September 29th Village meeting and 30 year anniversary catered get- together will begin at 5PM ,with the meeting commencing at 7PM. Bring any photos you have of past village functions. $12.50pp due by 9-15 to 541 Ellen Maston.

Next Council meeting 11-12-2015