Homeowners’ Association News
Happy February, everyone! We are pleased to observe that many of you are making the best of current circumstances by continuing to be more active outdoors. It is wonderful to see so many people out enjoying our pathway system and getting fresh air!
To keep our beautiful community looking its best, we would like to remind everyone to make use of the public trash bins that are located throughout the neighborhood. The NDHA installed dog waste bag dispensers at various locations in the community for when you ‘forget’ or run out. Please remember to clean up after Fido, and don’t leave a ‘full poop’ bag on the path system for someone else to pick up. Whether you have an old facemask, full “doggy-doo” bag, or any other item to dispose of, everyone will appreciate it being placed in a bin rather than finding it on the ground when the snow melts. Thanks!
Spring Projects – Did you Know…?
Spring isn’t that far off, and some of you might be making plans for home and yard improvements. Please do your due diligence and research how to proceed under city bylaws, if you need to apply for a city permit and especially, what is allowed as it pertains to any restrictive covenants, easements or other instruments registered against your property title. Work done without required permits or that go against instruments on your title could negate an insurance claim or get you in legal trouble. It is YOU, not your contractor, who will ultimately be held responsible for any infractions.
All homes in Discovery Ridge were built under a specific set of Architectural Guidelines set out by the developer (United Properties for most of us). These guidelines were meant to guarantee a specific quality standard and “look” for the community when it was being built, to ensure a beautiful living environment and long-term property value in the community. It is why most of us bought here. Homeowners in condo associations will have specific condo association bylaws to follow that may be additional to what non-condo owners must adhere to. It is important to note that the developer in Discovery Ridge registered a Restrictive Covenant regarding fencing on the title of most properties in the community. Rules are extremely strict, are additional to city bylaws and are enforceable through the courts. Every owner should become familiar with what is allowed in your area. Avoid expensive mistakes – be sure you are following ALL the rules that apply to your property. Property title and associated registered instrument details can be provided for a fee at a local Registries office or on the Province’s “Spin2” website.
Change in Pathway Service Area:
As many of you already know, due to new information received late last year, the NDHA has been advised that it can no longer carry out maintenance service in three (3) publicly accessible spaces in the community. These areas are in fact located on privately owned land, and it was discovered that legal documents to access and maintain these spaces was never granted to the NDHA. For liability reasons, effective December 1st, 2021, until further notice, all NDHA services including snow clearing has ceased in those areas. Please use caution if traversing through them, as conditions may have changed from what you have become used to. See the notice on our website for further information and a map showing the location of these areas. It is an unfortunate and unique situation. We are working with the impacted owners to rectify the situation, if possible. Please contact the NDHA if you have any questions.
Fees & Invoices:
2022 NDHA invoicing will take place in February. Your invoice will be sent via the email address associated with your account, or by post mail if we do not have an email address. Despite the Alberta Consumer Price Index (CPI) being set at 4.8%, the NDHA board is pleased to advise our members that no increase will occur this year. Your 2022 fee will remain at $307. Please note that several households have yet to pay their 2021 fee, which was due June 29th, 2021. These outstanding accounts had an interest charge of 18% per annum applied effective December 31st, 2021, per the terms of the encumbrance on your title. Thank you to those who pay your fee on time. It allows us to continue this important work in the neighborhood, which we ALL benefit from.
We are always happy to hear from our NDHA members; please access our website at www.ndha.ca for NDHA News updates, general NDHA information, or to send an email – you can also call us at 403-237-9595.