Latest HOA story

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So the HOA is in a flat area. Most of the homes have a swale in front that should help direct rain water runoff to one of the storm retention ponds. In theory that is.

A swale on common property had a high spot and a few shovelfuls of dirt needed to be removed so water would flow properly to a catch basin. They needed to use a transit to get the high spot taken care of. Due to lack of oversight and poor communication the contractor brought in a skid steer and dug the swale so it ends at the catch basin but 4" below the top of the catch basin.

Now six months later and I am on the board and trying to get people to agree to bring the level of the swale to be flush with the top of the catch basin. Now it looks ugly and stays filled with water for many days after it rains.

Who would think a swale that ends below the top of the catch basin was done correctly?

Some concerned homeowners feel correcting the swale will cause issues on their property with more water left in their swale.

I have tried to say the area of the swale below the top of the catch basin could be filled with dirt or water or concrete. Would not effect anything. Things are gated by the height of the top of the catch basin. Correcting the swale will not help or hurt drainage but will make it look better and eliminate standing water.

People assume because a contractor did the work it must be correct and I am wrong with my explanation.

Very frustrating.
 
I feel your pain. I live in an HOA 55 and over and the homes are connected by swales that flow into a slight downgrade (picture #1) that continues to flow into a common area (picture #2) that directs runoff into strategically placed storm drains. The swales are a bit lush because of the slightly retained moisture but are not waterlogged by any means. Just because you turn 55 doesn’t magically make you smarter. I have more HOA stories(actually I’m a big fan of them) but I’m not a thread stealer. More later!
 

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Any way to get the contractor to come back in and fix their work - if you can produce the paperwork for the work that was supposed to be done properly?
 
Reminds me of a woman i our church years ago questioning the use of ceiling fans to move the warm air from the high ceilings down to the congregation.

"Don't tell me heat rises!"
 
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So the HOA is in a flat area. Most of the homes have a swale in front that should help direct rain water runoff to one of the storm retention ponds. In theory that is.

A swale on common property had a high spot and a few shovelfuls of dirt needed to be removed so water would flow properly to a catch basin. They needed to use a transit to get the high spot taken care of. Due to lack of oversight and poor communication the contractor brought in a skid steer and dug the swale so it ends at the catch basin but 4" below the top of the catch basin.

Now six months later and I am on the board and trying to get people to agree to bring the level of the swale to be flush with the top of the catch basin. Now it looks ugly and stays filled with water for many days after it rains.

Who would think a swale that ends below the top of the catch basin was done correctly?

Some concerned homeowners feel correcting the swale will cause issues on their property with more water left in their swale.

I have tried to say the area of the swale below the top of the catch basin could be filled with dirt or water or concrete. Would not effect anything. Things are gated by the height of the top of the catch basin. Correcting the swale will not help or hurt drainage but will make it look better and eliminate standing water.

People assume because a contractor did the work it must be correct and I am wrong with my explanation.

Very frustrating.
DONE WRONG !
obviously you do not want standing water.
the water should drop into the basin.
 
So, here’s my addendum to HOA conundrums and how I admire like people like DONALD who tries to deal with them. Recently we had an amendment come to a vote. The proposal was to have new buyers contribute 6 months of the HOA fee into the general fund as opposed to the current 3 month at closing. The idea was to build up the general fund to forestall the need to raise the HOA fees to EXISTING homeowners.An approval would have NO impact on existing homeowners. Well, half the knuckleheads where I live couldn’t figure out how to navigate the “double” procedure of envelopes to disguise their identity and their ballots were invalid. The rest voted overwhelmingly against the amendment because ‘they didn’t want their HOA fees to double.’ Which is what the proposed amendment was designed to prevent. How people who can accumulate a considerable amount of wealth in their lifetimes can be so dumb boggles the mind. Good luck Donald.
 
So, here’s my addendum to HOA conundrums and how I admire like people like DONALD who tries to deal with them. Recently we had an amendment come to a vote. The proposal was to have new buyers contribute 6 months of the HOA fee into the general fund as opposed to the current 3 month at closing. The idea was to build up the general fund to forestall the need to raise the HOA fees to EXISTING homeowners.An approval would have NO impact on existing homeowners. Well, half the knuckleheads where I live couldn’t figure out how to navigate the “double” procedure of envelopes to disguise their identity and their ballots were invalid. The rest voted overwhelmingly against the amendment because ‘they didn’t want their HOA fees to double.’ Which is what the proposed amendment was designed to prevent. How people who can accumulate a considerable amount of wealth in their lifetimes can be so dumb boggles the mind. Good luck Donald.
See it daily .
as some people age their comprehension skills start to fade it takes time and one on one conversation to get the point across ! very frustrating at times.
 
Yes, perhaps I shouldn’t rush to judgement, (There but for the grace of God) . You wonder why scammers have a field day with seniors. Lots of money, but reduced mental capacities to protect it.
 
Any way to get the contractor to come back in and fix their work - if you can produce the paperwork for the work that was supposed to be done properly?
You will love this. Contractor was brother-in-law of a prior board member. He told me the battery on his transit was low and transit not really working properly.

I am told an engineering firm did some elevations on a homeowners swale that is next to the one that was done incorrectly. Unsure of what they were told.

The contractor was planning on coming back with a concrete saw and cutting a notch in the catch basin so the swale 4" below the top of the catch basin would flow properly. I stopped that.

The height of the catch basin somewhat controls the storage capacity of one of the stormwater retention ponds. In a rain storm with 6" to 8" of rain, water would be coming out of the notch if one was cut rather than allowing water to flow into the catch basin.
Even with no notch it's likely to come over the top of the catch basin with over 8" of rain.
 
This is not a case of seniors. Rather people who don't want to listen.

It's possible as people get to know me better they will realize I really do know what I am talking about. Although wife says I am pedantic.
 
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Although wife says I am pedantic.
Did you register with the HOA when you moved in?

The situation comes under the "why know when you can guess" clause. Rent a transit and stick from Home Depot and get some elevations then there's no guessing. Make a little map. Tell them you're a retired surveyor besides pedantic.
 
Did you register with the HOA when you moved in?

The situation comes under the "why know when you can guess" clause. Rent a transit and stick from Home Depot and get some elevations then there's no guessing. Make a little map. Tell them you're a retired surveyor besides pedantic.
The homeowner paid an engineering firm over $1000 and so they are convinced whatever I say is not accurate as I am not a.civil engineer.

What I do not know is if somewhere along the way the engineering firm was told to take the elevations based upon the assumption that the height of the catch basin would be lowered to match the swale.

And of course as I already said the height of the catch basin is critical with respect to the capacity of the pond as a stormwater retention pond.
 
No picture so I’m having a bit of a hard time picturing it…

But lately I have seen a lot of designs that do not use a basin or redirection until the water levels get to a specific point. The intent is to keep the water in the local pervious area, versus reroute it in a pipe or basin, to exist in there or flow to a different pervious area.

Rainwater/groundwater control is a growing issue. Since too much otherwise pervious surface gets covered, and runoff is an issue.

So could it be that it was dug in such a way that the swail directs flow to keep the more valuable,and useful areas drier, but the basins and storm lines are designed to limit the total runoff?
 
Here are a few pictures. It was a swale with decent grass before the contractor did his "magic".
I want things done correctly and have common areas look as nice as the can. We don't have irrigation for grass on common areas so it will look decent but not great.
 

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If a lawsuit happens, there will be a subpoena of all relevant information and documents related to this project. Our company just went through a couple but that gets into legal stuff.
 
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