Hurricane Florence Debris Removal
Seeing as there are no credible indications that FEMA is going to assist in the storm debris cleanup in our community, the HOA board of directors has entered into a fixed price contract with East Coast Consolidated (ECC) for the removal of natural storm debris from Chadwick Shores. This selection reflects the overwhelming support for ECC by those who were in attendance at last Thursday night’s special owner’s meeting. The board believes it is important to share with owners the conditions of the contract, and its cost. The negotiated cost is $61,632. The board believes this is best value for the price to conduct this major cleanup effort. Work is to begin this coming Tuesday, and will continue until all the debris for which ECC is contracted to remove has been taken away. Conditions within the contract that owners should be aware are listed below:
– ECC will only remove natural/burnable debris.
– ECC will not remove household items such as furniture and appliances, building/construction material, fencing, roof tiles, siding and other similar man made materials.
– ECC is not responsible for collecting loose or bagged leaves, or other small debris that owners can remove themselves.
– ECC will make one pass through the neighborhood.
– ECC will not sort debris piles where household items, construction material and like items as noted above, are mixed in together with the natural debris.
– ECC is not going to be responsible for collecting debris brought into Chadwick Shores from other communities during the cleanup or after.
For those owners whose debris removal is being covered by FEMA, be advised that ECC is an approved FEMA contractor. A private contract between an owner and ECC for FEMA related work, and its cost, is separate and apart from the contract that ECC has with the HOA board.
Several options were discussed at the meeting for how to pay for the cleanup. There was general sentiment that this is a community disaster, and people were willing to share in the expense of paying for the debris removal no matter to what degree they were impacted by the storm. The most equitable arrangement meeting attendees endorsed was a 50/50 cost sharing between owners and funds from the HOA reserves. The owner’s portion would come as one time special assessment, that would need to be approved by owners per the requirements in Section 5 of the HOA Declarations document.
A special assessment needs to be approved by 2/3 of owners in attendance or voting by proxy at a special meeting called solely for the purpose of levying the assessment. It is the board’s intent to hold this special meeting prior to the November HOA owner’s meeting. By the time this meeting is held, the debris cleanup effort will be concluded, however the board feels that is was critical to commence the cleanup process as soon as possible, and to trust that owners would see the importance of doing so when casting their votes on the special assessment.
The special assessment rates the board will be proposing are $80 for developed lots, and $40 for exempt and undeveloped lots. These are the same cost ratios the board uses when assessing HOA dues. The implementation of these rates would generate $32,600 if collected in full. Coupled with an equal amount taken from HOA reserves, the total amount available to pay for the debris clean up would be $65,200. The excess amount over and above the cleanup costs, will be moved to a newly created disaster fund budget line item. The creation of this new budget expenditure came out of the owner’s meeting, and the pending proposed 2019 budget will include it. The purpose of this new item is be proactive in accumulating funds to be available for dealing with future natural disasters and their aftermath.
Along with the new disaster fund category, the board is going to establish a road fund that will be the repository of funds dedicated solely for the maintenance and upkeep of community roads. Dedicated amounts will be budgeted for these two items this year, and they will not be used for any other purposes. The proposed 2019 budget will reflect these two items, and the initial amounts being placed in them. The amounts to be budgeted for these two items in future years will be proposed each year by the then current board.
The board is going to propose a 6% dues increase for 2109. This would be $20 a year more for developed lots, and $10 a year more for exempt and undeveloped lots. A portion of this additional revenue above and beyond what was charged in 2018, will be used to cover the cost increase the board pays for standard services, with the remaining portion going to the road fund. Any monies not spent by the end of 2019 will be transferred to either the road or disaster fund, or both.
The board appreciates your patience in taking the time to review this document. The board feels it is of the utmost importance for it to be transparent when collecting and spending HOA funds which, as was pointed out during last week’s meeting, is your collective money. There was an inspiring sense of common purpose and community pride at the owner’s meeting, which will be an immeasurably valuable resource as we recover from this storm together. This unity is what distinguishes a neighborhood from a group of houses that share some common roads. Chadwick Shores, unbowed and coming back.
