2012 Devonshire HOA October Update

On behalf of your hardworking Board of Directors, I extend greetings as we head into the Fall season. As we look towards our 2012 Annual HOA meeting that will be held on December 9, 2012 at the Stony Hill Fire & EMS Station (same as last year), I would like to bring to your attention some significant news regarding our subdivision, and remind each of us of a few other important points:

As you may recall from my July update, I related: “We continue to work with the Wake County Attorney regarding the Bonds to be called to complete the road work that was not completed by the original developer. Please note that all estimates show the actual road & drainage work needed to bring our development roads to the acceptable level required for takeover by NCDOT will exceed the value of the Bonds.”

After 10 months of diligent and persistent work with the Wake County Attorney, we have been able to secure the full Bond funds amounting to just over $32,000! Again, even though this is a significant achievement, and as the County Attorney related to us, we are the first subdivision in Wake County to achieve this result, the funds received are well below the total cost of bringing our roads up to NCDOT standards for the required takeover. More to come at our annual meeting on how we need to address the shortfall in road funds.

As we are late in the road construction season and the time window for NCDOT road assessment and repair is only 60 days, your Board has decided to wait until at the earliest Spring 2013 to have NCDOT come back out to assess our road conditions for needed repairs before takeover. This will allow the winter freeze/thaw to have its affect on the roads in our subdivision, and enable a better assessment on needed repairs to NCDOT standards.

However, there are some NCDOT road standard pre-work, and Wake County Environmental Services requirements that can be addressed now, such as ditch work and sediment basins. As such, towards the end of this month, and as early as the week of October 22, you may notice work being done by HuntScapes Landscaping to address these issues. Doing the work now will allow sod or over-seeding the best chance to grow before the winter freeze.

On a related note, the DOT right-of-way that is approximately 25’ from the center of each road will ultimately need to be clear of all plants, trees, shrubs, or material that exceeds 12” in height. This includes all areas between the swale & the road (for example, all trees & shrubs planted near mailboxes.) NCDOT will NOT consider taking over the maintenance of our roads until their right-of-way is clear, as is required by law. We have worked with HuntScapes for fixed pricing movement of any plant or tree that may need to be moved while they are doing the pre-work for a special “dig up and transplant” rate of $75 per tree. If you are interested in this needed work NOW, please contact Chris Hunt at 919-266-0081 to get it taken care of while his crew is in the neighborhood.

A few reminders:

1. We have set up a community website and included helpful resources for our HOA members, including the CC&Rs, Bylaws, monthly financials, architectural request form, and announcements. Be sure to check our website regularly for updates: https://sites.google.com/site/devonshirewakeforest/

2. Your Board is responsible to uphold the current By-laws and CC&Rs for everyone in a uniform and consistent manner. Any changes to our CC&Rs require approval of 75% of the voting members of the HOA.

3. As residents, we are all responsible to follow the CC&R requirements unless proper procedure is followed to change an element.

4. As residents, if we plan to do ANY modification to the exterior of our home or property, an Architectural Review form needs to be submitted in advance to the Board for review. You can find this review form on our Devonshire website.

5. When the time comes to actually do the final road work required in our development to bring our roads up to NCDOT standards, in addition to the Bond money that was secured, your Board does anticipate the need to impose a special assessment on each non-builder-owned lot to meet the funding demand to complete the repairs. Any estimate would be speculation at this point, as there are still too many variables in play for a firm estimate of any assessment. Please understand that your Board is extremely aware that any extra assessment may cause hardship on some homeowners and is diligently working on any and all opportunities to minimize not only the cost of the roadwork needed, but ultimately on the assessment.

Please mark your calendar for our Annual HOA Homeowners meeting. The meeting will be held on Sunday, December 9 at the Stony Hill Fire & EMS station. Meeting time is 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM. More information will be forthcoming in the near future.

Your Board thanks you for your continued patience and understanding as we continue to work on your behalf to make Devonshire a place of enjoyment for all.

On behalf of your board, I am sincerely,

Dennis Brennan