Subject: President’s Message – Frequently Asked Questions
President’s Message
Frequently Asked Questions
Queen’s landing is a busy place these days with lots of activities, projects and plans for more. With that have come comments and questions to me, as President of the Board, and to the full Board as well. While each resident contacting us has gotten an individual reply, I thought it would be useful to provide the community with some of the most frequently asked questions and answers.
As always, you are welcome to email, us, call into Board meetings, attend town hall meetings on various subjects and projects, call into committee meetings and join committees where you will have the best opportunity to join with others to help influence and shape future projects and policies in the best interest of the whole community. The call-in phone number is 1-515-604-9941 then enter 618215# to join.
Question: Why don’t my monthly condo fees pay for replacement of my roof?
Answer: Our condominium documents make the Council of Unit Owners through the Board of Directors responsible for getting the work done by a competitive bid process and the individual unit owners responsible for paying for their share of the roof in their building plus the skylights over their units.
Question: Was this roof contract put out for open bidding and were local contractors encouraged to bid?
Answer: Yes. This is a big project to be done over 3 years. We are now in our second year of actual replacements after 2 years for residents to plan and save for payment. Many contractors were not interested or experienced in such large projects or able to handle the up-front financial costs. However, one bidder was a local contractor. There was no one bidder who was cheaper on all of the buildings.
Question: Is the pool security and possible clubhouse renovation project going to mean another special assessment?
Answer: No. The state is requiring all semi-public pools to meet new access and fencing requirements. For Queen’s Landing it must be finished no later than October 2022. At the same time the Social Room in the Clubhouse is in urgent need of repairs. Planning for the options is being done by the Ad Hoc Pool Committee and the Reserve Study Committee so it can be paid for by money saved in our reserves.
Question: Will there be a special assessment for other projects such as street repaving, gutter and downspout replacement and new doors and windows?
Answer: These projects are all being planned for the future with money to pay for them to come from our reserves. That is why we had a Reserve Study done and monitor our needs with a computer program for that purpose. Our reserves are like a savings account to which we add money on a regular basis in order to save for these projects. Part of your monthly condo fee is used for these deposits. The rest goes to pay for on-going operating costs such as water and electric bills, lawn and landscape maintenance, property management salaries and other necessary services needed to run the community and its facilities.
Question: When will guests be allowed to come to the pool?
Answer: Not this Summer. Per our pool operator, they are requiring all of their facilities to maintain the current occupancy limits and not to allow guests or parties for the rest of the season. 56% of community pools didn’t open at all this Summer. We are sorry we cannot operate in the usual manner but hope you understand the need to balance health and safety concerns with the desire to enjoy at least some of our activities.
Question: When will the Clubhouse reopen for use of the Exercise Room and Chester Room?
Answer: We do not have a current date but are closely monitoring the government health and safety rules and recommendations. Issues like cleaning, capacity enforcement under social distancing guidelines and sufficient healthy ventilation of the various parts of the building are all issues that the Board must solve before this can happen.
Question: Is the Clubhouse and Social Committee continuing to operate social and athletic activities here at Queen’s Landing?
Answer: Yes. The committee, under 4 co-chairs has meetings scheduled each month to review and continue to sponsor regular events such as Men’s Exercise Group, yoga classes, water aerobics and pickleball. These are all able to be held outside. Regular events such as weekly mahjong, monthly happy hour, monthly bingo, holiday parties and other social events will resume when they can be held inside the Clubhouse. All of these activities make Queen’s Landing a more enjoyable place to live. They are the result of the ideas and work of many residents and have been going on for many years. New events are also in the works so be on the lookout.
Question: Where do I go to learn about these activities and social events?
Answer: All activities are advertised by an email sent to all QL residents by our property manager, Tammy Eaton ([email protected]) or by her assistant, Laura. We hope you will attend some or all of them. All events requiring you to sign up are available on our Queen’s Landing Sign Up Genius account. They are also listed on the Tidewater Portal Calendar and a weekly reminder of meetings and events are sent out to all residents. If you have any questions how to find the Calendar or Sign Up Genius please contact Tammy or Laura. We do not operate a Facebook page or any other social media page at this time. ANY CONTACT FROM OR ADVERTISING ON FACEBOOK, ESPECIALLY THOSE APPEARING TO TRY TO LOOK LIKE OFFICIAL COMMUNITY SPONSORED EVENTS ARE PRIVATE EVENTS OPERATED BY PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS. SO ARE EVENTS COMING FROM PERSONAL EMAIL ADDRESSES SUCH AS ADCOWJ@GMAIL AND ASKING YOU TO RESPOND TO A PERSONAL EMAIL ADDRESS SUCH AS WJADCO@MSN. We are not responsible for anything that happens at those events.
Question: Is Queen’s Landing an actual waterfront community?
Answer: Most definitely. Unlike some other communities which claim “a waterfront state of mind”, we are surrounded by water on 3 sides, along with our lake in the middle. You will likely never live as close to the water as you do now!
Have a great Summer.
Carol Reiter