dues increase for 2021

Dear Wild Horse Ridge Homeowner,

Over the last year the Wild Horse Ridge HOA Board has been working with our attorney regarding a pond maintenance request that we received from the city of Cedar Falls and Midwest Development (Skogman). The Wild Horse Ridge pond and surrounding basin, which are owned by the HOA, are part of the Dry Run Creek watershed and are designed to slow downstream water discharge and provide flood control.

We have negotiated in the best interests of the homeowners over the last 8 months on the maintenance requirements of the pond and surrounding basin through meetings with the city and external engineering firms. This includes ensuring that the erosion controls meet city requirements, that the pond basin can retain and release water at prescribed rates, and that inspection, operation and maintenance of the facility is executed per the agreement. This agreement will be posted to our website under the downloads section upon receipt of the signed agreement from the city and Midwest Development.

At the advice of our legal counsel, the board has decided to raise the HOA annual dues from $100 annually to the amount of $200 for the period of July 2021 to June of 2022. Our expectation is that we will raise dues one more time to $300 for the following fiscal year. Per the HOA Bylaws, dues can be raised to a maximum amount of $350 by the board without a special meeting of the full association.

Our counsel suggested immediately increasing the dues to the maximum allowed under the bylaws to build a balance large enough to support any maintenance that might be required. The board has carefully weighed counsel’s recommendation against water retention meetings with the engineering firm and the city. We feel that given the current economic situation and the overall health of the pond, basin, and dam; that we can make the increase over two years with minimal risk.

The intent of this increase is to avoid the need for a special assessment requiring owners to make an immediate payment to address a city compliance issue with the pond area. Other neighborhoods in Cedar Falls have had to address compliance issues and were forced to send special assessments of hundreds of dollars in addition to annual dues (The Ridges, Fieldstone). Our hope is to gradually build an account balance to protect us from this situation.

Please reach out with any questions or concerns you might have.

Best Regards,

Your Wild Horse Ridge HOA Board of Directors

Ryan Cawelti

Buck McCosky

Holly Huser

Nick Barsic

Scott Hagberg