The Next Four Years

In September 2024 I published here Oaklawn Park 2030 with goals I would like to see the HOA accomplish by 2030. I'll include that again at the bottom of the current goals outlined today. For the 2024 post copied below those written now in red indicate a goal that is completed. Blue indicates one where at least some part of it is started, but where much work remains.

Of course, life does not always work per plan or in ways you like. Life has confirmed this with our new, largest, immediate challenge which is the water billing challenge. Our new priority, not chosen but urgent, is finding the cause of why the water coming into the neighborhood through the one, central City of Bloomington Utilities (CBP) supply is such much higher than the water being used (per the new individual meters) by the actual townhomes within Oaklawn Park. If you would like to help solve this problem, please put in your nomination for the board with Focus Property Management and run for election to the board at our annual meeting on July 2. The more of us who live and own here participate in being on the board, the more represented the neighborhood is in solving our challenges and deciding to make improvements to the neighborhood. For more information on the water topic, please see the separate post addressing this.

Beyond the water issue, the neighborhood continues to be in need of constant work to maintain and improve where we live.

As Oaklawn Park ages with aging infrastructure, maintenance costs increase. Here are some maintenance goals we will need to address.

• (HOA Maintenance) The road resurfacing will continue to be a very expensive requirement for which we need to be prepared. Since 2024 we have had multiple contractors come to provide bids/estimates for road surface replacement. The lowest bid we received for replacing the road surfaces (not including the parking spaces immediately in front of homes) was $250,000. That is a minimum of a quarter of a million dollars. Several bids were much higher than that. And from the time of those bids to when we may actually be able to have the road resurfacing done, actual costs will only increase. We will then most likely need to resurface in segments rather than all at one time. Even that will take a considerable amount of funding from owners. If we pay that through dues, we will need to have dues that allow for building up the reserve fund to prepare for those expenses. If dues are not at an amount sufficient to prepare for that, it would be likely the board would need to pay for this through special assessments. There are 167 townhomes in Oaklawn Park. $250,000 is then $1,497 per townhome.

• (HOA Maintenance) Doors and windows. In recent years we have been replacing several doors and windows each year. This will only continue to increase in volume as our doors and windows age. We need to build those annual costs into the budget/dues.

• (HOA Maintenance) Decks. Several townhomes have wooden decks built by the developer which are then maintained by the HOA. As they age, maintenance will need to be completed including staining and in some cases, replacing parts of or entire decks.

• (HOA Maintenance) Siding. Aging and damaged siding will need to be repaired and replaced. Preparing our reserve account for this will be important. My hope is that when it comes time for total replacement of the current siding, the board at that time will choose to modernize the siding with solid quality siding that also improves the appearance of the neighborhood and increases the value of your home and investment. There are multiple options now beyond vinyl, and there may be even more options by the time full replacement needs to begin. My hope would be for the board to move forward with one of those better options.

• (HOA Maintenance) Outdoor wall lighting. These are the outside light fixtures by your front door, on your patio, and for the garage units, also by your garage door. Many of these, especially around patios areas, are rusted out and need replaced.

• (HOA Maintenance) Dying trees and shrubbery will continue to need to be removed. I would argue that replacing those is also a standard part of and requirement of maintenance of the property.

• (HOA Maintenance) Trimming existing trees is an ongoing requirement as the trees in the neighborhood continue to grow.

• (HOA Maintenance) The fencing around the trash dumpsters needs attention. At minimum, they need straightened and stained. I would like to see them done as an improvement by being replaced with something of higher quality and better appearance.

• (HOA Maintenance) Front doors and door trim need to be repainted.

Possible Improvements. Beyond just bare minimum maintenance, I would like to see the board at least slowly, a little each year, make improvements to the property and neighborhood to make this a nice place to live. Improvements improve the quality of live to those who live in Oaklawn Park. Improvements increase the value of the property in which you have such much invested. Whether you ultimately want to sell your property or leave it to a loved one, improvements increase the value of what you or your loved one will have invested here. If you have friends and family visiting, I want you to be proud of living in a nice neighborhood. We will never be a fancy neighborhood. But I would like us to always be a nice neighborhood. I believe that is a responsibility of the board.

• (HOA Improvement) Adding decorative grasses in front of the utility boxes around the neighborhood. The utility boxes are the responsibility of the utilities that place them here. But getting them to clean/maintain them is a nightmare. If possible, I would love to reduce their visibility and increase the looks of the neighborhood by placing decorative grasses around them.

• (HOA Improvement) Picnic tables added for community members and the children of the neighborhood to sit and enjoy each other's company.

• (HOA Improvement) Adding a connecting trail from the north end of the community to the bus stop just outside of the most northern point of Oaklawn Park. This would create more accessible access to that bus stop to residents of the northern half of the community including better access for those with limited mobility. This would also give us a better foot/biking path access to the businesses that have developed in recent years just north of us including the restaurant and coffee shop there. For more details about this option, please return to neighborhood updates on this site. There scroll down to the September 10, 2025 post titled, "Trail Connecting to Northern Bus Stop/Businesses - For Your Consideration."

• (HOA Improvement) Having each home's front door and front door trim repainted. Exploring whether there are more color options/more updated colors for our front doors to improve the appearance of the neighborhood/add more color. This is also just a maintenance item as it needs to be done. However, the improvement part would be in looking for creative ways to update the look rather than just redoing everything in the same way it was originally painted 25 years ago.

• (HOA Improvement) I would argue that this is also just maintenance, but upgrading the shrubbery in front of each townhome. Also rebuilding the common "flower bed" areas of the neighborhood updating and replacing the worn out or dead shrubbery/plants there. Adding some additional trees in spots that are calling for them. Whether a neighborhood maintains their landscaping can make all the difference between being a nice neighborhood or not.

Every one of these items is fully dependent on the members of the homeowners association funding them.

Owner Maintenance & Improvements.

Any item added to the outside of your home or modified by an owner or tenant becomes the responsibility of the homeowner to maintain. This is true even if it was added by a previous owner or by a tenant of the property. The largest item this involves is any fencing added by an owner to their patio area. This also includes any trees, flowers, shrubbery or outside furniture added by an owner or tenant. This includes any flower beds or gardening/flower bed bordering added. This includes "volunteer" trees that an owner has allowed to grow within any fenced in area and/or updated area including within flower beds or within areas where flower bed/gardening bordering was added.

• (Owner Maintenance) Please maintain any of these areas and items added by you, a previous owner, or previous tenant on a property you now own. If your fence needs repair or replacement, please take action to have that completed. A fence in disrepair can quickly degrade the quality of life in the neighborhood especially those in your immediate area.

• (Owner Maintenance) If you or a previous owner installed a satellite dish that is no longer use, please have that removed. We have several decaying dishes in the neighborhood that are unsightly and are bringing down the quality of the neighborhood.

• If there is something that has been added to your limited common area by you or a previous owner that you do not wish to maintain, you would need to remove that item and restore the area to its original condition.

• If you would like to maintain something but do not have the ability to do so, please contact Focus Property Management to see if we can assist in getting a service for you to get that action completed.

• Don't leave garbage, including furniture, outside of the dumpsters. Place all items inside the dumpsters.

• (Owner Improvements) Plant flowers! Plant shrubs! Generally make your space and, therefore, the entire neighborhood, better. See a space around you but in the common area where you would like to see a tree? Contact Focus about donating a tree to the neighborhood! There are some owners who have done wonderful things. We have some lovely rose bushes and flowers due to owners. We have some nicely maintained fences. I see you. I appreciate you. Your neighbors appreciate you.

From September 2024:

Oaklawn Park 2030

• Oaklawn Park

• Sep 8, 2024

  
  

Updated: Sep 19, 2024

The course of Oaklawn Park will, of course, be set by the current and future HOA boards and lot owners through annual meetings, but as current HOA president, here are some goals I would like to see completed for the neighborhood over the next five years.

• Completion of having all original roofing replaced with new roofing.

• Roads resurfaced where needed and resealed in other areas.

• Fiber internet being installed (currently happening).

• Landscaping improvements designed to make the neighborhood more colorful, park-like, inviting, and to improve the quality of life for those who live here. This has been started in 2023 and 2024 with the addition of over 50 new trees. Hopefully, many of them will add spring and fall colors to the neighborhood. I would like to see overgrown/aging/dying shrubs in front of our buildings replaced improving the look of each residence. I would like to see our "flowerbeds" in the neighborhood relandscaped to enhance their appearance. I would like to see the area in front of our neighborhood entrance sign relandscaped to improve appearance.

• The neighborhood entrance sign and street signs refurbished.

• Finally completing the "sidewalk to no where" near the entrance of the neighborhood from Sare Rd. Connecting the sidewalk in an accessible way to the street for stroller and wheelchair access to the bus stop.

• Replacing the fencing around the dumpsters to improve the looks of the dumpster areas. Improving the "island" at the north end of the property so that both the garbage and recycling dumpsters are located there with improved appearance.

• Having each home's front door repainted. Exploring whether there are more color options/more updated colors for our front doors to improve the appearance of the neighborhood/add more color.

• Ensuring all of the wooden decks for which the HOA is responsible stained (and where necessary) replaced.

• Picnic tables added for community members and the children of the neighborhood to sit and enjoy each other's company.

• Repainting and straightening the leaning street lights in the neighborhood.

• Hopefully mostly through leading by example with the board working on improvements, having owners of the properties take action to maintain and enhance their own limited common areas including patio areas to make the neighborhood better for themselves and all of their neighbors.

• By 2030 having the HOA planning for when siding on the buildings eventually needs to be replaced.

• Items that may be more dream than reality... Adding more walking connections/paths (north and south of neighborhood?) to the trail that runs along Sare Rd. Having the ugly utility boxes in front of so many of our homes painted with some artwork.

• Kyle Thompson