December 2019
To: Water’s Edge Association Homeowners:
Greetings and Happy Holidays to all as we enter the Winter months here at Waters Edge. We accomplished a good deal this year. We replaced roofs on two buildings as scheduled, with gutter guards to reduce our expenses in cleaning, and approved gutter guards for a 4-unit building that was omitted when roof was replaced a few years ago. Our front deck project continued largely as planned, but 4 units were postponed due to unexpected cost overruns for this year’s budget. We will resume with those decks next year. Chase work continues as planned. We have had many comments about our landscaping, and certain areas not being up to community standards. We understand your concerns, and as a result have formed a landscape committee consisting of 2 board members and several volunteers. The property has been inspected, diagrams/notes made, and recommendations for remediation have been developed. We are starting with removal/trimming of some problem trees and will begin to plant a few new trees in the Spring. Looking ahead the biggest unexpected challenge we face next year is the deterioration of our pool, which will require major renovation this Spring, at a cost just under $30,000. Our 10 year plan had a budget for pool renovation in 2026, not 2020. To bridge the gap, the board decided to not spend some of the capital improvement money this year, and use it to help pay for the pool next year, as well as decrease the budget for chases next year. However, we have determined that even with these measures, it will not be possible to fund our operational expenses, AND maintain our buildings and landscape at community standards. Our primary source of revenue is homeowner dues, which have not changed in 14 years. We are trying to fund expenses in 2020 with 2006 dollars, which we all know doesn’t really work. It’s a fact that our operating expenses have increased 24.5% over the past 5 years. As a result, in order to pay our operational expenses, this board and previous boards have shifted money away from capital improvements. Ultimately, this leads to the detriment of our community. To halt this trend, your board has determined that effective 1/1/2020, homeowner dues will be increased by 7.5% for all units. (As a reference point, if we had wanted to catch up to inflation, from 2006-2020, an increase of 29.82% would have been required). We can assure you that after expenses, the additional funds will be put to good use including pool, road and landscape improvements, and continuation of our roof, gutter guards, chase, and deck projects. Thank you for your support.
Cordially,
Steve Moffett President
Water’s Edge I HOA and your Board
Water's Edge 1
PO Box 1217
Arlington Heights, IL 60006-1217