Stockbridge Homes

Board of Directors

Meeting Dates

Meetings are held on the 4th Wednesday of each month at 7:30 p.m at the Marylin J. Praisner Library (formerly known as the Fairland Library) Meeting Room, 14920 Old Columbia Pike, Burtonsville, MD (301) 421-5400. (No meetings are held in the months of August and December)

Dates for association meetings for June 2011 through November 2011 are listed below. The order of business for monthly board meetings follows this general outline.  Homeowners may attend any monthly meeting, however, the Board retreats into executive (closed) session for agenda items that relate to the privacy of homeowners. 

The meeting agenda is:

• Homeowner Concerns
• Minutes of Last Meeting
• Property Manager Reports
• Financial Manager Report
• Committee Reports
• Old Business
• New Business

For a copy of minutes (sanitized to protect homeowners names) please contact us.

Trash and Recycling

Our neighborhood is suffering from too much loose trash. The Association wants realtors to continue to show houses in Stockbridge because it is a desirable place to live. However, loose trash and improperly placed recycling or bulk disposal will affect property values. Residents please be sure to:

• Place all trash in plastic bags and then heavy duty garbage cans
• Only place trash out after 7 p.m on Monday and Thursday (nights before pickup)
• Place recycling materials in blue bins and newspaper/magazines in PAPER bags
• Place overflow recycling in paper bags only
• Break down cardboard cartons

If you are a landlord let your renters know the rules.

Trash Pickup

Trash is picked up on Tuesday and Friday mornings.

If there is a federal holiday on pickup day, the pickup moves forward one day.

Trash cans have become necessary due to the spreading of garbage and refuse from plastic bags by crows, squirrels and RATS. The Association has a service contract for rat control to comprehensively address a problem which has been steadily growing over the last two years.

Make sure recycling materials are placed in appropriate containers and left at the curbside for Thursday morning pickup. Please place overflow materials in paper, not plastic, bags to prevent distribution by the wind.

Recycling

Recycling is picked up Thursday morning.

Bulk Trash

Please be aware that the Association must pay additional unbudgeted fees for large items abandoned a t the curb. Residents wishing to responsibly dispose of unwanted furniture, bedding and appliances can contact the Property Manager for the names of vendors who will haul away such items for a very reasonable fee. When residents irresponsibly set out items in the dead of night, we all end up paying for it in increased monthly assessments.

Around Memorial Day in May each year the Board orders a dumpster to assist RESIDENTS ONLY with spring cleaning and disposal of bulk items. Our trash collectors DO NOT pick up large items left at the curb. Please be responsible and save your bulk items (appliances, carpeting, bedding, furniture, construction materials) for the dumpster. If you can’t wait, please be responsible and contact a contractor directly. You may call the Property Manager to obtain the names of contractors with very reasonable rates or choose one from below:

• Whatever Services: Mr. Green - 410-382-8191
• Trashbusters.com 1-800-RID OF IT
• 1-800-Got-Junk
• Alpes Decorating, William 301-908-3165
• R & D Dawes Recycling 301-937-8143
• 1-800-GOT-JUNK

Guidelines

Patios, Sheds, and Balconies

The Shed roofs are the responsibility of the Association to maintain.  We ask that you help maintain them by not storing any items on the roofs; do not allow children or others to climb or sit on the sheds; and in the event of significant snowfall, please remember to remove snow from the shed roofs before it compacts or ices. The sheds are not constructed to bear weight, but only to enclose items such as trash cans, recycling bins, or firewood.

Satellite Television

Homeowners must file an architectural variance with the Board before installing a satellite dish anywhere on their property. This rule applies to owners and renters. The Association requires removal of satellites installed without permission, or dishes installed in unaccepted locations. We restrict the placement of the dishes to the fence in front of the unit, or on a post in the ground.  There are height requirements.

Maintenance

Water Heaters

Hot water heaters are the responsibility of the homeowner.  The original hot water heaters had an expected useful life of 10-12 years.  Stockbridge homes are nearing 25 years in age.  Homeowners have a duty to maintain their units and should immediately replace any original water heaters.  For assistance in identifying original heaters and evaluating volume discounts available through the association's contracted plumber, please contact the Property Manager.

Lawn Care

The Board does not expect (or even allow) homeowners to maintain the landscaping in common areas, although you can take care of the area inside your shed/fence if you wish. Any alterations to common area or property requires an exterior alteration application approved by the Board.

Our grounds maintenance contractor is for grounds maintenance, not grounds improvement. The contractor is required to mulch the existing beds twice yearly, to prune plantings annually, and to maintain the existing lawns with mowing, edging and pest control.

Consequently, we have to pay additional "a la carte" fees for any improvement activities, such as removing dead shrubs or trees, replacing plantings or laying sod. We have had significant additional expenditures in the last two years for these sorts of services due to the aging of the plantings, recommendations of the consultants for the foundation drainage project completed this past fiscal year and for security concerns. These additional expenditures will definitely contributed to dues increases.

The reseeding or re-sodding of the wooded area in front of your home would count as one of these "a la carte" items and would need to be formally requested of the contractor by the property manager. In practice, most such requests are initiated by homeowners who report the need for improvement to the property manager. If there is any question about the feasibility or cost-effectiveness of the project, the property manager would get an estimate for the work and bring to the Board for a decision.

Water Pipes (fall issue)

As the weather cools off, don't forget that homeowners are responsible for frozen water pipes. Safeguards should be taken by residents to protect any water pipes from freezing in extremely cold weather.

The following steps (as diagrammed) should be taken for hose bib maintenance:  If you are not sure how to do this, please contact William at Alpes Decorating 301-908-3165 and he can assist you.

1. Close the valve inside
2. Remove the garden hose
3. Open hose bib (leave open)
4. Drain vacuum breaker (location and operation vary with manufacturer)
5. Open bleed orifice at inside valve