HomeMy WebLinkAboutO&M Manual PLAN FOR MAINTENANCE OF SUBDIVISION OPEN SPACE LANDS AND
OPERATION OF COMMON FACILITIES
3 4
Of
PARKSIDE PRESERVE
NAY 19 2000
Docket No. DOCS
For its plan for the maintenance of open space in Parkside Preserve,t e ;of
Petitioner, Pulte Homes of Indiana, herewith attaches a copy of the proposed Dec/arat n
of Covenants and Restrictions of Parkside Preserve.
The Parkside Preseve Homeowners Association, Inc. ("HOA")will be created prior to the
sale of the first lot in Parkside Preserve and will be entirely funded by the Petitioner until
the sale of lots begins to generate funds for the HOA. The"Common Area" of Parkside
Preserve will consist of open space around the entrance,the areas around the ponds, and
other open area throughout the community as indicated on the Primary Plat. Initially, the
Petitioner will install all of the landscaping, signage at the entry way,ponds, and the
landscaping for the ponds. The landscape plan shows a concentration of landscaping
along the 116"'perimeter. The Petitioner will also install street lighting along the entry
road leading to the first lots and street trees along all roads throughout the community.
The HOA will be responsible for maintaining,pruning,watering, spraying,
replacing, controlling, managing, insuring, and generally caring for the Common Areas.
The lights and trees in the Common Area will therefore be the responsibility of the HOA.
The other trees and lights will be the responsibility of the Petitioner until the lots with
those features are sold, and then they will be the responsibility of the buyers of the lots.
Because the Petitioner will be underwriting all of the expenses of the HOA until the
general assessments levied against lot purchasers are sufficient to carry the expenses of
the HOA, the Common Areas will be maintained to a high standard in order to induce
sales of lots in Parkside Preserve and there is no risk that the HOA would be short of
funds with which to operate. The Petitioner will be obliged to underwrite the HOA
unless and until all of the lots are sold, or the Petitioner voluntarily relinquishes control of
the HOA, or January 1, 2008, whichever occurs first.
The entry way will include lighting for the sign,which will be integrated into a
large masonry wall. There will be expenses for watering the grass and landscaping at the
entryway through an underground irrigation system, electricity for illuminating the sign
and running the pumps for the sprays in the ponds, and electricity for the street lights
located in the Common Area. There will be a modest amount of insurance due to the low
insurable value of the improvements in the Common Area. There will be periodic
maintenance expenses for the ponds to prevent sedimentation, etc., to keep the drainage
system functional, and to maintain the landscaping along the banks. It is anticipated that
the banks will be planted with grass and similar plants so as to better filter the water and
retain a natural and well-maintained bank for the ponds. It is not anticipated that"rip-
M`
rap"will be used on the banks. Homeowners will have access to the banks of the ponds
for the purposes of walking and observing the wildlife in accordance with rules to be
developed by the Board of Directors of the HOA. Boating, swimming,wading, and other
uses of the water itself will probably be strictly prohibited.
Management of the Common Area,while nominally with the HOA and the
Petitioner, will actually be done by an independent contractor which is familiar with the
issues involved and which will be responsible to the HOA for its performance. There
will be a written contract with the contractor and the HOA which will be renewable by
the parties from year to year. When the homeowners assume control of the HOA, they
should have the right to continue the contract and will probably do so if the contractor has
been doing a quality job.
The HOA, as underwritten by the Petitioner, will be funding all of the expenses of
maintaining the Common Area, together with the insurance, real estate taxes on the
Common Area,bookkeeping, collections, etc. The Petitioner has not solicited or received
bids to perform the above work, including purchasing of insurance, and will probably not
have any bids until the landscaping is nearing completion,which will be mid-2001. The
insurance will be purchased as soon as the HOA is formed by filing the Articles of
Incorporation with the Indiana Secretary of State. Real estate taxes will not be incurred
until the Common Areas are conveyed to the HOA,which will not occur until after the
Secondary Plat is recorded, and then, in all likelihood, the taxes will be zero until at least
14 months thereafter because of the manner in which property is assessed and taxed in
Indiana. Initially,the Petitioner or an affiliate will be performing the entity management
function and will be doing the bookkeeping,bill paying, assessment billing and
collection, and so forth. After the homeowners assume control of the HOA, they will be
free to decide if a volunteer is able and willing to do the entity management functions or
if a professional property/association manager should be selected. In any event, it is
highly unlikely that any member of the HOA will volunteer to perform all of the
functions of the HOA without help from an independent contractor.
The initial assessment is $500.00 per lot, which will be placed in a replacement
reserve and used only for replacement of Common Area which has worn out, etc., and for
major and unanticipated repairs to the Common Area. It is likely that the first general
assessment will be in the $400 to $500 per year range, depending on the exact nature of
the landscaping and the bids of independent contractors. All lots will be equally
assessed, so until all lots are sold the Petitioner will be paying the same amount for each
lot it owns as the homeowners will be paying for their lots. If the assessments are not
sufficient to pay all of the bills,then the Petitioner must pay the bills through a
contribution to the HOA. If the assessments are excessive, then the money will
accumulate in the treasury of the HOA.
In Parkside Preserve,most of the Common Area will be covered with grass,
water, and landscaping, which will not consume very much money to maintain, manage,
and insure. Replacements should be negligible because of the guaranties of the
nurserymen and pump vendors. Even the real estate taxes should be negligible because
r
all that will be taxed will be open space and ponds. Therefore, it should not be a financial
burden on the Petitioner or the homeowners to maintain the Common Areas and
continued high-quality maintenance of the open spaces should be assured.
By:
Sean Degen, Vice President of Operations
Pulte Homes of Indiana