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Southern Walk Lawn Maintenance

Discussion in 'Broadlands Community Issues' started by Carol Al-Ajroush, May 27, 2005.

  1. Carol Al-Ajroush

    Carol Al-Ajroush New Member

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    I read in the recent Broadlands mag that there will be a meeting regarding whether the lawn maintenance contract for Southern Walk residents should be renewed, cancelled or modified.

    I am in favor of having continued lawn maintenance for the following reasons:

    -all the homes at least start out being maintained on the same level. If some homeowners do additional enhancements/landscaping to their homes, that's fine but at least there is a baseline.

    -right now we enjoy peaceful and tranquil weekends. If homeowners have to do their own maintenance, there will be an increase in the noise level with lawn mowers, weed wackers, etc.

    -last weekend my spouse and I were walking along Clairborne towards Safeway. We could see several yards which have been grossly neglected. It made us appreciate all the more having the lawn service.

    -speaking at least for my spouse and I, we are not gardening or lawn folks. Neither of us have any experience with maintaining a yard nor the desire/interest to do so.

    -before any kind of decisions are made, I do hope that all the various factors are taken into consideration.
     
  2. tcgaspie

    tcgaspie New Member

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    Walk along Forest Edge Sq the street across from the Safeway... at least a third of the townhomes don't have the "very small" front lawns aren't taken care of.. and the one rental property on the street looks trashing...
     
  3. T8erman

    T8erman Well-Known Member

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    Carol, the primary factor is that our monthly fee would potentially go up $30 a month. For me, that is ridiculous in that I can maintain my own yard to high standards for that or less a year.

    The committee is going to look at several options and from what I hear, it is and all or nothing proposition (I hope that one or two homeowners would not prevent a decision).

    Even though I like maintaining my own yard, I am not against having it done either. I am hoping that there is a middle ground, such as the homeowners doing their own mulch and fertilizing, to keep our costs down.
     
  4. L0stS0ul

    L0stS0ul hmmmm

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    Not all of southern walk has this available to them and from the looks of it we all should have this service.

    Some people are really letting their yards go this year. Walking my dog I saw one home with at least 1 1/2 foot tall grass. There are several homes not taking care of their flower beds (grass growing up, weeds, unkept look, etc, etc). When does the HOA get involved with this.

    Speaking of outside upkeep there are many homes with either non functioning street lamps or lamps with only 1 or 2 bulbs working. With these lamps being our only light on the streets its important that people at least make sure these lights are working. It will keep our neighborhood safe!!!
     
  5. cricket

    cricket New Member

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    I am for discontinuing this service. What if there is a compromise, and only the ones who want to have their yards maintained pay for the service and the ones who don't not pay for the service.

    I have a much smaller front and back yard, but I still pay as much as my next door neighbor whose lot size is twice that of mine. I can probably mow my yard in 10 minutes and sure could use the exercise.
     
  6. amye

    amye New Member

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    My yard looks neglected AND I'm paying for lawn maintenance! Yes, I live in Southern Walk and am seriously disappointed with the lawn maintenance service. I'm all for canceling and doing it myself.
     
  7. BelindaTH

    BelindaTH New Member

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    The meeting on June 7, 2005, is open to all home owners in the Courtyard homes. We can all attend and voice our opinions.
     
  8. BelindaTH

    BelindaTH New Member

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    LOstSOul - In regard to your comment about the lights...

    Light Outages:
    - Street lights should be reported to Wes at the HOA office at 703-729-9704
    - Front yard light posts are the responsibility of the home owner to replace burned out light bulbs
     
  9. Thu

    Thu New Member

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    Is the money we pay for lawn care service a part of the 104 fee or the 150 fee? And if we cancel it, how much would that reduce the fees?
     
  10. Carol Al-Ajroush

    Carol Al-Ajroush New Member

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    There's no doubt from the responses thus far that this is a divided issue. I do believe if the maintenance service is discontinued there are going to be major disparities in the outside appearance of Southern Walk such as already exist in other sections of Broadlands.

    While some folks do enjoy their own lawn maintenance to include moving, mulching and landscaping, there are others, such as my spouse and I, who do not. If the service is discontinued would we engage our own service - probably. Would we like to do that? Not really.

    I would rather pay the $30 per month increase than have the service discontinued and the balance of the neighborhood change.

    Another factor which should be taken into consideration as well is that more rental homes are coming up in Southern Walk too. Ours will be among those next year (unless my spouse gets extended yet again...). As a future absentee landlord, it would be nice to not have to worry about the lawn being kept up as there will be enough other things to be concerned about.
     
  11. jaeris

    jaeris New Member

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    I agree with Carol in every respect, especially the noise at weekends. I would opt for lawn mowing option only, I don't care about the mulching and fertilizing, I would rather do that myself. I would much rather have the HOA take care of this so I don't have to worry about it, arranging for someone to come out, checking that they've done a good job, sending another check each month. I'd rather garden than mow the lawn in my time off.

    jaeris
     
  12. poultry

    poultry New Member

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    hmmmmmm.......let's see........we can:

    A. Save a bunch of money each month
    B. Get some much-needed exercise
    C. Enjoy the weather (on most days) and get to know our neighbors better
    D. Hopefully learn more about our lawns and nature in general
    E. Quit getting suckered by businesses that will keep charging more because they know we can afford it
    F. All of the above

    I vote for F.

    As for maintenance of a mower.......for the additional $360 every year that they want to charge we can each buy a lawn mower and throw it off a cliff at the end of the season and still break even.

    The lawn service is pretty pathetic right now especially considering how much it costs us. Most of us could do a better job blindfolded with a pair of dull scissors.
     
  13. rharse

    rharse New Member

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    I would certainly rather maintain my own lawn. My issues that the sod put down was done so poorly that I have huge gaps between pieces and lots of weeds (I have a spinkler system and have a lawn service for fertilizer and weeds). If they had done a better job laying the sod and used a slightly higher grade sod, my guess is that a lot of the new lawns woudl look much better. I'm in a mode of letting my grass get longer in order to be able to cut at a higher height an, hopefully a uniform height across the lawn. Plus, the longer height will help with water conservation and choking out weeds.
     
  14. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    I don't like in SW.. so this is just my opinion..

    I don't see this as a digital thing for the people who still want the service. You can very much get similar service on the open market if you still want it.. and get the level you want. If the distributed cost, or a significant portion of the neighborhood doesn't want the service, I don't think it should be forced on people.

    About the comments about the neighborhood going 'downhill' if the service is discontinued.. I think thats a bit dramatic. People have to maintain standards by the HOA rules to start with.. so you don't need the service to have those standards. If people cause a problem because they don't care for their property, then there are existing procedures to handle that. Yes, having a service take care of it so they have no option makes for 100% coverage.. but I think the rest of the world has proven that it can be done.. even without mandatory service :)

    Given people can do it on their own.. or hire out the work if they care.. and that we have standards in place and ways to enforce them.. I don't see how there are any issues except for the owners to decide if its worth doing it as a whole vs the cost.



    -Steve
     
  15. vacliff

    vacliff "You shouldn't say that."

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    Hi folks-
    When we meet next week to discuss this, we will look at several options of continued service. It does not have to be an all or nothing solution.
    Maybe just do front yards? Maybe just do mowing? Maybe eliminate the mulching?
    We will review several options and associated costs.
    Cliff
     
  16. Carol Al-Ajroush

    Carol Al-Ajroush New Member

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    It's evident this topic strikes a chord within many of us, me included. Be sure and notify your neighbors of this issue as well as the meeting on 7 June. I've spoken with most on my street and many of them were unaware of this issue having not gone through the newsletter or following these forums.

    Interestingly I learned today from one neighbor who moved in this past Fall from a townhome community, one of the draws to Broadlands and specifically Southern Walk courtyard, was the lawn maintenance service. They also sold off all of their lawn paraphenelia.

    While there may be HOA guidelines in effect to maintain a baseline appearance you can walk around the neighborhood where the service is not provided and see a number of lawns in neglect. However, you do not see this -yet- in Southern Walk Courtyard.

    I am relieved knowing we have this baseline standard in Southern Walk and that folks can enhance their individual lawns from that point onwards. Having a service actually provides additional time for those who do enjoy working out in the lawn to do more.

    Not all are capable or able to maintain their own lawns as well and this was an additional factor for some of the homeowners who chose to live in Southern Walk Courtyard. I do know of homeowners who have disabilities or severe allegeries and cannot do the outside lawn maintenance for legitimate health concerns.

    I also query whether the lawn service has been brought into the discussion? Do they really want to lose the business? Are they willing to further negotiate in order to keep the business? Alternatively, if the price to pay in order to maintain the service is $1.00 per day, I'll do that.
     
  17. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    Yes, but its not free.. you still pay for it.. just rolled into another payment. Since you are paying for it.. you can just as likely pay someone else to do it.

    If it were to the level that its causing a problem, I would hope someone would bring it up. Honestly, when I drive through the North, I don't see any 'run down' places or anything beyond someone who is just behind cutting their yard.

    Then hire someone to do it. That's all the HOA is doing it.. pay someone here.. pay someone there. I don't see how they are really different beyond what you are paying and what service you are getting.

    To cliff's comments.. how can things like 'only mow the front' even be an option? I mean.. if you leave a homeowner responsible for SOME of their yard.. they still have to take care of the rest in some way.. so might as well take care of all of it. I mean.. for the arguement for the people that don't want to take care of their yard.. or not capable.. or made this one of the reasons to move to SW.. now you say 'find someone on your own to take care of HALF your yard'. That sounds even worse IMO. Of course the options of removing services.. like mulching or fert. etc are pretty valid.

    -Steve
     
  18. sharse

    sharse TeamDonzi rocks!!

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    I'm curious who gets/pays for which services. We live on Highview Trail and driving up Ridgeway its clear that many people do a great job on their lawns, but others seem not to have mowed since, well, last fall perhaps. :)

    We bought our house from an investor, so in VM's eyes we don't really exist and we get zero customer service from them. Therefore, since our situation is a little different we don't have any info on this. I'd appreciate it greatly if someone could enlighten me on this subject. Thanks!
     
  19. beahmer

    beahmer Member

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    I you bought a "Courtyard Home" model then you get this service. They would have mowed you by now if you had. The houses right at Ridgeway just before Claiborne (I think it's Sunstone - on your right heding towards Claiborne)are Courtyard models to give you an example. There is also a group off Stone Hollow and then on Milford,etc.. across from the VM model home park.
     
  20. beahmer

    beahmer Member

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    Courtyard fees jumped 19% this year to $104.50/month. (THU - this is the fee that contains the lawn service). While the other home type fees in Broadlands averaged about a 7.5% increase. A $30/month increase next year (I'll use the low end that I've heard)for lawn maintenance will mean another 29% jump next year and that's BEFORE any additional fees needed due to other costs increases (more open space, operating expenses going up in general, etc). Oh and let’s not forget – there will surely be an Openband increase (no hijacking the topic please)

    I am for getting rid of this service and its cost.

    I was told that the fee was ‘supposed’ to cover front/side yard (WES – Can you confirm??). If this is the case then folks should be mowing their own backyards anyway. FLYNN – I agree - only getting half the yard done doesn’t make much since, but that’s what I was told it covered.
    I have a fenced in backyard and they can’t get in – nor do I want them to – so I’m figuring a good 30 minutes/week with mowing and trimming. The extra 15 minutes it would take to do my front is no big deal.

    Service – the grass around my house would have been over a foot tall when they finally started mowing this year. I finally mowed it myself and have since done it a couple of more times because it gets too long when they don’t make it here on the day their supposed to. Unlike the service, I can mow the day before it rains or even on the weekend.

    I can definitely do my yard for less than ~$800/year. (Using the next fee down for "private streets", there is a $35/month fee difference between these two categories - I'm assuming that the difference is for lawn care - that's $420/year. An additional fee of $30/month would mean $780/year. Lowes has a mower on sale this weekend $200 – onetime purchase price. In 5 years I would save $3,700 not including outlays for mulch and gas. Figure that costs me $100/year and I’m down to saving about $3,200 – that will pay for a nice week away for two.

    To the noise issue – I hear mowers on nearby streets and from my neighbors who want their lawns looking good when the landscapers didn’t show and personally I hardly even notice. I also hear those pesky jets and those basketballs (thump-thump) and those…. (okay I’ll stop). It’s not like your going to hear mowing 24 hours/day on the weekend.

    I agree with Flynn - If you want lawn service there are plenty of them out there for around the same price (or maybe even less). Want a group discount – get several of your neighbors together and package a deal. Even better, pay a kid in the neighborhood to mow your yard, there are a couple of guys I’ve seen that do a great job at my neighbors – I can get you their number.
     

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