Board Seeks Input from Residents

The Master Board is forming a Long Term Planning Committee for Victor Gardens.  The Master Board would like direct and active input from interested homeowners about the future of our community.  Ideally this committee would plan for Victor Gardens' future, including goal setting, new building and beautification projects, holiday decorations, long term maintenance, etc.   The Board is also looking for more volunteers to serve on VG's Landscape Committee.  These groups should be comprised of residents from all our sub-associations. 

Residents interested in serving should contact VG's Community Manager Kari Miller. Email: kmiller@developcommunity.com  Phone: (763)-225-6424

Summary of Annual Meeting Topic Discussion

A number of items were covered at last night's at the Master Association's Annual Meeting:

• Financial reports and management reports.
• Implementation of a new electronic key fob Pool access system is moving forward.
• Discussion of updating Pool rules.
• Presentation of concepts for new "Victor Gardens" Monument signs at the main entrance at Victor Hugo Blvd & Frenchman Road.
• Presentation of concepts for a completed "Grantaire Green".

Big Changes Ahead- Landscaping, Common Areas & Park Improvements

The Master Board of Directors discussed a major effort to improve landscape and maintenance in Victor Gardens common areas and parks last night. The Board is working with Goetz Landscape and Landscape Committee volunteer Tony Schwab to identify areas with greatest need, and to follow-up on the major landscape upgrades begun last year. The Board discussed all common and park areas within the neighborhood and identified a few priorities. Victor Square will likely receive greater attention this year including new coordinated planting areas on each of the Square's corners. Progress has already been made. The former land-office site's (currently owned by Alliance Bank) fencing has been removed. The fencing had been falling down for years, and had become an attention-getting eyesore. At some point in the next few years, residents can expect that property to be developed. The boulevard along Victor Hugo Blvd. will also receive attention this year. Cottonwoods and willow saplings will be cut back to provide better views of the pond, low spots will be leveled with black dirt, and grass will be re-seeded. Neighborhood-wide, irrigation systems will continue to be improved, some components will be replaced- including adding new rain sensors. Work is also expected at the Jardin fountain, the south entrance, postal stations, Grantaire Green, the clock tower near Rosemary Way, Flora Green, Provence Green, the elevated berm behind homes along Garden Way 's carriage way, entrances near the Lake Area Bank , and the raised planters on the Victor Hugo Blvd. bridge across Clearwater Creek. A new "Victor Gardens" monument sign has also been proposed to be built possibly near the main entrance at Victor Hugo Blvd. and Frenchman Road. The Board is also discussing the possibility of partnering with the City of Hugo to improve the condition of the turfgrass within Val Jean, Arbre, and Victor Square Parks (all three of which are owned by the City of Hugo). The Board also is hopeful for a future, productive meeting with the City to address sinking retaining wall stones at Victor Square, near the pond.

Keep Victor Gardens Looking Great!

Victor Gardens' new Landscape Committee is signing up volunteers! Whether you're an experienced gardener or a novice who's inspired to make their neighborhood look its best- We need your help! Tony Schwab Chairs the committee, and he's already planning activities for the spring warm-up. He has some great ideas, but he needs your help too!

The Landscape Committee will be involved in a variety of projects this year, and may also help plan the next phase of landscape improvements begun in 2009. Goetz Landscape significantly improved the planting areas near Victor Gardens main entrances last year, including renovation of the flower beds on the North and South sides of Victor Gardens main entrance at Frenchman Road. New areas were also planted with annuals and perennials at the Everton Ave. entrance. We'd like to build on that success, maintain those areas, and identify other areas to improve this Spring/Summer. The Board is committed to maintain areas that needed more attention last year, particularly around the Victor Square Pond and other common spaces.

The Landscape Committee will be a big part of keeping Victor Gardens looking great! For more info, please see this post on our resident website.

We're signing up volunteers starting today. Please see the downloadable sign-up sheet and contact Community Manager, Casey Groff, or Tony Schwab for more information. Thanks!

New Landscape Committee Formed - Please Volunteer

The Master Board chartered a new Landscape Committee at its quarterly meeting last night. The Board asks for one resident volunteer from each of Victor Gardens' sub-associations (two from the Single Family Village) to serve on this committee. Volunteers will help our Community Manager, Casey Groff oversee the health of Victor Gardens' plants, shrubs and trees, help oversee our snow-removal and landscape contractors, and serve as Community Manager's "eyes and ears". Committee members will not necessarily be responsible for hands-on planting, weeding, etc. Those tasks will be reserved for contractors hired by the association. The Board hopes that the new Landscape Committee will work cooperatively with our Community Manager and Board to help maintain the beauty of our neighborhood, and offer recommendations for its improvement.

Please pitch in and help! Volunteers are asked to sign-up with our Community Manager, Casey Groff (phone# 763-225-6498, email cgroff@developcommunity.com). Please see the sign-up sheet for more info.

The following is text from the Landscape Committee Charter. It offers a more detailed explanation of the role of the committee and its volunteers:

Purpose of the Victor Gardens Community Association Landscape Committee:

The Landscape Committee has three main purposes:

1. To oversee the health and well being of the landscaping and irrigation within Victor Gardens Community Association common areas and to submit written recommendations to the Board of Directors as to how to improve these areas.
2. To form a relationship with the landscape contractor for the purpose of developing a long-term partnership, enhancing the quality of work performed, and enhancing the appearance of Victor Gardens Community Association. (It is important to understand that the day-to-day supervision and direction to the landscape contractor should be avoided and be channeled through the management company for consistency.)
3. To represent Victor Gardens Community Association to any Washington County, or other local or federal agency as it relates to the Victor Gardens Community Association Landscape Plan and to report to the Board of Directors any concerns.

Responsibilities and Authority of the Victor Gardens Community Association Landscape Committee:

1. Present to the Board of Directors for approval the committees recommendations for proposal and contract guidelines for the Victor Gardens Community Association landscape contract.
2. Conduct monthly inspections of the Common Areas within Victor Gardens Community Association to make sure that they are in compliance with the Governing Documents, the Bailey’s Arbor Landscape Plan, and any County or Federal Regulations that the Association is responsible to uphold.
3. Submit to the Community Manager on a monthly basis a list of areas that are not maintained, per the scope of work in the Landscape & Irrigation Contract within Victor Gardens Community Association.
4. Conduct follow up inspections of said Common Areas to ensure contracted work has been completed, per the scope of work.
5. Create requests for proposals and analysis for the Board of Directors for projects related to landscaping and Irrigation.

Organization of the Victor Gardens Community Association Landscape Committee:

The Landscape Committee shall consist of six members, two members representing Victor Gardens Single Family Village Homeowners Association, one representing Villas at Victor Gardens Condominium Association, one representing Gables at Victor Gardens, one representing North Village at Victor Gardens and one representing South Village at Victor Gardens.

The committee members shall be appointed by the Board of Directors of Victor Gardens Community Association and reviewed on an annual basis.

The terms of office for each committee member shall be varying terms from 1 through 3 years, unless otherwise removed by the Board of Directors.

The committee also has the authority to remove its own members with a vote of the majority of the committee.

The members of the committee shall appoint both the Chair and the Secretary of the committee.

The committee shall have a Board liaison, appointed by the Board of Directors that serves on the committee in addition to the committee members.

The Board liaison is a non-voting member of the committee.

People interested in serving on the Landscape Committee should complete and return a Committee Volunteer/Application Form to the Community Manager for consideration by the Board of Directors.

Operations of the Victor Gardens Community Association Landscape Committee:

The Landscape Committee shall meet monthly during the peak season (April through October) and every other month during the non-peak season.

The committee shall keep informal minutes of those meetings (one page or less). These minutes shall be approved by the committee, and forwarded to the Community Manager for record keeping, and the Board Liaison for reporting purposes.

The Landscape Committee is authorized to spend up to $25.00 per month for incidental supplies, etc. without additional approval from the Board of Directors.

Landscaping Concerns & Grounds Maintenance Update

Many residents have expressed concerns about the condition of many of the planting areas in and around our Association-owned common areas and City-owned Parks. Last year, through the efforts of residents volunteers and the Landscape Committee, the group maintained as much as they could without any budget. In many cases, residents generously paid for improvements with their own money.

This year a limited landscaping budget was restored. The Master Board prioritized high-visibility areas that needed the most attention, and hired Goetz Landscape of Centerville to renovate and improve a few key areas. A large amount of the effort and the budget went to repairing numerous broken irrigation systems throughout Victor Gardens, re-purposing the old main entrance fountain, and installing perennial and annual planting beds at Victor Gardens entrances North and South of Frenchman Road, along Everton Avenue near Lake Area Bank, and renovation of landscaping around the Neighborhood Activity Center and Pool.

Many resident and Board Members realize there's more work to left to do. The Master Board is working towards a few important coordinated solutions.

1. The Board approved a bid to remove the weeds around the Victor Square fountain pond this season.

2. The Board will re-form a Landscape/Grounds/Garden Committee made up of resident volunteers.

3. With the help of a new Landscape Committee the Board will maintain, through volunteer and contract help, the areas that were most recently renovated and re-visit the other areas including the planters on the Victor Hugo Blvd. bridge, the Victor Square fountain pond beds, Victor Square planters, secondary entrances, Provence Way Green, Flora Way Green, and Jardin Fountain mini-parks, Postal Stations, Poet's Green, Val Jean Park, Arbre Parks, etc.

4. Mark Vlker and the City of Hugo's Public Works Director, Scott Anderson, will meet in the next few days to discuss the shared maintenance responsibilities of Victor Gardens Parks. A few years ago, the former developer , CPDC met with City officials at a meeting in which some of the responsibilities are clearly spelled out. (View the complete list, and Parks turnover meeting notes at this link). The two will also discuss, among other things, replacement and maintenance of Trees throughout Victor Gardens Parks including Victor Square Park, Val Jean Park, and Arbre Park.

I'd like to take this opportunity to ask concerned residents to review the responsibilities list, and post comments of other areas that might be missing from the list or might need extra attention of the Board and the future Landscape Committee. As always, your constructive comments are welcome. Please take a moment to let us know what we could be doing better.

Thanks, Mark

Thanks to volunteers

Thank you to all of the volunteers who have donated their time, talent, and money towards the beautification of Victor Gardens' parks and common areas.  Residents have been working together planting, weeding, and watering flower beds, and cleaning and repairing the Jardin fountain.  

Grounds Committee to Meet May 21

An important first meeting of Victor Gardens' Grounds Committee will begin Wednesday, May 21 at VG's Neighborhood Activity Center, 7:00PM.  We will update everyone about the City's new Parks responsibilities, the level of service and cooperation we can expect from our landscape vendors and the retail businesses along Frenchman Road.  Committee members will choose a coordinating Chairperson, discuss priorities, and break up into the smaller groups according to everyone's interest.

The Grounds Committee is always open to new volunteers.  Please email Mike Bailey, baileyhome@lightblast.net to sign up.

Clean-Up Day Cancelled

The Annual Victor Gardens Clean-Up Day has been cancelled for this year.  It will not be rescheduled.  The City of Hugo has already done some clean-up and maintenance work, and there's not enough left to hold a special neighborhood event.  

There is still some garbage and debris left over from the winter, so residents are encouraged to pitch in as individuals. Tony Schwab and others will continue to work to keep our neighborhood looking great.  Take a look around where you live, and clean-up what you can.  Thanks!

Neighborhood Clean Up Day - April 26

VG Organizational Chart

Over the last year I’ve heard many questions asking which company was in charge of specific areas.  Who was the master developer?  How does Community Development fit in?  To clarify things, Mike Bailey and I drafted a chart to illustrate how VG was organized.  I fact checked it with Dave Hempel, of CPDC at yesterday’s Board meeting.  

The chart shows the organization as of today.  It may change significantly over the next few months as the Single Family Village association is turned over to homeowners and if homeowners gain control of VG’s Board.  In any case, we hope the chart makes the organization more understandable.

Visit the Documents Page to download the PDF copy of the chart.

Poet’s Green Fountain Working Again - More Equipment Found

Geoff Primeau, a member of the Grounds Committee, has located something in Poet’s Green that no one, including our landscape contractors, was apparently aware of.   They found a water supply valve connected to the small fountain in Poet’s Green.  The fountain’s working again, and neighbors are happy not to be carrying buckets of water any longer.

Doug Klamerus and I also found a line of sprinklers which should have been watering the grass on the South side of the tennis court in Val Jean Park.  The grass in that location had been in bad condition for a very long time. These sprinkler heads were buried and grown over, possibly since the beginning.  We’ll inform the City of this newly-found line.  It hopefully it can be connected to the irrigation system and timers.

Tennis Court - Good News & Bad News

Grounds Committee members have been working hard to keep up with the wind we’ve been having lately.  They’ve been reattaching the windscreen on the tennis court fence.  

Unfortunately, I have some bad news... Committee members have reported a problem that is beyond their ability to fix.  The posts that suspend the tennis court net (not the fence) have begun to move. They may have buckled under pressure applied by the net tensioning winch. It’s possible that unsuspecting tennis players over-tightened the net's tension, possibly in combination with heat-softened asphalt, causing the damage.  

John Roerich is a tennis player and a neighbor who's been helping out a lot on the windscreen. He told me today that sometimes players think that the net should be very tight and perfectly level.  Actually, it shouldn't.  Apparently, tennis regulations say that the net should be higher at the anchoring posts and slightly lower in the middle. A regulation height is also specified for these distances, similar to a regulation height of a basketball net.  

Since the tennis court is in a City-owned park, we’ve notified Chris Petree, Hugo’s Director of Public Works about the problem.  

Progress on Tennis Court Windscreen Repair

Work has begun to reattach the windscreen on the Tennis Courts.  John Roerich completed reattaching the South side of the screen.  Other members of the Grounds Committee’s tennis court group will be continue the work in the days ahead.  Thanks!

Common Area & Parks Sprinklers

The following is a status report from Early Bird, our Association’s sprinkler contractor regarding the sprinklers in V.G.’s Common Areas.  It was told to Gina Higgins today June 27.  She forwarded the info to me:

1. •Jardin Fountain sprinklers:  On & working - also turned up the times to run more frequently

2. •Poet's Green sprinklers: On & working - also turned up the times to run more frequently

3. •Cossette Way mail kiosk sprinklers:  Not working properly - Contractor will check into a timer problem

4. •Clearwater Creek bridge & Victor Hugo Blvd. sprinklers:  no report (I think these are working)

5. •Neighborhood Activity Center sprinklers:  Partially working - there are issues from the land office being moved.

6. •Victor Square sprinklers:  On & working 

The City of Hugo has assumed responsibility of maintaining and repairing the sprinkler systems in Arbre and Val Jean Parks.  City Staff has been working with another irrigation contractor, Northway Irrigation, to repair a few broken main lines and replace damaged sprinkler heads.  For the most part, City-run systems are working properly now.

Volunteers on the Grounds Committee will be assisting in monitoring both the City and our Common Area sprinkler systems.  They will map the sprinkler zones, report problems, and in some cases do minor repairs when necessary. 

New “Grounds Committee” Needs Volunteers

In the last few seasons, homeowners have noticed a decline in the condition of some of Victor Gardens parks and Common Areas. To begin correcting problems, homeowners suggested forming a neighborhood "Grounds Committee".   

The theory behind forming this committee was for residents to do a better job of monitoring and preserving Victor Gardens parks and common spaces.  Essentially - Neighbors wanted to take more responsibility for their surroundings.  

One of the problems we've seen is the time it takes to fix simple problems.  For example, a homeowner notices that a sprinkler head is not working, she waits for a few weeks to see if the mowing crew will fix it.  After waiting, she sends Mark an email, then it’s forwarded to Gina Higgins, then Gina writes a work order and speaks to the contractor, the contractor puts the sprinkler on his to do list, and schedules the repair for the next time he is in VG, etc, etc, .... You can see that this process is unnecessarily long - and it hasn't been working for us.

Some have asked if it’s a measure to save the VG Community Association money.  In part that’s correct - but not the overall goal.  The Committee will hopefully be able to save money by correctly diagnosing small problems when they arise, and work to quickly fix the issues before major damage occurs (like large patches of dead turf or burned-out fountain pumps).  The goal is to help preserve the beauty of the neighborhood.  Saving money is just another positive outcome.

I have asked for volunteers and have received a good response so far.  Some of the members responsibilities will be: mapping out the irrigation systems & reporting specific problems (such as a broken sprinkler heads in Zone 4), following up on repairs, and taking an more active role in minor maintenance jobs (like fountain clean-up, tennis court windscreen repairs, etc.).  The Committee will be broken up into small groups, with each having it's own area of interest.  For example, one group will fix the tennis court windscreen when needed, another will do routine clean-up in the Jardin Fountain, others small groups will monitor sprinkler systems in Val Jean Park, Arbre Park, and Poet's Green.  These are not the only interests of the Grounds Committee, but a great beginning nevertheless.

Of course, the Grounds Committee does not intend to take over the ultimate responsibility of these systems. Members will mainly supplement and monitor the work that the contractors and the City of Hugo already perform.  It will be made up of individuals who have some technical experience, mechanical ability, and those who can monitor sprinklers because they live adjacent to the Parks and Common Areas.

I'm happy that homeowners are taking the initiative and working towards a better Victor Gardens. I hope we all will support the goals of the Grounds Committee.  When the Committee groups are formed and working, I'm sure we'll all see positive progress.

As of today we have some volunteers for:

Poet’s Green

The Jardin Fountain Area

The Val Jean Tennis Courts

Val Jean Park

We still need volunteers for:

Victor Square

Main Entrance Areas

Neighborhood Activity Center & Pool

Arbre Park

Planning Fall & Spring neighborhood cleanup events.

Please email mark@victorgardensnews.org to volunteer for the Grounds Committee.

Fountain Working Again - Please Keep Children Out

Thanks to Michael Hage who cleaned out, disinfected and restarted the Jardin Fountain again.

Neighbors are asked to keep children from playing in and near the fountain as it contains chemicals and unfiltered water.  Also, in the past, some inadvertent damage has been done to the fountain, surrounding stonework and plantings by playing children.  

Thanks again Mike for pitching in to maintain the fountain!

Opinions Needed About Potential New Committees

In the past few weeks I’ve heard from many proud neighbors about the great job our Victor Gardens Social Committee is doing.  I speak for many of us who would like to thank the members of the Committee for their hard work, creative ideas, and fun events!  It’s great to see neighbors taking such an active role in our community.

I’ve also heard recent suggestions that similar energy could be channeled into other potential Committees.  I would like to hear your thoughts about more (or different) ways neighbors could become involved.  

Below are two ideas in particular.  I would like to you hear opinions on these or other committee ideas.

1.)   A potential “Grounds Committee”  (not to be confused with the Garden Committee) could organize seasonal clean-up and minor maintenance projects & events.  These could include: 

1. •Seasonal cleanup projects

2. •Seasonal fountains startup & shut-down

3. •Irrigation systems oversight

4. •Parks mulch refreshing and minor maintenance

5. •Tennis court windscreen repairs

2.)   A potential “Board Advisory Committee” could organize residents with expertise.  The Committee could advise the Victor Gardens Board of Directors on finding better ways to spend your association dues, and work toward easing the eventual transition of control of the Board of Directors to neighborhood control.  It might be especially helpful to involve residents with talents in:

1. •Budgeting

2. •Finance

3. •Contracts

4. •Management

5. •Insurance

These are a few of the most thoughtful ideas I’ve heard.  I think all residents would be interested in the results of this informal “poll”.  Please email me your opinions.  Thanks!