By Chuck DeCoste, Chair

 

We have some big news this month! Construction of the new amenities area is finally close enough to completion to begin our transition study.

 

Per our recommendation, the homeowners association board has approved the proposal from our engineering firm to get this work started, likely in January. We’ll let you know when to expect engineers to be poking around our neighborhood, including some backyards where walls and drainage are located.

 

Members of the Infrastructure Committee will work closely with the assigned engineers at the outset, sharing what we know about our retaining walls, stormwater control measure ponds and amenities. For example, we’ll ask them to give an engineering assessment of the Epcon warranty responses to our Phase 2 wall claims. Our review indicates several of our claims were not addressed adequately. Epcon’s contractor has resolved a few issues, made some superficial — and non-approved — fixes on others and left several unaddressed.

 

Regarding the Phase 1 walls, we finally — after more than two months — received a response from Epcon about the issues we identified. Again, we believe the trade partner’s responses were sorely inadequate. These items also will be included in the transition study for independent evaluation. We hope this assessment will help us advocate more effectively for proper resolutions from Epcon.

 

We have made good progress in getting detailed updates on our stormwater control measures from the city of Durham. While this does not change our expectations regarding when the ponds will be turned over to us, we plan to receive more frequent updates going forward. One item that shows progress is the “level spreader” feature near the Cherob Lane entrance. We wouldn’t be surprised if that item is transferred to us soon.

 

Finally, we continue to investigate a few streets, sidewalks and drainage issues pointed out to us by residents, and we have consulted with the board on a few ARC questions.