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Volume 8Issue 2

APRIL—MAY, 2006

WEB SITE ADDRESS:www.riverpinescondominiums.com

President’s Message —By: Ed LeFevre

The signs of spring are beginning to showand it’s a welcome site. The snow is gone and we have to admit that we have had apretty easy winter, at least weather-wise.

I have written several articles in the falland spring about the co-owners that mi-grate to the south for the winter to enjoythe sunshine. I have tried to convey tothem what they missed by escaping to thewarmer climate. This year, we decided togo down there and check it out for our-selves. We spent the month of March inBradenton, Florida and found it very en-joyable. Seems those “Snow Birds” have a good thing going.

Speaking of “going,” we will have a lot of projects going again this year. We havebeen busy through the winter months plan-ning and organizing the summer projectsand obtaining bids from contractors to dothe work. We have the usual projects like,roof replacements, painting, concrete andasphalt replacement and so forth. Ourschedule for roof replacements only showsfive (5) units to be done this year. This isdue to the fact we have pulled ahead somany units in years past. This will bebeneficial to our reserve fund and help us

improve our balance at the end of the year.

Over the past few years, as we prepared todo our unit painting, we have inspectedwindows, wood trim and siding for dete-rioration. This year we found very littlewindow wood deterioration. However, wehave been noticing that the unit siding onsome units is showing signs of deteriora-tion at the joint where the siding meets ei-ther the face brick or where it meets theroofing material. We have observed thesnow build-up along these areas and theresult is that we are experiencing prema-ture wood deterioration. You can see anexample of this in the photo below. Whenthis deterioration occurs we have been re-placing the entire 4 ft x 8 ft section of T-111 siding. Each year we are seeing moreand more of this type damage and the re-pair process is very expensive.

(Continued on page 2)

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River Pines Board of DirectorsEd LeFevre PresidentJanet Hall Vice PresidentRick Austin TreasurerGene Kerwin SecretaryDonna Jones DirectorBob Eix DirectorDoug Keno Director__________________________________

Management CompanyMcShane and Associates

6230 Orchard Lake Road, Suite 200West Bloomfield, MI 48322

Phone: 248-855-6492For Emergencies after 5:00 p.m. call:

248-456-0233

Our solution to this issue is to cut and re-move the bottom 4 inches of the siding thatis deteriorating or will deteriorate and in-sert a new 4 inch piece of T-111 siding.Then, to cover the joint we have created,we will install a new 6 inch fascia board.From the following photos, you can see the

end results.

It is difficult to predict exactly when thisdeterioration will show up on each individ-ual unit. The amount of snow we get, thefreezing and thawing effect and the dura-tion of the cold, damp weather are all fac-tors that have to be considered. Neverthe-less, we are convinced that eventually allsiding with this construction condition willeventually have to be replaced.

(Continued from page 1) “2006” Spring MeetingThe Board of Directors

It’s hard to believe that spring is herealready although thewinter was surely longenough for most of us.Along with springcomes more sunnydays, flowers and lotsof activity around our complex. Also, inMay we will have the opportunity to let youknow what has been going on and what isgoing to happen here in River Pines. TheSpring Meeting is scheduled for -

6:30 PM, Wednesday, May 10, 2006

and held at the Costick Center as usual. Somark your calendar and reserve that time foran informative evening to learn more about“What’s happening in River Pines”.

Volunteers

Don’t forget. We need volunteers for our vari-ous committees, i.e. grounds, sprinkler, lighting,social, etc. Give a chairperson or a board mem-ber a call and help us by using your talent andservice. See River Pines Committees on page 6of this newsletter for a list of the committees andthe Chairperson. Thank You.

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pond and let the plant life grow unrestricted there.The geese prefer short grass and will leave an areawith long grass. They also eat short grass andtheir droppings are a major cause of algae bloomthat will choke off all life in a pond.

3. Don’t feed ducks and geese. These critters are quite capable of fending for themselves. We liketo have wildlife around us but we don’t want to contend with the mess they leave.

4. Don’t fertilize around the pond as rainwater will carry off some of it and it will end up in thepond.

5. All ponds should have their banks plantedwith natural planting to prevent soil erosion. Iferosion occurs, it will change the shape and depthof the pond and its function will be compromised.

West Nile virus is caused by only one type ofmosquito. It likes dirty stagnant water. If deten-tion ponds are clean and have proper water move-ment, this virus will not be a concern. So it’s im-portant that these ponds are maintained correctly.Substantial cost could occur if these ponds have tobe dredged or have other major maintenance.These ponds are not there for beautification, butfor helping us win the constant battle we havewith water.

Your Grounds Committee

Our Detention PondsBy: Doug Keno

Recently a workshop on detention ponds wasput on by the City of Farmington Hills.

There were over 100 people in attendance, alongwith three members of our Grounds Committee. Adetention pond holds storm water for a pre-determined amount of time, while slowly releas-ing it to a storm water drainage system. We liveon the watershed that eventually drains to theRouge River. Detention ponds play a very impor-tant role in flood control and assuring properdrainage.

We have three ponds on or nearby our complex.Last fall a new pond was created by the OaklandCounty Drain Commission on the Tarabusi Creek.(by the nature trail) We have the responsibilityof accepting and discharging water and maintain-ing proper water flow to their final destinationfrom these ponds. This meeting helped point outareas of concern and strategies for proper mainte-nance.Regular maintenance should include the follow-ing:

1. Check the inlets and discharge areas of a pondfor obstructions and remove them as required.

2. Have a 15-25 foot no-mow area around the

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New Resource Added to theRiver Pines ManagementTeam —By: Ed LeFevre

In our efforts to improve the overall operationsof River Pines during the past 3 1/2 years we

have infringed on many board members’ time. We have received many compliments regardingthe appearance of our complex, our web site, thenewsletter, etc. These things happen only becauseof the team effort, dedication and involvement ofthe board members, the management company,our many committees and our Maintenance Man.Of course, the board and committee memberswork on a volunteer basis and the demands ontheir time can be excessive at times. But that’s what condominium living is all about.

In evaluating what is being done and what wewant to do, it has become apparent that we needadditional resources. Toward that end, the boardhas decided to add a part-time person to the equa-tion. We have hired an additional person whowill work 4 to 5 hours per day, 5 days per weekand be dedicated to River Pines. Essentially, hewill handle the expanded Site Manager’s respon-sibilities we have developed. This will insure wehave the proper planning, engineering, schedulingand execution that is required.

This new person is Bob Goodman and he liveshere in the Farmington Hills area. He is a gradu-ate Mechanical Engineer from Wayne State Uni-versity and brings many skills that will be usefulin keeping our facility looking the way we want itto look. He has worked with us the past few dayson concrete replacement and the annual spring“Walk Through.” As mentioned earlier, he will be coordinating and following work orders alongwith regular and reserve projects.

Of course, we have to pay for his services but weare confident that we will be able to cover his ex-pense within the current budget and our reservefunds.

So, if you see a new face in the neighborhood,looking around and taking notes, it’s probably Bob Goodman. Introduce yourself and welcomehim to our community.

River Pines Committees

At every Spring and Fall Association Meet-ing we speak about the various committees

we have and recognize the Chairperson and themembers of the committees. Then we ask eve-ryone to consider helping out and serving on acommittee and expect everyone to rememberwho is Chairperson of what committee. We allhave good memories; they are just short.Therefore, to help you remember whom to callto serve on one of our committees, we providethe following:

Grounds Committee Bob EixSocial Committee Bev CornellSprinkler Committee Dick RaneyNewsletter CommitteeLloyd SilbemanLighting Committee Larry FreyDirector & Welcome June Holmes

Participating on one or more of our committeesprovides you with the opportunity to have yourinput into the business of our Association.Please give it some thought and join in. Thanks.

The Board of Directors

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Flushing YourWater Heater—

D id you see the article in the“Homestyle” section of the Detroit

News on Saturday, April 8th? This articlewas written by Glen Haege, the notedhome maintenance expert who writes aregular column for many newspapers.

Anyway, he talked about flushing the wa-ter heater tank regularly. This is some-thing that most of us fail to do because it’s out of sight and therefore out of mind. Do-ing this regularly helps extend the life ofthe tank.

If you can get down to the basement youcan do the job. It’s easy. This is what Glen Haege says:

“This is not a hard job. The most difficult partwill probably befinding the garden hoseand dragging it over tothe hot water heater.Hook the hose up tothe bottom drain valveand run it to the floordrain or to the sink.Open the drain valveand run the water outof the hose until thewater turns clear. Weargloves, it's hot. Turnoff the drain valve and carefullydisconnect the hose so you don't spill anywater. You're done.”

Please WelcomeOur New

Co-ownersand Residents

Bruce Brown & Pamela O’Malley21810 River Ridge Trail

248.471.3544

The following corrections should benoted in your records. We missed anumber here and there or misspelled aname and we sincerely apologize forthe discrepancy.

Robert & Susan Bullinger21940 River Ridge Trail

248.476.6396

Elsie Wells21570 River Ridge Court

586.417.5046

Fred & Jean Ritz22005 River Pines Drive

248.471.0687

If you have not been contacted by oneof our Welcome and Directory Com-mittee members, please contact one ofthe following so we can be sure to in-clude you in the update.

June Holmes 248 442-7439Patsy Kenworthy 248 615-4031Marilyn Gentry 248 477-6854Bev Cornell 248 615-1970

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Thank you, Residents!

Residents who have lived here for sev-eral years may remember all the

crows that frequented River Pines on TrashCollection Day.

We pushed a campaign forall residents to purchase 32gallon trash containers todiscourage the Wednesdayfeeding frenzy.

Have you noticed the lack of crows now onTrash Day? Isn’t this much more pleasant? We do not have trash all over the streetsfrom critters feeding on it.

Thank you to all who took heed and helpedus with this problem.

Clear ViewMaintenance“Greg” Nothnagel9799 Russell St.Northville, Mi.

Phone: 734.323.7594

“All jobs considered”

We provide exceptional services in the following areas:Deck restoration that includes cleaning and staining.Vinyl siding and concrete cleaning.Home maintenance services including painting and caulking.Garden and Landscape maintenance including outside lighting.

Please make sure that the lids on thetrash can and the recycling bins aretightly shut.

If you have not purchased a 32 gallontrash can, please doso. We do not wish tosee the return of thebirds or other wildcreatures looking forfood.

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2006 Concrete andAsphalt Repairs—By: Ed LeFevre

As mentioned earlier we are finalizingour plans for our 2006 projects in-

cluding concrete and asphalt repairs andreplacement. I’m sure some of you re-member the situation we had last yearwhen co-owners disregarded the barriersinstalled around the newly installed con-crete and asphalt and drove on it prema-turely.

We do not want to disrupt your scheduleshowever, if we want to keep the site in pre-

sentable condition, theserepairs must be made. Ittakes time to do the workand it takes time for thework to cure. The con-tractor specifies that weare not to drive on the

new concrete for seven (7) days. Thespecification for asphalt is twenty-four(24) hours. We are required to abide bythese specification or our warranty isvoided.

We try to schedule this work over a twoweek period. We break up the project intotwo one-week phases. We try not to haveanyone inconvenienced for more than one(1) week. Since this is outside work, weare very dependant on the weather andtherefore trying to schedule this work for aspecific day in nearly impossible. Never-theless, we will make every effort to notifyyou when the work will start as soon as wecan. It may be a week before constructionstarts or it may be a little longer. We will

communicate the schedule to you by wayof a letter taped to your garage door and/ora letter mailed to your address. We lose acouple of days utilizing the U.S. Mail soposting the schedule on the garage door isprobably the most effective.

So, we ask for your cooperation and pa-tience during this short period of construc-tion. Remember, we are doing this workfor you and working to keep the complexas attractive as possible.

We sincerely thank you…….

SOCIAL COMMITTEENEWSBy Bev Cornell & Sharon Hicks

SPRING IS HERE and the ladies Lunch-eon will be held this summer! We arehaving the luncheon in June so all of ourlovely ladies are back from their winterbreak! The River Pines Ladies SpringLuncheon will be:

Saturday, June 3rd at 12:30 pmThe Family BuggyFarmington Hills

Orchard Lake and 13 Mile Road.

Flyers for the Ladies Luncheon will be atthe River Pines mail stations May 6th.The deadline to return your coupon withmenu choice and check is May 20th.Can’t wait to see all of you and catch up on all the news.

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First Anniversary atRiver PinesCondominiums—I am one of the newer co-owners that pur-chased a home here in River Pines Condo-miniums and I am writing to express myjoy and pride living here. I was a priorowner of a condominium in SouthfieldMichigan. Along with being President ofthe Board of Directors from 1996 to 1999,I was also Treasurer from 2000 to 2004when I moved. Therefore I have experi-ence not only living in a condo communitybut working with the association and Man-agement Company.

The excellent care given to these groundsmakes this community an A plus locationto live and also insures the property valueof each unit. Safety of each resident isparamount and while living here I feelvery safe. The roads are maintained verywell and during the winter snow days thesnow removal company performs a superbjob cleaning and salting the roadways forour driving safety. This is a very largecommunity, seeing the work organized andcarried out to make sure each resident canenter and exit without any problems needto be commended.

I had a bee problem last summer, sent awork order email to McShane Manage-ment Company to get some assistance inremoving the bees from my front door. Iwas contacted the very next day with in-structions on getting the exterminator outto relieve my bee problem.

Having a quarterly newsletter and a pro-fessional web-site is awesome. Communi-cating the need to know information aboutour community is a wealth of knowledge.Also having the units’ maintenance sched-ule publish on the web-site provides eachco-owner insight to what and when repairsare scheduled for each units.

Yes, this community is one of the best inthe Northwest Michigan area!

Sincerely,

First Year Anniversary Co-Owner

Associate Broker—Realtor Since 1968Award Winning Centurion Office 1993—2005

Realtor Since 1968Associate Broker From A Leading Real Estate OfficeAward Winning Centurion Office 1993—2005

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Dick Raney 248-615-8527 Revised –Jan.13, 2006Ed Nies 810-560-5626

Lawn Sprinkler CommitteeArea A Phone # Area J Phone #

35490-35610 River Pines Ct. Dick Raney 615-8527 34958-35158 White Pine Tr. Jack Boivin 471-2398

Front Entrance 35057 -35106 Red Pine Dr. Andy Tarpinian 478-3576

Area B Area K35345'-35420 Blue Spruce

Dr. Dick Raney 615-8527 21480-21610 River Ridge Ct. Roscoe OloffoDoug Keno

426-8930476-3320

22160-22280 River Pines Dr. 21615-21710 River Ridge Tr. Tom Mossner 477-183235475-35535 River Pines Ct.

-,Area C Area L

35260-35350 Blue Spruce Dr. Bob Blackwell 477-0029 35061-35101 White Pine Tr. Jack Boivin 471-2398

22180-22220 River Ridge Tr. 35053-35233 Knollwood Ln. Andy Tarpinian 478-3576

.Area D Area M

35285-35305 Blue Spruce Dr. Jerry Ewald 477-8851 35104-35214 Knollwood Ln. Jack Boivin 471-239822270-22380 River Ridge Tr. 35161-35231 White Pine Tr. Andy Tarpinian 478-357622225-22295 River Ridge Tr.

Area EArea N

21960-22170 River Ridge Tr. Marv Kornegger 476-6733 35280-35360 Lone Pine Ln. Matt Prosoli 888-900421962-22162 Lancrest Ct.

Area F Area P

22005-22195 River Ridge Tr. Jim Redmond 478-1288 21951-22182 Lancrest Ct. Lou Stern 615-0243

21940-22140 River Pines Dr.

Area G Area R

21935-21995 River Ridge Tr. 35375-35675 Lone Pine Ln.Lee Holmes

Howard PetterGene Milczarski

442-7439478-8115615-7544

22355-22385 River Ridge Tr. Jim Redmond 478-1288

35040-35085 Silver Ridge Ct.35228-35258 White Pine Tr.

Area H Area S

21720-21940 River Ridge Tr. Roscoe OloffoDoug Keno

426-8930476-3320 35580-35610 Lone Pine Ln. Ken Gauvreau 474-4332

Tom Mossner 477-1832 21945-22085 River Pines Dr.

Area I Area T21695-21755 River Ridge Tr. Roscoe Oloffo

Doug Keno426-8930476-3320 35535-35595 Court Ridge Ct. Lee Holmes 442-7439

34911-34941 White Pine Tr. Tom Mossner 477-1832 35695-35823 Lone Pine Ln. Howard Petter 478-8115

35017-35056 Red Pine Dr.. Gene Milczarski 615-7544

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Lighting CommitteeThe purpose of the Lighting Committee is toidentify and replace burned out garage andmailbox lights. Each month Committee membersidentify lights that are burned out and replacethem. Residents may contact Committee memberslisted below when help is needed. Be sure toidentify which light you wish replaced.

This committee does an outstanding job findingburned out lights on their own. If you see a lightout, please take the time to call the appropriateArea Person.

AREA 1River Pine CourtBlue Spruce Drive

Alice HameleBruce Tobis471-5981

AREA 222255-21930 River Rdg Tr.35080-35040 Silver Rdg Ct.

Frank Pilzner426-6851Jim Redmond478-1288

AREA 321920-21780 River Ridge Tr35017-35106 Red Pine Dr.

Larry Frey477-5278

.AREA 434911-35021 White Pine Tr.21770-21620 River Ridge Tr21480-21610 River Ridge Ct.

Charles Jones476-7606

AREA 522265-22380 River Ridge Tr35240-35028 White Pine Dr.

Cliff Askren473-7293

AREA 635053-35233KnollwoodLane

Andy Tarpinian478-3478

AREA 735275-35495 Lone Pine Lane21955-22185 Lancrest Ct.

Gerald Ewald477-8851

AREA 822280-21945 River Pines Dr.

Richard Raney615-8527

AREA 935515-35575 Court Ridge Ct35515-35862 Lone Pine Ln.

Gene Milczarski615-7544

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.McShane and Associates

6230 Orchard Lake RoadSuite 200West Bloomfield, MI 48322

Phone:248-855-6492