Check your mail for information about Southernwalk HOA.

Comcast is posturing as part of the negotiations that appear to be going on. They are a business, of course they will posture, "threaten", to maximize profits. They see the situation, SWHOA, and are rubbing their greedy little hands together.

 

And please remember... I am not part of the discussions with Comcast. I have not seen any actual material from them, I think you are reading too much into my points. But I am not sure. There are many reasonable conclusions you can assume... and I would certainly be concerned with your points Eric and would hope that thoughts like this get brought up to the board.

If we get proposals from them in writing, that would help at some point.

 

Granted that I understand what the lawsuits are but WHAT legal fees is this for? Was it strictly for OB or what? I believe all SWHOA members should be privy to the information as WE paid for it.

 

Yes you can see the budget figures anytime you want and can request copies I believe. The legal fees that we paid for was the long case we had against Openband. Depending upon which side of the rainbow you consider yourself, we either won or lost.

Yes, the contract was amended/terminated but not much else changed...

Oh, and I almost forgot. We also had to pay for legal fees to defend the HOA in a couple of lawsuits brought by a resident. Not sure of we got that money back, I believe the cases were dismissed? I do no know off hand how much that was... and there is always some legal expenses related to delinquent homeowners too but that is not too much.

 

So if they ever got their money back, how come the ass'n never refunded us? Not quibbling over it but just can't help but wonder......
By the way, how come none of us can ever find out what transpired during the private meetings between the lawyers and HOA regarding the bogus crap they pulled on preventing the resident from running for the board? Don't we all have the right to know what the discussed with the lawyers (I mean only time we would ever know is if we ever got on the board). Seems if you become the board member, you can find out what transpired but the rest of us will never know....) So all that legal fees that the board incurred to consult with lawyers about keeping the resident from joining the board was not approved from the entire community--those fees should have been returned to us, wouldn't you think?

Can the HOA get a vote from the community whether to spend the community's money on legal fees or not? I mean the power to decide whether to spend our money on legal fees rests on a few folks out of the entire community WITHOUT our consent to do so is quite incredible. If the community decides that the lawsuit or legal fees is not needed and the board says "Hell with the residents...we decide what's best knowing that its NOT their own money they are dealing with, is this a good thing for us all?" What recourse do we all have if we believe and know that the board was not right in assuming legal costs? What can we do as a community to hold the board's feet to the fire if we all believe that a certain legal cost could have been averted?

Just wondering out loud here about it.

I think we got shafted by the previous board seriously....with the non-communication, non-transparency and "tit for tat" mentality. Going forward, this board has to work HARD to earn our trust back.

 

Thanks Zeratul. I would be happy to bring them up to the board and plan on attending the next meeting and getting more involved in this. Hopefully many other homeowners in Broadlands will as well. The SWHOA Board 2 appears to have put the horse before the cart and are irresponsibly assuming powers they have not been granted by the residents. I am all for financially supporting the type of work the Braodlands HOA already does, ie taking care of the pools, walking paths, cutting the grass, protecting our community's common areas for the continued enjoyment of all residents, sponsoring fun events at the nature center for our children, etc. We all live in a beautiful and very safe community and the regular HOA Board does an outstanding job in my opinion and has added to all of our home values and overall community enjoyment due to their traditional, wise activities. This is why myself and other Homeowners wanted an HOA. The SWHOA2, on the other hand, appears to represent the dark side of an HOA, and consists of a very small group of homeowners who are actively wasting large amounts of residents money on an ill-advised pet project that is notable for its failure in our litigation against open band (misfiling our lawsuit, poor court representation by the law firm they specifically hired, etc) lack of business acumen about general market forces in a capitalistic society, and a general lack of support from the majority of homeowners. It if was their own personal money being wasted, that would be fine, but its not, its OUR money (currently $100 every month) that continues to be foolishly squandered here. Then when you add in the potential for them to also lock us into a home value killing, ill-advised monopoly for years to come, it greatly raises the financial risk for all the homeowners in our community. Again we need total transparency by the SWHOA 2 and a vote by the affected homeowners here.

 

Anyone hear about this new company in DC/MD/VA area that is providing TV/Internet??? ITs called Layer 3 TV....seems they have good prices for excellent Internet speeds.

 

It's inane to me that SWHOA2 is continuing the secret clubhouse mentality of SWHOA1. When the whole OB kerfuffle started, SWHOA1 went dark because they believed OB had sleeper agents in the forum. Now here we are being told "come to the meetings, we have cool stuff!" without being told what, how, or why. Residents- SW or otherwise- are asking questions here, in a forum intended to serve ALL Broadlands residents, SW or not- and being given vague justifications, assertions, and uncertainties.

Does SWHOA2 have a plan? Not an ulterior one, but a sequential series of actions that they intend to follow to achieve their goal? Absent OB, do they in fact have justification to exist? Not "do they still exist"- of course they do, they're incorporated. Do they have the justification to exist? If so, how?

As mentioned above, did they then amend their own bylaws to justify themselves? What were those amendments? Why are any of these details being kept out of public discussion? SWHOA2 is in discussion with Comcast yet Zeratul states that they have yet to receive anything in writing. Those aren't negotiations, they're marketing calls.

Does SWHOA2 have any sort of concrete plan? If so, what is it? Don't worry, the OB spies don't care at this point.

 

Just a quick clarification Mike, I said I did not see anything in writing, but the Board has. There are actual Proposals being prepared. The only thing I saw in writing was a spreadsheet budget analysis for paying the Easement costs. And in my opinion, the bylaws, and changes made by the previous Board are a serious question...but since this was part of the attempts to keep a Resident off the Board and the lawsuit is done...I have moved on. The Bylaws must be amended following a specific guideline and require a vote or some kind of notice (my opinion).

The current Board has been very open and positive in discussion questions and providing information...but still falling short in my opinion with providing updates and direction to the community. Yes the FAQ was helpful, but not enough. There is a lot more they should be doing given the activities happening....But it does not feel the same as it did before in most respects.... just my .02 cents.

 

After reading the notice sent to residence in an attempt to justify yet another rate increase (of which, like in times past, will not likely produce much of a benefit to the homeowners), it looks as if one of the "options" for the cost of installing the equipment and maintaining the easement(s) involved requiring the provider(s) to pay a fee to enter the neighborhood. Requiring the residence's to pay for the cost of other providers to move in to the neighborhood just so we can have the privilege of paying more for their services seems like bad business for the community. I think the provider(s) should pay for the privilege of moving into our neighborhood, not the community. These providers will make plenty of money in the months and years ahead with all the business they will likely receive from the community, so it makes no since that we pay for the installation of their equipment. Furthermore, I am in agreement with most everyone else in that we no longer have much of a need for SWHOA2! It seems to me like they continue to charge us in an attempt to justify their existence. As soon as we finish paying for one of their agendas, they mysteriously come up with another agenda and force us to pay for it and so on, and so on... If we keep going on like this, they will simply continue to justify their existence by initiating another law suit, or indicating the need to maintain some communications infrastructure, or make some other excuse to stay in business at our expense. We need to make a stand and begin an "exit plan" for SWHOA2 sooner rather than later.

Thx for reading.

 

Tiny Tim... it really sounds like you are confused, or I am really missing key pieces of information that you are using for your conclusions.

The only entity/business that was ever mentioned as a possibility in charging for access to the neighborhood was Openband. And that is just speculation. They own an exclusive easement that essentially blocks other providers from the Community. The HOA is not attempting to charge homeowners for other companies equipment. The HOA is collecting funds for a one-time purchase of the easement so that we can live in a community free of Openband control. That was all part of the original lawsuit and contractual amendment by Openband, nothing new, no mystery where this payment is coming from, it is just about schedule. The decision to buy the Easement is not a new agenda.

Other providers have offered to pay us to access the community once we own the easement (by offering incentives, discounts and equipment packages). Arguably, this is a benefit to the homeowners if we take advantage of some kind of deal. And being free of Openband's easement control is a benefit as far as I am concerned.

If we do nothing and allow Openband to keep the easement forever... do you think they will allow other providers to access our community free of charge? Not likely in my opinion and the Providers themselves have raised similar concerns and will not come to Southernwalk as long as Openband owns the exclusive easement (my opinion based upon what I have heard so far).

And you seriously need to talk to your HOA. If you think this is a fun voluntary piece of work and worth justifying it's existence so they can volunteer even more hours and time away from their families trying to finish these efforts... then you and others that keep making this point need to step back and really think of the motives to justify your complaint. It just does not make sense that these current volunteers want to justify their existence any longer than needed in order to finish the job. I can't think of any other honest motive that the HOA is trying to justify their existence.... there really is no incentive and your idea of mentioning that they could always initiate another lawsuit... how constructive is that? Understand the frustration but all your hypothetical "what ifs" just don't help....

Sorry... I feel like I am largely the only one here trying to make sense of all of this, trying to at least keep people reasonably accurate in their concerns/complaints. Should we try to get together and get on the same page as concerned homeowners? There is a lot of inaccuracies in what I read here but also some good ideas....I am even willing to host something in my basement/bar.

 

Zeratul,

Thank you for your response regarding my concern of the actions, decisions, and activity of SWHOA2. I apologize if I created a bit of confusion for you in my attempt to state that maybe it's time that particular piece of the HOA come to a close. If the members of SWHOA2 have a difficult and troubling time conducting business, as you have indicated, then perhaps they should think on an exit strategy as well, yes?

That being said, I do understand the easement issue a bit more clearly now; however, I still believe there must be a solution to obtaining the service the residence's prefer without doubling the HOA fee. I am fairly fortunate; however, I suspect that some families are on slightly more strict budgets and a new and unplanned HOA increase like that (even a temporary one) just makes thing more difficult.

Again, as I read the letter, dated 23-May-17, it indicates there are a several options that could be explored which I think may help relieve some of the cost burden on all those who reside here. I feel, that if there are viable options (such as charging providers an access fee that may in-turn help off set some of the easement purchase costs), then why not explore those options in earnest?

I don't mean to write on this forum simply to complain or indicate frustration; I'm simply trying to understand the continued purpose in having the second HOA and the need for ever evolving rate increases with little or no warning (it can get a bit frustrating). However, if a second HOA and additional, continuous HOA fees, is "ok" with the residences', then I'll keep my teeth together and just write another check.

Thx again for taking the time to read and respond.

 

Well said Tiny Tim... I like the thoughtfulness in that post. And the Board has talked exit strategy before...multiple times. Not sure if you have been to any of the regular or special meetings, but the topic has come up before and I have heard some good/reasonable ideas to how we end the HOA. And remember, once the easement is purchased (around Jan 1 2018) your HOA fee should go back to something around $15-$25. That is my guess, but something closer to operational levels. IF there is a deal with a provider... that would be separate and cover a specific time period, with a start and finish and include a list of services and equipment included. The HOA would have to exist as long as an agreement existed with a provider... but not beyond that (my opinion). Collection activities and similar responsibilities would fall to the HOA, that is partly why they would have to exist...and manage the overall contract.

 

Yes, as I understand it, there is nothing physical being purchased...just the exclusivity. The ownership of the exclusivity does not keep the SWHOA from going away. The exclusivity ownership that the SWHOA would purchase, would, at some point revert back to the BHOA (my opinion). Once SWHOA is done with any kind of initial agreement...then the exclusivity easement gets transferred over to the BHOA and we all go about our telecommunications business just like everybody else. That is the general direction I see things going. And yes, this would take coordination and agreement with the BHOA.

 

Let me say thanks Steve for asking the kinds of questions I wish other homeowners that actually live in Southern Walk should be asking. I am not going to attempt to answer any them because I am not in a position to represent anything close to an official description... but we did get documents associated with the terms of the purchase so the HOA does have more detail. Sorry for the mashup...just trying to clear some previous misinformation.

 

We've been in Broadlands since 2006 and have been keeping up on this forum and the previous Openband forum. My question is based on the premise of "operating with transparency" . Is it possible to post the "documents associated with the terms of the purchase" for the easement so all of the residents can read them? thank you in advance for your consideration.

 

FYI. I contacted Traci Tranquilli from First Service to request a copy of the documents associated with the terms of the purchase of the easement and her reply is below. I have not signed into First Service to see what documents are there from the HOA yet.

I'm going out on a limb and guessing when Zeratul said this morning "we did get documents associated with the terms of the purchase so the HOA does have more detail" that those details are not available for others to see.

REPLY from First Service is below...

Good Afternoon,



It is my understanding this document does not exist. The information I have available at this time is attached. All available documents for the Association are available for review at http://dcmetro.fsrconnect.com/southernwalkatbroadlands.




The next Board Meeting is scheduled for Monday, July 17th at 7:00 PM at the Broadlands Community Center. All homeowners are welcome to attend to inquire with the Board during the homeowner forum.



Please let me know if I can be of additional assistance.



Thank you,

Traci







TRACI TRANQUILLI
Sr. Community Association Manager

11351 Random Hills Road, Suite 500 | Fairfax, VA 22030
Toll Free 703-385-1133
Email Traci.tranquilli@fsresidential.com
www.fsresidential.com

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I'm not trying to be difficult but It might help all of the homeowners who are now paying the extra $$$ starting July 1, to purchase the easements from Openband that it would be great to see what we are paying for.