For What It’s Worth
Wordsworth November 2024 E Newsletter
I have been asked to remind you about the Holiday Party on December 6th. There is a very small number of people that have dropped off their flyer with a check to Pearl leaving me to tell you that if we don’t get large enough participation, it will make it difficult to have the party and that would be a shame. Residents ask me all the time “why don’t we have more events in Wordsworth?” well folks this is why, low participation. Pearl and her crew put on a great party every year. It’s a great way to meet your neighbors. I would hate to see this be our last. The Social committee took the time to drop off flyers incase you “lost” the last E newsletter. The RSVP is DUE by November 25th.
Earl Harper resigned from the Board as of the October meeting due to health issues. The Board will miss him, he was a valuable and diligent member of the Board. The Board appointed Nick Smith to fill Earl’s remaining term of one year. Sharon Williams was elected to the Board in October and is your new Treasurer. I know Sharon will do her fiduciary duty to the community and keep us on course.
Committee Reports were due in November and I have highlighted points from each one for your perusal:
Sunshine Committee: Chair Marguerite Sell and her ladies, Jeanne Kurash, Marianne Galella, Mary Anne Cupper, Mary Curran, Mary Lutz, Pearl Taylor, and Susan Miller had 13 welcome bags, sent out 9 Get Well cards, 23 Thinking of You cards, 14 Sympathy cards and 1 Loss of pet card. The committee wants to thank the building reps and residents for their interest in helping with their purpose. Thanks to the Sunshine ladies for the work, they do to welcome new neighbors. They can always use your help in letting them know of any new resident.
Flag Committee: Dick Wiese chair, the flag flew 365 days, 14 half-staff days. He received a new flag this year and expects ordering another late next year. (I have to add that Dick mends the flags himself elongating the life of the flag). He also mentioned that he gives old flags to a Funeral Home to be cremated with a veteran. If you would like more information concerning this, Dick’s contact is 757-421-7339
Outside Water Spigot committee: Mark Heller chair, Committee members, James Fox, Kathy Gough, Edd Nixon, Earl Harper, Jim Blohm, and Michael Parker. The purpose of this committee is to keep the outside water faucets in our community. They inspect each sprinkler room on a quarterly basis for proper operation, lights, baseboard heater, fire system water pressure and outside spigots are checked for proper operation. Outside water is turned off in December and turned back on in April.
Mark also chairs the Neighborhood Watch committee and reported since the Pandemic that this resource is no longer available through the Virginia Beach Police. But that doesn’t change our commitment of watching out for our neighbors and reporting any suspicious activity to the Police department.
Wordsworth Communication Committee Report
November 2024
Constant Contact is used to send out Wordsworth monthly E Newsletter. At this time there are 288 users and the open rate averages 81%. This year there have been 7337 sends with 5941 opens. I have 12 residents that have been unsubscribed by Constant Contact and I send the newsletters to them personally through my email.
The Wordsworth website www.wordsworthvillagecondo.com is a resource for the neighborhood we do not use as a marketing tool like West Neck. The website has 227 users. The newsletters, minutes from the Board meetings, the documents, budget, audit, Insurance, and Contact Us are updated monthly for the convenience of the community. The calendar shows that part of the West Neck calendar that pertains to Wordsworth and updated monthly. The Board of Directors and Committee chairs are listed with contact information.
The neighborhood directory is being revised to include the maintenance listing so you can reference recommendations by residents for vendors covering various areas. The Directory listings will also be updated. There have been changes to the directory since the last update was sent out so I would appreciate it if you would check the latest building listing on the website and let me know what changes need to be made to your building listing by the end of the year. Let me know if there is anything else I can include to help you.
Sue Mays
Communications Chair.
Wordsworth Landscaping Enhancement Committee, Jim Blohm chair, committee members Sharon Williams, Linda LaPean and Pat Perkins. This committee is finding out we have a large area to cover landscape wisely and could definitely use more volunteers to help with this project. The primary directive from the Board was to evaluate all building beds and make recommendations to update and improve those beds. This entails considering sun and shade areas and choosing proper plants for each situation. The committee has been working with US Lawns, which gave them a bid that we could work with but I should add that we have signed a two-year contract with US Lawns starting in January making it easier to work with one company. This is still an ongoing process with 60 beds to finish a rough draft of proposal for the Board, we anticipate we will present a complete project to the Board in February.
A few of the accomplishments/issues the Association has faced during the past year were:
· DeRoches & Co., Certified Public Accountants, completed the audit of the 2023 financials of the Association. Audit has been posted to the website.
· Power washing buildings and roof inspections of the 10 buildings (100-1000) on the maintenance schedule was completed. This also included spot cleaning of buildings. Shutter painting was included on this year’s maintenance schedule and columns. Driveway expansion joint inspection & repairs, roof inspection & repairs and building inspection & repairs.
· Fire suppression system quarterly & annual inspections.
· Replace 7 Flat Roof Decks-out of Reserves.
· Crepe Myrtle bark scale treatment
· Distributed Community Directory updates anything other than the resident directory will go on the website, so homeowners can obtain the updates.
· Approved to install 3 Emergency generators.
· The 2025 Budget will be approved at this meeting.
· ARC conducted exterior building inspections.
· Inspection & Repair Shutters of all buildings (50)
· Refurbish directional Sign
· Crack fill and Sealcoat of Roadways
· 20 Year Fire System Head Replacement - Completed Bldgs. 100-1000
I have to add that we will be sending out compliance letters to the residents who continue to ignore the Rules and Regulations of the community, believing that they don’t apply to them. Maybe after failing to comply with the Rules and Regulations we can start charging the fees listed in the Rules. These fees will be applied to the condo fees of those in noncompliance. ARC will be giving the Board a list in order to set up a compliance meeting. Consider this fair warning, the Board has been getting complaints from the residents.
Wordsworth has a few more repairs to complete this year and our current landscaping company has a few items to finish their contract, which Brett is overseeing.
It has been a while since I have discussed that little area on either side of the buildings that most residents call the pull up area. That was originally put there to make the back out of the garages on the side easier without going on the grass but over the years it has become a visitor’s spot to park so we don’t have parking on our narrow streets. It is not a permanent parking spot or a storage place for that extra car. When the community was being built you had to park all vehicles in the garage but there were some too tall or big to fit in the garage so a variance was developed so you could park in your driveway and that is how Wordsworth would like you to keep your car. Now we know that moving here from a house has left some with the leftover household goods in the garage but they still seem to manage to keep their cars in the driveway. Please be considerate of your neighbors and leave that pull up area free for visitors. Remember you share your home with 5 other families.
Okay, I am still working on the 3000 buildings (3000 -3900). Building 3200 I need an upstairs unit and a downstairs unit for the replacement and testing of the four 155-degree Fahrenheit sprinkler heads in each of them. All units need to be prepared for them to enter the units to replace the 175-degree Fahrenheit sprinkler heads found in your utility rooms. Building 3800 I need the same thing as building 3200.
I need a downstairs unit in Building 3600. I need a downstairs unit in buildings 3700 and 3900, as it turns out these buildings have only one occupied unit downstairs.
Again, I need to let you know that all units will be involved, we will have to deal with unoccupied units and if any resident will be away when this is scheduled, we will need a way to get entry. I have spoken with Virginia Sprinkler and Ryan is looking at a schedule for January. The Board has approved the proposal for labor, but materials have been purchased already. I will keep you informed.
Worthy Ladies don’t meet for their luncheon in November or December due to the holidays.
The Wordsworth AM Book Club will meet in December on the second Tuesday at 10AM in the Village Hall card room. The choice for December is “Mr. Dickens and His Carol” by Samantha Silva Hosted by Mary Curran. Want a reminder? Contact Rosemary irishrose105@aol.com
That’s all I have for now. Hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving,
Sue
Additional This and That November 2024
An Update on the Holiday Party. They have a count of 50 but would like to have at least 20 more. Dig around for that flyer and drop it off with your check made out to Wordsworth to Pearl. Pearl is on Loveliness Court, 2834 Loveliness Court, if you have misplaced that flyer, I can guarantee that Pearl has extras at her place.
I was informed by John Edward’s Pest Control performed a treatment for “Fire Ants” in multiple areas on November 18th.
Tips to protect yourself from impersonation scams
Scammers posing as various organizations like Amazon may send you calls, texts, and emails with various tactics to try to deceive you to provide personal information or sign-in credentials.
What to watch out for?
Scammers may tell you there is a fraud investigation and you must “verify” your account or claim there is an unauthorized or fraudulent activity on your Amazon account.
How can you avoid being scammed?
Amazon will never ask you to share your password, account sign-in One-Time Password (OTP), or verify sensitive personal information over the phone.
Visit the Message Center on Amazon.com or on our app to review authentic emails from Amazon.
Go directly to our website, and go to Your Account to make changes to your billing and account information.
Customer Service is available 24/7 to help with any questions you may have.
Keep others safe
If you receive communication — a call, text, or email — that you think may not be from Amazon, please report it to us at, amazon.com/reportascam.
For more information on how to stay safe online, visit Protect Your System on the Amazon Customer Service page.
When fats, oil and grease are poured down the drain, they cling to pipe walls and solidify. Improper disposal of these cooking substances is a common cause of drain backups and sewer blockages, often leading to costly plumbing repairs.
Virginia Beach Public Utilities urges at-home chefs to collect and dispose of these drain-clogging substances to avoid clogging our pipes. One way to do this is by finding an empty, heat-safe container, such as a soup can. Once cooking oils have cooled, pour them into the container, cover it securely with a grease can lid, and store it in the freezer. Once solidified, toss the can into the trash and save the lid for your next culinary adventure.
Another way to ensure fats, oil and grease do not make it down your drain is to avoid using your garbage disposal and opt for a sink strainer instead. Sink strainers catch food scraps that can be disposed of in the trash before they head down the drain.
Don’t have a grease can lid or sink strainer? We’ve got you covered!
FREE grease can lids, sink strainers and educational materials are now available at all Virginia Beach Public Library branches and the Public Utilities Business Office at 2809 S Lynnhaven Road, Suite 250, while supplies last.
This Thanksgiving don’t be a turkey by ruining your holiday with a plumbing emergency. Dispose of large amounts of used cooking oil (five gallons or less), such as from frying a turkey, by taking it to the Virginia Beach Landfill and Resource Recovery Center located at 1989 Jake Sears Road. The facility is normally open Tuesday through Saturday, 7 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., but will be closed on Thursday, Nov. 28, and Friday, Nov. 29, in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. It will reopen on Saturday, Nov. 30. Proof of residency is required for disposal at the landfill.
Myths about Fats, Oil and Grease
MYTH: It’s OK to pour grease down the drain, as long as I use the garbage disposal.
FACT: The garbage disposal only grinds up items before passing them into your sewer pipes. The fats, oil and grease can still cling to your pipes.
MYTH: It’s OK to pour grease down the drain, as long as I chase it down with dish soap.
FACT: It’s true that soap breaks up grease. You see it happen every time you wash your dishes. But what you don’t see is what happens in your sewer pipes. Eventually, soap loses its effectiveness, and grease solidifies and congeals on pipe walls.
MYTH: It’s OK to pour grease down the drain, as long as I run hot water.
FACT: This myth is similar in logic to chasing grease down the drain with soap. Eventually, the water will cool, and the grease will solidify.
For more information about the best ways to dispose of fats, oil, and grease, visit VirginiaBeach.gov/FOG.
Had a request from the website, be careful putting those pumpkins you are finished with, they are heavy and can break out of those trash bags. The trash guys don’t want to clean up that mess. Thanks.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving and be safe on Black Friday!
Sue
