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The Lake Shore Community Association Newsletter, Oct 2002
The Lake Shore Times
The official newsletter of the Lake Shore Community
Oct 2002
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Water Woes
With our incredible amount of grass areas, our amazing lake, and large pool, water is one of our largest expenditures.
As a new board, we were immediately faced with a bill of around $12K for water not budgeted for. Then it got fun. With a new pricing structure for water usage of up to triple the cost of normal water rates, a drought that will go down in history, as well as a stretch of ninety-degree days we won't forget, we had problems. We initially were looking at estimates of possibly being $25K to $50K over budget in water without immediate action.
With changes in lawn care and water procedures, as well as adhering to and exceeding the watering restrictions in place, we hope to have minimized the negative impact to our budget. At the same time we had to be concerned with minimizing the impact the water crisis could have on not only the immediate appearance of our grass and lake area but the long-term health effects to them as well.
We'll soon see how we came out on water expenditure, but now we need your assistance to eliminate any further expenses that could be caused from the unavoidable low level of water in the lake. Even with filling the lake as much as we possibly could this year, the level is such that the liner is exposed to possible damage. Since there is really no way to fish at this time without walking out on the liner and possibly getting a fish hook stuck in it, we would like to have fishing temporally curtailed until the water is again at a safe level. As many of you know, a lot of the people that do fish in our lake don't live here. This will also provide us with an easy way to ask them to leave as well.
Not all of us fish our lake, but all of us can agree it is a large part of our community's appeal. We hope this temporary measure will not last into next fishing season. It is the board's hope that everyone will understand our intent to protect this extremely valuable community asset. The lake will soon be iced over and hopefully next year we will experience a break in this drought. Feel free to give us your feedback. You can call CMG or e-mail your comments to the Newsletter Committee at fred@packrealty.com.
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Cleaning Up the Docs
As many of you know, the builder of Lake Shore left us with some needed clean-up of our declarations and covenants. One clean-up of the documents will soon be arriving at your door. Other Richmond Homes developments are involved in the same efforts, so we are not alone. This issue involves changing our governing documents, so we, as a committee, must pass this amendment by a 75% majority (that's 187 households). All you need to do is read the ballot information and return it with your signature to CMG.
Since this is one of those things that simply need to take place and a none-response is considered a "no" by your household, you can make it easier on us volunteers by taking care of it right when you receive it. This will save us from having to contact 187 homes personally. By all means though, if you have any questions, just give CMG a call or one of the Budget Advisory Committee members who have volunteered to assist with this project can come by.
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Open Board Seat
Are you concerned about the future of our community? If so, consider becoming a board member. We are looking to fill the Director's position soon. Persons interested are encouraged to attend the Nov 2002 Board of Directors meeting. If you have ever said to yourself "they should do something about that", here is your chance to become a "they". For more information, talk to a current board member or call CMG at 303-752-9644.
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Attention Geese Lovers
Well here we are at the end of Oct 2002 and you know what that means... our beloved friends from the north are on their way. Only this year they are in for a surprise. Thanks to Tim Walbridge's research, we (your current board) were able to purchase a geese repellent system that will discourage the birds from landing in Lake Shore.
The product works two ways. First, it creates a shiny gloss-like film over the grass area. Geese perceive this as a threat and won't land. Second, if they do land, the product also causes the grass to be extremely bitter tasting and, as we know, the only reason the little darlings are coming here is for the free meal.
There are several things you need to be aware of. First, never feed the geese. It gives them a reason to stay and could defeat our efforts before we ever get started. Also, the less traffic on the grass areas around the lake this winter, the longer the repellent will keep on working. At a cost of $1,700 per application, we need all the longevity we can get.
The board has been told by the product vender, as well as our landscape vendor, that this measure should have been taken several years ago. We are in danger of loosing large portions of our grass areas. The overall cost to replace our grass areas could be 100 times the cost of this repellent. The current board felt that even at this late date, the cost of the repellent was worth a try.
The total grass area around the lake is 480K square feet. Any way you slice it, that's a lot of grass area to replace.
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Pool Closure Not a Happy Subject
Your current board has received many comments about the early pool closure last season. Many of you (to say the least) were upset with us. We wish the pool had been open for the entire normal season as well. The bottom line is that the past board, as many of you will remember, was leaning toward not opening the pool at all for the 2002 season. Your current board (all of whom were on the newly formed Budget Advisory Committee), spent countless hours investigating the reasoning behind the impending pool closure for 2002. After presenting our case, the former board, at the last minute, agreed to allow the pool to open with the early closure as part of the compromise.
In mid summer when we came to be the newly assigned board, we got through the incident that closed our pool, but working with the prior budget and contracts with vendors, we were of course unable to keep the pool open for anytime longer than was contracted.
Regarding the incident that closed the pool, we saw an amazing amount of interest and a coming together of the community at the meeting held at the pool. Unfortunately much of the enthusiasm to assist in monitoring the pool dwindled shortly thereafter and the job fell on the shoulders of the Pool Committee members and a (smaller than anticipated) group of dedicated homeowners. We really appreciate their dedication to our community. This current board will continue to analyze the pool operations for the 2003 season.
Now is the time for your input. Feel free to call CMG with your thoughts and ideas. You can volunteer for the 2003 Pool Committee any time, the sooner the better.
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If you don't volunteer, who will? |
Oct 2002 Board Meeting Highlights
- The board passed the 2003 budget and secured our vendor contracts for the year. They include maintenance and lifeguard contracts for the pool.
- The board was faced with an unexpected maintenance issue to the aeration system of the lake. Approximately $6K was approved for the repairs.
- There were no homeowners present at this meeting so the homeowner forum was tabled until next month.
- The Pool Committee was granted their requested budget for the 2003 season.
- The board discussed the final details of our anti-geese campaign.
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