Please attend the October 3rd Board Meeting to Discuss
Background:?Over the past two years, the Community Board has worked closely with members of the Landscape Committee, County officials, and multiple professional landscape companies to scope and design a new front entrance to the community. A new front entrance was an improvement requested by many community residents during long range planning meetings.? The current sign is in disrepair and not visible to most drivers traveling down Bay Ridge Road (to turn onto Carrollton).
Design Process:?While working with the Landscape Committee, use of a Landscape Architect was recommended to aid in the design process. Three different wall option renderings were developed by the Architect and reviewed over a series of meetings with Board members and members of the Landscape Committee. Two of the wall designs were ultimately chosen as viable options, and the Board proceeded to obtain bids from different Landscape Companies. ?Three separate bids were obtained (Homestead, Ciminelli?s, and Landscape Design Center). Bids were then down selected based on each company?s responsiveness and affordability.
In June, the Board introduced the two different designs to residents at the summer picnic and collected feedback.
Community residents voiced a strong preference for Design #2 (pictured below) which features curved wing walls. Additionally, natural stone was highly desired over brick. ?This feedback was used to further refine aspects of the design. One major adjustment was to downsize the wall option in an effort to reduce overall project cost. Subsequent to the June Picnic, the Board met again with the landscape company and was successful in reducing their original bid by several thousand dollars.
Cost: Overall cost for the project is expected to be $18,000 to $22,000. The Board is continuing to pursue other cost-saving measures and is open to community feedback in this area. ?It should be noted that unallocated funding from previous tax years is available to fund this project. ?The Board WILL NOT increase taxes or request money from community residents to fund this project.?Additionally, the funding of this project does not preclude other projects that the Board is currently considering (Community Pavilion at Overlook).
Other Details:
- For perspective, the revised wall design is similar in size to the existing signage on the left side of the community entrance.
Some additional points to consider:
- Permitting costs have been discussed with the County and are expected to be minimal (less than $300).
- The wall will rest on an 8 inch thick footer dug 31 inches deep and be constructed using concrete masonry block (filled with concrete and rebar). The block wall would then be covered using a natural stone or brick veneer.
- The sign, which will rest on the flat forward-facing portion of the wall, will retain the current oval shape but increase in size to approximately 3 feet tall and 6 feet wide to improve visibility for drivers traveling on Carrollton Road.
NOTE: This project was identified by the Long Range Planning Committee, whose membership represented a broad cross-section of the community.
