The bulldozers are clanging and tradesmen are busy pounding away, but in a few short months peace and quiet will return to Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, Massachusetts. All the noise is part of a $7.5 million expansion…
Ah, the return of spring and our feathered friends who make this season so special! Time to break out another bag of seed and fill up the bird feeder as the year-round bird population is joined by the returning migrants. Or is it? If y…
To disclose or not to disclose? That is the question community association boards wrestle with on a regular basis. If homeowners want to see the association’s financial records, should the books be open to them? What about a list of owne…
Few things can be as upsetting as discovering that the dollars and cents that fuel a community association have been mishandled or worse yet, stolen. For residents, fraud undermines their sense of trust in the men and women who…
“Survive or thrive,” was the challengeissued to recession-weary exhibitors for the upcoming New England Condominium Expo. The throw-down came during “Expo University,” a recent day-long exhibitor workshop focused on getting the most retu…
Americans have always loved high-tech gadgets. Whether it’s an elaborate crime being solved on CSI or James Bond using a laser-guided device to defeat the bad guys, high-tech is endlessly entertaining. But when it comes to real life – s…
It’s been a roller-coaster ride wild enough to churn even the sturdiest of stomachs: Unemployment is up, property values down, bankruptcies rising, sales dipping and then lurching upward again. For many community associations,…
With the arrival of the snowfall season in New England, most community associations are hurriedly pulling out their snow blowers and double checking their plowing contracts. At a few condominiums, however, the arrival of winter is being gr…
These 12- to 15-pound birds were once migratory animals, but they lost that instinct when they were employed as live decoys by hunters. In the 1930s, live decoys were outlawed and the captive geese were turned loose, multiplying exponential…
Since the board of a community association is usually composed of a collective group of unique individuals with their own perspective and opinions, no two boards are ever the same. However, there are certain overall, universal qualities…