Town Crier Articles

Posted on November 1, 2021 6:01 AM by Kate Licastro

Categories: General, Life in New Town, NTRA Business

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On the NTRA Facebook page you can find information about upcoming neighborhood events as well as updates shared by the New Town Commercial Association. It's also helpful for reminders and easily adding events to your calendar. As always, if there is anything specific you would like to see posted, please reach out and let us know.

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November 2021 Town Crier All Articles - TEXT ONLY

Posted on November 1, 2021 5:58 AM by Town Crier Staff

Categories: General, Life in New Town, NTRA Business

BOARD BUZZ – November 2021

Mary Cheston, President

And then there were two…

This month Mark Burgess and I are focused on finalizing the Association’s 2022 budget for presentation to the community with the able assistance of our Finance Committee. It is clear that there needs to be a much-needed change of mindset from what we’ve employed in the past on the part of all of us homeowners.

We can no longer seek the best deal/lowest possible HOA dues or expect to artificially link the NTRA budget to inflation or CPI. Underfunding our Association does long term damage both to our physical plant and our reserves. This year with professional advice, we have critically evaluated what it costs to operate and maintain our community and save for the future. For many homeowners there will be a big assessment increase in 2022. Because we are following our documents, assessments will look somewhat different as well (except for the Village Walk neighborhood). To further understand why an increased assessment is needed, be sure to read Treasurer Everett Lunsford’s article this month on our “2022 Budget Challenges.”

Exciting news! We will soon welcome a new management company to serve our Association. Effective December 1, Chesapeake Bay Management Inc. will take over as the NTRA management company. Chesapeake Bay manages nearly 100 communities in Southeastern Virginia, has strong technological capabilities, and is committed to making positive change in our community. During the selection process, Chesapeake impressed the Board with its commitment to customer service, “can do” attitude, frankness, and overall expertise. Chesapeake also provides value for the money because their management fee is all inclusive, saving us the myriad fees and pass-through costs of our current contract. Best of all, the NTRA will have a full-time dedicated manager.

In the meantime, there is a massive amount of Association data and history to share. This records transition work will consume much of Town Management’s attention this month, so please be patient with your requests. We want as smooth a turnover as possible, especially given the imminent beginning of a new fiscal year. There will be a learning curve for everyone involved.

In mid-November homeowners will be officially notified by Chesapeake with information about how to set up your dues accounts. A different bank will be involved in handling NTRA’s accounts, so expect to change your automatic assessment payments for January 1, 2022. Keep an eye out for this important communication.

November is America’s traditional month of sharing and Thanksgiving. In that spirit, I would like to thank my colleagues who beginning in June 2020 served on the homeowner Board of Directors. Despite the roller coaster ride to get here, your ideas and involvement helped us accomplish several important projects to improve New Town’s common areas and operations.

Thanks also to Town Management, which at the end of the month will conclude 15 years as the management company for the NTRA. From dirt piles to developed neighborhoods, Town Management has watched and lived the transformation of our community and all of its growing pains.

The volunteers who staff our NTRA Committees also deserve a big thank you. The Board especially appreciates the recent work of our Management Company Search Committee - Bill Voliva, Mike Reilly and Everett Lunsford - who expeditiously screened applicants to fill the critical role of our management company. A big shout out to our expanded Communications team who stepped up to assist me - our new Crier editor, writers, and all those who contributed clear and compelling messages on the need to change our documents. That said, we are always in the market for additional help.

A final note of personal thanks to my support system – my unflappable husband Ric and dear Charlotte Park neighbors/friends who have shared a kind word or a laugh (often with a glass of wine) and constantly remind me that the Board is only volunteers, doing the best we can with the cards we were dealt by the Developer Board. New Town is a great community to live in, and these moments rally me.

It is so important for all of us to keep working towards having the Association on sound footing-both legally and financially. We look forward to seeing all of you via Zoom at the November 19th 2022 Budget presentation. We are at the start of the holiday season and embarking on a new chapter in our community’s history. Let’s make it an exciting, memorable beginning.

The Search is Over!

Bill Voliva, Chair, NTRA Management Search

In late August, the Board of Directors (BOD) appointed a three-member Search Committee to find a new management company for our Association. As of November 31, 2021 Town Management, the NTRA’s longtime management company, will no longer be providing property management services to the NTRA. The timeframe looked daunting, but we committed to do our best to meet this challenge.

The committee identified and notified ten property management companies within the eastern Virginia area to determine who may be interested in becoming the property management company for the NTRA.

A Request for Proposal (RFP) for Professional Management Services, developed and approved by the BOD, was provided to each company. The RFP solicited proposals to establish a management agreement through competitive negotiations for professional management services for the NTRA.

Five management companies requested and participated in individual on-site interviews and tours of New Town; each company subsequently submitted proposals by the September 15, 2021 due date.

The Search Committee then conducted a lengthy review of the submitted proposals, pursued additional committee questions/clarifications, and had discussions with provided references.

From the five applicants, the Committee recommended three companies that stood out and were worthy of a final BOD interview. We felt that any one of these three finalists could serve the NTRA well as a potential management company.

I also participated as an observer with the NTRA BOD and officers in the final interviews. The dialogue was frank and the responses enlightening. Overall, the entire selection process was open and thorough. Best of all – we met the dates to provide a month’s transition period between the companies. Challenging timing to say the least!

My thanks to Everett Lunsford and Mike Reilly for joining me on this mission. The NTRA is indeed fortunate that we will have a new partner like Chesapeake Bay Management Company on our journey as a community.

Your Assessment $$$ at Work - A Photo Recap

Sarah Carey

There has been a lot of activity around our community this month completing, upgrading and repairing much needed work. Attached are photographs and a brief description of what has or is in the process of being completed. Please walk around New Town and check it out!

The playground has a new layer of much needed mulch and directly affecting how the mulch will be kept dryer is the French drain that was dug this week on the other side of the sidewalk from the playground and at the bottom of the hill in back of the pool. No more dirty puddles on the sidewalk!

A lot is going on in the pool area. A new strip of concrete was put down recently to make more room for chairs. The pool pergola has been repaired and is awaiting a final paint coat. The pool was resurfaced. It was a huge messy job, but maybe some of you saw the work in progress. Spreading the concrete the men wear a contraption on their feet that look like Hans Brinker’s metal skates. We all look forward to a smoother surface next summer.

Our parks have also received extra attention this year. Please notice the benches in the common areas that have been carefully sanded and stained by two residents Bob Dennis and Mike Reilly! The sandbox in the Lydias Drive playground was repaired by Kelly Mihalcoe and Eden Glenn. Thank you for all your hard work and volunteer time. Dead trees were also cleaned out of Roper Park earlier this spring.

The path at Chelsea Green has recently been scraped, leveled out and is awaiting the delivery of new stone. While this repair is a work in progress it is long awaited, having been deferred due to the 2020 pandemic. This repair continues across Discovery Park Avenue through the Veterans Park.

Earlier in September you may recall the large paving machines that entered Charlotte Park and the odor of the resurfacing of Bettys Lane and Julies Way. The new surfaces are complete.

Next time you're out for a walk in our lovely neighborhood, take a moment to notice all the improvements!

2022 Budget Challenges

Everett Lunsford, Treasurer

2021 has been a year where the NTRA Board and the Finance Committee experienced great learning about our New Town community. It is also a year none of us want to experience again.

Early in the year we realized significant unbudgeted expenses would occur. So in April Town Management was directed to improve our liquidity by shifting home closing replacement reserve contributions to the operations reserve fund (the situation eased by September, so this practice was discontinued in October 2021). As a result, the Association has not been able to substantially contribute to our replacement reserves this year.

The largest unbudgeted operating expense is legal fees. The owner challenges to the NTRA budgeting process that started in 2020 continued into 2021. Reviewing the assessment allocation process defined in the existing Governing Documents (which has not been followed in any of the past budgets and allocations) led the Board to decide to revise the documents. Even though 2/3 homeowner approval is required for the document changes, the Board hoped for community approval in time for the 2022 budget. That proved extremely optimistic.

Another large expense was the audit of the 2020 NTRA financials. This first-time audit was performed by Adams, Jenkins and Cheatham, a Richmond based CPA firm specializing in community association audits and financial consulting. An audit of transition year financials is considered best practice by the Community Association Institute, and the Board, with Finance Committee recommendation, decided this was an important task even though unbudgeted. NTRA and Town Management received a clean audit report.

COVID continued to affect New Town, with additional staffing required for pool operations during the summer. Inspections of the pool led to unplanned repairs to equipment and to the pool pergola. The inspections also determined the pool requires resurfacing, which is being done now. The resurfacing will be paid from replacement reserve funds, but the work is occurring 2 years earlier than the 2019 reserve study anticipated. The replacement reserve fund also covered the pool pergola repair, but the work was required 15 years before expected. In light of the early pool failures, the Board decided to add a winterization service to the pool operating expense to hopefully extend its life.

Other significant unplanned expenses were related to trees (dead tree and limb removal in Roper Park and street tree replacements), playground (refresh of the playground mulch and installation of an underground drain to divert water away from the walkway to Roper Park) and hiring additional expertise (an HOA consultant on the budget process and a company to conduct a new replacement reserve study.)

The biggest financial challenge will be replacing our management company. A new managing agent will bring significant operational changes, along with a higher management fee.

2022 Budget

The Finance Committee started working with the HOA consultant on developing the 2022 NTRA Budget in July. With 2021’s expense overages, the Finance Committee, and the Board, have realized our basic problem is ensuring a complete operating expense budget. The 2022 budget development is focused on identifying and incorporating deferred maintenance needs and better meeting resident expectations for a well maintained and effectively managed community.

New Town’s financial history is not the best guide for predicting operating expenses. There is good data in some categories, but poor or no data for maintenance related categories. The Developer Board constrained annual increases in the budget, and maintenance needs were often not addressed. As the community aged and maintenance started becoming necessary, significant maintenance expenses were paid out of the replacement reserve fund beginning in 2018 (Reserves should be used for replacement items only). So in the 2022 Budget, the Board is trying to create a Maintenance Plan as part of operating expenses.

While no final budget decisions have been made yet, here are some expected highlights of what 2022 will bring. The Board has committed to follow the Association’s existing Governing Documents, as much as possible, in presenting the budget and calculating assessments. The 2022 assessments will likely consist of:

A General Assessment, which will be the same for all New Town Residential homes. All the general expenses for operating and maintaining the Association, including landscape expenses for common areas, will be in this component.

A Neighborhood Assessment (largely for landscape expenses) that is allocated based on services to lots within each neighborhood. The irrigation startup/shutdown service provided to detached homes would be included as a Limited Common expense. Whereas Village Walk has always received a separate neighborhood breakout, each New Town neighborhood will have its own fees shown in 2022.

Impacts

The Finance Committee and the Board think we have identified the additional expenses required for a realistic 2022 Operating Budget. Assessments to cover these expenses will require a noticeably larger increase than past budgets. The Board must then determine how much additional money to contribute to the replacement reserve funds.

The largest drivers of the operating expense increase are the management company fees and the legal fees. The new management contract with Chesapeake Bay Management includes a full-time manager and other services. Our new manager is expected to bring focused professional staff to monitor the community and its contractors, and help resolve many complaints across New Town. Chesapeake has an integrated system better able to collect and track issues and homeowner accounts. While all of us look forward to this opportunity, understand it will take time to implement improvements and see the effects.

Anticipated legal costs are largely related to the continuing document changes. For 2022, the NTRA needs to relook at its Rules and Regulations, and the Shared Amenities Agreement with the New Town Commercial Association. Continued questions raised by the community about the proposed Governing Document revisions are a large and unpredictable component of the legal fee budget. Can we come together for a vote? As questions and challenges continue, so do the legal fees.

Added maintenance categories also bring the potential for cost increases, especially given the higher prices since the pandemic for commodities and services.

Village Walk: The inspection for the new replacement reserve study revealed issues with the older Village Walk townhome exteriors. The 2021 budget assumed that Village Walk exterior painting would start in 2023. That painting needs to start in 2022, and will include some repairs not in the painting budget. There has also been an increase in roof and trim repairs this year which could require Association claims against the builder. As a result, the Village Walk assessment for these exterior maintenance services will also have a noticeable increase.

Replacement Reserve: The replacement reserve fund will have decreased at year end. Until the new replacement reserve study is available sometime in November, it will be hard to assess the status of the reserve fund. With the effort required for the transition to a new management company, expect the replacement reserve situation to be more fully addressed by a new Board when we develop another budget for 2023.

Capital Contributions and Administrative Fees: These fees, paid at closing for new home sales and resales, were increased for the 2021 budget. The fees will continue unchanged for the 2022 budget.

Summary

As you can see, developing the 2022 budget and related assessment process is, and will continue to be, a challenging endeavor. The transition to a homeowner-controlled board, the issues related to Governing Documents raised at the 2020 annual meeting, and the search for a new managing agent fueled a most difficult year for your Board and the Finance Committee. Join us for the 2022 budget briefing on November 19th at 6PM via Zoom. (More information will be posted on the NTRA website.)

Native American Indian Heritage Month—November

Alison Douglas

November is Native American Indian Heritage Month, and it aims to provide a platform for Native People to share their culture, traditions, music, crafts, dance, and ways and concepts of life. It recognizes the contributions the first Americans made to the establishment and growth of the United States. If you wish to celebrate or find out more about the impact of Native American Indians in Williamsburg and Virginia, there is a lot going on in the local area.

On our doorstep at Colonial Williamsburg, if you visit the American Indian Encampment site, you can explore the lives of American Indians who came to Williamsburg with regularity in the 18th century to discuss matters of trade, warfare and diplomacy. There is no single story of Native American Indians in Williamsburg. Each tribe and nation had their own interactions here in the city. You can meet and learn from their American Indian interpreters at Colonial Williamsburg, who celebrate the American Indian culture, tell the histories of their communities and help to explore the culture of Native peoples who are striving to preserve their traditional way of life. During your visit and conversations with the interpreters, you will also be able to learn about the roles they played in creating a new country.

In addition, if you take a walk around the College of William and Mary, look out for the Brafferton Building, which was the home of the Indian School at William and Mary. Using funds from the estate of British scientist Robert Boyle, the college of William and Mary established a school to educate young Indian men in 1697, just four years after the college’s founding. The American Revolution caused British financial support to cease in 1776 and the school soon closed.

To learn more about Native American Heritage month, take a look at this website.

Quick Getaways, November—The Mariners’ Museum and Park, Newport News

Jim Ducibella

The Mariners’ Museum makes the bold claim that it is “a steward of one of the world’s most extensive maritime collections, committed to the preservation and conservation of more than 32,000 objects and several million library and archive materials.”

Make of that what you will, but the Museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and follows its standards of care to ensure the survival of the collection for generations yet-to-come.

It has been that way for more than 90 years, spurred by the shared vision of Archer Milton Huntington and Homer L. Ferguson, two giants of Newport News history. Huntington’s personal library of maritime books formed the core of the museum’s library, now numbering nearly 110,000 books, 800,000 photos, films, and negatives and more than 1 million pieces of archival material. That makes it the largest maritime library in the Western Hemisphere.

Library browsing isn’t everyone’s cup of grog. Among the myriad of things to see and experience too numerous to mention is the USS Monitor Center, an Award-winning exhibition that is a melding of artifacts, original documents, paintings, personal accounts, interactives and environments devoted to the epic Civil War battle between ironclads Monitor and Merrimac. It tells that story in a way the public has never seen before.

Visitors may walk down a mock deck and enter the CSS Virginia as she is being built for battle, step inside the battle theater and experience the action of the Battle of Hampton Roads, visit the living quarters of sailors as part of a full-scale reproduction, view the Monitor’s propeller and engine register and many other artifacts, 210 tons in fact.

In short, this is a 550-acre park which houses a museum offering theater, lectures, discussions, programs, dining and shopping. It’s at least a full day, maybe more depending on your variety of interests.

According to its website, admission is priced at $1. Add another $6 for admission to see the 3D movie. The museum is open daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., closing only on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

For more information, visit the website https://marinersmuseum.org/ or phone 757-596-2222.

New Town Trail Superhero—A Man and His Dog

Sarah Carey

Out for our morning walk a few weeks ago my husband and I met a dog, Auggie, as he came running out from the trail at the end of Discovery Park Avenue by the maintenance building. Coming after him was Mike carrying a large bag full of trash and a grabber tool. Chatting briefly, we introduced ourselves and met Mike who we assumed lived in New Town since he was cleaning up our trails between the two bridges. Actually, he works at SDV Solutons Inc. and does not live in New Town. Every Friday Mike brings his dog to work with him, and often his wife accompanies them as well. He collects trash on his walks and helps keep our community clean.

So the next time you venture out for a trail walk, maybe we could all follow Mike’s enthusiasm and bring a trash bag with you to keep the trails clean. Thank you, Mike!

Follow, Like and Share New Town News

Kate Licastro

What Makes a Good Board Member?

Town Crier Staff

A few points from the experts at Community Associations Incorporated:

Qualities of a Good Board Member

Good character

Strong integrity

Calm judgment

Willingness to serve

Committed to the best interests of the community as a whole

Relevant experience or background

Previous volunteer service

Strong people skills

(Source: The Board Member Tool Kit, CAI.)

If you know someone in New Town who fits this bill, reach out and ask him/her to run for the NTRA Board of Directors!

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We Are One Community – The Neighborhood Supplemental Declaration

Posted on October 1, 2021 6:35 AM by Mary Cheston, President, Board of Directors

Categories: NTRA Business

The proposed Supplemental Declaration that has been named the “Neighborhood Declaration” seeks to replace 20 current Supplementals that had evolved over time with a number of idiosyncrasies and important omissions. For example, the Supplemental Declarations for 68 properties in Charlotte Park are missing several key paragraphs. (See June 2021 Crier Article, “Supplemental Swampland.”)

A Supplemental Declaration is added to a Master Declaration as communities expand. These “supplements” show the location of new property – including roadways, common area and utility and drainage easements, and define what owners are charged for. In New Town’s case, each parcel developer’s attorney prepared these documents starting with a boiler plate. Over time, as more detail was added to these documents to cover items the Developer anticipated but never came to fruition, they became nonstandardized and more complicated than they needed to be. The Developer’s goals were not consistent with the goals of New Town today, both as to their content and the level of specificity required.

The NTRA Board of Directors is trying to change that. In combining most of New Town’s Neighborhoods into one Supplemental, the Board of Directors was seeking both to streamline our basic set of documents and ensure consistency. We wanted to clearly outline what will be included in assessments to Owners-not bury it in legalese. Now that it is clearer, not everyone is happy. We recognize that.

The Neighborhood Supplemental Declaration applies to the 5 neighborhoods of Abbey Commons, Chelsea Green, Savannah Square, Charlotte Park and Shirley Park. These neighborhoods share similar Association services and layout/design, and they were formed by the same primary parcel developer/builder. (The Village Walk Supplemental follows the same structure, but includes additional paragraphs for the special services that Village Walk homes receive.)

What has changed in this document?

There is no longer a “Neighborhood Assessment” described in the text. This type of assessment was never applied nor is it administratively practical without overhauling the Association’s contracting, billing and accounting practices.
The ability to “opt out” of landscape services has been added. Owners have requested this in the past, and it has been allowed, but it is not addressed in our current documents. Opt out will apply to all landscape services to ease the administrative burden. Even with the current limited opt-out, such as for pruning only, eventually some shrubs get pruned and these owners are unhappy. It has never been a guarantee. So the easiest approach for both our management company and the landscaper is to permit opt out for all services or none.

What has not changed? The prohibition on landscape services to fenced yards has been retained. It is the same limitation as our current documents. This was a difficult decision. The Association did not honor this prohibition in the past and has been providing mowing and pruning. In 2022, the Board will likely discontinue this landscaping and follow our documents. The Board has both a fiduciary and fiscal responsibility to the community. The Board and new Managing Agent will formally notify Owners affected by this change-recognizing that not all fenced yards have lawns, some are purely patios.

What the revised Supplemental provides is a way for Owners to continue these services for an additional fee or to provide their own. This was a compromise to be fair to Owners without fences and still make the services readily available.

The draft Neighborhood Supplemental has raised a number of questions from the community mostly related to these landscaping provisions. But there have also been claims that detached homes are being discriminated against because they are outnumbered by townhouse owners. Actually, there are even fewer cottages than detached homes! When will the parsing end? We live in a mixed use community – this is the vision and design of New Town, no neighborhood is an island nor is any group of homeowners. We share common areas and amenities and by combining neighborhoods into one Supplemental Declaration those community values and expectations are reinforced.

Comprehensive and clear governing documents are critical to the successful operation of a community association. We welcome your constructive ideas for future document changes. We welcome proposals for specific adjustments. Please don’t just complain or throw stones based on the NIMBY principal. We strive to be a community. There are two sides to every story; as such, you owe it to your neighbor to consider both.

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Know Your Code - The Virginia Property Owners Association Act and the Virginia Nonstock Corporation Act

Posted on October 1, 2021 6:32 AM by Jim Carey

Categories: NTRA Business

Virginia, like many states has established a statutory framework for Homeowners Associations like the New Town Residential Association (NTRA) to operate. Two primary laws govern the operation of our organization.

The Virginia Property Owners’ Association Act (VA Code Ann. § 55.1-1800 to 1836) provides the legal framework for operation of homeowner associations in the Commonwealth. The Act provides and clarifies the authority granted to an HOA and its Board of Directors. It establishes many of the association’s rights and responsibilities including its obligation to conduct open meetings; keep detailed books and records, and make them available to members. The Act provides the authority to enforce the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions and levy financial penalties; the power to levy special assessments; and secure liens and other enforcement remedies to secure compliance with our Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions.

One of the reasons for updating the NTRA Governing Documents is to bring them into compliance with changes in the Virginia Property Owners’ Association Act since 2005 when our current documents were approved. Some of the many changes that had to be factored into our revisions include:

Allowing electronic means for meetings and voting for association meetings
Permitting solar power installations. HOAs can impose “reasonable restrictions” regarding the size, place, and manner of placement of such collection devices.
Changes to HOA obligations in preparing the Disclosure Packet
Requirement for the completion of a reserve study at least once every five years and a review of the reserve study annually with adjustments made as needed to maintain reserves.

So whenever you see references in the drafts to Va. Code Ann. § 55.1 18XX, think VPOAA. If you are interested in reading the Act, click on this link Virginia Property Owners’ Association Act.

Similarly, the NTRA Bylaws are sprinkled with references to the Virginia Nonstock Corporation Act (VA Code Ann. § 13.1-801 to 945) which governs how the NTRA must operate as a nonprofit organization. This law contains the requirements for us to have Articles of Incorporation (proposed Articles of Restatement) and Bylaws. It also explains what would happen if the NTRA was ever dissolved. This Act applies to all nonprofits in Virginia, so some provisions may not apply to our association (e.g. mergers, foreign operations, etc.). This Act also gives the Association “powers as an individual to do all things necessary or convenient to carry out its business and affairs” including borrow, mortgage, pledge or deed property (§ 13.1-826, para.6). So the Amended Bylaws reflect that authority.

By updating our Governing Documents to reflect these important State requirements, we ensure that the NTRA remains in good standing in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

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October 2021 Town Crier Articles—TEXT ONLY

Posted on October 1, 2021 6:29 AM by Town Crier Staff

Categories: General, Life in New Town, NTRA Business

BOARD BUZZ—October 2021, by Mark Burgess, Director

Hi! My name is Mark Burgess and I’m what one of our New Town residents called the “new guy” on the New Town Residential Association (NTRA) Board of Directors, having only joined the Board this past July. I’m also a relatively recent resident of New Town. My wife and I purchased a Village Walk townhouse in November 2018.

Being so new to New Town and the Board has meant, of course, that I’ve had a lot of catching up to do. So while other Board members have been reviewing and revising our Association’s governing documents with the able assistance of several homeowner association (HOA) professionals, I’ve been concentrating on simply reading and trying to better understand both our current and our proposed documents while at the same time paying close attention to what the others are saying about how these documents came to be in the first place and where they need to be in order to better serve our community in the years to come. Here is some of what I’ve learned.

First, our current documents really are old and showing their age. They describe a community that essentially no longer exists. I recently saw a photograph of New Town, for instance, that showed Charlotte Park before it was built out; all you could see were empty lots being readied for development and, off in the distance, a few commercial buildings scattered along Discovery Park Boulevard. Obviously, a lot has happened since. New Town has grown up and with that growth has come the need for our governing documents to take into account the changes that have occurred. So there is no doubt in my mind that our association needs a new set of documents carefully crafted under the aegis of HOA professionals like those we have had the privilege to work with.

But rewriting governing documents is one thing; forming a new community is something else. Documents, responsibly drafted, can describe a community, they can help define a community, they can even assist in laying the groundwork for how a community may function within the bounds of federal, state, and local statutes, but they cannot in and of themselves establish community. People make communities, and the best communities, in my experience, are those where neighbors care for and about one another, where they respect each another, and where they share a vision of what they would like their communities to be.

Creating new communities therefore takes patience, a LOT of patience. I can’t emphasize that enough. Living so near to Jamestown and Williamsburg has given me an entirely new insight into just how MUCH patience might be required. Think of the long years of hardship those early colonists endured before their lives became settled! So, yes, it may be just a wee bit longer before New Town is complete and all the pieces of a new community are finally put in place.

In the meantime, as a Board member, I shall continue my study of our governing documents and work with you as well as other members of the Board to make sure we make as smooth a transition as possible to a new management company and continue to progress as a homeowner-controlled association.

Hocus Pocus Festival and Halloween Parades, By NTRA Activities Committee

WEEE'RE BAAACK! It's that time of year to start thinking about what you're going to wear for HALLOWEEN! Join us this year on Halloween Day, Sunday, October 31st from 2:00PM to 4:00PM at Sullivan Square for the Hocus Pocus Festival and Halloween Parades. That's right! Plural - Parades! We have planned three parades for different costume categories: Pets Costume Parade, starting at 2:30PM, Individual Costume Parade, starting at 3:00PM, and Family/Group Costume Parade, starting at 3:30PM. There will be prizes for best costumes, CANDY, and a scavenger hunt! Can't wait to see you there!

Registration information to come… be on the lookout!

We Are One Community – The Neighborhood Supplemental Declaration, By Mary Cheston

The Neighborhood Supplemental Declaration applies to the five neighborhoods of Abbey Commons, Chelsea Green, Savannah Square, Charlotte Park and Shirley Park. These neighborhoods share similar Association services and layout/design, and they were formed by the same primary parcel developer/builder. (The Village Walk Supplemental follows the same structure, but includes additional paragraphs for the special services that Village Walk homes receive.)

What has changed in this document?

There is no longer a “Neighborhood Assessment” described in the text. This type of assessment was never applied nor is it administratively practical without overhauling the Association’s contracting, billing and accounting practices.
The ability to “opt out” of landscape services has been added. Owners have requested this in the past, and it has been allowed, but it is not addressed in our current documents. Opt out will apply to all landscape services to ease the administrative burden. Even with the current limited opt-out, such as for pruning only, eventually some shrubs get pruned and these owners are unhappy. It has never been a guarantee. So the easiest approach for both our management company and the landscaper is to permit opt out for all services or none.

Quick Getaways – Violins of Hope, By Jim Ducibella

Feivel Wininger, his family and a few friends stayed alive because Wininger played the violin – and only because he possessed that skill.

As part of the Holocaust, Wininger, a violinist from Romania, was sent on a death march by the Nazis during the winter to the territory of Transnistria. His uncle and his mother died. His infant daughter, Helen, who was nine months old, was growing weaker and weaker.

But because he played the violin, he was able to leave the ghetto and perform at parties for the Nazis. He would bring home any leftovers of food back to the ghetto. It was the only way he could sustain himself and the others through the Holocaust.

Feivel named his violin “Friend.”

Wininger’s Friend, and more than 60 other violins played by Holocaust victims, are on display through October 24 at the Virginia Holocaust Museum, the Virginia Museum of History and Culture and the Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia. (Nineteen are on display; the rest have been played in concerts and are being used in educational programs).

The violins were recovered and restored by Amnon Weinstein, an Israeli violin shop owner and master craftsman who lost 400 family members in the Holocaust.

He was born in 1939, the year after his family immigrated to Palestine. His father, Moshe, was also a violinist and luthierand taught the craft to his son. In the 1980s, after Weinstein repaired a violin for a Holocaust survivor who walked into his Tel Aviv shop, he started tracking down violins played by Jews in ghettos or in concentration camp orchestras, or who buried them to hide and save them. The exhibit has never been to the Mid-Atlantic before.

According to a news release, the mission of Violins of Hope is to create more meaningful conversations about social justice and tolerance.

For more information, visit this website violinsofhoperva.com.

Fall is Here – Fun for All Ages, By Alison Douglas

With Fall just around the corner, and the temperatures starting to get cooler, it is the perfect time to start thinking about Fall Family Fun. Here are a few ideas to get you started…

Apple picking

Virginia apple picking season is underway, starting in August and lasting until early November. Mid-September to mid-October is prime time for the best apples. Most orchards grow several apple varieties, including Gala, Red and Yellow Delicious, and Fuji. If you're up for a drive, our favorite is Carter Mountain Orchard, only minutes from Charlottesville. In addition to apple picking, visitors can overlook the lush groves and valley below, enjoy an apple cider donut from the bakery, and try the locally brewed cider.

Pumpkin picking

Ready to dress your house for Halloween? Now is the perfect time to visit one of our local pumpkin patches. If you’re not sure where to go, try Holly Fork Farm where you can visit farm animals while finding your perfect pumpkin. Pumpkinville, a seasonal treasure in Toano, is a great place to get your Halloween goodies. At Pumpkinville, you can pick your own pumpkin while enjoying the hayride, corn maze, arts and crafts, bean bag toss and other games.

Oktoberfest

Dust off your lederhosen and look out for ways to indulge in some Oktoberfest fun. Oktoberfest celebrations, complete with authentic German food, beer and fun can be found all over the region. Locally, Billsburg Brewery will be holding their celebration on Saturday, October 2 from 12 to 4pm.

Fall colors

Leaf peeping season is nearly here and fall in Virginia is one of the most beautiful times of the year. If you are looking forward to seeing the riot of colors revealed across Virginia’s expansive woodland, keep an eye on the fall foliage report, which is updated weekly. While it is difficult to predict exactly when peak color will occur, the map provides a good estimation of timing.

Know Your Code - The Virginia Property Owners Association Act and the Virginia Nonstock Corporation Act, By Jim Carey

Allowing electronic means for meetings and voting for association meetings
Permitting solar power installations. HOAs can impose “reasonable restrictions” regarding the size, place, and manner of placement of such collection devices.
Changes to HOA obligations in preparing the Disclosure Packet
Requirement for the completion of a reserve study at least once every five years and a review of the reserve study annually with adjustments made as needed to maintain reserves.

So whenever you see references in the drafts to Va. Code Ann. § 55.1 18XX, think VPOAA. If you are interested in reading the Act, visit this site:

https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacodepopularnames/property-owners-association-act/.

Similarly, the NTRA Bylaws are sprinkled with references to the Virginia Nonstock Corporation Act (VA Code Ann. § 13.1-801 to 945) which governs how the NTRA must operate as a nonprofit organization. This law contains the requirements for us to have Articles of Incorporation (proposed Articles of Restatement) and Bylaws. It also explains what would happen if the NTRA was ever dissolved. This Act applies to all nonprofits in Virginia, so some provisions may not apply to our association (e.g. mergers, foreign operations, etc.). This Act also gives the Association “powers as an individual to do all things necessary or convenient to carry out its business and affairs”including borrow, mortgage, pledge or deed property (§ 13.1-1826, para.6). So the Amended Bylaws reflect that authority.

By updating our Governing Documents to reflect these important State requirements, we ensure that the NTRA remains in good standing in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Dave’s Deals – Movie Tavern, By Jim Ducibella

The Holtgrieves, Dave and Paulette of Charlotte Park, are bargain shoppers and they take delight in finding a new deal. It could be food, or fun or furniture. They know how to do it, and they do it well.

In this occasional series (when they find something they like, they’ll let us know), we focus on a couple of the special deals offered at Movie Tavern.

More people went to a movie theater over Labor Day than at any time in the previous two years.

Despite all of the streaming, HBO, Starz, Cinemax, Disney+, etc., there remains nothing like seeing a movie in the theater. Viewing a captivating film, in a crowded, emotionally invested theater, remains a singularly wonderful experience.

We don’t have an array of theaters to choose from in this town, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if ours rarely, if ever, promoted a lower-price package.

However, Movie Tavern on High Street has a different idea.

Their program is called “Magical Movie Rewards.” There is no fee to join, and the benefits are, frankly, pretty amazing, we feel.

You receive one point for every dollar you spend at the theater, concessions and drinks included. When you reach 100 points, you earn a $5 credit. In the meantime, you receive 50 points for your first transaction upon joining, free popcorn on $5 Tuesdays (admission to any flick that day is five bucks), free refills on fountain drinks, and invitations to free members-only movie screenings.

In addition, there are no fees for online or mobile ticketing, and you’ll receive emails with other periodic special offers.

For more information, email Marcus Theatres at rewards@marcustheatres.com.

Farewell to the Dog Days of Summer: First Annual Pup Plunge, By NTRA Activities Committee

The NTRA Activities Committee hosted our community’s first-ever Pup Plunge at the pool on Monday, September 6th! It was a great turnout, and we were excited to see some of our neighborhood dogs and their families! Thank you to everyone who participated, especially those who came just to watch! Looking forward to making this an annual event.

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“So, Why Should I Care?” The Danger of Failing to Support New Town’s Revised Governing Documents

Posted on September 1, 2021 7:03 AM by Patti Vaticano

Categories: NTRA Business

If you’ve been reading our Town Crier articles on the need to revamp the means of property assessment in NTRA’s Governing Documents (no less than 4 edifying articles since May, along with a website FAQ list to peruse) then, you most likely fall into one of three categories:

You understand the need to revamp our method of property assessment and are willing to move forward to reflect current times for the sake of the equitable treatment of all New Town homeowners;
You’re totally confused by the issue and have shut down; or
You don’t care about the issue or fear the revamping will cost you more money than you are currently shelling out for your HOA fees. Those of you in this category may have decided to vote against any revamping or simply do nothing, at all, in the hopes the problem will resolve itself or go away, entirely.

For those of you in the first category, Brava!-Bravo!—and thank you.

For those in the second category, let me try to clarify the issue. The simple take-away would be that when the Developer was actively selling homes in New Town and before community management was turned over to New Town homeowners, HOA dues were kept at an attractive minimum to generate New Town home sales growth. An analogy would be a cable company offering new members monthly premiums for cable hook-up at a rock bottom price. But as most cable subscribers know, those cable rates are never intended to continue on through the member’s subscription, indefinitely. It is much the same with the current assessments in New Town. The current pattern of low property dues can no longer be maintained.

To complicate matters further, the means of assessing New Town HOA dues laid out in our documents was not followed. Continuing the cable company analogy, NTRA’s documents require “subscribers” receiving only basic TV services to share payments for bundle plans (with phone, internet and Premium channels like HBO), just because they live in the same New Town neighborhood. Such an assessment framework (see the figure below) is inequitable and frankly, unjust. But if it is in our “contracts,” can we just ignore it?

For those homeowners who fall within the third category, voting against our revised Governing Documents--or simply failing to vote at all for fear of incurring a higher HOA assessment--is a foolhardy tactic. Attempts to save yourself money will likely cost you more money in the future; because if you fail to act or vote against these revisions, your HOA dues will rise even higher than they may need to otherwise, to cover both future legal counsel and lawsuit costs. Resolution is simple. An honest grappling with the proposed new documents now will not only ensure that all New Town homeowners are fairly treated on the issue—but save each homeowner from incurring a greater assessment tab later.

Be forewarned and forearmed: The cost to fight any legal actions taken against the Association or even the Developer Board for failing to use the existing documents for assessments will hit every homeowner harder and at greater cost if we fail to tackle and dismantle the problem.

So why should you care about this issue? Well, you shouldn’t care--unless safeguarding your family’s budget is important to you. If we all, as a community, bite the bullet now and support updating and improving our documents, including a more equitable means of assessing HOA dues, not only will we put a fair and defensible assessment system in place—we will be able to keep assessment dues manageable in the future for all NTRA homeowners.

The Board of Directors is providing ample time for you to consider these draft changes, provide your suggestions, and be prepared to vote in early 2022. Join us in category one!

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Your NTRA Reading Homework is Here!

Posted on September 1, 2021 7:02 AM by Stuart Dopp

Categories: NTRA Business

Articles of Restatement (formerly Articles of Incorporation)

Start your reading assignment here, this is the easiest new document to understand!

Our previous Articles of Incorporation will, in the new documents, be called Articles of Restatement. This revision reestablishes our legal status within the Commonwealth, performing many of the same functions as the earlier document but with an important distinction: the elimination of language that pertained to the Developers. We will now have clear, brief Articles delineating the Purposes and Powers of our HOA, Membership, and the process for amending the Articles. There is a new Article on Voting Rights, and a clarified Article on the Board of Directors. The longest Article, on Liability and Indemnification, now references pertinent sections of the Virginia Code - so we will be up to date.

The Articles of Restatement, like all the other proposed texts, are prefaced by the necessary legal form to record our vote of acceptance.

Amended and Restated Bylaws

Trying to make parallel connections between our current Bylaws and the draft of our new document is like the proverbial comparison of apples to oranges. While the proposed Amended Bylaws will accomplish the obvious goal of regulating the business of the Association, they now have been reorganized so that they are much easier to use.

Previously, for instance, information about the Board of Directors, voting, and electronic meetings was scattered throughout, causing redundancy and confusion. As with all of the new documents, language concerning the Developers is no longer pertinent so it has been removed, which, in and of itself, assists with clarity and brevity. The Article on “Membership” in the existing Bylaws, for example, details exquisitely complicated formulas for Developers vs different types of Owners, which in turn complicated voting policies. Information on our Board of Directors and Voting is now neatly consolidated in reorganized Articles consistent with our status as an independent HOA, without two different classes of voters.

Many sections of the Amended Bylaws link to requirements in Virginia law and clarify homeowners’ rights and responsibility. A few points of interest in the new documents:

Article II details rules of Membership and Voting. Article III details the actual conduct of Member meetings, including the procedures for electronic meetings. There is a new time frame for rescheduling meetings adjourned for lack of a quorum, and the annual meeting of the HOA Members would be in December.
Article IV establishes the Board of Directors, providing for a possible increase to 7 Members, elected on a rotating basis for two-year terms. No two Directors may be from the same household and, as we have in our current Bylaws, no more than two can be from the same neighborhood.
Article V follows up with rules for the actual election of the Directors, and Article VI establishes procedures for their meetings, including those held electronically, ensuring that normal meetings of the Board and committees are available to Members. This Article follows the Code of VA in mandating a Member comment period but allows for setting parameters per the agenda.
An important Article (VII) is that on Powers and Duties of the Board of Directors. These range from contracting for management of common areas and services for Lots to appointing an Architectural Review Committee to determining and levying assessments. New powers - the Board could borrow money and sell or lease property. Article VIII delineates the role of the management company that the Board may hire and provides for periodic performance evaluations. Articles IX and X cover the ability of the Board to elect officers, make special appointments and set up committees.
Article XI (Assessments) requires that the proposed budget be sent to Members at least 15 days before Board approval. It also outlines how delinquencies will be collected. , after which it must be sent to Members along with Assessment information. We need to be in compliance with our own Bylaws as well as state laws, and of course we need to balance an NTRA budget no longer propped up by profits from new homes sales.
The remaining Articles (XII - XV) contain insurance and general information, and the process by which the Articles may be amended. Our right to see the Association’s books and records is affirmed in Article XIV.

You can consult the "Crosswalk” document available on the NTRA website if you wish to pursue a direct comparison, but —really — the crucial point is to read and react to the revised Bylaws and all the other texts themselves. They have been carefully written by our attorney and vetted by the Board of Directors. There is a detailed table of contents attached to each document.

We have from now until November 1 to make our thoughts known to the Board, so seize the opportunity both to read the new documents and to learn more at the September 22nd Town Hall.

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Why Village Walk Is a Unique NTRA Neighborhood

Posted on September 1, 2021 7:00 AM by Jim Ducibella

Categories: NTRA Business

As one resident there put it, “Village Walk is a different animal.”

Nowhere is that borne out more than in the proposed Village Walk Supplemental Declaration, where the additional services that owners pay for are itemized. This single Supplemental Declaration would replace the six previous versions -- all written for this one neighborhood.

Before answering why that is the case, a tiny bit of history.

In June 1998 the Proffers for Section 9 of New Town were recorded in the James City County Clerk’s office. “Settler’s Market at New Town” would be maintained as a stand-alone development and not be subjected to the covenants, restrictions, terms and conditions of New Town.

In the intervening years, the proffers were modified several times first to bring the residential development into the New Town Commercial Association, then later to provide the option of moving it to the New Town Residential Association (NTRA) which finally occurred in 2014 through another Supplemental Declaration. And the NTRA is where Village Walk lives to this day, albeit after a change in name and builder.

Additional Services to Village Walk

What distinguishes Village Walk from other NTRA neighborhoods is the condominium-model of services that is stipulated in their Supplemental Declarations. Village Walk owners receives routine landscape to their Common Areas, but in addition, townhomes receive:

Annual termite inspection and treatment
Inspection and maintenance of sprinkler systems
Repair or replacement of roof shingles, felt, sheathing and flashing
Repair, maintenance or replacement of gutters and downspouts
Maintenance of exterior surfaces limited to cornice, trim and siding (not door windows and frames
Periodic painting of painted exterior surfaces, including doors, trim and cornice
All Common Area irrigation services, including repairs and maintenance.

Due to these additional services, Village Walk owners pay an additional Village Walk Reserve Fund contribution and owners have always paid an annual “Exterior Maintenance Assessment” over and above what the rest of NTRA owners pay. Everything extra was lumped into this category of exterior maintenance. The Finance Committee developed a plan in 2014 to determine how this money would be collected and used, and under what circumstances. This has evolved over time so that a Village Walk repair request system was recently established.

What is changing? Rather than using the term “Exterior Maintenance Assessment” to encompass everything, these items are now itemized and proposed to be included in the Services Assessment or Exterior Maintenance charge, respectively, of owners’ Annual Assessments.

In keeping with the new Governing Documents’ overall philosophy that Services Assessments are shared among a group of homeowners, some other previously shared expenses have been broken out for Individual Assessments.

Maintenance of fire suppression (sprinkler) systems installed in some but not all 4-story Village Walk townhomes would be charged as a separate Individual Assessment only to those Owners with the systems.
Some townhomes were built using a post-tension slab system. The NTRA will maintain those elements, but the cost of doing so will be charged as an Individual Assessment only where that construction was used.

Yes, it may seem complicated. But the Board hopes it will also be fairer. Village Walk will have the same categories of assessment as everyone else in the NTRA (who are covered in the “Neighborhood Supplemental Declaration”), just laid out in a separate document.

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Mastering the New Second Amended Master Declaration

Posted on September 1, 2021 7:00 AM by Mary Cheston

Categories: NTRA Business

The meat of our proposed revised Governing Documents is the Second Amended Master Declaration. Why “Second Amended?” You may recall that the NTRA had to amend the Master Declaration in 2020 because certain lots in Savannah Square were not correctly identified as part of the Residential Association. That was the “First Amended” Master Declaration.

So what is being proposed in this “Second” amendment? The most significant change is certainly to the framework for how we calculate our assessments. This is a critical revision – one that we must come to consensus on in order to create workable, legal assessments.

The “Annual Assessment” levied by the Association will now have two components:

General Assessment – (similar to the old NTRA Assessment) for all the common expenses of the Association.
Services Assessment - to capture the additional services provided to multiple, but not all, lots or in different degrees. Examples of this include irrigation services and landscaping. The Services Assessment will institutionalize the concept of home types – detached, townhome, and cottages - which the Developer Board used in the past for assessments but is not permitted in our current documents.

In addition, if an Owner receives services that are special or unique, then the Owner will receive an Individual Assessment. Things like the sprinkler inspections for certain Village Walk townhomes and violations/fines fall in this category. Most owners will not receive an Individual Assessment.

The second major change is that this draft Declaration (and all the other proposed documents) only uses the term “Common Areas” which simplifies reader understanding as well as reflects how New Town is actually laid out. There are no platted properties called “Limited Common Areas” and the Association never used the designation “Neighborhood Common Areas” in its assessments or contracting. Yet, these terms are woven throughout our current Governing Documents. There is no need to keep these artificial distinctions. The Board has confirmed that our recorded property information refers only to Common Areas or Common Open Spaces (Village Walk). As a community, we all have access to the green spaces, private roads, easements, pedestrian paths, and recreational facilities in New Town. So these documents now reflect these shared benefits and commonality.

The final group of major changes are to the “Protective Covenants”. In the crosswalk information between our current and proposed texts, you will see that most of the provisions of the existing “Use Restrictions” remain, but are renumbered/relocated. These are the elements on which the Board of Directors will build a set of revised NTRA Rules and Regulations in 2022. New items in this list are largely requirements from Virginia statutes including the provisions on Flags (7.8), Solar Devices (7.13), and Accessory Apartments (7.28) and we have added Dumpsters (7.15). Be aware that there are some clarifications to the Leasing (7.27) paragraph to cover temporary visitors, however, short-term rentals of less than a year remain prohibited.

To afford the Community the option of further expansion, a new Section 2.3 is in the draft in the event that the NTRA Members, not the Board, agree that additional property might benefit our Association. The rationale for this provision will be explained further in the September 22nd Town Hall.

You may find other differences in terms of language or organization in the Declaration, including the removal of old Article IX on Mortgagees. Read it over, send in your questions, and let us work together to clarify whatever we can. The future of the NTRA is in our hands.

COMING NEXT MONTH: Article on the "Neighborhood Supplemental Declaration"

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Latest Dates for Governing Documents Revisions

Posted on September 1, 2021 6:57 AM by Town Crier Staff

Categories: NTRA Business

REVISED SCHEDULE FOR NTRA CHANGES TO GOVERNING DOCUMENTS

Submission of Questions to be addressed at Town Hall VIRTUAL Meeting	SEPTEMBER 1 - 20^TH Via Email: amendments@ntrawilliamsburg.org
TOWN HALL VIRTUAL MEETING	SEPTEMBER 22nd - 7:00PM Zoom link to be provided.
Submission of COMMENTS/suggestions in Response to Town Hall: Use Comment Form	SEPTEMBER 23rd – NOVEMBER 1^ST Via Email: amendments@ntrawilliamsburg.org
COMMENT PERIOD CLOSES	November 1^ST
Board of Directors review of comments	November-December
Final Documents presented to Community	TBD early 2022
MEMBER VOTE	TBD early 2022

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