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Monthly HOA Meeting
The next Carrolltowne
Association HOA Meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 12, 2012 at
7:00 pm in the Small Meeting Room at the Eldersburg Branch of the Carroll County
Public Library. All residents are welcome to attend.
Trash Service - Please note that regardless of what you have heard or read, we have NOT entered into any contract with any trash collection or yard waste service provider. We are still in the process of determining how many of our residents would like to sign up based on the latest proposal provided to us. We are soon going to be coming around door to door to see if residents are interested. Details of the proposal will be available at that time. In order for us to take advantage of this proposal, we need to have a certain percentage signed up. Once we conclude our survey, we will let everyone know if we have enough people or not. Again, we have NOT entered into a contract at this time! Any questions, please contact us. Thanks!
Yard Sale - This year's yard sale will be held on Saturday, May 12, 2012, from 8:30 am to 1 pm. We will advertise in the Carroll County Times and place signs coming into the neighborhood.
Yard Waste Pickup - In lieu of Yard
Waste dumpsters, we will have curbside Yard Waste pickup on Friday, May 18,
2012.
All yard waste must be in paper bags and ready for pickup by 7 a.m.
Branches and limbs must be less than 3 inches around and 4.5 feet long.
No soil, lumber, wood chips, mulch or animal waste will be taken.
We are on Facebook! You must be a resident to join - please
search for "Carrolltowne Association, Inc." and request to join!
Monthly HOA Meeting Minutes are now posted. Please click here to view them.
2012 Spring/Summer HOA Newsletter
2012 Assessments
The annual HOA dues for the 2012 year are now overdue. Third notices have or are going out. This will be the last mailing from the association to those who have not paid their assessment. The next notice will be from the law firm that represents the association and the law fees are included in those mailing. To date we have 32 unpaid from this year, liens on 10 properties from past years and 3 judgments against 3 homeowners that owe the association $1,500 to $2,000 because of unpaid dues. Please don’t let this happen to you. If there is a financial problem we can work out a payment plan.
Events
The Easter Egg hunt was held on March 31 in the Andylin tot lot area. Neighborhood kids (grandkids) from ages 1-10 enjoyed the fun. There were lots of games, prizes, and of course, Easter Eggs for everyone! And of course, the Easter Bunny once again made an appearance. This was Judy Reed's last year organizing this event. Anyone interested in keeping this tradition going and organizing it for next year, please contact the board. If no one volunteers to head this up, we will unfortunately not have the event next year.
The yard sale will be Saturday May 12. We will advertise in the Carroll County Times and place signs coming into the neighborhood.
We are planning on getting the yard waste dumpsters again on Saturday, May 19, 2012. Restrictions include trimmings no thicker than 3 inches, no pressure treated wood, no rocks or dirt, and no root balls. As it was last year, this service is paid for from our dues and is for those residents up to date on their assessments.
Neighborhood Trash
There was a misunderstanding behind the copy of the proposal that we sent out in January. The intention was to show what services we might obtain if we contract as a community. As a result of some of the concerns, we contacted Carroll County Waste Services and they are interested in serving our community as well. They offered an outstanding proposal with a substantial savings over most rates. First off, everyone who participates in the Pay As You Throw (PAYT) program can remain in it without any changes. For regular customers the program would cost $216/year paid to the association, who then will pay CCWS. The basic service would include:
weekly trash and recycling collection on Mondays
provide each household with a recycling bin or toter
provide biweekly seasonal yard waste service from April through November
provide 2 community wide, curbside bulk pickup per year
rental of large lidded trash can for $20.00 per year per household is optional
PAYT customers would be required to pay an additional $50.00 per year if they wished to have yard waste and bulk pick up.
Along with the tremendous savings and services, the other advantages include the community not having multiple refuse trucks coming through the neighborhood on different days and we would no longer have early morning trucks.
A frequently asked question has been asked - regarding this program, what if a resident was to sell their house? In those cases, they would receive the prorated money back at closing along with the prorated assessment money. The new owner would then automatically be signed up with the service and take it over on July 1. Our goal is to possibly have this in place on July 1, 2012. Money would be due no later than June 15, 2012. In order to participate, you must have your assessment paid or have a payment plan in place.
Trailers and Campers
There have been several complaints regarding the campers and trailers parked in the neighborhood. They are in violation of the covenants and make the neighborhood look less desirable. We are in the process of sending out notices and following up with the association lawyer as to our course of action.
Abandoned Houses
We have several houses in the neighborhood that have been abandoned and are an eyesore. Per our covenants, the HOA is in the process of sending notices to the landowners on record and then we will contract with our lawn service to mow. Surrounding neighbors may wish to keep the papers from building up in these driveways.
Architectural Variances
The way to request an architectural variance is by writing a letter to the HOA Board. Describe in detail what you are requesting and include drawings and plot plans where necessary. Please mail requests to P.O. Box 463, Eldersburg, MD 21784. We can not make exceptions to the guidelines unilaterally over the phone. We meet the 2nd Tuesday of the month and if we have your request we will discuss it and make a decision that is in accordance with the guidelines and, in some cases, with the safety of the neighborhood. You will then be sent a letter back telling what the decision was.
K-Mart/Carrolltowne Center
As you may know, K-Mart is officially closing in June 2012. With this news, the HOA would like to find out from Black Oak Associates what their plans are for transforming this long standing eyesore into something that is an asset to our community and town. We need to involve our community and the others around us. Homeowners interested in being involved in this effort, please contact the HOA through e-mail. We can then form a group and a plan.
Resident Directory
Mort Shuman has completed the 2012 Resident Directory and emailed it to those who provided email addresses. All others were provided a printed copy in their mailbox. As of the first printing, we only had about 20% of our residents respond. We would like to try to increase that number to make the directory more useful. Therefore, we will be doing an update to the directory sometime later this year, with any corrections as well as (hopefully) additional people. Remember, you can give as much or as little information as you would like!
Click here for the 2011 Winter HOA Newsletter (January 2011)
Click here for the 2011 Spring/Summer HOA Newsletter