On Thursday, December 12, the Greenbelt Homes, Inc. (GHI) Board of Directors held a town hall meeting to inform members about revisions to the member handbook, the 2025 budget and the next steps in the Pipe Replacement Project.
Pipe Replacement
Director of Technical Services Thomas Williams gave an update on the Pilot Pipe Replacement Project which replaced pipes in about 25 units. The eventual goal is to replace aging pipes in all GHI units but the effort will begin in framed homes where pipes have been found to be in worse condition.
From the pilot project GHI learned that members vacated their homes for six to eight business days. Members were allowed to return to use their home offices as long as they remained in the safe zones of their home (zones in which renovations were not occurring). Some members needed assistance in finding temporary housing. In response to this finding, GHI will assess members’ needs for temporary housing during the 2025 pipe replacement project. GHI also found that more water heaters had to be replaced and they spent more time in the crawl spaces than was anticipated. PVC pipes were identified as the most efficient for replacing current pipes. During the project, affected members can expect to receive weekly email updates.
In 2025 the Pipe Replacement Project will occur in 100 homes over four phases that affect the following units: (1) Research Road Courts 8 and 9, (2) Research Road Court 7, (3) Research Road Court 6 and Ridge Road Court 73, and (4) Ridge Road Courts 69 and 71.
Specifically, the project involves surveying each unit to document kitchen and bathroom conditions, executing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to outline GHI and member responsibilities, preparing project specifications for pricing and reviewing contractor proposals. With the board’s approval, GHI Technical Services will then draft and implement the contract and communicate the start date and schedule to members.
GHI 2025 Budget
In budget materials sent to GHI members Stefan Brodd, GHI president, stated that “… GHI continues to be in a strong financial condition and able to meet [its] financial commitments.” This was supported by GHI General Manager James Claggett, who summarized the 2025 budget and stated that membership fees for 2025 would increase by 3.5 percent. The largest portion of membership fees will go toward real estate taxes at $5,775,213 (35.3 percent). This year’s amount projects an increase in real estate taxes of about 9.3 percent. The second largest portion of the budget is for maintenance at $4,627,715 (28.4 percent), which includes payroll/benefits, materials and contracted services such as gutter cleaning. GHI has a Replacement Reserve fund that covers the cost of replacing major items including but not limited to roofs, windows and doors. There is an Addition Maintenance Program where members with additions pay an additional fee included in their monthly co-op fee. Together these two items are expected to total $2,731,752 (16.8 percent). Administrative expenses including payroll and benefits for the administrative staff are estimated to come to $1,799,479 (11.0 percent). Finally, insurance and trash collection are budgeted at $933,510 (5.7 percent) and $461,800 (2.8 percent), respectively.
Member Handbook
Board Vice President Debbie McKinley provided an update on revisions to the Member Handbook, which is sometimes referred to as the Green Book. McKinley said the handbook has been restructured into six sections: an introduction about Greenbelt and GHI; cosmetic and minor alterations (changes that do not require a permit or only a GHI permit); major alterations and addition requirements (changes that require a permit from GHI, city and/or county); GHI cooperative living; procedures to sell, rent or assign the GHI unit; and community resources.
The handbook has been revised to make it more user friendly and standardized: the formatting and font are the same throughout, inconsistencies removed and language clarified and updated. The document also was updated to reflect current rules and standards.
The handbook has been reviewed by GHI staff and comments have been received from the board, which McKinley and her team are now addressing. After the board approves the updated handbook, it will go out to members for feedback before being finalized by the board.