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| THE COLONY NEWS | MAY 2024 | 13 half the cost. Using the Master Plan as a model, we constructed our own "bucket list." We used it as a guide when we planned our renovations as to WHAT should be done, WHERE it should be done, WHEN it should be done, and HOW MUCH we thought it should cost. This "bucket list" was presented to and approved by the Board in March 2016, and we began implementing it. All this work was to be done with money already allocated by the Board each year from the Reserve account, not from the annual operating budget. The Reserve account includes money which has been set aside over the past 25+ years for future landscape repairs/renovations. The monthly water bills (which we are trying to reduce) are paid from the annual operating budget and directly affect our dues. Using VanDyke's plans, in 2015 we began with the Main Gate renovation since the Clubhouse remodel was under way and there was a desire to have an inviting main entry to the community. The city had to be involved since the project bordered a city street. The project was put out to bid. The cost for the reconstructed water features, irrigation, improved lighting, plants, and rock mulch was $98,000. The Nutmeg Gate/Avenida Florita project offered a Rancho California Water District rebate, which we eventually received. The Board put that out to bid in two sections — the Nutmeg Gate and the east side of Avenida Florita. The total estimated cost by VanDyke had been $300,932, but the Committee challenged everything, and the actual cost turned out to be $203,936. We got a $94,098 rebate for that, so the net cost was $109,838. We applied for and received rebates for the rest of the greenbelts, and the entire project finished after six fiscal years, in 2020. By the end of the renovation years, the total cost netted out to half of VanDyke's expected cost. Costs of water: During the drought, the water districts immediately cut water budgets to commercial landscape areas and imposed penalties and surcharges. These remain, in spite of the rainy years we have experienced. This means that even though we can control usage, we can't control the overall cost. We are tracking usage, which has gone down due to the reduction of costly overhead spraying, and our bills for irrigation are lower than before. If we hadn't undertaken reduction of water use since 2015, the irrigation costs would now be astronomical. Water in this area is not going to be what it was, probably when many of you moved in. Now, new housing developments don't even allow lawns or turf in common areas. We can see the writing on the wall. Much as we would have liked to keep our thirsty greenbelts green, it's just not feasible. What has the Landscape Advisory Committee learned throughout the renovation project? We learned that while all of the plants on the VanDyke Landscape Architects' list may be drought tolerant, many go dormant or are too frost-sensitive here. We learned that some of our early area designs were too skimpy and have had to add more plants in some areas. We learned that there is a fine balance between using evergreen plants and colorful plants. Too many evergreens meant not enough color in the summer, and too many colorful plants meant dead- looking plants in the winter. We learned that rabbits will eat our young plants, regardless of what the gardening literature says, so we need to put wire cages around the new plants. We learned that what looked good on paper didn't always turn out as we had thought. And we learned that no matter what we did, there would always be complaints. Throughout the whole project, we faced changes in Staff, in the whole irrigation system, in landscape contractors, in the Landscape Advisory Committee, and in the HOA Board of Directors. With each change came apprehension that the Project would be disrupted, but all in all we made it through. As I write this in early April 2024, our Landscape Superintendent is submitting requests for newly increased SoCal Water Smart rebates for removing additional turf in the Rancho California Water District part of The Colony, and after that for the Elsinore Valley greenbelt areas. I hope this article has helped to give a history of what, why, and how we have been working to keep Colony costs as low as possible and the surroundings as nice as possible. continued from previous page

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