Villas Landscape Planning Committee

 

Meeting Notes:  January 10, 2008

 

 

Members Present :

 

Emery Dilda – Chairperson

Nancy Bruns

Elaine Diepenbrock

Janice Holloway

Peggy Verdine

 

 

Discussion Items:

 

The committee had not yet received the promised design plan from Joe LeFleur (Stafford Nursery) to whom we offered a contract to provide a preliminary landscape design plan.  Emery contacted Stafford Nursery to discover that Joe no longer worked for them, and had passed all of his business along to other staff.   Stafford indicated that they would honor the commitment that Joe had made if we so wished.  The committee, in light of the delay, is reconsidering using Shenandoah to do the work as part of one coordinated effort with the FRCA landscape design plan.

 

Emery has been serving as a member of the FRCA property and grounds committee and he reported back that Shenandoah was just in the early stages of preparing the design for common areas around the single family homes.  A community walk-through is scheduled for February 13 from 1:00-3:00 beginning at the Center. 

 

The specific responsibility of FRCA vs. Villas still is under examination.  Committee members indicated that since all villa residents pay the same FRCA dues as the single family home owners, there should not be any distinction between the areas, and all common ground should be treated equally.  The proposal was made that the LandPlan Committee work as part of the Property and Grounds committee (as voting members) at least temporarily until the initial Falls Run landscaping design is completed.  It was discussed that we could participate in a conjoint meeting once per month and still maintain our Villa-specific LandPlan schedule for our second meeting per month.

 

Information was requested regarding the process by which the Property and Grounds committee is planning to include resident input into the design plan. Concern was expressed that decisions would be made by one or two active members without taking into consideration, or even inviting, the preferences of residents.  While it is acknowledged that not all design decisions will please all residents, it will be important to ensure a balance between varied personal preferences and environmental choices.

 

The committee is going to request a copy of the draft guidelines (being prepared by K. Burke for the FRCA Property and Grounds committee) for resident use of common areas for planting beds.  Those guidelines will be reviewed and evaluated for application also to Villa owners.  The development of guidelines by which Villa owners may enhance common areas adjacent to their units continues to be one of the three primary goals of this committee.

 

A third goal for the committee is the development of guidelines for resident contributions to the community landscaping efforts.  A draft has been prepared and distributed to committee members who will review it and provide input and recommendations for revisions.  The revised plan will be discussed at the meeting on January 24.

 

Decisions Made:

 

The Villa LandPlan committee will approach Shenandoah to see if they would include the Villa area in their Falls Run landscape plan, in lieu of moving forward with Stafford Nursery.

 

The Villa LandPlan Committee would like to meet conjointly with the FRCA Property and Grounds committee for their regularly schedule meeting on the 2nd Thursday of each month, at least until the landscaping decisions have been made.

 

Action Items:

 

  1. Inform the Board that we may want to transfer the allocated funds already approved for the preliminary landscape design to Shenandoah from Stafford Nursery. (Emery)

 

  1. Approach Shenandoah to assess their interest and availability to include Villa common area into their Falls Run design plan. (Emery)

 

  1. Provide a formal letter to Stafford to cease all activity on the FR Villa activity until further notice, unless the original design already has been completed and can be delivered immediately. (Emery)

 

  1. Ask the FR Property and Grounds committee if they would welcome our participation in their regular meetings once per month at least until the FR landscape plan is in place. (Emery)

 

  1. Request a copy of the draft guidelines being developed for single family resident use of common areas adjacent to their homes and distribute to committee members for review. (Emery)

 

  1. Review the draft guidelines for resident donations of money, plants and materials, memorial gifts, gift certificates, and labor and provide comments and suggestions to Elaine by Thursday, January 17.  (All)

 

  1. Prepare revised donation guidelines and distribute to committee members by Wednesday, January 23 for discussion on the 24th. (Elaine)

 

  1. Continue to conduct research on available resources for both materials and information. (All)

 

  1. Continue to recruit members for the committee. (All)