Sandy Hit Our Community Hard

Princeton Landing sustained significant damage in the storm. Some parts of the community are still without power. We took these photos this morning.

Sandy Puts Us in the Dark

As of early this evening, we've lost our power. The outage appears to affect the entire Princeton Landing community. We're hoping the lights come back on quickly once the storm subsides.

Hurricane Sandy and PSE&G

Parts of Princeton Landing have already lost power this morning. Here are some links to PSE&G.

Click here for What To Do If You Lose Power

Click here for Outage Map

Click here to follow PSE&G on Twitter

Hurricane Sandy Update

Click here for the National Hurricane Center's Hurricane Sandy Public Advisory.

Click here for an updated storm briefing by Gary Szatkowski of NOAA's National Weather Service for the Philadelphia/Mount Holly NJ forecast office.

Click here for the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Philadelphia/Mount Holly.

Click here for Weather Underground's forecast maps.

Hurricane Sandy

Click here for the National Hurricane Center's Hurricane Sandy Public Advisory.

Click here for an informative storm briefing by Gary Szatkowski of NOAA's National Weather Service for the Philadelphia/Mount Holly NJ forecast office.

Click here for the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Philadelphia/Mount Holly.

Click here for Weather Underground's forecast maps.

FVCSA Election: We've Got Questions (#4)

It's election time in Princeton Landing and some members of the Board will be running again. You may remember that one of the promises these same candidates made in previous elections was that there would be more "transparency" and better communication about Association business. Residents were going to be better informed than they had been in the past. This "transparency" has turned out to be more opaque than expected, raising questions we'd like to ask the candidates. Here's the fourth one.

Why were past Boards able to keep residents better informed by snail mail than the current Board can by email? In the digital age, it is faster, cheaper and easier for anyone to communicate. But not for FVCSA—at least, not for anything useful or important. We get lots of email reminders about pizza nights, bagel breakfasts and garage sales (we count 5 so far about the latter event). But practical news and information? As the saying goes, not so much.

Email could be used to remedy the appalling lack of communication with residents about FVCSA's budget and finances. The next time we get an email with title selections for movie night, how about including a short statement from the Board President or Treasurer about year-to-date expenditures versus budget projections with a simple spreadsheet attached? Or listing any expenditures that were approved at the most recent Board meeting?

Email could also be used to tell residents in advance about work on the property that might affect them. It isn't hard to think of examples. For instance, our landscape crew now posts signs warning that pesticides and herbicides will be applied. The signs are hard to read from a passing car, tend to fall over, and aren't very specific about what's being done. An email alert could be sent the same day the signs go up. Residents would then be more likely to know that kids and pets should be kept off the grass for a time after the treatment. Similar notice by email could be provided before the landscape crew descends on homes to prune shrubbery. They now arrive without warning. Residents could be told ahead of time when gutter cleaning is scheduled—it would be comforting to know before he shows up that the man stomping around on the roof is actually supposed to be there. Residents in a particular parcel could be told by email when painters will be arriving to work on decks, so the outdoor furniture or planters can be removed.

None of this is especially difficult, and it doesn't cost anything to send email. It does take coordination among the Board, our property managers and our contractors. But mostly it takes a commitment to act on past promises to communicate openly and effectively. Right now FVCSA is giving residents the least amount of information at a time when communication has never been easier. It is the Board's responsibility to lead on things like this and set expectations for those who work for the community. So what happened to "transparency" and better communication?

Two Fall Events by Kingston Historical Society

The Kingston Historical Society will hold its annual meeting on October 25, 2012, at 7:30 pm at the Kingston firehouse. After a brief meeting the KHS will host an illustrated presentation by historian Clifford Zink titled "A Lovely Place to Live: Heathcote Farm Gracefully Adapts to Changing Times." Mr. Zink is a local historian, author and preservation consultant in Princeton and an expert on the Withington Estate—Heathcote Farm. In 2011 he received the John A. Roebling Award for his outstanding contribution to documenting and preserving the industrial heritage of the area. Mr. Zink is the author of five books including The Roebling Legacy and The Monmouth Country Park System. He is currently compiling a history of preservation in New Jersey for the N.J. Historic Trust. The Kingston firehouse is located at 6 Heathcote Road (off Route 27). The meeting is free and all are welcome. Refreshments will be served.

On Sunday, November 4, 2012, the KHS will offer tours of Heathcote Farm led by Mr. Zink. Space is limited and reservations are required. Tours for up to 15 people will begin at 12:30 pm, 1:30 pm and 2:30 pm. Reservations can be made by email at KHSofNJ@gmail.com or by phone at 609-223-3877. Please leave a contact name, phone number and preferred tour time.

Photograph of Heathcote Farm as the Withington Country Estate courtesy of Clifford Zink

FVCSA Election: We've Got Questions (#3)

It's election time in Princeton Landing and some members of the Board will be running again. You may remember that one of the promises these same candidates made in previous elections was that there would be more "transparency" and better communication about Association business. Residents were going to be better informed than they had been in the past. This "transparency" has turned out to be more opaque than expected, raising questions we'd like to ask the candidates. Here's the third one.

Where does FVCSA stand financially? Frankly, we're finding it hard to tell. The August newsletter included the only Treasurer's Report the Association has published so far this year. It is not very informative. It starts with a long statement about the complexity of Princeton Landing and its relationships to the world around it. The "report" then describes three financial objectives—reduce costs, anticipate capital outlays, improve return on investment—and says that the community's investment goals are to reduce risk and increase return. All that is fine. It's also fairly obvious. What's missing is specific information and thoughtful analysis. How are we doing so far compared to what we expected in our budget for 2012? What does the Board plan to do to reduce costs? What costs are rising or hard to control? What capital outlays are anticipated, and when? Are capital reserves expected to cover these outlays, or are special assessments likely?

The last paragraph of the "report" is truly mystifying. It starts with a grand statement about the impact of the "global economic downturn." This is a community newsletter, not The Wall Street Journal, so what is the writer trying to say? Is this a roundabout way of telling us that the Association's investment portfolio has lost value? We don't know—the "report" includes no numbers!

We could dismiss the August newsletter as harmless puffery if details about FVCSA's finances were readily available elsewhere. However, when it comes to finances, Princeton Landing seems to have become an information-free zone. As we've noted in a previous post, there is little financial data available to residents on the FVCSA website. If the Board is providing information at its monthly public meeting, there is little record of that happening. The few mentions of FVCSA finances that do appear in this year's Board minutes provide even less information than the newsletter.

We are all members of FVCSA. We pay several thousand dollars each year in maintenance fees. Many of us have run businesses or managed budgets in our daily work, and all of us handle household budgets. We know something about financial plans and we know how to read financial statements. For many of us, our home is our biggest asset, and we are concerned about what the Board is doing to protect our investment. We need more than high-minded generalities. It's election time, but we can't evaluate how the Board has handled our community's finances this year without real information. Why isn't that information being provided to us regularly? Why should the burden be on us to go find it on our own? Whatever happened to "transparency" and better communication?

Nature Guide to the Rescue

Was it some sort of human/feline telepathy or a Vulcan mind meld that I witnessed at Terhune Orchards a few weeks ago between our Nature Guide Jon and a sweet kitty from the farm? Whatever it was, kitty somehow conveyed a serious thirst that needed quenching under the warm end-of-summer sun. She sent the signal and then jumped up on the outdoor sink. Jon obliged by turning on the tap . . . 

and waiting . . .

and waiting . . .

and waiting . . . while kitty drank.

Afterwards kitty jumped down and settled in for a nap.

FVCSA Election: We've Got Questions (#2)

It's election time in Princeton Landing and some members of the Board will be running again. You may remember that one of the promises these same candidates made in previous elections was that there would be more "transparency" and better communication about Association business. Residents were going to be better informed than they had been in the past. This "transparency" has turned out to be more opaque than expected, raising questions we'd like to ask the candidates. Here's the second one.

Why is our Association doing such a poor job of keeping residents informed about the community's current financial situation? Despite promises of "transparency," the only financial information currently available on the "official" Princeton Landing website is a report from our auditors for last year. There is nothing for the current year—no 2012 budgets or projections, and nothing showing actual spending so far compared to what was planned.

It has been some time since an annual budget was mailed to all residents. FVCSA operating budgets have not been published recently in the Association's newsletter. Homeowners who want financial information about their own parcel must visit the management office after making an appointment in advance. There is no forum for residents to comment in writing on how their money is being spent. 

The current approach may meet requirements for the minimum that must be done, but it hardly qualifies as open governance. So what happened to the promise of "transparency" and better communication?

KGA Fall Foliage Walk

Photo: Doug Kiovsky

Kingston Greenways Association will host a Fall Foliage Walk on Sunday, October 21, 2012, at 2 pm. The walk is from Rockingham, George Washington's final Revolutionary War headquarters, to Rocky HIll, and back. Participants meet in the Rockingham parking lot at 84 Laurel Avenue in Kingston, tour the Rockingham grounds, and descend to the towpath for the round-trip walk along the Delaware and Raritan Canal to Rocky Hill.

Walking will be on mostly level ground, but there is a short, moderately steep descent and ascent at the beginning and end of the walk. Refreshments will be served following the walk. For more information about KGA, click here or call 609-950-1821. For directions and to learn more about Rockingham, visit the Rockingham website.

B.D. Lenz at Small World This Saturday

Jazz guitarist B.D. Lenz and his band will be performing at Small World Coffee on Saturday, October 6, at 8:30 pm.

Small World is located at 14 Witherspoon Street in Princeton.