The Montclair Property Owners Association 2007 Annual Meeting will be held at the Montclair Country Club on Saturday, March 24, 2007. Registration will open at 9:00 a.m. with the meeting being called to order at 10:00 a.m. I am requesting that all homeowners please take a minute to submit your votes for the issues coming before the Annual Meeting.

This year you are being asked to vote on the following topics: a) three At-Large Board of Director positions, b) the proposed FY2008 budget, and c) an advisory referendum question on making changes to the Community Guidelines to allow the display of political signs on private property. Your votes are important. To achieve quorum our governing documents require that 25% of the eligible voters cast a vote on the budget.

The FY-2008 budget totals $2,247,838 in expenses. The assessment income needed to fund this budget is $493 per lot (there are 3,856 lots in Montclair). This represents a $36.00 increase over the current assessment. The primary factor driving this increase is that the Board has taken steps to contract for professional services, such as landscaping and patrol functions, using contractors specialized in providing those services.

Over the last several months my monthly President's Page articles have provided the details on the move to improve the quality of service by shifting away from the management paradigm of having one large contractor providing all of our services. That approach to obtaining services fits into the old cliché of being a "Jack of all trades, master of none". The complicating factor of making this change, we need to be prepared to pay more.

By the time you read this article you should have already received the 2007 Annual Meeting voting packets. They were mailed to the Property Owners of Record on February 13, 2007. If you are the owner of a lot in Montclair and believe you are in good standing (all assessments, fees and charges current as of February 12, 2007), and you did not receive a 2007 Annual Meeting voting packet, please contact the MPOA office at (703)670-6187.

I would also like to highlight that this year the Board approved a new voting option, voting via the Internet. Armed with the information in your voting packet, voting via the Internet may be the quickest and easiest way to cast your vote.

Shifting subjects for the moment, the Board has approved a request to host for a second year the Lake Montclair Triathlon. The race will be held on Sunday, June 24, 2007 at 7:00 a.m. This Olympic distance triathlon will consist of a one-mile lake swim, a 24.2 mile bike segment and a six-mile run - all occurring within Montclair. The race is open to everyone ages 15 and over and is being organized and funded by an external event organizer. See www.finswheelsfeet.com for details. Last year the event raised nearly $15,000 dollars that the organizers equally distributed between the American Red Cross and Azalea Charities. This year the Board directed that a third recipient be added, the Prince William Public Library Foundation with funds targeted to support the Montclair Regional Library which is scheduled to open in 2011. For more information, see page 17.

Please help the Board manage our community. We want to hear from you...please vote! As the date approaches you will see a running tally of the votes needed to obtain quorum on the MPOA website (www.montclaiva.com) and the Community bulletin board in front of the MPOA Building.

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.

Doug Taggart

President, MPOA BOD