2024 Annual Homeowners Meeting

VH Accomplishments 2023-2024

• Ongoing planting and maintenance at the Pollinator Greenway. The greenway provides for water and soil erosion control and supporting pollinators with Native plants.

• Continued partnership with the Nebraska Arboretum- New species, trees and shrubs- we gain expert advice & access to Native and well adapted plants to our area.

• Removal of non-native thistles.

• Removal of hazardous trees, particularly around houses and the trail

• Weed treatment 

• Continued weed removal on the gas line.

• Sponsored Food Trucks coming into the neighborhood in Summer and Fall. 

• One driveway concert with the Vintage Trio.

• Large July 4th Celebration at Mendoza Park and picnic.

• Kid’s Bike Parade on July 4th.

• Sponsored Summer Neighborhood Garage Sales.

• Sponsored a Kid’s Entrepreneur Day.

• Finalized three year contracts with our most recent vendors (snow, mowing, bookkeeping, landscape maintenance at roundabouts and entrances).

• Sponsored two Holiday Decorating Contests.

• Maintained financials and kept the neighborhood fiscally solvent with enough retained earnings to cover neighborhood emergencies.

• Completed two major infrastructure projects (98th and Old Cheney and watershed area off of Blackstone $28,000)

• Sponsored neighborhood clean-ups to keep the neighborhood nice

• Continued to paint and request assistance to paint neighborhood fire hydrants

• Removed several fallen or dangerous trees across the neighborhood

• Cleaned debris out of the creek to prevent flooding

• Contracted with an excavating company to repair sidewalk path at Mendoza Park (estimated $16,000)

• Decorated the entrance at 88th street (It has electrics available)

• Reduced accounts payable balance by 70% 

• Due to concerns from neighbors we moved away from our mowers late this summer and hired a new company, and we went out with them to make sure that the work is done to the neighborhood standard

• Sold neighborhood UTV

• Worked with Lincoln Police Department on tree vandalism on 98th street

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Financial Report

The HOA board spent the better part of last year looking at the neighborhood's finances, our balance sheets, and projected expenses along with the increased cost of virtually everything in our city, state and country. We have resisted a dues increase for many years and have chosen to manage the neighborhood as frugally as possible. In fact, the last dues increase was over 12 years ago. So we take this increase with considerable weight. The cost of landscaping and mowing for 40 acres of common space, snow removal, insurance, bookkeeping, necessary infrastructure projects and downed and dead tree removal require a constant flow of payments to keep the neighborhood clean, safe and aesthetically pleasing for all who live here. This past year alone, we lost many established trees due to weather, including some 100-year-old cottonwoods. We had two major city mandated projects to remove silt from water retention areas in our neighborhood and we had to chemically treat both dandelions and several poisonous and invasive plants across the neighborhood. Projects such as these carry high costs, and most of us don’t see the positive outcome but we would all see the negative effects if we ignored these problems. Board members are unpaid volunteers from all over the neighborhood who come together to try to solve issues that could end up being problems for all of us all. Although it is rewarding work, we have to make tough decisions at times. We also attempt to do as much of the work ourselves as possible as volunteers to attempt to keep costs down and we routinely clean the neighborhood, cut down dead trees, paint fire hydrants, clean out beds and plant flowers and trees. We could use some help from neighbors who have a passion for keeping the neighborhood up and would love to have more volunteers. 

We raised dues this year after looking at costs coming from new contracts with vetted vendors, necessary neighborhood projects and maintaining fiscal responsibility for the neighborhood. The board has discussed raising dues over a period of years now and we resisted an increase during COVID and post economic recovery. The increase is directly tied to the neighborhood staying economically healthy going forward. We have also studied HOA dues from other neighborhoods across Lincoln and our yearly dues structure falls toward the bottom of similar neighborhoods. 

Additionally, we are in the process of converting over to a new website to keep costs down and to add some new features. Our new site is vintageheightshoa.com and we are continuing to add content there. As you make your yearly dues payment know that you are welcome to come to any board meeting and review any materials and share your thoughts on what will continue to make Vintage Heights a great place to live. Board meetings are being loaded onto the new website over the next few weeks and we encourage neighbors to come out and be a part of what is going on in the neighborhood and even join the board to serve the neighborhood.

The neighborhood remains fiscally strong with approximately 94% of dues collected going back into several primary categories (mowing, landscaping of entrances, cul-de-sacs and common spaces, snow removal and bookkeeping). 

The remainder of the monies collected went to smaller expenses (legal fees, insurance, and special events like holiday contests and neighborhood social events).

Prices for almost every service available to Vintage Heights have gone up since the start of the pandemic. The HOA board reviews the contracts with our vendors and when we need new services we attempt to get a variety of bids for work to be done in the neighborhood. Just to put one example into perspective, the price of our current 3-year mowing contract is nearly 50% higher than our previous 3-year contract. That equates to an increase of around $21,000 per year, and that’s just for one service that the HOA provides.

Every few years we invariably have some large expenses. Major expenses in the last decade have included damage from area tornados and storms, erosion near what is now the pollinator greenway that flooded the creek and damaged the area and filled streets with mud, and the dam at the pond having to be rebuilt and fortified so that it wouldn’t break and spill out onto 98th street. 

In the past year alone, we have spent nearly $28,000 on retention pond projects on the southwest corner of 98th and Old Cheney, and on the east side of Blackstone between Foxtail and White Hall. And we are currently in the process of spending another $16,000 to repair erosion damage on the trail leading from Boulder Ridge into Mendoza Park.

These types of projects occur every few years and are a reason we attempt to keep some retained earnings to pay for emergencies. Additionally, as the neighborhood ages, trees fall or die, areas get washed away and some places just need additional maintenance. We currently have over 40 acres of greenspace in the neighborhood that we maintain and we try to keep an eye out for any potential problems.