Recently, HFV homeowners completed a survey regarding our neighborhood. The purpose of the survey was to have some consensus around a shared set of goals and values of our community. Understanding the homeowners’ goals and direction for the neighborhood greatly helps the Board of Directors (BOD) to prioritize our activities.

We sent out 344 survey invitations to all homeowner emails (some have more than one email) and US Postal hardcopy to our non-email members. We had 55% response rate and received over 500 comments.

We used Survey Monkey service to summarize the results of each question into a presentation and included in separate documents all of the comments. The Board members reviewed the results and provided key messages and actions from each question in the presentation. [Download HFVOA 2018 Survey Results]

To quickly summarize the consensus of the community:

The purpose of the HOA is to preserve property values & enforce ARC Rules
Communication from the HOA is good, but there is opportunity to improve
Provide more information about community events
Focus on these projects: Change Fiscal Year, Improve Perimeter & Fence, Develop Mailbox Standards
Focus on these community activities: Garbage Dumpsters, Garage Sale, Summer Block Party
Seek Volunteers for ARC, projects and community activities
Maintain our current appearance, HOA cost, with minor improvements.

It is clear the majority really like living in the community, convenience and location were mentioned most and should be selling points. There are some good suggestions provided in the comments. There was also the opportunity for homeowners to vent frustration with how the HOA has operated in the past. As a community, we own both the good and bad comments and hopefully we learn from them as we move forward.

As your BOD we will continue to do our best to eliminate some of the issues mentioned in the comments as we balance our fiduciary responsibility to all homeowners. If you have any questions, additional comments, or concerns, please contact us.

Download HFVOA 2018 Survey Results

And the Survey says …

The Top action items from 152 respondents:

Change the Fiscal Year for our operations
Mailbox maintenance
Perimeter Fence and Repair
ARC Volunteers

Fiscal year

A request has been made by our current Treasurer to our management company, AMS, regarding the logistics to move our Fiscal year. Currently, we operate January – December and therefore must begin funding our year near the holidays. Homeowners have expressed this as being a difficult time of year to budget finances and juggle busy schedules. Therefore, we are considering a change in our Fiscal year. We will keep you informed through Board Meetings, minutes, newsletters, and emails.

Mailbox Maintenance

Currently, all owners are responsible for repair, maintenance, and replacement of their respective mailbox and stand.

Coming soon: A vote will be offered to the entire community regarding the future management of the mailboxes. This vote will be conducted in the same manner as the annual voting for Board of Directors nominees and handled through the Attorney’s office.

A YES vote puts the responsibility of maintenance, repair, and replacement on the entire community using funds received from normal Annual Assessments. This Does Not mean replacement of the existing mailboxes. This would avoid special assessments toward the mailboxes. The Board of Directors would help with management.

A NO vote requires homeowners of the specific mailbox (or cluster units) to pay for all damages and repairs associated with the unit. The Hawthorn owners/Board of Directors would have no responsibility or authority to assist with this type of project.

[one-half-first]Yes

Association manages mailboxes
- Painting
- Cleaning
- Graffiti Removal
- Repair Broken Doors
- And more
No special assessments
Consistent management, design, and standards
Long-term planning
Ability to use Reserve funds

[/one-half-first]
[one-half]No

Homeowners manage their own mailboxes
Homeowners pay for damages and restoration of their own mailboxes and stand
Post Office will not deliver mail until mailbox is functional
Catastrophic damage may result in extra costs to conform to ADA and City of Hillsboro standards
Need to coordinate and resolve issues among all homeowners in bank of mailboxes
Mailboxes end up looking poor due to lack of maintenance

Perimeter Fence

It is clear, homeowners prefer the perimeter fence to be in better condition. The issue of concern is who should maintain this asset; the specific homeowner or the entire community. These perimeter areas are the first signs of our community visitors and potential buyers receive. The Board of Directors encourages all to digest this information and engage in discussion with our neighbors for future action items.

ARC Volunteers

An overwhelmingly popular topic is continuing to improve our architectural standards. The success of this program relies heavily on volunteers. The more the merrier and the less hours worked for each yet more work gets done. This activity truly impacts our neighborhood and improves property values.

Download HFVOA 2018 Survey Results

If you have any questions, additional comments, or concerns, please contact us.