ANNUAL MEETING
The 44th Annual Meeting of the Washington Pond Homeowner’s Association was held on September 18, 2023, at the KofC on Pascack Road. The meeting agenda included review of budget, completed projects, changes that took place, announcements, and an open forum with questions and discussion of all homeowners.
ELECTIONS
The Election Committee tallied the votes. There were 32 ballots received and counted. Elected to the Board: S. Burgermaster (32 votes).
The Board consists of 7 members: S. Burgermaster, M. Kolax, W. Kolax, L. Mason, A. Mason, S. Raigo, and Y. Raigo.
BOARD MEETING
October 2, 2023. The Board elected officers and committees:
William Kolax, President
Lana Mason, Vice President
Sophia Raigo, Treasurer
Yana Raigo, Secretary
Board members: Susan Burgermaster, Margret Kolax, Alex Mason
Maintenance Committee: Sophia Raigo, Head | Alex Mason, Susan Burgermaster
Architectural Committee: William Kolax, Head | Lana Mason, Yana Raigo
Recreation Committee: Yana Raigo, Head | Val Kitaychik, Debra Press, Lana Mason
PR Committee: Yana Raigo, Head | Lana Mason, Susan Burgermaster
Pond Maintenance Committee: William Kolax, Head | Bob McDonough, Ilya Zwieback, Yana Raigo
Budget Committee: Sophia Raigo, Head | Christine Bole, Alex Mason
The Nomination Committee will be formed 4 months prior to the next annual meeting.
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS
Justine Kiernan (222), Tiffany Evangelou & Alex Tsiros (209).
Acknowledgement
Unfortunately, we lost several of our longtime residents this past year: Mickey (145), Milton (304), Marlene (222), Sera (203), and Susan (209). Our condolences to their families, we will remember them fondly.
PROJECTS OF 22/23
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The fence between Washington Pond and Washington Green was rebuilt and repainted, it extends the length of the Pond Court parking lot.
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Two more garbage enclosure cement floor pads were replaced.
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Tennis courts repair and cleanup took place including repair of several major cracks in the concrete below the courts’ tiles. NOTE: this was a repair project, not a resurfacing of the courts. In the future, when we resurface the courts, they can be converted to include layouts for both tennis and pickleball (per inquiries of Ellen Sonkin at previous years’ annual meeting, and other residents).
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Several large areas with drainage issues were repaired including build of small retaining walls in some areas, addition of drain pits in other areas, improvement of direction of water via new drainpipe connections, etc.
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Other minor projects included dumpster gates maintenance, pool house siding repair, emergency sewage repair, and renovation of our three benches (by tennis court entrance and around the pond).
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Our Pond Maintenance Committee members have been hard at work researching options for restoring our pond (thank you Bob and Ilya). They were able to find a very promising option. We have installed an environmentally friendly system (and chemical free) for reducing muck and excess nutrients, allowing oxygen to be replenished to help control algae. It is not an instant solution, it will work gradually, but it is minimally invasive compared to other solutions.
MAINTENANCE FEE
The monthly maintenance is increasing by $20 to $460 monthly starting with October 1, 2023. Notification along with the corresponding budget was distributed to all homeowners on August 31st. Most of the budget increase was due to higher property insurance and waste management/disposal costs.
WORK IN PROGRESS
As discussed last year, our pool is due for a replacement of the pool liner. The project was not completed due to an issue with the vendor. We’ve had help searching for a new vendor (thank you Debra Press) and are happy to report that the project is now in progress and scheduled to be completed this fall, so our pool will be sporting a brand-new liner for next season. The vendor is local to New Jersey. As the work is progressing, we’ve uncovered a problem with the return lines connections at the steel walls of the pool. The connections have deteriorated and will need to be repaired or replaced as the installation of the liner progresses.
Important Reminders
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Important Reminders ~!~
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This is an opportunity for a reminder to all homeowners to be neighborly and respect the rules. The current Board didn’t create all the rules, but our responsibilities include enforcing them. The rules are there to make this community an environment everyone can enjoy, and the same rules apply to all (the Board members adhere to the same set of rules). Please be respectful and do not direct personal attacks at individual Board members. No one makes independent decisions, we consult and discuss and follow certain protocols, therefore complaints about individual members who may be in the forefront of day-to-day activities and communication are inappropriate. And it isn’t appropriate to get angry or attack the Board in general for doing their job. Any actions deemed as aggressive and requiring attorney intervention costs all of us financially, therefore it is our position that the best course of action is to take a civilized approach to discussing issues. The Board is elected and if anyone feels they can bring usable skills to managing Washington Pond they are welcome to run for the Board. Furthermore, if someone would like to undertake a specific project, they are welcome to present the project to the Board (with costs and justifications for the project so that the Board can consider the priority and budget availability), and if approved, proceed with the project including managing all related activities (with assistance of other members if required).
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Keeping the homes exterior aligned with the community rules & regulations is each homeowners’ responsibility, which includes keeping the rear fences, homes exterior (siding, brick, roof, windows, etc), paved walkways in front of the units well maintained, the front areas neat and uncluttered.
The Board arranges a community-wide painting every 7 years, to help lower costs for each household. The next one is planned for Spring of 2024. Details regarding the planned timeline and cost will be distributed shortly. The prices for each unit will range from $786 to $1308, which is a 20% increase compared to pricing from 7 years ago, reasonable, considering the price increases for materials and services over the last several years.
Before the repaint it is especially important to check your exteriors and repair if necessary (this includes the fences). Holes in siding allow water to penetrate which can cause damage that will be expensive to repair, it’s less costly in the long run to keep your home maintained and address issues quickly. Same applies to the brick walls and fireplaces (if applicable). Repoint the brick where needed, repair or replace missing bricks. If you are notified regarding required repairs, please schedule them as soon as possible, but please… don’t wait for a notification, check your own homes regularly, inspect roofs and gutters. Coordinate with your neighbor for shared walls and shared fences between units.
Be sure to follow the rules and receive formal approval for any exterior updates, this is (1) required and (2) will help avoid having to redo something that doesn’t align with the WPHA guidelines and wasn’t approved. The ARC Request Form is posted on the website, along with information about the approved paint colors, etc.
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We are a pet-friendly community; however, dogs must be always leashed while walking on common grounds and cats (or other household animals) are not allowed to walk on property unleashed and unattended. Dog waste must be picked up and properly disposed of! Also, we are asking the dogs to please not pee on the lawn. Please ask your owners to find areas that are not on display, perhaps the areas that are mossy or mulched. There are lots of burned grass stains in highly visible lawn areas (by the walkway to the Pond and in several others).
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Improper dumping is an ongoing issue. There are signs posted in all the dumpster areas with the rules. Oversized items cannot be disposed of in the dumpster bins, and nothing must be left on the ground in the dumpster area corrals. There are separate dumpsters for household garbage and recycling, please use the appropriate dumpster and make sure the lids are fully closed. Arrangements can be made with the town for the pickup of oversized items, and this is each homeowners’ responsibility. Waste disposal costs are constantly rising. If homeowners do not pitch in by following the rules our community cost for disposal rise even higher, in addition to creating more work for our volunteers. If you see anyone leaving items on the ground in the corrals or disposing of oversized items, please report to the Board so that the disposal expense can be charged directly to the homeowner.
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Parking is a continuing issue on Pond Terrace. Mews must use their own reserved spots for parking. Each unit has 2 spots. General parking spots are for townhomes (1 per unit), visitors, and vendors. Pond Court residents should not be parking their cars on Pond Terrace (use Pond Court general parking).
If you have more than 2 cars in your household the extra cars should be parked in the visitors’ spots by the pool; for long-term storage of unused vehicles other arrangements must be made. For security reasons, and in-line with common practice, the homeowners must provide a list of vehicles registered to each household including plate numbers/make/models. The form is available on the website in the downloads section. If you change cars – make sure you provide updated information. If rules continue to be disregarded additional measures will need to be taken which will mean more expenses for the community.
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Please pay your maintenance fees on time. It becomes a cumbersome project to send constant reminders. If we must hire someone to do the billing and collections it will be an additional expense and will raise the maintenance fee again. The post office can be slow. If scheduling payments online be sure to allow a week for the payment to arrive by the due date (the 1st of the month), that way if the mail is slow there is an extra week before the late fees kick in.
Gardening Water Pipes (Winterizing)
Don’t forget to winterize the gardening water pipes before the temperatures drop! Please read the FYI post for more information or look for the Gardening Pipes post in the News section of the website.