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18 | THE COLONY NEWS | DECEMBER 2020 | By Jane Payne As you read in last month's Colony News, Jan Foster has stepped down as Chair of the Landscape Advisory Committee, but will continue to serve the LAC as Secretary. Jan has made such an impact on the LAC and, in turn, The Colony landscape, that I would like to take a moment to share some behind- the-scenes information about Jan. Jan moved from Seattle to The Colony in May 2014, knowing nothing about southern California plants and climate. She joined the LAC that year and became Secretary in 2015. From October of 2016 to just recently, she served as Chair. Jan immersed herself in learning about the plants and climate here, first by attending Armstrong Nursery's Saturday plant classes, then by joining the Temecula Valley Garden Club, and also by attending every meeting pertaining to LAC concerns. In 2014, the Board hired Van Dyke Landscape Architects to develop a Master plan for all our common landscape areas with the goal of reducing 70% of non- functional greenbelt turf to save water and costs while enhancing the landscape aesthetics. At that time, the first Colony Landscape Superintendent was hired (Mel Summer), but his duties were split between Landscape and Maintenance. On becoming Chair in 2016, Jan's goal was to see the Turf Reduction Plan to completion. The Committee thought it would take nine years given our Landscape Reserves budget, but the HOA Board President at the time, Walt Bowman, asked if it could be done in six fiscal years. Under Jan's leadership, the LAC managed and the entire plan will be finished this December. Jan is the first to acknowledge that the LAC has been a team of dedicated volunteers that she stepped into. Some, like Ed Kamp, Verne Strong, Sylvia Maxwell, Joe Hastie and Jim and Marianne Gunther, are no longer members, but they contributed heavily to the landscape results you see today and have been among her greatest teachers. She takes great pride in seeing the completion of the Turf Reduction project. Through it all, the LAC had to contend with resident dissatisfaction with the removal of the grass (changing The Colony "look"), the small plants being used, and a myriad of other complaints. They have had a change of HOA Board, change of landscape contractors, irrigation programming mishaps and changes, LAC membership changes, the resignation of the Landscape Superintendent and his assistant (Pam Stabell), and the hiring of a full-time replacement staff (Anthony Reynoso and Luis Calderon). Having helped to steer the Turf Renovation project to its completion means Jan's goal as Chair has been accomplished. The LAC and I are very happy that Jan will continue to serve on the LAC as Secretary and be a wealth of knowledge. I am personally very thankful for all of the training and support Jan has extended to me. Now let me take a moment to introduce myself. My husband and I moved to The Colony in August 2017 from Claremont, CA. I met Jan Foster at the Temecula Valley Garden Club in the fall of 2018, and she encouraged me to apply to the LAC. When I applied, I shared with the committee my interest in doing volunteer work and supporting the community where I live. Specifically, I was interested in joining the LAC because gardening and landscape design has always been a hobby and of great interest to me. I also told them about my background, which includes an undergraduate degree in Marketing and a M.B.A. During my 40+ year career in marketing, I worked for organizations in private industry and higher education. My experience includes management (20+ years at the executive level), and the aspects of my background that I felt could be of benefit to the LAC are problem resolution, research and planning. My skills include organization and MS Office applications. In January of 2019, I began as Secretary and soon took on the responsibility of updating our LAC member handbook. Both were great ways to learn about the LAC and The Colony landscaping. I am currently on the board of the Temecula Valley Garden Club, and last year I completed the program and became a UCCE Master Gardener for Riverside County. As I begin as Chair, what's important to me is customer service. I commit to working hard, keeping our homeowners' best interests at heart and supporting our LAC members and Landscape Department. LANDSCAPE REMINDER FOR DECEMBER: As we decorate for the holidays, remember that extension cords must not be on the front lawn on your mowing day. If left on the lawn, they may be run over with the lawnmowers and most likely damaged, and EC is not responsible. Please be considerate of our maintenance crews in your decorating and have a wonderful holiday season. LANDSCAPE ADVISORY LAC thanks Jan Foster for her years with our committee COMMITTEE NEWS