Good afternoon,
Well today was a great day to make an excuse to be outside. Needless to say, there were a lot of “property inspections” today. While the weekend weather doesn’t look great, the temperatures will still be good for getting out and about. Thanks to all of you who attended the Association’s annual meeting. We had a great turnout and Rob Dunham, our new manager with Premier Management, did a good job of reviewing the financials and other matters. Because we have met fairly recently, there is quite honestly not a great deal of new new news to pass along so this update will pretty brief.
We have seen an increase in sales traffic, mainly people from outside the market taking advantage of the beautiful weather to visit our area. We are expecting a huge increase in visitors after the three shows we have done over the last month. In January we were in Chicago and Philadelphia and last weekend in Parsippany, New Jersey. The weekend after next we will be in Tysons Corner, Virginia. Regardless of your politics, recent changes in the tax law have captured the attention of many who live in high property tax states as they are now no longer able to deduct all their taxes. North Carolina’s lower tax rates have been very appealing to people considering relocation and of course the weather doesn’t hurt either. January and February tend to be slightly slower months but we’ve been excited by the large amount of traffic and internet inquiries we have received since the first of the year.
If you have taken the opportunity to walk around the south side of the community you will see that we have cut the alleyways into the Cottage Park area and have almost completed the stormwater and water service installations for that neighborhood. Duke Energy will be installing electric service next and that will include the electric to the marina. In the central part of the community, Duke Energy is almost finished with the power pole replacement project and while we appreciate their efforts, it will be nice to see them pack up their toys and move along! Once they’re gone we will be able to clean up the easement area, particularly by the river and make it much more enjoyable. On the northwestern side of the community work is almost complete with the next section of Rosewood Landing. We are holding off on the paving given that the gas company is almost finished with installation and the water system is being tested by the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority. Paving will occur in the next several weeks.
Neighborhood Amenities
One of the “property inspections” we did today was a walk thru of the Boat/RV storage area. We will be enlarging it over the summer as demand has increased and one of the things we’ve learned is that we need more information about the specific trailer, car, boat etc. that folks have stored inside the fence. Over the next week or so, those of you who are utilizing the area will receive new agreements that will ask for a little more information and we will also be assigning more “permanent” space numbers. No need to do anything now, just wanted to make you aware of it.
Neighborhood Safety
Its always good when the only thing I have to cover in this section is the reminder to lock your garage doors (and the cars inside them) and please, please watch your speed in the community and along Chair Road. Thanks for your help with this.
Neighborhood Activities
Stop by Porches tonight for live music and great food. Robert Beauchene will be playing from 6:00 to 9:00.
Don’t forget the Farm Market tomorrow on the front porch of Porches from 10:00a.m. to 2:00p.m. Farmer Steve is sure to have some great choices. Be sure to ask him or Ian about the CSA program as well.
Sixteen of you signed up for the Battleship tour on Sunday with Ritt Schiano. For those of you who are going, please meet at Porches at 12:30 so he can make sure everyone knows where to go and he has the check for your admission.
Have a great weekend and thanks to all of you for your support of River Bluffs. We are looking forward to a great year.
John Lennon