PRESIDENT – JIM ACKERMAN

The Board acknowledges the hard work and dedication of Drew Bratton who served as Board President for the first six months of 2006.

One of the major Board focuses during the second half of the year was addressing the problem of a declining number of volunteers for a variety of Board and other key FHA functions. To this Board’s great credit they worked diligently, seriously and harmoniously on what could have easily been a contentious and divisive issue. After six months of intensive study, the Board made the unanimous decision to establish a relationship with a professional management company. This will provide an infrastructure for future outsourcing of Board functions should they be required. Paid services will be phased in only if specific volunteer services are no longer available.

The subcommittee of the Board that investigated professional management services was chaired by Ingram Austin with Bob Flower and Jim Ackerman serving as committee members. The sub-committee reaffirmed the recommendation of the Long-Range Planning Committee and the Board authorized the sub-committee to determine an appropriate management company. Subsequent to receiving referrals, four companies were selected and asked to submit proposals. Each company was interviewed at least twice, either before or after their proposal was received. The sub-committee recommended CAS Management Company as the most suitable firm based on the criteria of experience, cost (CAS made the lowest bid), proximity to Fearrington Village and references. CAS is the largest professional management firm in North Carolina with over 25 years’ experience. The Board unanimously approved that CAS be engaged for the year 2007. A contract is currently being negotiated and is expected to be in place by January 1, 2007.

CAS will provide financial services and employ an on-site half-time FHA administrator. The opportunity for this employment will be extended to residents of Fearrington Village. CAS will perform bookkeeping and dues collection for the FHA. This will eliminate the need for a Financial Officer of the Board next year. Routine treasury duties such as bill paying and reports for tax purposes will be included in their service. Thus, the FHA Treasurer will be able to spend more time in a strategic and oversight role than has previously been the case. As stated above, CAS will also hire a person (FHA Administrator) to work with the Board on administrative matters including the FHA office. These duties will include management of a filing system and supervision of volunteer staff. The Board will retain its authority and the management company (CAS) will work at the direction of the Board.

The Board looks forward with great anticipation to working with CAS to further strengthen an already robust and effective FHA.
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VICE PRESIDENT – GILLIAN CELL

During the first half of 2006 Jim Ackerman served as Vice President; I assumed that position when Jim became President of the FHA. I am grateful to Jim for his help with the transition.

The FHA Office: This has been a somewhat unsettled year in the life of the office. Pat Harkins who had served very ably as the office manager, announced that he did not wish to continue in that role after the end of June. Despite heroic efforts on the part of Board, we were unable to identify a volunteer to assume the manager’s position. We, therefore, made the decision that during the three summer months the office would run without a manager and be open only three days a week. In fact that arrangement continued through early October when Pat agreed to resume service as office manager for a stipend through the end of the year. The Board continues to discuss the future of the office in the context of its consideration of professional management.

I want to offer my sincere thanks to all the office volunteers who put up with the uncertainty and continued to provide great service to the members of his community. I am particularly grateful to Marilyn Band, Mary Lou Einloth and Carol Kurtz who assumed some of the managerial responsibilities during the summer. Mary Lou also chaired an ad hoc committee which provided the Board with an excellent report setting out the options for the future of the office.

The Newcomers Fair was held in April. Over forty clubs and organizations attended and provided newcomers to Fearrington Village and Galloway Ridge with a wonderful overview of the activities and opportunities available to them here.

The Neighborhood Quarterly Service Committee met regularly and enabled a good exchange of information between the neighborhoods and the Board.

The Communications Committee met to discuss issues relating to the Newsletter and the FHA website. Bob Comey who was for a long time co-editor of the Newsletter has left the Village. We are fortunate that Dinah McAllister has been willing to take his place and that Mary Hammond will continue as the other co-editor. Teams of volunteers are now responsible for printing the Newsletter, replacing Don Reilly who still shares his expertise generously. We all owe Mike Cotter a debt of gratitude for his wonderful work on the Handbook and Directory.
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TREASURER - ROBERT J. FLOWER

As of October 31, 2006 we have $220,851.83 in total liquid assets with $71,312.63 in operating funds and $149,539.20 in the reserve fund. In February, $20,500.00 was transferred to the reserve fund per the 2005 budget.

Our 2006 fiscal year is projected to end with a budget surplus of approximately $5,000 - $10,000 primarily due to lower than forecast expenses for Grounds & Facilities, Gathering Place, Community Affairs and a decision to pursue alternatives to using the GP for Red Cross Emergency Shelter.

The focus this year has been to continue to improve financial policies and procedures and obtain a professional third party audit of our finances. To that end the following were completed in 2006:

A policy was established to whereby no reimbursement checks will be issued unless a FHA Expense Reimbursement Request Form is completely filled and accompanied by the applicable receipts.

A policy was established to identify the limits of financial expenditures and the level of approval required for each.

In August, the board contracted with the CPA firm of Petway, Mills & Pearson to audit our 2005 fiscal year financial records and procedures. Audit results were extremely favorable. The conclusion was that our financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of FHA as of December 31, 2005. The results of our operations and cash flows conformed with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. There were no errors of omission, misstatements or problems.

In 2007, we will retain a CPA firm for annual audits and tax preparation.

The 2007 Provisional Budget was developed in anticipation of covering expenses for the phase-in of professional management services and is based on the projection of annual dues at $96. This is a 4.3% increase from the current dues of $92 per annum. The 2007 Provisional Budget estimates income of $148,890 and expenses of $139,500. This projects to an operating contingency and transfer to the reserves at the end of the budget year of $9,390. [The complete provisional budget for 2007 can be viewed by clicking here.]
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FINANCIAL OFFICER – INGRAM AUSTIN

This report is in regard to the status of members who are residential owners in Fearrington; it does not include the associate members (Galloway Ridge). Through October 31, 2006, the Association has a total of 1,109 Fearrington Village residential owners (members). Of this total, the Association has received 2006 annual dues from all but one member. The delinquent amount of $203.72 represents unpaid dues for both 2005 and 2006 plus interest and service costs. Fortunately, this account receivable is secured by a lien on the property and the property is currently listed for sale. We should receive payment once the property is sold.

Currently, we have approximately 515 members paying their dues by bank debit. This is a lower percentage than usual but we expect that it will improve before yearend. The reduction has occurred because many of the property sales during the year have been by sellers who paid their dues by bank debit and new owners haven’t yet signed up for bank debit authorization. It will be greatly appreciated if more members take advantage of this process as it reduces the burden of collecting dues and lowers the Association’s operating cost which results in lower member dues.

One of the responsibilities of the financial officer is to keep the database up-to-date by tracking property sales on a monthly basis. You might be interested to know that during the first ten months of this year we have recorded 122 property sales, of which 106 have been re-sales of existing properties and 16 have been new properties. This indicates that Fearrington Village is continuing to have an active real estate market.

Another responsibility is to keep track of the addresses of non-resident property owners so that the Association can provide them with information on what is happening in Fearrington Village. Of the 1,109 members, there are currently 105 non-resident property owners.

In closing, I would like to remind everyone that the timing for dues payment in 2007 will be different than in past years. The first notice for the 2007 dues payment will be mailed on or before January 20th with a due date of February 1st. Payments will be past due if not received by March 3rd. This is being done on the on the theory that by avoiding the holiday season, dues collection and payment should be more effective.
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GROUNDS & FACILITIES – CAROL-ANN GREENSLADE

Grounds and Facilities spends more of your dues monies than any other budget category, and what is done by G&F projects also has high visibility around the Village. We had a pretty ambitious year planned, and I’m happy to say that it appears we will accomplish all of our 2006 goals.

The single largest G&F expense is the landscape contract, which takes care of the roadside mowing, where FHA is the service group, and landscaping of various of the FHA land parcels. This includes: The Gathering Place; the Creekwood, Smokehouse and Swim & Croquet mail kiosks; maintenance of the gravel walking paths along Village Way and Swim & Croquet; and our Spring and Fall Yard Cleanups.

Our 2006 projects were:

1. The interior and exterior repainting of the Smokehouse kiosk;

2. The repair of the large doors to the mailboxes and Swim & Croquet;

3. Installation of trash barrels to facilitate disposal of the junk mail we hate to carry home;

4. Installation of a concrete sidewalk all the way around the Gathering Place for safer walking between car and building;

5. Purchase and installation of a flagpole and 2 US flags;

6. Reconfiguration and repainting of lines and directional arrows in the Gathering Place/Fearrington Cares/Swim & Croquet kiosk parking areas, mostly through the volunteer effort of Henry Castner.

7. Installation of 3 additional street lights around the Gathering Place property;

8. Some exterior siding repairs to the Gathering Place and Swim & Croquet kiosk.

In addition, we have accepted the lowest bidder to repair and expand the Gathering Place irrigation system. This project should be completed before the end of the year.

The cleanup of the Beaver Pond is ongoing. We were successful in obtaining $10,000 from NCDOT, which combined with $10,000 from RB Fitch and the remaining $10,000 from our FHA Reserve Fund will pay for the restoration work being done by our pond care contractor, Foster Lake & Pond.

New, and unplanned, is the repair and replacement of damaged street signs and gardens. This appears to have been vandalism, and has been reported to the Sheriff’s office, DOT and the involved utilities. We seem to have become somewhat of a target for such activity. The Creekwood kiosk and the tennis courts were targeted this summer. A community Watch program has been put into effect. Success is yet to be seen, especially since the “Watch” sign on Creekwood was stolen and had to be replaced. We must all become more vigilant, and observe and report any suspicious cars and/or people to the Sheriff’s office. They have been very responsive and have actually apprehended several such perpetrators.

The Road Safety Committee came under the responsibility of the G&F Director this spring. They have worked long and hard on our behalf in raising awareness of our Village-wide 25 MHP speed limit, and to that end have created T-shirts, a coloring book and a program to obtain a radar-monitoring device, which will be funded jointly by FHA and Fitch Creations.

G&F also administers the “Adopt-A-Parcel” program. A lovely little picnic area has been created on the island at Creekwood and Stone Edge, by the residents in that neighborhood, with $200 allocated to the project by FHA. Jack Traywick and Joe Tezza were the organizers of this effort. Details of this program, as well as the newly established Gifts & Memorials policy are available on the FHA website.

Thanks in large part to volunteers like Henry Castner and Tom Hauck, G&F should finish the year, once again, under budget. They and others on the Committee of the Whole and Walk Fearrington, help regularly with clearing and cleanup projects. The best way to thank them would be to join them. Volunteerism is what has made Fearrington Village the community we know and love, and it is what is necessary to keep it that way.

Looking forward, we are projecting a modest increase in the budget, which may again result in a larger that projected Reserve Fund contribution. We will be working again with 4Ever Green as our landscape contractor, and for the same price as the last 3 years. We are developing future plans to enhance the Beaver Pond as a nature park area, and would welcome you ideas and participation. I will remain as Dir. of Grounds & Facilities for 2007, and anticipate fewer large projects next year
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GATHERING PLACE – LOWELL KENNEDY

The Gathering Place has had another successful year. Clairbeth Lehn, who continues to do the scheduling, is to be commended for her dedication. This is a commitment that takes many hours of volunteer time. We are also indebted to Doris Flexner, Barbara Berke, Mary Heisserman, Jim Perry, Caroline Resnick, Pat Aulik and Jeanne Hagen. They are the key persons who have provided access to the groups and organizations that utilize the GP.

During the year several projects were accomplished:

The FHA office storage room had shelving and file cabinets installed to more efficiently utilize the space.

New valences of fire resistant material were fabricated and installed in the large and small meeting rooms and the lobby. These were required as the original ones were condemned by the fire marshal. Our thanks go to Maggie Frantz for obtaining the proper material.

The list of vendors and suppliers to the Gathering Place was updated and an inventory of FHA owned equipment and outfit was completed.

The FHA office HVAC compressor/condensing unit and the fan unit-cooling coil were replaced. Although scheduled for 2010, this was required at this time because of a lightning strike that disabled the compressor and it was deemed more cost effective to replace the complete unit as the refrigerant in use will be phased out in 2010 which would require new units. A request for proposal is being prepared for replacement of the main HVAC compressor/condensing unit, cooling coil and the fan/heating unit in 2007. This is necessary because of the age of the unit and the phasing out of the refrigerant currently in use in this unit also as well as the opportunity to acquire a more efficient system.

A new contract was put in place for termite monitoring and pest control of the Gathering Place. The contract also covers the FHA owned mail kiosks. The contract is paid for out of the Grounds & Facilities budget.

It has become apparent that the Gathering Place kitchen and storage facilities are inadequate based on many discussions with Fearrington residents. In June a letter was sent to all groups in Fearrington who utilize the GP. Interested members of the groups who responded met in early August as an ad hoc committee and presented their suggestions to the director. A proposal is being developed with cost estimates to implement many of the suggestions. It is hoped that the project will proceed in the spring.
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COMMUNITY LIAISON – JIM BOND

The past year has been an interesting baptism for me in Intergovernmental Affairs. Frankly, I had no idea how many issues of community-wide interest would present themselves and how difficult it would be to discern how best to discharge my responsibilities. We all know that Fearringtonians and other residents of Chatham County have struggled with development issues and those struggles are likely to continue. These struggles often generated intense debates among members of the County Board of Commissioners and between the Commissioners and members of the community; and that, too, is likely to continue. What remains unclear to me is how the Director for Intergovernmental Affairs and the FHA Board should participate and respond to these disputes. We can perform an "alert" function, for example, by simply informing Fearringtonians of the issues and the fora in which they will be discussed. But the fact is that there are many other groups (almost all of whom include members of this community) who perform that function. No one who reads a local newspaper is apt to be unaware of the debates.

The Board could also take a position on such matters and seek to marshal support for that position in the larger community. Any decision to follow such a course would require the Board, it seems to me, to develop guidelines and procedures for (1) determining such positions and (2) when to actively work for their adoption. My concern is that routine Board involvement is such disputes might be counter-productive within the Fearrington Community itself where there might be strong differences of judgment among residents as to the desirability of one or the other position.

On the other hand, I believe that the Board needs to develop a process or processes for providing input and feedback to Mr. Fitch with respect to his further development of Fearrington Village. My concern was generated by Mr. Fitch's most recent request to the County Commissions for approval of housing, the nature of which sparked a groundswell of opposition with Fearrington and subsequently led Mr. Fitch to withdraw his request.

Again, the difficulty is in determining the nature of such a process. Mr. Fitch owns the property, and he has substantial discretion as the property owner to develop them as he chooses. On the other hand, current residents have a natural interest in those undeveloped properties being "built out" in ways that maintain the property value of existing homes and perhaps enhance them. How to develop an effective channel of communication that reflects Mr. Fitch's ultimate control of the future development of Fearrington Village while allowing for community comment and suggestion is, in my judgment, a major challenge for the Board.
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COMMUNITY AFFAIRS – MARY LOU EINLOTH

Community Affairs was represented by Gillian Cell through September, 2006 followed by Mary Lou Einloth in October. The year’s activities were as follows:

Block and area Captain’s Meeting

Block and area captains’ meeting was held on January 26 and was attended by about 60 people. The purpose was for them to get acquainted with the new Director of Community Affairs and also to discuss the importance of their work in welcoming newcomers to the community as well as problems the block and area captains face. There was general agreement that such meetings were valuable and should be held regularly.

Easter Egg hunt

The annual FHA Easter Egg Hunt was held on Sunday, April 16, 1:30 PM at the playground near the tennis courts. Many children hunted for eggs, met the Easter Bunny and enjoyed refreshments with parents and grandparents. Thank you to the number of volunteers who stuffed more than 600 eggs and who helped with the event.

FHA 25th Anniversary

The FHA 25th Anniversary Celebration was held on May 6. The celebration began with a parade from the Gathering Place to Camden Park, in which many of the Fearrington clubs and organizations were represented. Approximately 275 residents gathered at the park to picnic and enjoy ice cream, a puppeteer, a jazz band, and one another’s company. Again, a thank you to the volunteers who were invaluable to the planning and execution of this anniversary celebration.

Smokehouse Library

Many thanks to Don George, who has efficiently managed the operation of the library. New books are added, books no longer usable are removed and the place is kept in good order.

Neighborhood Watch

Under the energetic leadership to Art De Luca, a Neighborhood Watch program was started.

Adopt-A-Highway

After a hiatus during the widening of 15/501, Fearrington Village residents again began to participate in the Adopt-A-Highway program. Raymond and Beverly Andrews and their crew have brought this program back to life.

Newcomers Packets

In October, the FHA Board reviewed the contents of the FHA Newcomers Packets. To make the information more manageable the contents were reduced from 27 inserts to 12. The FHA Handbook & Directory is emphasized as well as the FHA Office where additional flyers and other important information that can be obtained.
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COVENANTS – BILL STEMPFLE

Fearrington Village is a covenant-regulated community. Each homeowner signed onto the legally binding covenants at the time we closed on our property. The covenants apply to renters and leasers. Covenant Committees are available to assist you in each service group and phase. Helpful information is printed in THE RESIDENTS HANDBOOK AND DIRECTORY. Common requests for covenant approval relate to exterior changes to your home, yard, trees, fences and pets.

Please advise the neighbors before starting noisy or prolonged projects. They will appreciate your thoughtfulness.

Why covenants? It’s the best way to protect and enhance our property values while maintaining desirable living standards. It’s a co-operative effort that we all want to succeed for the benefit of the entire community.

This has been a busy year! More and more current residents and newcomers are investing in upgrades and improvements of existing homes.

Many thanks to all of the hard working people who serve on the covenant committees.
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SECRETARY – JOANNE FLOWER

The role of secretary this year was essentially unchanged from previous years. The secretary documented each of the monthly meetings of the Board. This documentation was facilitated by the 2006 purchase of a digital voice recorder that contributed to accuracy and ease of transcription. The secretarial duties also included informal recording of each of the Board work sessions which numbered approximately two every month.

The secretary is also responsible for preparation for the Annual Meeting, which includes mailing of proxy ballots to non-resident owners. This year proxy ballots were mailed to 105 non-resident property owners and 29 of those cast a mail-in ballot.
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