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The Board of Directors recently adopted the 2023 annual budget and approved new HOA monthly fees starting with the payment due on January 1, 2023.

Download the 2023 OLCA Budget

All of our fees will be increasing a total of 28.00 per unit per month. The 8-unit buildings will increase from $318 to $346 and the 4-unit buildings will increase from $343 to $371.

We are aware that this is on top of the $19 per month increase that took effect this past May to fund the abrupt changes in our trash and recycling service. This increased funding for 2023 is to meet increased needs, primarily in our operating budget. We offer these clarifications:

1. Operating budget expenditures show little sign of leveling off during this highly inflationary time. The cost of getting things done is as challenging for our association as it is for your households. Rising costs simply cannot be avoided. The Association incurred increased costs in the following categories: 1) irrigation system maintenance, 2) lawn maintenance & landscaping, 3) general building repairs and property maintenance, 4) snow removal and supplies and 5) legal expenses.

2. Maintaining a healthy RRF balance is needed to fund major projects, including paving, sidewalk replacements and our buildings’ tuck-pointing and caulking needs. The current RRF balance is definitely enough to meet all shorter term foreseeable needs, but the fund must accommodate major projects that will come due 5 to 10 or more years from now. The $28.00 per month increase includes a $9.00 increase to the RRF. This amount is consistent with the recommendation from “Reserve Advisors” following the results of their evaluation of our property earlier this year.

To keep the 2023 increase as low as possible, the Board examined each of the operating expenses and decided to postpone some things in 2023. We are, for example, postponing dryer vent cleaning and the annual building painting until 2024. We will also be taking a second look at the number of driveways to receive asphalt sealing next year.

If you are paying your monthly fees via direct debit from your checking or savings account, this change will be made automatically. If you are still paying by check, you may wish to automate your payment by using this convenient service and forms are available for this purpose on the OLCA website should you wish to do so.

Do not hesitate to contact us by email anytime you seek or want to share information (). More detailed information, as always, will be shared in person at our annual meeting in early May of 2023.

Sincerely,
OLCA Board of Directors

The Village of Greendale has contracted with Midwest Testing to replace water meters in all of the condo buildings beginning in early December.

Replacement of the meters is required, but it’s being done at no cost to the OLCA or the condo owners.

There is one meter per building, and only the condo owners who have the irrigation controls within their condos will be contacted by the Village of Greendale via U.S. mail.

The notice from the Village will have instructions on how to schedule an appointment with Midwest Testing to have the meter replaced.  Appointments can be scheduled Monday through Thursday between 8:00 am and 4:30 pm.

The Board of Directors asks condo owners who are scheduling the appointments with Midwest Testing to please email the date and time of the appointment along with their address to .

Replacement of each meter will take about 25-45 minutes, and during that time the water for the entire building will briefly be shut off.

If the Midwest Testing technician determines that the meter replacement isn’t possible due to an unforeseen issue, which we’ve been told is unlikely, the appointment will have to be rescheduled and a plumber will be present at the next scheduled appointment.

Given that only the condo owners who have the irrigation controls within their units will be scheduling appointments, it may not be practical to notify all of the other owners in each building of the date and time of the meter replacement and the water shut off.

Please direct any questions you may have to .

OLCA Board of Directors

For the next couple weeks there will be crews from a WE Energies contractor, MEADE, onsite at Overlook Lakes to perform work on behalf of WE Energies. The majority of the work will involve upgrading the transformers (the large green boxes). Owners should not be alarmed if they notice personnel accessing the transformers. The crews will notify the individual condo owners of any planned power outages ahead of time.

Halfway through fall and getting ready for winter. The following points are all things that are good to know and to begin preparing for before the snow begins falling.

Our landscape contractor will finish up their fall clean up during the week of November 14-18. Those owners who maintain their own “limited common area” can set their yard waste at the curb and the crews will collect it when they are onsite.

The Board has become aware that the coyotes seen near the apartments last week were seen this weekend near the condominiums around building 40. This requires immediate action to minimize the danger to children and pets.

This publication from the Department of Natural Resources offers suggestions on how to discourage coyotes from one’s property. It also offers suggestions in the rare event you are confronted by a coyote. One of those suggestions is to remove anything that could be a food source. One such source are bird feeders. Not only is the seed itself a potential food source (yes, coyotes will eat that too), but the bird feeders attract rodents who also eat the seed and in turn, those rodents attract the coyotes. Effective immediately please remove all bird feeders.

Have you ever returned to your condo on trash day to find your recycling container or garbage container had rolled away or blew away, maybe the lid was missing, or it was located at your neighbor’s two doors down?

Well, we can’t prevent wind or inadvertent placement. However, there is something you can do so you can identify your container.

Take a permanent marker and write your address number and street (can be abbreviated WL or WB) on the lid and drum of your recycling and garbage containers.

This way you can identify these important items should they be blown or moved away from where you placed them. And, if they end up in a neighbor’s yard, your neighbor will be able to find the rightful owner.

If you have light fixtures that suddenly flicker sporadically or do not work as intended, here are some good troubleshooting procedures from easy to more involved:

1. Check for loose light bulbs that can be tightened.
2. Make sure you are not using non-dimmable lightbulbs with a dimmer switch.
3. Replace damaged light fixture that may have damaged light sockets from years of replacing light bulbs. Be sure to turn off circuit at circuit breaker before inspecting or working.
4. Replace damaged light switch. Also be sure to turn off circuit at circuit breaker before inspecting or working.
5. Call a certified home electrical technician for assistance. The Condo Maintenance & Improvement page has some owner recommended vendors.

After much work and deliberation, the Board and Property Management have found a solution to our short and long-term trash and recycle issue. This solution will be implemented on the apartment side as well.

The purpose of this memo is to clarify parking guidelines for owners and guests on Woodbridge Drive. Woodbridge Drive is privately owned and maintained by the Overlook Lakes Condominium Association (OLCA) and was not built to “city street” standards. Woodbridge is patrolled by Greendale PD. Unfortunately, Woodbridge is a well-known “shortcut” for many non-OLCA residents, some that do not adhere to the 20-mph speed-limit. Many OLCA owners have reported seeing cars traveling in excess of 40 mph. Woodbridge is also very popular with walkers, both residents and non-residents. The policies in place for Woodbridge have Safety First as the primary consideration.

As you have probably noticed it has been a busy summer around OLCA and we ain’t done yet. This article is to update you on some actions on issues that the BOD feels will be of interest to all unit owners.

Topics include:

• Driveway Replacement/Seal Coating
• Building Maintenance: Painting, Concrete, Insulation, Wood Replacement
• OLCA Contacts
• Owner Q&A Sessions
• 2022 Budget Decisions