So far this year the NTRA Board of Directors has taken several initiatives to improve our community and our neighborhoods. These initiatives include enacting a revised policy for use of the NTRA meeting space, and a charitable activity policy that authorized community volunteers to run a very successful New Town-wide winter coat collection drive and two food drives for the less fortunate members of the Williamsburg James City County area. We have also honored the late Larry Salzman by naming New Town’s extensive trail system after him and posting signs created by Robert Dennis along the trail with directions to each of our neighborhoods. A volunteer effort led by David Carter has improved landscape of the stormwater retention area in Christine Court into a parklike area that can be used by our community. Volunteer activities like these have helped unite our community. We cannot thank our volunteers enough. We would not be able to function without the efforts of the Pool Committee, the Landscape Advisory Committee, the Finance Committee, the Asset Maintenance Committee, the Architectural Review Committee, the Communications Committee and the Activities Committee. Finally, the Board has reaffirmed the 2021 Board Resolution on Village Walk roof decks which makes their repair the responsibility of the individual homeowner.
We have done a lot, but the NTRA Board continues to face and deal with significant exterior building maintenance problems in our Village Walk neighborhood. The magnitude of these maintenance requirements is significantly larger than Village Walk’s available funding. The Board is considering several options to address this problem. These options include special assessments to address the painting, caulking, and siding repairs to each of the Village Walk buildings as identified in the recent Fortress Reports. Costs for performing all of this maintenance will be large. Chesapeake Bay Management is currently soliciting proposals for performing this work which will determine the actual costs. We are also considering the possibility of spreading this charge over multiple years. The NTRA Board of Directors is planning to make a decision on special assessments at its August 21 Board meeting. The Board is also working to get Eagle Homes to accept responsibility for their construction defects and assist monetarily with the needed Village Walk exterior maintenance. However, this process is proceeding slowly through legal channels and may or may not be successful.
As a result of the magnitude of these problems and the potential for the reduction of Village Walk resale values caused by large special assessments, the Board is also investigating the possibility of asking the community to amend the Village Walk Supplemental Declarations to remove the Association’s responsibility for exterior maintenance. This would make each homeowner responsible for their own exterior maintenance which is the case for all of the other neighborhoods in New Town. Approval of this action by two-thirds vote of the entire NTRA community would significantly reduce future Village Walk quarterly assessments and make them similar to in our other New Town neighborhoods. It would eliminate the possibility for future exterior maintenance special assessments, and thereby help protect the resale value of Village Walk homes. The Board will solicit community input on these changes later this summer and fall.