TWPOA Newsletter
Editor: Anne Fernandez	Winter 2007

Tara Woods Website - Get all the news about the association

President's Corner
by Mike Mann

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season. With the change in seasons, activities around the lake have slowed considerably. We collectively are hoping for a little more rain to refill the lake. Maybe that would be a good Christmas gift for all of us. The lake levels have stabilized and as I write this it's raining outside so maybe we're on the road back.

From my perspective, our community has accomplished two major things this year. First, we made a huge improvement in our docks, the single most expensive community asset. Replacing the decking with the new materials has greatly extended the life, and as an added benefit, the structure is considerably stronger. The other major issue we dealt with was a decision on the fence. This issue has hung around for a long time as we've gotten different inputs from the members. To resolve the apparent conflicting views we issued a survey and got an overwhelming response from you. 63 of our 78 members responded and this 81% response rate provides the board clear direction. The survey results are:

76% of the respondents voted to maintain the fence in some form while 23% of the voted to discontinue it. This 3:1 approval rate is a clear mandate to preserve the fence. Within the three fence preservation options, it's also clear there is little desire to install a new fence. Looking at the two maintenance options (3 & 4) from the perspective of how much money the community is willing to invest annually, 40% of the respondents are willing to spend $100/year and $76% are willing to spend $50/year. The $50 level, whereby the Association provides fence materials to members on an as needed basis, is what we implemented this past year with some success. These survey results will be the basis for our budgets going forward.

Over the year, a new issue has arisen concerning the adequacy of boat slips and we will have to deal with it in 2008. This has become a problem as more homes are being built and more members are actively using their assigned slips. To date, 9 members have complained about the quality of their assigned slips and asked the Board to resolve the problem. By way of background, we currently have 40 boat slips assigned to 39 members. The slips are not equal; some have significantly better access and depth. 3 of these slips are so severely constrained that they have never been used, and could only be used if the adjacent slips are vacant.

The Board created a Boat Slip Committee to understand the issue and make recommendations. As we installed the new decking, we ensured that we did not limit or add cost to fix the issue. That is why several of the walkways have not been re-decked to this point. The Committee has identified several options, including moving pilings, adding dock extensions, and formalizing assignment policies that can resolve the issue. In addition, we obtained a formal legal opinion from our lawyer to ensure that we did not inadvertently create even larger problems. The response from the lawyer is attached to this newsletter and posted on the community website: http://www.twpoa-va.org/ . The committee will report out at the January 6 Board Meeting ( 1:00 PM at the Lake Anna Rescue Facility) and I would encourage all interested parties to attend and contribute to the discussion.

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Treasurer's Summary
by Jack Perrigo

All of the dues have been collected for the year and all members are now current. As of Oct 1, 2007 we received $29,905.34. We have disbursed $28,318.59 which includes a transfer of $9,087 to our reserve fund and that money is still in Tara Woods. Total funds available are $60,309.77 consisting of $12,014.77 in the Operating Fund and $48,295.00 in the Capital Reserve Fund. Since October 1 st , we have spent $1,700 to seal the pavilion pavement that included hot tar sealing the wide cracks. Other than incidental expenses, the only other expense this year is $750 for the property managers.

The dues will be established at our January 6 board meeting. I don't anticipate any change to the dues. As you are aware, we raised the 2007 dues from $320 to $370. As a result of the fence survey, we should be able to continue to keep them at $370 until the majority of fence has been replaced.

Please visit the website for the latest news about Tara Woods.

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Boat Slip Committee
by Mike Mann

The Board formed a Committee to address a number of complaints concerning the quality of boat slip assignments. These complaints started about 18 months ago and have increased steadily. We now have 9 members who have asked the Board to resolve their concerns about their boat slip assignments. The Board created a committee to understand and address this issue. The members were chosen to represent the various perspectives of our community and include Mike Mann (a waterfront owner with no slip assignment), Jack Perrigo (owns 2 non-waterfront lots with slip assignments), and Jim Holland (a waterfront owner with a slip assignment). Our intent is to bring the committee recommendations forward to the Board at the January 8 meeting. Some key findings to date include:

-Complaints are relatively new phenomena. It is very clear that all the slips are not equal. Problems in the past have largely been resolved by agreements between members. This worked until slip utilization grew; now there are more conflicts and less unused slips to solve problems.

-The community currently has 40 slips with 39 assignments. The committee completed an inventory of slips and determined there is a very wide range of quality when depth, navigation, and access are considered. However, 3 of the slips are so severely conflicted that they are not useable if there is a boat in the adjacent slip. All the remaining slips are useable, with substantial differences in the depth and access which directly impacts the size of the boats that can utilize them.

-The Committee defined 3 construction alternatives, each would yield an additional 2 slips. These construction alternatives are relatively inexpensive and generally involve reconfiguring pilings, with some very limited deck extension. The Committee will present these alternatives to the Board at the January meeting so they can be considered as part of the 2008 budget process.

-Construction can resolve the issue of the 3 non-useable slips; it will not resolve the issue that slips are not equal. Even though all slips will be technically useable, there will remain substantial differences regarding access, depth, navigability, and the length of boat that can be accommodated.

- Managing slip assignments offers the potential to minimize construction while obtaining the greatest overall utility from the docks. However this discussion has created considerable controversy between those members who are happy with their slips and those with problems. The Committee obtained a formal legal opinion to define the boundaries of our ability to manage the assignment of slips. The determination was that the Board has the responsibility and authority to manage slip assignments for the benefit of all affected members. The committee has defined several alternatives to manage slip assignments that will be discussed at the January meeting.

The Committee would encourage any interested member to attend the January meeting and contribute to resolving the boat slip issue.

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Letter from the Attorney on the Boat Slip Issue (pdf format)
Click above to read the response from the Tara Wood's Attorney on the issue of the reassignment of the boat slips.

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Architecture and Environment Control Committee
by Dicke Dickens

Our covenants require that “ plans for any dwelling or other building to be constructed or externally altered on any lot, or for any other structure, including fences, shall be approved in writing by the Environmental Control Committee prior to start of construction or alteration”.  The construction standards for fences and buildings are different and this has led to some confusion in the past.  As a result t he Board of Directors approved the following amendment to the By Laws to clarify the applicability of our standards to new construction or alterations:

1. Any man made landscaping feature exceeding 3 feet  (36 inches) in height such as a retaining wall, waterfall, raised deck or above ground pool shall be submitted to the AERC Committee in writing with drawings or sketches and color samples for review and approval prior to installation or construction.

2. Man made entry features, defined in part as being located at the entrance to a driveway, any contiguous portion of which exceeds 15 feet (15') in length, shall be subject to the existing restrictive covenants concerning  fence material.

3. Any man made entry feature 15 feet (15') or less in length shall be constructed of suitable natural materials such as brick, wood, stone, cultured stone, decorative ironwork (metalwork) or any combination of the above materials, and shall be submitted to the AERC Committee in writing with drawings or sketches and color samples for review and approval prior to installation or construction.

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News from the Secretary
by Kathy Goldbeck

The next Board Meeting will be on January 6, 2008 1:00 PM at Lake Anna Rescue. There will be several topics on the Agenda such as, the 2008 Budget, Legal Update on the assignment of boat slips, possible dredging of a small area in the cove by the boat docks and boat slips, the Fence Survey and others.

It's almost that time of year again to start thinking about the nominations for the Board of Directors. I will be sending out forms to everyone in February and hope to have input from all of you on your choices As usual, we will have 3 positions to vote on again, as 3 Director's terms will be ending in April. Please watch for the letters in the mail.

Thanks. Happy Holidays, and hope to see all of you at the meeting in January.
Kathy Goldbeck, Secretary

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Pot Luck Dinner Update
by Kathy Goldbeck

We had a Welcome Newcomers Picnic in September at the Pavilion and welcomed new homeowners to Tara Woods. Board members as well as several residents brought food to share with the families, and we all had a good time. This is a great way to meet and greet your neighbors! Everyone is welcome and we hope to continue the practice every year.

Welcome to all our new neighbors.

I would also like to welcome our newest family to Tara Woods. Joshua and Cherish Dahm with their 6 year old son and 7 month old baby have purchased the home at 411 Burruss Mill Road . We hope they will be very happy here in Tara Woods, and if you see them outside, stop by, introduce yourself and say hello.

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Fence and Redecking Update
by Jack Perrigo

The redecking project is about 95% complete. We still have to peel one more “finger” and install new boards on 5 fingers and the trim. The project is currently funded for $16,000 ($10,000 in 2006 and $6,000 to complete the work in 2007). We have spent $15,358.63. We will probably run out of trim, but I am confident that we can finish the project within the $16,000 authorization.

We had 4 work days and had some very good turnouts except for the last work day where only one other Tara member showed up – David Jones. I want to thank all of the volunteers. I'd like to point out that the work took a lot more than just 4 half days. Harmel and sons Josh and Jake along with John Williams have put in a lot of time beyond those work days and I wanted to thank them for pitching in beyond the call to duty.

All the fence rails were distributed and all that remains are posts. I plan to buy more rails in the beginning of 2008. I'll distribute the rails on a “first come, first serve” basis.

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July 4th, 2008 10th Anniversary
by Nancy Lear and Maryhelen Perrigo

Next year will be our 10th anniversary of the Tara Woods 4 th of July parade. We want to do something special for this event next year. The
4th is on a Friday. We usually hold the event on the same day that LACA sets off the fireworks, which is usually on a Saturday. LACA hasn't announced what they are doing yet. We would like suggestions for a theme next year . Prize will be award to the winner. Please send them to Nancy Lear or Maryhelen Perrigo by Feb 10, 2008. Winner will be announced next newsletter.

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Calendar of Events

LARS is Lake Anna Rescue. It is located on Rt. 618 (Bumpass Rd.) Take Rt. 652 left out of the subdivision to Rt. 601. Turn right and go over the railroad tracks. Take an immediate right onto Bumpass Rd. (I believe it is Rt. 618) and go 1 or 2 miles to the Rescue building on the left, 300 Bumpass Rd. Bumpass, Va. 23024.

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