Quarterly Newsletter
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Dear
Homeowners and Residents,
We have just completed
our Annual Meeting and a fairly successful first year for this largely
new Board. At the Annual Meeting, Jim Blum was elected to fill out the
remaining two years on Anna Saez's term and Jim has agreed to serve as
Watergate's Treasurer. Anna did a terrific job for Watergate in assisting
the community to navigate some rocky financial straits over the past year,
and we thank her for all that she contributed to Watergate. Jim is already
hitting the ground running to fill her position and working hard to keep
our favorable financial position intact, as well as doing the planning
and programming to continue to make capital improvements and enhancements
to our property. Bamba Sene will continue as your Vice President, and
Brian Lam will serve as your Secretary. Laura Dewitt remains as a Board
Member-At-Large. Beyond being proud to work with this collegial group
of Board Members, I am also struck by the number of volunteers that I
have had the opportunity to work alongside this past year. Volunteers
do much to help with the watering to support the major investment that
we made in 2008 for landscaping improvements and enhancements. Volunteers
check the grounds regularly for burnt out lights, water leaks, infrastructure
areas needing work - to name a few. Volunteers work on several committees
and projects at Watergate to ensure the quality of life here remains "the
reason that you bought here in the first place". I can't thank all
of you volunteers enough - I can only hope that the reward you receive
in getting to know your neighbors in our community is worth your efforts.
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| The Board will be meeting regularly to plan the execution of the priorities of the Community as expressed in our approved budget for our fiscal year 2009 starting on October 1st. A few of the projects that we will focus on early in the fiscal year will be painting the non-brick homes (there are 24 of them), including the stucco fences and porches attached to these homes, We plan on fixing up the outside of these homes to repair cracking and the "slab grooves" in them. We also want to continue investments in the grounds (more modest than this year's large investment, but substantial) in an effort to continue to make our grounds even more lovely than they are today. We will be investigating the possibility of replacing the gates. Our garages will also continue to receive our attention. We will contact the waterproofing vendors to have them back to re-look at their work and get rid of the last few leaks that we still have, as well to make sure that the waterproofing is working as they promised. The driveways into the garages also need to be repaved and the gutters, grates, drainage areas, etc. need replacement. In addition, we will continue to be vigilant in repairing the brickwork and mortar on the property. As the property passed its 30th Birthday this past year, some cracking and mortar problems are inevitable, but we will try to stay ahead of serious problems. Fencing and other community areas will receive our attention this year, but some of the more expensive projects may have to be delayed until our fiscal year 2010. We are aware of the need to complete these projects, but we also are aware of the need to stay financially solvent and keep our reserve funds healthy. We will initiate a Level II Reserve Study this fall to ensure that we are not missing any important items that should be anticipated. Again, these are examples of the Board's focus as the new year starts - not an exhaustive list. |  |
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There are a number of other things that we plan on doing, and, of course, there are always the "known unknowns" that we will deal with as they occur. Let me end this section with some good news. I am being advised that our shingles and roofs look in good condition and should last approximately 7 more years. We will certainly have the occasional roof leak from flashing problems or other chimney, edging-related anomalies, but our roofs are in good condition. Moving on to some other interesting news, we have negotiated a contract with the Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza Hotel, both near Watergate. They have given us a special neighborhood rate for Watergate. This rate is in effect now and one family has already used this rate to save about $400 on a family visit. I have attached the rate sheet to this note and I hope that you are able to take advantage of this offer for your visitors, friends or family. I have had a number of residents who have expressed to me that they have really enjoyed the Neighborhood get-togethers that the board has sponsored over the past year. These get-togethers, for those of you who have missed them, have been by the Pond (which is looking great - thanks to Oscar, our maintenance man and, of course, our volunteers) and the Board generally provides the libations and Watergate residents brings their favorite pot luck dishes. The libations are decidedly mediocre, the potluck dishes are superb - but the community camaraderie is priceless. The Board is working on a date in October - probably a Sunday afternoon/evening - to do this. More on this later. |
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| This Halloween
we will also try to do something for the kids here at Watergate if here
is sufficient interest. If you haven't noticed, we have a number of trick-or-treat
eligibles living here and doing their best to keep us all young. Again,
I will get more out on this later as I work with our volunteers to set this
event up. As we did last year on a few weekends in November, we will try
to do a Watergate clean-up again this year prior to onset of the winter
months. The Grounds and Infrastructure Committee will be arranging the schedule
for this.
I hope that this information is useful to all of you. If these newsletters turn out to be informative and helpful to the residents and homeowners, the Board will try to do at least one per quarter. I also hope that our communication is not just one-way, and you, the homeowners and residents, continue to seek out the Board and give us your thoughts and ideas. The "State of Watergate" is pretty good, and we think it will get better - with the continued spirit of volunteerism, neighborliness and community camaraderie that has once again made Watergate a pretty nice place to live. Gordy Bendick, President Click
here to send an email to Gordy |
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