Town Crier Articles

Tornadoes are nature’s most violent storms.  By definition a tornado is a violently rotating column of air touching the ground, usually attached to the base of a thunderstorm. Spawned from powerful thunderstorms, tornadoes can cause fatalities and devastate a neighborhood in seconds. 

 

Here in Williamsburg, we occasionally hear about “tornado watches,” but less often about “tornado warnings.” You may ask, “What’s the difference?” The National Weather Service (NWS) issues a Tornado Watch when weather conditions in an area indicate an increased risk for severe weather that may be capable of producing a tornado. However, when the NWS issues a Tornado Warning, it does so when a tornado has been sighted or indicated by weather radar. In this case, one should take shelter IMMEDIATELY.  Warning times vary in the range of 10 to 15 minutes.

 

The 6 warning signs that a tornado is approaching may include:                            

• The color of the sky may change to a dark greenish color.
• A strange quiet occurring within or shortly after a thunderstorm.
• A loud roar that sounds similar to a freight train.                                                                    
• An approaching cloud of debris, especially at ground level.
• Debris falling from the sky.
• A rotating funnel-shaped cloud that extends from a thunderstorm.

There are many reasons New Town is a special place to live.  What makes it special may vary from neighbor to neighbor, but most would agree, we are all fortunate to live here.  Feeling grateful is one reason the Women’s Monthly Lunch Group supports a Giving Back Initiative for the purpose of sharing some of our resources to benefit the greater Williamsburg community.  Last year the lunch group and others donated classroom supplies to the JCC/Williamsburg Teacher Supply Closet and winter coats to FISH and House of Mercy to distribute to those in need.

 

Now in 2024, the Giving Back Initiative is conducting a food drive during the months of February and March.  FISH and House of Mercy are both in urgent need of food items during this time of year when donations typically drop off. In the United States, over 44 million people, including 13 million children, at some point in the year don’t have enough to eat and don’t know where their next meal will come from.  Williamsburg is not immune from this problem. In 2023, FISH and House of Mercy provided, through their respective food pantries, the equivalent of over 400,000 meals.  Food insecurity is a growing problem in our community. FISH, for example, reported an 80% increase in food requests over the past year.

 

Please help us help others by bringing healthy, non-perishable food items to:

• the NTRA meeting space located at 5118 Center Street between 11AM-1PM on either March 1st or 2nd,

• bring your donation to the Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, March 30 at 2PM at Lydias Park in Abbey Commons

 

The Giving Back Initiative plans to donate school supplies to local teachers again this summer and collect 100 new winter coats for kids in 100 days later this fall. Thank you, New Town, for generously supporting these efforts.

 

Come join the Easter Bunny for an Easter egg hunt and games!

 

The New Town Residential Association Activities Committee will be hosting an Easter Egg Hunt in Lydias Park (Abbey Commons - at corner of Lydias and Town Creek) on Saturday, March 30th, with a March 31st rain date.  The festivities begin at 2.00 PM.

 

The Easter Bunny will be there to join in the fun and provide a photo opportunity. There will be an egg hunt where the younger children (up to age 4) will go first and then will be joined by the older children (5 and up). Games and prizes will follow the egg hunts.  All New Town residents, families and friends are invited. Even if you do not have kids or grandkids, that’s ok, come join in the fun!

 

If you are interested, collection boxes will be available for your donations of non-perishable food items to help stock the food pantries at FISH and House of Mercy.

 

RSVP:  Please let us know if you plan to attend and the ages of your children. Email:  Susan Schlimme at  skschlimme@hotmail.com. 

On Sunday, February 25, fifty-five New Town neighbors cheered on the William and Mary women’s basketball team facing the lady Pirates of Hampton University at Kaplan Arena. New Towners were part of a large lively crowd supporting the Play4Kay cancer fund raiser which honors female survivors of all cancers that affect women. Tribe Mary players shed their traditional dark green for pink uniforms while the Hampton University team sported pink shoes.

     

The afternoon began with a pre-game pizza party at the arena where attendees won gift certificates and a team-signed basketball. William and Mary Assistant Coach Kenia Cole, who previously coached at Hampton, welcomed the New Town fans. She confided that she expected an especially exciting game since Hampton’s top scorer and all conference player, forward Nylah Young, had transferred this year to William and Mary.  

     

Young and her teammates certainly did not disappoint their New Town fans.  The game itself proved to be a cliffhanger with the Tribe pulling out a 66-58 victory largely from the foul line in the 4th quarter.

February is “Responsible Pet Owners Month”. So, let’s remind everyone what it means to be a neighborly and responsible pet owner in New Town. Keeping your pet healthy and happy is important. Equally important is controlling your pet’s behavior in a responsible manner. Be considerate of those living around you.

 

Always clean up after your pet - Your yard should not be filled with your pet's waste, nor should you neglect to pick up after your animal when going on walks around the neighborhood. Pet waste stations are available throughout New Town with disposable bags. Use them and encourage other pet owners to do the same with a gentle reminder pointing to the nearest area. Steer your dog to the mulched areas in our common spaces to urinate when possible. Thank those you see following the rules!

 

Leash your dog – Dogs and cats are naturally curious, so try to control where they explore and most importantly where they “do their business.”  Would you want your landscape damaged?  Recently, the Association received this complaint:

 

 

And another example:

 

Do I know your dog?  Always seek permission from another dog owner before allowing dogs to "meet" while passing on the sidewalk.  Some dogs are anxious, older or more fearful and a more reserved approach is warranted. 

 

New Town loves its pets, but they can damage property if not managed responsibly. Pet droppings, noise, unleashed dogs, etc.-all of these situations are addressed in the NTRA Master Declaration (Section 7.1(x)) and Rules (Section 11.1 – Animals).  New Town pet owners should familiarize themselves with these requirements including those for use of the common areas (sidewalks, parks, alleys, etc.) in New Town. Report problems to our management company, Chesapeake Bay Management. Repeated violations are subject to fines including any poor pet management from tenants to NTRA owners. 

 

In the spirit of being good pet neighbors (minimizing complaints and possible penalties), share this article with neighbors or dog owners especially tenants who may not be up to date on our rules. Print it and pass it around!

 

Here is my story: I have worked hard to maintain my 10-year-old townhouse here in New Town.  It has recently been painted and I have always been quick to fix issues identified by the NTRA’s Asset Maintenance Committee.  I have even updated everything in the kitchen and have installed a new furnace and air conditioner.  I was ready to sell so that I could buy a single-family home in Charlotte Park.  My townhouse went on the market and the real estate agent said it should sell quickly.  Within a week I received three offers and I selected the best one.  It fell through just two days before closing, the buyer couldn’t get a mortgage on the townhouse.  The second and third potential buyers had the same problem.  No one would lend money for my beautiful, well-maintained, and upgraded townhouse.  I just don’t understand it.

 

The above story is fictional, but situations like this are happening all over the United States, and it could happen here in New Town due to changing lending requirements. Mortgage companies are in the business of making loans on local properties, and then selling those loans at a profit to investors in the secondary mortgage market.  In most cases Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are the companies that purchase secondary market mortgages.

 

These two government-sponsored organizations control about 70% of the mortgages written in the United States. They control almost all of the secondary mortgage market with a list of criteria that must be met by a mortgage before they will buy it. Almost every mortgage company in the United States uses these criteria to evaluate a property and write a loan on it because they want to be able to sell the mortgage in the future. The loan requirements used by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been tightened significantly over the past several years.  

 

One of the tools currently used is a blacklist of over 2300 condominiums, homeowner associations, and cooperatives that are not considered to be eligible for mortgages if they are going to be bought on the secondary market.  This blacklist of associations is growing at a rate of about 100 associations per month.  If your homeowner association is on this blacklist, most financiers will not write mortgages on any of the properties in the Association because they want to be able to sell those mortgages in the future.  This forces all sales in blacklisted communities to go to cash buyers or to buyers using less favorable loan firms that specialize in non-warrantable properties.  The Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac blacklist results in depressed sale prices and low homeowner values throughout the affected community.

 

Homeowner associations may be placed on this blacklist simply by deferring maintenance and/or having unfunded repairs totaling more than $10,000.  In some cases, they may find themselves on the blacklist just because the Association is slow at repairing properties damaged by fire.  Problems in one part of a community affect the writing of mortgages in the entire community whenever that community is on the blacklist.  Even when associations are in the process of making the repairs and have signed contracts for the work, banks have been known to refuse to write mortgages throughout the community until all of the work is completed.

 

This is why it is so very important that we get the Village Walk siding issues and leaking rooftop decks resolved, and the Village Walk Replacement Reserve funded at the recommended levels sooner rather than later.  If we delay much longer, the New Town Residential Association might find ourselves on the mortgage blacklist and the property values for all of us will decline significantly. Plus, getting off of the mortgage blacklist is difficult and generally requires expensive legal intervention.

 

Paying assessments, especially additional special assessments, is never popular. But it is essential that we accomplish the needed Village Walk repairs and fund the replacement reserve to recommended levels as soon as possible. The repairs and associated additional funding are needed to maintain the well-being of those living in Village Walk homes and to protect the property values and salability of all of the homes throughout our community.

 

More information and specific examples of associations that have found themselves to be in trouble and on the blacklist can be found in the January-February 2024 issue of Common Ground (pages 27-29). This Community Associations Institute publication is written to support homeowner associations like the NTRA.  A copy of this publication is available in the NTRA meeting room.