"There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction."

by John F. Kennedy

Last month I spoke of the changes that the Board implemented to take a different course for the contracting of services here in the community. In October the Board set in motion a process to modify the traditional Montclair approach of having one large, all-inclusive, full service contract; and transition toward a distributed approach where selected services are subcontracted to companies that specialize in a particular service area. I stated that landscaping and security were two areas that have now been removed from the "core" Armstrong contract.

A subcontract for landscaping has been approved and will begin on January 1, 2007. The question of how we will proceed with the subcontracting of a security service is mainly a function of how we will pay for it. As the March 2007 Annual meeting approaches, I will be holding a number of "town hall" meetings to exchange information with the membership on security service options.

The Board initiated the contract realignment action for two reasons; (1) at the March 2006 annual meeting the membership in attendance emphasized that they wanted the Board to concentrate on providing for a safe community with "curb appeal" and, (2) after two years of having a new on-site property management company the Board had identified several areas that warranted making adjustments to how existing services were being provided. The options available to Board were:

1) Re-compete the entire contract and select another management company,
2) Make additions to the existing contract (make a large, unwieldy contract even LARGER),
3) Work with the management company and identify those areas where we wanted to change and realign for improved services,
4) Do nothing

The Board's challenge in addressing any change is that our current budget/assessment profile is based on having one contractor provide us almost all of our services at the lowest possible cost. The single provider approach is less expensive when compared to the aggregate of contracting individually, but specialized services are not likely to be provided at the same level that would be achieved by contracting directly with professionals, such as in the case of landscaping and security. This means that if we want to keep the same number of services while seeking enhancements in some areas, then we need to face the reality that assessments must be increased. Without an increase, the options available to the Board are to either cut services or simply accept how things are and do nothing. I am pleased that the Board decided that we could not simply accept the status quo.

Ensuring that our community has "curb appeal" sits squarely on the shoulders of the homeowners and the association. It is a combination of three key areas, 1) individuals taking pride in maintaining their own property, 2) consistency by the Board and the Management Company in enforcing covenants, and 3) upkeep of our common areas. The latter is something that the Board believes can be better achieved through a specialized landscaping company. Although there are direct and indirect savings to be achieved by outsourcing this service, e.g., reduced staff and elimination of equipment purchase and maintenance, the end result of contracting for landscaping is that it will cost more.

As mentioned, the Board awarded a contract to a professional company to provide landscaping services for the next calendar year. In parallel the Board elected to de-scope the Armstrong contract by removing landscaping and community patrol as a "core" component of the contract while enhancing communications and event coordination.

The Budget Committee has prepared a draft budget for next year that reflects these realignments. The change in assessment profile in this draft budget (without including community patrol as part of the management company contract) is essentially zero. To include a line item for the subcontracting of a professional Unarmed Security Service providing observe and report security, house checks, and covenants enforcement by trained, state certified, uniformed Security Officers patrolling Montclair in their own marked security vehicles translates to an annual assessment of just less than $7.00 per month, per household. Over the next few months I will be holding a number of "town hall" meetings to discuss this service with the membership. The December town hall meeting will occur on Thursday, December 14^th at 7:30pm at the MPOA building. I will plan to hold additional meetings in January and February on dates to be announced.

In closing, when this issue of the Montclairion reaches your mailbox, the Christmas and New Years holidays will be just a few short weeks away and I'd like to wish all of you a safe and happy holiday season.

If you wish to add comment or provide me with input please feel free to send an e-mail to: Dtaggart@montclairva.com or Dougtag@aol.com.