Town Crier Articles

Posted on March 30, 2019 6:24 PM by Mary Cheston

Categories: NTRA Business

We are so excited to welcome the new NTRA website. Our goal with this newly designed website is to create a user-friendly and informative browsing experience.

The new site is using a completely different software platform from our original website, so NO prior registration information could be transferred. Take a few minutes to register your family on the new site. The URL is: www.ntrawilliamsburg.org

One advantage of the new site is the ability to list members of your family on your membership. Once Town Management has confirmed the primary user’s registration, you may add other users such as a spouse. (Both owners and renters can register at the same address. Tenants will be asked to renew their registration annually so that the NTRA knows you are still living in New Town.)

Another opportunity the site provides is that the NTRA can go electronic for the bulk of our communication. By July, we anticipate that information currently published as the Town Crier will be posted on the site and there will no longer be a page-oriented Town Crier prepared for electronic or printed distribution. Check out the site’s Crier Article section. Messages from our RAB Chair, Chuck Stetler, will be posted as a feature “From the Chair” each month, or more frequently as needed.

So what new things might you want to enjoy now?

Calendar– you have a full month’s view of all the NTRA events in New Town, and the ability to export the calendar for your use.

Report an Issue– you can submit a request (select a topic) to Town Management that will be tracked electronically so that you will know its status and can check the site until it’s resolved. Organizing requests by topic also allows the association to more readily determine where concerns are and should give our committees more visibility to issues.

Search – are you looking for information on a certain NTRA committee or policy? Just enter the topic in the search tab (under the “Residents” drop-down menu).

What’s New – wondering what you might have missed? The What’s Newtab (also under the “Residents” drop-down menu) lets you specify a time period and then identify any content that has been added to the site during that period.

Other new content – if you’ve wondered how New Town was created or are new to the community, look for helpful information under the “About” drop-down menu. We’ve expanded the Frequently Asked Questions to provide useful info as well. And we can add more questions if you let us know what you think is missing.

Some features that can be activated as needed in the future include a Survey function and a news bulletin. As we gain more experience with the site and learn what you, the members of our community, would like to see, modifications may be made since the software platform has many different options enjoyed by other associations. Contact ntrawebsitecommittee@gmail.comwith your suggestions.

So why not join us on this journey? We are looking for a few volunteers to help us to maintain the site and keep both the web and our Facebook page current and meaningful. Contact Communications Committee Chair Lucy Painter at hokiegirl70@gmail.com.

A Landscaping Survey is Coming

Posted on March 30, 2019 6:19 PM by Bill Voliva, Chair, NTRA Management Search Committee

Categories: NTRA Business

The Landscape Advisory Committee (LAC) will be conducting a landscape services survey. Plans are to circulate the survey to ALL homeowners of the NTRA later this spring. Information gathered will be used to establish policies, create a budget and update specifications for the landscape contract, which expires at the end of this year. Your participation and comments are an important factor in the ongoing efforts to provide quality landscape services from our contractors.

The LAC has set itself on a tentative time-line as follows:

complete the final draft of the survey by April 30
send the survey out to homeowners by May 15
collect responses from homeowners by June 15
communicate results to homeowners by July 15

To help homeowners answer the survey questions, we think it is important to first understand what landscape services are the responsibility of the contractor. To that end, we reprint here (with a couple corrections) from a document available on the NTRA website called “Living in New Town; A quick guideline for the homeowner living in New Town.”

Homeowner Responsibilities*:

Providing clear access to yard for landscaping contractor?(contractor is not responsible to move items out of yard for maintenance)
Contacting the irrigation company if the homeowner’s system needs repairs (repairs are the homeowners expense) Hampton Roads Irrigation – 757-877-3748
Ensuring homeowners irrigation system does not over/under water homeowners property
Replacing dead/dying shrubs and trees (with similar kind) located on homeowner’s property
Landscape enhancements and plants (with LAC approval) that are additional work above landscaping contractor’s responsibilities

* New Homes Plants and irrigation systems are maintained by the builder for 1 year from closing on new homes (if stated in warranty)

NTRA Responsibilities:

Community pool/pool facilities and surrounding grounds
Playground facilities and grounds?- Designated trails within New Town?- Park and common areas within New Town
New Town banner flags?
Street trees (on NTRA controlled roads)
Light bulbs for street lighting?
Pet stations

Landscaping Contractor Responsibilities:?

Mowing, trimming, and edging property (edging is done every other week)
Mulching (once a year in the Spring)?
Pruning shrubs and trees (up to 10 feet), (as per schedule on website)
Weed pre-emergent application (once a year in the Spring)
Weeding around trees and shrubs will be done on an as-needed basis - Fertilizing (as per schedule on website)?
Aerating and over-seeding (once a year in the Fall)?
Lawn insect control application (as per schedule on website)

Irrigation Support Contractor Responsibilities:

Irrigation Systems (startup*, backflow testing, 1 mid-season inspection, and shut down)

*Systems are started and checked to make sure heads are working and spraying the appropriate area

Know Your Neighbor: The Johnsons

Posted on March 15, 2019 8:09 PM by Rebekah Roberts

Categories: Life in New Town

Have you met Rob and Lisa Johnson? They moved to New Town in March of 2016. They have two grown sons so Lisa says they are on their way to being empty nesters. They are also recent retirees…very active retirees.

Rob, born in the Philippines grew up in New York, Arizona, and California moving to the “less shaky suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio” after the 1971 Los Angeles earthquake. Upon high school graduation, he began an underwater trajectory joining the Navy to work on nuclear submarines. During his military career, he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering, served as a Navy diver in the Reserves, became an Engineering Duty Officer in shipyards, dive lockers, and the Navy’s experimental diving unit before being promoted to an admiral’s staff. His days as an experimental diver have been compared to life as an “underwater guinea pig!”

Lisa grew up in Canton, Ohio and studied art history after high school. Her first job was at the Cleveland Museum of Art before meeting Rob and marrying “into the Navy.” Navy life for the Johnsons included living in Rhode Island, Florida (twice), South Carolina (twice), California, and the Philippines. They also lived for three years in Japan and then made their final military move to Newport News living there for 13 years. Lisa was a busy mother and career woman running a family day care business, teaching classes from preschool to college level, working in a winery, serving as a bowling coach and running a youth league. After moving to Newport News, she became an historical interpreter on the 18thcentury farm at the Yorktown Victory Center; i.e. the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown and then turned to the Historical Clothing Department sewing historically accurate clothing for the interpreters. She retired a year and a half ago. After being published and becoming editor of a base magazine, she is enjoying the time writing and taking art classes.

Living in Japan prompted what Lisa calls “a three-year field trip” seeing as much of the country as possible. They also have gone “cross country” several times, and now have their sights set on Europe. After retiring from the Navy, Rob became a NJROTC teacher in York County schools and retired again this year now focusing on his love of motorcycles and bowling. As a member of the PBA in Japan, he became a Silver Level coach. Besides his own activity in bowling leagues, he is now sharing his experience with the high school bowling league in York County.

Rob includes historical reenactment in his long list of interests. He joined Sykes’ Regulars, a Union Civil War unit and goes to events throughout the year. The Johnson’s sons share their father’s love of living history and became members of the Liberty Hall Fifes and Drums where they were field musicians. Their oldest son currently lives his dream job as an interpreter on the ships at Jamestown Settlement and after their younger son served in the Army and deployed to Afghanistan he soon will be graduating from Texas A&M in December.

One reason for selecting New Town for their retirement is that they like the walkable neighborhood. The Johnson’s are sincere when they say, “Since moving to Charlotte Park we’ve loved how welcoming the neighborhood is and [we] have met many incredible and interesting neighbors.” Welcome to Rob and Lisa Johnson and family!

Update from the Landscape Advisory Committee

Posted on March 15, 2019 8:07 PM by Susan Stetler

Categories: NTRA Business

The crews from Virginia Lawn and Landscaping have been busy cleaning the common areas and yards of branches and debris around New Town before spreading mulch. The mulching is scheduled to be finished the first week of March, depending on cooperation from Mother Nature.

Pre-emergent weed control will then be applied to the lawns.

Pruning of shrubbery and small tress is scheduled to start by the second week in April. However, if we continue having warm weather, pruning will start earlier. The crews want to prune before too many buds appear on your shrubbery.

As we get the schedule from Virginia Lawns, we will post on our community website.

Know The Town Management Staff

Posted on March 15, 2019 8:04 PM by Phil Casey

Categories: NTRA Business

Town Management was founded in October 2006 and took as its first clients the New Town Residential Association (NTRA) and the New Town Commercial Association (NTCA). At the time, New Town consisted of a handful of homes and businesses and a lot of ongoing construction. Over the years, Town Management has grown and now provides association management services to about 20 different HOAs and Condominiums not only in New Town but also in McLaws Circle and in other areas of James City County, York County, and the City of Williamsburg.

Licensed by the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR) of the Commonwealth of Virginia as a Common Interest Community (CIC) Manager, Town Management offers an array of services to associations. The staff handles bookkeeping and AP/AR and provides financial reports; supervises contractors; works with CPAs, attorneys, reserve specialists, insurance agents, and other professionals; maintains association records; provides association disclosure documents to prospective owners; and assists association boards in their various duties and obligations as defined in the association governing documents.

Randy Casey-Rutland is the founder and president of Town Management. He is a certified Professional Community Association Manager (PCAM), the highest professional certification in the industry and one that requires several years of initial work and study and regular continuing education. He also holds the Certified Manager of Community Associations (CMCA) certification.

Corina Paulson joined Town Management in early 2007. As the Administrative Manager, she oversees all the workings of the office and supervises office support staff. She also is responsible for on-site bookkeeping and AP/AR services. Corina is the best source for information on most things financial, including late fees, assessment payments, and billing.

Tim Grueter joined Town Management in April 2016 and holds the CMCA designation, an international certification designed for managers of homeowner and condominium associations. As the senior community manager, Tim has oversight responsibility for association management services and is the primary staff person working with the NTRA Board and most NTRA committees. A transplant from Boston, Tim is a professionally trained golf course manager and a US Army veteran with five years of service in the military police, both domestically and abroad.

Chelsea Adams joined Town Management in January 2018 as a community manager, bringing skills developed through experience in customer service and in work with another association management company. She works with Tim and has primary responsibility for more than a dozen associations. She also is the primary contact for the NTRA AMC committee and home inspection process.

Donald Bassett probably has the most experience working in New Town. He joined Town Management in January 2011 but worked previously for the landscaping company here. Donald can be found driving a “gator” around New Town, picking up litter, servicing the doggie stations, helping with events, and generally working to keep New Town neat and clean.

Richard Minor joined New Town in June of 2017 and wears (at least) two hats. He works with Donald performing all kinds of routine but vitally important chores around town, and he works in the office staffing the front desk and providing office support.

Cathie Upton, who also lives in New Town, has for more than five years managed the marketing, promotion, and event-related services that Town Management provides to some clients.

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