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It's wonderful to move in to your new home and become a part of the community. You most likely are eager to begin making changes to your front lawn. Of course. BUT, please read your Belmonte Estates Architectural Guidelines. Chances are you will need to fill out an application BEFORE you make any improvements. Contact management if you do not have the application in your closing papers. Why is this important?
Nothing is more upsetting than making changes to your property and then finding out you have to remove those changes because you didn't first get approval. Your HOA is here to help guide you and assist you in understanding the types of changes you can make as well as providing you with the information necessary to understand what changes will most likely be approved and which ones won't. Why is this necessary? Unlike most neighborhoods, Belmonte Estates is organized under the covenants of an HOA. This means the neighbors have already agreed to at closing that all homeowners will follow a set of rules. These rules are designed to protect the value of our homes and ensure that the ascetic existed when the home was purchased continues.
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May 6, 2021
Dear Belmonte Estates Homeowner: Have you heard the news! Belmonte Estates HOA has chosen The Management Trust as our new management company. Management Trust will assume responsibilities for day to day management on June 1, 2021. In the next few days, you will be receiving an informational packet from them explaining how everything you need to know about paying assessments and contacting them for assistance. We are excited to partner with them and look forward to using their expertise to make Belmonte Estates a more enjoyable place for our homeowners and neighbors. The board did not take lightly its decision to partner with a new management company. It was clear to the board as well as many of our neighbors that it was time for a change. A committee of over eleven homeowners was convened who researched several recommended management companies and interviewed the top two candidates. It was very clear that The Management Trust will be a great fit for our community; we are excited to introduce them to you, our neighbors. Moving forward, as your president, I will be asking the board at its upcoming retreat to consider the following action items with a focus on improving home values in our development. The thrust of these action items, or goals, it to improve our community’s curb appeal, lifestyle experience, and ultimately the overall home value, both economically and socially. Some may scoff at the idea but with a little work and effort, there is no reason why we cannot expect to see homes in our neighborhood sell for over $800,000 and with that said, I present to you what I refer to as Belmonte 800.
Greetings:
I am so sorry to bother you again with another letter about our road project, but I was asked to share some answers to some of the questions that have been raised. 1. How many phases will the project be broken into and how long will each phase last? Answer: The project will be completed in five phases, effectively dividing the community up in a way that allows 24 hour Gate access. Each phase will last five days, Monday to Friday. 2. Where will neighbors park when their section is being worked on Answer: The concrete section of the road will allow for neighbors to walk to their cars when their section is worked on. We will be arranging for places to park cars that will be convenient. 3. What about dust? Answers: We asked that question of our consultant. Our consultant assured us that the dust will be limited and that it will be contained to the road area being worked on - the people who do this work on projects daily and have expertise in controlling particulates. 4. What if I want to stay somewhere else? Answer: Our road committee has contacted several hotels what we will recommend, one of which takes dogs. We also will be working to ensure that health care workers know our time schedule so that they can have access to the people they are assisting. 5. Why now? Can’t we wait? Answer: We would like to. We held off the bid we chose for as long as we can. At this time, if we fail to act, the bidding of work and financing would have to restart. This would of course mean work would not begin for another year, at least - it took us 18 months to get to this point as it is. It would also mean that we would need to patch our roads so they could last until we were ready to tear them out and replace. This means thousands of dollars would be spent and wasted on putting a bandaid on roads that need to be torn out. 6. Why do they need to be torn out? Answer: The roads were not put in with an underlayment of any kind and this is why they are cracking. It also means that they can not be simply repaired in the normal manner. To meet code, we need to install a 4 inch underlayment and then 4 inches of asphalt on top of that. 7. But why can’t we just wait and not do anything? Answer: The roads have reached the end of their life. They are becoming a known hazard and without even a temporary repair, pose a risk to pedestrians and bicycle riders at a minimum. 8. If we don’t pass the assessment, then what? Answer: The roads must be replaced. If the assessment fails, we will still need to raise the money to replace them. The board, will need to raise the assessments to reach the needed short fall In our reserves to replace the roads. This means the assessment will increase quickly, over an 18 month period to around $210. The board can increase assessments yearly by 20% without a vote of the community. This is NOT an option the board wishes to employ. 9. Doesn’t the board have money in its reserves? Answer: We do, but the reserves were funded to replace roads that had an underlayment. To our horror, we discovered the road were put in without this necessary feature. So yes, we will spend out most of our reserves. The assessment is to cover the costs of the underlayment. 10. I just feel the timing is wrong. Answer: We feel the same way. However, after studying the issue and considering it, the timing won’t ever be right. If we wait, we most likely will incur heavy costs due to inflation and environmental increases to our materials. We will also be throwing good money after bad as we will still need to put a bandaid on the roads, quite possibly twice if it takes us 4 years to raise the necessary money. The bottom line is that our board is not pleased with this no-win scenario. However, we believe that if we move forward now, we will save our community not only money, but create a safer place for our residents to live. 11. But what about the money? That’s a lot of money up front. Answer: We are offering a three year option for homeowners where they can make monthly installments added to their regular assessment. I hope this answers many of your questions. We discussed these points prior in previous communications and at our two public meetings. Not everyone was able to attend and we certainly are aware that this is a stressful time and our neighbors have many concerns. Hopefully, this information will assist you as you make your decision on how you wish to vote. Thank you and let me know if you have any other questions. Douglas Sexton Hello Belmonte Neighbors.
A few days ago, Belmonte Estates neighbors received a ballot to vote on the neighborhood road measure. Your HOA board realizes that these are difficult and challenging times for our residents. Due to unemployment concerns and Covid-19, we delayed our previous decision to hold a vote on this issue. However, given that our economy and society are beginning to open up, we needed to reconsider postponing the vote any longer. Our primary concern is the quickly deteriorating conditions of our roads. We understand these are difficult times. It is our considered belief after listening to our experts in road repair, our neighbors, and the committee that studied this issue that postponing these desperately needed repairs to our roads will only make matters worse. Cracks greater than 2 inches now pose a serious threat to the safety of walkers, bicyclists, and possibly cars. If the roads are not replaced at this time, it is estimated that the costs of a temporary fix while we wait to improve the reserve situation will result in additional costs to the community of $100,000 factoring in the increased costs of future road repairs. Without this special assessment, the HOA board will have no choice but to increase the monthly assessment of our homeowners by a minimum of $80 a month over the course of three years. Worse, there will be no assurance that this increase will still cover the costs of the needed future road repair due to inflation and increasing costs related to environmental considerations. Our HOA board encourages you to vote yes on the road assessment. Our current low HOA monthly assessments will remain in place and more importantly, neighbors will be able to enjoy beautiful and quiet roads today, rather than three years from now. Thank you for your consideration. From our Good Neighbor, Dawn Rashid... After many phone calls today and chatting with everyone from a manager to a hostess, I hit pay dirt!!! I called Papa Dan's Pizza on Country Club, by the Bristol, and was able to talk to the owner, Ira. He was very receptive to what we wanted to do, and YES, he would give us 50% off of each pizza!!!!! I will be ordering three types of pizza, Cheese, Veggie, and Meat. Hopefully next week we will send pizzas to the Eisenhower ICU's night shift (still waiting for an okay from them). We have a Belmonte neighbor who is giving me guidance as to where they really are needed. She works the night shift in the ICU, and although the hospital has been receiving many donations, the night shift sees none! So a special thank you to Yvette! Since all of you were so generous, I also reached out to our local First Responders today, so our Fire Fighters will be getting Pizza for lunch tomorrow. I will continue to keep you updated...it feels so good not to clean a closet today! Thank You!!!! Dawn Rashid Good Afternoon Dear Neighbors and Friends: I trust this finds you all healthy and well. I'm here to report that our Pizza Project is a huge success!! To date, Papa Dan’s has delivered 22 extra large pizzas and 4 extra large salads! The grateful recipients are: Eisenhower Late shift-ICU, JFK ER, and Station 50-First Responders (two shifts). On Monday, our local Rite Aid on Country Club and Cook will receive lunch. I would also like to send some to our local Post Office and Police Station. I mentioned that our neighbor Yvette, who is a nurse at Eisenhower was helping out with the hospitals, she delivered both to Eisenhower and JFK personally so the pizzas would get into the right hands. She sent me this note, which I would like to share... “Thank you Dawn and all your friends for the treat of Papa Dan's pizza. There was so much pizza to share. Your generosity fed the night shift nurses, Dr's and respiratory therapists in all 4 Intensive Care Units and 4S cardiac unit. The pizza was also shared with the transporters(those that push patients on gurneys....all over the hospital) and housekeeping (those that work so hard to keep patient rooms cleaned and turned over for next patient). Everyone on night shift was so surprised! A big shout out to Yvette, and a warm thank you to each of you!!! I will continue to keep you posted until the bank dries up!!! Stay healthy and well!! Here are only 2 pictures as we were busy and unable to get everyone in pic at the same time.” March 30, 2020 Greetings Belmonte Estates Neighbors: What a blessing it was to see so many of our neighbors participating in our Belmonte Estates’ Neighborhood Walk and Wave. Thank you for supporting our neighbors with your signs, flags, drinks, and your presence. Our social committee heard nothing but positive comments. The social committee has been asked to continue to sponsor our “Walk and Wave” for the remainder of April. Each Saturday during April, we are requesting that neighbors who would like to participate or simply wish to take a break from the isolation, join us between the hour of 4:00 – 5:00 PM in our Walk and Wave. Neighbors may either choose to walk the community or set out chairs and wave to neighbors as they pass by. Or, why not do both! Not everyone will get this email and I am asking each of you who do receive it to call a neighbor not on the list and let them know what our plans are. It’s important for people to know that they are not alone. Encourage homebound neighbors to sit by an open window. Even better, know someone who is mobility restricted – why not sit a safe distance from them so they don’t feel as isolated. So, play some music, put out some encouraging signs, and join us using safe practices and following the guidelines suggested by our health departments. Again, thank you for making Belmonte Estates the neighborhood that it is. And remember, follow and practice all current CDC guidelines and recommendations. Sincerely, Douglas Sexton President, Belmonte Estates HOA 
This morning at 8:30, HOA Board members President Douglas Sexton and Financial Director Garfield D'Souza along with their respective wives, Cheryl Sexton and Pryia Andrade joined neighbors Eric Williams and his wife Judith Jordan to honor our fellow Belmonte Estates neighbor, Gregg Capper and his wife Jodie Capper. The occasion marked our new neighborhood tradition of neighbors donating an American flag to replace torn and worn out flags. Gregg Capper is our former Financial Director and head of the Road Committee. Gregg, formally served in the Navy and has and continues to watch over our community flag for, lowering it to half-staff when called for and keeping the board aprised as to its condition. It was his initial idea to have a system in place to allow community members to donate a flag as each one wore out. The board hopes you will take the time to notice our sign ialongside the flag pole and consider adding your name to the flag donation registry. You may click the following link to be taken to the flag donation registry page: www.belmonteestates.org/flag-donation-registry.html .
 All Belmonte Estates Neighbors and friends are invited to attend the celebration of life of Richard Lipfield.
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