Hidden Springs & Hidden Estates Neighborhood
Message from the President, Donna Fontaine
Winter/Spring 2024
Dear Hidden Springs/Estates residents,
Firstly, we hope you all enjoyed the holiday decorations at all entrances. For decades, the Board has been storing all the decorations, putting them up, taking them down and constantly fixing or changing out bulbs when they burn out. We needed to change this process. The Board members have gotten to the point where the physical requirements of decorating are too great. In particular, I personally fell off the wall two or three years ago placing wreaths and garlands. We have hired a company called Johannessen Lights. It's an expense we have had to take on in order to remain in the holiday spirit.
We are seriously looking for some help. What we need are some new ideas and someone (or some people) who can help implement them. You don’t need to become a Board member – just do what you can without the big commitment of a title. We really need help with ideas on a few items:
1. How do we increase annual contributions? We are already mailing out two invoices per year, and a third reminder via email. Hopefully, if more people contribute, this is an expense that can be reduced. Ultimately, we need more contributions.
2. A Social Director: We want the neighborhood to be engaged with each other at social events. We continue to host “happy hours,” but we would like to see more adults take part in events. Our goal is to have more children's events as well.
Our dues are not mandatory, but if we want to continue with the services that we pay for: police presence, holiday decorations, water, electricity and lawn/shrub care at the entrances, etcetera, we need to figure out a way to increase our community contributions. Our contribution request is $110 a year. We are nearing the point of: What do we need to cut due to lack of contributions?
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The Orange County Sheriff, who has been with us at least 10 years and knows every street in our community and many of the homeowners.
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Eliminate the Holiday lights at our entrances.
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Allow the entrances to have a poor appearance with weeds and dying grass.
Any ideas would be appreciated. We are not quite there yet, but our HOA contributions are the least expensive in all the neighborhoods in the Dr. Phillips area. (See below for list of HOA dues in other DP neighborhoods.)
We also need someone (Social Director) who wants to lead with some children's activities: i.e., Halloween, Christmas, and/or Easter. It doesn't need to be all three, but maybe just one occasion. We love our young kids and want to be able to have something for them.
Our Easter Egg Hunt host for the past several years is stepping down this year because her son is now older. Is someone willing to host this year’s Easter Egg Hunt? If so, please contact Karen at VLN7807@aol.com, and she can fill you in on the details and what’s needed.
I remember when we first moved here (35 years ago) and our child was 2 or 3, there was the best Halloween party on one of the cul-de-sacs. The kids were so cute, all dressed up in their costumes. The kids had fun and the parents had an opportunity to meet other parents of young kids. It was a win-win for all, even the adults with no kids or the empty-nesters brought their "drinks" and had fun.
We would like to hear from you, so please reach out to me personally or one of our other Board members. We all want to live in a nice and safe community. The old saying is, “It takes a village.”
HSHE HOA 32819 Comparison 2023
Hidden Springs/Estates - $110
Pasatiempo - $175 optional
Winwood - $545
Sand Lake Hills - $201
Sand Pines Estates - $200
Shadow Bay Springs - $150
Sandy Springs - $365
Wingrove - $550
Orange Tree - $2,020
St. Ives - $3,000
Bay Park - $704
Hidden Beach - $645
Landsbrook - $865
Phillips Oaks - $760
Kensington Park - $1,200
Torey Pines - $963
Turnbury - $719
N. Bay - $616
Bay Hill - $850
S. Bay - $1,500
Sincerely,
Donna Fontaine
HOA President