Suffield Meadows Condominium Unit Owners Association was named Community Association of the Year in the Small Category. They are managed by National Realty Partners, LLC. This is the essay submitted with the community’s application.
By John Dunkin, President, Suffield Meadows Association
Nestled in the foot hills of the Blue Ridge mountains, Suffield Meadows is an Active Adult community located in Fauquier County north of Warrenton Virginia. Developed in 2006, Suffield Meadows was a former cattle and English Holly tree farm and our clubhouse is the original 110-year-old farm house. Suffield Meadows is a unique community consisting of 112 residences; 32 units in two multi story buildings and 80 Villas and Cottages. There is also a 65 bed Assisted Living Facility run by Fauquier Hospital. Our residents may own a home, move to an apartment and then to the Assisted Living Facility without leaving the community. Suffield Meadows is situated on 112 acres of land, of which 80 acres are in conservation and contains miles of hiking trails. Our homes are in park like settings with lush landscaping and curved streets that add to the beauty of the community. Our conservation area consists of meadows, woods and wetlands and a trail system winds through this traversing a creek that turns into several ponds. This area provides sightings of various birds, fox, deer, beaver, water fowl, bald eagles as well as bear! We provide a conservation plan to both Fauquier County and the State of Virginia.
Operation and maintenance of our community includes a Waste Water Treatment Plant that contains collection tanks, pumps and a potable water drain field that must be monitored and maintained. In addition to the WWTP, our community is responsible for several miles of paved roads, walking paths and wooden bridges spanning a natural creek connecting our conservation area to our common area.
In accordance with our charter, the Board holds monthly work sessions and monthly Community Dialog meetings. All residents are invited and encouraged to participate in both of these meetings. The Community Dialog meeting is scheduled in the evening hours to make it easier for the community members that work to attend. Meeting minutes are made available on the community web site.
Various communication vehicles are utilized depending upon the type of information being disseminated. The most common means is by electronic mail and the monthly community newsletter. Social activities are announced by electronic mail and by an outdoor message board. Flyers are hand delivered to the few residents that do not have e-mail accounts. Flyers are also posted on bulletin boards in each of the multistory buildings as well as the community clubhouse.
Suffield Meadows is very active in the local community and hosts local town and county representatives to report on issues that affect the safety and security of our residents. We also host roundtable discussions with neighboring communities to discuss issues that affect the area, such as traffic control. Our residents generously contribute to several local and national charities, including the Fauquier County Food Band and the annual Toys-For-Tots program. Recently, Suffield Meadows was featured in an article in the Fauquier Times and was named one of the top Active Adult Communities in this area.
