Welcome New Residents
If you have just moved in, welcome to the community! Moving is a stressful event with plenty of packing and unpacking to do. You probably received a welcome package that contains all kind of information that may help you acclimate to our community and, while it tries to answer all of your questions, there are so many other questions that you may still have. This webpage is designed to be used as a reference that you can come back to time and time again to get answers. There is a feedback form at the bottom of this page that can be used to make suggestions and ask questions to help us improve the information that is displayed here.
Things to Know When You First Move In
Internet Service Providers (ISP) - Breezeline (formerly Atlantic Broadband) is the only cable ISP serving Symphony Village. They also provide TV and landline phone service. There are also two satellite options (Direct TV and Dish Network) that do not provide ISP service to our area. Verizon does not provide ISP service to our area.
Trash and Recycle Collection - Trash and Recycling is contracted by the Town of Centreville with Chesapeake Waste Industries. Weekly collection occurs on Wednesday mornings by 6 a.m. Be sure to have your trash and recycles out on Tuesday night. For a list of items that can recycled, click this link. For other information about trash and recycle collection, click this link. For issues with your pickup, call Chesapeake Waste Industries at 410-742-0099. If the issues are not resolved, contact the Town of Centreville.
Yard Waste Pickup - Weekly collection occurs on Monday mornings by 6 a.m. from mid-March through mid-December (in 2021, the last day is December 13th). Be sure to have your yard waste out on Sunday night. For information about the requirements for yard waste, click this link.
Water and Sewer - These services are provided by the Town of Centreville. Homeowners receive quarterly bills for usage. Bills are mailed December 30th, March 30th, June 30th, and September 30th and due the 30th of the following month. After the 30 day period, there will be a $30 late charge. Water/sewer bills include trash collection and the State Bay Restoration fee. Contact the Town for any issues.
Queen Anne’s County Transfer Station - Will accept residential waste if brought to a Queen Anne’s Transfer Station. Cardboard (including moving boxes), computers, oil, antifreeze, gasoline, and metal can be dropped off to the Centreville Transfer Station for free. Other items require ticket(s) which can be purchased at local businesses (the cost is $60 for 15 tickets that do not expire). The closest location to purchase coupons is Food Lion or Price & Gannon Ace Hardware & Rental. Click Queen Anne's Solid Waste/Recycling Transfer Station for more information.
Moving Boxes - An effective way to dispose of moving boxes is to offer them for free on ECHOES (see Symphony Village Communications section below). Another free alternative is taking them to the Queen Anne’s County Transfer Station in Centreville.
Need a Doctor, Electrician or Other Recommendation? - The best way is to ask your neighbors either in person or via ECHOES (see below) for a recommendation. Another source is the advertisers in the Libretto, our monthly newsletter.
Propane - Symphony Village is reliant on propane for supplemental heating. The majority of propane tanks in SV are owned by the propane company that services your home. This likely means that you cannot shop around to other propane providers unless you own your own tank.
Emergency Phone Numbers - Click this link to access emergency phone numbers.
Other Resource Phone Numbers - Click this link to access.
Looking for local vendors to perform work on your house or gardens? - Click on this link to get some tips of finding them.
Symphony Village Governance
New to a community with a Homeowners Association (HOA)? This overview will shed some light on how one works.
What is HOA Governance? - When a community with a homeowners association is formed, policies, processes and priorities established to define how the association will operate. The main objective is to protect homeowners property values and increase their enjoyment of the community. The first step in creating a homeowners association is the establishment of Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws, which outline meeting frequency, voting guidelines, the election of HOA leaders, and other operating procedures. The next step is to create the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs) that describe how the HOA will operate and what rules homeowners agreed to abide by when they closed on their house. A procedure for modifying the CC&Rs is also established (SV has amended the CC&Rs five times since inception). The hierarchy of importance of the governing documents is the Declaration of Covenants, Condition and Restrictions followed by the Articles of Incorporation and then the Bylaws.
Board of Directors - Symphony Village’s Articles of Incorporation established a Board of Directors that govern all of the activities of the Association in accordance with its governing legal documents. The Board consists of five duly elected directors who serve three-year terms and are elected by vote by its homeowners.
SV Committees - A Board of Directors of a HOA often establishes advisory committees to support and expedite the work of the Board of Directors. Committees are empowered to review matters requiring specialized expertise and offer recommendations to the Board. The responsibilities of committees are typically defined in a HOA’s Terms of Reference. Symphony Village’s Board has established seven advisory committees that include Artisans Guild, Budget & Finance, Covenants, Landscape & Irrigation, Lifestyle, Operations, and Publications & Communications. Click Committee Overview to see a description of what each committee is responsible for.
Village Management - An HOA requires three types of support to run the day-to-day services of the community. They include property management services (such as interactions with outside contractors, reviewing contract proposals); administrative services (such as supporting the Board, producing and delivering meeting packets and management reports to the Board); and financial services (such as billing and collecting of HOA fees, pay all association invoices). Symphony Village’s HOA employs three employees who perform the property management and administrative services. The financial services are performed by a third party, Professional Management Company (Procom).
Symphony Village Communications
Open and frequent communication is a key element in helping establish harmony in a community. Whether it is about announcing social events, changes in the HOA’s policies and procedures, or Board or committee meetings, residents want to be informed of anything that may impact them. Symphony Village’s HOA has three official methods of communication and one unofficial method that is used by residents.
Website - Symphony Village’s Website is a great source of information. It is designed to provide information that is meaningful and timely for residents. There are several ways to access the information on the Website. First, the website’s menu on the left side of every webpage contains topics that, when clicked, will take you to a landing webpage that contains links to other information on that topic. The Home Page contains “Important SV Forms & Deadlines” at the top and is followed by “Current and Upcoming SV Events.” The center of the Home Page contains information about SV Committees and Community Programs. The last section contains information about Local Events outside of Symphony Village. If you want to find specific information fast, try using the Dashboard, Index or FAQs pages.
Libretto - The Libretto, Symphony Village’s monthly newsletter, is published almost always by the 15th of each month. It contains a plethora of articles about recent news, events, and other articles of interest to the community. There is also an archive and a linkable index available dating back to 2006. The index is a good resource to find out information about our community.
eBlasts - The HOA issues official emails (known as “eBlasts”) to residents who sign up to receive them. SV Management makes important announcements that might include, for instance, Board or Committee meetings, landscaping schedules, or a facility closure. The list is also used to announce sponsored SV activities, the publication of the Libretto, and other events of general interest. If you haven’t yet signed up to receive them and would like to, use this form to do so.
ECHOES - This is a third party commercial “neighborhood social media website” (Nextdoor) that was established by a resident and has no connection or affiliation to the HOA. The HOA does not look at nor participate in any of the discussions on it. ECHOES is the name of the Symphony Village “neighborhood”. Residents can join if they wish. When posting on ECHOES, please make sure that, if the topic of the message concerns Symphony Village, the “visible to ECHOES” option is selected by scrolling and choosing “Your Neighborhood” before you post.
For a quick summary of SV Communications, click in this link.
Guide to the Wall Street Room
The Wall Street Room in the Clubhouse is the central hub to what is going on in Symphony Village. Listed below are some of the guides and information available in the Wall Street Room:
The items below are available on the credenza under the television.
Black box for checks needed to pay for an activity or event.
Clear box for cash payments for Ladies Social Hour .
Three ring binder for Lifestyle Sign-up.
Three ring binder for SV Activity Sign-up.
Occasional other Sign-up sheets.
In the Credenza is a collection of CDs and DVDs that may be borrowed on an honor system.
Social Club Chest used to contribute to Social Club fees.
The lamp table in the right corner of the room holds the Memorial Book.
Leaflets, pamphlets, etc. for local area activities are located on a table on either side of the room. Business cards for different companies and services are also located on the table on the left side of the room.
The Libretto, Weekly Calendar, and Attraction newspapers are located on the table as you walk into the Wall Street Room.
There is a TV on the wall above the credenza. Residents occasionally choose to watch TV at the Clubhouse.
Being Prepared in Case of an Emergency
Medical Emergency - Medical emergencies can happen anytime. When they do, there can be confusion, panic, and urgency. Paramedics arrive on the scene with no information about the person in need. Seconds count – they can make the difference between life and death. Does the patient have prior medical conditions? Allergies? What medications are they taking? Who do they want us to call? How do we contact their family or friends? To help provide answers, it is important that you fill out the following forms:
File of Life - To answer these questions, Symphony Village, in conjunction with Queen Anne’s County’s Emergency Operations Center, has provided residents with a File of Life form (new residents are given one in their welcome package). Once filled out and placed on or near their refrigerators, the answers are at first responder’s fingertips. It allows them to immediately begin the best possible treatment, notify loved ones, and pass this vital data on to awaiting physicians at the emergency room. File of Life has already saved thousands of lives.
SV Emergency Information Form - In the event of severe weather problems, power failures, other possible disaster situations, or personal emergencies, the Symphony Village Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) volunteers could be your first responders prior to the arrival of professional emergency response personnel. A group of your Symphony Village neighbors have completed classes and are certified by Queen Anne’s County as members of CERT. To help us as first responders, we ask that you voluntarily complete this CONFIDENTIAL Emergency Information Form (you should have received one when you initially met with Village Management) and return it to the SV Management Office. If you have misplaced the form, you can download a new one by clicking on this link or picking one up from the Clubhouse.
Emergency Phone Numbers - Clink on this link to view or print.
Preventing Nonmedical Emergencies at Home - The CERT website contains a wealth of information on promoting home safety with articles on electrical outages; fire extinguishers; heating, ventilation, & air conditioning; and propane to name a few. Click this CERT link to get a look at all that CERT has to offer.
Clubhouse Emergencies After-Hours and Phone Number - Click on the link to view or print the policy for reporting Clubhouse emergencies.
Landscape & Irrigation
Mowing - The HOA provides mowing for all of the homeowners property. Mowing is normally completed on Wednesdays, but may change due to weather conditions. Owners cannot opt out of mowing. They can, however, provide extra lawn services at their own expense if they choose.
Turf Care - The HOA provides services for turf care such as weed control, fertilization, spring cleanup, and year-end leaf removal. Owners cannot opt out of this.
Front Garden Beds - The HOA provides services for front beds such as mulching, pruning, fertilizing, and weeding. Owners can opt out from these services on a year-to-year basis. Forms to do so are available each November for the following year and must be submitted by January 4th. Once submitted, they are in force for the entire calendar year and cannot be changed mid-year. Owners who opt out are responsible for the upkeep of the front beds at their expense.
Back and Side Garden Beds - Owners are responsible for the upkeep (mulching, pruning, fertilizing, and weeding) for these beds.
Irrigation - The HOA provides irrigation for the turf for the common areas of the Community as well as the front and sides of all residences. Owners are responsible for the irrigation of the rear yard although the builder did install irrigation for a small number of homes. These "builder installed" irrigation in the rear is maintained by the HOA. Some owners have had irrigation installed in the rear yards that are connected to their home water supply. Owners who want to install irrigation in their rear yards have to submit an Exterior Modification Form and a Ground Installation Form for review and approval before any installation can begin.
Replacing or Adding Shrubs or Trees - Owners who want to replace or add new shrubs or trees must submit an Exterior Modification Form and a Ground Installation Form for review and approval before any work can begin. Please note that only shrubs and perennials on the recommended list and trees on the approved trees list may be planted.
For a list of approved trees, shrubs, & perennials, as well as prohibited trees, click this link.
Exterior Modifications
At some point, you may want to update your new house or its landscaping. Interior modifications do not require any review and may be made at any time. Exterior Modifications, on the other hand, are likely to be subject to review and approval by the Covenants Committee before any work begins. Homeowners are urged to read the Architectural Requirements, a document approved by the Board of Directors to guide residents in making allowable modifications to the exterior of their homes. Decorative and landscaping changes in virtually all cases will require submission of an Exterior Modification Form (Printable Form) or a Exterior Modification Process and Form (Online Form) to obtain prior approval. Read the architectural Requirements or call the management office for further advice.
Work Order Overview and Process
Discovered a problem with your landscape, irrigation, or tree(s)? Fill out a Work Order Form to initiate a review of the problem.
Landscape Issues - These include incomplete mowing and trimming; damage from trimming, bare spots, “wet areas,” and weed problems.
Irrigation Issues - These include sprinklers not working properly, leaking sprinkler heads when the irrigation is off, better coverage areas, and even requesting that certain sprinkler heads be turned off.
Tree Issues - These include both resident and common area trees (common area trees are numbered and that number should be included on the work order). Issues typically relate to the tree’s health.
Other Issues - These may relate to sidewalk issues, maintenance issues with the clubhouse or other amenities, etc.
Work Order Process:
The responsibility to process and handle work orders falls under the HOA, not the Landscape & Irrigation Committee.
The first step is for you to fill out the appropriate work order form fully. Including photos of the problem will enable quicker resolution. Once you submit the work order, Village Management receives it and will begin the resolution process.
Village Management will contact the appropriate contractor to review the work order and visit your home to assess the issue.
The contractor will either fix the issue (if necessary) or propose a remedy to be initiated in the future.
Once the issue is remedied, the work order is closed. If the issue is not remedied, contact Village Management.
To get a status of the work order during the above process, contact Village Management.
Have any Suggestions, Comments, or Questions?
Submit any suggestions, comments, or questions by clicking on the button below and filling out the New Resident Feedback Form. Are there any items that should be added to the page? Do you have any suggestions that would help new residents acclimate to our community? Do you have any questions about what is on the page? If so, click on the button below to let us know.