Good Afternoon Residents,
Each week we will post a neighborhood update through the portal. Given that it’s the first one, it will be a little bit longer, but we wanted to provide you with some updates on recent events, development progress and other news. Of course, you are always welcome to email me anytime with questions.
Development Updates
Many of you have seen the work going on in the White Cliffs section of the neighborhood on the road leading to the boat ramp. We are in the process of doing some preliminary clearing for sewer lines, and the initial work will be along Barnesmore (the last dirt road on the right before you get to White Cliffs Drive at the turn) and that will be graded and rocked and then work will commence in White Cliffs. We do plan to close the access to White Cliffs Drive as a lot of people who visit the neighborhood like to drive up to see the river, and we are concerned about that practice continuing when we have heavy equipment working in the area. We expect the 46 Lots on White Cliffs and Barnesmore to be completed by the end of this year. While the boat ramp will not be closed, we want to remind everybody that the whole White Cliffs area will be a construction site for several months and you should enjoy the other parts of the riverfront if possible.
Amenities Update
Work on the Boat/RV storage area is continuing, and we are waiting on the fencing contractor to complete the main gate. Cameras will also be installed at the facility, and we are currently getting pricing for enclosures as well. The tennis and pickleball area has been graded, and we are working with Duke power on how best to get electrical service to the site, and that has taken a tremendous amount of time. They took three weeks to let us know that we had to provide the chase pipe for the power lines. Once the power is supplied then paving will begin, then fencing and construction of the bathroom facility.
I’m sure all of you have noticed that work has not been ongoing at the marina or the Riverwalk for some time. Our original permit for the Riverwalk called for a fixed pier system with over 650 pilings over the length of the walkway. As we progressed, it became clear that jetting such a large number of pilings was creating issues with some areas of the bluff given the extreme water depth. The decision was made to drive 15 seventy-five foot pilings along the rest of the path and create a ten foot wide floating walkway system. State regulators required a significant permit modification because of this, and we had to go through several site visits, additional surveying, and engineering before submitting the change request. That has now all been done, the permit request has been submitted, and we hope to hear back from them in the next month or two. This was clearly not the original plan, and we are as anxious as all of you to get it completed. One other unintended consequence of the permit modification is that we may not have any boat in the marina other than one work boat. We realize that some of you enjoy the weekends on the water but please don’t leave your boat at the docks during the week. This is a relatively short-term problem, and we will let you know as soon we hear back from the State.
Neighborhood Safety
The New Hanover County Sherrif’s Department continues to investigate the recent car break-ins, and the camera system at the front gate is being replaced any day as we signed the contract for that over a week ago. Other cameras are or will be installed in strategic locations throughout the community. Thank you to Bob Conger for organizing the Community Watch meeting on July 13th at Porches. Please join us at this meeting!
Lawn Maintenance
A combination of wet weather and poor service has created a number of lawn maintenance issues over the last several weeks. This is one of the toughest times of year to manage large commercial accounts like ours as wet weather backs up not only our community but all of Yardnique’s other clients as well. Premier Management has been pushing Yardnique as hard as possible and also has been looking at other vendors. All of the large commercial vendors like Yardnique struggle this time of year with labor issues and scheduling and Premier Management will continue to stay on top of them. Yardnique will have the ability to post information on the portal going forward, and they have been requested to post information when there are rain delays etc.
Architectural Review
Please make sure to submit an ARC request form when making any changes to the exterior of your home. This form can be found on the portal the turnaround time for review is generally only a couple of days. The HOA does require submittal of an ARC form for the installation of a satellite dish so please be sure to submit one if you are planning on switching to a dish based provider.
Community Activities
July is off with a bang with the Neighborhood Watch meeting on the 13th and a band (Overtyme) at Porches on Sunday the 16th. We are also hosting a cookout for the residents next Saturday, July 15th at Porches. The cookout will be preceded by a presentation on the history of the ships for which many or our streets are named by our neighborhood’s own Otis White. Additional information will be coming out Monday of next week on these events.
Enjoy the weekend and please feel free to reach out with any questions.
– John Lennon