Mailbox Upkeep--who is reponsible?

I am HOA president for a 12 year old community of 100 homes. Our mailboxes are looking quite shabby, could use a new coat of paint and new numbers applied. All boxes need to be uniformed. Our CAM says it's up to the homeowners to keep up their boxes but I'm afraid if we leave it up to them we will lose continuity and it will be difficult to enforce. Has anyone else faced this task and how did you handle it? Thank you.

It gets down to this:

Behind door number one is a painter with the necessary equipment, skills, and -- above all else -- plenty of paint in one color. His price for painting 100 mailboxes ought to be about $500 - $1000. He should be able to finish in a couple of days.

Behind door number two is 100 homeowners with varying levels of skill and equipment armed with 100 cans of various kinds of paint (latex, oil-based, spray) in an endless variety of colors and textures. There will be no charge to the association (except for the lawsuits that will arise because Old Lady Wilson almost ran into Old Man Smith while he had his butt hanging out in the street). The work will be completed on each owner's schedule so completion will be anytime between now and the day that hell freezes over but certainly feel free to haggle with each and every last one of them about when that will occur.

So, which door will it be?

My thought: If the association wants a particular result, regardless of whether the boxes belong to the homeowners, the association should take control so that the work gets done in a timely and uniform manner. I would choose door number one.

Tim,

Regardless of who owns the mailboxes, if the association wants them to look uniform then the association should take on the job. Me, I got more important things to worry about than the paint on my neighbors' mailboxes and I guess that is why I do not actually live in an HOA.

Thank you, Cecelia, for the encouragement. Our documents read similar to yours.

Sometimes it is those little things that help bring pride to a neighborhood. We're having our front metal signage repainted because they'd been shot at and were faded by the sun. They'll be remounting them any day now.

Thanks, Larry. Our concern is (and expectation) is Door #2 so I'm proposing Door #1.

We're trying to help those who are selling homes by making some improvements; we're also hoping to encourage pride in ownership. Feedback homeowners' have gotten from people looking to buy say they like the houses but not the neighborhood.

Presently our front signage is being sanded and repainted. It had been shot at and was faded by the sun. We hope this will help bring the community back to what it once was--a nice place to raise your kids.