Saturday May 17th 8am-?  Rain or Shine

For residents interested in joining the yard sale, please contact Stephanie Nichols.

New Journal Article January 19, 2007
Related Middletown Transcript Article

This article is about the Waterfarm (Sewage Treatment Facility) near Odessa Chase. It sits on the corner of Taylors Bridge Road and Old State Road. Evidently the county wants to significantly increase the amount of sewage that this facility treats and also wants to store sludge (solid waste byproduct of the sewage treatment process) on the waterfarm in one of the holding ponds. There are a number of people who beleive that if the county is allowed to do this, there will be a higher possibility of odors coming from the facility, discharges to the creek will increase and housing density in the area will also increase.

Date of Meeting: 12/06/06 Start time: 7:00pm
Location: Corbit-Calloway Library
Attendees: Board Members - Brian Falla, Eric Nichols and Jim Peraro
Paula Marsilii (NCC)
Approx. 11 homeowners

Appoquinimink School District Referendum:
Representatives discussed the upcoming referendum vote that is presented in a number of sections. One section is for building an early childhood learning center and an elementary school, preferably in Townsend. The next is to expand programs in foreign language to the elementary schools, expand related arts programs, as well as the expansion of the Twilight At Risk learning program and Technology programs. It will also fund high school career counselors. Another area is to purchase the Odessa Professional Park building for the district administration building to expand teacher-training areas, as well as construct two synthetic surface athletic fields. The last is the portion to cover the increase in teacher’s salaries as well as other operational costs and improvements to the aging buildings.

Treasurer’s Report:

• The balance as of 12/06/06 is $17,052.02.
  • Balance as of 09/06/06 was $19,342.46.
    
  • $1558.50 received in dues paid.
    
  • $3848.94 paid out.
  
  
• Status of 2006 dues:
  • 1 home unpaid
  
  
• Status of past due accounts (collection of these dues has been turned over to our attorney):
  • 2005 – 1 home unpaid
    
  • 2004 – 1 home unpaid
    
  • 2003 – 1 home unpaid

Ponds:
The vendor has already begun work on the items listed in the October inspection report (inspection was done in June 2006). The work needed is minimal. The Board expressed concern about residents who continue to put their grass clippings in the street or thrown into the open spaces. When the clippings flow with the water into the ponds, they create algae, creating more expense for the Maintenance Corporation and therefore the entire community.

Open Space:

• Several lot owners bordering the power lines had been mowing the meadow grasses. Signs were installed (too many according to some lot owners) that stated “Do Not Mowâ€?. These lot owners have been asked to let the meadow area grow and have the Maintenance Corporation mow it periodically.

To all Odessa Chase Residents,
For the last year, I have been doing the work of the President and Treasurer for our community. Numerous requests have gone out to the community for someone to take on the responsibilities of Treasurer. I cannot continue to fill both positions. This is too much work for one individual to do and it places me in a very uncomfortable position where I will be forced to decline the nomination for President should no other volunteers step forward. Please see the information below to see how this may affect each and every one of us.

Request:
Odessa Chase Maintenance Corporation is currently in dire need of volunteers to work on the Board. Currently only three serving board members are able to continue serving in 2007. The Maintenance Corporation cannot function with just these three members. Please consider volunteering for your community. The work is not hard and does not take up much time; it simply cannot be done by only a few individuals.

Why:
Should no nominations be received, OCMC will be forced to turn over its normal functions to a Property Management Company. As a result, the 2007 budget will have to include the cost of employing a Property Management Company. The average cost per lot for this service is $100, and would add approximately $10,700 in expenses. This is in addition to current annual expenses and it is an average cost. Our costs could be higher!
The current projections for the 2007 budget indicate that annual assessments (with a board made up of volunteers from our neighborhood) will be about $225 per household. If we do not get nominations for at least the positions of Treasurer and Vice President, the annual assessment will increase by approximately $100 to $325.

Worst Case Scenario:
Should we get no volunteers for these positions and the budget that includes a property management company does not get approved, the work done by the board will no longer be accomplished. When this happens the open spaces, entrance and playground areas will fall into disrepair with high weeds and grass and the ponds will no longer be compliant with county code. As a result, code violations would be issued, and the Maintenance Corporation (all homeowners within Odessa Chase are members of the Maintenance Corporation) would receive fines and court charges would be filed. If necessary, New Castle County will have a vendor perform the work. Each member (Odessa Chase homeowners) will then be invoiced by the county a pro rata share of the fines, court costs and vendor fees. The worse case scenario is that the county has the legal right to place a lien on individual lots until the fees are paid. This fact is detailed in our Maintenance Declaration.

Date of Meeting: 09/06/06 Start time: 7:00pm
Location: Corbit-Calloway Library
Attendees: Board Members - Brian Falla, Eric Nichols, Michelle Falla, Jim Peraro and Judy Smith, Paula Marsilii (NCC), Approx. 6 homeowners

Treasurer’s Report:

• The balance as of 09/06/06 is $19,342.46.
  Balance as of 06/07/06 was $22,790.15.
  $1589 received in dues paid.
  $5036.69 paid out.
  
• Status of 2006 dues:
  5 homes unpaid
  
• Status of past due accounts (collection of these dues has been turned over to our attorney):
  2005 – 1 home unpaid
  2004 – 1 home unpaid

Bring your shovel and meet at the front entrance. Lawn tractors with a small trailer are needed. Please call a board member for more information. This is a small tree planting event that shouldn't take that long.

A power auger will be supplied by DNREC. Please mark your calendars and help the community out. Cantwell Ridge has planted a total of 4,000 trees and was able to do so all because of homeowners who volunteered.
Please contact a board member for more info.

Two weeks ago a strange man was found peering into the back door of our community. Police were called to the scene but the trespasser was not found. If you have information or have an incident, you are encouraged to call the New Castle County Police.

Date of Meeting: 06/07/06 Start time: 7:00pm
Location: Corbit-Calloway Library
Attendees: Board Members - Brian Falla, Eric Nichols and Michelle Falla Approx. 17 homeowners

Treasurer’s Report:

• The balance as of 6/7/06 is $22,790.15.
  Balance as of 3/8/06 was $15,862.22
  $13,793.47 received
  $6,865.54 paid out
  
• Status of 2006 dues:
  12 homes unpaid
  
• Status of past due accounts (collection of these dues has been turned over to our attorney):
  2005 – 2 homes unpaid
  2004 – 1 home unpaid
  2003 – 1 home unpaid

• Brian has asked again that someone consider volunteering to do the Treasurer’s duties until Mike is able to resume the position.
  

We are in dire need of a treasurer while our current treasurer (Mike Smith) is helping with Katrina clean up efforts.  This job only requires an hour or two per week to maintain the books.  If anyone is interested, please contact anyone on the board. 

Your assistance will be much appreciated.

Since the last meeting there have been several developments related to open space. DNREC (DE Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control) has offered to help us with special thistle treatments in our most troublesome areas. This treatment is complete and our landscaper has begun broadleaf control applications on open space. There are at least 2 more applications planned. We are aggressively trying to reduce the amount of weeds in open space to allow natural grasses to take hold. The board is also looking into planting native wild flowers in key areas to help beautify and stabilize those areas. Residents are asked not to mow more than 20 feet beyond their property lines into open space. In order to control the spread of weeds, we need to allow the natural grasses to go to seed. This will not happen if the grasses are continually cut.

Residents with questions or concerns are strongly encouraged to contact a board member.