Hopefully you have noticed the big effort that was undertaken last month. Chris Neel, along with a number of volunteers he coordinated with where able to paint, repair or replace all mailbox posts in our neighborhood.
As many of you know we have recognized the importance of properly maintained mailboxes. Not just for function and the personal satisfaction of the residents, but also as a sign of the general upkeep in our development for potential new buyers. We believe they directly effect perceived values across the neighborhood. The board has requested for many years a special assessment aimed at maintaining mailboxes at a lower cost than homeowners could find themselves through bulk purchasing. Last year, with the passage of the new covenants we were able to move this to a normal budget item.
Through the years, we have realized that the rate of decay amongst the posts, coupled with rising costs from vendors meant we could replace fewer than necessary in order to stay ahead of the problem, without raising the dues. For the past couple years we have been discussing alternative solutions to dedicated mailbox providers. This year we found an answer in the form of a dedicated community member. Chris Neel stepped up with a plan to organize a team of volunteers to do basic maintenance and painting of all posts. In order to facilitate this plan the Board voted to appoint him as a member so he could work quickly as a representative of the HOA. With our support behind him he gathered the materials and made good on the promise of finding volunteers to get the work done in a short amount of time. Some posts were not able to be saved and we replaced those completely. Going forward this will be a continuing yearly effort. Hopefully this will lengthen the life span of the posts.
We want to remind everyone that while the HOA is taking on this project, it is being funded by your neighbors and worked on by your neighbors. The mailbox and posts are still your property. Out of respect for the hard work put in, I ask that everyone stay ahead of problems and keep your posts in good condition. Reach out if you need paint, we will be keeping some readily available from now on.
As a final note I want to highlight all the volunteers who put work, often early and on hot days to make this happen. Some were not even homeowners here in our neighborhood.
Chris Neel
Sue Calufetta
Sue Griffith
Bill McConnell
Tom McNamara
Sandra Neel
Mike Scnell
Jack Straub
Dr Bob Wertz
David White