Neighborhood Association for the Old Brook Farm Addition to the City of Fort Wayne, Indiana

WHY DO WE HAVE AN OLD BROOK FARM ASSOCIATION?

The developers and early homeowners got together and decided that an association would be helpful in their effort to preserve and protect the investments of homeowners who bought homes on the addition. They wanted to ensure that the Old Brook Farm neighborhood would be a great place to live and raise families for years to come. With that end in mind, they wrote provisions for an association into the Covenants. Excerpts from the Covenants are below:

 

"6.  OLD BROOK FARM ASSOCIATION"

"a)   The owners of the lots in said Addition shall be deemed to be and constitute an Association with the name Old Brook Farm Association.  The owners of each lot in said Addition shall automatically be members of said Association and entitled to one joint vote for each lot or tract owned by them.  Meetings of this Association may be called by any member of the Association, or by the President or Secretary thereof, by written notice mailed or delivered 5 days prior to the date of such meeting, but notice of any such meeting may be waived either in writing or by waiver endorsed on the minutes of the meeting.  The Association may adopt by-laws to govern the organization, meetings, election and tenure of officers and other matters.  The Association shall elect a President and a Secretary-Treasurer and such other officers as it may choose and fix and determine their respective duties and authority.  This Association shall have the duty and authority to take such steps as may be necessary or desirable from time to time to keep the streets, public drives, and any areas in the Addition that may be conveyed to the Association or be subject to its control, and including lights, lighting system and other matters affecting the Addition and said tract as a whole, in good repair and condition and to make improvements thereof, including authority to provide for the cutting of grass and weeds and the removal of ice and snow, and to make contracts to accomplish such purposes in the name of the Association, and to pay any taxes or charges on land or property conveyed to or owned by the Association for the use and benefit of the Addition.  A proper record shall be kept by the Secretary of all action taken by said Association and of all contracts entered into for the above purposes and of all expenses incurred in connection therewith, and at a meeting of the Association duly called for that purpose, the obligations incurred for such purposes shall be spread upon the records of the Association and an assessment entered on the books of the Association against each of the lots in said Addition in an amount equal to their pro rata share of the total amount of the expenditures so approved.  If desired, the Association may levy a similar assessment on each lot in the Addition for the purpose of raising a fund in advance to enable the Association officers to defray the cost of such repairs and improvements.  This Association may be incorporated as a non-profit Indiana corporation, in which event the powers and duties above set forth shall be transferred to it."

The Old Brook Farm Association has been active since its inception.  Some of the functions and services provided by the Association include contracting for snow removal, negotiating improvements and amenities with the City of Fort Wayne, informing the membership of community and governmental actions and plans, and enforcing the Covenants.