Living in the Neighborhood

Have a Safe and Secure Holiday

December is a time for celebrating the holiday season with family and friends. Please practice safety awareness through this season. If you plan to entertain during the holidays, please be considerate of others and plan ahead. Ask friends and guests to park along streets so that through traffic and emergency vehicles are not blocked. Our neighborhood roads are generally not wide enough to accommodate parking on both sides of the street.

This is also a time to be aware of home security issues. The Davidson Police Department encourages you to go on-line and utilize their “Home Security Check” service. By completing the simple checklist and submitting the request between 12 and 24 hours ahead of your travel, the Police Department will pay particular attention to your home in your absence. To complete an application, visit http://www.ci.davidson.nc.us/ and click on “Home Security Check.”

January Newsletter Delivery

Due to the Holiday Season and all the activities from Thanksgiving through Christmas and New Year’s Day, the January newsletter will not be delivered until Monday. January 12.

There will be no newsletter issued in February. An attempt will be made to include neighborhood activities for February in the January newsletter. Committee chairpersons and activity leaders should keep this in mind when submitting monthly activities early in the year.

Any further delivery changes will be noted in the newsletter and Association Calendar. (There will be no newsletter delivery in August.) I welcome any thoughts and comments you may have regarding newsletter content and delivery. Please call at 704.987.1472 or e-mail at davidbsmith@bellsouth.net.

Increase in 2009 Assessments

As announced in the notification letter for the September Membership Meeting and in further discussion at that budget ratification meeting on September 23, monthly assessments for both townhome owners and single-family homeowners will increase by $1.50 per month ($18 per year) starting January 1, 2009. This increase is for Common charges only and is due primarily to inflationary increases in management fees and the annual landscaping contract. There is no increase in assessments for townhome (Peer Group) maintenance. There are no planned increases to current budgeted allocations for the Townhome Peer Group Reserves.
Owners who currently have automatic bank draft set-up for monthly payment of assessments will not need to do anything. The increase will automatically be reflected in the January draft. If you are paying by coupon book, you should receive a new book with the increased fees sometime in December. For owners who pay by other means or on something other than a monthly schedule, please contact Abbott Enterprises to confirm what is needed to cover the increase. Owners are reminded that failure to receive a coupon book does not excuse payment of dues by the first of each month. However, if you do not receive a new book by the first of January, please contact Abbott as soon as possible.

How to Update Your Contact Information on the
Association Website through Abbott

Did you know? . . . There is an Association website maintained by Abbott Enterprises in addition to the site maintained by Steve Lee (Webmaster). This site carries much of the same information as the private Association website (www.stalbanssq.org), but also carries information regarding Abbott and how management companies operate. Your personal data and a directory are also kept by Abbott in a password protected section of their website. It is important to keep personal data updated on each site.

To access the Abbott Enterprises, Inc. website, enter www.abbottexcellence.com in your web browser and click on “My Community Web Site” under E-SERVICES or click on the SERVICES picture. This will put you on the main sign-in page.
First Time User:  On the left hand side of the main sign-in page, you will see “Sign In”, and on the right hand side you will see ”New User? Sign Up Today...” Click on “Sign Up.” On the next screen, you will be asked to enter your name and address, to choose a sign-in and password, and to choose an e-mail address in which you will receive any correspondence from the Association. Once you have entered this information and agreed to the terms, your e-mail will be sent to the website administrator at Abbott Enterprises, Inc. Once the request is received by Abbott Enterprises, you will receive a confirmation e-mail that you are now registered! At this point, you may now sign-in as a registered user.
Registered User:  Registered users should go to the main sign-in page, enter the e-mail and password you have selected when registering and click “Sign In.” Please be aware, your sign-in name may not be the e-mail address that you have selected to receive correspondence from, unless you have chosen to use the same e-mail address as your sign-in name. Congratulations, you have made it to your personalized St. Alban’s Square homepage!
Retrieving Forgotten Sign-In or Password: If you have forgotten your sign-in name or password, go to the main sign-in page. Below the “Sign In” on the left hand side you will see “Forgot your Password?” If you have forgotten your sign in name and/or password click “Forgotten Sign In and Password.”  This will lead you to a page that requests you enter your e-mail address.  Please be sure that this e-mail address is the same address that you originally entered to receive correspondence. Now click, “Email My Password.” Within a few minutes, you should receive an e-mail from Abbott. In the e-mail, you will see your sign-in name and password. You can now go to the main sign-in page and enter the correct information and click “Sign In.”
Editing Sign-In Information: Once you have gotten back onto your personalized St. Alban’s homepage, you may want to edit your sign-in information to something easier for you to remember!  If you would like to change your sign-in name or password, under the “My Account” section of your personalized homepage, you will see two (2) options to click on.  One is “Edit My Profile” and the other is “Edit Sign In Information.” Click on “Edit Sign In Information.” This will direct you to a page called “Sign In Information.” Here you can enter the new sign-in name and password that you would like.  After you have entered the new information, click “Reset Sign In.”

Should you need any assistance in using the website, please contact your community assistant Maureen Floyd at 704-527-2314 or at mfloyd@abbottexcellence.com. Please visit the Abbott website and register your sign-in information. This site is under construction and all areas are not yet populated. Future newsletter articles will provide updates on how you may best use the site.

Winter Holiday Decorations Contest
Christmas treesChristmas treesChristmas trees

The Landscape and Grounds Committee invites all residents (single-family and townhomes) to participate in the New Neighborhood Third Annual Winter Holiday Decorating Contest. The contest will be judged in two separate categories:

The Yard-of-the-Month Committee will judge all entries. Judging will take place at night between 6:00 and 8:00 P.M. on December 15 and 16. Entries will be evaluated upon creativity, originality, thematic elements and overall design quality and not just on quantity of lights. Winners will be awarded a blue ribbon and photographed for the newsletter and website.

All participants will be asked to remove decorations no later than the third Sunday in January, 2009.

Everyone is invited to participate and we encourage all to get in the spirit! New Neighborhood has always been alive with decoration during the holiday season. Please plan on taking a winter walk during one December evening and check out all the sights.

Yard of the Month Winners – 2008 Season

The Landscape and Grounds Committee has completed all 2008 awards for Yard-of-the-Month.  Plans are to continue this monthly award from May through October in 2009, but the committee would like your input on ways to improve the criteria for selection and the incentive for participation throughout the neighborhood. Please submit comments and suggestions to Judy McLean (Chairperson of the Landscape & Grounds Committee) at 704.895.0940. Judy and her committee have done an outstanding job!

Homeowners receiving Yard-of-the-Month awards in 2008 were as follows:

Let’s give one last round of applause and congratulations to our 2008 winners!

Pest Control Policy

In response to numerous requests for pest control in townhomes, the Council of Stewards reviewed and approved the following policy at the October meeting:

“The Association will process pest control service requests in emergency situations when safety of townhome residents may be jeopardized. The example of such situations may include pest control services to control or eliminate exterior problems of large hornets’ nests, bee infestations, large anthills that may cause injury to children or pets, swarm or hive of insects and other large infestations. However, all interior and minor exterior pest control treatments (i.e.: ants, roaches, spiders, etc.) should be handled by the perspective Unit Owner at that owner's expense.”

If townhome owners have questions regarding this policy, contact a member of the Council of Stewards.
Please note the special annual pest (ants, spiders, roaches, etc.) control service offered to townhome owners by Termitech South of Charlotte. [See newsletter article on page 6.]

Replacement of Name Plaques

As new people have moved into New Neighborhood over the past year, the question of how to obtain new name plaques for townhomes or single-family homes has been frequently asked. This information has not been included in the newsletter for over a year. This is hardware specified under neighborhood architectural standards.

People in Davidson often refer to the home where they live by the name of the first owner.  As one of the things to make the New Neighborhood a part of Old Davidson, the neighborhood founder obtained an agreement from the builders to install a plaque on each house showing the original homebuyer’s name to reflect this small town philosophy.

Although the founder would prefer subsequent owners keep the original plaque somewhere on the front of the house, like an historical marker, the new owner has the option of replacing the old plaque with one that shows their name. The new homeowner does not have to obtain prior architectural review and approval to use the original style of plaque shown. The neighborhood association does not replace townhome plaques unless damaged by some natural occurrence.

If the new owner wants to replace the plaque on their home, they can purchase plaques by Whitehall Products, Montague, MI at: Ace Hardware in Cornelius, Lowes, and Home Depot. Each store has a display and Whitehall has a web site: http://www.whitehallproducts.com/.

The founder and builders purchased plaques in quantity and ordered direct from Whitehall.  The approved plaques are described as follows:

Annual Termite Inspection Continues

If you live in a townhome unit, the annual termite inspection is underway. The Association carries insurance for damage from termites and has contracted with Termitech South of Charlotte for this service. Once a year, an inspection is required to maintain this policy. Inspections of external areas of each townhome block were checked in early-October. Termitech now needs to inspect first floor interior walls, patio areas, and garages.

Townhome residents received a flyer in mid-October explaining this requirement. Please call Rob “Da Bug Man” Bukaweski at 704.658.5796 to make an appointment for inspection of interior walls and garages and patios that are not assessable. Termitech hopes to complete all units by the end of November, but there are some stragglers. This is an important service covered by your assessment fees. Thank you for your help and cooperation.

This inspection does not involve any actual spraying for pests. It is a termite inspection service only. However, since the neighborhood does have this contract, Termitech offers a $45 special to townhome owners for interior pest (ants, spiders, roaches, etc.) control. If interested in receiving this additional service at owner expense, please contact Termitech at the number above.

Newsletter Delivery Volunteers

Thanks go to all of our delivery volunteers! Our November team included Adria & Woody Appleby, Barbara Dillman, Barbara & Tom Doster, Tom Fischer, Anne Jerands, Sherman & Nancy Kahn, Norman Richards, Dave Smith, and John & Marcia Williamson. Please have the hot chocolate ready for our volunteers during the winter months!

If you wish to volunteer, please call Dave Smith at 704.987.1472 (e-mail at davidbsmith@bellsouth.net).

NOTE: The Council of Stewards meets regularly on the fourth Wednesday of every other month in St. Alban’s Church classroom (lower level) at 7:00 p.m. Special meetings are called as needed. Meetings are open to residents. The next regular COS meeting is scheduled on December 10, 2008. [Note: This is a date change due to the holiday season.]
St. Albans Square Neighborhood Associationfountain