Vermont Condo & HOA News
- Voters To Decide If Town Takes Over Sewer System (VT) September 17, 2023The Select Board last Monday agreed to draft a warrant article for the town to assume ownership of a sewer system from the Northwoods Estates homeowners association. Jim Dyckman, president of the homeowners association, had asked the Select Board on July 24 to sponsor a warrant article for required Town Meeting approval. Read the article………………………..
- Quechee Club hits members with surprise bill after flood damage (VT) August 23, 2023With a ski hill, tennis courts, a swimming pool, 36 holes of golf, a clubhouse restaurant and its own private lake, Quechee Lakes has always been a pricey place to live. Now as a result of the July storms that flooded its golf course, the members-only community just got pricier. Read the article………………………..
- FEMA help for private roads and bridges (VT) August 18, 2023If your privately owned road or bridge was damaged or destroyed by Vermont’s July severe storms, flooding, landslides and mudslides, FEMA and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) may be able to provide financial assistance for replacement or repairs. Read the article………………………..
- Lyman Meadows residents push for water rate review (VT) March 24, 2023Members of the Lyman Meadows condominium association are asking the town to review drinking water rates charged to residents of the village housing complex, arguing that they are paying the same rates for untreated water as regular users who receive treated water. Read the article………………………..
- Burlington mayor says police overtime for condo association ‘will not continue’ (VT) February 2, 2023The Burlington Police Officers’ Association, the union for Burlington officers, signed the first agreement with River Watch Condominium Association for extra police patrols in late October 2022, according to Samantha Sheehan, a spokesperson for Weinberger’s office. The contract was first reported by Seven Days. The condo association and union repeatedly renewed the agreement until January. Read the article………………………..
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Vermont Condo & HOA Articles
- Holding Orderly, Efficient Annual Meetings – It’s Not as Hard as It Seems!Talk to anyone familiar with common-interest community governance anywhere in the country, and they will tell you the same thing: apathy is rampant among residents of co-ops, condos, and HOAs. Not only is it difficult to get owners and shareholders to run for their boards of directors, but it’s a struggle to even get them to show up to the once-a-year meetings held to elect those board members and to update the community on what is happening in their home ...
- Boards & Boundaries: How ‘Available’ Should You Be?In multifamily residential communities, where neighbors share common space, amenities, and maintenance—if not actual walls—establishing and maintaining boundaries can be a bit tricky. Read the article…………………………….
- Emergency Preparedness in the Era of Climate Change: Preparing for the UnpredictableThe acceleration of global warming and the accompanying climate crisis is affecting shared-interest residential communities all over the United States and around the world. This past September was the wettest ever recorded in the eastern United States, with nine times the normal rainfall. Scientists warn that excessive rain and wind, extreme heat and cold, as well as increasingly intense discrete weather events like hurricanes and tornadoes, will continue and likely worsen as the planet continues to heat. Read the article………………………………..
- Powering E-Devices Safely: There Are Fires … And There Are E-Device FiresAll over the news, from coast to coast, reports of fires and explosions caused by lithium-ion batteries describe blazes that are out of control, difficult to extinguish, and excessively smokey. Tragically, many have resulted in fatalities and serious injuries, and certainly all have caused extensive damage to properties and the environment. Read the article………………………..
- Holding Elections: Every Board’s DutyShared residential communities such as condos, co-ops, and HOAs are modern examples of classic Athenian democracy: citizens governing themselves through active participation in governance. The key to that governance is the regularity of elections to the community’s leadership—which in this case is the board of directors. Read the article………………………………
- Maintaining Your Elevators: Regular Care Can Help Avoid Huge Replacement CostsThe elevator is one of those inventions—along with running hot and cold water and indoor plumbing—that have been around for so long we take it for granted. But elevators obviously weren’t always a part of the architectural landscape. Without them we’d still be living in a world of six-story buildings (maybe seven for the strong-legged), and we’d be climbing stairs all day long. Read the article……………………………..
- Effective Committees: Maximizing Use of Community VolunteersIn a typical condo, co-op, or homeowners association, residents have a lot to say about how their building or community is or should be functioning … but few actually step up to run for and serve on the board that does the actual governing. One reason is that board service can be a heavy lift, requiring time, energy, and diplomacy that the average homeowner might be unable or unwilling to give on a volunteer basis. Read the article……………………………….
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Vermont Human Rights Commission VHRC would like to help condo boards avoid problems. VHRC offers fair housing training to condo boards and the residents prior to a complaint being filed. The training are interactive and usually take one to two hours depending on the number of questions and issues.
Community Associations Institute – New England Chapter