Part of the Spring planting was to get something into the 2 built-in planters in the Office, instead of just old dirt. It took a while to clean them out and re-line them with plastic sheeting; the dirt in them was apparently original (40 years ago) and was like concrete. They have since been filled with potting soil, mulch and a layer of redwood bark over the top to hold in moisture. Here are a few photos; you can see them in person at the next Board meeting on June 5th.
We started planting shrubs today around the subdivision but have a way to go yet. Our plans are to first replant or replenish in front of homes with no shrubs at all and work our way into filling in blank spaces and replacing dead shrubs. This is the first of 2 plantings in 2014, another will follow this Fall.
Around 70 shrubs were planted today and more will be planted on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. Our trees (20) arrive on Wednesday and we will shift to getting them into the ground and then go back to shrubs.
We ask all homeowners to please water the new shrubs, trees and flowers on a weekly basis to protect our investment in making our complex look nicer.
OPENING WEEKEND – MAY 24 – 26, 2012
SATURDAY 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
SUNDAY 12:00 noon – 8:00 pm
MONDAY 11:00 am – 8:00 pm
TUESDAY CLOSED
WEDNESDAY CLOSED
THURSDAY CLOSED
REGULAR SCHEDULE BEGINS MAY 30
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pool closes when we hear thunder or see lightning.
Above hours are subject to change.
The Pool will be opening as scheduled on May 24th, at 11 AM. We are reinstating Pool Cards; Homeowners having previous Pool Cards (before 2013) do not need to pay the $5.00 deposit for a new Pool Card (available at the Pool).
We have gotten several quotes for 250 Shrubs (50 each), 25 Trees and 90 Flowers for our Spring planting. Consideration for our current climate conditions were part of picking these items; non-deciduous trees, drought resistant, and minimal care required. The trees will be from 3 to 8 feet when planted, the shrubs all 3 gallon containers and the annual flowers will be planted around the Office, Pool and common areas.
Anyone wanting to volunteer to help plant these shrubs, trees, and flowers may contact the Office, 972-264-2587.
I went to the Office today and saw a pickup truck and trailer taking up all 4 Visitor Parking spots on the East side of the complex. This is but one recent example, many others have occurred in the past few months. So, I drove over there and had a look. There was a handwritten sign on the passenger window:
Owning a home and paying your dues does not let you park where ever you want. To refresh our memories, the Parking Rules for this Subdivision are below:
1. No parking in designated fire lanes.
2. No parking on any grassy area designated as either Easement or Common Area.
3. Visitors Lots
a. 48 hour parking limit.
b. no boats or recreational vehicles may be stored in these lots.
c. no tractors or trailers may be parked in these lots.
d. no inoperative vehicles may be parked in these lots
(this includes expired inspection stickers and expired license plates)
e. no over-hauling of vehicles
f. Visitors Lots are for the use of Visitors – not Owners or Tenants
Our current Towing policy is to tag the offending vehicle first and give the violator sufficient time (24 hours, except for Fire Lane violations) to remedy the situation. However, if the violator does not remedy the violation within that time frame, the vehicle will be towed at the owners expense. The tow drivers will document everything with pictures in the event the tow is challenged.
Fire Lane violations will have a very small window of time to move their vehicles or they will get towed. We have instructed the tow drivers to give around 15-20 minutes for those unloading cars or helping a loved one inside. The Association has spent time and money to re-stripe the streets and have bought signs to go up on fences indicating that it is a Fire Lane/Tow Away Zone.
There was a slight delay in the resurfacing of the pool due to some confusion with a subcontractor working for the Pool company we are contracted with to do the job. It seems no one had told these individuals that we were replacing the border tiles and depth markers, so they worked around them to reduce damage to them adding some time overall to the project.
We have since gotten this sorted out, new tiles and depth marker tiles have been acquired and all that remains is the re-tiling and final coat to complete the resurfacing. We are still within our budgeted amounts, something that we all like.
There are a few ancillary items left to do, which should be completed in the next few weeks.
If you look over to the right, you will see a new PayPal button allowing you to pay Homeowner’s Dues with your credit card(s). It is set up as a shopping cart so you can add in a late fee, if applicable.
We have already added in the processing fees that we are charged by PayPal for credit card transactions.
You may have noticed the new “Dave’s Hi-Way Wrecker” signs around the subdivision. This is the same towing company that the GP Police use, and they come highly recommended. As of April 15th, they are our officially contracted towing service and we have negotiated some added time limits (non-immediate) for drop-offs and unloading cars parked within the Fire Lane, but you will be towed if you are there for too long.
We are also tagging cars parked beyond 48 Hour Visitor parking and other Parking infractions, especially parking on the grass and Over-sized vehicles.
There will also be some new Fire Lane Signs next week which will be put up around the subdivision to remind people they cannot park in the Fire Lane. Below is an example of the sign:
I spoke to our Lawn Care contractor and he tells me that mowing will begin on Monday, April 21st. One of his guys was badly injured so they are starting off later than usual following the recent rains.