Dear Neighbors,

 

Fall is almost here. I hope everyone has enjoyed the summer. We should hopefully get some reprieve from the heat in October. We still have a couple more months until the end of hurricane season. So far, so good.  

 

The Board has had a busy couple of months. We had to let our landscaper go, and have hired a new one. So you will see KAC Landscaping in our area. KAC is familiar to our subdivision. Quite a long time ago, they maintained our entrances. They still service quite a few homes in the neighborhood, and the homeowners seem to be happy. 

 

So let's go into what your money has done for all of us this past quarter. We had all the palm trees on the medians trimmed up for hurricane season. There are five palm trees on Pin Oak and five on Pine Springs.

 

On the corner of Pin Oak and Dr. Phillips -- where the children cross at the intersection to go to Palm Lake -- we had that entire corner cleaned up. We had a company dig out all the scrub palmettos, the weeds and all the mess that's been there for years. We felt it was dangerous for the kids by obscuring the sight of motorists. Unfortunately, the county would not help us, so we cleaned it up. Not only is it safer for the crossing guard and the kids, but it also aesthetically enhances the Pin Oak entrance. We will have our landscaper continue to maintain it.  

 

We also have had bids submitted to us for the renovation of the entrance sign, lighting and landscape enhancement at Pin Oak. It's well overdue for an upgrade. We're hoping, with enough contributions, we can go forward with that project.  

 

The final thing you may have noticed is that Orange County was here for about two weeks trimming the branches from the Laurel Oaks in the easements. Any branches that are 14 feet or less from the road will get trimmed. When they get that low, they hit the recycle and trash trucks, and it makes a big mess, plus it's dangerous when there are limbs laying in the roadways. The county will come and remove, for free, any tree that is diseased or dead that is in the easement. The easement is the swath of grass between the sidewalk and the road.

 

We still see a lot of debris being thrown out of cars. It's really a shame. We don't have a clean-up crew to go around and pick up trash. I have personally seen a couple go around and pick up trash, and we're grateful for them -- Thank you, to whoever you are. You're wonderful for doing that. Thank you to anyone who picks up trash. But, really? We should not have this issue. It's beyond me that people throw things out of their car upon entering or leaving our neighborhood.

 

Remember to Keep Our Neighborhood Clean: 

 

• Please put out large items on Tuesday night. Some items are being put out over the weekend, and the large items sit there for days.

 

• If you see trash on the streets and are able to pick it up and throw it away, please do so. The collection trucks often inadvertently lose some of the waste when lifting roll carts into the trucks.

 

• Weeds and lawns are growing tall with all of the rain. Please remember to mow regularly. 

 

• As a reminder, garbage and recycling roll carts should be put at the end of your driveway after 6:00 p.m. the night before pick up (Monday night for garbage and recycling and Tuesday night for yard waste and large bulky items.

 

Well, that's about it for now. Let's all do our part. School has started. Watch your speed. Our Deputy will issue tickets to speeders. We have too many children in our neighborhood. One life would be too great to lose if someone hits them. So please don't speed.