FOAI President's Letter, February 2004

3 February 2004

To: All property owners.

The Annual Meeting of Homeowner's conducted last night resulted in election of seven directors for 2004, three of whom are holdovers from the current Board. These well qualified homeowners can be expected to effectively build on the successes of the predecessor Board of Directors. My congratulations and best wishes to those so elected.

As advertised during the Annual Meeting and confirmed by the attached meeting notice, a briefing of planned activities impacting Fontana has been scheduled for the benefit of homeowners on Friday, February 6th. The Q & A sessions will be strictly controlled as opposed to the more informal conduct of those at the Annual Meeting.

The Annual Meeting included an unscheduled and protracted vetting of homeowner displeasure at the developer, Tony Nichols, for his management of the development of Fontana. While not exonerating him for the slow pace of development and progression of construction deficiencies, homeowners must recognize that Fontana is still a construction site.

The developer's responsibilities are limited. They essentially consist of plat development, lot sales, preparation and submittal of as-built drawings to the County upon completion of road construction and deeding of roads to VDOT and common areas to the Association. Individual contractors are responsible for all else.

Fontana is being developed by a cash-strapped developer who has no onsite representation and the attendant problems that can cause. Property owners' best interest would be served if we provide positive support to him in his prosecution of the last phase of Fontana, thereby allowing him the opportunity to generate sufficient revenue to complete the development. We should remain neutral in his attempt to gain County approval of his Phase 4 plat submittal at the February 17th meeting of the County Planning Commission.

Attempts to hold Phase 4 hostage to correction of Phase 3 deficiencies could produce unintended and undesirable results as drastic as putting the developer into default. In that scenario, the cost to the Association of picking up the pieces would be unbearable. Resolution of Phase 3 deficiencies can be more effectively gained thru discussion with the developer's engineer on the 6th and/or subsequently with County engineers. Engineer Steve Driver may be able to provide assurance that our concerns will be satisfactorily met.

It was a pleasure for me to have served with the fine people who constituted the 2003 Board of Directors.. In particular, I cite the dedication and splendid support provided by the three directors who opted not to run for reelection - Tony Gardner, Mary Woloski, and Stephanie Belt and its secretary and treasurer - Jessica Humphreys and Tom Belt. Thank you.

My regards to all,

John P. Sylva
President, FOAI