Emerald Hills Homeowners Association
Spring 2020 Newsletter

MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The draft of this newsletter has been in development for several weeks and was recently modified again as the COVID-19 situation has evolved. Back in 2019 we had never heard of the terms social distancing, flatten the curve, government directed business closures and shortages of PPE and ventilators. We had only read about global pandemics. The global coronavirus pandemic is affecting all of our families, our businesses, our communities, and our way of life. Students are home for the rest of the year; some college students are attending virtual classes, other students in the Commonwealth are doing self-study using workbooks that teachers have provided. The duration of these new precautions is uncertain.

Although we have been greatly inconvenienced by the need to maintain social distancing it has been nice to see so many people out for walks enjoying the warm weather, the spring flowers and hunting for bears and other stuffed animals in the neighborhood. For safety on our roads please walk left facing traffic. If you need any special assistance due to the recent events, you reach many residents with our community email list located at theE-mail (listserv)link on our http://ehhoa.info/ Website. If you do not feel comfortable sending an E-mail to everyone on the mailing list then let one of the board members know what you need via E-mail or phone (see contact info below).

One of several duties and responsibilities of “The Board” includes managing the assets of the Home Owner’s Association. The assets include the common areas and the monies in the bank. Last fall after several months of discussion, the shrubbery at the entrance signs was replaced. Most of the discussion pertained to: not should we but rather how should we remove and replace the decayed Juniper shrubs at the main entrance area. The stone wall repair, planting of Liriope and placement of decorative stone cost $5,371. At the recent Board meetings there has also been discussion regarding how best to manage some of the open field areas since the annual landscaping costs continue to represent a large percentage of our annual expenditures.

Landscaping
In an attempt to lower the cost of our landscaping bill, decrease the maintenance of our common areas, beautify our neighborhood and to have a positive impact on our environment, there are plans to hold a Community Flower Day on Saturday, May 16th from 10am to 1pm. The purpose of this initiative is to plant wildflowers and bulbs in the first common area located off of Wyndham Hill Drive along the outside fence line.  If you have extra flower seeds, bulbs, or extra perennial pants bring them along with tilling equipment, other garden tools, refreshments and all the help we can get.  Be on the look-out for more information regarding the event on the Facebook Page and sent out through e-mail.  This will be a fun event getting to know our neighbors and beautifying our community. Hopefully the COVID-19 social distancing will be behind us by then or we will adapt the plan.

Facebook
Facebook page traffic has increased over 80%. There are over 137 likes; we are gaining new followers every month.  It is a very helpful place to post information about what is going on in our neighborhood such as lost pets, fundraisers, trading or selling items, etc.  You can follow us on Facebook by going to thefind us on facebook’ link on our http://ehhoa.info/Website.

Please continue to send e-mail address updates to vp@ehhoa.info if you would like to receive E-mail messages from the neighborhood or the BoD.

Semi-annual property inspections
APMS and a representative from the Architectural Review Committee will be conducting the semi-annual neighborhood inspections later this spring. The date will be decided once the COVID-19 restrictions have been modified. The most prevalent deficiency continues to be the growth of green algae on siding. The ongoing scarce availability of maintenance contractors is recognized. Worth mentioning is that there are several do-it-your self siding wash products available for tank sprayers and sprayers that can be connected to a garden hose.

Neighborhood Yard Sale
The neighborhood yard sale has been scheduled for Saturday September 12, 2020.

Goals for 2020 that were discussed at the March BoD meeting. Some of the goals included
a) Solicit competitive bids for the landscaping contract.

b) Achieve 100% participation for adding or replacing faded house and mail box numbers. Discussion with local EMS crews indicates that having legible numbers on houses and/or mailboxes saves precious moments when responding to emergency calls. Please take a moment to look at your house number.

c) Finalize the format for the HoA by-laws. Assistance has been requested from APMS to incorporate last year’s amendment to the bylaws into an easier to read document.

d) Obtain remaining e-mail addresses for those who have not provided updated contract info to the BoD or to APMS.

e) Maintain neighborhood home values by encouraging residents to preserve the appearance of their property.

f) Keep the annual HoA fee at $65.00/year.

Neighborhood reminders
Property Improvement Requests
According to our covenants, owners are required to obtain approval from the Architecture Review Committee (ARC) before starting any new building, performing exterior modifications to existing structures, or altering your property. This includes new construction, exterior painting which changes the color scheme, structural additions, fences, walls, sheds, pools, etc. Please contact a member of the Board or the ARC, or visit our "http://ehhoa.info/ " website to obtain a “Property Improvement Request Form”. Please note that Modification Forms should be sent to "EHHOA ARC, PO Box 1024, Fishersville, VA 22939".

Send these forms to the ARC rather than to APMS.

Neighborhood Watch
The Neighborhood Watch program has been ongoing since last spring. Two “Neighborhood Watch” signs have been posted at both of the main entrance roads. Sergeant Wills from the County Sheriff’s Office attended the annual HoA meeting in September. He spoke about continued random patrols in the neighborhood as staffing resources are available.

Do not hesitate to call the Sheriff’s Department at 540-245-5333 with issues dealing with speeding traffic, ATVs, mini-off road bikes illegal fireworks and other illegal behavior.

Always call 911 in case of an emergency

Meeting dates for 2020 (all meetings are open to Emerald Hills Owners):

Sunday June 7 Quarterly BoD meeting
Sunday September 13 Quarterly BoD meeting
Monday September 14 Annual HoA meeting
Sunday December 6 Quarterly BoD meeting

All meetings are scheduled to start at 6:30 pm at the Preston L. Yancey Fire House.

If you or one of your neighbors are not already receiving EHHOA E-mails please direct them to our Website and sign up to receive E-mail (listserv) notifications regarding neighborhood activities or contact the webmaster at Webmaster@ehhoa.info.

EHHOA Board of Directors
President, Jacques L’Heureux, president@ehhoa.info
Vice President, Suzanne Reich, vp@ehhoa.info
Treasurer, Brent Adams treasurer@ehhoa.info
Secretary, Frank Battaglia secretary@ehhoa.info
ARC Chair, Nicole Baucom arc@ehhoa.info

Your volunteer Board Members are committed to continuing the unique setting that we enjoy here in Emerald Hills. Thank you very much for your assistance and cooperation in making this an excellent neighborhood. If you have an interest in serving on a homeowner’s association committee, please let one of the board members know. As we continue to refresh the shrubs at the entrance sign area it would be great to have a landscape committee to help develop some alternative designs.

MANAGMENT SERVICES
Association & Property Management Services (APMS) continues as our management service. Please contact APMS for neighborhood questions, concerns, or violations. Their contact information is provided below.

Contact Us:
Emerald Hills Homeowners Association, Inc.
PO Box 1024

Fishersville, VA 22939

Board Email: Board@ehhoa.info
ARC Email: arc@ehhoa.info
Website:
http://ehhoa.info/

Association & Property Management Services (APMS)
PO Box 2182 Harrisonburg, VA 22801

200 High Street Bridgewater, VA 22812
Phone: 540-423-3879
Email:
office@apmsva.com
Website: http://www.apmsva.com/homeowner-central.

Submitted by Jacques – 3/31/2020 Rev: 20200401a
Formatted / posted by Webmaster – 20200402ap2