The villages are managed by a board of directors consisting of nine unpaid volunteers. Each village is represented by at least one representative. The board in turn may employ a property manager to handle daily affairs.

The board of directors convenes annually in May (sometimes later) to reconstitute itself and approve a budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The board also meets twice a month to conduct regular business.

Typical activities for the board and/or a property manager including tracking work orders from residents, obtaining and approving bids for repairs, scheduling routine maintenance and landscaping, managing dues collection and accounting, and enforcement of regulations.

Refer here for information about MTC monthly dues.

"Dues" are the monthly payments that keep Madison Towne Centre functioning. They are designed to cover normal operational costs as well as fund maintenance activities. The dues levels are determined by the board of directors, but may not be increased by more than 10% a year without a majority vote by the residents.

"Special assessments" are non-reoccurring special charges that may be needed from time to time as circumstances dictate. For example, if a major repair must be performed immediately, and the cost of the repair is larger than the village's available funds. All special assessments must be approved by a majority vote within the village.

As a whole, Madison Towne Centre is private property. It was originally developed as a private community and exempt from certain city codes governing housing density, curbs, sidewalks, lights, street materials, etc. When the subdivision to our north was built, the city of Madison accepted Sunset Boulevard into their maintenance plan, with the caveat that MTC would still be responsible for the cobblestone bricks and other non-code decorative aspects of the street. Thus as it stands now, the main road through Madison Towne Centre is a public street, but the roads and parking lots inside the villages are owned by MTC. The city of Madison fixes potholes and replaces the streetlight bulbs along Sunset Blvd, and MTC pays to fix potholes and maintain the lights inside the villages.

As a homeowner, you own your unit and any ground your structure and its driveway sits directly atop of. (The actual details of ownership are complicated, vary by unit type, and are more completely described in the MTC Condominium Declaration and By-Laws.) You do not own the land surrounding your unit, nor any trees residing nearby.

For patio home owners, your driveway is yours, and you are responsible for repairing it. The streets and curbs belong to the association, however, and maintaining them is a community obligation.

It's important for homeowners to understand that MTC is not responsible for repair and maintenance of unit-dedicated utilities. All homeowners are responsible for the electrical lines, breaker box, and all lines entering your unit. You are also responsible for water lines from the water meter into your unit. You are responsible for the sewer lines from where your line joins the main common line. Keep in mind that repairs to electrical, water, and sewer lines can be expensive, especially in case of fire or water damage. Your homeowner insurance policy should provide necessary coverage.

The Madison Town Center Condominium Association is covered by a master insurance policy that covers the structures in the complex. This insurance has been in force for many years and is automatically renewed each year. Your unit is covered by this policy at all times.

You will still need to obtain your own insurance policy to cover your belongings and the aspects of the unit that you are responsible for. Note that insurance companies may distinguish between "renters" and "condo" insurance policies. You need condo insurance, as renters insurance may not cover items such as electrical and HVAC systems.

More information on MTC umbrella insurance can be found here.

No. Though MTC is legally a single organization, each village is financially independent. From the dues they collect, each village contributes funds to pay for common operational expenses. Whatever is left stays in the village to pay for repairs and other village-specific expenses

The dues for each unit are set with this in mind. For example, the monthly dues for Stone Meadow and Waters Edge owners are considerably higher than their monthly operational expenses, since additional funds are needed to cover their shared maintenance obligations. Millstone/Brookstone dues hover right around the monthly operational expenses, since each homeowner is responsible for maintaining their own unit.

For more financial information, see the MTC budget and village breakouts.

Upkeep of the lawn, shrubs, and trees is the responsibility of the association. Depending on the current landscaping contractor and other factors, pruning, mowing, or weed control may be performed at intervals longer than you would prefer. In general, such work will be done eventually, but if you would like to mow or prune around your own unit before the contractor gets to it, you are more than welcome to do so.

If your unit includes a fenced back yard, landscaping maintenance within that yard is your responsibility.

The MTC board of directors solicits bids for repairs to both common areas and the villages with shared maintenance responsibilities. Only licensed and bonded contractors are permitted to perform such work. This is both to insure quality and avoid liability issues arising from volunteer labor. Individual Stone Meadow and Waters Edge homeowners may hire their own contractors for interior work, but may not do so for exterior repairs to shared buildings.

The best way to submit a maintenance request is to put it in writing and either mail it to the MTC postal address (301 Sunset Blvd, Madison, AL 35758) or simply place it in the mailbox by the club house. Make sure to include your name, village, unit number, the date, and a clear and complete description of the problem. Then optionally attend a subsequent board meeting to follow up on the request.

Although you are welcome to contact a village representative directly with your maintenance request, or bring it up initially in a board meeting, such requests are difficult to track properly and may be lost.

When you submit a written maintenance request, it is forwarded to a designated board member managing maintenance for your village. Keep in mind that board members are volunteers with full-time jobs and other responsibilities to deal with. Typically, the board appoints one or two representatives to schedule the maintenance tasks for each village, collect bids, hire contractors, inspect completed work, etc. How they organize and perform those tasks is up to those representatives. Keeping track of Waters Edge is obviously a more difficult task than Stone Meadow, and Millstone / Brookstone doesn't have much in the way of shared maintenance. For an up-to-date status on any particular maintainance request, you will need to talk to the maintenance contact for your village.

The village maintenance is handled by each village indepedently. Each village must contribute a portion of its dues revenue to the collective pot to handle common expenses such as landscaping and insurance. Whatever is left over is used to maintain the village.

Major maintenance such as repainting buildings and replacing siding often must be deferred until funds are available (occasionally via the quite unpopular special assessment), and there may be a schedule indicting the order in which buildings are to be refurbished. Of course, buildings weather at different rates, so the villages may not be able simply spend their limited maintanence funds on an evenly-distributed building rotation. Emergency repairs are always given priority. Factors such as units that being sold are also taken into acount.

Household garbage pickup is contracted out by Huntsville Utilities, and all residents pay a monthly fee on their utility bill for the service.

Pickup is curbside on Thursday mornings, usually early. Garbage must be in a sealed bag or a 32-gallon-or-smaller container. All boxes must be flattened. Non-household-waste objects such as appliances, mattresses, grass, and clippings will not be picked up at this time. See Huntsville's Department of Public Works web site for more information. Note that the large, automated garbage bins are not available to us, due to the confined nature of our cul-de-sacs.

MTC pays for limited bulk trash pick-up as a community service.  Bulk trash pickups occurs on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month.  Please note that gardening and landscaping debris should be free of soil and put in bags.  Do not leave pots with soil or paint cans without lids at the curb, or they will not be picked up.  If you need to dispose of large items like carpets and appliances, always ask your supplying vendor to first pick up the old stuff.  Many times this is part of the service and included in the price you pay.

In addition, recyclable materials in the blue bins are picked up on Friday morning. See the above link for details.

MTC issues fines for garbage set out prior to the evening before scheduled pickup. Note that in the event of a holiday, the next pickup will be on the next regularly scheduled date.

On public streets, large debris pickup is normally contracted out by the City of Madison, and residents pay a fee for the service on their water bills. MTC residents do not pay this fee, and therefore do not receive this service. Again, our small cul-de-sacs are the reason. Since Madison Public Works knows very well that MTC residents do not pay extra on their water bills, it does no good to drag your old refrigerator to your curb, or even to Sunset Blvd. It will just sit there, annoying your neighbors.

At the present time, MTC pays our landscaping contractor to haul away small objects that Huntsville Utilities will not pick up. This does not include mattresses or carpets. If such debris does make it onto our curbs, the association has to pay extra to get it removed, and that bill is sent to the responsible unit.

When in doubt about placing non-bagged objects out for curbside pickup, contact MTC first. Obviously, when replacing objects like carpets, appliances, mattresses, air conditioner units, etc., you should make sure disposal of the original item is included in your purchase contract.

No alterations to the exterior of any buildings are permitted without written board approval, and the charter of the board is to maintain the original design and appearance of the community.

Permission is regularly granted to build privacy fences around the back yards of patio homes, as long as the fence design is consistent with existing fences, and the boundaries do not exceed the basic footprint of the house.

Permission is regularly denied for modifications that the board feels may change the look & feel of the community, such as window air conditioning units, hot tubs, screen porches, exterior conduits, etc. Many of these items are explictly banned in the MTC Declaration and By-Laws.

Failure to get the board's approval for exterior modifications places you at risk of having to pay to restore the original appearance of the unit. Removal of trees and shrubbery also falls under this category, as they are considered common property.

Yes. Madison Towne Centre has a pest control contract with Cooks Pest Control. The exteriors of units are treated on a regular basis. If needed, contact MTC to arrange for interior treatment. Appointments can be made for the second Monday of each month.

Yes. Our termite bond is with Orkin, and it is a repair bond. Orkin retreated every building in Madison Towne Centre, inside and out, in late 2000.

If you need a termite letter, please contact Orkin at 256-837-1657.

Basic cable from Knology is included in your monthly dues; you do not have to pay extra for this. If you desire, you may order additional services from Knology, such as premium cable channels, telephone service, and/or broadband Internet service.

MTC has what Knology refers to as a "bulk account", with individual residential accounts for residents who have puchased additional services. We are not managed under Knology's commercial account division.

To order additional cable services, contact Knology and make sure they are aware that you are part of MTC's bulk account. The price you pay for your residential account should be discounted by the amount the association pays for your basic cable. One point of contact at Knology is Alan Davis (489-1814), who is familiar with MTC accounts.

Water faucets for use by all MTC residents are available in the clubhouse parking lot, and next to the traffic circle by the pavilion in Waters Edge.

MTC has limited parking facilities and relatively narrow streets and cul-de-sacs. Thus, residents are not permitted to keep boats, trailers, or recreational vehicles next to their units. There is a small fenced area in Waters Edge designated for this purpose, but space is available only on a first-come, first-served basis. If you own or intend to purchase a boat, trailer, RV, etc., you should plan on storing it at an off-campus commercial storage facility.

Contact MTC to obtain a pool key. The keys cost $25 each, and are not legal to duplicate. Take care not to lose the keys, as replacements cost $50 each. (Note that these prices merely cover the cost of the keys, and are subject to change.)

Yes. Click this link for more information about rentals.