Blog

# Vision for HOA Park

Creating a vibrant community space requires thoughtful planning and a clear vision that reflects the collective voice of the homeowners. This blog post aims to explore the democratic process of decision-making within our HOA park, the exciting long-term plans for improvements, and the importance of community involvement.

1. Democratic Decision-Making

The park and all HOA activities should be guided by democratic principles, ensuring that every homeowner's voice is heard. Social media platforms, like Facebook, often misrepresent the overall sentiment of the community. While some individuals may express a desire for park improvements online, they might vote differently when it comes time to allocate funds. This discrepancy highlights the need for a robust voting process that truly captures the community's preferences.

For the past three years, our HOA board has successfully achieved quorum, with over one-third of homeowners participating in annual elections. The board has implemented changes based on these votes, even when the decisions—such as reducing grass cutting—have led to mixed reactions. Ultimately, our decisions should reflect the majority's will, and it is crucial for homeowners to actively engage in voting to ensure their preferences shape the park's future.

 2. Long-Term Vision and Funding Opportunities

Looking ahead, there is a promising opportunity for our community: a $60,000 easement from the city of Charlotte. This funding can be utilized to enhance the park or issue refund checks to homeowners. However, current voting trends as of 10/15/24 show a preference for refund checks over park improvements, making it essential for us to reconsider our priorities. 

If the easement is approved, Charlotte would invest over half a million dollars into our park, creating new walkways and bridges that would greatly enhance our community space. Yet, despite the allure of $400 in potential funding for each homeowner, we have struggled to achieve 50% voter turnout two weeks after online voting began on 10/1/24 . It's important to recognize that the board's decisions are not influenced by social media chatter; they are based on what the community votes for. 

3. Community Involvement and Grant Opportunities

Another avenue for improvement lies in the city of Charlotte's $10,000 grants available for park enhancements. Unfortunately, for years, only board members have pursued these grants. Every homeowner is a member of the HOA and is encouraged to rally support for park improvements, but this requires active involvement.

The current lack of volunteering significantly impacts our park's maintenance and improvement efforts. Until we see more homeowners advocating for and voting on park enhancements, changes will continue to be made on a limited budget. This means we might have to settle for free materials like dirt and wood chips, and wait for vendors, rather than investing in timely, quality work.

4. Flood and retention pond management

Many residents  do not realize the HOA park is in a flood plane. During the recent Tropical storm Helen which destroyed many Western NC towns, we were lucky and only got 5" of  rain in about 24 hrs. However that storm flooded  almost the entire forested part of the park. Some residents at the  end of Cane Field Dr.  had Mc Dowel creek  flooding the very back of  their property.  The  main reason for planting more trees and mulch in the park is to help reduce future flooding potential. These were planted in areas that were rarely used if at all.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the future of our HOA park depends on a collaborative effort from all homeowners. By engaging in the voting process, advocating for grants, and volunteering, we can transform our park into a vibrant space that reflects the desires of the entire community. Let's work together to create a park that we can all enjoy and take pride in.

Saving money by using AI apps from CloudHQ.net.
Have you ever wondered how our HOA was able to ditch our expensive management company and cut our expenses in half? Well one reason is we switched to a lot of AI automation for customer service. Looking at our past data we found out most members were only looking for basic info like when the annual meeting is and where to mail payments to. 

We found a solution using apps made by https://www.cloudhq.net/

The first app lets us easily respond to emails.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chatgpt-for-gmail/fcblgiphlneejkokhnaagmjombnfdnog

This email assistant basically writes an email draft so a person just has to review it before hitting send. It is a great time saver. 

We also use  save emails to google drive and save emails to pdf so that all our membership knows what we are working on inbetween our quarterly meetings. 

https://www.save-emails-to-google-drive.com/

Our response time has been improved beause we use thier notification app Gmail to SMS Txt as well; located here:

https://www.gmail-sms-alerts.com

The cost of all these apps is a fraction of the $400/month we were paying to a financial management company. We also changed payments from 2x a year to once a year, this elminates half the work! We will use the saved money to better out community instead of paying vendors.

BENEFITS OF GREENWAYS

Increase property values. The city would be investing about half a million dollars to build asphalt walkways, two bridges which would provide a safe opportunity for biking and walking from our neighborhood to the Rivergate shopping center; specifically the trail has exits at Home depot, Pet Smart and Best Buy/Chick Filla. 

There is currently a greenway that goes from Smith to Rivergate and it is seldom used. I walk on it often and have never noticed any complaints about it. 

Improve health and fitness, air & water quality  as well as conserve plant and animal habitats. 

Encourage a sense of community

Park Rangers and CMPD patrol County greenways regularly which would be nice since our park is not monitored at all. 

Maintenance staff frequents them as well to pick up fallen branches, leaves and to make needed repairs. 

QUICK FACTS

The Greenway Master Plan calls for over 300 miles of greenway trail.    There are currently more than 64 miles of greenway completed.  Little Sugar Creek Greenway,@ 16 miles is the longes.  The Mallard Creek Greenway is nearly 9 miles long.

The board has been trying to come up with ideas to update the front monument at Smith and SBF drive. Below are some ideas. If anyone has ideas please let the board know!   Seems like whiter colors are a common theme with these examples below.