Residents,
The word “community” has a number of different meanings depending on the context in which it is used. It can be used to describe a geographic area, a group of people with similar characteristics or a particular social group. After the events of the last two weeks I think the definition that bests describes the River Bluffs version of community is found in Google’s dictionary, “a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals”. Hurricane Florence had a lasting impact on our region but its biggest impact was the solidification of the community at River Bluffs. River Bluffs prepared as a community, rode out the storm as a community and recovered as a community. The blog attached to this link speaks to the strength of our residents and their willingness to not only assist those in our community but throughout the region. What are “common attitudes, interests and goals” as described above? They are banding together to get emergency personnel on site during the storm; they are working together, days after the storm, to collect donations for DREAMS of Wilmington; they are raising money as a community to help one of our team members who lost the roof to his home; they are coming together at the River Bluffs Relief Center (aka Porches when its officially open) to make sure everyone had something to eat and drink and a respite from the heat; they are working together to make sure things are even smoother during the next weather event. That’s a community. Read More on the River Bluffs Blog, Click Here.
There is a lot to cover in this update and because of that, we won’t be using the normal layout. There is no doubt that a few items may be overlooked but we will continue to get information to you over the next several days. When looking around our region we should all be very grateful for the relatively light amount of damage sustained within River Bluffs. This most certainly is not diminishing the damage to homes within the neighborhood but when looking at what other parts of our region (particularly along the rivers) are going through, we came through quite well.
Cleanup is continuing throughout the community and will go on for several more weeks. The bulk of the common areas have been cleaned and you can see the debris piles in the power line easement. Those will be picked up and hauled off-site beginning next week. We will begin focusing on cleaning up unsold Lots next as well as removing damaged trees and tree limbs that didn’t come all the way down within the common areas. This means that there will be a number of large, loud trucks in the community over the next month but they should be a welcome sight as the more we see them, the quicker things get back to normal. One thing to remember during the next couple of months is that Florence was very widespread and the availability of vendors to complete repairs is stretched far beyond capacity. As I talked about in the community meeting prior to the storm, the hardest part of dealing with a hurricane is the waiting.
The common amenities for the community came through the storm relatively unscathed. There are several trees down along the fencing around the tennis/pickleball areas but the courts themselves are ok. The fitness center and Community Activity Room are fine, and the pool should be up and operational in a few days. Some equipment was damaged during the storm and replacement parts have been ordered. Please do not get into the pool until you hear from us. Rainwater and storm debris really mess up the chemicals in a swimming pool and corrective chemicals have to be added to get things back to normal.
The Riverwalk did not sustain any damage other than one piling guide that was taken off. The additional rip rap and plantings we did at the base of the bluff did their jobs and held things together very well. There is a tremendous amount of debris hung up along the walkway and in boat slips. We will begin to remove that as time permits. We do not suggest using the Riverwalk for several more days as the water level is still extremely high and moving very fast. The same goes for putting your boat back in the water. We do not suggest you do that just yet.
You may have noticed across the river that one of the high tension power lines came down during the storm. Duke Power has been on site multiple times and will be making repairs to that in the next week or so. Additionally, they have elected to accelerate their plan to move the poles back from the river bank and are scheduled to be on site next week for that project. Duke will be replacing two sets of poles, the ones closest to the river and the next ones. The wooden poles will be replaced with metal ones.
The Association has begun an insurance claim for damages to the garden homes as a result of hurricane Florence. An adjuster has been assigned to the community and will be on site on Monday, October 1st at 2:00pm to inspect damages. In order to make the visit as thorough as possible, we would like to make sure owners are available to allow access to their units for the adjuster.
Please contact Jake via email at: Jake@premiermanagementnc.com with the following information to help facilitate this inspection:
Name:
Address:
Best contact (e-mail and/or phone number):
Did you sustain damage, if so what kind:
Please attach pictures of damage if so.
Will you be available on Monday to meet with the adjuster?
Items covered by the HOA insurance are damages to the garden homes due to debris falling, such as trees, and water damage from any water intrusion in the unit as a result of the storm.
Events
Operation Hope Front
Due to Hurricane Florence and all of the recovery efforts in and around Wilmington, Operation Hope Front will be unable to participate in the Harvest Party/Trunk or Treat that was planned for them. I know that this is a disappointment to us because we want to reach out to the families that serve our country. This is such a giving community of which we all should be proud. There will be other opportunities in the future. If you have questions or concerns please feel free to contact Tina Chadwick.
Pajama Party
The planned Pajama Party has been rescheduled to our inaugural Sunday Brunch on Sunday, October 21st. More information will be coming out about this soon. We will also have beer and wine tasting events scheduled very soon.
Sales Center
Many people have asked how the recent storm might impact sales for the balance of the year. Storms in this part of the country are a reality and what matters to most people is not the lack of storms but rather how a region and specific communities handle them and how quickly they recover from them. Kyle and I were in New Jersey the weekend before the storm at an Ideal Living Show and Kyle and John Page were in Northern Virginia the weekend after the storm for another show as well. The comments from those we talked to were not concerns for the storms themselves but rather, “do we have flooding problems?”, which we do not. Sales traffic has also picked up and our web leads have been tremendous.
In closing, there will be a number of additional updates over the next several weeks so please remember to check your email often. There are so many people who made such a difference over the last several weeks and on behalf of all of us at River Bluffs, thank you for your help and support. Karen Clow deserves special recognition, along with Alistar Canal, for their efforts in manning the Relief Center during the aftermath of the storm. She went above and beyond and is just another example of “community”.
John Lennon