Blue Ridge Acres, Harpers Ferry, WV

April 14, 2007

Community Club Membership

Dear Community Member,

The Blue Ridge Acres Community Club was founded as the Blue Ridge Mountain Country Club by the original developer in 1959. It was once mandatory that all homeowners belong to the Club. That rule changed in 1973 and membership is now at the discretion of the homeowner. Club membership has steadily declined over the past decade, reaching it’s lowest level after the Club House fire in 2002. Since the fire, the Club has worked hard to rebuild a bathhouse - required by the County for operation of the pool – and make the necessary repairs. Last year, the pavilion was completed and the pool finally reopened. It was a great year.

With your help, 2007 can be even better. Last year, the club had about 30 members. The Club needs at least 100 members in order to meet operating costs. Taxes, insurance, utilities and minimal grass mowing and maintenance on our community property cost the club approximately $25,000 per year. The annual Club membership fees are also needed to pay for pool maintenance, supplies and lifeguard salaries.

This year we hope to begin the process of clearing the field behind the office and refurbishing some of our recreational facilities. We are also exploring the possibility of expanding and renovating the office building. At one point in our history, we had a baseball diamond, tennis courts, mini golf, a small driving range, archery range, playground and a sand volleyball court in addition to the pool. While it may not be feasible or even desirable to recreate the past, the property and the possibility is still there. Imagine if we were to work together, bringing to bear the combined talent and resources of our community.

Please consider joining your neighbors as member of the Community Club.

Thank you,

Membership Letter

Fee Schedule

Application

Posted on April 14, 2007 | Comments (0)

Community Cleanup

4th Semi-Annual Community Cleanup

The weather is warming (almost!), flowers are blooming and the it looks like the pool will be open on time this Summer! We'll be holding our next Community Cleanup on Saturday, May 5th at 9:00am. We plan on weeding, landscaping, doing some painting and power washing. We need your help! This is an opportunity for all of us to meet some of our neighbors and enhance our community.

Snacks and refreshments provided.

Click here for the sign-up page and more details.

Posted on April 14, 2007 | Comments (0)

April 06, 2007

Thanks to everyone who made the Easter Egg hunt so much fun!

The Easter Egg hunt was a hopping good time! We had a great turnout (over 30 people) - especially considering the cold weather. There were doughnuts and coffee for the grownups, prizes for the kids and plenty of candy for everyone. Thanks to all the parents who donated eggs and candy and to Christal, Kelly, Adrianne and Amy for braving the cold to hide eggs and orchestrating the whole thing!

Posted on April 6, 2007 | Comments (0)

March 10, 2007

Easter Egg Hunt

Posted on March 10, 2007 | Comments (0)

April 30, 2006

Thank You!

Many thanks to everyone who came out to help clean up our community and prepare the pool on Saturday. Brad, Zach, Boy Scout Troop 83 (Alex, Justin, Kim, Nathan, Vincent), Freya, Jill, Brenda, Summer, Mark, Angela, Gail, George, Christal, Art, Barb, Kyle, Rachael, Bob, Bonnie and all the children who helped with raking and trash pickup! In all, there were about 30 people who volunteered the better part of their Saturday to make a difference in Blue Ridge Acres. If all goes as planned, the pool should be open by Memorial Day! Thanks to Chip for the photos.

Posted on April 30, 2006 | Comments (0)

October 12, 2005

Civic? Club? What’s the difference?

Many hands make light work

In lieu of a Home Owners Association, Blue Ridge Acres has two separate organizations. The Blue Ridge Acres Civic Association owns the maintenance shed and our private roads and is responsible for the maintenance of those roads. The Blue Ridge Acres Community Club owns the community areas, including the office, front entrance and the river frontage. Both organizations are comprised of volunteer community members. Both organizations were founded and continue to exist to serve the community of Blue Ridge Acres.

Every Blue Ridge Acres homeowner is, by virtue of paying their mandatory road maintenance fee, a member of the Civic Association. The annual road maintenance fees are used to repair roads, remove snow and pay taxes and insurance on Civic Association property. Over the course of the average year, the Civic Association spends approximately $2000 on administrative expenses, including postage, utilities and printing. Those costs are paid by donations, separate from road fees. Annual road maintenance fees amount to about $60,000 in annual income. We have almost 13 miles of roads in Blue Ridge Acres (that comes out to less than one dollar per foot of road). From that $60,000, about $10,000 is spent annually on snow removal, $45,000 is spent on road maintenance and about $5,000 is spent on equipment, taxes, insurance, utilities and rent. The bulk of the cost of actual road maintenance is contract labor (over 50%). There are some simple things we can all do to reduce that cost and ensure that more of our money is spent on gravel and asphalt. That includes keeping culverts clear and operating and clearing debris and leaves from ditches around our property. The Civic Association is currently owed nearly $30,000 in past due road maintenance fees. Additional money and time is wasted spent trying to collect that money. The Civic Association has the legal authority to file liens against property for which the road maintenance fees have not been paid, and is actively pursuing filing those liens. Liens will show up as negative marks on credit reports and they will be flagged by title search companies. Resorting to this measure is unfortunate, but necessary to ensure that everyone is equally responsible for the upkeep of our shared roads. Paving every road in Blue Ridge Acres was quoted at $1,300,000. Until we manage to come up with that kind of money we need to work together to ensure that our roads are maintained in the best condition possible.

Up until the 70s, it was also mandatory that homeowners pay a yearly fee to belong to the Club. That rule has since been changed and club membership is now at the discretion of the homeowner. The annual Club membership fees are used to pay for building upkeep, pool maintenance and expenses, grounds maintenance, insurance and taxes on community property and equipment. Taxes, insurance, utilities and minimal grass mowing and maintenance on our community property cost the club approximately $25,000 per year (about 100 memberships). Currently, the club has about 30 paying members. This is mostly due to the Clubhouse fire and subsequent closing of the pool due to County Health Department ordinances. In order to operate the pool, the club must have the required restrooms, changing facilities, access, a WV licensed pool operator and two lifeguards on duty. The club is currently working very hard to get a pavilion built so that the pool can be opened for 2006. John Kincaid has very nearly worked himself to death to achieve this. The county has thrown nearly every obstacle available to a new commercial building project in our path, including full site plan requirements. Unfortunately, it was not possible to simply rebuild the old clubhouse as it didn’t come close to meeting modern County requirements for a commercial facility. I’m told that at one point in our history, we had a baseball diamond, tennis courts, mini golf, a small driving range, archery range, playground and a sand volleyball court in addition to the pool. While it may not be feasible or even desirable to recreate the past, the property and the possibility is still there. Imagine if we were to work together, bringing to bear the combined talent and resources of our community. Now imagine if the community property that we take for granted was gone, replaced with rows of town homes or a small development. The decision is ours.

 

Posted on October 12, 2005 | Comments (1)

August 28, 2005

Community Cleanup - Thank-You!

Thank-you to everyone who made the recent Community Cleanup a success - Freya Campbell, Donna Dolecki, Brad & Zach Eaton, Christal Henson, John Kincaid, George Klimes, Don Orser, Bob Parker & Son and Bill Ramsey. I'd also like to thank James Riner for offering to come up with his skid-steer loader. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough turnout to make use of it.

We tidied up the brick marquees at the entrance, added some new plants and cleaned and removed weeds from around the pool area. All together there were 12 people who pitched in and spent the better part of Saturday sprucing up our community. We’ll do it again in either late March or early April 2006. By then, if everything goes as planed, we'll be preparing to open the pool for next summer!

Posted on August 28, 2005 | Comments (0)