Town Crier Articles

Plan for Amending Village Walk Supplemental Declarations

Posted on September 1, 2024 7:00 AM by Jack Espinal, Board President

Categories: NTRA Business

Owners in the New Town Residential Association will be asked to approve an amendment to the Village Walk Supplemental Declarations removing the Association’s obligation to provide exterior home maintenance to this neighborhood. (See related September Board Buzz). The following is the Board of Director’s plan for amending the Village Walk governing documents:

Early September 2024 - the proposed amendment will be posted to the NTRA website requesting written comments and questions
Monday, September 16 - 7 PM meeting of Village Walk owners at Legacy Hall
Monday, September 30 - 7 PM meeting of all NTRA owners at Legacy Hall

October - Disposition of written comments and questions received

November 11 through December 11 - electronic voting on the amendment
December 11 – Special Members Meeting via Zoom to announce the results of the vote

Passage of this amendment will require approval by two-thirds of our Association members and will make Village Walk homeowners responsible for maintaining the property that they own as is the case for owners in the rest of the Association. This change

Places homeowners in the NTRA on nearly equal footing regarding maintenance and subject to the same requirements for Maintenance of Property as outlined in Article 7.2 of the NTRA Master Declaration. Exceptions for Village Walk will be the post tension slab system, irrigation system, fire suppression system, and yearly termite management. These will remain with NTRA and be funded through the Village Walk neighborhood assessment.
Reduces confusion regarding the responsibility for various types of exterior maintenance.
Allows homeowners to select the contractor that performs maintenance work on their home and also to choose the scope of work, quality of materials, timing and pricing.
Allows the homeowner to supervise and approve the completed work.
Speeds and simplifies the repair process by removing the management company and Board of Directors from the repair process and eliminating the NTRA contracting requirements.
Will significantly lower quarterly assessments and bring them in line with others in NTRA with similar homes.
Removes the sharing of exterior maintenance expenses, i.e, Village Walk owners will no longer have to fund the maintenance needed on each other’s homes.
Eliminates the possibility of all NTRA members becoming financially responsible for the exterior maintenance of the homes in the Village Walk neighborhood.
Retains the marketability of Village Walk homes which could significantly degrade if the neighborhood has very high association dues and continual large additional assessments.
Eliminates major yearly increases in Village Walk assessments that will be required if the Association continues to provide exterior maintenance.

Q&A

Q: I live in Abbey Commons, Charlotte Park, Chelsea Green, Savannah Square or Shirley Park. Why should I vote YES on this amendment?

A: If the owners of Village Walk fail to pay their assessments and the Association cannot fund the exterior maintenance from Village Walk funds, it is possible that general NTRA funds would be required to be used. That means your HOA dues could be used to fund the upkeep of Village Walk homes. It also means you could incur an additional assessment in order to fund this upkeep. Your YES vote eliminates this risk.

Q: I live in Village Walk. Why should I vote YES on this amendment?

A: A YES vote will eventually reduce your HOA dues and puts control of your property in your hands.

The exterior maintenance component of your neighborhood assessment will be eliminated. Your HOA dues will be similar to those of other neighborhoods with a few exceptions, as outlined below.
You will be subject to the same requirement for your property maintenance as all other NTRA owners, as outlined in Article 7.2 of the NTRA Master Declaration.
When your home needs exterior maintenance, you will choose the contractor, scope of work, timing, and pricing, the same way the rest of NTRA homeowners do. The process is simplified and streamlined by eliminating involvement of the management company and the Board of Directors, and by removing NTRA contracting requirements.

Q: What about Village Walk’s irrigation system, fire suppression system, termite management and post tension slab system?

A: These items are not affected by the exterior maintenance amendment. They remain a shared expense, managed by NTRA and funded by the Village Walk neighborhood assessment. You currently pay an assessment for these items and will continue to do so. The assessment for these items is small relative to the large assessment you have been paying for roofing and siding maintenance, repair and replacement. A small Village Walk reserve fund will still be necessary for maintenance of the systems that NTRA retains responsibility for.

Q: What is the outlook for Village Walk owners if the amendment does not pass?

A: Village Walk owners will continue to have large and increasing neighborhood assessments to fund exterior maintenance. On top of this, additional assessments will likely be needed for major projects. This could affect property values and home sales, as buyers factor HOA dues and additional assessments into their purchase decisions.

Comments

Comment By: Connie Starkovs

Posted on September 1, 2024 9:45 PM

I hope that this amendment will pass. It makes no sense to me that our small subcommunity has such a different set up than the rest of the neighborhoods in Newtown and puts us at risk for these special assessments that we have no control over. Plus as was stated above, it could also affect other Newtown communities if exterior maintenance funds are just not available. I am in favor of putting the control back in the hands of the individual homeowners in Village Walk just as the rest of Newtown has for their setup. Please vote YES to make this change!

Last Edited: 09/02/2024 at 10:44 AM