November 29, 2021

To my fellow Association Members,

As another year comes to a close for our Association, I would like to take this opportunity as your President to thank the current members that have served on the Board of Directors and as Officers for the Association. With that in mind, it is with great sadness that we have received a letter of resignation from our Vice President, Astrid Coleman. She has decided to enjoy more “me time” and her retirement adventures to come. Thank you, Astrid, for your five years of service to our community! Talking you into being on the Board proved to be one of my better decisions! Your conscientious attention to detail, supervisory qualities, organization, and just being a great person have added so much to our community. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you have done.

Enclosed you will find an application to the Board. If you feel that being of assistance to your community may be of interest to you, please consider submitting your application. If you would like to discuss being on the Board, I would be more than happy to discuss it and answer any questions. Yes, I would be thrilled if you would like my position as well. Being on the Board can be very rewarding as you work to better your community. The Board of Directors is a team. If everyone does a little, no one has to do a lot, just as being a member of the Association. With residents assisting and contributing, we all win. There are always projects, big and small, where some extra hands would be great! Thank you to those who have contributed their assistance. We can always use some help. Jack has his moments of feeling overwhelmed. If you have an interest in maintenance duties, please check with me.

This past year, the real estate market has been crazy! We have had 13 sales this year alone. (Once again, thank your Astrid for keeping all that paperwork in order.) Welcome to all our new Owners! Hopefully, you find our community aesthetically pleasing and financially desirable. Or maybe, those qualities are what attracted you to Middle River Homes initially. The financial condition of our Association is a model of success and a testament to the fiscal responsibility and management of our Association and its Officers over the past several years.

In being financially responsible, at this time, I find it necessary to increase the Association fees. We all have seen increased prices from gas to groceries, taxes, and insurance. If approved at the upcoming Budget meeting, we will see an increase from $260 to $285 per month as of January 1, 2022. This is less than a 10% increase and is far below most associations in the area. I feel this will work for us, even though we will not know our exact increase for one of our biggest expenses, insurance, until April. I feel

comfortable budgeting a 20% increase on insurance, even though some say 30-40%.

Some residents have even seen a 50% increase in their own homeowners’ insurance. City sewer and water are not straight-line increases, and I am sure we will see increases from our other vendors as they have to absorb their own operating expenses as well. Thankfully, most of our major projects are done; however, we must always keep up with necessary repairs and improvements.

Thank you for your time and attention. It has been a privilege to serve as your President and Board member for the last 12 years.

Blessings for the upcoming Holidays.

Patti White, President