Voice Vol. 13, No. 6 June 2016 June 18 Blessing of the Animals 4:00pm Comm. Ctr. June 23 BOD Work Session 4:00pm Comm. Ctr. July 4 Picnic 5:00-7:30pm Community Center July 5 - Board of Directors Meeting - 4:00pm - Comm. Ctr. UPCOMING EVENTS at the Community Center Due to the July 4 th holiday weekend, there will not be a First Friday Social in July. There will be a July 4 th community picnic at the Community Center 5:00pm to 7:30pm. A flyer will be distributed later this next week be sure to phone in your reservation. BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS: Last month s weather made it necessary to postpone the Blessing of the Animals that had been scheduled for May 7 th. We are trying again this month on June 18 th, which is just around the corner. Bring your beloved pets with you, or pictures of those who have passed away. This will be held just outside of the Community Center, and the time will be 4:00 p.m. to avoid the mid-day heat, yet leave time to return home for dinner. If the weather again prevents our gathering, the Blessing will be revisited next October in celebration of the birthday of St. Francis of Assisi, Patron Saint of Animals. TREASURER s REPORT - Vera Piper Assets as of 4/31/16: Total Operating Funds - $45,424.30 Capital Reserves - $73,076.47 Total Assets - $118,500.77 1
YTD actual expenses are higher than the YTD budgeted amounts because of full payment for snow removal (and other accounts such as tree trimming) earlier in the year, while the money for these expenses was allocated evenly across the months. Coventry has prepared a new monthly allocation schedule that will more accurately forecast expenditures. The yearly budget remains the same. Our actual over-budget spending is about $2,300, due to over-budget spending for snow removal, tree trimming, trash removal and other smaller accounts. I will provide a full financial report in the August newsletter, covering January through June. The Long Range Planning Committee Meeting will take place in July. This Committee assesses the current and future status of the Capital Reserve and recommends any changes necessary to meet the CRA requirements. GROUNDS COMMITTEE REPORT - Chris Hannaford As you have heard me say repeatedly in this column, one of the major assets of Woodbrook Village is the landscaping throughout the community. During the past two years, the Woodbrook Grounds Committee has been working hard to preserve this asset. Its focus to date has been the restoration of the Common Area landscaping. Not unexpectedly, as the landscaping ages, maintenance concerns increase. Within the constraints of our budget, the Grounds Committee has been able to address some of our mature landscaping issues. For example, the diseased and unsightly junipers on all berms were removed and the berms were redesigned and replanted. The Community Center grounds and the entrance to the Village also have received a landscaping facelift. In addition, the Committee recommended and the Board approved the much needed pruning of the Silver Maple and the Bradford Pear trees. Currently, the Committee is addressing the dead and dying trees and shrubs on the Common Areas on Rosewood, our gateway street. The Grounds Committee is hopeful that the 2017 budget will allow Common Area improvements to continue on our side streets. In our collective efforts to maintain the beauty of our community, the Board has directed the Grounds Committee and Management to conduct a streetview assessment of private property concerns. For example, this assessment may identify a dead and/or dying tree or shrub on a resident s lot that needs pruning or removal and replacement. Once these concerns have been identified, a letter entitled Private Property Concern will be sent to the lot owner denoting the concern and requesting that action be taken to address the specified concern. 2
Woodbrook Village is a beautiful place to live and your cooperation in maintaining the community s appearance is greatly appreciated. COMMUNITY CENTER REPORT Helen Hatfield Thanks for the residents who came on Saturday June 4th to clean up our community center: Erick Abadie, Tom King, Heide Mohler, Chris Hannaford, Janie Mohn, Jo Pilette, Vera Piper, Sally Wilson, and Helen Hatfield. Aileen Duff loaned us her window cleaning sprayer which helped make lighter work of cleaning the outside of the windows. Vera Piper brought her heavy duty rug shampooer and tutored us in its operation as we took turns using it. The work done by these residents saved us money by doing those tasks not normally completed by Merry Maids. Thanks everyone. Because of the very poor condition of the Venetian blinds in the community center, Sally Wilson researched the cost of replacing them with blinds that would look nice and last for years to come. It was decided we will need to wait until next year to consider doing this due to budget considerations. Next time you are in the community center take a look at them and perhaps we can include the replacement cost in our budget for 2017. There has been an infestation of ants in the community center. The extermination company was called and responded immediately to apply a second round of repellant to ensure that those who are planning special events this month will not have unwelcome guests". If you notice a continuation of the problem, please let Helen Hatfield know so she can follow up. MANAGEMENT REPORT - Jorie Martin Management, with the approval of the Treasurer, will recast the monthly budget numbers for snow removal, tree trimming, and landscape improvement to reflect a more accurate monthly financial status of the association. A Woodbrook Village document from a homeowner, dated October 2006, was presented for review. The document is an outline of expectations and responsibilities of both the Board of Directors and Homeowners. The document is relevant today as it was when it was adopted or presented to the Board. In response to the intent of the Board to provide fire safety information to homeowners, Management spoke with Kenneth Scott who is a fire safety education specialist with Frederick County. 3
Mr.Scott has hand outs that could be included in newsletters and could also hold a class for all homeowners interested in fire safety and on the types and use of fire extinguishers. LIBRARY NEWS - Maryellen Nealon As we celebrate Father s Day this month, we might spend time with our fathers or recall our time spent with Dad in our younger years. My father was not a reader of books, but I do have memories of reading the newspaper comics with him. Did you know that a number of popular authors have sons or daughters who are also writers? A few of them are: James Lee Burke daughter Alafair Burke Jonathan Kellerman son Jesse Kellerman Tony Hillerman daughter Anne Hillerman Dick Francis son Felix Francis Stephen King son Joe Hill If you enjoy reading the books written by these fathers, you could also try a book or two written by the next generation. FYI the summer Used Book Sale at the Bowman library will be held on June 23 (10am to 8pm) and June 24-25 (10am to 5pm). INFORMATION NEEDED - The Board is working on a telephone and location list of County and City Offices, shopping establishments, and handyman or service companies for the convenience of the new homeowners. If you have experience with a particularly good handyman or service company, please share this to put into the list. Please e-mail or call Annita Hartsell with this information. PRUNING TIPS FROM BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS - This is for those of you who like to do your own pruning or supervise the pruning crew. Spring Blooming Flowers and Bushes Early-spring bloomers, such as lilac, forsythia, and rhododendron, bear flowers on wood formed the previous year. The best time to prune them is late spring -- immediately after they finish blooming. If you prune them later in the growing season or during winter, you'll remove flower buds and decrease the amount of spring bloom. To keep spring bloomers flowering vigorously, remove some of the oldest shoots all the way to the ground. This allows younger stems to grow and bloom. 4
Hydrangeas Most hydrangea types -- pink, blue, or white mopheads and lacecaps, or oakleaf forms bloom on old wood. Prune these types of hydrangeas before midsummer. If you prune them in winter or early spring, you ll be removing flower buds. Shrubs Without Showy Blooms Cut back shrubs grown primarily for their foliage, such as barberry and burning bush, almost anytime except in late autumn. New growth that starts after late-season pruning won t harden off properly before winter. If you want to do major pruning, it s best to cut the shrub back when it is dormant in winter. Clipped Hedges Privets (Ligustrum sp.) are the plants in front of most of our homes Shrubs such as boxwood and privet are often sheared to form a hedge. To maintain a solid wall of green, shear the new growth frequently during the early part of the growing season. Keep the top narrower than the base so that the upper branches don't shade the lower ones. Stop shearing the hedge approximately six weeks before your area's average first frost. ESSAY OF THE MONTH Mary Kathryn Clark All Possible Objections Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must be first overcome. -- Samuel Johnson A pessimist is one who looks at all of the possible objections before beginning a task. Once the objections are listed, the task is usually forgotten. An optimist is one who may be aware of the objections, but is willing to take a risk based on the positives. The change-agents in this world are those who take the optimistic view. We may call them the movers and the shakers. They are the people who make things different. We each have the possibility of making our world better if we do not allow ourselves to be stopped by all possible objections. 5