This was an amazing year for Montclair. A few of our accomplishments this year:

• A successful exterior renovation
• Multiple community events where we got to meet and build relationships
• A full-page feature on Montclair Townhomes in Our Town Monthly
• Substantial increase to property values with plenty of room to grow

We hope every resident feels empowered to influence the trajectory of this community. We recognize some years you can be super involved, while other years you will only have time to maintain your unit. Regardless, the board thanks everyone for taking the time to keep our A class community thriving and want to share updates on key topics:

• Detention Pond update: Our detention pond is the wooded area located between the single-family homes and townhomes. It is designed to absorb water from our two communities during rain. Typically detention ponds are completely cleared by developers but ours was not. On top of that, the outlets into this area are damaged and require expensive maintenance work. We are working with the single-family home (SFH) board to ensure our retention pond works correctly with a phased approach. In early 2020 we are looking to remove all trees within 10-15 feet of any outlet and clear out all existing downed debris. We have secured two bids for this project, and the SFH is obtaining a third for consideration.

• Resurfacing our roads: Our roads have seen better days. We have spoken to Tim Gould, our councilman, and Frank Martin, Public Work Director, about resurfacing our roads which will make them look new. We are currently on the list to have our streets repaved fall 2020 assuming city budgets are approved as have been in recent years.

• Retention Wall: The retention wall exists along with the property facing the railroad. Parts of that wall are in poor condition so the board is gathering bids for repair in a phased approach, prioritizing the worst areas first. Previous boards have collected bids in the past, however, they were astronomical amounts and quoted to replace the entire wall.

• Landscaping: Our entrances now has new flowers for fall. Also, residents have expressed interest in doing a community activity around refreshing the gazebo and tree planting. A community organized effort around this will save us money and help with curb appeal.

• Insurance: Thanks to our property manager, Dominic, we have finally found a competitive bid for insurance saving us $10,000. If we can go three years with no claims we will have more companies willing to carry us and better opportunities to save. You can help prevent potential claims by keeping your home warm through winter (preventing pipes from freezing) and having regular maintenance work done. Also, ensure that you have proper coverage for your home.

• Reserve Study: This is a forecast on the required maintenance work and associated cost for the next 30 years to calculate the appropriate reserve amount for our budget. We recently had one conducted and the results will be posted MRG website once edits are completed by the engineer. This information is what the board uses to determine the appropriate amount for homeowner dues (along with operational costs).