2022 Survey Results
Belle Meade Homeowner’s Association 2022 Survey Results
The Belle Meade HOA 2022 Survey was sent via email to 201 email addresses on file for HOA members in 2020 and 2021. Additionally, we posted a QR code at the dog poop stations and at the dog park as well as on the HOA website.
We obtained 107 responses, out of the roughly 150 HOA members.
Questions # 1 Security
· 83% of survey responders consider security a top priority (rank 10)
· other responses ranked security as either 9 or 8
· there were no responses that ranked security below 8
Top requests in the survey response regarding security:
· More police officers, 65% asked for this
· Additional security cameras, 68% asked for this
· More interaction with HOA, 22% asked for this
The rest of the suggestions unfortunately do not align with the special status of Belle Meade, but are still very good suggestions to improve security:
· There are NO cameras in BM other than resident’s private cameras; the HOA is working on this
· We cannot lock access to gates as we are a public space with a public park (kid’s park)
The following captures well the suggestions: “When I served on the HOA, we identified (1) Getting areas where the gate is not complete finished (neighbors with incomplete fencing would need to buy in but we found ways to pay for it (2) More patrols (3) Cameras (4) locking the gates where people come through (but using a buzzer system with cameras so as not to violate ADA laws nor exclude someone from public land).”
Security Actions Being Taken by HOA Board:
The HOA board reached out to the guard company to ensure that the tags of every car entering Belle Meade are recorded, as well as the make, color and number of passengers. The meeting was fruitful and management will reiterate instructions to the guards. The HOA is also pursuing the gate cameras installation project with the company and the county authorities.
The HOA also had a meeting with the police commander and officers. The commander insists on communication between officers and community members. He agreed to communicate their phone / email to the members to establish that liaison. Belle Meade now has a beat officer assigned to the neighborhood, along with two Neighborhood Resource Officers (NROs), who attended the meeting and have attended HOA Board Meetings.
Agreed actions include: Officer Alvarez will reach out to the houses on 6th court to emphasize the need for fences and/or cameras on their side to protect access thru their yard. Commander Kerr said he will try to hold a Roll Call meeting (police meeting) in Belle Meade and invite community members to communicate with them in person.
We mentioned to the Commander that the perception from the community is that there is less police presence since December; numerous members have mentioned they do not see any police patrol anymore. The commander said the presence is the same but the pattern is different; he however agreed to change the pattern and improve presence in the community.
We hope you all have noticed that police presence seems stronger since our meeting last week.
Question #2 Code compliance
Top priorities to address
· Short term rentals -- 63% consider it a top priority
· Nuisance businesses operating (Car rental, jet ski business, event/party venue -- 63% consider it a top priority
· Tree removal without permit -- 8% consider it a top priority
· Abandoned/overgrown property -- 27% consider it a top priority
The remaining comments and suggestion were good, but there was no overall consensus or trend (late night music, trash, construction site debris etc.)
Question # 3, Beautification
Beautification ranked 8, 9 and 10 are respectively 23%, 20% 38% making it a top concern for 83% of people who answered (and no one ranked beautification below 5)
Top suggestions
· improving entrance, 43%
· improving swale, 42%
· improving mini park, 26%
· trash at barricades/gates, 45%
Question # 4 community event and parties
the events people consider important to organize for Belle Meade are:
· Halloween party, 58%
· Dog parade, 55%
· Ghoul train, 29%
· easter egg hunt, 33%
· Christmas party, 61%
Several suggestion for a street / block party
In addition to formal board meetings, the board is considering organizing an unformal “town hall meeting” to exchange with the community in person at the kid’s park.
Question # 5, infrastructure
This is considered a top priority by
Ranked 8, 7%
Ranked 9, 11%
Ranked 10, 78%
96% of survey responders ranked infrastructure over 8 in priority (no one ranked infrastructure below 7)
Question # 6, membership fees
Considering all the missions above, the additional needs for landscaping previously done by volunteers, the fact that our fees have been $40 annually for years, what price range would you think is appropriate for our HOA.
Results
$50 - $60 Annually > 16%
$60 - $75 Annually > 10%
$75 - $100 Annually > 38%
More than above > 23%
Less than the above > 11%
Meaning that 61% (38+23) believe that between 75 to even more than $100 is a good amount for HOA fees. As such, the HOA will be voting on an increase to the HOA fees to $100 per year in order to fulfill the requests from the community.
Conclusion
All questions received good suggestions that will definitely inspire the board in our future actions to improve Belle Meade, and we thank everybody who took the time to answer the survey questions. The HOA will definitely focus on the top priorities first, Security, code compliance and beautification being the ones with most suggestions and concerns in the community.
The Belle Meade HOA 2022 Survey was sent via email to 201 email addresses on file for HOA members in 2020 and 2021. Additionally, we posted a QR code at the dog poop stations and at the dog park as well as on the HOA website.
We obtained 107 responses, out of the roughly 150 HOA members.
Questions # 1 Security
· 83% of survey responders consider security a top priority (rank 10)
· other responses ranked security as either 9 or 8
· there were no responses that ranked security below 8
Top requests in the survey response regarding security:
· More police officers, 65% asked for this
· Additional security cameras, 68% asked for this
· More interaction with HOA, 22% asked for this
The rest of the suggestions unfortunately do not align with the special status of Belle Meade, but are still very good suggestions to improve security:
· There are NO cameras in BM other than resident’s private cameras; the HOA is working on this
· We cannot lock access to gates as we are a public space with a public park (kid’s park)
The following captures well the suggestions: “When I served on the HOA, we identified (1) Getting areas where the gate is not complete finished (neighbors with incomplete fencing would need to buy in but we found ways to pay for it (2) More patrols (3) Cameras (4) locking the gates where people come through (but using a buzzer system with cameras so as not to violate ADA laws nor exclude someone from public land).”
Security Actions Being Taken by HOA Board:
The HOA board reached out to the guard company to ensure that the tags of every car entering Belle Meade are recorded, as well as the make, color and number of passengers. The meeting was fruitful and management will reiterate instructions to the guards. The HOA is also pursuing the gate cameras installation project with the company and the county authorities.
The HOA also had a meeting with the police commander and officers. The commander insists on communication between officers and community members. He agreed to communicate their phone / email to the members to establish that liaison. Belle Meade now has a beat officer assigned to the neighborhood, along with two Neighborhood Resource Officers (NROs), who attended the meeting and have attended HOA Board Meetings.
Agreed actions include: Officer Alvarez will reach out to the houses on 6th court to emphasize the need for fences and/or cameras on their side to protect access thru their yard. Commander Kerr said he will try to hold a Roll Call meeting (police meeting) in Belle Meade and invite community members to communicate with them in person.
We mentioned to the Commander that the perception from the community is that there is less police presence since December; numerous members have mentioned they do not see any police patrol anymore. The commander said the presence is the same but the pattern is different; he however agreed to change the pattern and improve presence in the community.
We hope you all have noticed that police presence seems stronger since our meeting last week.
Question #2 Code compliance
Top priorities to address
· Short term rentals -- 63% consider it a top priority
· Nuisance businesses operating (Car rental, jet ski business, event/party venue -- 63% consider it a top priority
· Tree removal without permit -- 8% consider it a top priority
· Abandoned/overgrown property -- 27% consider it a top priority
The remaining comments and suggestion were good, but there was no overall consensus or trend (late night music, trash, construction site debris etc.)
Question # 3, Beautification
Beautification ranked 8, 9 and 10 are respectively 23%, 20% 38% making it a top concern for 83% of people who answered (and no one ranked beautification below 5)
Top suggestions
· improving entrance, 43%
· improving swale, 42%
· improving mini park, 26%
· trash at barricades/gates, 45%
Question # 4 community event and parties
the events people consider important to organize for Belle Meade are:
· Halloween party, 58%
· Dog parade, 55%
· Ghoul train, 29%
· easter egg hunt, 33%
· Christmas party, 61%
Several suggestion for a street / block party
In addition to formal board meetings, the board is considering organizing an unformal “town hall meeting” to exchange with the community in person at the kid’s park.
Question # 5, infrastructure
This is considered a top priority by
Ranked 8, 7%
Ranked 9, 11%
Ranked 10, 78%
96% of survey responders ranked infrastructure over 8 in priority (no one ranked infrastructure below 7)
Question # 6, membership fees
Considering all the missions above, the additional needs for landscaping previously done by volunteers, the fact that our fees have been $40 annually for years, what price range would you think is appropriate for our HOA.
Results
$50 - $60 Annually > 16%
$60 - $75 Annually > 10%
$75 - $100 Annually > 38%
More than above > 23%
Less than the above > 11%
Meaning that 61% (38+23) believe that between 75 to even more than $100 is a good amount for HOA fees. As such, the HOA will be voting on an increase to the HOA fees to $100 per year in order to fulfill the requests from the community.
Conclusion
All questions received good suggestions that will definitely inspire the board in our future actions to improve Belle Meade, and we thank everybody who took the time to answer the survey questions. The HOA will definitely focus on the top priorities first, Security, code compliance and beautification being the ones with most suggestions and concerns in the community.