Anything you can do to make a positive contribution to our community is welcome. You can do it as an individual or form a group to take on a larger task.
Holiday decorations need to be put up and taken down.
The numerous common areas always have landscape needs from pulling weeds, spreading mulch, deadheading flowers, planting perennials, and pruning trees and shrubs. Jason Headrick manages Landscaping & Irrigation and plans to use multiple contractors to take care of our needs rather than one company doing it all with hopes of a more attractive and less expensive outcome. There is no reason a group of neighbors couldn’t work together to spruce up their cul-de-sac island.
The pool can always use some attention. In the spring and early summer, the surrounding trees constantly deposit leaves, seeds and flower pedals in the water which can block the filters or upset the water chemistry if not frequently removed. Reed Matthews manages the Clubhouse & Pool areas and welcomes any help or suggestions to make our facilities safer and more enjoyable.
Attend and participate in one of our monthly RHA meetings.
Take a look at the insured assets of RHA: clubhouse $288,500; pool $113,700; north & south entrance walls $113,700 & pond fountain/lights $56,900. Let us know if something needs fixing. Same goes for the nine properties including five ponds: Bayswater, Camdendown, Cheltenham, Knightsbridge & Ramsgate; and, four lots: two on either side of the Ramsgate Pkwy entrance, the Brickston island & the strip at the end of Bayswater.
Sidewalks are important. If you experience a safety issue with a sidewalk (uneven / slippery / overhead branches) make a note of the location and politely let the owner know.
Communications are often a challenge. Yvette Buckner is a Board member and holds the office of Secretary. She manages the Administration cost center, provides Board input to the Ramsgate Facebook page and welcomes any assistance offered with RHA communications. The ramsgatehomeowners.com website is funded through October 2031 but seldom used. Anyone with some WordPress experience is welcome to make the site a more useful communication tool – perhaps for a monthly or quarterly newsletter requiring no advertising. The bulletin boards at the clubhouse could be used more often to keep people up to date on community activities during the summer.
As Ramsgate homeowners, each of us pays the City of Chattanooga a stormwater fee of $183.54 (in addition to the annual city tax). RHA pays the same for each of the four properties owned by the association. Our combined stormwater fee is $26,794. If you explore the Chattanooga Publics Works Stormwater website, you can find options for getting some personal value for that money which also helps RHA. The RAINSMART REWARDS PROGRAM has suggestions for gardens, rain barrels and landscaping for which you can receive partial reimbursements. If your home borders one of the major waterways, you can arrange for a city representative to walk through it and make suggestions for improvements – use the 311 number to arrange this. There is also a Single Family Residential Pond Maintenance Program which also applies to homeowner association ponds. The board has requested participation in this program. If one or several of our ponds are selected, we will receive maintenance assistance. The cost of operating fountains and lights will remain ours. You can help by taking the time to write a letter to your favorite city politician seeking their support in the decision process.
For many years we had a paper directory of owner’s names and phone numbers. It lost value as people moved away from land lines to cell phones and paperless contact lists. Perhaps a new directory stored on this domain, but password protected may be of value to residents. People can opt “in” or “out”.