Creston Winter 2016-2017 Newsletter

Board of Directors Quarterly Meeting

Dates with Related Events for 2016-2017

• April 29, 2017 – Board of Directors

Quarterly Meeting and Town Hall

• July 7, 2017 – Pot Luck

• July 8, 2017 – Annual Meeting

In this issue > > >

• Dedication

• Save the Date

• President’s Corner

• Party Rock Fire

• Sank Gap

• creston-community.com

• Solar Installation

• Community Activities

• Committee News

• Creston Sales

• New Neighbors

A Quarterly Newsletter by and for Creston Property Owners

from the Crest

Creston resident Jim Waters, 64,

peacefully surrendered to his battle

with pancreatic cancer on January 1,

2017. We will all miss his gentle

spirit, passion for life and his love for

family. Jim enjoyed fishing and hiking

the Blue Ridge Mountains, playing

tennis, woodworking, and celebrating

life with family and friends. He is

survived by wife Jan, son Brenden &

Teresa Waters of Atlanta and

daughter Devin & Chris Burbach and

grandbaby Alice of Asheville, and

expecting two grandbabies this

spring. Donations in Jim's name are

appreciated at Solace Center

Hospice in Asheville

In Loving Memory & Spirit of Jim Waters – 1952 to 2017 > > >

Jim and Jan Waters

Save the Date > > >

Creston Winter 2016-2017 Newsletter

President’s Corner > > >

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Spring is just around the corner and Creston is a happenin’ place. Overall, we’ve had

quite a mild winter so far with just a few “I want to move back to the Florida Keys” days.

We had a snow storm on the January 7th that gave us about 6 or 7 inches of snow

which was enough to bring out the Creston sledding contingent. It’s amazing how many

times you can walk up a hill if you’re having fun. Tanager Lane turned out to be a great

sledding venue at least until Dario showed up with his snowplow.

There’s been lots of

community activity with all

our various committees.

Our fearless Maintenance

Committee leader, John

Simons, has even formed

a “Paul Bunyan”

emergency tree removal

team. I’m sure that its just

so us boys can go out and

play with our chain saws,

but seriously high winds

have recently knocked down some trees across roads and the team has risen to the

occasion more than once. Creston Connect and the Communications Committee are

working hard on formulating a plan to meet all our information needs. CERT continues to

work on keeping us safe in our little neck of the woods – sleep well knowing that the

CERT crew is on the job 24/7. Our legal team keeps asking for a raise - are they feeling

overworked? Know, however, that they have done a great job advising the Community

on numerous items requiring legal services – how could we ever live without lawyers!

There is nothing much to report on our roads – that’s a good thing. We are still on track

to resurface Trillium, Ninebark, Tanager, Galax, North Haven, Woodruff, Verbena,

Warbler and possibly Kalmia this Spring/ Summer. That will only leave the newest roads

Kestrel, Ironwood and Nuthatch to do in a couple of years.

Real Estate sales continue to be a boon to our Community. Since the last newsletter

there have been three sales with 2 more pending. We’ve got two homes under

construction with three or four more scheduled to start this year.

Don’t you just love it up here at Creston – what a great place to live, visit and hang out.

from – Steve Swanberg, POA Board President

Creston Winter 2016-2017 Newsletter

Party Rock Wildfire Near Lake Lure > > >

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Creston wasn’t in any danger from the

Party Rock Forest Fire, but we did get a lot

of smoke. Our board approved funds to buy

items for the fire fighters - protein bars and

other snacks, lip balm, wipes, lotion, eye

drops, and bandannas. To see an article

and several videos about the fire provided

by The News & Observer from back in

November click here.

There was a thank you fundraiser held at

the Rumbling Bald Resort for the Hickory

Nut Gorge Fire Department in January.

Picture provided by Rose Simons: A smoky sunset.

Creston Winter 2016-2017 Newsletter

Sank Gap Fundraiser > > >

Protecting and Preserving Creston

The fundraising effort to protect the Sank Gap tract was a

SUCCESS! Creston owners were able to raise just over $22K

with a matching contribution by the Nicholas’. Pending

acceptance of one final grant application, Foothills

Conservancy of North Carolina will have the funding needed

to purchase the 259-acre tract. Conservation of this land will

protect nearly a mile of the ridge of Edmondson Mountain,

including Sank Gap. It adjoins the conservancy's Catawba

Headwaters Preserve on two sides and Creston Community

conservation easement lands on another. Significant streams

on the tract drain into Little Crooked Creek, a tributary that

joins the Catawba River downstream of Old Fort. The

purchase is expected to close by April, and the conservancy

plans to add the tract to its 1,550-acre Catawba Headwaters

Preserve. Thanks to so many of our neighbors for joining us in

this worthwhile campaign. We look forward to accessing this

wonderful land to enjoy nature with you. – from Nick and Lynn Nicholas

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In response to many requests of long standing from Creston owners for a convenient

one-stop source of information regarding various aspects of building and living in

Creston, as well as near-real-time notification of news of interest about what’s

happening here, a new owner-created web site is now available to all members of the

Creston POA. The site includes a webcam; real-time weather information from an on-

mountain weather station; trail maps, profiles and descriptions; committees and

membership; an owner directory; a calendar of events; a section devoted to

interesting things to know; photo galleries; the occasional owner survey; and even a

discussion forum. There is still more information about Creston and the surrounding

area contained therein, and the content continues to expand.

The creators of the website hope that this will become your favorite place to go for all

informal information about Creston. Creston’s governing documents, meeting minutes,

billing matters, etc., will remain housed on the IPM website. To that end the

Communications Committee is working with Creston Connect to analyze the way

information is shared in our community and to implement enhancements where

appropriate.

The website is available to Creston owners only. As such, it is login and password

protected. The site is accessible at creston-community.com. Upon arriving at the site

the first time, you will be asked to provide your email address and create a password.

Once you do so, a registration request will be sent to the webmaster who will verify

you as a Creston owner and grant you access. After you receive notification that you

have been approved, you can log in and explore the site.

Note that some of the newsletter articles contain links to pages in this website where

additional information or documents can be found.- from Brian Shaw

Creston Winter 2016-2017 Newsletter

Owner-created Community Website - creston-community.com > > >

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Got a Newsletter Idea? A Beautiful Photo?

Send it to the Communications Committee and we will include in the next newsletter.– from Communication Committee

Creston Winter 2016-2017 Newsletter

Take That, Duke Energy! > > >

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First impressions from switching to solar power in CrestonWhen we, Marshall and Suzanne Fisher, designed our home in 2012 we considered the usual

cost/benefit tradeoffs (geothermal heat, ultra-efficient water heaters, solar panels) and made

decisions based in part on the expected period it would take to recoup our investment through

energy savings. In the case of solar panels, according to the information we had, that number

in 2012 was on the order of 17 years. Based on that we decided to spend our energy-saving

resources on other technologies.

Last summer, we attended a presentation by Sugar Hollow Solar, Inc., a local (Fairview, NC)

provider of solar systems, at which they explained that due to a reduction in cost per panel and

an increase in panel efficiency (watts per square foot) in the last several years, the typical

period to recoup installation costs has been significantly reduced. We invited Sugar Hollow to

do a site visit at our home, analyze the potential savings and make a proposal.

We also did an analysis of our Duke Energy power usage and billing since we moved here

June of 2013. We found that our monthly power bills during that period ranged from $72 to

$203 with an average of $140. That information, coupled with the 30% Federal tax credit and

Sugar Hollow’s analysis of how many solar panels might fit on our roof and where they could

go to maximize sun exposure, produced a proposed 10.3 kW system with a predicted

investment recovery period of just over 11 years. We decided to move ahead.

Sugar Hollow prepared an

engineering analysis and drawings

showing the proposed number (in our

case, 30) and placement of panels

(mostly south-facing and a few on

west-facing roof planes). We provided

the information and drawings to the

Creston ARC along with a “Step 9”

(Modification) request. The ARC did a

site visit and gave their approval.

The installation occurred in four stages:

1. Installation (by Sugar Hollow) of panels and electronics on the roof, an inverter (a device to

convert solar panel DC to AC and merge the resulting power with the Duke Energy feed) in

our garage, and the cabling to connect them.

2. Inspection (by a McDowell County inspector) of the equipment installation to verify the

safety of the equipment as installed. This is important because the system includes multiple

mechanisms to protect utility repair personnel by preventing solar-generated power from

being injected back into the Duke Energy grid during periods when utility power is down.

3. Installation (by a Duke Energy technician) of a replacement electric meter capable of

“running backwards” (i.e., subtracting from our net energy usage the power we return to the

grid during sunny periods when we’re generating more power than we’re using)

4. Final system commissioning by Sugar Hollow. (continues on page 7)

Panel installation

Creston Winter 2016-2017 Newsletter

Take That, Duke Energy! continues…

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(continued from page 6) The installation went

smoothly and we were impressed by the

professionalism and promptness of the

Sugar Hollow installers. Equipment

installation took 4-5 days. It took about a

week for the McDowell County inspector to

arrive and another few days before Duke

Energy replaced the meter. Sugar Hollow

then came back to turn the system on,

which took about an hour (most of which

was explaining to us how the online real-

time monitoring system works). Some

sample graphs from the monitoring system

are shown here:

The inverter

South facing panels

So, what are the results?

Calculations using our Duke Energy bills and SolarEdge reports for the first 47 days of

operation (Nov 18 – Jan 5) show that we generated 853 kWh of solar power, of which 448 kWh

was used by us and 405 kWh was sent back to the grid. Duke provided (and charged us for)

2312 kWh during that period, so our total power usage was 448 + 2312 = 2760 kWh. Therefore

we generated 16.2% of the total power we consumed and also “sold” back to Duke 17.5% as

much power as Duke provided to us.

Of course, this performance depends on how many sunny hours occurred, whether we were at

home and using normal amounts of power, etc. But our bill for December 2016 was 25.2%

lower than our average bill for the preceding three Decembers, so the numbers seem to be in

the ballpark.

We’re a long way from being able to say whether the system will pay for itself in the projected

time period. But as the days get longer, the sun gets higher and the number of sunny days

increase we can expect to generate a significantly higher fraction of the power we use. And the

satisfaction of seeing our net fossil fuel-generated power usage decrease is already

considerable. So far, we are happy with our decision to install a solar panel system.

– from Marshall Fisher

Creston Winter 2016-2017 Newsletter

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We leave on Thursday

mornings at 8:30 a.m.

starting from the top of

Tanager Lane, walking up

the mountain and back

down. All women are invited

to join us for exercise,

conversation, and enjoyment

of the beautiful mountain that

we call home!

Creston Women's Walk - - -

Standing: Terry Hash, Sandi Belfor, Becky Huck and Jane BasfordKneeling: Janet Blanchard and her dog Gretta

Community Activities > > >

Book Club News - - -

Chilly days seem to call for a cup of tea and a good book. The Creston Book Club has

picked a varied assortment of books for the first half of 2017. In January we discussed

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafron; we all loved it! In February we read

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson and found it a

very powerful presentation of biases in our judicial system.

Here are the selections for the next four months:

March 22: Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance

April 26: The News of the World by Paulette Jiles

May 24: The Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolan

June 28: The Boys on the Boat by Daniel James Brown

We meet the fourth Wednesday of the month at 11:30 a.m. at the Community Center

and all are welcome to come. If you would like to be added to the Book Club mailing

list let Suzanne Fisher know.

Happy reading.

Creston Winter 2016-2017 Newsletter

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Several Crestonites hiked from

Moore's Branch Trail up to Upper

Catawba Falls lead by the fearless

duo, Janet Blanchard & Charlie

Brown. Great fun had by all!

Hikers to Catawba Upper Falls - - -

Standing: Kevin Huck, Jane Basford, Steve Swanberg, Terry Hash and John Hash, photographer

Kneeling: Becky Huck, Marilyn Augustine, Janet Blanchard, Charlie Brown and their dog Gretta

Community Activities continues…

It Snowed on January 7th - - -

New to Yoga?

Yoga can give you better balance, better flexibility, better concentration and better

core strength - all of which can help reduce injuries and make whatever it is you love

to do easier. Nobody is too young, too old or too out of shape not to benefit from

yoga.

Come join us for an hour of Yoga with Jane (T-77) Mon, Wed & Sat mornings at 10

a.m. up at our mountain top Community Center. Neighbors with any ability: newbie

to seasoned Yogi are welcome. Just bring yourself, comfy clothes, a yoga mat,

water, and a beginner’s mind.

The Benefits of Yoga

Yoga can help you achieve wellness and stress-free, mindful movement through daily

life—whether on the yoga mat, at work, or play.

On a simple level, the practice of yoga can give you the tools to make whatever you

do better. Whatever activities you pursue, a regular yoga practice can build strength

and flexibility. This can help you withstand greater stress on your body, react more

quickly and calmly to changes, and breathe more efficiently.

Respected organizations and individuals such as the Mayo Clinic, U.S. Department

of Veterans Affairs and Dr. Dean Ornish recommend yoga for its therapeutic value in

helping to reduce and manage stress and to increase flexibility, balance, strength,

focus, concentration and stamina.

A Typical Yoga Class

A yoga class is made up of poses and focus on breath. The breath helps direct one’s

attention inward, clearing the mind of distractions so it can focus on what is

happening in the present moment. A class begins with “centering” or a focusing of

the mind and body, then a series of asana to help heat up the body. This is followed

by calming, quiet time which allows the body to assimilate the work done on a

physical level while letting the mind be calm and peaceful.

Creston’s Yoga is for Everyone!

The beauty of Yoga is that it is accessible to everyone, as I can adapt sessions to

each person’s level of fitness or state of health. For those who love Yoga, it becomes

a way of life. Whether your path is physical, mental, spiritual or a combination, yoga

is for everyone. You'll love the 10 min guided relaxation at the end of each class.

Learn how good you can feel; you’ll be glad you did!- from Jane Basford

Creston Winter 2016-2017 Newsletter

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Community Activities continues…

Mountaintop Yoga at Creston’s Community Center - - -

Creston Winter 2016-2017 Newsletter

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The Creston Beer Appreciation Group (BAG) held another "Vertical Beer

Tastings" on Friday, February 17. The style of beer that was tasted were

Stouts and Porters.

Vertical Beer Tasting February 17th - - -

Above: John Simons; Right: Jane Basford; Below: John Travers

Community Activities continues…

Bowling January 30th- - -

Alex Llera, John Travers and Steve Swanberg

Check out the BEER!! The BAG sure knows how to have a good time!

Creston Winter 2016-2017 Newsletter

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Committee News > > >

Creston Connect Committee

CRESTON CARES, our community

involvement initiative, began in

December with a successful donation

drive to support Old Fort Elementary

School (OFES). Collaborating with

OFES Creston Cares provided

backpacks for the Backpacks for

Education program, collected several

bags of groceries, and donated over a

dozen pairs of shoes and socks to the

school. The program is ongoing and

collection boxes remain in the Creston

Community Center for needed items.

Crestonites have already committed

their support teaching science classes

on the human body, instructing a yoga

club, helping with the school’s 5K run,

and designing clothing storage racks

for donated clothing. Many volunteer

opportunities are still available at the

school. For more details about

volunteer opportunities, the school’s

needs and other OFES programs click

here or go to the Creston Connect

MEETUP/Pages website. Contact

Wendy Haycock to determine what

needs remain, to start volunteering or

if you have questions!

Kristin Bearden (Guidance Counselor), Wendy Haycock, Becky & Kevin Huck, Dinese Drake, Tom Bush,

Marilyn Augustine and Jill Ward (Principal)

Thank you Valentine’s from the children.

Committee Charters and Volunteers

Creston residents are heavily committed to volunteerism within the community and

outside. There are several Board of Directors (BoD) chartered committees that focus

on maintaining our assets, managing the architectural review process, establishing

emergency preparedness policies and procedures, keeping our landscaping looking

beautiful, communicating with the owner population and many others. These

committees have recently completed work on their charters, they can be found on the

IPM website. If you are interested in participating please review the charters, then

download and fill out the committee volunteer form.

Fitness Center Committee

Creston has a way to keep your body young!

Creston's Fitness Center is Open for Business. It

is fully equipped with multiple machines for

aerobic conditioning, as well as an exercise bar,

a weight bench with bar and dumb bells and a

commercial quality "universal" gym with a full

range of exercise options. If you are hesitant to

use the equipment please remember that

instruction is available by appointment at no cost.

Feel free to contact Nick Nicholas at 339-368-

1888 or other members of the Fitness Center

Committee, Jane Basford and John Travers.

Creston Winter 2016-2017 Newsletter

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Committee News continues…

Landscape Committee

Springs Into Action!

With the coming of spring to the mountain our landscape awakens with renewed

energy. As does the landscape, the Landscape Committee awakens from winter

dormancy. Our committee will spring back to action tending to the various planted

areas under our care. Our hard working group meets at a predetermined site on the

mountain, weather permitting, at 9:30AM on Friday mornings and tend to the needs

of the particular plant bed. Along with routine maintenance of the existing plants

we’ll be adding new plants to freshen and enhance the beds throughout Creston. If

you enjoy gardening and don’t mind getting a little dirty contact Rose Simons or Bobby Pecquet for more information.

Additionally, we have a kitchen, a bathroom

with a shower and a good sound system that

you can use to play your favorite CD's or

plug in your iPod.

You will also find a Sign-In sheet at the

Community Center. It is MOST IMPORTANT

that all Fitness Center users sign-in each

time they visit. It will be our only means of

determining its value to the community. Click

here to download the forms needed to sign-

up for the fitness center.

Creston Winter 2016-2017 Newsletter

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Maintenance Committee

We’re Going After Invasives Again

The proliferation of “invasive” or non-native plants in Western North Carolina threatens

to reduce the diversity of plant and animal life that adds so much value and enjoyment

to property ownership in Creston. These plants can tolerate poor soil conditions and

thrive in sunlight, where other plant material does not shade them and left unchecked

they will crowd out native fauna. A recent development like Creston with its roads, lot

clearings, driveways and septic fields provides the ideal place for invasive species to

take hold.

The two most important species to control are Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus) and Princess

Tree (Paulownia tomentosa). The objective of the treatment plan is to reduce the

population of these tree species on all Creston land to the point where annual control

methods and the associated costs can be substantially reduced over time. These trees

must be treated with specialized chemicals and the proper timing to ensure their

demise. If not done properly, removal efforts can backfire with resulting re-growth more

vigorous than the trees initially killed.

At the July 2014, annual POA meeting, Mathew Aaron provided an overview of the

invasive plant situation in Creston. Mathew pointed out that unless owners participate

with the POA in controlling these invasive species on all property in Creston, the POA

would be wasting its money fighting this problem because invasive species are present

on many properties. Fortunately, the great majority of owners supported the

development of a control program that would call for participation from both the POA

and property owners to attack the problem. The late 2014 – early 2015 program was

well received and on 67% of the lots where invasives were noted the owners

participated in the program by either contracting with Snow Creek for treatment or

committing to self-treat. This was considered a sufficient level for the POA to proceed

with the program. continued on page 15

Committee News continues…

Cutting and poisoning the invasives.

Creston Winter 2016-2017 Newsletter

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(continued from page 14) Due to the success of the initial effort the Creston POA has

committed to a substantial yearly budget to extend this program on Creston POA

Common Property and Conservancy Land. The budget for 2016-2017 is $8,500. Snow

Creek Resource Management, LLC has again been selected as our vendor for this

work. Snow Creek has completed the Winter work for the POA and Spring treatment is

being planned. 2016/17 Budget Year Strategy for Common Property/Conservancy

Land:

1. Continue treating previously identified mature, seed bearing trees on common

property and conservancy land. Several areas of mature trees near the

Community Center have been noted in addition to the remaining areas that were

identified in 2014/15.

2. Treat roadside areas for both mature and immature Ailanthus trees.

3. Spring treatment with foliar spray in view areas and the now sunny areas where

mature trees have been cleared. This will include the areas cleared in 2014/15

and new areas treated in the Spring of 2016.

Although gains have been made in clearing invasive species at Creston in the last two

years, it is important that owners are diligent in maintaining their lots from these

aggressive species. To assist in this effort the Creston Maintenance Committee has

commissioned Snow Creek to conduct a new survey of properties in Creston that

currently need treatment. Estimated costs are based on $55/man hour and $25/liter of

chemical. Please note also that the estimates made by Snow Creek are just that. It

may be possible that once work is undertaken additional plants will be discovered.

Each lot owner where invasives are noted will receive notification of the estimated

invasives treatment cost for their lot from IPM by the end of February. In order to make

the Owner Lot work cost-effective for Snow Creek it will be necessary to bundle this

work with the Creston Spring POA Invasives work planned for April, 2017. To ensure

that your Owner Lot work will be accomplished please contact Snow Creek on or prior

to March 15, 2017 to be placed on the work schedule.

Thank you for supporting the Creston Invasives effort. Only by diligent effort to combat

invasive species can we continue to protect the beauty that is Creston.

Snow Creek’s contact information is:

Natural Resource Manager:

Caleb Heimlich, Cell: 828-231-8675, Email: cheimlich@snowcreekinc.com

Operations Manager:

Shea Carrington, Email: scarrington@snowcreekinc.com

Snow Creek Natural Resource Management, LLC - www.snowcreekinc.com

226 Clayton Rd. 828-687-1677 phone

Arden, NC 28704 828-687-1667 fax

Committee News continues…

Creston Winter 2016-2017 Newsletter

Creston Sales > > >

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Creston Sales Update

Courtesy of Jane Basford ~ Creston Mountain Properties, LLC

jane.creston@gmail.com 828-707-8850

2017 is already showing some sales activity on the mountain! Rah! Rah!

Here is a list of the 5 properties that have sold (or are under contract) since the Fall

Newsletter:

Oct 2016: CC-13, 228 Verbena Lane, Wesley Fountain (currently back on the market)

Oct 2016: T-48, 156 Woodruff Lane, Bill Triplett & Mary Jackson

Dec 2016: T-44, 94 Galax Lane, Ron & Sue Critelli

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

.

Feb 2017: H-4, 230 Tanager Lane, Maria Mahmoodi

Mar 2017: T-21, 2268 Creston Drive, Scott & Mary Phillips (pending)

Be sure to check out the ‘Welcome’ page in this Newsletter for more info on our new

Crestonites!

Spread the word: Creston is the place to be!

Creston Winter 2016-2017 Newsletter

Welcome to Creston > > >

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Meet Your New Neighbors We are so excited to introduce some of our new neighbors on the mountain. Please be sure to give them a warm Crestonite welcome!

Ron & Sue Critelli

Lot T-44, 94 Galax Drive

“We are both lifelong residents of

NJ and currently live in a town

called Whitehouse Station, which is

in the western part of the state. We

hope to start building a log house

later this year with completion in

2018. We have visited Black

Mountain for a number of years and

always hoped to find some land to

eventually build on. Once we saw

Creston we knew that was the spot

for us as it is so different than the

other gated communities in the

area. Our plan is to permanently

move down to the area in about 4

years.”

Michael & Rhonda Bond

Lot C-03, 102 Trillium Lane(Mention only briefly in the last newsletter.)

“My lovely wife Rhonda and I plan to

move (permanently) to Creston in

less than 4 years. Thanks to Jane

Basford, we have a beautiful lot and

have begun the planning process for

our home. Rhonda and I hope the

next few years go quickly – we are

very anxious to join your community.

Rhonda is a paralegal, executive

secretary, and is currently an office

manager and, I am a civil engineer

and land surveyor. Rhonda is a

native of Minnesota and I grew up in

Baltimore. Like Ray and Caroline, of

the Straightaway Café, Rhonda and I

lived in Alaska for nearly six years

before moving to California. After we

are comfortably settled in our new

home, we would appreciate the

opportunity to contribute to

community’s success.“