News and
Views
Newsletter publication deadline is the 25th of each month,
published bimonthly.
NEWS & VIEWS FROM THE BOARD
— April 2008
Dear Neighbors,
Spring has finally arrived. Over the last weekend we saw the thermometer reach the mid 80’s. Things are greening up and many have started work on their lawns (and some need to start soon). We have had many homes sold and bought in the past 12 months and we want to give a warm welcome to all who chose Settlers Landing Pilgrims Trace as the place to call home. We have had an incredible amount of new families move here in 2007. We want to ask all of you to help us keep this the same kind of community that made you move here. Please stop by my home at 8001 Cumberland Gap Trail and get acquainted. To all that call this home, come and be a part of the community, whether you rent or own, we need you. Our meetings are the Third Saturday of each month and are held at the park, the dates are advertised on the home page of this website.
 We have had a good year here at SLPTHOA. New signs and landscaping were done with the help of volunteers at both of our entrances. We’ve worked hard to welcome new move-ins with a handshake and a simple basket. This is meant as an icebreaker so to speak, not the only time we want to see you. This leaves an open invitation to stop by my house and hopefully continue a friendship. If we missed someone, I apologize. Stop and give me your name and address and we will make sure you are included. If anyone has a new neighbor move in, let us know so that we can stop by and welcome them home.
Sincerely,
Mark Spring, President
Website
For those of you who may not know, we have an active web site. This is to keep all of us current on what is happening in the community and also to give you information about anything pertinent, from yard upkeep to city info. You should make a habit of checking it regularly, as we put emergency info there also. For example we had some gang activity in the neighborhood last month and we posted the numbers of the Sheriffs office to call and report suspicious activities.
Our internet web site, WWW.slpthoa.info, is in dire need of someone to help manage the content on a regular basis. This person would work directly with the BOD and our Webmaster to keep the content fresh and entertaining. The sky is the limit as to how we can use this tool to communicate with each other in this fast-paced world. We need contributors to help give us ideas and keep information current. You could write an article, give us an inspirational thought, give us your favorite recipe, and in short use it to get to know each other.
We have tried a teen page that should be used, with adult supervision of your teenagers, to share their ideas of community spirit. Not sure, but I believe that time spent constructively writing could be used as service hours for school. http://www.slpthoa.info/teens.htm
There is a place for community residents, (and non-residents) to advertise their businesses, http://www.slpthoa.info/commbiz.htm . This is a pay-for-advertising site. The BOD has set the fees at $60.00 per year for residents and $100.00 per year for non-residents. This can be paid quarterly and is used to offset the site maintenance cost.
News worthy this month
Last year we worked hard on our yards to bring them up to par. Now we must keep them that way. We have included a copy of our MINIMUM yard standards with this letter. We would like to ask that you spend some time on your yards this year to bring them up to speed. I want to thank all of you who worked so hard to make our community look pleasant. I want to now encourage you to take 2008 to keep them in good shape. It is now officially growing season and is time to put your first application of weed and feed on your lawn. See www.scotts.com and our website www.slpthoa.info for tips and techniques for keeping a Florida lawn alive.
Our next goal is to work on our homes themselves. Most of our homes are anywhere for 10 to 15+ years old now and some even older. This means that they are well into their first if not second maintenance cycle. Take a walk to the curb of your home and turn around and look at YOUR house and plan and carry out the needed maintenance. To name a few items we notice would include, pressure wash and PAINT, fences (repair them or remove them), molding and rotting siding, and garage doors that are askew. As I have driven through the community I can say the ONE thing that would make all of our homes look better is to put our garbage cans behind our fences or in our garages with the tops on them. Many sit in our driveways with garbage spilling out. We have had a RAT problem on one street due to this. This is in the covenants and is simple to do.
A note of caution as you hire help for the big projects around your home, get references and check licenses and insurance. Call the city for current license information. Get a warranty.
This is a gentle but firm warning, the Covenants set forth that these issues are your responsibility. We give everyone the benefit of the doubt that they will be responsible for maintenance issues, but if we see that they are going undone, we will use what means necessary to make sure all are compliant. We apply this across the board to owners, renters, and landlords. If you as a renter have an issue that we can help with, let us know and we will contact your landlord if they are in violation of our Covenants.
Use of Park
 The park is for our recreational enjoyment. It is a place for parents to take their children to play, and for our young folks to sit and talk or enjoy a game of pick up ball. We are to use the shelter for birthday parties, reunions, etc. IT IS NOT TO BE USED FOR GARAGE SALES, this is tacky at best. Please call Carrol Sluser for reservations at 236-6739.
Covenant Issues
I want to start by saying that we have a great community of hard working individuals who care for themselves, their property, and those around them. You work hard for your home and family. Please work as hard on your house and property to keep it and the community neat.
A full set of the covenants can be downloaded at http://www.slpthoa.info/covenants.htm. You need Adobe Acrobat reader to do so, see http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html. There is now no reason not to know the rules and live by them as best we can.
- We have several trailers and boats that are occasional use, meaning not everyday for work or play. These need to be removed from the property or stored properly. This means behind a fence.
- We have several vehicles that are in non-working, unlicensed and unregistered condition. Please remove them before we have to call JSO to have them ticketed and towed.
- We have a couple of RV’s that need to be stored off premises. They can be here, like boats, for 48 hours to clean and maintain them, and then they need to go.
- There are many homes in poorly maintained condition. One home is condemnable, and we have filed with the city to do so. Fix your garage doors. Pressure wash and paint. Remove old garbage piles, yard waste, and project materials.
| It is not our job as the Board of Directors to have the property management police you. I, for one, get only heartburn when we take steps to do so. This should be done without our having to send letters and or enforce rules. These things are, or should be, common sense. Please respect all of us and work on these items. |
Association Dues
Dues were due by January 31st unless you’ve made arrangements with PCM. As I hope you know they are $125.00 per year, that’s just $12.50 per month. This fee is very small in comparison to other Associations in our area, many are $100.00 or more per MONTH. We work hard to keep this down, but they need to be paid.
There are close to 100 individuals who HAVE NOT paid your 2008 dues. You are being charged late fees and interest. If you have trouble with this payment, call Professional Community Management at (904) 298-2321 and ask for Roselle, and make arrangements. If they go past June with no response, we will file a lien on your property and you will be responsible for the legal fees as well as the dues.
Parents
We need you to take more responsibility for you young adults. Our park is here for all to use, but some have been ABUSING it. Vandalism and illegal behavior is taking place in and around our community park. These include underage drinking, smoking of illegal drugs, and destruction of tables and equipment. Our fence has been torn down once and is damaged again. This behavior needs to stop. When asked to stop, the young men doing it threatened one of our community members. We have spent nearly $750 to fix it the first time, and have to do it again. Ask your teens who did this, turn them in to JSO and tell the board, and call Roselle at PCM at 298-2321.
We are considering changing the rules to state that NO ONE under 18 can be there without their parents. We have installed some security measures already and plan on doing more. We have and will bring in police security. This costs us $1000.00 per month and may mean that dues will INCREASE. You are responsible for your children. Take steps to discipline them if necessary. When we find out who did this you will be billed for the repairs and if necessary you will be turned over to the proper authorities for prosecution. This is not what we want to do as a community. We would much rather invest the monies on improvements and activities. Please know where your children and young adults are and what they are doing!
Please stay alert for activity around the homes that are empty. NO ONE should be near them or in them but realtors and owners. We have had one incident of SEVERE vandalism to an empty home. Nearly $10,000 in damage was done to it. In particular paint was thrown over the entire inside of the home, inside the appliances and fireplace. Walls were bashed in. One of you parents had a young one come home covered in paint. He was seen, you need to contact us and the owner to help clean up the destruction done. Please do it before he ends up in jail.
Thoughts from the President
 I still extend an open porch policy to all who reside here and call Settler’s Landing Pilgrim’s Trace home. It is my desire to know that all neighbors are getting along and are enjoying their life here. It is too unfortunate that we have some who just refuse to be neighbors to those around them. Life is too short to have personality spats. Find common ground, common interests and share them over the grill and conversation. We all have the same fears, needs, and desires. Share them and find a way to laugh about them. It will make us grow together.
To all who are renting, this is your community too. Whether you are here 2 days or 2 years you ARE part of the neighborhood. Get out and meet the people around you.
Let’s make 2008 the year we get to know the neighbor 2 doors away on both sides, and the ones across the street too. Then maybe we could help each other with those yard and maintenance issues that are often just too big to handle alone.
 SEE YOU AT the PARK, 3rd Saturday each month. The more there are the lighter the work.
Friends,
Mark Spring, SLPTHOA President
|
