Issue link: https://imageup.uberflip.com/i/595284
| SUN LAKES LIFESTYLES | NOVEMBER 2015 | 3 By George Moyer, SLCC HOA President FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK Welcome to fall and soon to be holiday season. Pretty soon you will be selecting which of the many parties and dances you will be attending. Before you know it Christmas trees will be lining our Country Club Drive entry and holiday decorations will be filling our lawns. I want to take this opportunity to thank all of the people who responded to the October article entitled Rule Change Concerning Speed Limit. The Board knew that this would be a controversial and touchy subject, and was sincerely looking forward to the member's comments. Well congratulations, you outdid yourselves. I cannot remember a subject that garnered so many responses from so many people. This apparently hit a hot spot within the community. I am sure when this topic comes up for a vote in our Nov. 19 meeting there will be much discussion and I anticipate that there will be adjustments made to what was previously published. On Oct. 5 the Board held a work shop to introduce a solar energy project to the community that is being considered. About 60 people came to the work shop and, after a brief presentation by a prospective contractor, were given the opportunity to ask questions. We want the residents to be as completely informed about every aspect of this project as possible. We will be holding Town Hall Meetings to accomplish this end. Please look for the announcements of these meetings and plan to attend. Briefly, the project consists of a small solar field consisting of 1,650 solar panels and 22 inverters covering a total area of 28,967 sq.ft. The panels are guaranteed for 25 years and represent the most efficient and durable panels in the industry. Over the life of the panels and inverters all maintenance, with the exception of normal cleaning of the panels, will be done by the contractor at no cost to the community. The solar units will be located on the unusable acreage near the memorial tree farm and the water tank off of Breckenridge. It is anticipated to cost the community a onetime sum of approximately 1.5 million dollars, with a savings of about $206,000 annually. This will result in a return on our investment of about 8 years. Over the life of the panels it is expected that the overall savings to Sun Lakes will be about $5,167,360. For those who are concerned about global warming here are a few facts. This system will reduce our carbon footprint significantly. Over the life of the system 19.10 tons of carbon dioxide will be eliminated from our foot print. This is equivalent to: planting 445,170 trees; driving 38,212,000 auto miles, or 1,948,812 gallons of gas; recycling 60,375 tons of waste instead of sending it to a landfill; displacing CO2 emissions from the annual electric use of 2,166 homes; or 18,617,296 pounds (9,308.6 tons) of coal burned. This project will have an immediate effect on the financial health of our community and help meet the new energy standards passed by the legislature and signed by the governor. It will require a vote by the residents to allow the Board to move forward with the development of this project. You will be receiving information by mail and, as mentioned above, town hall meetings will be held to give you the information you need to make your determination. I encourage you all to attend the meetings once they are announced. Happy Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is right around the corner and the Planning and Compliance Department would like to extend our gratitude to those residents that have worked with us over the past 11 months on their architectural requests or enforcement issues they may have encountered this year. This department does not always have good news to share with our residents. That is why it is important that we extend our deepest thanks to the residents that have been supportive of this departments efforts in managing architectural requests and enforcing the association's rules and regulations. This helps to ensure the property values in Sun Lakes remain high and the association remains beautiful. As always, the Planning and Compliance Department is here to assist in any way we can, please do not hesitate to contact us at any time if needed. Wishing you and your family a very happy Thanksgiving! ~ Heather Killian CCAM, Planning and Compliance Manager Residents thanked for compliance