If you live in a neighborhood without an HOA

[DawnM]

How does your neighborhood do improvements?

 

We have 24 homes in our neighborhood.  Each home has a min. of 2 acres.  Back in the 80s each property was sold individually and a home was built on it.  No two are alike.   

 

There is also no HOA.  

 

We like it this way.  We like the privacy and we like the no HOA.

 

However, some things need to be tended to.  The front trees are dying in the entrance way and need to be taken out and new ones planted.  

 

There is now a "committee" and they have decided that the front entryway sign is the first priority.  A glitzy sign with lights (no idea who will pay the electric bill unless they are solar powered).  THEN the trees can be taken care of.

 

The total cost is $4,500.  That would mean each family has to pay almost $200.  However, they can't make it mandatory and I know we have several retired couples in bad health who probably won't contribute.  Then we have families who could write a check for the entire amount and not have it make a huge dent in their bank accounts.

 

That is the long story.  Here are my questions.

 

1. Would you contribute and if so, how much?  I can reasonably contribute $100 right now.  I might be able to do another $100 later in the year.

2. Would you say something about your concern that the trees be tended to first before the sign?

3. How does your neighborhood handle this sort of thing?

 

Dawn

[DawnM]

I will add that about 7 years ago our street needed to be refinished.  Just our cul de sac.  We all met and agreed to each pay the $1,200 each necessary to fill in the pot holes and refinish the street.   The agreement with the town was that as soon as we did that, they would then take over the street and do all repairs with tax dollars, so that in many ways made it more manageable.

[Snickerdoodle]

I don't live and have never lived in such an arrangement.   I would not contribute to a sign but would contribute to removing and replacing old trees that could be safety issues.

 

(I live in a very urban environment so the idea of a glitzy sign or any sign for that matter seems like a trivial item.)

[Caroline]

Who owns the land that the trees and sign are on?

[umsami]

Every time I see this thread title, what pops to my mind is… "I envy you."  I hate our HOA.

 

I would definitely mention the trees as a priority…but I'd also try and get some neighbors "on my side".  Can the trees be taken care of more cheaply…perhaps with some neighborhood volunteer labor?  Can elderly couples or people who can't contribute money maybe make lemonade for the workers or something?

 

As for the sign, it's perfectly reasonable to ask who is going to pay the electric, etc.

[PrincessMommy]

Every time I see this thread title, what pops to my mind is… "I envy you."  I hate our HOA.

 

I would definitely mention the trees as a priority…but I'd also try and get some neighbors "on my side".  Can the trees be taken care of more cheaply…perhaps with some neighborhood volunteer labor?  Can elderly couples or people who can't contribute money maybe make lemonade for the workers or something?

 

As for the sign, it's perfectly reasonable to ask who is going to pay the electric, etc.

 

2 yrs ago we moved from a non-HOA neighborhood to an HOA.  I hate it. 

 

I don't know what our old neighborhood would have done.  It was much larger (100+ houses) and we did have some kind of community action group or some such.  But we never paid dues or anything.  Doesn't the county have some kind of right-of-way?  I'm surprised you had to pay out of pocket for the road resurfacing.  That was always done by the county in our old community.   

 

I would agree to find out who owns the property - it might very well be that the county has some kind of easement or right-of-way and you can petition them to cut the trees.

[Spryte]

I agree that getting some neighbors "on your side" about the trees is a good plan.  The trees sound much more important.

 

Who formed this committee?  Was there some kind of vote that these people should represent you?  Since there are only 24 of you, I'd think that it would be easy for each of you to vote, if you chose, and a committee to make the decisions isn't really necessary.

 

 

[lynn]

In my no hoa neighborhood several neighbors take care of the entrance.  It always looks nice.   

[momma2three]

I would not spend money on a sign.  Why on earth do you need a sign?  Who will pay to light and maintain this sign?  Replace the light bulbs when they go out?  When you're faced with work that seems to be nobody's responsibility, the solution is not to create more work that's nobody's responsibility.

 

Our town is responsible for the trees in the strips between the sidewalk and the road.  They go through every fall and every spring doing maintenance, and then every 4 years bring in extra teams to do substantial trimming and maintenance.  They're doing it this year, right now, and it's some pretty major effort.  We have a town-owned electric company, so the town has a vested interest in making sure that the trees are all healthy and strong, and the branches aren't near the wires.  Keeping trees maintained and trimmed is really important basic maintenance, and I would not put that off for a totally pointless sign.

[momto10blessings]

I wouldn't contribute towards a sign. I just don't see a point.
I'm not sure I would contribute towards the trees either. Are they a hazard? Who own the property the trees are on? It would make sense that they take care of them

[Hyacinth]

I don't understand. Who has legal responsibility for the area in question?

[marbel]

I don't understand. Who has legal responsibility for the area in question?

 

That's what I was about to ask.   Someone owns that property - an individual or perhaps the county or township or government entity. 

 

I would also be asking questions about the sign. I agree with those who say it's reasonable to ask who is paying for the lights.  I'm trying to picture a lighted sign for a "regular" neighborhood (not a condo or apartment complex) and can't remember ever seeing such a thing.    It sounds... odd.

 

ETA: I've never lived in a neighborhood with an HOA.  In my current neighborhood everyone takes care of their own trees, etc.  There are a couple of small 'vacant' areas; the township mows the grass and tends the trees on them.   There is no sign announcing the entrance to our neighborhood. 

[AmandaVT]

The town takes care of our road and the street sign at the top of the road. Each property owner takes care of their own property. When hurricane Irene washed out our road a few years ago, DH, the neighbor across the street and a few other men worked together to clear the fallen trees as best as possible (to help keep neighbors house from flooding even more) until the town trucks and machines arrived. 

 

I will never live in a HOA neighborhood and thankfully we don't really have any here except for condo associations. We also don't have many condos. I would find out who owns the property that the trees are on and if it's the town, have them fix it. Same with the potholes.

[Night Elf]

The only community item we have is a plain sign in the front of the neighborhood. It's on the corner house's property, but I've never seen anything changed about it, like new paint. What bugs me is that one road leading out of our neighborhood is a dirt road. Why on earth the county or whoever didn't pave that road is beyond me. It gets potholes like crazy. DH emailed the county and asked for it to be graded and there was a response within a month. We were surprised actually. That was done about 3 weeks ago and there are already potholes forming again. There is no need for our community to come together though. We intentionally sought a neighborhood without an HOA because we had a bad experience in our former neighborhood with power crazy people.

 

I'd ask the group to reconsider the sign as not being a practical use of money, especially since there is no guarantee that everyone with contribute. Will the sign be in someone's yard? I'm with others who are wondering who owns the land.

[In The Great White North]

 

 

Who owns the land that the trees and sign are on? 

 

 

 

 

I don't understand. Who has legal responsibility for the area in question?

 

 

 

That's what I was about to ask.   Someone owns that property - an individual or perhaps the county or township or government entity.

 

Not only is the actual landowner responsible for the trees, "you" would have to get their permission to do anything to the property: to cut the trees, even to trim the trees and certainly to put up a sign, much less have electricity put in.

 

[NorthwestMom]

I live in a middle-class area with many HOAs, however, my street is not in one. I can see the advantages and disadvantages of both arrangements. Here are my thoughts:

 

* We had our own tree fall a few years ago. Luckily it did not hit much of anything, but it was terrifying and could have killed people if it fell at the wrong time. I remember our insurance agent saying that if it had hit the neighbor's house, their own homeowner's insurance would have had to pay for it UNLESS we had prior knowledge that it was a hazard and was going to fall. It sounds like the dead trees are common knowledge - whose property do they sit on? Who is liable if they come down? If dead branches extend over the property line, you do not need permission to trim those branches (in WA State, at least). I think it is important to at least present the issue of liability to the "committee".

 

* Many HOAs here have wooden signs with the subdivision name and a spotlight shining on it at night for visibility. I have no idea who pays the bill (I assume the HOA, which charges fees) but they aren't glitzy at all. I wouldn't want to pay for a new one necessarily, or the electricity, but they don't have to be very fancy.

 

* My neighbors and our family did pitch in and contribute to a multifamily security mailbox after mail got stolen. There was not much variability in the price point, so there wasn't anything to debate in terms of finding a cheaper one, etc. We all divided the cost evenly (between $100-200, I don't remember) and a handy neighbor did the installation for free. Everyone seemed willing to participate when I asked them, it went well. We did not need any kind of HOA to get it done.

 

* For $200 or less, like your situation, I would pay it and consider it part of home maintenance costs. Is it really worth arguing about a sign? I would advocate replacing the trees ASAP, though.

 

* I envy the size of your yard! I grew up in the midwest with yards like that.....

[Shellie]

I'm in an HOA. There is a board who would then appoint a committee who would decide what is being done, and they would go to the board for approval. Then they would hire the companies to do it or have maintenance do it. All in all, more than a year long process. No one in the community would have any say as to what happened, unless it was mentioned that there would be an open board meeting about it, at which time people from the community would hurl insults at the board members and the board would hurl them back. Yes, for real. I hate our HOA, and have voted the board members off so many times, but people are so sick of it because the new board members do exactly the same things.

 

If it's community property, in this case with NO HOA, i would do what a previous poster said and form a "committee" that actually DOES something. People with chainsaws and trucks who can do the work in a day. Finished. A committee that talks about things gets nothing done. believe me, i know.

[shawthorne44]

I would never live somewhere with an HOA.  I do have friends that have paid out-of-pocket for a percentage of things that the city should really have taken care of.  That has happened because they lived in LargeCity where the street quality is inversely proportional to the property taxes paid.  

 

My husband has been battling committee-run-amok in his mother's neighborhood.  The neighborhood dates to the very early 1900's.  My IL's moved in in the 60's.  People move into the neighborhood and want everyone to spend lots of money to beautify the neighborhood doing silly things like the sign in the OP.  They say they are there to stay.  But they always move away in a couple of years.  Note, it is already a very nice, pretty, desirable neighborhood of friendly people.  The agitators just want to increase the value of their house.  

 

My parent's neighborhood has a committee, but not an HOA.  The committee started a few years ago when the neighborhood was negotiating gas rights.  The city offered to add these little signs which said which division they were.  The committee accepted, even though many in the neighborhood objected.  It just seems that these committees tend toward the silly but pretty things.  

 

[DawnM]

I think they are a self appointed (self-appointed) committee.

 

One woman would love to create an HOA but thankfully the rest of the neighborhood said no way.

 

I don't know if the property is owned by anyone in particular, but I will ask.  It is the side of the road and I think the original owner of the development who sold the plots in the first place, is the one who planted them.

 

The thing is, even if I specify that I want my $$ going towards trees only, they have the sign as the first priority and giving to them will go to that first.  I wouldn't trust them to withhold my $$ for trees only.

 

These women are the play tennis and eat lunch while the kids are in school types.  The types I thought we were moving away from not having an HOA with gossip and talk.  But when we had a pot luck everyone said, "Oh, you are the homeschooling family."   :cursing:   Um, yup, we are THAT family, the one you have all gossiped about.

 

The only good that came of that was that one mom with a 3 year old approached me and asked if she could ask me about homeschooling because she was considering it.

 

Dawn

[Tap]

It is pretty common here to see entrance signs to large neighborhoods.  The electricity is paid by the city/county like a street light would be. 

 

I am assuming that whoever has the land on which the trees sit, are on the committee.  OR that the land is city/county owned and they are just putting together a scripted proposal to present at a city meeting.  By getting a commitment from neighbors that they will pay for the sign and trees, it is easier to get the city to help pay for the electricity etc. 

 

I would just write a letter saying that you would contribute $100 towards upgrades but if you are going to do that, it would be expected that the trees are taken care of first and then the sign.  I wouldn't want to put in my money to pay for the trees and then have them say they ran out of money after the sign.  Do realize, that you will have little control over this though, once you pass over the cash, you will be at their will.

[Stacia]

If it is county or public easement, call the county about removing the trees. If the trees are in danger of falling on power lines, also call the county. Either way, this should be a free service from the county. If it is private property, you will need to contact the homeowners.

Not sure I'd want a sign. Check county ordinances about sinage, etc.... If there is some ordinance pertaining to it, you may need to get a majority of signatures from homeowners before the county would approve. Just mentioning that because we live in a non-HOA neighborhood & wanted to have the county install street lights. It required a large percentage of signatures (maybe 90%?), which included everyone paying a small additional fee (added to the water bill, which seems funny) for quite a few years to cover the cost of installation & maintenance of the lights by the county.

Anyway, long story short, check with your county before taking action on any of these things.

I hate HOAs & am so glad we live in a neighborhood without one.

[AmandaVT]

The only community item we have is a plain sign in the front of the neighborhood. It's on the corner house's property, but I've never seen anything changed about it, like new paint. What bugs me is that one road leading out of our neighborhood is a dirt road. Why on earth the county or whoever didn't pave that road is beyond me. It gets potholes like crazy. DH emailed the county and asked for it to be graded and there was a response within a month. We were surprised actually. That was done about 3 weeks ago and there are already potholes forming again. There is no need for our community to come together though. We intentionally sought a neighborhood without an HOA because we had a bad experience in our former neighborhood with power crazy people.

 

I'd ask the group to reconsider the sign as not being a practical use of money, especially since there is no guarantee that everyone with contribute. Will the sign be in someone's yard? I'm with others who are wondering who owns the land.

 

I love living on a dirt road! The upkeep is much easier than a paved road. The town comes and grades it a few times in the spring and again in the fall. It seems much easier and less time consuming for them to come grade it when the potholes get bad then to keep refilling potholes and occasionally repaving the whole road. Our town has had some monster potholes that keep coming back a couple of weeks after they fill them in. Right now we've got some nasty ones on our road (the whole last tenth of a mile is a mess at the moment) but they won't be able to do anything until the snow melts in a few weeks. Until then, we'll all just drive slower.

[WishboneDawn]

I think I would be actively and publicly questioning this committee.

Was there any attempt to get community consensus on retouching the sign, the design of the sign, the cost of the sign?

Who's legally responsible if something happens to the funds collected? Is there a procedure for letting everyone know how the money spent?

If legal trouble results, who will be held responsible: the committee, the people who paid our the entire community?

Will some residents feel pressured to contribute money they can't afford? Will there be any fallout for those who couldn't contribute?

Do they have answers regarding who owns the land? Who pays for electricity?

Have they our well they hold public meetings where these questions can be sorted out?

I would be resistant. A precedent could be set referring the authority and power in the neighborhood that I would have big issues with.

[dirty ethel rackham]

I wouldn't give them a dime until ownership, county responsibilities, and accountability questions were addressed.  Even then, I would not give anything until there was a fair way for people to have input.  Since they can't force you to do anything, I would probably be tempted not to give anything at all. 

[momma2three]

Whoever mentioned ordinances has a good point... has anyone run this sign by the local ordinances?  Lots of communities have very strict rules about "signs with lights" that are meant to prevent stores from setting up shop in residential neighborhoods, to keep neon lights to a minimum, and to keep certain types of commercial buildings out of the community altogether.  I know that my town does, and when a developer built a mall here they had a lot of trouble getting their big sign past the Town Meeting.  I know that everyplace is different, but lots of communities don't let you just put up a big ole' sign with spotlights or flashing twinkle lights or whatever this scheme has.

[DawnM]

I have sent them a letter asking them several of your questions.  I also asked why the sign was taking precedent over the tree issue as that seemed the most important to me.  

 

I asked:

 

For a picture of the design of this new sign

who will be paying for lighting or if it is solar

why we can't get a group together to take care of some of this ourselves

 

I called DH and told him about the letter and he thinks it is ridiculous.  Says to give them $20 max and not get involved.  

 

Can't believe they thought they could just say "give us money" and we wouldn't ask questions.  If they get snippy I am DONE. 

 

Dawn

[Danestress]

How urgent is the tree situation? 

 

It's an easy enough thing to remove trees that are dying, though honestly, in nature, trees die, fall, and rot.  Are they diseased with something you fear will spread?  Or are the a potential danger to drivers?

 

We do have a HOA and they would remove the trees and plant something new,  but I think in our neighborhood, it's all about home values, so people sort of want the entry way to look nice and appealing.  Our dues are reasonable and we don't really have a lot of other regulations or problems - basically the HOA seems to just keep things looking nice there, send out alerts if there is crime in the area, sometimes ask people not to speed, etc.  Nothing onerous.  I am fine with keeping things looking tidy at the entry way and don't mind the fees.

 

if I were in a 'no HOA' area, I would assume that people aren't focused on "how does this look to potential buyers?"  or "how does this person's land look to me as I drive past?"

 

So if that is no longer an issue, then safety would be my only issue, and safety is the problem of whoever owns the land, and it's hard to force someone to remedy potential dangers.  If the trees are diseased, that is troublesome.  You still might have a hard time forcing the owner to remove them.  So I guess the first thing is to figure out who is actually responsible for that bit of land. 

[Lara in Colo]

Someone owns the property-- most likely the county-- make them take care of it.  I would try my darndest to nip the "commitee" in the budd because the next step is an HOA.  Check your laws but I think in order to form an HOA you have to have 100% participation. 

 

The best thing about my neighborhood is no HOA.   Everyone who lives here agrees and when someone sells (rarely do people leave this neighborhood) they put the no HOA on the sales flyer as a plus. 

 

 

 

[zoobie]

Before giving money...

-who owns the land?

-is the committee legally incorporating or are they just collecting cash and pinky swearing to do what they say?

 

We live in a neighborhood that has existed long before HOAs. We have a large "civic association" that has organized and incorporated. It covers the area between two main streets, or more than one "neighborhood" as the plots were labeled back in the 1950s and 1960s. It's a They send out emails on safety concerns, organize neighborhood watches, etc. There's a $25 annual fee to join and they send out a published newsletter, do breakfasts and etc for the police and fire department, that sort of thing. The sign at the main street for our "neighborhood" was dilapidated brick. The neighborhood association subcommittee for our actual plotted neighborhood got businesses to donate to fix up the sign and put them in the newsletter and let them put up temporary signs saying they had done the work. A tree company trimmed the trees. Landscaping company added some plants and mulch. Painting company painted the brick and letters. The signs said "Landscaping provided by Bob's Landscape Company 999-999-9999" and were those small, political-type signs, kwim? The county owns the land that the signs are on, but they don't do anything other than mow twice a year. The people who own the houses bordering the county right of way usually are stuck doing it so they don't look raggedy. The Civic Association also lobbies the county government for things like sidewalks, street repair, street lights, etc.

[songsparrow]

Who owns the property at issue?  Some entity has to own the land, or it has to be public land.  The town should be able to provide you with that information.  

 

There could be liability issues to doing work on land without the property-owner's consent.  And in our town, you are not allowed to prune or remove trees that are on public lands; you have to contact the town and then they do the work (e.g., where I live the "hell strip" between the sidewalk and road is publicly owned although property owners are responsible for maintaining it by mowing the grass and doing similar maintenance but we're not allowed to prune or remove the trees).

 

So, about the trees, I would contact the town (if public land) or the entity that owns the land (certified letter) advising them of unsafe conditions and asking for their removal.  If the trees are unsafe, the town may also be able to force the property owners to do the work.

 

I would not want a sign and I would not contribute towards one.  The town should provide a street sign with the name of the road leading into the neighborhood, if that is missing.

[JustEm]

Don't even give them $20. You are taking partial ownership of a sign by doing that and would be partially responsible for any upkeep to it. So even if its only $20 today it could be more down the road.

 

I have sent them a letter asking them several of your questions.  I also asked why the sign was taking precedent over the tree issue as that seemed the most important to me.  

 

I asked:

 

For a picture of the design of this new sign

who will be paying for lighting or if it is solar

why we can't get a group together to take care of some of this ourselves

 

I called DH and told him about the letter and he thinks it is ridiculous.  Says to give them $20 max and not get involved.  

 

Can't believe they thought they could just say "give us money" and we wouldn't ask questions.  If they get snippy I am DONE. 

 

Dawn

 

[bettyandbob]

So does your neighborhood have property that is co owned by all of you? Does that mean the liability for what happens on that property goes straight to individual homeowners? Not a situation I'd want to live with.

 

I would not support a sign with lights for any reason. Why is a sign needed at all? I assume you have a street with a street sign. Does someone think a sign will enhance property values? If so, I'd want some research showing that signs have that effect. If you do get a sign, you do not need lights. I live in an HOA with many HOAs nearby. None of the signs have lights. There might be landscaping, but no lights.

 

I assume your road is considered private and that's why you paid for road repairs. Is that correct. That suggests the land is privately owned, but check on that.

 

Find out who owns the land where the trees are. The owner is responsible for the care of the trees. If that land is co owned by you, then you need to contribute somehow, but I wouldn't contribute until an actual plan is made.

 

And if I found out I shared liability for some property that was in a limbo of not being kept up, I might consider adding a general liability policy to my insurance bundle--so I didn't get sued and lose my house.

[shawthorne44]

It sounds like the ladies-who-lunch have unilaterally decided for the neighborhood.  I would suggest that people vote for the sign idea with their wallets.  

Those that like the idea should pledge what they think it would be worth.  Those that don't want one, should vote by not contributing money.  

If people don't pledge enough for the sign, then it shouldn't happen.  

[WishboneDawn]

Not even $20.

 

Who elected the members of this committee? 

 

There should be no question that a self-selected committee has no power to decide on matters like this without authority from the neighbourhood and certainly no right to ask for money. No money until it's a real neighbourhood initiative and not a hobby dreamed up by some folks that wanted something to chat about while they played tennis. 

[Carrie12345]

I can't make sense of the question.

I am in an HOA, and I'm responsible for the property I own. My dues pay to maintain common areas.
I've lived without an HOA. Homeowners were responsible for their property, and taxes paid for town property.

[Tess in the Burbs]

I know growing up we had no HOA but we were not covered by the city for road repair.  And it was a paid to get everyone on the street to pay to get it repaired.  It was part of the paperwork when they bought that every 10 years people had to contribute to fix the road.  So when it was time a few homeowners went door to door explaining this was known when they bought the house......still many people didn't want to pay.  It was a pain and I know my dad hated dealing with it but at the same time wanted the road fixed!

 

I know our last neighborhood didn't have an HOA but there were signs.  And I think the people whose yards had the signs dealt with the signs and landscaping in front of it.  B/c the front sign is nicer than the back sign.....

 

anyway, I think legally a group can't force anyone to pay for glitzy sign.  I think it would be best to ask the group to address the tree issue and then ask for donations toward a sign. 

[Cera]

We live in a very similar neighborhood.  There are 18 properties with 10 acre minimum lots and private dirt roads.  There is a covenant for road maintenance (very loose...costs are divided evenly).  Beyond that whoever cares takes care of things.  There was a large, fairly basic, wooden sign at the entrance to the neighborhood that was hit by a car and knocked down this winter.  Someone picked it up last month and I haven't seen it since.  My guess would be one of the retired guys in the neighborhood that is into carpentry took it home to fix and will put it back up at some point.  There are flowers planted around the front by a pair of older women that like to garden and the last few trees to lean over the road were cut down by some of the neighborhood guys (with permission from the homeowner whose land they were on).  

 

People who don't care don't contribute any time or money to neighborhood beautification, it is all voluntary.

[G5052]

No HOA here.  There was a sign a long time ago that was actually on our property.  It was wooden and carved, but small and nothing special.  When it fell over in a wind storm and cracked, we hauled it into the garage for awhile.  No one said anything, and eventually we took it to the dump.

 

There is no jointly held land, and some years ago one of the neighbors petitioned until we came under state maintenance for the roads.

 

A glitzy sign?  I can't imagine trying to gather the $$$ for that.  What if they don't get enough?  Who will maintain it?

[gardenmom5]

we don't have a HOA.  if we want something done, whatever neighbor will gather support and funds from neighbors who wish to contribute.  not everyone will, and we can't force it.  we did one improvement along our private road - and the one who *really* didn't want it, was convienently placed at the end point where they could be easily skipped from the improvement.

 

but no one can tell us what to do (or not do) either.

[Myeightkiddies]

I'm going to agree with the previous posters.  A glitzy sign today could mean an eyesore tomorrow.  Unless there is new development or a lot of houses up for sale (and if that is the motivation of some of this committee, let them pay for the sign themselves if they are wanting to put their houses on the market), I don't see a reason for a sign.  Instead of a sign, I would work on the trees and maybe plant a few flowering bushes.  Solar lights, which can be purchased inexpensively, would be a nice touch.  Maybe in the spring, a few annuals could be added.  Signs need to be maintained.  They will need more money invested through the years.

[DawnM]

Here is the response I received:

 

Dawn,

 

I have read your email below and would like to answer some of your questions. First I apologize for not being able to provide all the details in a flyer. We struggled on how to get this information over to everyone.  We attempted to have a number of meetings and conversations to discuss the initial plans with the neighborhood for about a year (all started with the block party last July to get everyone on board) but unfortunately no one was ever interested. We made some attempts at the monthly luncheons but again very few wanted to participate.  We even paid for the light clean up, tree trimming and mulch that was done last year without involving anyone.  We ran out of avenues to let people know and took who we had and started running with it.  Right now we have four (4) people and an additional two (2) others that helped with initial landscaper and priority pick.  We went ahead and met with a landscaper and made sure any activities would be allowed by the city/county. This is a first attempt to maybe getting the entrance at least cleaned up.  The sign is falling apart and was never secured. There are weeds, the soil is rock hard and the trees have a disease (which I do not have the information on that available to me right now in the office but could get it to you later).  If you are asking who owns it as we could potential lean on the city or county to remove the trees that has already been looked into. The answer is no as it has to be hazardous. They are not considered hazardous.  As for why we do not have drawings, we did not want just one drawing and hope that we could raise enough money for that drawing. If we didn’t then nothing could be done as people would be mad they contributed and didn’t get what they “purchased”. We did levels and left it somewhat vague as then we could use any amount we raise to at least achieve some sort of clean up.  We do realize this is not the ideal way but we wanted to make an attempt.  We are very thankful there is no HOA but it does cause difficulties with achieving cleanup in common areas.  We are now getting interest by some of the neighbors who have suggestions, ideas and from experience has seen what does not work.  This is all very helpful. 

 

[DawnM]

Now I am really irritated.  I was invited to two of those "monthly luncheons" back in 2011.  I was able to go to one.  Both of them I received a "forward" on and the person who forwarded asked them to put me on the list.

 

My guess is that they didn't and it was overlooked. I thought they fizzled out as I haven't received  an invite to any in over 2 years.

 

If they wished to be inclusive, they could easily have figured out that their email was going out to only X number of email addresses.  Never mind that one of the emails I received had several ladies listed with emails and phone numbers and a "anyone we need to add?" and I sent them my info.

 

GRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!

[bettyandbob]

The response refers to "common areas". If this were my neighborhood, I'd find out who was liable for hazards in "common areas." IOW does liability extend directly to you.

[dirty ethel rackham]

I still wouldn't give them any money.  If you wanted to donate some sweat equity to the clean up, that is one thing.  But coming up with lofty plans and expecting others to pay for it when it was only their little clique that unilaterally made the decisions is pretty nervy. 

[DawnM]

This is my thought as well.

 

I wanted to shoot off the following:

 

Ok, so your little "monthly luncheon," which excluded me, was where YOU made decisions and then sent me a bill to pay for your little clique's decision.

 

Got it.

 

 

I still wouldn't give them any money.  If you wanted to donate some sweat equity to the clean up, that is one thing.  But coming up with lofty plans and expecting others to pay for it when it was only their little clique that unilaterally made the decisions is pretty nervy. 

 

[BigMamaBird]

If the trees were on public property I would expect the county to take care of that.  A sign sounds silly and I would not contribute.  

[Truscifi]

They still haven't said who owns the property.

[Danestress]

Double

[Danestress]

Yeah. I think it was nice she took the time to end you a letter like that. So. I would not be crabby in my response. But honestly it sounds like the city/county owns the land and is not required to fix the problems because they are not safety issues. If you think it all looks 'good enough,' say so nicely and let it go. If you start suggesting alternative or cheaper options, you might end up getting roped into pursuing those thing!

[SproutMamaK]

You would think the fact that people have, as she said "repeatedly shown no interest" in this project would make it rather clear to them that people, you know, have no interest in this project. Clearly, then, the solution was for them to ignore the fact that no one cared and try to force everyone's hand via a made-up "committee". GAH, even I'm annoyed and I don't know the people!