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12 | THE COLONY NEWS | SEPTEMBER 2020 | By Jan Foster The revision in the newsletter deadline has caused me to write September's article mere days after you have received the last one, and before either the August HOA Board meeting or our own LAC meeting. Juggling between newsletter deadlines, deadlines to submit Board agenda items, as well as our own agenda items, has been tricky. One result of the Board's changing meeting dates is that now we must change our charter and determine a new meeting date. We will have it all sorted out soon. LATEST NEWS: On July 23, the LAC met with Staff, Environmental Concepts, and the arborist from EC to examine every front yard tree, noting any which were diseased, struggling, or dead. We started at 7 am and ended at 12:30 pm. Perhaps you saw our flotilla of golf carts. The result is that we now have a list of all suspect trees, a list of trees slated for removal/replacement, a "watch list" of trees which need to be checked next year, and also a list of front yards without trees. Some of these front yards are too small to support a tree, but some are not. Some blocks have "front yard trees" which were designed to be in the planter area. We will be discussing these at our next meeting. All in all, it was a real educational experience to see every tree and hear what the arborist's opinion was. LANDSCAPE DEPT. REMINDER TO HOMEOWNERS: If you have filed an Architectural Control Committee application that requires any landscape work to be done, contact the Landscape Staff ASAP. Also, if you see running water in the gutters any longer than 15 minutes, please contact the Landscape Dept. (weekdays and hours), or Gate Security (after hours and weekends). The same holds true if you see water spouting from front yard or common area irrigation. NEW "OLD" NEWS: It has been brought to our attention that Newcomer Orientation classes are not being held during this time of COVID-19. This means newcomers may not be aware how the LAC works, and especially, how it works in relation to our Landscape Department staff. The Landscape Advisory Committee has changed from monitoring all planting/irrigation work in The Colony when Management hired a Landscape Superintendent and an Assistant Landscape Superintendent. These positions became full time by 2018. As a result, the Landscape Committee morphed into an advisory committee. We work with Anthony (Landscape Superintendent), Luis (Assistant Landscape Superintendent), the HOA Board, and Associa Management, giving our input as concerned homeowners, and we do our best to keep homeowners aware of what is happening. The day-to-day operations, therefore, are carried out by the Landscape Department staff and Environmental Concepts, our landscape contractor. This is why you are being referred to the Landscape Department when you have questions about when your work will be scheduled, etc., or complaints about work done. The Landscape staff is the only conduit for direct messages to the contractor regarding their work. The LAC is not, except for general discussions during the LAC meetings. You should know there is a work schedule for all landscape maintenance to be done here. Work teams are grouped according to task and season. For example, every front yard is mowed/edged once a week in summer (unless the heat makes the grass slow down), and every two weeks in winter. Weed control is every four weeks March through November, or as needed in the spring. Shrub trimming is every five weeks in summer, every seven weeks in winter. Wild belts (W areas) are maintained four times per year, spaced from March through November, with Wild belt weed removal every six weeks. Common areas (G areas) are maintained four times a year, spaced from March through November. Front yard turf is fertilized March, August, and November, etc. Sod repair is scheduled for twice a year, in spring and fall. Tree trimming was detailed in last month's newsletter article. • All palm tree trimming started on Monday, Aug. 10. • Front yard tree trimming starts Monday, Sept. 14. • Green belt and wild belt tree trimming starts Monday, Oct. 12 (subject to change). Why is no schedule published in the newsletter? Many times the schedule is advanced from plan because the work crew is available earlier than anticipated or residents want their concern attended to outside the rotation schedule, which causes the crew to deviate from the plan. Sometimes a second crew is needed to remove weeds (which don't grow according to "plan"). Anthony is working on a way to notify homeowners via TownSq when to expect certain parts of the scheduled work. REBATE UPDATE: Another area of LAC interest has been in the water district rebates, some of which are currently being offered for removing turf, planting drought tolerant plants and adding swales so that rainwater doesn't overflow directly into the drains but instead sinks back into the ground. These rebates have fit nicely with our overall Turf Renovation Project, which began in 2013-14 and was designed to reduce 70 percent of our non-functional turf, converting overhead spray in those greenbelts to drip irrigation and drought- tolerant plants. We plan to have a Town Hall meeting sometime in the spring to show what was accomplished and what it all cost, especially, what our Colony landscape water bills would be today if we had done nothing. The completed work on G7, G12, and G27 was approved to receive the water district rebate, but G9 had a few things which needed changing and will be resubmitted with photos shortly. The turf on G13, G23, and G24 has been approved to begin work and is in the process of being sprayed out in preparation for implementing the new design. These are the final three areas of the Colony Turf Renovation Master Plan. LANDSCAPE ADVISORY Landscape & Tree Concerns For all landscape and/or tree issues, questions, or problems, call The Colony Landscape line at (951) 698-0731. For after hours and weekend irrigation emergencies only, call the Main Gate at (951) 677-0238. COMMITTEE NEWS