a comparatively new, and even more attractive community within the city.
Storm water runoff was a nemesis. Reducing the amount of point discharge of storm water (by about 10%) was an early goal and very worthy to pursue. This could be achieved by narrowing the private street, White Oak Circle, to a width of 23 feet. After providing the city’s Fire Marshall an Autoturn plot (a computer-generated drawing showing the fire truck tracking), the Fire Marshall gave a green light to the pavement reduction and reconfiguration.
The engineering staff of the City of St. Charles had been involved evaluating design strategies for quite some time. In addition to the volume of water being managed, the quality of it when it leaves The Oaks was also of interest. By connecting downspouts and sump pump discharges into the new system; water quality could be greatly improved simply by not allowing it to traverse the surface as it originally did. Severe erosion along the east and north sides of The Oaks, after 35+ years, had washed away much topsoil; that, by itself, frustrated efforts to stabilize vegetation in such areas. But, the bigger consequence that could be better controlled is the particulate matter that stays suspended until the water reaches a calmer environment downstream. To arrest the problem of further erosion, the plans also provided for terraces in several strategic locations to minimize the source of runoff coming from The Oaks.
The terracing introduced construction activities in close proximity to a dilapidated wooden boundary fence that bordered Route 31. The fence would have to be removed to facilitate the construction of the terracing and a detention basin. This area would be restored as contemplated in the project’s comprehensive landscaping plan.
In addition to rebuilding the street due to the excavations, many sections of demolished sidewalk would need replacement as a consequence of connecting underground drains for downspouts and sump pumps. Since nearly every driveway would be crossed with the new drain lines, resurfacing (or reconstruction) of driveways was also anticipated. The formerly ADA (Americans with Disability Act) non-compliant sidewalk to the clubhouse would also be upgraded. Since street lighting was 35+ years old, updating it was added to the project as well.
PROPOSED SOLUTION:
The Oaks Declaration of Covenants provides that the Board must seek and receive authority from a majority of the homeowners to authorize a project of this magnitude. Several informational meetings on the Storm Water Management Project (SWMP) were conducted. A general membership meeting was held where the Board received an affirmation of support for the SWMP from nearly 92% of the membership in attendance.
After nearly six years of preparation for the planning and development of final designs, execution of the project was
on the horizon, and funding became the next hurdle to overcome. This project was too large and complex to be financed merely by monthly assessments. After investigating several methods, and upwards of 12 different institutions, a line of credit was established with a solid lender familiar with community associations, using conventional terms attractive to the association—and at competitive rates. Many homeowners had tired of paying for maintenance that had been deferred by prior Boards. A long-term loan for the next 15-20 years to repay the monies being used had widespread appeal to homeowners, especially when it can be accomplished with no special assessments!
EXECUTION:
After a groundbreaking on July 29th, the construction got underway!
The key to successfully executing a project like the SWMP is communication. To get that point across to all homeowners, three informational meetings were held well in advance of construction to advise all residents of an approximate time line for execution of the work and, more importantly, the methods to be used for keeping everyone informed. Use of e-mail was a convenient, and preferred, method. However, with nearly a dozen residents without e-mail, the default method soon became door-to-door personal delivery of a General Notification to every resident on a Saturday morning by a contingent of the association’s Communication Committee—in addition to e-mail. Every Friday preceding the Saturday notification, a meeting was held with the affected contractors to discuss the scope of work anticipated to be accomplished during the following week. As the work progressed, the notices also described the work that was not completed in the previous week, but which would continue in the days ahead. Such information was helpful to share with homeowners so they could take comfort in seeing uncompleted work continue the following Monday, as promised—and to take the notices, seriously!
If there were any changes from the weekly plan described in the General Notification that might affect any group of residents, an Urgent Notification would be dispatched to those affected, within a few hours of the work being done. The notifications were very helpful to residents. They could plan their activities accordingly. In some instances, residents chose to go on vacation, or to stay with friends and relatives to avoid as much disruption in their lives as possible. To distinguish between junk mail, all notices were printed on bright orange attention-getting paper stock to which the residents became very accustomed. The same color was used on the placards issued to our residents that would readily identify their vehicles to police and neighbors when parked offsite on adjacent streets.
Another aspect of communication involved active and persistent contact with the contractors’ personnel. After selection of the contractors, and before commencement of any work, a Scope-of-Work meeting was held with the
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