Happy Spring, Fellow Pomeranians!
Water Conservation
As you know, we’re in a drought. We have been asked to cut back on our water use 30% from 2013 levels. Our treasurer, Steve Austin, has tracked our water use from our bills of 2013, and for March our use was down 33%! So we exceeded our goal.
You may have noticed that we are watering our lawns less frequently. We will continue to water less – you may see some brown spots on our lawns, but our goal is to keep our trees healthy. Grass recovers faster than dead trees. Brown is the new green!
Steve will continue to track our water use monthly, and the Board will work on contingency plans in case we need to save more.
You can do your part by calling Property Pro about any leaks in your unit. (408) 378-1730; anthony@propertyproltd.com
If you’re thinking of replacing your toilet with a low-flow one, check out this website first, to see how to get a rebate from the City of Santa Clara: http://www.valleywater.org/programs/residentialhetprogram.aspx
This can reduce your water use from 3 gallons per flush to 1.2 gallons.
Painting Project
The Board has bids for the painting project; the project involves not only painting, but fixing dry rot on our buildings, repairing roof leaks and carport ceilings, and removing the extra cables that festoon our units.
This means that the project will cost plenty more than the cost of the paint job itself. To ensure that we can pay for all this work and still meet our reserve budget goals, we are thinking of spreading payments for the work over 2015 and 2016. Likely the work will begin in early autumn.
Cable Management
We are working with Comcast and other vendors to remove the extra cables from our buildings. This is a little tricky, as we cannot tell from the outside which cables are in use, and which are just the accumulation of 52 years.
We will need your cooperation in this project, so that nobody accidentally disconnects services that you are using! We’ll send out a survey for you to fill out on which services are active in your home; please fill this out, and cooperate with the workmen when they arrive, to ensure continued services.
Gentle Reminders
All recycling bins are single-source. Please break down and flatten your cardboard, cans, and plastic bottles; our bins overflow unless you cooperate.
Carports are for the storage of licensed working motor vehicles only, not for trash, furniture, toys or other stuff. Each unit has a total of 5 square feet of floor space for decorative items – that’s cumulative, not 5 feet per item. Planters should contain attractive plants, not dead weeds.
Don’t prop open the door to the pool area, PLEASE! We don’t want small children to wander in and drown. It’s important to be mindful.
Pool keys were changed a couple of years ago. If you need a new one, call a Board member – new ones are stored in the Office.
Trash pickup is Friday mornings, by 9:00. Please bring in your trashcan from the curb Friday evening.