Hello, owners and renters at The Mill! We wish everyone a good holiday season. Below please find news, updates, and reminders about our community.

1. Newest neighbors

Please welcome our newest neighbors:

  • Warren and Lucy Hottle
  • Rebecca and Edward McKee

2. Neighborhood open house at the Turner’s on Dec. 4

Thank you to Patrick & Alison Turner for hosting a meet & greet social at their place! 

Thursday, December 4, 5:30–7 PM

The event will be casual.

3. Annual budget meeting

Our COA budget presentation ratification meeting and discussion will be on December 9 at 5:30pm in #318 (the Taylor Physical Therapy and Wellness office condo in B3, the Marshall Street building, ground floor). 

The board members and Shannen Varin (our Capstone property manager, see below) will review the 2026 budget and also provide an update on the strategic planning for our capital reserves. The COA will have some required and expected expensive repairs and replacements in the near future. 

4. Roof repairs & gutter guards

This fall, the big B1, B2, and B3 roofs were inspected and repairs were made as needed. We also received expert analysis on when the B1 and B3 roofs should be replaced. (The B2 roof was replaced in 2020.)

We had gutter guards installed on all the garage gutters prone to clogging from our conifer trees. The B2 gutter is about to have guards too, given the messy trees that now hang over that roof. (Installing gutter guards on all the remaining roofs is an option, but as always, the board has to prioritize our spending.)

5. Vehicle security

In October, an office worker in one of the B3 commercial units reported that her car was broken into during the day here at the Mill (although no car windows were broken and nothing was stolen). 

Please remember to keep your vehicles locked, and leave nothing that might look interesting or valuable visible in the cabin.

6. Recent & Upcoming Projects

  • Replacement, site-appropriate plants have been installed on the southside of B2.
  • We continue to investigate a new entry system for the shared doors in B2 and B3. Thank you to Patrick for his major research work on this.
  • We continue to work on new signage throughout the property. We are waiting on the vendor for final confirmation. Hopefully soon.
  • Next year, the metal railings will be sanded and repainted.
  • Shannen continues to bug the city to fix the sidewalk along Wachovia Street.

Old news but worth repeating:

7. Updated COA Directory and Website

Thank you to Patrick Turner for keeping our COA directory up to date. Please let him know if it needs an update. Board members are identified there too.

Patick also maintains our COA website, https://themillattarbranch.com/ . It provides contact information, “who to call” information, a “Mill Vocabulary”, our governing documents, and more. 

8. Shannen Varin, our single point of contact for COA needs

Owners should contact our property manager Shannen Varin (shannen@capstonetriad.com) of Capstone Realty Consultants for any COA needs, including property issues and payment questions. Shannen’s services are part of our contract with Capstone. 

However, owners can keep the board in the loop by emailing coa@themillattarbranch.com, which reaches the current COA officers.

9. Recycling Reminders

The city has a guide to what can be recycled: https://www.cityofws.org/637/What-Can-I-Recycle 

Note that plastic bags are not accepted – they clog the sorting machines. But bags can be dropped off at many grocery stores. 

Occasionally our recycling is not picked up, for no fault of our own. When that happens, we can tell Shannen, and she will complain to the city.