UPDATE:
The previously announced method of collecting Townhomes and Gables homeowners email addresses has been discontinued. The address:emaillist@victorgardensnews.org is no longer monitored. Townhomes and Gables Associations are planning new email databases for residents. An announcement will be made when updates are available.
The Social Committee has organized Victor Gardens’ National Night Out 2007. The event will take place on Tuesday, August 7, at 6:30 PM in Arbre Park.
Washington County Sheriff's Deputies will pay us a visit, along with fun and games for children. It’s a potluck event, so please bring a desert treat to share. You’re encouraged to bring along basketballs, volleyballs, frisbees, etc. to play with friends and neighbors. Many fun prizes, including some from the Minnesota Wild will be given away!
For general info about National Night Out, please visit:http://www.nationalnightout.org
Shelly Tompkins, of CPDC has asked that I share some information about the new retail development in Victor Gardens. Ground has broken on the Southwest corner of Victor Hugo Blvd. and Frenchman road . Work continues on the Southeast corner’s retail expansion.
In the process of preparing for last week’s Neighbor’s Meeting, I asked Gina Higgins, our Community Manager, Shelly Tompkins, and Dave Hempel of CPDC to help me do a little fact-checking. I appreciate their help in clarifying a few important items. As part of her response, Mrs. Tompkins asked me to convey a message to the group. I read her note to the attendees of the meeting, but I thought it was also important to share with those who were not able to attend.
“One thing regarding the HOA dues that I would like the residents to recognize is that the HOA covenants allow an annual increase of dues no greater than (I believe its an accurate percentage) 10%. Our assessment dues to residents did not take place prior to April of 2004 and prior to that Developer took on 100% of the maintenance funding. We could have legally started collecting from day one/sale one to save our maintenance investment and chose not to. Over the last three years the resident dues could have legally increased to allow a reduction in the Developer Shortfall commitment. We chose not to and instead provide savings to the residents. The approximate amount of Development Shortfall savings through increase to both single family and townhomes totals +/- $30,000/year. The reason I want the residents to recognize it is because it is easy to point fingers at those who they feel are responsible for our present circumstances and our lack of participation, but they need to equally recognize and at the very least appreciate the savings that they have received over the years and our commitment to build and maintain the best of the best.” - Shelly Tompkins, CPDC
In order to find out how far along the Community Association is moving towards homeowner control, it’s important to find out what the total numbers are. The following are responses to questions I asked Dave Hempel, of CPDC on July 23 about the number of properties sold and built. He responded immediately and clarified a few key topics. He also has shared P.U.D. (Planned Unit Development) Overall Unit Counts. It helps to describe part of the process towards a fully built-out Victor Gardens.
Below are questions I asked (MV), and Mr. Hempel (DH) responded:
MV Question: According to your email last week, Currently there are 68 sold out of a total of 195. Neither number seems accurate?
DH Answer: The 68 was used at time of preparing the budget by Gina Higgins. She will add a sales project number, we give her typically, to project future lot sales to arrive at an average number of lots paying dues for the current year's budget forecast. The 195 is number of final platted recorded lots. This number again will change as the number of lots are final platted. Please see PUD unit count attached.
MV Question: The plan appears to show 116 Single Family Village lots drawn in: Victor Gardens 1st Addition and Victor Gardens East- Phases 1, 2 & 3. Roughly 71 of those lots are currently built or under construction.
DH Answer: VG 1st has 80 single family lots, 41 traditional and 39 cottage lots recorded with 64 lots built upon or under construction.
MV Question: The plan appears to show 31 Single Family Village lots in: Victor Gardens East - 2nd Addition (The Ryland Homes area). Roughly 4 of those are currently built or under construction.
DH Answer: VG East has 33 traditional lots with 7 lots built upon or under construction. VG East 2nd - Ryland/Pratt neighborhood has 60 single family lots, 31 traditional lots (Ryland closed on 15 lots with option for remaining lots) and 29 cottage lots (Pratt Villas) with 7 lots built upon or under construction for a total of 78 single family lots built upon out of 173 platted single family lots.
MV Question: The plan also shows 31 Single Family Village lots listed in Future Phase. Nine of those lots are currently drawn on land the Developer doesn’t own.
DH Answer: The overall plan depicts how in the future the streets may loop thru the area (typical requirement of city) to show that lots have access and that we provide street access to adjacent parcel for continuity. The nine lots shown outside the boundary of VG are not included in any unit count in the budget.
MV Question: It appears that there are 178 lots drawn in the most current site plan, although you have said that the number is 195. 75 lots are currently built or under construction, Your number is 68.
DH Answer: The plan totals 176 platted lots and 22 future lots to be platted to arrive at 198 single family lots overall.
MV Question: Where are the additional 17 lots (give or take a few) that your number reflects?
DH Answer: Please see the updated PUD Unit counts (see below)
MV Question: Are builders model homes assessed the same dues as the rest of the homes?
DH Answer: Yes
MV: Are they included in your numbers?
DH: Yes, except that the HOA budget has a unit number lower which at the time of preparing may of been accurate.
MV Question: Is it true that Ryland Homes has closed on 15 of its 31 lots?
DH Answer: Yes
MV: Are those included in your number?
DH: I've asked Gina to verify we’re billing them
MV Question: If the Developer does not own all the land for Future Phase (currently owned by someone else) why (or how) can it be counted towards the total?
DH Answer: We own all the lots shown within the boundary shown as VG. The area outside the boundary is only an illustration the city typically requires to show how the street maybe aligned in the future.
MV Question: Is there a VG 5th Addition?
DH Answer: The 5th addition is the old land office site which is preliminary platted into the 7 town home lots. Previously, VG East was called 5th Addition there may lie some confusion.
MV Question: What’s the difference between “Traditional” and “Cottage” Single Family lots?
DH Answer: Yes, there are two single family lot designations, one is "traditional" which has a larger lot size and different lot setbacks. The other is "cottage" lots which are typically smaller lots in size and have reduced setback than traditional lots.
Note: final development plans may reduce or increase the number of lots and/or square footage in the future commercial areas.
Thanks to Traci Tapani for the following update she sent about sump pump runoff, rain gardens, and preserving our wetlands:
“I just wanted to pass along an update on the drainage issue with sump pump hoses. I attended a seminar put on by the Blue Thumb organization (http://www.bluethumb.org) on rain gardens.
I have contacted the Washington Conservation District (www.mnwcd.org) which is the government unit for our area that deals with water quality. They were surprised to hear that a development was recently built that didn’t properly address drainage issues. All the water being drained into storm sewers and the ponds around Victor Gardens is an environmental concern. During the seminar I attended in the City of Roseville, they provided satellite photos of each persons property and discussed what residents could do to deal with runoff. Maybe this is something that should be considered for our development.
The District Engineer from Washington County will be coming to my home next week to evaluate the situation. This is a service that they offer free of charge. They have also put me in contact with someone at the Rice Creek Watershed District (www.ricecreek.org). There is apparently some reimbursement available for the installation of rain gardens.
Just thought I’d pass along this information.
-Traci Tapani.
For more background information of the ongoing problems of sump pump runoff, please see the June 11,2007 post, “Sump Pumps Causing Problems on Streets and Sidewalks”.
A large number of Victor Gardens resident homeowners filled the room at a “Neighbor’s Meeting” last night at Hugo’s City Hall. Many of our Community Association’s budget items were discussed. The meeting ended with neighbors better understanding our current association’s budget challenges. With that knowledge, many more questions arose and a smaller group of representatives was formed. This group will work to address these topics with our Community Association’s management company, Community Development Inc., and Victor Garden’s Developer, CPDC.
Thank you to all who asked questions at the meeting. For those who were not able to attend, but would like to be involved in the smaller group, please email mark@victorgardensnews.org
The small group of volunteers will be meeting soon to work towards solutions to our common challenges.
Due to a number of requests, a new “Classifieds” section has been added to our site. Advertise baby-sitting services, recommend a great hobby, announce a garage sale, and give away your unwanted stuff - it’s all free.
While it’s no comparison to our local Hugo paper, The Citizen, our classified ads are for Victor Gardens neighbors. Please feel free to post items via the “Add a Comment” button at the bottom of the appropriate category. If another category is needed, please email me: mark@victorgardensnews.org
Inappropriate postings will be removed. So please... be nice.
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.
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.