We continue to maintain a disciplined balance sheet and are in sound financial condition, however, this year we are faced with a number of challenges:

• There was no increase in HOA dues in 2008.
  The HOA Board made this decision after carefully reviewing budgets and competitively tendering some of our major contracts.  This enabled the HOA fees to be held at 2007 levels despite the inevitable inflationary effects.  However, the 2007 drought did considerable damage to our landscaping.  To address this, the board allocated an additional $46k from The Capital Replacement Reserve (See below).  This will have to be replaced at some stage.
  
  

• Inflationary pressures.
  We are all aware the increasing fuel costs and other commodities.  Dominion Electric plans to raise the cost of electricity by 18%.  We can expect to see inflationary pressures on most of our costs.
  
  

• Reviewing the Capital Replacement Reserve.
  The Capital Replacement Reserve is a budget for maintaining the Loudoun Valley Estates Infrastructure.  This covers the maintenance of the town home roads and parking lots common areas, the swimming pools, tennis courts, Clubhouse, paths and bridges etc.  A number of these costs occur infrequently but can be significant – imagine for example resurfacing the roads in the Town Home area.  To adequately finance these items, a report was commissioned in 2004 by an independent assessor which predicted expenditure over the next 25 years.   We accrue money each year to match the report’s recommendations.  The board has agreed to commission another report in 2008 to ensure we are reserving correctly.
  
  

• Potential new capital projects
  Over the last few years, the HOA has received a number of requests from Homeowners for improvements to the neighborhood.  These have ranged from installing an irrigation system along Loudoun County Parkway to a basketball court, and improving certain areas of the landscaping.  To date, no money has been included in annual budgets for new capital projects.
  
  
  

 What the Board is doing to address these challenges:

Over the next few months we will working through the following actions and will be reporting progress on the website.

• Review of budgets.
  As in 2007, we will be looking at areas for savings.  We feel we did a good job in 2007 so additional saving will be harder to find.  There maybe some areas where we feel we should seriously consider tradeoffs between cost and service levels.  If the Board believes these are appropriate, we will discuss such issues at the monthly board meetings.

Additionally, we are asking the Open Space Committee to review proposed 2009 expenditure.  We have also formed a Capital Improvements Committee to review all suggested projects and to make recommendations to the board based on the criteria of financial justification (For example an irrigation system saves on replacing dead trees and bringing in water trucks), visibility (Will the project improve the image and desirability of our community, and in the long term increase home values?), and homeowner Interest.  Again we will be discussing these projects at the HOA Board meetings as well as the individual committee meetings. – Everyone is invited.

• Commission new Capital Replacement Reserve Study.
  As mentioned above we are having this report updated so that the effect of four years wear and tear can be assessed against the 2004 assumptions.  This will tell us if we should be accruing more or less.
  

• Keeping You, the homeowner informed.
  We will continue to update you on our progress, both in the Newsletter and on the website.  We also encourage everyone to take an active role in making this GREAT community better by attending the various committee and board meetings.

There has been recent vandalism to the community Club House.  Weights are missing from the Fitness Center, the door knob has been ripped off the Club House door, and the Community Room has been broken into several times.  In order to reduce the opportunity for continued damage, the Community Room will be locked when not in use.  If you need access to the room, please contact the community manger.  Please mention to your family members that the HOA property belongs to all homeowners and we all pay to fix it.  Thank you.

The pools officially open on Saturday May 24^th, but on Saturday May 31^st we’re having a party at both pools to bring them in with a bang.  We’ll be serving free pizza, drinks and ice cream.  Come on by while the food lasts and make some new friends in the community.  Please contact John Mercil (johnmercil@gmail.com) if you can help with the party.

Loudoun Valley Estates swim team organizers will also be on hand at the club house pool to take registrations for swimmers.  For more information on the swim team follow this link:   http://www.eteamz.com/LVESwimTeam/

In the 2007 HOA web survey, the LVE community expressed its desire to improve the appearance of the community along the exterior roads.  As a result, the Open Spaces Committee has been working with the board to focus HOA efforts and resources on such priority projects.  In the May HOA meeting, the board unanimously approved the following recommendations from the open spaces committee:

• HOA common area trash clean up by our landscaping vendor. 
• Removal of dead tree stumps and replacement of trees along Loudoun County Parkway.
• Redesign of community entrances to increase the use of perennials.  The redesign will reduce the yearly expense of annual flowers from approximately $20K to about $10K.

Pat served as the LVE HOA President of the Board for 2007 and dicided not to continue in 2008.  The LVE community appreciates the time he has volunteered and the effort he has made to make our neighborhood a better place.  Pat's contributions will be greatly missed.  Thank you Pat!

"Loudoun County Administrator Kirby M. Bowers Monday lifted the water shortage emergency and the mandatory water restrictions that had been imposed for customers of the Loudoun County Sanitation Authority (LCSA) in eastern Loudoun in October."

"Customers can prevent the imposition of mandatory water restrictions by limiting outdoor water use to two days per week, preferably one weekday and one weekend day. "

County Administrator Lifts Mandatory Water Restrictions in Eastern Loudoun