We held the 11th Annual Meeting of the Brightwood POA on Saturday, June 7. The agenda was a full one, starting with a fantastic lunch and ending with a group picture, showing that a good time was had by all. Our time together gave us a chance to welcome two new Brightwood families – the Dugger-Hoffmans and the Bowermans.
During the business session we heard a financial report, updates on improvements and plans for community roads and amenities, and the like. The annual budget report showed us in relatively good shape, although we had to dip into our reserve to some extent to help cover unusual road cleanup costs after the huge 100-year rainstorm last July. While ongoing road maintenance is always our largest annual expense, conscientious upkeep on the 4.4 miles of roads in our 650 acres over the years is paying off. They are mainly in good condition despite the record rainfall that affected all of this area last summer. Recent road maintenance included work on some of the lesser-used side roads that have not had as much attention in recent years.
Another topic included how best to manage the community garden with the departure of garden stewards, Carol and Gary Hancock. Some suggestions for a change in approach will be discussed more at future Board Meetings. However, since the Annual Meeting, we have held two well-attended community garden parties to work on and clean up the garden and park areas. We all had a good time being together!
We also discussed possible ways to market Brightwood in order to get others to come and build here. For example, we want to be able to help those who want to sell their land by promoting it with realtors in the area, developing a brochure and using other approaches.
After the business session, we watched a narrated, online PowerPoint presentation on private property forest management, which served as a basis for a follow up group discussion. It gave us food for thought about the stages of forest growth, planning and maintenance of healthy forests, and valuable information on fire protection.
A special thanks goes out to those who could not attend the meeting, but whose proxy votes went toward electing four members to the Brightwood Board. The new Board is: Charlie Bargerstock (President), Frank Hood (VP), Lee Ryan (Secretary/Treasurer), Joe Weaver and Lynne Marshall (Directors).
As volunteers we take pride in how we plan for and manage Brightwood. Thank you for your trust in us. In that capacity we are grateful that the regular payment of annual dues by our members has enabled us to maintain the quality and values of the community as a whole and thus of our individual properties. We hope you will come visit us soon to see what a special place Brightwood has become.