WATERS EDGE FLASH 

May 2025

News & Updates

Community Upkeep:

• The 2025 Annual April Meeting review:

  • 2024 Accomplishments:

    • Improvements to the budget process with more details. 

    • Really close to budget on snow removal.

    • Nice returns on invested CDs from last year.

    • New landscaping company (Chapel Valley) is doing well so far. Please direct any issues to HPM.

    • Lots of background work for 2025 improvements, (Parking lot lights particularly and landscaping improvements) 

    • Landscaping improvements.

    • Created a tree map of nearly 200 trees on Water’s Edge property from Davey. Requested to put on the website. 

      • This map displays every tree on Water’s Edge property, including the species and the health of said trees.

      • This should give us a better understanding to budget future tree work.

    • Robust new tree growth.

• Items of discussion: 

  • Calling all neighbors! We need a new Board member. Please let any Board member know if you are interested. The time requirement is only a couple hours a month for the Board meeting. 

  • Preliminary discussion to gauge interest; potentially updating the community bylaws with language about limiting renting units until the residence has been lived in by the owner. No details have been formed, but residents in attendance agreed with the principle. 

  • The master tree map that was created by Davey. Resident’s in attendance liked the robust map and detail. The map will be added to the Water’s Edge website. 

  • More discussion about reporting any instance of theft, vandalism, or strange behavior. The more info the local authorities have, the more attention our community will receive. 

  • The Board needs 1 person to join. Currently there is NO representation from the Even side. Please be a reach out to any Board member if you are interested or want to know more about it. The time requirement is 1 meeting a month (about 2hrs).

• Looking Forward to 2025:

  • Continue to evaluate the new landscaping and keep up the health/looks of existing landscaping.

  • Work on grass growth in hard-to-grow areas.

  • Major tree work as inspired by the newly completed tree map.

  • Parking lot light replacement.

• Architectural Inspections will be happening soon. If you had violations from last year, now is a good time to get those completed.

• Landscaping Update:  The first phase is now complete. The new plantings have been installed. Chapel Valley is contracted to care for the plants under warranty. Project background: The Board has been hard at work since last year coming up with a long term landscaping “template” that will guide updating/renovating the aging common areas that have grown tired looking and overgrown. We contracted Sun Nurseries to come up with designs for various sizes of the ‘islands’ (what we call the various juts of land that separate chunks of the parking lot) and we’ve decided to roll out with 1 ‘island’ on the Even side near 5692, 1 ‘island’ on the Odd side in front of 5621, and the island inside the traffic circle. 

  • Be mindful that this is a long-term template we plan to use going forward. 

  • It can and probably will be updated year-to-year as we see the results of the initial rollout.

  • Renovating large swaths of landscape is expensive, so we’re hoping to continue rolling this template out over the long term, hitting the Even and Odd side as fairly as possible. 

  • If you have any questions about this beautification project, please come to the next meeting in May.

• EV Parking - We’ve come a long way in a short period of time. We went from thinking the empty EV charging spots were wasteful, to now getting complaints that the spots are full when residents need to charge. Please be mindful that the EV parking spots should only be used for active charging. If you use the spots just to park your EV, others that need charging won’t be afforded the opportunity to use the spots. 

  • EV Users - There is now a brief questionnaire on our Water’s Edge website to voluntarily enter your contact information. The information will only be shared among those who use the chargers. This is intended for easy access for you to contact other users in order to coordinate the use of the chargers. Click HERE for the form. 

• Street Light Update: The Board has decided, after many months of information gathering, to renew our contract with BGE. Final choices on the fixtures are being reviewed now by the board, so we can implement the contract. BGE will handle removal of the current fixtures and installation and maintenance of the new ones. We're looking forward to having new, uniform lighting across the neighborhood. 

• The Board is aware of the instances of car theft and vandalism in Water’s Edge. The options afforded to the Board for community-wide solutions are complex and would need more community input. What some may see as common sense, others may see as cost-prohibitive or overly-intrusive. There are quite a number of things that residents can do on their own to deter future issues, such as (but not limited to):

  • Never leave valuables in your vehicle 

  • Always lock your vehicle

  • Park backed-in

  • Use a steering wheel lock (aka Club)

  • Use locking wheel nuts

  • Leave your front porch lights on 

  • Get a car alarm

  • Get personal home video security

  • Always report an incident to the police

  • Call the police if you see anything suspicious

• The Board has approved tree work to be done by Davey Tree Services. More info will be forthcoming. 

Community Affairs:

• The next meeting will be on May 22nd. Please keep an eye out for signage for place and time. 

• Calling all neighbors! We need a new Board member. Please let any Board member know if you are interested. The time requirement is only a couple hours a month for the Board meeting. 

New Architecture:

• No new architectural applications approved. 

Home Sales:

• No new home sales

Reminders

Architectural Applications

• HPM has provided The Board with a convenient flowchart to explain when a Water’s Edge Architecture Application and when a Town Center Architecture Application is needed. 

• You can find the forms and guidelines here: https://www.watersedgecommunity.org/architectural-guidelines

Community/Property Safety

• Practice the 4 L’s: Lock doors (home and auto), Light your house, Listen and Lookout

• Refrain from keeping expensive items in cars.

• ALWAYS alert police to suspicious activity. 

Communicating with the Board

• If you’d like to communicate with the Board, simply Reply (not Reply All), to this email.

• Additionally, you can contact HPM, and your message will get relayed to the Board.

• Additionally, you can come to a Board meeting and participate in Resident Speakout. 

Trash/Recycling/Composting

• Trash, recycling, and composting containers should not be visible from the parking areas.  They must be behind a privacy fence or in the rear of the house.

• Recycling materials must be put out using one of the blue receptacles or paper bags.  The county will no longer collect recyclables in plastic bags.

• If the recycling or trash collectors miss materials, please contact the county at 410-313-6444.

• Link to the Howard County Bureau of Environmental Services https://www.howardcountymd.gov/Departments/Public-Works/Bureau-Of-Environmental-Services

Power Outages

• In the event of a power outage in your home or with one of the parking lot lights, please notify BGE via BGE.com or call 1-800-685-0123.  The more reports, the more likely we are to receive expedient service.

Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

• All instructions and information regarding the EV chargers are located on our community website here: https://www.watersedgecommunity.org/e-vehicle-chargers