Change in Weathersfield Common Water Model/Option Offered to Close Residents

NOTICE: ACTION REQUIRED BY OWNERS BEFORE JANUARY 1, 2016

The purpose of this notice is to advise all the owners in Weathersfield of a major change to the management of the common water faucets/meters, and the manner in which common areas and plantings are watered beginning January 1, 2016. The change is required due to the substantial increase in water system costs. As the data below indicates, the cost is not commensurate with the benefit received.

What is your Board doing?

Effective January 1, 2016, the common water meter in each Close will be removed.

Why is your Board doing this?

This action will save more than $7000/year which can be applied to other areas of the budget providing greater benefit to our community.

Do I have a choice?

Yes. Any Close which does not want its common water meter removed may take full ownership of the meter.  An individual in the Close must be designated to receive the water bill for the meter, collect monies from the other Close owners, pay the bills, and maintain the system. This individual must be on record as the “customer” not later than December 31, 2015, with Chatham County Utilities.

Background

There are 20 neighborhood common water faucets in Weathersfield for residents to use when watering common area grass, hedges, bushes, and shrubs during a six‐month period, May 1 to October 31. Drip Systems have been attached to seven of the faucets and two Closes have installed Automatic Irrigation Systems.

Inventory of Common Water Faucets

Common water faucets (11): Units (530‐533) (534‐539) (540‐545) (552‐557) (564‐569) (570‐571) (572‐575) (576‐579) (580‐581) (588‐593) and (594 A‐F)

Drip Systems (7): Units (508‐513) (514‐519) (520‐523) (524‐529 [timer removed]) (546‐551) 558‐563) (582‐587). The drip systems were installed by the Weathersfield Service Group (WSG) after major replacements of Close common area hedges, bushes and shrubs. The operation of the drip systems is the responsibility of the WSG and they are managed by Ruppert.

Automatic Irrigation Systems (2): Units (595 A‐F) and (596 A‐F). The original residents of Closes 595 and 596 installed automatic irrigation systems to water the common areas. These residents paid for the installation of the automatic systems and the current residents are responsible for the cost of maintenance. Operation and maintenance of these systems are not the responsibility of the WSG.

Paying for the Common Faucet Water

Each common faucet has a water meter. Each meter has a billing account number. The WSG, through homeowner assessments, pays the monthly water bills for the water usage recorded by all 20 meters (faucets, drip systems, and automatic irrigation systems) and for the meters’ monthly Base Administration Fee.

Cost of Water

The cost of water has gone up considerably. In the last 10 years the Base Administration Fee for each meter has doubled. The cost of water has tripled. Current Chatham County water rates:

Base Administrative Fee/Meter $15.00 Per meter per month plus usage rate below
Reconnection Fee/Meter, $35.00
Block 1 (0 to 5000) gallons, $7.00 per 1000 gallons
Block 2 (5001 to 8000) gallons, $8.50 per 1000 gallons
Block 3 (over 8000) gallons, $10.00 per 1000 gallons

The monthly Base Administration Fees for the 20 common water meters in Weathersfield cost $3600 a year (20 x $15.00 x 12=$3600.) This cost is incurred whether or not any water is used. Turning off the water to our 20 common water faucets during the winter months to avoid burst frozen pipes will incur a $35.00

Reconnection Fee per faucet in the Spring (20 x $35.00 = $700).

Common Water Usage

A very thorough review of the monthly water usage records revealed that a large majority of the Close Common Water meters recorded minimal or no water use.

Aging Common Water Infrastructure

We are faced with an aging infrastructure that will need repair and/or replacement and our exposed common water faucets need freeze‐proofing. By mid‐Aug 2015 water leaks had already consumed 19,000 gallons of water.

Has any other neighborhood in Fearrington done something like this?

The Countryhouse V neighborhood cut off common water in their Closes several years ago due to overuse and leaks. They chose to have Chatham County remove all the common water meters. New plantings in the common areas are watered by the residents. Grass is not watered. If a resident wants the grass watered, it is his responsibility. Countryhouse V reports that they always find volunteers to water new plantings in a common area.

2016 Common Water Policy Summary

Considering the increasing cost of water, the small number of Closes which regularly use common water and the aging of the water system infrastructure, your Board has determined that the current Weathersfield common water model is not sustainable. Encouraged by the success of Countryhouse V, your Board has voted to abandon the current model.  However, recognizing that one size may not always fit all, the Board is offering each Close the option to keep the Close common water faucet meter thereby assuming responsibility for the cost of the monthly Base Administration Fee, the water usage cost and the cost of system maintenance. The Close will appoint a designated representative who will be on record as the “customer” to receive the Chatham County bills for these costs.  In all cases, if major new landscaping is planted by WSG in any Close, the residents will be encouraged to keep the new plantings watered.

Fairway Green’s “Southern Perfection” Turf-Grass Mixture Information

Fairway Green’s “Southern Perfection” contains a mixture of 35% Falcon IV, 30% Finelawn Elite, 30% Shenandoah Sport and 3% Guinness Kentucky Bluegrass. Turfgrass for the next century…winning the fight against surface-feeding insects, grows low but grows strong…your lawn will never be greener, naturally cut down on clippings and mowing. Falcon IV, Finelawn and Shenandoah Sport are the best tall fescue varieties available in the industry. Tested across multiple states, locations and environments these varieties exhibit improved turf quality, vibrant turf color, excellent disease resistance and improved stress tolerance. Guinness Kentucky bluegrass is the fastest establishing elite Kentucky bluegrass available in the lawn care industry. Looking for elite turf, fast germination and enhanced knitting of turf for improved sod strength and traffic tolerance? Look no further than Guinness. In addition to all these great qualities, Southern Perfection contains 0% weed seed and 0% other crop seed.

FEATURES

• Improved turf quality
• Contains 0% weed seed and 0% other crop
• Top NTEP turfgrass performance
• Slower vertical growth results in less mowing
• Improved winter turf density & disease resistance
• Good heat & drought tolerance
• Entophyte enhancement for natural pest resistance
• Strong genetic diversity for the discriminating lawn care professional
• Strong seedling vigor to reduce winter weed invasion
• Available in 25# and 50# bags

BENEFITS

• Improved traffic tolerance
• Excellent Disease Resistance
• Excellent Drought Tolerance
• No additional weed seeds added to the lawn
• Uniform distinct appearance
• Strong seedling vigor for fast establishment
• Less mowing Improved summer performance
• Great in full sun or partial shade
• Resistance to above ground insects

PERFORMANCE

Falcon IV and Finelawn are the “best of the best” in improved tall fescue varieties. They ranked #1 and #6 and statistically tied for 1st in mean turf quality among 160 entries in the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP) tall fescue test. Falcon IV and Finelawn Elite exhibit improved resistance to brown patch, leaf spot, and pythium blight and winter net blotch. They tied for 1st in brown patch resistance across 6 test locations in the Coastal Plains and Mid Southern USA. Shenandoah Sport is legendary in the Coastal Plains and mountains of the Carolinas, Virginia and Mid Atlantic Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and Southeastern Plains. It tied for 1st in mean turf quality and brown patch resistance in the 1997-2000 Final Report NTEP No. 1-14 conducted across 10 transitional zone locations across the United States.

RENOVATING OLD TURF

Southern Perfection is an excellent choice to renovate old turf areas with or without the use of Roundup® herbicide to kill the old turf prior to seeding. If there are many undesirable grasses in the old turf area, it is best to spray Roundup® at the manufacturers recommended rate prior to seeding. The seed should be planted by using a slit seed or a core aeration machine to incorporate the seed in the soil below the thatch level.

TURF-TYPE TALL FESCUE MIX USES

Developed for permanent blends and mixtures for new and reseeded home lawns, parks and commercial areas.  Southern Perfection is a genetically diverse; wear tolerant mixture that exhibits year long green color, great drought tolerance and natural pest resistance. It is particularly well adapted to the Mid South, Mid Atlantic and irrigated regions of the Western U.S. where heat and drought stress limit the use of other improved cool-season turfgrasses.

HOME LAWNS AND COMMERCIAL SITES

Southern Perfection should be seeded @ 5-10 lbs. per 1000 ft2. Southern Perfection is great for establishing new home lawns and commercial sites. In the Charlotte and Triangle area; 6-8 lbs. per 1000 ft2 is recommended; or 4-5 lbs per 1000 ft2 for slice seeding and interseeding of existing lawns and commercial sites. Proper watering is the key to success. Seed must be kept moist during germination and 1” of water a week after germination.

ESTABLISHMENT AND MAINTENANCE

Sow in fall when soil temperatures are 60° F or higher. Under optimal conditions germination can be expected in 14-21 days. Attractive turf color should be observed in 30 days with the first rotary mowing on day 30-post establishment providing proper irrigation was applied.  Limited use of the seeded area can be expected for approximately 45 days. In North Carolina and Mid South recommended cutting heights are 3½” to 4”.

AREA OF ADAPTATION

Southern Perfection thrives as a permanent turf in areas where cool-season grasses are adapted.

The WSG Board of Directors will meet on Friday, October 23rd @ 10am at The Gathering Place.  This meeting & all meetings of WSG are open to the public.

Our physical address (located in the business district of Southern Village) is below:

Berkeley Property Management, LLC
101 Market Street, Suite E2
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
(919) 448-5150 (call or text)

As a friendly reminder, below is some important information about WSG dues:

•    2015 monthly dues are $245 per home
•    Monthly dues are due the 1st of every month, they are late after 30 days
•    Late fees are $20 per month for any monthly dues past due (for example, if your June bill is 30 days past due, your July statement will show a $20 late fee, in addition to the June AND July balance due)
•    At the direction of the WSG Board, trying to be cost effective and environmentally aware, paper statements are not mailed each month
•    Paper statements are only mailed if there is a past due balance
•    Automatic payment enrollment is available at no charge; send an e-mail to finance@berkeleychapelhill.com if you would like more information
•    Effective immediately automatic payments will be charged on the 5th work day (business day) of each month
•    If you prefer to mail a check, it should be made to WSG VI and mailed to:
WSG VI
710 Market Street
Suite 21
Chapel Hill, NC 27516

Questions?  Please e-mail, finance@berkeleychapelhill.com.

The next WSG Board of Directors meeting is Friday, September 18, 2015 @ 10am at The Gathering Place.  This meeting & all meetings of WSG are open to the public.

It is very important all homeowners protect themselves with adequate insurance. It is essential to purchase an HO-6 policy from your personal agent. An HO-6 policy is designed to cover your personal possessions, inside fixtures (dishwasher, refrigerator, etc.), and your personal liability. The master policy for the Association covers one hundred percent of each structure, per the governing documents. The master policy’s property deductible is $5,000 per occurrence for all covered losses. Confirm with your insurance agent that your HO-6 coverage will cover the Association deductible. If you rent your condo unit as a lessor you should purchase a Dwelling Fire policy to cover Real Property. If you require a claim for your unit, immediately alert our HOA insurance representative, our property management company and a member of the Board of Directors. If the damage involved the inside of your unit, be sure to contact your personal agent as well. Feel free to have your personal agent contact the HOA insurance representative and property manager directly with any questions they may have on the Association’s insurance.  Questions?  Please e-mail, tony@berkeleychapelhill.com.

The next meeting of WSG Board of Directors is Friday, May 22, 2015 @ 10am at The Gathering Place.  This meeting & all meetings of WSG are open to the public.

The next WSG Board of Directors meeting is Friday, April 24, 2015 @ 10am at The Gathering Place.  This meeting & all meetings of WSG is open to the public.