CHESTNUT HILL Winter 2015 Newsletter

A letter from the President I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to you. My name is Lauren Horton and it is my privilege to serve as your newly elected President of the Chestnut Hill Homeowners Association. The rest of the Board members will be made up of some of the same friendly faces and a new one. You can see all of the board members and their positions on our website http://www.chestnuthillonline.org/contactus.html. And on behalf of the Board, I would like to extend a special “Thank You” to all of the outgoing Board members, especially Alan Kain who spent two years as President. You are appreciated.

common areas, pool, playground, tennis courts, clubhouse, pay the electricity and water used by Chestnut Hill. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to email me or any of the Board members and we will help in any way that we can. Lauren Horton

I find the opportunity to serve on the Board a very exciting one. There will always be challenges to deal with, but this is a great community and there are some very hardworking, dedicated people helping out in all kinds of ways. We have several committees that are always looking for volunteers. Please contact a Board member if you would like to volunteer any of your time! There is really only one important thing that I want to touch on right now. The Board members are made up of your friends and neighbors who volunteer their time to make Chestnut Hill the best community they can for everyone. Please take a moment to remember that when you have an issue, question or concern. The Board wants to provide every Chestnut Hill homeowner with the best possible amenities, while spending the money wisely. The only money available to do this comes from our HOA dues; therefore it is very important that each homeowner stay current on their financial responsibilities to the neighborhood. Without all of the dues, it is very difficult to maintain the

Phlox

Breakfast with Santa Saturday, December 12th 10am – Noon

As we get ready to enter the winter months, only truly dedicated swimmers are thinking of the pool. The swim team season at the local high schools is in full swing, and it is time to start planning for pool activities next year at Chestnut Hill. Both of my children were on the Chestnut Hill Swim Team, and both were also on their respective high school teams. What a truly great group of dedicated athletes, parents and fans. This past summer was the first one without the Swim Team at Chestnut Hill, but I hope those swimmers found a team to participate on. As we enter winter it is time to start planning ahead to 2016, and determine if there is enough interest to resurrect the Chestnut Hill Swim Team for next year. We need a dedicated individual who understands the commitment, and is willing to step forward to lead the charge and handle the Swim Team Coordinator duties. If you are interested, please contact me at [email protected] for details and responsibilities. It is a big commitment, but extremely rewarding if you are the parent of a swimmer. If we don’t hear from someone by the end of February, we will have to assume the interest isn’t there and plan accordingly. If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to contact me via email at [email protected] or call me at 678-234-2455. Yours truly, Bill O’Connell

Hello fellow Chestnut Hill residents, Hopefully this finds you well as we make the transition from cleaning up the autumn leaves to preparing our homes and yards for colder weather. Now that the trees have shed their leaves and entered the dormant phase, it’s time for trimming. This is particularly evident if the grass in the area under and around the tree has died. One option is to enlarge the pine straw bed beneath the tree. The better choice is to trim the tree back, this allows for grass seed or sod to flourish in the spring. If you have received a notice from HOA Checkpoint highlighting an issue and are not sure what needs to be addressed, send them an email asking for more detailed information. If you understand the issue, submit a timeline for when and how you plan to address it. Don’t ignore the notice, ask for clarification and then submit a plan. If you are planning to repaint your home in the spring, or making a change, submit a modification request form to HOA Checkpoint. The form is located on the Chestnut Hill website. If in doubt, ask. Wishing you a happy and healthy holiday season, Bill Manning ACC Chairperson

Clubhouse News It has been a busy fall season at the clubhouse. We have had numerous private events as well as several fun neighborhood events. Thank you to Bernie Ferguson for coordinating the annual Halloween Bash benefitting St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. It was a blast with a live band, costumes and prizes. Thanks to Chip Burmester for coordinating the chili cook-off. It’s the first time it had to be indoors, but it was a huge success! Julie Murphy, LeAnne Scott and Danielle Holtman brought back the Chestnut Hill craft show with vendors within and outside of Chestnut Hill. Coming up on December 12th we will have the annual breakfast with Santa event complete with crafts, elves, Santa pictures, and children dressed in their Christmas finery. This event is from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm. If you would like to participate, please drop off a $10.00 wrapped gift with your child’s name on it to LeAnne Scott at 5172 Lupine Lane by Thursday, December 10th. There will be a container on her front porch for the dropped off gifts. For questions or more information, please contact Kathryn Staphylaris at [email protected]. If you have an idea for a neighborhood event that you would like to host, please let Brandi Miller ([email protected]) or Julie Murphy ([email protected]) know and we will be glad to help. If you would like to host a private event, please contact Julie Murphy for policies, procedures, contract and available dates at [email protected]. I would like to give a special thank you to Julie Murphy who has been maintaining the clubhouse. She cleans the restrooms, the clubhouse, helps to organize events and basically keeps everything in tip top form. Her dedication to our neighborhood does not go unnoticed by most. But, to those who may not realize the amount of work that goes into keeping our clubhouse looking as fantastic as it does, we have Julie to thank for this. If you notice anything in or around the clubhouse that needs immediate attention, please contact me as soon as possible and I will work to get it resolved. Sincerely, Brandi Miller

Chestnut Hill Lake Cleanup Update- Get Involved! Chestnut Hill is starting a monthly cleanup of the common areas within and around our two lakes. We will also be picking up trash and debris in the spillway area where much of the discarded materials that float into our lakes accumulate. We are looking for volunteers to assist and we will provide verification of community service hours to those who participate. What a great way to improve the appearance and quality of our lake areas while earning the community service credits you need to graduate or satisfy your organization’s requirements! We plan to do the cleanup on the 1st Sunday afternoon of every month for approximately 2 hours. Please contact Gina Laney at [email protected] if you are interested in volunteering and we really appreciate your help! This is a great way for residents and their families to take an active role in keeping our common areas clean and free of unsightly trash and debris. Removing trash, containers, and other non-natural materials from our lakes and rivers also improves the habitat for wildlife that live in our neighborhood. Please keep a strong focus on health and safety if you participate in the lake cleanup and follow common sense safety precautions. A few of those are listed below: 1. Always wear the proper floatation devices if venturing out on area lakes. Strong swimming skills are encouraged even if you are working from the bank! 2. Be careful where you put your hands and be mindful of bees, mosquitos, and other biting insects. Use gloves to avoid contact with any sharp object or item that may irritate your skin. 3. Use care to property bag and dispose any can, bottle, or pail that may contain a potentially hazardous material like paint or oil. Double points for folks who segregate and recycle the lake trash they collect! 4. Always use proper lifting techniques and ask a friend to help lift any heavy item. Thank you for your help in keeping our lakes and rivers clean and beautiful!

Winter Tennis Tennis season is rolling into the late fall /early winter months. The season brings a few things to watch out for when playing. The first are slippery courts due to the leaves and frosty conditions. More importantly is the need to properly warm up and stretch. Just like the tennis balls feeling like little rocks, your body is also tighter and less flexible in the cold weather. The cold weather can put more stress on their joints and muscles. Possible injuries include tennis elbow, wrist tendinitis, inflammation of the shoulder and knee joints, and muscle strains, pulls and tears so be careful and fully stretch before playing.

This season also brings the “Toys for Tots” round robin on December 12th. The entry fee is an unwrapped gift for a child. This is always a fun event with a dinner in the clubhouse following the tennis event. And as always, it is the kids that win out getting a gift where they may have received none. If you want to get in on this event please reach out to Danny Flavin at [email protected].

Steve’s Realty Check:

Hello to all of my fellow neighbors! I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season. Don’t you think the neighborhood is looking festive with all the holiday decorations? As for our Real Estate market, it is still alive and kicking for Chestnut Hill. Chestnut Hill currently has 4 houses listed for sale at an average list price of $281,575 (range from $264,500-$312,000). I am sure you noticed our average sale price has dropped during the 4 th quarter. This is not a major concern because, as mentioned before, there were fewer higher priced homes listed during this period. Another impact is the seasonality of the market. Prices are generally higher during the Spring and Summer months due to the excitement of the new year, people planning changes for the year and with schools being out during the summer, families are more mobile. This has resulted in 2 of the houses reducing their original asking price in an attempt to adjust with the market conditions. Since our last newsletter, there have been 5 homes sold with an average sales price of $292,800 (prices ranging from $255,000 - $349,000). This is good news since it is an 11-12% increase over our last report! Of course we did have one of our lake homes sell this period and that significantly raised our average. However, some of you may have noticed, this is a mirror image of the results reported in the last newsletter. I know it can get confusing when you are trying to understand the pricing of homes and the best time to sell. The problem is there are so many variables that can impact the selling price of a home at any given time. There is no guaranteed formula! I can tell you, the market is generally cyclical, with some expected peaks and valleys. The real purpose of this newsletter article is to give you a “snapshot” of our own little neighborhood market and maybe every once in a while enlighten you to some new information. The good news is whenever we have a house go up for sale; it generally gets a lot of attention and typically sells quickly. Again, pricing and conditions being of utmost importance. Remember, if you have any questions or request for special information…. let me hear from you! Until then, enjoy the holidays!

Thank you for your attention!

Steve Boyd Realtor Keller Williams Realty Partners

Direct: 404-889-3446

[email protected]