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The
following is an excerpt from the Winter 2008 CNCA Newsletter as
written by the current President, Mike McCurdy
Update on Goals for 2008:
Finalize
repair of outfall system in Lagoon CN 11:
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As many of you may know, we have been
mired in a lawsuit over the poor work done by our original
contractor on CN 11. The good news is that the suit was finally
settled on January 24, with no money out of pocket for us to
the contractor due to a payout from the contractor’s insurance
company. The Board is now able to complete the replacement of the
outfall system begun in 2005. I want to pay special thanks to Karen
Hazard, who worked the past two years on this, doing hours and hours
of grunt work, saving our Association thousands of dollars; Scott
Sawyer, who attended the mediation hearings and gave us the benefit
of his years of experience in HOA affairs; and
Mike Andersen, one of our newer members, who also made time to show
up at the mediation hearings and provided an extra level of
continuity and well thought-out observations. These three were
invaluable to the final settlement process and deserve the gratitude
of all of us who live here. I also want to thank Mike Rose, our
attorney, who guided us through the end game of this long ordeal and
finally, this would not have ended so successfully without Tim Kane,
who, though a co-defendant and with legal issues of his own, worked
with us and considered every decision and strategy with not just his
interest in mind, but ours as well. His unselfish attitude and
assistance were the difference between a fragmented and contentious
situation and the unified, rock-solid defense team that we
were.
Continue Focus on Traffic
Issues:
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Continue Focus on Traffic Issues. The opening of National Drive has
brought more traffic. Like it or not, Charleston National is now an
avenue for cut through traffic. We regularly get complaints of
speeding traffic and we regularly pass those complaints on to the
police department, and they keep a strong presence in here. There
are a few things we need to remember: One, most of the speeding is
done by us, the residents. Two, the police have 70,000 residents to
serve, all who have the same problem we do, and they cannot promise
to keep a patrol car here 24 hours a day. As a former police
officer, I know that our complaint is one shared by every
subdivision, and there are only so many officers available each
shift. We will continue to ask for assistance from the MPPD, but the
best solution for those of us who live here is to slow down
ourselves.
Maintain Existing Systems, Structures, and Landscaping Elements:
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The lawsuit settlement is
good news in many ways for us. We can now concentrate on
infrastructure issues that we have been delaying until the lawsuit
was behind us. During these past few months as Board President, I
have adopted a strategy used by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil
War, when his advisers were always coming to him with fresh
problems: “One crisis at a time.” Our big one is behind us and now
we have the time, energy, and most importantly, the funds to
complete the CN 11 outfall system and to start work on some of our
other pressing issues. Our strategy in the past was to repair (read
“patch”) rather than replace because of the uncertainty of the final
outcome of our legal action. Now we hope to do some major work on
our lagoons, landscaping, street signs, etc.
Design long-term
plan to address needs for restoration of lagoons and repairs to and
replacement of aging infrastructure:
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The Board has recognized and prioritized several projects that need
immediate work. We have received several complaints about CN 4 and
have made that our top priority. Again, due to the lawsuit, all that
we have been able to do so far is to plan. I hope we will be able to
act on that plan soon, once the CN 11 outfall system has been
finalized. We have started a fund to sink some wells for irrigation
so that we can eventually save money we are paying now for public
water and perhaps get some irrigation in the areas that don’t have
any now.
Continue Partnership with the Country Club in Lagoon Restoration
Dredging/Deepening Project:
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Continue partnership with
the Country Club in lagoon restoration project.
Several years ago the Community Association and the Country Club
began a cooperative effort to restore some of the lagoons owned by
CNCA. This included returning the ponds to their original depth and
bushhogging overgrown banks. The project has been put on hold until
the condition of pipes and risers has been evaluated and the needed
repairs prioritized.
Continue to Pursue Passage of Revised Covenants and Restriction:
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Every week we have to tell residents that their particular
complaint, though valid, is not actionable by the Association due to
the C&Rs we inherited from the developer twenty years ago. We have
been trying for the past few years to get our revised C&Rs approved
by 90% of our residents - a daunting task, because our residents do
change on a regular basis. This year was no different- we just have
not been able to coordinate enough manpower to get the job done.
There have been some different strategies suggested over the course
of the year that the Board will examine. Perhaps we need to come
from a different direction, but no matter what our strategy, we will
always require volunteers from our residents to collect the required
signatures. Please help.
Continue
to pursue implementation of Transfer Fee:
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This is tied to our new C&Rs - one gets the other. We are one of the
few quality neighborhoods east of the Cooper that does not have a
transfer fee. We are trying to get a $250 transfer fee paid by the
buyer on the resale of a home. This will enable us to build reserves
and complete special projects, which we consider an investment in
the property values of our homes.
Finalize
Revisions of Restrictions and Easements:
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The Second Draft of the R&E has been written and will be reviewed by
the Board and ARC in the near future. The draft is a revision of the
various neighborhood restrictions and easements which address the
details of life in Charleston National, including garbage cans in
view, parking issues, etc. Once the Board has approved a final
draft, it will be presented to CNCA Members for a vote.
Additional/Ongoing
Issues and Items: top
The past few months have brought many challenges to our community.
In November, we invited Central Electric Power to make a
presentation to residents about the proposed power line the company
intends to run down Hwy. 17 in front of Charleston National. Our
Town Council recognized at the last minute that we hadn’t been
briefed and stopped the approval process to give us time to talk to
CEP representatives. CEP intends on replacing all of the current
lines with fewer, but much taller, posts. This power is not for us
as we are not served by CEP, but for one of their substations down
the line. We have inquired about the option to bury them, but that
extra cost, which they say is several million dollars, would have to
be borne by the Town. We will keep you posted as to the final
decision.
Boat storage for residents is still an issue for many people but we
just have not been able to address this yet. It’s not forgotten, but
we would like to hear from you if you have thoughts on this matter.
We do have a survey on our website, Click here
to go to the boat survey. if you prefer to go on-line. The
potential location is still on Porcher’s Bluff Road adjacent to the
CNCC maintenance area.
The Board did approve sending a letter to Mayor Hallman stating that
we had no objection to a new traffic light at Hwy. 17 and our main
entrance at National Drive once the new hospital is built. Of
course, we have our normal requests: Please walk against traffic and
ride bikes with traffic; if out at night, wear reflective clothing
so you can be seen by approaching vehicles; per State law, golf
carts may only be operated by licensed drivers, so please do not
allow your children to drive on the streets; and common areas cannot
be used to park vehicles, post signs, etc.
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