Information Summary Redstone HOA Event October 17, 2015 1) Who maintains the Fitness Equipment? a. Residents should call 3-1-1 to report any maintenance concerns with the fitness equipment. The landscaping around the equipment is the responsibility of the HOA and in future the HOA may add additional equipment and pay for the on-going maintenance. b. Currently there are 4 pieces of equipment located north of Kintalla near Redstone Plaza. c. Another grouping of fitness equipment will be installed in the central park space located near Redstone Park/Parade in the spring of 2016. This will also include installation of a play structure for children of all ages. 2) When are schools going to open? a. Schools are generally 10 years out, however, accommodations in surrounding communities is generally well planned. b. There are two future schools planned for Redstone. One designated as a Public Elementary School, located in phase 2 on Redstone Drive and the other designated as a Separate Elementary School, located in future phase 8 on Redstone Boulevard. Funding, scheduling and construction of new schools are the responsibility of Alberta Education and the applicable School Board. Residents may contact either the Calgary Board of Education at www.cbe.ab.ca or Calgary Catholic School Board at www.cssd.ab.ca for more information. 3) Who do we call for development and construction concerns / questions? a. Residents may email customercare@qualicocommunities.com or call 403-212-1624. 4) Is the HOA providing snow removal (plowing) on roads and / or pathways? a. No, the HOA is not conducting snow removal on roads or pathways. This will be the responsibility of City of Calgary Roads. Residents may call 3-1-1 to voice any concerns. In future, should the HOA board decide to, they may increase the level of snow removal on certain roads and pathways. b. Are there any plans for fast street snow plowing in the community? Street snow plowing is the responsibility of the City and that the HOA would not be involved. c. What about snowplowing? This was a concern for a number of residents and there were several questions about snow removal on pathways; residents were advised that it would be City responsibility not HOA. The City does do some snow removal on Regional Pathways. A call to 311 would clarify if that applies in Redstone. 5) What about installation of traffic lights along 128 th Avenue? a. Installation of traffic lights is the City s responsibility. Residents should call 3-1-1 or their Councillor s office, Ward 3 Jim Stevenson (403) 268.2530 or eaward3@calgary.ca.
- 2-6) Is there a City Rebate for amenities maintenance? a. The developer is not applying for an amenities maintenance rebate from the City as any rebate amount is very little and is not a meaningful amount. The HOA may apply for this in future. 7) Where does the money/fees go? a. The developer on behalf of the HOA has set up a separate company and bank account for the HOA. Membership money/fees go towards landscape maintenance. b. Do all residents in Redstone pay an HOA fee? Yes, all residents and property owners have their title encumbered with the Redstone Homeowner s Association Encumbrance. Annual fees are collected by the RSHOA. 8) What is the Fiscal Year for the Redstone HOA? a. The fiscal year for the RSHOA will be May 1 to April 30. Invoices for fees will be sent out in March and are due May 1. Interest on outstanding accounts will begin to accrue from June 1. An AGM will be scheduled for fall 2017. 9) What are the estimated annual HOA Fees for Redstone? a. The proposed annual fee for the 2016 year is $65.00 plus GST. b. How does fee payment work for the condos? The Property Manager would have one month (likely May) whereby they would collect an additional $65/condo on top of condo fees. Condo residents should talk to their Property Manager or Board to find out how this will work. c. How do Redstone fees compare to Skyview? Skyview s fees are $45.00 annually. Redstone s fees will be $65.00 plus gst annually. d. What is the $10 fee noted on my Encumbrance? This is a nominal amount which was set up as a place holder for the fee amount when the Encumbrance was first legally written. Based on the landscape maintenance costs for Redstone HOA, the developer has increased the annual fee to $65.00 (plus gst) annually in order to cover these costs. 10) How much can our fees increase each year? How high can they go? a. Each year the Board will review the previous year s costs/expenses and based on those numbers, will determine what the next year s costs/expenses will be. It is not anticipated that fees will increase substantially year-over-year. Fees typically increase by CPI (Consumer Price Index) annually. The HOA is governed by a Board of Directors and Bylaws. Homeowners should keep in mind that the HOA is a non-profit company that ensures that there is enough money to cover annual costs, plus puts away an adequate amount towards a Reserve Fund Study for replacement of any capital items (benches, brick retaining walls, entry features, decorative fencing, etc.). Capital items replacements can also include live inventory such as trees and shrubs. 11) Will there be an accountant for the HOA? a. Yes, there will be an accounting firm contracted to prepare audited financial statements for the RSHOA. This information will be provided at the AGM. 12) What is an Optional Amenities Agreement? a. An Optional Amenities Agreement is an agreement between the City and an Operator (an HOA) that allows an operator to undertake the maintenance of amenities on City property. Because the City s maintenance budget is limited, an Optional Amenities Agreement is often required when higher-level amenities are provided in a community. As the City did not require an Optional Amenities Agreement for the fitness equipment, maintenance of this equipment is the City s responsibility.
- 3-13) How do I pay for my HOA Fees? a. Cash will not be accepted for fee payment. The developer is considering cheque and on-line credit card payment options. More information is forthcoming. b. Mailing address for cheque payment is: Redstone Homeowners Association Attention: Accounts Manager 5709 2 nd Street SE Calgary, AB. T2H 2W4 14) Will there be a website for the Redstone HOA? a. Plans are in place to set up a Redstone member website by the end of 2015. Qualico is currently looking at options in this regard. Until this is decided upon, Redstone residents may utilize http://www.qualicocommunities.com/calgary/homeowners/redstone, for information. b. Residents are encouraged start up a Facebook group for Redstone, which can be linked to the website in future. 15) What is being done about airplane flight paths? Lots of complaints so far! a. Jim Stevenson spoke to a number of groups. He explained that the City is working with the airport. For more information, residents are asked to call his office at 403.268.2530. 16) Are there any beautification projects planned soon and where? a. As construction continues enhanced landscaping and maintenance will be added. There is a Central Plaza and tot lot planned for early next year. Construction delays prevented the tot lot from coming on board this year. 17) Will the HOA monitor what people do to the outside finishing of their homes? Such as finishing the landscaping, looking after yards, garbage storage, etc. a. The HOA does not have the authority to advise people on what to do on private property, however, the City of Calgary has bylaws in place that prevent homeowners from de-valuing property, especially their neighbors. If a homeowner has an issue with a property in the community, please call 311. 18) Why did Qualico put an HOA in? a. Qualico is a responsible developer that wants to ensure that homeowners in Redstone have a mechanism in place (registered encumbrance on every property) that would retain market value and be a low cost long term benefit to the homeowners. One of the goals was to develop a community, with a NE address, that was like no other NE community. A community that reflects pride of ownership and guarantees an esthetic presence in years to come. 19) What fences are being maintained by the HOA? I live on the green street/i have a perimeter fence? a. The HOA will look after the decorative fencing that is seen throughout the community; that is not located on private property/adjacent to a homeowner s property. Fencing located on the perimeter of homeowner property is the responsibility of individual homeowners; as per City development requirements. 20) Who is on the HOA Board? a. The current Board is a Developer Board. The Developer will remain on the Board until Redstone is built out, however, in future, the Developer Board will encourage residents to get involved as resident directors.
- 4-21) How can I get involved with the HOA? a. The HOA will hold annual AGM s. The first AGM will be in 2017, once there has been a year of fee collections and operations. At the end of 2016, audited financials will be prepared, and an AGM will be held sometime between June and October in 2017. All homeowners will receive an AGM package which will include audited financials and details of the upcoming AGM. b. Residents may have the opportunity to sit on the Board in 2017; as observers for the community. Homeowners are needed on the Board as the eyes & ears of the community to provide input to the Developer Board. 22) Will the HOA have more of these types of events? a. The HOA and Qualico may look at hosting similar annual events. Residents appreciate talking to staff in person. 23) Who is responsible for the Storm Pond and maintaining it? a. The City owns all storm ponds. The landscaping around the storm pond (including the pathway) will be the HOA s responsibility. b. Councillor Jim Stevenson is holding a Storm Pond information session on November 16 from 6:00 to 8:00pm at Genesis Centre. Water Resources, Parks and Bylaw will be attending. Residents are encouraged to attend. Below is general information on the currently constructed storm pond in Redstone: Storm Ponds - General Storm ponds serve two purposes. The first is to control the volume of water that goes back to our natural rivers and streams. The second is to control the quality of the water, minimizing the pollutants that are returned to our rivers and streams. Volume Control: grasslands naturally absorb water when it rains. As roads, sidewalks, driveways and rooftops are added to an area, there is less grassland available to absorb the rain water. A storm pond is used to store the extra water that would otherwise be absorbed by grasslands. The water is then slowly returned to our rivers and streams at a slower rate so as to not overburden them. Quality Control: by storing the water in a storm pond before returning it to the natural streams and rivers, it allows a chance for pollutants (don t worry, just sands, silts and gravels from the roads mostly) to settle out of the water. The water that is returned to the river comes from the top of the pond, from which the bulk of the solids have settled out. This allows relatively clear water, with minimal sediment, to be returned to the natural rivers and streams without the need for mechanical processing. Storm ponds are ultimately a utility operated by the City of Calgary. Pond designs are approved by both the City and Province prior to construction and as such have to conform to City and Provincial guidelines and standards. Redstone Pond The existing storm pond in Redstone specifically has been designed as a manufactured wetland, and includes two distinct components, separated by a berm within the storm pond. The northern ~1/3 of the pond is called the forebay. It is approximately 3m deep and is designed to allow the bulk of solids to settle out of the water before the water spills south, out of the forebay. The southern ~2/3 of the pond has been designed as a manufactured
- 5 - wetland. This area is approximately 0.5m deep and is designed to promote the growth of aquatic plants and vegetation in general. Vegetation growth is encouraged in the manufactured wetland to help with the absorption of nutrients (nitrogen, phosphates, potassium, etc.), to prevent excessive nutrients from entering our streams and rivers. Stormwater that has been treated for sediment removal in the forebay spills to the manufactured wetland for nutrient removal prior to being discharged downstream. Algae Algae growth was observed in the Redstone Pond throughout the summer of 2015. The growth was predominantly in the manufactured wetland facility of the pond. As storm ponds are City-operated utilities, Qualico engaged the City of Calgary to discuss treatment options available to remove algae from the pond. The City advised that there is currently no protocol in place for dealing with algae in storm ponds. They further advised that they are initializing a pilot project to evaluate various treatments in an attempt to establish such a protocol. The pilot project is to include analyses on approximately three ponds within the City. Qualico offered to partner with the City on the pilot project and offered the storm pond in Redstone as a potential candidate site. Following discussions with the City, Qualico engaged a supplier of water treatment products to evaluate options that are commercially available. Qualico forwarded the information gathered to the City for its consideration and evaluation as a part of the pilot program. Subsequent to the discussions with the City, Qualico retained a biologist to investigate the algae growth in the pond and offer non-chemical treatment options. The biologist indicated that it was likely that an abnormally dry spring led to an atypical nutrient loading in the pond. Nutrient rich bodies of water tend to generate more algae. With more frequent spring rains, the water in the pond would typically turn over faster, and spring fertilizer would be washed downstream, out of the pond. The biologist indicated that nutrient removal would be key in the reduction of algae growth in the pond. It was suggested that the most prudent means of removing the excess nutrients would be to physically remove the algae from the pond, thus removing the nutrient rich organic material. Qualico undertook a program of manual harvesting algae from the pond throughout August and September. Given that storm ponds are utilities designed to remove pollutants from stormwater before being discharged to rivers and streams, it would be counter-productive (and possibly irresponsible) to address algae growth through the employment of unapproved chemicals. The City and Province would require certainty that any treatment will not have adverse effects on the receiving bodies of water downstream of the pond. Ultimately, it was determined that a program to manually harvest (rake) algae from the pond is Redstone, was the most environmentally responsible course of action, based on the biologist s recommendation. Moving forward, we will continue to work with the City in an attempt to develop protocols for dealing with algae growth in storm ponds.