VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2 July 2002

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• Volunteers Needed
• Amendments to By-Laws
• Did You Know
• Board Meetings
• River Crest Social Calendar
• Landscape & Architectural Review
• Common Area Maintenance Update
• Around Town - Summer Concert and Family Theatre Series
• Around Town - Local Happenings

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From the President’s Desk Bill, O’Neal, River Crest HOA President

It is hard to believe that my family and I have lived in the River Crest Community for two and one-half years. For those of you who have not met me personally, my name is Bill O’Neal. My wife, Connie, and I along with three of our four children, Katie(22), Kelli(18), and Jonathan(soon to be 13) moved here in February 2000. This year I have been elected to serve as the president of the River Crest Home Owners Association for the coming year.

Our HOA has gone through a lot of growing pains. Over the past year we went from an HOA managed by the developer and a management company to being a self governing HOA. For many of the board members this was a time of organization and learning. As most all of you know, prior to last year, the management of the HOA was through a management company located in Montgomery County. Although your newly elected board was ready to take on the responsibility of managing the HOA, we still felt the need to have the assistance of a management company. To that end, we searched for a management company that would handle the financial aspects of the HOA as well as serve, in an advisory capacity, on other management issues. With this in mind, we contracted with Clagett Management. We have been particularly pleased to have a local company to fill this need. I would like to publicly thank Mr. Doug Maddock, last year’s president, for his efforts in getting the HOA through this critical organizational period.

Now that we are through this organizational period, your current board of directors is ready to get to the business of managing an effective HOA for the good of the entire community. I feel that our mandate is clear from the Articles of Incorporation. The purpose of our HOA is "…to provide for or assure the maintenance, preservation and architectural control of the Property subject to the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions, River Crest Homeowners Association, including such additions thereto as may hereafter be brought within the jurisdiction of the Association, and to promote the health, safety and welfare of the Owners of the Property and any additions thereto as may hereafter be brought within the jurisdiction of this Association."

At our most recent membership meetings, there were a number of proposed amendments to the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions considered. All of which did not have sufficient votes for adoption. Therefore, the Board of Directors intends to fully enforce the restrictions as they are originally written. The only exceptions are the two amendments referencing dish antennas and the time garbage may be placed outside. Neither of these two amendments requires a vote for adoption. Both have overriding laws and conditions that dictate adoption without a vote. I sincerely hope that we will have the community support in these efforts.

The Board of Directors meetings are held at 7:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month at my home (815 Aztec Drive). Anyone who wishes to observe one of these meeting is welcome to do so. If, however, you have some business that you wish to put on the agenda, we request that you let us know, in writing, at least two weeks prior to the meeting.

Recently my oldest daughter, Kristy, was home for a visit to attend her sister’s graduation. While she was home, she asked whether her mother and I missed our larger house that lived in for 23 years prior to moving to River Crest. Without hesitation, I replied, "No, not at all." If we had not moved to River Crest we would have not had an opportunity to know the neighbors of this community. I don’t think that I have ever seen a community where there is such a cooperative sprit where you see time and time again, neighbors helping neighbors. I feel that River Crest is a great family oriented community. This is a quality that we should all be proud of.

Our new president is Bill O’Neal. Melanie Hopp is the new Vice President. Michelle Brown will continue to serve as the Secretary. Sharon Lewis and Jessica Keener will serve as liaisons to committees.

Volunteers Needed

Calling all volunteers! There is so much to do but too few volunteers. If you have concerns about what or how things are getting done in the community now is your time to make a difference. Stop complaining and get involved to make a difference.

Web Designers Needed: It has been suggested that we develop a River Crest web page that would contain minutes from meetings, calendar of events and other useful information. The problem is we need people to design and maintain the web page. Please contact Bill O’Neal at (301) 620-4294 or via email at william.oneal@att.net if you can help.

Newsletter Committee: Many people enjoyed getting their last newsletter. We would like to get one out every quarter but we need volunteers to make this happen. If interested, please contact Jessica Keener at (301) 607-5943 or via email at jlkeener@hotmail.com.

Social Committee: The large turn out at our social events indicates the community’s interest in social events but again we need help if we want to continue these activities. Please contact Sharon Lewis at (301) 662-9279 or via email at rsst4lewis@hotmail.com to help.

Amendments to Covenants

Submitted by Board of Directors’

In order to amend our covenants or bylaws the change requires 2/3 vote in the affirmative from the homeowners, which equals 43 votes in favor of the amendment. Since we only received 40 votes in total nothing proposed can be changed except for the following which does not require a vote because of federal law or localor local ordinance.

Article 7.8.5.5 in the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions: will change to clarify that garbage, trash, recycling and any other refuse shall not go out until after 5:00 pm on the day prior to collection as the city ordinance states. Since this is a city ordinance this is being added to our covenants for clarification.

Article 7.8.5.15 in the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions: will: will change to allow satellite dishes anywhere on the lot necessary to receive adequate receptions and will allow multiple dishes required torequired to receive the latest technology. Dishes my not exceed 1 meter (39.37 inches) in diameter. This change does not require a vote because FCC regulations override our covenants. This changes areThis change is being made to comply with FCC regulations.

It is the Board’s opinion that an error was made in our covenants that does not allow stone to be used as an exterior building material in Article 7.8.3 of the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions, however, after consulting with an attorney, we have learned the Board does NOT have the authority to change the covenant to be consistent with the pre-existing homes initially constructed with stone. Therefore, no additional approvals will be given to change any homes to include stone as a building material until this issue is voted on and passed by a minimum of 43 votes in the affirmative.

LARC will be working with the Board of Directors to enforce the covenants and by-laws. Anyone who needs an additional copy of the covenants and by-laws needs to send a request along with a check for $40 to the address below:

• Any homeowner who is more than 30 days in arrears in HOA fees are restricted from voting and rights to use the common areas and community facilities. Please refer to Article4.8.5 of the River Crest By-laws and Article 4.1.5 of the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions for details.
• Any homeowner who leases their home is responsible for submitting a copy of the lease to the HOA according to AritcleArticle 7.10 in the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions
• Article 5.1.1.5 of the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions reads: "The owner of any Lot shall, at his own expense, maintain his Lot and Dwelling, and any and all appurtenances thereto, in good order, condition and repair and in a clean, sightly and sanitary condition at all times."

The Board of Directors’ will meet every month on the first Tuesday of each month at 7:30 p.m. to discuss issues brought to our attention by community members or committees... The Board wants to remind everyone that these meetings are open to the community. Since River Crest does not have a community center, we will hold all monthly board meetings at our president’s home, Bill O’Neal (815 Aztec Drive). This will help keep our HOA dues down since we will not need to rent a meeting room monthly. We welcome all interested parties to attend the monthly meetings. If you have an issue/concern that you would like brought to the attention of the board of directors’ please send correspondence to either bill.oneal@att.net or william.oneal@att.net or to the address below:

In order for the board to be able to address your concerns appropriately, all topics to be discussed at the next months board meeting must be received by the Third Tuesday of each month. We look forward to seeing you at our meetings.

If you plan to attend you must host one of the above-mentioned courses unless you are offering your home and teenagers up for babysitting. If there is enough interest, we will have multiple progressive dinners at the same time. There will not be more than 6 Couples in each group. We will try to mix the groups up so everyone has a chance to mingle with each group.

LARC is responsible for approving any changes homeowners wish to make to their homes and for addressing any concerns sent to the committee regarding violations of the covenants. The committee makes it decisions by carefully interpreting the covenants and by-laws. As responsible homeowners, it is our obligation to secure LARC approval before making any changes to our property as detailed in the HOA covenants. . In accordance with our covenants, LARC may take up to 60 days to respond to requests. All requests and/or concerns need to be sent to:

LARC is currently working with the city to determine who is responsible for maintenance of the common area behind Geronimo Drive, which extends to the court on Delaware Road. The land is currently held under a bond with the city. It is believed that the developer is still responsible for maintaining this area until the bond is released. LARC is working with the city and the developer to ensure that this area is maintained and is in good condition prior to it being turned over to our community.

The area, behind the odd numbered houses on Delaware Road, is afforestation, not common area, therefore it cannot be mowed. Anyone who mows this area is subject to a fine by THE CITY.

Check out this short list and find something for you and your family to enjoy! Log on to www.bestoffrederick.com for a complete list of events or call the Tourism Council at 301-228-2888.

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