July 12, 2007

Lobbying group formed

By Lucy Weber
lweber@mcherald.com

Any associations interested in joining the Federation of Madison County Homeowners Association may go to the Web site, http://www.fmcha.org/ or call Melissa Dempsey at (601) 941-8391.

Neighborhood residents can find a ready source of experience or advice up the street - or across the county.

With the formation of the Federation of Madison County Homeowners Associations, members say the potential is unlimited for the organization that could wind up representing 30,000 or so residents as it works to improve quality of life before the Board of Supervisors or even the state Legislature.

"Working together is a strength that can only move us forward," said Melissa Dempsey, interim president of the group that so far has 19 community associations signed on.

In the works for about 18 months, the federation officially formed early this year to give an organized voice to issues that include family life, education, environment, safety, enhancement of services, increased property values and planned growth.

"It's needed," said Ray Butler, president of the Twin Cedars association. "It gives more eyes and ears" to issues that can have an impact not just on one neighborhood but on several.

The group met Monday at Deerfield to announce its formation and invite other associations to join by paying annual dues and sending delegates, based on the size of the local neighborhood groups.

The next meeting of the group is set for Aug. 28 at Chapel of the Cross.

The potential for the federation is unlimited in terms of how it can help local residents, members say.

"We can network and share," said Lynette Hegwood of Lake Caroline, who has helped organize the federation. "As homeowners associations we can share common covenants, issues and concerns."

Ray Lyle, a delegate to the federation from Lake Caroline, said the group has power by sharing information that can help one another. The federation can also present a unified voice for many in lobbying either the Board of Supervisors or Mississippi Legislature "through the sheer power of numbers," he said.

"Lifestyle issues, safety, education and the environment - I hope those like that can be brought before the federation," he said.

Dempsey, a resident of Annandale Estates, said the federation can help individual associations make contacts that help them out.

Several groups, for instance, could realize they have similar landscaping issues and band together to share a service for that or some groups could save money by sharing a contract on a property manager, she said.

"There's a tremendous amount of experience in the group on how to handle problems," said Woody Middleton, president of the Cherry Hill homeowners group. "There's a tremendous amount of information we can share."

Butler and Kirk Hughes said their experience with the Twin Cedars group proved that joining with other associations to bring one voice to an issue works.

Twin Cedars and residents of about six other Yandell Road subdivisions banded together to get an out-of-state developer to agree to meet area standards for a new residential neighborhood.

"It works," Hughes said, about the effort that got more than 600 homeowners in the area to sign a petition to convince the developer to plan a neighborhood that fit in with the surrounding area to keep property values up. "We all want the same thing, for Madison County to be great."

Associations that have joined include Annandale Estates, Audubon Woods, Bear Creek Crossing, Bridgewater, Cherry Hill Plantation, Countryside Plantation, Deerfield, Dinsmor, Harvey Crossing, Lake Caroline, Sheffield, Twin Cedars and Whisper Lake.

Supervisor Doug Jones, who helped organize the federation, said the group is open to any platted subdivision in the county.

"It's a good cross section of the county," he said.