Movie Night cancelled

Due to expected bad weather, tonight's Movie Night in Val Jean Park has been cancelled. 

Master ARC's Next Monthly Meeting is June 11

The next meeting of the Victor Gardens Community Association's (the Master Association) Architectural Review Committee will be Wednesday, June 11.  The group will meet at VG's Neighborhood Acrivity Center at 6:30pm.  This meeting, as well as all past and future scheduled Master ARC meetings can be found on the VG News Calendar.

These monthly ARC meetings are always open for any owner to attend.  If you have questions about the ARC, it's review process or its application forms, we hope you'll be there.  Time will be set aside specifically for owner's questions at the end of the meeting.

At its June 11 meeting, the Master ARC will review new home, color, and landscaping proposals submitted with appropriate applications.  Most of the committee's work deals with new home building in VG's Single Family Village.  More info, including copies of VG's current Architectural Application, Color Application and Landscape Application are available on the Victor Gardens News website's ARC page.

Condo owners can refer to ARC-related info specific to their sub-associations.  This includes a few condo-specific applications found on the Victor Gardens News website's Condo ARC page.

VG's Single Family Village has it's own ARC, which processes requests related to already-built homes within the Single Family Village.  More info, including applications can be found on Victor Gardens News' website Single Family Village ARC page.

Note:  It's important to remember that the Master ARC deals with topics that the Master Board generally doesn't (and vice-versa).  The membership of each entity differs too.  If you have a specific Master Board related question, July 9 is the next Master Board meeting.  This meeting, as well as past Master Board meetings can also be found on the Victor Gardens News Calendar.

Summer is here!

Start summer vacation off with an outdoor movie.  Despicable Me 2 will be shown at dark on Friday, June 6th in Valjean Park.  Bring your lawn chair, blanket, and bug spray to enjoy a movie with your neighbors.  Snacks provided.

We are also continuing with our root beer float tradition!  Root beer floats and ice cream sundaes will be served at the pool house on Tuesday, June 10 from 6:30-7:30 (or when ice cream is gone).  Please remember that no food may be brought into the pool area.  Help remind your neighbors to respect the rules so we can continue to host this fun, free event!

We need your help with both events! 
- Movie night: volunteer to monitor food and help serve popcorn (keep the kids dirty hands out of the bags!). 
- Ice cream night: two volunteers (kids welcome!).  To serve ice cream and remind people to keep it out of pool area. 
- Everything you need will be there!

Please contact Lisa at john3995@umn.edu or 651-353-2619 to help!!!

Pool Opens Tomorrow

Have fun.
Play nice.
Leave your beer bottles at home.
And please, don't open the door for others. 

Opening Day, Victor Gardens Pool, 1961

Victor Gardens Pool Rules

Updated 2012

1. THERE IS NO LIFEGUARD ON DUTY, SWIM AT YOUR OWN RISK.
2. The swimming pool and water park are for the exclusive use of the members of Victor Gardens Community Association and their guests. The maximum number of guests per household is four.
3. The Victor Gardens Community Association, its officers, directors and agents assume no responsibility for injuries.
4. Children under the age of 14 must be accompanied by an adult 18 years of age or older.
5. People who cannot swim must wear lifejackets while in the pool.
6. Diving, running, wrestling, horseplay and throwing objects are absolutely prohibited.
7. Showers are required before entering the pool.
8. Persons who have infections or communicable diseases must not enter the pool.
9. Infants and toddlers who are not toilet trained must wear swim diapers.
10. Smoking is not allowed in or around the pool area along with the Activity Center.
11. No Food or Glass bottles are allowed in the pool area.
12. Alcoholic beverages are not allowed in the pool area.
13. Drunkenness is not allowed and any intoxicated individuals will be asked to leave the pool area.
14. In order to keep the pool area pleasant for everyone, radios, tape players, CD players and other audio devices must be played only with earphones. Loudspeakers are prohibited.
15. Pets are not allowed in the pool area.
16. Pool hours are 6:00 am to 9:00 pm. (during pool season) Lap Swim: 6:00 am to 10:00 am, Open Swim: 10:00 am to 9:00pm
17. All pool toys must be removed from the pool each night; toys left in the pool will damage the pool’s mechanical system. (No Inflatable flotation devices are allowed in the pool except water wings, life jackets or infant/small children flotation seats.)
18. All access to the pool area must be through the Activity Center. The gate is to be used for emergency purposes only.
19. Spitting, spouting water from the mouth, and blowing noses in the pool are prohibited.
20. The Victor Gardens Community Association Board of Directors reserves the right to revoke anyone’s pool privileges for not following these pool rules.
21. The Victor Gardens Community Association Board of Directors may amend these pool rules at any time, without notice. You can contact Community Development for the most current and up-to-date rules.

To report unauthorized pool access, dangerous situations or vandalism, contact the Washington County Sheriff.

• Emergency: Dial 911
• Non-Emergency: Dial (651) 439-9381

Key fob and facility access questions should be directed to VG's Community Manager, Jennifer Campbell at (763) 225-6424 orjcampbell@developcommunity.com

Spring Walk Through

The Victor Gardens Community Association (Master) Board is looking at dates to schedule a neighborhood spring walk through of its Common Areas.  A few of the VG's Master Association's contractors will be asked to attend along with Jennifer Campbell.

If you have any specific areas to bring to the attention of our Community Manager prior to the walk through, please do so via email.  Include exact locations, photos, descriptions, etc.  

Please find Jennifer Campbell's contact info on the Contacts Page.

Victor Gardens Annual Garage Sales start this morning

Improving communications and the future of this website

As many of you know, I've been posting neighborhood news on this Victor Gardens News website and it's companion Facebook page since 2007.  For those who've subscribed, I also have been sending infrequent emails to residents via email.

A recent Single Family Village Annual Meeting reinforced something that I've been thinking about for some time now.  At this point, our neighborhood may be better served by the various master and sub-associations moving to a professionally managed "official" website, email service, etc. 

In my Victor Gardens News website's early days, it was a great way for residents to know what was happening.  The developer, CPDC had long since given up communicating to us.  In that absence, I posted news that I thought would benefit our community and get the attention of City Hall.  In the years following CPDC's departure, our association's financial situation was poor.  There certainly wasn't any money or support for the professional management of an "official" Victor Gardens website.

In subsequent years, the associations have financially rebounded.  We're all in a much better position than we were before.  Now is a good time to start looking into the options of having an official Victor Gardens website and email service.  Although I've tried to keep up,  I'm simply not able to post everything that I think's important.  There aren't enough volunteers who've signed up to to help either. 

The more I think about it, the more I think that we'd be better served by paying for this service anyway.  A professional management company like Community Development Inc, has a portfolio of options that could be considered moving forward.

I've asked Holly Johnson at CDI if she could help us explore our options.  Whatever goes forward, it'll be the decision of each association's various boards.  For the Single Family Village HOA and the Master HOA, I think it may be time for a change.

- MV

Movie Night Rescheduled

Due to the cold rainy weather our spring movie night in the park has been rescheduled for Friday, June 6th.  We will show "Despicable Me 2" at dark.  Bring your blankets and lawnchairs to Valjean Park to enjoy an outdoor show. 

Volunteer needed to supervise snacks that evening.  Please let Lisa (john3995@umn.edu or 651-353-2619) know if you are able to help.

Thanks Julie and John!

For years, Julie Bixby and John Roehrich have served on Victor Gardens Single Family Village HOA's Board.  They've been crucial to our association's success.  John and Julie volunteered countless hours steering us to strong financial health and ensured that our neighborhood kept looking great.  

I've been proud to serve with them.  Next time you see Julie and John, make sure you say "thanks!".  They deserve it.

- MV

SFV Annual Meeting tonight

Tonight's Single Family Village Homeowner's Association's annual meeting will be held at 7:00 PM at Hugo Rice Lake Centre, 6900 137^th St. N., Hugo MN 55038.

Meet your neighbors and learn more about what's happening in your neighborhood.
This year the Board of Directors will update homeowners on neighborhood news as it relates both to the Single Family Village and the Master Associations. We truly believe that providing Homeowners with this information during the meeting is beneficial to everyone. We will also leave ample time at the end of the meeting for new business and a Homeowner Forum. This will give homeowners an opportunity to talk about issues that are important to them. We want to hear from you and welcome this type of involvement from our community.

Keep an eye on your sump pump

With more steady rain in the forecast, it's a good idea to make sure your sump pump is working properly. 

The sump basket in your basement's floor collects water through buried pipes from saturated ground around your home's foundation.  The electric sump pump draws that water up and out of the sump pit and out of the home.

I've found a good article and a few links explaining how these systems work, how to keep them running well and backup options for when they fail:

1. Your Sump Pump and You
2. By Michael Salsbury
3. © 2004 by Michael E. Salsbury
5. If you live in a home with a basement, there is a very good chance that somewhere in your basement is a sump. In that sump, there is almost certainly a sump pump.
7. What is a Sump? What is a Sump Pump?
8. Around the foundation of your home and under the basement floor there are a series of pipes. These pipes channel water away from the foundation and basement walls, flowing it into a hole called the “sump”. During a heavy rain, the sump will begin to fill up with water, water that would have flooded your basement floor.
10. If all you had was a sump, you’d still end up with a flooded basement in any kind of significant rain. The key to keeping the basement dry is the sump pump, which is a submersible water pump that sucks water out of the sump and pushes it far outside the home away from the foundation where it can’t harm your home or belongings. As long as you have a working sump pump, you’ll probably never see a flood in your basement.
12. Why Do I Care about Sump Pumps?
13. If your sump gets too “junked up” or fills with water, it won’t be long before it stops doing its job of getting water away from the basement and foundation. Soon, the sump will overflow and your basement will become flooded with water. Anything unlucky enough to be on the floor of your basement will at the very least get wet, and in the worst case be damaged or destroyed.
15. My home had a finished, carpeted basement. When our sump pump failed during a particularly nasty storm, the basement floor got flooded about an inch deep. Because I was not at home when this happened, and didn’t discover it until much later, a number of valuable possessions were damaged or destroyed by the water. The carpet became “delaminated” and useless. It cost approximately $3000 to have the flood waters removed, the walls and floor dried, anti-microbial agents applied, and the humidity reduced. It cost another $1500 to have the carpet replaced. Replacing the sump pump, check valve, and having the pipes to the gutter unblocked cost another $600. I had to take 2-3 days off work to be there for the damage restoration people, the plumber, and the carpet installers. All this because of the failure of a $75-200 sump pump. Needless to say, a loss like this will open your eyes very quickly to the necessity of maintaining a sump and a sump pump.
17. Basement Flood Insurance Coverage
18. Our $5000+ loss was made all the worse by the fact that our insurance didn’t cover the flood. Unless you’re certain that your insurance DOES cover such a disaster, talk to your insurance agent as soon as you can. Make sure your homeowner’s policy covers the damage that a failed sump pump can cause you. Do this immediately if your basement is finished and carpeted. Trust me. We thought our policy covered this, and found out after the flood that it didn’t. This kind of expense can kill your budget and your savings in a hurry, and it’s why you get insurance in the first place.
20. Sump Pump Life Expectancy and Maintenance
21. The plumber who replaced my sump pump told me that generally speaking, a sump pump will last 4-5 years. It may last longer if your sump water is relatively clean and clear and/or you don’t get a lot of water. It may not last that long if the sump water is dirty or the pump has to run a lot. If your pump is more than 5 years old, you should probably go buy a new one and have it ready just in case… or just replace it now and keep the old one as an emergency spare. Some people keep a replacement on hand at all times just to be safe. Considering that new pumps cost $75-150 and are not too hard to install, that may not be a bad investment.
23. It is a good idea to check the operation of your sump pump twice a year. An easy way to do this is to dump a few buckets of water into the sump and verify that the pump kicks on and carries the water away.
25. Extra Protection: The Battery Backup
26. Earlier I mentioned the need to make sure you have the necessary insurance coverage. Ideally, you’d like to make sure you never have to file a claim. There are sump pumps on the market with a battery backup. If you’re in an area where the power often goes out during a storm, this might be a good investment. You can also consider the emergency pumps they sell, which run on water pressure. To use one of these, you plug in a garden hose and turn it on full blast. The movement of the water through the pump mechanism activates the pump to remove water from your sump. There are even “backup pumps” you can install with the existing sump pump. These backups kick on if the original pump fails. While these backup and battery-powered pumps are not necessarily cheap ($250 and up is not uncommon) they are far cheaper than the expense of new carpeting and basement water cleanup. And they may keep you from having to file an insurance claim, which will help you to keep your rates low and avoid having your policy canceled.
28. Cleaning out the Sump
29. The plumber who installed my replacement pump told me that the bottom of a sump pit will fill with mud, gravel, and other debris over time. You need to scoop this crap out and get rid of it every so often. (Just how often will depend on your circumstances, but checking it every 6 months is a good idea.) In the best case, this build-up reduces the volume of water the sump can hold at any one time (increasing the likelihood of a flood). In a worst case, it reduces the life of the pump and can clog it up, resulting in the pump failing prematurely (and increasing the likelihood of a more serious flood). It is also a good idea for your pump to be sitting on a flat rock or brick inside the sump so that it is located above the level of the “muck” at the bottom of the sump.
31. Don’t Forget the Check Valve
32. The check valve, located in the line between your sump pump and the outside, (which prevents water that has been pumped out of the sump from falling back into it when the pump kicks off) should last 7-10 years at most. This is a relatively cheap part and if it was installed right initially, is probably easy to reinstall too. If yours is very old or you’re not sure how old it is, you might want to consider replacing that, too. Otherwise, your pump could end up running constantly, since whenever it stops pumping the check valve will let much of that water fall back into the pit – where it again needs to be pumped out. Your pump will last a lot longer if this valve is actually working properly. If it’s not, the pump will die that much sooner.
34. Install an Early Warning System
35. You can buy a simple water level alarm for $9.95 from Lowe’s. This device can be installed in the sump pit itself, and set to warn you if the water level in the pit exceeds a certain amount. You might want to buy one of these to install in your sump and on your hot water heater, to warn you if the water level in the area is getting too high.
37. Getting the Water Away from the House
38. All of this covers you if your sump pump or check valve has a problem, but that’s not the full story. When your pump kicks in and sends that water out of the basement, it has to go somewhere. In most residential neighborhoods, it goes up out of the basement and into the same pipe that carries water from your gutters out to the curb in front of your house. If that pipe gets blocked (with leaves, fine gravel from your roofing, etc.), the water from the sump can’t make it out to the gutters. Most likely, it’ll get pumped out the bottom of the gutter and into your yard. In the best case, this means that the water will flood your yard and maybe kill the grass. In a worse case, it’ll rot the wood of your house/deck near the awning (which it was going to do in our case). In a really worst case, it will seep back down into your basement and back into the sump, where it gets pumped back out again, and so on. This will also kill your pump because the pump will have to pump, re-pump, re-re-pump, etc., the same water out of the basement. To guard against this little problem, make a habit of periodically checking the little “exit port” in the curb in front of your house to make sure that the pump is able to get the water out to the street. If you know the pump is running and all you see is a “trickle” coming out there, you probably have a problem. If you see a decent amount of pressure flowing out, you’re probably OK. If in doubt, it can’t hurt to have a plumber come out and “snake” the pipe for you. The $100-150 you spend for that service could save you hundreds or thousands later.
40. Another Source of Basement Flooding – The Hot Water Heater
41. Along the same lines, my research indicates that a hot water heater will last 10-15 years typically. The “experts” say that if your hot water heater is more than 7 years old, you should be shopping for a new one now. Reason being you’re close to failure time, but not yet at “emergency” status where you could have a leak. This gives you time to price-shop and pick a good one, rather than having to settle for what you can find in an emergency. Also, you will probably be able to pick up a much more efficient one and perhaps save on your water heating bill, which can be as much as 14% of your overall utility costs. You might also want to think about putting one of those water level alarms on or near the water heater to warn you if it develops a leak.
43. Hope this helps some of you avoid the massive expense we had to deal in 2004 and shortly after moving into a new house in 2005…
    
    

City water-powered backup sump pump:

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/video/0,,20260244,00.html  (this video is better than most)

City water-powered and battery-powered backup systems compared:
http://www.askthebuilder.com/195_Sump_Pumps_-_Basement_Guardians.shtml
http://www.1stflash.com/files/Basement-Sump-Pumps.htm
http://www.basepump.com/Homeowners.html
Battery-powered backups:  
http://www.basementwatchdog.com/battery_backup_sump_pump.htm

Alarms:
http://www.basementwatchdog.com/water_alarm.htm

http://sumppumpalarms.com

Annual Victor Gardens Neighborhood Garage Sale will be May 8-10 this year!

It's official... Victor Gardens neighborhood garage sale will be Thursday, May 8th - Saturday, May 10th.  

Hours will be posted as 8A-2P.  These days of the week and times have been most successful for us in years past.  Feel free to open your sale during any/all of the days!  If you will be having a sale, feel free to email me your address and hours open at juliebixby1@gmail.com so I have a general idea of where the sales are each day.  I'll do my best to send shoppers your way!

I will take care of placing ads in local papers, on Facebook and Craigslist.  I would encourage everyone to post their own sales as well on Craigslist and other social media outlets.  Spread the word!

I will need a few people to volunteer to put signs out on Wed night and pick them up on Saturday afternoon.  All neighbors participating are also encouraged to post their own signs directing shoppers to their garages.  

Any questions... please let me know.  Looking forward to another successful sale this year!