Update following the 2020/21 Annual General Meeting
Dear Owners and Residents of Aan de Weber Estate
Introduction
During the 2020/21 year, the previous trustee committee adopted a back-to-basics approach. In the interest of good governance, the Estate Rules were revisited, in part to ensure compliance with the Stellenbosch Municipal by-laws, and to ensure that they were relevant in the times we now live in.
The issues addressed by previous chairperson Billy Evans in his post AGM report dated 01 October 2020 (https://aandeweber.com/news/ ), remain important and relevant, and I would encourage all owners to read the report once again.
2020/21 Annual General Meeting
The 8th Annual General Meeting was held much closer to home this year on 28 July 2021, at the neighbouring Stellenrust Wine Estate.
A properly constituted meeting, comprising of 17 Individuals with voting rights, and 25 proxies which were received beforehand, formed a quorum. The following individuals were elected as Trustees:
- Gavin Osborne (subsequently elected as Chairperson)
- Paul Mouton (subsequently elected as Vice Chairperson)
- Ters Conradie
- Minette du Preez-Joubert
- Andrew Pyke
- Frans de Villiers (since resigned)
As an integral part of the trustee team, the HOA continue to employ Estate Manager – Jaen Bojé – whose can-do attitude and boundless energy in attending to a broad spectrum of duties, provides a much-appreciated peace-of-mind.
It is important to repeat the following points made by the previous chairperson:
- The Home Owners’ Association (HOA) is a legal entity established in accordance with the CONSTITUTION OF THE AAN DE WEBER HOME OWNERS ASSOCIATION, a copy of which is signed by and lodged with the Stellenbosch Municipality.
- The HOA has rights and duties independent from its members and does not operate for the acquisition of profit for itself or its members.
- The Trustees are not entitled to remuneration, salary, or fees in respect of their services and performance of their duties.
Security
In order to remain in the category of a high-quality security estate, the HOA employs independent consultancy Scholtz Consulting (Pty) Ltd, to advise and supervise the ongoing upgrading of our security infrastructure.
We are focused on applying ‘best practice’ across all facets of security, and in terms of guarding, a healthy partnership is in place with our security service provider – Tutella Securitas (Pty) Ltd.
All the up-to-date metrics are continually monitored, and the HOA is advised of any irregularities and anomalies which come to light. As a backup to the in-house security arrangements, the HOA contracts ADT (Pty) Ltd to provide armed response if required.
With the recent bout of Eskom load shedding, residents will have noticed a hive of activity at the security gate house as an engineer, an electrician and technicians installed an alternative backup power source for our security infrastructure. We now have two layers of redundancy in the form of an inverter/lithium battery installation, and the existing diesel generator. Residents living close to the gate should no longer be disturbed by the purr of the oil burner during load shedding!
In addition, the electrical infrastructure has been upgraded and will carry a current and valid Certificate of Compliance.
The penultimate stage of the thermal camera project is about to be finalized, and will be fully operational before mid-December.
The previous generation of white magnetic visitor cards has become obsolete, and the trustees, considering the advice of our consultants, selected an alternative which provides improved performance and integrity over the previous generation.
The onus, however, remains on the owners/residents to ensure that their employees’ details, held by the Trafalgar Property Management (Pty) Ltd, are valid at all times. In the event of a staff member leaving your employ, it is the employer’s responsibility (resident/owner) to ensure that the card is returned to security, and that they are advised that the individual is no longer employed.
Parking of Vehicles
All visitor parking bays are now clearly demarcated, and there are a number of ‘No Parking’ signs in areas where safety concerns so warrant them. Residents are requested to be considerate, especially over weekends when visitor parking is often at a premium.
House Maintenance
Many of the homes in Aan de Weber Estate are now over 5 years old, and as we all know, the ravages of time eventually take its toll on even the most well-constructed dwellings. It goes without saying that a well-maintained home retains and even increases in value over time. If all the homes on the estate are well maintained, by extension, the overall value of the estate will increase too.
As part of their ongoing duties, in terms of Rule 8.1 of the Estate Rules, the trustees must conduct regular inspection of all properties.
At the end of September 2021, the trustees identified properties which required obvious attention, and the owners were requested to remedy various issues by the end of February 2022.
If you were one of the owners who received a reminder, please do not leave it to the last minute.
Pets
Aan de Weber is a pet friendly estate. That being said, the rules are quite clear on all aspects relating to the keeping of pets. If you live with pets, please take the time to appraise yourself of the do’s and don’ts in terms of these rules (see https://aandeweber.com/documentation/).
The most common pet-related complaint received by the Trustees, is that of dog walkers not cleaning up after their pets. We implore dog owners not to walk their dogs unless they have a poo-bag. Please also instruct your dog-walkers to do likewise.
Cats are renowned for exploring people’s gardens, looking for places to leave their mark when homeowners aren’t looking. One of the natural ways you can stop them from doing their business in your garden is to scatter scents they don’t like. We have it on good authority that a product called “Footsack” is very effective, and is freely available from vet shops in spray or granules.
A useful tip received by a resident, who is “owned” by two cats: Please do not feed visiting animals, no matter how hungry and desperate they look. Like children, they will prefer eating out, and might eventually end up camping permanently on your stoep!
Gardens
After good winter rainfall and some plentiful rain showers in the recent past, the fynbos and other shrubs are looking pretty and in full bloom. The lawns in the common areas have also been top-soiled, fertilized and weeded. It is unfortunate that occasionally the stems of flowering shrubs are being either broken or cut off. Residents are requested to remind their children that such behaviour is unacceptable and can attract a fine of up to R1000.00.
Conclusion
Finally, thank you for taking the time to read this notice. The trustees look forward to working with all owners and residents to ensure that Aan de Weber Estate remains the great place that it is.
Yours sincerely
Gavin Osborne
Chairperson