We recently had the Annual Meeting and Special Meeting on June 16th. The Annual Meeting took place, David Wright and John Cramer were elected to the Board. The Special Meeting was continued because we did not have enough proxies to be able to make changes to the Declaration for the proposed amendments. The next meeting will take place on August 17th.
There were 2 items that the Board feels are important changes to the Declaration. Here are quick overviews but I have included a more detailed explanation below.
The Capital Contribution is something that would be collected when a home is sold in Founders Bridge and would go towards the Reserves to help pay for large capital improvements.
The other item that is being discussed is the solar panel installation.The Board would like to change the Declaration so the ARC Committee can have control over the size. shape, appearance of solar panels that could be installed in Founders Bridge. As it stands, there is not a lot of control over what is installed and the Board would like the ARC Committee to have better control.
Amendment 1: Collect Capital Contribution on Resales
The purpose of this proposed amendment to the Declaration is to establish a new capital contribution amount for new home buyers within Founders Bridge. This would occur only when a home is sold in Founders Bridge so it would not affect you unless you bought another house in Founders Bridge. This change was recommended during the updated reserve study conducted last summer as a means to increase funding for the increasing capital costs.
The new rate will be ½ of the annual POA dues ($720 for 2020) at the time the sale is completed. The Amendment provides the Board the ability to change that amount over time, if needed. The previous capital reserve analyses underestimated the cost of maintaining Association walking trails, sidewalks and trees, all of which need more investment as they age.
Some other Communities that collect the capital contribution are Brandermill and Magnolia Green.
Amendment 2: Prohibit Installation of Solar Panels Without ARC Approval
The purpose of this proposed amendment to the Declaration is to allow the Association to control future use of solar panels within Founders Bridge. Recent legislation passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by the Governor on or about April 7, 2020 severely limits such control to actions that do not decrease the power collected by more than 10% and do not increase implementation cost by more than 10%, unless the declaration explicitly provides such power to the Association.
As use of solar power grows in popularity, many different types of collectors will enter the market. The Association wishes to continue to require review and approval by the Architecture Review Committee (ARC) before any such devices are installed. This review is intended to ensure the appearance of modifications meet the principles of scale, proportion, balance, rhythm, and order as documented in the Architecture Review Guide, which is available on the property owners’ website.
The Board recommends you vote to approve this proposed amendment.
We need 272 votes for these proposed amendments to be approved. We currently have 135 votes.
If you have not voted and would like to vote, please complete the attached proxy or if you cannot print one out, please contact Maria Durbin at foundersbridge@gmail.com.
20200616 Special Meeting Proxy
