Good Afternoon,
What a fantastic week! The weather has been just right with pleasant evenings and warm days and its one of those times of the year when you would much rather be inside than out. In our world of real estate sales and development, the first true sign of spring is the annual Parade of Homes. The Parade begins tomorrow, and three of the model homes in the neighborhood will be open from 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday of this weekend and next weekend. The homes featured in this year’s Parade are 1) The Island Captiva by Premier Homes on Lot 227, 2) The Elizabeth by Vahue Construction on Lot 119 and, 3) The Elizabeth by Legacy Homes on Lot 52. You’re welcome to come by and see the homes and how they have been decorated. We typically get between 150-200 visitors each day of the Parade and given that the rain is forecasted to move out of the area tonight, we expect a strong turnout this weekend. Sales activity has been very good so far this month, and we expect to see even more activity in May. We have several new model homes starting in the next several weeks with Premier building a Beach Boca Garden Home in the recently opened section of Rosewood Landing on Lot 342 (Jenoa Loop), a Pine Island (one of their “Island Series” homes) on Lot 316 and the Marco floorplan on Lot 315. Additionally, Charter Building is joining our Builder Team and will be starting a model home on Lot 145 in the next month or so.
Development activity has been brisk over the last several weeks. While the homesites in the new section of Rosewood Landing have now been recorded, Duke Energy is still installing electric service and that will continue for several more weeks. Once they are done, crews will grade and seed the front of the homesites that were disturbed, and the roads will be given a final cleaning. On the other side of the community, work on the road to the marina has progressed very well. Almost all of the road (both sides of it) are now rocked in preparation for pavement. All of the curbing for the marina parking lot has been installed, and that area will be rocked sometime next week. If you venture back that way, you will notice that construction on the first three homes in Cottage Park has begun with three homesites being cleared and excavation for the footers underway. In addition to the main roadways being opened up, the alleyways within Cottage Park have been cleared and we plan to continue with the infrastructure installation for the rest of the neighborhood this summer. The infrastructure for the marina townhomes will be installed at the same time.
Last week, while I was out there, was quite a bit of communication about pine straw. Somehow there was an interpretation by some that the Association was planning on only doing one pine straw application per year. That is absolutely not the case. The issue that has come up is that as builders install the initial landscaping package and individual owners make improvements to their bed areas, the average number of bales per home has increased beyond the budgeted amount. This will be mitigated a great deal as Cottage Park, and the marina townhomes come online with the average number of bales decreasing as those homes will require far less than the thirty-two bales we currently have as an average. Some homes in the community require eighty bales to cover their bed areas. I realize everyone expects service and that is a perfectly reasonable expectation. It must, however, be balanced with the ultimate cost. This issue was discussed with the Resident Advisory Committee (“RAC”) this past week at our monthly meeting, and we will be working on it over the next several months to come up with some alternative solutions. Please understand that we know there is a distinction between the level of service and the quality of service. If the concern is regarding the level of service (meaning the services provided for the expense paid), those should be directed to me or one of the RAC representatives. If the concern is the quality of service (blade height, missed weeds, etc), those should be directed to Rob Dunham at Premier Management as well as Yardnique directly at RiverBluffs@Yardnique.com. At the end of the day, please keep in mind that the landscaping component of your monthly dues accounts for $100 of the $150. That assumes two pine straw applications (32 bales each time), twenty-six mowings, pruning and lawn treatments.
Amenities Update
Quite a bit of work was done this week up at the dog park and court areas, and there is still more to do. Crews were able to get most of the deadwood out, and it will be hauled offsite. Signage for the courts and dog park will be installed as well once the final work is completed. If you haven’t been down to the marina lately, you are in for a big surprise. The pervious concrete path from the bridge to the entrance to the marina has been installed and may be walked on now. Please do not drive a golf cart on it until after next week. Please keep in mind that work will be going on in that area for several more weeks and you should be careful. One request at the boat ramp is to be aware of where you park your golf carts or automobiles when enjoying the riverwalk as your neighbors may need to get a boat trailer down the ramp.
Neighborhood Safety
Thanks very much to all who were able to attend the presentation by the North Carolina Wildlife Commission officer and Biologist. It was very informative and entertaining at the same time. If you were not able to attend, here is a link to the video we made of the presentation. It is about an hour and a half but covers a lot of information about the wildlife in and around River Bluffs. It also dispels some myths about wildlife and definitely emphasised the point that we should leave the wildlife alone and certainly never feed them. North Carolina Wildlife Commission Presentation
Sometime around April 16th persons unknown appear to have cut the fence at the boat and RV storage area in an effort to gain entry. Review of the cameras we have in place did not provide us with any useful images but we are taking additional steps to prevent further issues, and the Sheriff’s Department has been notified. Just as it always a good idea to lock your car when it’s in your driveway, please make sure that if you have a boat or RV in the storage area that you don’t store any valuables in it and keep it (or its compartments) locked.
Lastly, in this category is a request to please try to avoid parking on the grass within our community’s common areas. This helps prevent damage to the turf and also keeps the natural areas looking natural. Thanks very much for your assistance. Thanks also to all those who have modified their yardsticks to the type described in my last update.
Community Activities
– Be sure to stop by Porches tonight for live music with from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. with Bill Kerr.
– Sunday brunch returns next Sunday, May 5th, beginning at 11:00 a.m. at Porches.
– Farmer Steve returns (along with five other vendors) tomorrow for the Farmer’s Market on the front porch of Porches, beginning at 10:00 a.m. They will have some great choices and please stop by and help support one of the community’s unique amenities. Steve’s weekly CSA program is critical to his success and either he or Ian will be happy to chat with you about the program, what it offers and how to sign up.
Thank you all for your continued support of River Bluffs. As the neighborhood continues to grow and thrive, it is great to see the sense of community get even stronger we appreciate all of your contributions to that effort. Have a great weekend and please stop by the models that will be open for the Parade of Homes and say hi.
John Lennon