This page has excerpts from the Church Point newsletters from 2015 until 2019 to highlight issues that were handled by the Board of Directors during that period. For a broader perspective of the area, please see the full history of the neighborhood. For other periods, please see:
Winter 2015
President’s Corner
I hope that everyone had a safe and joyful holiday season and a happy new year. The street sign replacement project was completed in October. All streets received a new green sign from the City, which provided the labor at no cost to the HOA. The decorative metal arms were refurbished to include gold tips, and previously installed metal sign posts were replaced with the original wood post design, restoring the community to uniformity and uniqueness in the city.
The recent annual meeting held in November 2014 was well attended by homeowners. The annual Board of Directors election had two incumbents running for re-election, myself and Rick Little. Both candidates were re-elected and I know I speak for Rick when I say that we are both honored to have been re-elected for another 2 year term to represent you, the homeowners, on the Board. The annual meeting also saw many homeowners offering great ideas the Board will review over the coming year, and a financial presentation by the investment advisor discussing the strategy, portfolio and great return on our safe investments for the HOA investment account. Additionally, the Garden Club finished the landscape redesign of the area adjacent to the bridge entrance and a special thanks to Jean Holladay for her support on this project.
December saw the neighborhood get into the Holiday spirit with many homeowners going all out decorating their homes with holiday lights. A special Thank You to the Garden Club for going above and beyond to decorate the main entrance and Gazebo for the holidays, along with the new Mews entrance brick monument sign. In addition, for coordinating with Mrs. Claus to get on Santa’s busy schedule to visit the Gazebo for the kids. Let’s hope this winter is a little milder than last year and the frigid temps stay far to the north. Wishing everyone a safe, healthy and prosperous 2015.
Spring 2015
President’s Corner
It is hoped that everyone made it through a cold winter with no health issues or even home issues like frozen pipes. Spring has finally arrived along with welcoming warmer temperatures. The Board of Directors looks forward to everyone getting out and sprucing up your home’s exterior and landscaping. As home values and more importantly, home prices continue to increase, the curb appeal of our community is a key selling point. April and May are perfect times to begin considering that fresh coat of paint on your home or trim, a clean pressure washing of fences, driveways & homes, landscaping enhancements or even a new addition to your home.
As always, please plan early when making an exterior change to your home to ensure you get your Architectural Change Application with required sites plans and designs submitted to the Select Group in enough time for AREC committee review and Board of Directors Review. When submissions are timely and complete, the entire process usually takes less than 30 days.
As a reminder, the Association Manager makes regular tours of the community to ensure compliance with the rules and bylaws. If you are a homeowner with tenants in your home, it is your responsibility to ensure they are fully aware of the rules and bylaws. Often, rules violations like Sunday quiet hours for lawn equipment/mowers/construction and early trash bags on the curb are from tenants who just were not aware. The fines issued are to the homeowner and not the tenant, so please help us by keeping your tenants apprised of the rules. We cannot issue a HOA package of rules and Bylaws to a tenant.
Please do not hesitate to contact any Board member or The Select Group whenever you have questions, concerns and most importantly, new ideas to ensure Church Point remains one of the premier communities in Virginia Beach.
Summer 2015
President’s Corner
Summer has arrived and I hope everyone had a joyful and safe 4th of July holiday. Although things have been relatively quiet in the neighborhood the last several months, I did want to let the homeowners know that the numerous complaints this year about the condition of our landscaping are being actively addressed by the Board. The spring saw a lot of positive changes from Basnight Lawn Service with respect to work crew manning, staffing, quantity and especially supervision. A new maintenance crew and new supervisor (with previous experience in Church Point) is now in place. These changes did unfortunately come late this spring and multiple areas of the neighborhood and homeowners endured unacceptable levels of maintenance, to include 12” plus tall grass behind homes, improper/inadequate pruning and other deficiencies. The Board takes these issues seriously, as the performance of the landscape company directly impacts the curb appeal of our neighborhood. We are in the final year of the current landscape contract, and to date, Basnight has been implementing corrective actions to avoid termination, but the Board will be going to bid this fall for a new landscape contract. We realize many homeowners use Basnight services personally for their homes along with Bishop’s Court, and as such, should Basnight continue to turn things around and perform within expectations of the current contract, they will be afforded the opportunity to bid on the new one.
Home sales have risen this year, which is great news as home values have also increased, but we are also seeing a surge in the number of landscape and trash bag violations being issued by the Community Manager. Failure to maintain your yards, to include regular grass cutting, weed control in lawns and beds and shrubbery pruning, is a rules violation, as is putting out yard bags to the curb prior to Tuesday afternoon. More importantly, failure to maintain your property directly impacts curb appeal, which is critical to making potential new homeowners feel like this is the community they want to live in and raise a family. It takes everyone’s participation and cooperation to keep our community looking great. Please stay on top of yard maintenance every week, especially if leaving town for extended vacations, by having neighbors or landscape companies take care of your yards while you are away.
Fall 2015
President’s Corner
Hopefully, everyone had an enjoyable summer and is appreciating the arrival of cooler fall temperatures. I’m sure many of you are glad to be past the recent spate of inclement weather and that Hurricane Joaquin decided not to visit Hampton Roads.
First of all, let me thank the Social Committee for a fantastic community picnic at the park across from the Manor House. What a terrific turnout to see so many neighbors of Church Point come together for a wonderful afternoon of fun, food and entertainment. As mentioned in the previous newsletter, landscape services continue to be a high priority for the Board as curb appeal is paramount for the community. The current landscape contractor has had challenges this year that resulted in performance levels below required expectations. As such, the Board has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for community landscape services to multiple bidders with a contract start date of March 2016 for a period of 2016-2018.
The annual meeting this year is scheduled for Wednesday, November 18th at 6:30pm in meeting rooms 4 & 5 of the Bayside Recreation Center. Registration will begin at 6:00PM. In addition to reviewing the 2015 budget, we will also be holding annual elections for Board positions with three incumbent Board members up for re-election this year – Chris Caporicci, Jack Palmer, and Neil Bonney. I hope everyone can attend the annual meeting and bring any new ideas, concerns, or comments to the Board or just come and say hi to everyone. With school back in session, please drive cautiously when school buses are loading and dropping off children. Additionally, as the holiday seasons approach, as always, please watch your speed through the community, be on the lookout for joggers & cyclists and be especially cautious on Halloween with the children in costume. Happy upcoming holidays to everyone and hope to see you at the Annual Meeting.
Winter 2016
President’s Corner
Happy 2016 to everyone and I hope each of you had a joyful and safe holiday season. It was terrific to see all the festive lights and decorations throughout Church Point, and gr eat job to the Social Committee for again organizing the holiday lights contest. I want to also say a special thank you to our Garden Club for the annual decorating of the entrances with garland, wreaths and bows. This year, as was agreed to by the owners at the annual meeting, we added holiday lights to the crepe myrtle trees in the center island of the main entrance. Hopefully, you felt it added more holiday cheer to the main entrance but the Board would love to hear more feedback from the community on it. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to any board member and let us know if you liked the added lights, didn’t liked them or would like to expand the lights further for next season maybe to trees around the gazebo. We truly need your feedback to continue to make Church Point one of the premier communities in Virginia Beach. The Board is elected to serve you and we need to hear from you to help us do our jobs.
Congratulations to Chris Caporicci, Neil Bonney and Jack Palmer who were up for re-election and will continue to serve on the Board of Directors for another two years. The 2016 was budget was presented and reviewed by the homeowners at the annual meeting. As mentioned at last year’s annual meeting, a HOA dues increase would be necessary this year (our first in 4 years). As the homeowners indicated at the 2014 annual meeting, instead of small annual increases, the dues increase will be in lump sum amount of $5 extra per quarter ($20 extra /year) for a total of $89/Qtr to cover the HOA for the next several years and avoid additional increases during that period. There was discussion at the annual meeting about making a donation to an organization that survives solely on donations and impacts 100% of every home in the community 24x7x365. It was agreed to by the homeowners at the annual meeting to make an annual donation of $1,000 from the HOA general fund (approx $2.50 per home) to Rescue Squad 4 located just a stone’s throw down Greenwell at the corner of Shore Drive. The dedicated volunteers at Rescue 4 are the first responders to Church Point and only operate on donations to provide care when needed. We hope you never need their assistance, but from experience, I can tell you we are grateful to have them so close and ready to help.
May we continue to dodge major winter storms this season as we look forward to spring, which is right around the corner!
Spring 2016
President’s Corner
I’m sure you are as happy as I am that the cold weather appears behind us and spring is finally here. As mentioned in previous newsletters and at the annual meeting, the Board went to bid on our landscape contract after numerous ongoing challenges we faced with the previous vendor. After narrowing down the multiple bidders to two, and following individual interviews, the Board awarded the landscape contract to Valley Crest. As many of you may have heard, Valley Crest merged last year with Brickman to form a vast national presence and will be re-branded shortly as BrightView. Valley Crest took over the contract in early March and has already made great strides in cleaning up the landscaping from winter, especially the hollies/crepe myrtles along First Court Road and installing the spring mulch throughout the neighborhood. Spring is the perfect time for all homeowners to take a look at your yards, home exteriors, driveways and fences. Although most homeowners do a fantastic job maintaining their yards and homes, there are several properties that need lawn and landscape attention, pressure washing of fences and driveways, and could use some exterior painting.
The Board recently began preparing the lake for warmer weather, having maintenance performed on the lake pump, to include replacing the seals/gaskets, as well as initiating a pro-active stance against disease carrying mosquitoes. Upon consultation and recommendations from Solitude, the lake management company, the Board approved stocking the lake with minnows. Minnows have a great appetite for mosquito larvae, and will help to eliminate the lake as a source of mosquito breeding. We encourage homeowners to regularly check around their homes for areas of standing water, which will also help to eliminate potential mosquito breeding areas.
Finally, the Board recently approved repairs to the wooden rails along First Court Road that were damaged from a vehicle collision that occurred after it took out a light pole. The association could not file for repairs against the vehicle owner’s insurance due to being unable to identify the owner and the exact date the accident took place. If homeowners see similar events in the future that damage Church Point property, please notify The Select Group or a Board member right away with details, dates, descriptions and/or photos. It’s always better to make repairs with money from the person causing the damage.
Summer 2016
President’s Corner
I hope everyone is finally enjoying the sunshine of summer after a very rainy spring. The new landscape
company appears to have things under control and the common areas continue to improve. The Board of Directors is working with the Garden Club on some minor landscaping enhancements to the shrubs and flowers at the two entrances. Some older plant material will be replaced or relocated and new color perennials planted to freshen up the appearance when entering the community. Additionally, some Indian Hawthorn shrubs died in front of the Gazebo and these planting beds will be re-worked also. The new plantings won’t go in until the cooler fall weather is upon us. The Board has contracted for the removal of several sections of dead red tip trees east of the main entrance towards the golf course.
It came to the attention of the Board that there was a “hang out” in the woods behind the Gazebo, potentially being used by the homeless. Although no homeless individuals were seen, youths were seen coming out the woods in the vicinity, so the Board took action to have the entire area cleaned out. The safety of homeowners, and especially the children that play in the Gazebo field are of paramount importance. Two members of the Board of Directors along with two bordering neighbors from Thoroughgood joined forces and hauled out multiple bags of debris, trash, tarps, etc. to include a full size sofa bed. This area of the woods behind the Gazebo will be checked periodically now to ensure it remains clear. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the summer, as the school year will be upon us before we know it. In the interim, please continue to remain vigilant while driving in the community as children are out playing along with bikers and joggers.
Fall 2016
President’s Corner
Many of you will be glad to see summer and all the rains that came with it come to an end, especially in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew. Although the community lost several trees and dealt with the debris cleanup, the reported damage to homes was minimal with the exception of recurring flooding in the Mews. In addition to the noted trees, common area damage consisted of a blown down street sign (reinstalled with assistance from Jack Palmer from the Board) and damage to the lights on the bridge from flood waters cresting at the top of the rails.
Fall is also time for our annual meeting scheduled to be held on Wednesday, November 16th at 6:30PM at the Bayside Recreation Center (check in starting at 6:00). As always, homeowners are encouraged to attend, meet their neighbors and share ideas and feedback with your Board of Directors. Please note, the original mailing by Select Group on the annual meeting had incorrect dates. The confirmed date is Wednesday, November 16th and proxies are due the week prior.
The new landscaping beds at the main entrance and the Mews entrance are now complete and a special thank you goes out to the Garden Club for working with our new landscape company, BrightView, to freshen up the look of both entrances. Several sections of dead red tip shrubs were removed east of the main entrance and will be replaced shortly with hollies to maintain the similar look found along First Court Road. The gazebo suffered several incidents of vandalism this summer, with the rails being repeatedly kicked down and broken.
It is unsure if the vandals were youths or strangers stopping by playing Pokémon Go (the gazebo was identified as a public gym). A request was sent to Pokémon Go software developers to remove the gazebo as a gym since it is private HOA property and not open for general public usage.
Additionally, several members of the Board of Directors along with help from neighbor Mike Guglielmo, had to make a second trip into the woods behind the gazebo field and remove a tent and other items that youths were using as a hang out in the woods. Thank you to Mike for lending a much-appreciated helping hand.
I hope everyone enjoys the upcoming holidays and I look forward to seeing many of you at the annual meeting in November.
Winter 2017
President’s Corner
I hope that you all had a safe and joyful holiday season, as well as a happy new year. In November, the annual Homeowners’ meeting was held at the Bayside Recreation Center. Unfortunately, we did not meet minimum attendance requirements equal to 10% of the community, and thus did not make quorum.
But fortunately, we did have great open discussion among homeowners and an extremely informative presentation provided by our investment manager, Mr. Joe Monaco, from Monaco Capital Management who continues to perform above expectations for the HOA. Additionally, Rick Little and I were appointed for another term to the Board of Directors and will retain our positions as Treasurer and President respectively.
December saw the neighborhood get into the annual holiday spirit with many homeowners going all out decorating their homes with holiday lights. A wonderful contest was coordinated by the Social Committee, and I understand the selection of winners that night took extra time due to all of the wonderful competition. Thank you to the Garden Club for decorating both entrances and Gazebo with wreaths and lights for the holidays. The Board approved the annual roving security patrols during the holidays again this year and fortunately no crimes or home break-ins were reported. The dead Red Tip shrubs along First Court Road, east of the main entrance towards the golf course, were replaced with holly trees. Several of the hollies have died since transplant and will be replaced shortly under warranty. Additionally, a couple of the trees along Church Point Road that were hit by cars will be replaced this spring. Let us hope this winter is a little milder than last year and the frigid temps stay far to the north!
Spring 2017
Spring has finally arrived along with welcoming warmer temperatures. The Board of Directors looks forward to everyone getting out and sprucing up your home’s exterior and landscaping. As home values and more importantly, home prices continue to increase, the curb appeal of our community is a key selling point. Spring is the perfect time to begin considering that fresh coat of paint on your home or trim, a clean pressure washing of fences, driveways & homes, landscaping enhancements or even a new addition to your home. As always, please plan early when making an exterior change to your home to ensure you get your Architectural Change Application with required site plans and designs submitted to the Select Group in enough time for AREC committee review and Board of Directors Review. I want to extend a special thank you from the Board to the Garden Club for their hard work cleaning up trash and debris around the perimeter of our lake.
We had some issues recently with solicitors in Church Point resulting in the police being called. Although we have posted “No Soliciting”, the reality is that most of Church Point has public roads and streets (Bishops Court private community being the exception). We cannot stop the public from entering the community, parking on our streets and soliciting but they must have a city issued permit per city code.
As a homeowner, you have the right to restrict soliciting at your private residence and advise the solicitor your home is private property and they must leave. If they fail to leave or continue to harass you, please contact the VBPD at their non-emergency number. On a similar topic, and in discussion with the VBPD 3rd precinct, because our streets are public and not private, we cannot restrict homeowners from having visitors or guests and allowing them to park on the street nor can we control the frequency of those visits. Should gatherings become noisy in disturbing the peace, trash and debris left in street or in yards, vandalism and/or any other indications of unruly gatherings, only then can the VBPD be contacted to investigate. We all strive to ensure our community remains one of the premier neighborhoods in VB but it takes all neighbors working together to ensure success.
Fall 2017
President’s Corner
I hope everyone had an enjoyable summer and is relishing the cooler fall temperatures that have finally arrived. Recently, all homeowners should have received a large mailing from The Select Group announcing the annual meeting, the Board of Directors candidate forms with proxy for elections and finally the two proposed amendments to the Declarations with voting proxy. The annual meeting this year is scheduled for Monday, November 20th at 6:30pm in the meeting rooms of the Bayside Recreation Center. Registration will begin at 6:00PM. In addition to reviewing the 2017 budget, we will also be holding annual elections for Board positions with three incumbent Board members up for re-election this year – Chris Caporicci, Jack Palmer, and Neil Bonney. If you are unable to attend the annual meeting to vote in person, please mail your election voting proxy back to The Select Group.
After numerous deliberations and time spent with our association attorney, The Board has drafted two proposed amendments for changes in our Declarations related specifically to rental properties. It is imperative that all homeowners review the proposed amendments and vote on them in person at the annual meeting or via the proxy form that must be signed and mailed back to The Select Group with your vote. The first amendment change is to limit the lease duration for rentals to a period no less than 1 year. We have recently had several significant challenges with renters in the community and, in the course of trying to resolve the issues; it became apparent that the homeowner was renting this home on a month to month basis with no background checks on their tenants. Additionally, this amendment is to stay ahead of the growing trend of homeowners’ renting through Airbnb in which homes can be rented for short durations such as a just a day, a weekend or a month.
The second proposed amendment change to the Declarations is to impose a rental cap on the neighborhood. This is a precautionary move to again stay ahead of trends and ensure Church Point remains primarily a community of single family homes where homeowners live and reside. Church Point is currently at approximately 13% rentals and the proposed amendment rental cap would be placed at 15%. This allows all current owners who are renting their homes to be grandfathered for approval to rent provided compliance with the amendments. If there are any questions or clarifications needed for either of the proposed amendments to the Declarations, please attend the annual meeting so they can be addressed and discussed.
Finally, the Board is executing some major renovation and refurbishment projects focusing on the bridge as well as the asphalt paths. The bridge will have rotting wood addressed, and be cleaned and seal coated with the lighting restored where sections have been knocked out. Similar work will be performed at the Gazebo. Along the asphalt paths, new supplemental drainage is being installed along the longer Gazebo path that connects to Thoroughgood. Additionally, all paths are being refurbished, to include the elimination and replacement of multiple trip hazards from root uplifts, and a new seal coat. I look forward to seeing everyone at the annual meeting on November 20th.
Winter 2018
President’s Corner
I hope that you all had a safe and joyful holiday season and a happy new year. For those that attended the annual meeting in November, it was great to see everyone, and what a tremendous turnout we had. The Annual Meeting had elections for three Board members and I am happy to announce the three incumbent Directors will be returning for another two-year term to serve the homeowners – congratulations to Chris Caporicci, Neil Bonney, and Jack Palmer. The annual meeting also saw a great financial presentation from Joe Monaco (Monaco Capital Management, LLC) who is the investment advisor managing the strategy and portfolio of safe investments for the HOA investment account. We additionally had an informative presentation by the Flood Committee detailing the flooding history and current situation with planned city improvements to hopefully resolve the flood issues that are impacting Church Point and Thoroughgood.
The main event at the annual meeting was the discussion and voting for the two proposed amendments to our documents. The first proposed amendment was to create rental term limits restricting all rental leases to a one- year minimum term. It was written to ensure that we don’t have short term rental leases like month to month that could result in tenants not as focused on maintaining their homes or following the rules. This amendment would also allow us to get ahead of and eliminate the current trends of short term Airbnb online rentals. After a short discussion, the vote was called for this amendment and the results were almost unanimous in APPROVING this amendment. A copy of the recorded amendment was recently mailed to all homeowners for your records and will be part of all future document packages provided for resale.
The second amendment on the table for discussion and voting was to establish a rental cap for the community. The intent of this amendment was to set a limit on the number of homes in the community that could be rented at any one time. This amendment was written and recommended, in consultation with the HOA attorney, as a hindrance and deterrence to real estate investors that might purchase homes in Church Point with no intent of living in the community but only to rent the property. Since, as of November 2017, we were at 10% current rental homes as determined by a list of offsite homeowner addresses, and with all known records indicating the community hasn’t exceeded 15% since developer control, the amendment set the rental cap at 15%. Since consideration had to be afforded to all homeowners currently renting, a grandfather clause was inserted into the amendment to ensure those owners currently renting their homes would be allowed to continue to rent under the cap as long as they abided by the current rental rules. The Board also ensured the attorney wrote the capability of the Board to issue rental cap waivers (for special hardships or military transfers as examples) if applied for and approved by the Board.
There was a tremendous amount of discussion related to the rental cap amendment from homeowners, particularly concerning the selection of 15% for the cap limit, confusion over the legal language of the amendment, clarification on the grandfathering and also on the waiver option. Although initial indications of those owner’s in attendance weren’t favorable towards this amendment, by the end of the discussion period the overwhelming majority of homeowners in attendance were in favor of the amendment and the vote was called. Although consensus for approval was extremely high in the room vote, a couple of owners brought in a large stack of proxy votes from a section of the community that were all no votes. That quantity of no votes was just enough to ensure the yes votes did not achieve the required 2/3 majority and the second amendment for the rental cap was NOT APPROVED.
The Board understands the complexity of the amendment which warranted the need for an extended discussion period at the annual meeting before the vote was called. Although there was disappointment in the room after the vote was announced, it was clear the homeowners present felt comfortable with the amendment after getting their questions answered and the consensus was to reintroduce the amendment again in the future for vote as a positive step for the community. The Board believes that many of the owners that voted no via those proxy votes were not afforded and provided the full and complete details of the specifics of the amendment. There was a lot of money expended in the writing and distribution for vote of these amendments and the Board must emphasize to all owners to please ensure you fully understand the details when voting via proxy. Please do not hesitate to ask questions of the Board or the Association manager for absolute clarity, especially on critical votes that affect the entire neighborhood. The Board will consider reintroducing the amendment again in the future.
As always, the Board is here to serve you and we welcome your feedback, ideas and recommendations all year long. In closing, I hope everyone stays well during the winter and this year’s challenging flu season.
Spring 2018
President’s Corner
Spring has finally arrived, along with welcoming warmer temperatures. The Board of Directors looks forward to everyone getting out and sprucing up your home’s exterior and landscaping. Maintaining your yard and the exterior of your home appearance is critical for curb appeal as home values and more importantly, home prices continue to increase. Spring and summer are perfect times to begin considering that fresh coat of paint on your home, a pressure washing of fences (especially for the homes along First Court Road), driveways & homes, landscaping enhancements or even a new addition to your home.
As a reminder, the Association Manager makes regular tours of the community to ensure compliance with the rules and bylaws. The emphasis of the Association Manager’s review this spring was for rules compliance on maintaining yards (cut regularly and weed free) along with home exteriors (cleaning, painting and rooted wood replacement). The violation letters and the occasional fines (which have increased recently for rule violations) are only issued to the homeowner and not the tenant. So please keep your tenants apprised of the rules. If you are a homeowner with tenants in your home, it is your responsibility to ensure your tenant is fully aware of the rules and bylaws since violation letters and fines are issued to the homeowner of record.
As mentioned in the last newsletter article by Neighborhood Watch, the Gazebo asphalt path had some vandalism related to the crushing of the copper colored wood column caps. The Board replaced the caps only to have them vandalized again. Thus, we will not be replacing the caps and will instead apply a sealant to the tops of the wood posts to reduce deterioration from rain and sun. Additionally, the bridge at the lake has been refurbished with rotted wood replaced and a sealant applied to the wood for preservation. Please do not hesitate to contact any Board member or The Select Group whenever you have questions, concerns and most importantly new ideas to ensure Church Point remains one of the premier communities in Virginia Beach.
Fall 2018
President’s Corner
I hope everyone had an enjoyable summer and is relishing the cooler fall temperatures that have finally arrived. Recently, all homeowners should have received a mailing from The Select Group announcing the annual meeting and the Board of Directors candidate forms with proxy for elections. The annual meeting this year is scheduled for Tuesday, November 20th at 6:30pm in the meeting rooms of the Bayside Recreation Center. Registration will begin at 6:00PM. In addition to reviewing the 2019 budget, we will also be holding annual elections for two Board positions this year. The candidates are two incumbent Board members up for re- election – Peter Burke and Matt Ripley along with a third candidate running for a board seat – Mr. Donald Degner. If you are unable to attend the annual meeting to vote in person, please mail your election voting proxy back to The Select Group.
As a reminder, at last year’s annual meeting an amendment to our documents was approved limiting rental terms in Church Point to a minimum of 1 year. This amendment applies to renting your home or even a bedroom in your home and requires that a copy of all leases be submitted to the Select Group. The rental lease will be filed in your home address folder and logged for review by the Board. Failure to submit a copy of your lease is a violation of the rules now in effect. As the homeowner, you are required to ensure your tenants are aware of the association rules to include that the tenant is responsible for maintaining the landscaping. We recently had a tenant who was not maintaining the landscaping of a rental property which detracts from the overall appearance of the community and results in the homeowner being in violation.
We realize our documents are an extremely large package of information and can be daunting and intimidating to even sit down and read. I can’t stress the importance of knowing what the documents say and more so, what the rules are. We’ve recently had several instances of new owners not reading the documents and thus not only unfamiliar with the rules but also the required processes. We want every homeowner to be proud of living in Church Point and be great neighbors. The Board doesn’t enjoy issuing violations to homeowners but has an obligation to enforce the same rules for every homeowner. The Board can’t see or be aware of everything that occurs in the community and we rely on all homeowners to assist us in keeping our community looking great. If you see violations, vandalism, damage to our community, tree limbs down, or safety concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out and notify the Association Manager so we can get these issues addressed and corrected as soon as possible.
I look forward to seeing everyone at the annual meeting on November 20th.
Winter 2019
President’s Corner
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a safe and joyful holiday season. On November 20th, we held the annual meeting at the Bayside Recreation Center. The meeting was well attended and thank you to all the homeowner’s that did attend to help us achieve a quorum. The annual Board of Directors election had three candidates on the ballot with two incumbents running for re-election, myself and Matt Ripley, along with a new candidate from Bishops Court and a write-in candidate. Both incumbent candidates were re-elected to the Board and I know I speak for Matt when I say we are both honored to have been re-elected for another 2-year term to represent you, the homeowners, on the Board.
Annually the costs to maintain our aging trees in the common land continue to climb – especially along the carriage path (common path that borders the golf course). These costs can reach a couple thousand dollars per tree for the removal of an aged, tall dead tree. A terrific suggestion was made by our Landscape Committee Chairman, Ron Dennis, at the annual meeting to proactively eliminate the ivy growth on the trees that is detrimental to the longevity and health of the trees. Ron has taken his time to identify over 50 trees along the carriage path at risk from ivy by marking them with yellow spray paint. Myself, along with my wife and fellow Board member Jack Palmer, have worked several of the recent weekends in January tackling the ivy removal by cutting and removing ivy vines around the trunks of trees. The ivy vines can range from 1” to over 4” inches thick having been growing for decades or more. It is slow going and labor intensive thus, in an effort to continue to be good stewards of the HOA finances, we are seeking volunteers willing to donate an hour or so of their time on Saturdays during the month of February to help continue to clear the remaining 30 plus trees. If you are interested and able to assist, please send me an email at president.churchpointhoa@gmail.com and I will advise and coordinate meeting locations to tackle the ivy on the trees.
Additionally, we recently had a couple of car accidents on First Court Road that damaged HOA property to include a couple sections of wooden railing down in the Mews along with a sign post and one of the brick columns along the main entry drive lane. The Board has pursued the insurance carriers for both accidents and all repairs will be covered with no expenditure of HOA funds.
Finally, December saw the neighborhood get into the Holiday spirit with many homeowners going all out decorating their homes with holiday lights. Thank you to the Social Committee for coordinating the annual lights contest which I’m sure was difficult to judge this year with all the great looking homes. A special Thank You to the Garden Club for going above and beyond to decorate the community entrances and Gazebo for the holidays, along with the lights on the Crepe Myrtles as coordinated by the Board. Let’s hope this winter is a little milder than last year and the frigid temps don’t return. Wishing everyone a safe, healthy and prosperous 2019.
Spring 2019
President’s Corner
Spring has finally arrived along with welcoming warmer temperatures. The Board of Directors looks forward to everyone getting out and sprucing up your home’s exterior and landscaping to maintain the neighborhood curb appeal. Maintaining your yard and the exterior of your home appearance is critical for curb appeal as home values and more importantly, home prices continue to increase. As a reminder, the Association Manager makes regular tours of the community to ensure compliance with the rules and bylaws. The emphasis of the Association Manager’s review this spring is for rules compliance on maintaining yards (cut regularly and weed free) along with home exteriors (cleaning, painting and rooted wood replacement). If you are a homeowner with tenants in your home, it is your responsibility to ensure your tenant is fully aware of the rules and bylaws since violation letters and fines are issued to the homeowner of record.
This past winter, we tackled the removal of ivy choking many of the taller trees on the carriage path. Thank you to the homeowners that did reach out to volunteer to help the Board, with a special thank you to Ron Dennis, Landscape Coordinator, who personally took the brunt of the work load and accomplished many of the tree ivy removals.
If you live in the Mews section, you might have recently seen several City crews fixing potholes. This was a direct result of work orders for the Public Works Division entered through the city’s website for service requests commonly called: “SEECLICKFIX”. Click on the link below for access to the Public Works page:https://www.vbgov.com/government/departments/public-works/Pages/service-requests.aspx.
The website allows every homeowner to report maintenance issues on city roads to include everything from potholes and animal carcasses to traffic lights and light poles being out.
After reporting an issue, you will receive regular updates emailed back to you on the status of the work order, plus you can see other requests that have been entered to reduce duplication. I’ve used the web tool myself to report street lights and several of those potholes recently repaired in Church Point – pictures can be attached also. Reminder, the roads and sidewalks, to include the light poles, are City responsibility in Church Point (with the exception of Bishop’s Court) thus issues need to be addressed to City Public Works and not The Select Group or The Board. We need every homeowner’s diligence in reporting issues with our community streets and even sidewalks (raised slabs from tree roots can be trip hazards / safety issues).
Please do not hesitate to contact any Board member or The Select Group whenever you have questions, concerns and most importantly, new ideas to ensure Church Point remains one of the premier communities in Virginia Beach.
Summer 2019
President’s Corner
I hope everyone had a happy Fourth of July and endured the scorching heat wave of July. Hopefully, August will be more seasonal as Fall is around the corner. Fall is a great time to focus on your landscaping also, especially seeding yards and pruning trees/shrubs. Fall is also time for our annual meeting in November which will be held the week before Thanksgiving as was requested last year. This year’s meeting has been tentatively scheduled for Monday the 18th of November at the Bayside Recreation center, so please mark your calendars now. The Board will be finalizing the 2020 budget in August and a mailing will go out in early September to announce the annual meeting and provide a copy of the budget for everyone.
Also in the mailing will be a proposed Amendment change for review and vote (vote via proxy or attendance at the annual meeting). This Amendment change is specific to homeowners’ driveways – currently our documents specifically indicate that the only approved surface for driveways is EXPOSED AGGREGATE or STAMPED CONCRETE. Since the time when the original documents were drafted, new materials have become prevalent for driveway usage, specifically concrete pavers. The current available pavers for driveways are not only aesthetically pleasing but can provide an upscale look to your home and subsequently positively impact resale value. The Board is recommending the language in our documents be modified to allow for pavers to be used as a driveway material – there will be stipulations and restrictions for shared driveways and alleys. As always, an AREC application would be required and needs Board approval before driveway changes could be made. If you have any questions on the amendment before the annual meeting or your vote via proxy, please don’t hesitate to ask a Board member or contact the Association Manager at The Select Group.
A special meeting specific to this amendment to the Declarations will be called prior to our annual homeowner meeting in November where discussion can be held, information gathered and finally a vote on the amendment will be called. We hope to see everyone there and should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Fall 2019
President’s Corner
I hope everyone had an enjoyable summer and is relishing the cooler fall temperatures that have finally arrived. Recently, all homeowners should have received a large mailing from The Select Group announcing the 2019 annual meeting, the Board of Directors candidate forms with proxy for elections and the proposed change to the documents with voting proxy. Unfortunately, the first mailing had an error with the listing of the Board members up for re-election which required a second mailing to go out from Select Group at no charge to the HOA. The annual meeting this year is scheduled for Monday, November 18th at 6:30pm in the meeting rooms of the Bayside Recreation Center (this is a week earlier than normal based on the feedback at last year’s annual meeting to not have the meeting the same week as Thanksgiving).
Registration will begin at 6:00PM. In addition to reviewing the 2020 budget, we will also be holding annual elections for Board positions with three incumbent Board members up for re-election this year – Ron Couture, Jack Palmer, and Neil Bonney. If you are unable to attend the annual meeting to vote in person, please mail your election voting proxy back to The Select Group.
The Board has worked with the HOA attorney from Vandeventer Black to propose an amendment for changes in our Declarations of Restrictions specific to Architectural Guidelines. When Church Point was developed, the original documents were written to ensure the community maintained a “high end” look by restricting driveway materials to only “Stamped concrete” or “Exposed Aggregate”. Over the years, the industry has changed, and a new element has become common to higher end neighborhoods – Concrete Pavers. As such, the Board is proposing language changes to the existing documents to allow for pavers to be an acceptable option. Conditions will exist with respect to shared driveways requiring that they must match and be of the same material.
It is imperative that all homeowners review the proposed amendment and vote on it either in person at the annual meeting or via the proxy form that must be signed and mailed back to The Select Group with your vote. I look forward to seeing everyone at the annual meeting on November 18th.