From President Chris Epps

The Board would like to thank those of you who came out for the Annual Meeting this year. We have been very busy with the neighborhood as you can see from the 2008 accomplishments listed later in the newsletter. Your Association is going to sponsor a Springlakes Neighborhood Cleanup Day for the first time. It will be on Saturday, March 21 from 8-12, which is the week after the neighborhood Yard Sale. We are renting 4 rolloffs to be used for both yard and “everything else” waste. See the article in this newsletter for more details. We hope that this will assist you not only cleaning up your yards or homes but also sprucing up the appearance of the whole neighborhood.

There are predominately two types of complaints the association receives from our residents. The first has to do with neighborhood speeding. Please FOLLOW the speed limit and remind other family members to do so also. We want to keep our roadways safe. The second type of calls we receive have to do with covenants violations. Yes, residents do care about how our neighborhood looks so they do much of the violation reporting. Make sure you keep up the exterior appearance of your home and always contact Covenants prior to changing the appearance of your home or yard (even if temporary). This resolves many headaches for both you and the Covenants Committee. Remember, our Covenants were put in place to protect our property values!! Your boat or utility trailer visible from the street of your well manicured yard may look fine to you, BUT it is a violation, and if everyone had one visible, that would detract from the charm of our neighborhood. When in doubt or if you have a temporary issue, contact Covenants. They understand our covenants and they want to help you follow them.

Association Manager Lisa Thompson’s Annotations

Assessments were mailed out on January 26th and are due on or before March 15, 2009. A $20 late fee will be charged for any assessment received after March 15. If you did not receive an invoice, please contact the Association by phone or email. Assessments are $203 per residential dwelling and $22 per residential lot.

Please be reminded that Augusta Disposal Recycling has provided a great rate for waste and recycling pickup for our neighborhood residents. They also will provide free pickup for the Association trash if we have 90% or more residents that sign up. This is a cost savings for your neighborhood association of over $1000/year not to mention the cost savings to you as a home owner. Contact them at 706.860.2208 to sign up.   Let us know how we can better serve the neighborhood!!  

2009 Association Board Members

The Springlakes Association elected the following Board Members at the annual meeting on January, 13, 2009. We thank these members for volunteering to serve our neighborhood.

Chris Epps* (president), David Hattaway, Chris Mobley, John Capes Cindy Hennigan Bob Petras, Joe Entrekin, Earl Hilson, Nancy Pierce, Gene Futch, Ed Miller

The Board meets at least quarterly and is interested in addressing concerns and topics any resident would like to have discussed. To make your wishes known, please submit in writing to the association at PO Box 211112, Martinez, GA 30917. An agenda is prepared prior to each meeting; please give members adequate time to research and study items to be discussed.

CAUGHT IN THE ACT…..

...of decorating for Christmas!! These residents are to be congratulated for leading the way to making Springlakes one of the most beautifully decorated neighborhoods during the recent holidays. Thanks to all who participated. The winners of the Christmas decorating contest were— “Most Like Southern Living “- Reece and Annette Bridges
“Winter Wonderland” - Paul and Betty LeJeune
“Most Tropical Tree” - Bryan and Janet Drouin

Let’s all keep our yards spruced up. The next award designation will be in April. You can submit your nominations to curbappeal@springlakes.org. If you know someone that should be ‘caught in the act’ of doing something special for our neighborhood, please let the association manager know.

YARD SALE—SATURDAY MARCH 14, 7-11 AM

We will once again hold a Spring Neighborhood Yard Sale. The Springlakes Association will advertise in the newspaper and put signs and flyers at the entrances. Please put a balloon on your mailbox if you are participating. Residents will be responsible for setting up items for sale in their own yards or driveways. Also, if you would like your house to be listed in the flyers located at the entrances to the subdivision, contact the Association at (706)855.7987 or email associationmanager@springlakes.org. If you put up advertising, please remove it by the end of the day.

Springlakes Neighborhood Cleanup Day Saturday, 3/21/09 8 am – 12 noon

Here is an opportunity to clean your house and yards.  Your Springlakes Association will provide a yard waste e rolloff and an everything else rolloff available at 2 locations for you to dispose of either your yard waste or anything else.  Two rolloffs will be located on Green Ivy Court and two more will be located at the entrance to the 7.48 acre property on Cofield Dr. We also are going to try and have a charitable drop-off bin if you want to donate some slightly used items to a charity.  

Spruce up your yards, clean up your house, make our neighborhood inviting for the Master’s guests our neighborhood always enjoys.

We also plan to have teenagers available to volunteer for outdoor work. Teens – if you want to earn some volunteer hours, what better way to assist than helping in your own neighborhood.  Either email, associationmanager@springlakes.org or phone (706)855-7987 the association to let us know that you will be willing to serve.  Residents – if you need a couple of teenagers to help do some outside yard chores on this day, call the association phone by 3/20/09 so that we can coordinate with the teens.  

SPRINGLAKES SWIM TEAM  

Before we know it summer swim team will be upon us. The Swim Team is open to all children 18 and under in the neighborhood and all pool members. Last year we were Division 3 Dual Meet winners and we hope to claim that title again!!

Below is the 2009 Summer Swim League Schedule. Divisionals are set to be the week of July 13 with All Stars on July 18th. Signups will be Monday, April 27 from 6:30 to 8:00 PM. Please look for future mailings and calling post messages for additional information.

LAKE COMMITTEE

The ducks and geese continue to make our lake and pond their winter resort and nesting area.  Enjoy the new boardwalk that has been built behind the clubhouse to view our visiting ‘geese guests’.  Spring is just around the corner so we need to remind you of the ‘Catch & Release” restrictions on any bass caught during the months of April and May.  This allows the adult bass to protect their beds.  The rest of the year, there is a 14-inch minimum size on bass.  Any over 14 inches are ‘keepers’ and in fact should be removed so they don’t eat the smaller fish and reduce the overall fish population of the lake.  
 

 CRIMEWATCH  

Good news – there were only fourteen crimes reported during 2008 in our entire neighborhood.  Of those, thirteen were automobile break-ins predominately due to unlocked vehicles.  The moral here is to KEEP YOUR VEHICLES LOCKED to ward off temptation!!   Remember that the 911 number is only for emergencies and (706) 541-2800 is for non-emergency law enforcement issues.   

 TENNIS

It’s nice to see those tennis courts being used.  Some people are still having a problem with their keys for the tennis court.  The lock was adjusted and some of the old keys may not work.  Contact Ron Renn at tennis@springlakes.org or 706.868.6287 if you need a key.  

CLUBHOUSE

Clubhouse rental fees have increased by $5 for the first time in several years and agreement forms have been updated and are available on the Association web page. As a courtesy, the clubhouse holds the graduation weekend in May for Columbia County 5th, 8th, and 12th grade parties. If these dates are not requested by May 1 by a Springlakes parent who is planning a party for their graduating child,  the dates will be open for all SL residents for any purpose .  

Someone left a pair of ladies, black sheer energy gloves at our Association annual meeting.  Call Cindy if they are yours.  

COVENANTS  COMMITTEE

Thanks to all our residents for your continual support to the covenants that govern Springlakes. Without that support this committee’s job would be that much more difficult.  Please keep your phone calls and emails coming. It is much easier and less costly to work out any differences prior to a project beginning than it is afterwards.

Let me update you on some new information that we have received concerning vehicles being parked on our streets and about vehicles that are parked in driveways and haven’t been moved in quite awhile. We no longer have to put up with vehicles constantly being parked on streets when there is ample room for those vehicles to be parked in driveways. We have a new number to call and the sheriff will come out, investigate, and if in violation, will put a 24-hour tag on the vehicle. If not removed in that time, it will be towed. My thought – start parking your vehicles in your driveway.

Now for those unsightly vehicles being parked in your driveway that are covered with tarps and may or may not be properly registered. Again, we have a new number to call. An investigative team will come out, talk with the residents and based upon their findings these residents could be required to permanently remove the vehicles. We currently have a handful of vehicles that fall within this category. Hopefully, they will soon be removed which will considerably help with the overall appearance of our neighborhood.

This issue leads right into my next topic which is driveway appearance. We have put articles in our newsletter about this, but with little results. Please take a hard look at your driveway. If you have allowed a build up of items to occur, please remove/ reposition them.  Also, please remove any election signs from your yard if you have not already done so.

Final topic is project improvements. We have had a few residents that have begun and/or completed a home improvement project without first receiving prior written approval. This is a very bad idea. In some cases, it can be very costly. Please, if you are planning a home improvement project , make sure that you have received approval before beginning. If you have questions, please call and/or send an email. This simple step just might prevent a lot of unnecessary grief.  If you are planning some outside home improvements over the next few months and you are not sure if you require prior approval, please call me at 706-860-0383 or email me at jenninjj@aol.com  and discuss them with me. Your call or email might just save you unwanted and/or unneeded stress.                         

POOL COMMITTEE

Invoices will go out at the end of March to all 2008 pool members.  If you have not belonged to the pool before, and are interested in joining, e-mail slpool@knology.net. Since mailings have become quite costly, we are hoping to communicate via e-mail again this year, so we need email addresses of all members.  We are also still looking for Pool Committee members.  If you have a bit of spare time you can volunteer to this, please call or e-mail Ed Miller or Bob Petras.      

GROUNDS COMMITTEE

If your children happen to use the Springlakes access to Cofield Pond, please remind them not to build dams and bridges in the ditch.  This has caused some flooding and erosion problems in that area.      

SPRINGLAKES WALKERS Please be reminded to walk facing traffic. If walking at night, please wear white and reflective wear!! Several instances have been reported that walkers are not being seen until the last second.   

2008 MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS 

CLUBHOUSE RECONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE

• Clubhouse Reconstruction Committee met several times to strategically review and determine that renovation was not the best use of the association’s money and that reconstruction of the clubhouse was the best path forward. These findings were presented to the Board for approval.
• A special called homeowners meeting was held and under the direction of our attorney, an overwhelming 80% voted to pursue the sale of land.
• Had 3 meetings with a new architect and preliminary concept plans drawn which were presented to the Board & at the special called homeowners’ meeting.  

CLUBHOUSE

• There were 144 rentals and 46 neighborhood uses.
• Grill burner replaced. Repairs to all toilets and kitchen sink faucet.
• Replaced stove thermostat. rotten wood at patio window and  rear outside faucet.
• Anchored rear gutter downspout.  

COMMUNICATIONS

• Published 3 Neighborhood Newsletters.
• Published New Resident Directory.
• Sent out additional mailings with news flyers for 2 special called homeowners meetings, nominating committee notice, and annual meeting notice.
• Provided calling post on 12 Neighborhood activities.
• Maintained website.  

COVENANTS

• Over 40 Project Requests Reviewed and Approved.
• Well over 100 Covenants Violations tracked/resolved. Most resolved at committee level. Several elevated to the President/Board level.
• Addressed 6 Covenant Violations with the Association Lawyer. One of which almost required court action and two are still pending.
• Formed Yard Recognition Committee to begin recognizing homes with ‘curb appeal’.  

CRIMEWATCH

• Maintained liaison with the Sheriff’s Office regarding all crime and safety issues.
• ‘Lock It Or Lose It’ signs put up at 2 entrances reminding residents to secure valuables.  

GROUNDS

• Re-Graded Pool/Clubhouse Parking Lot.
• Maintained all Common Properties.
• Repaired lights at entrance and replaced tire swing at park
• Removed 2 damaged trees on Sandalwood and a few at the Clubhouse.  

LAKE

• Monitored lake activities and attempted to keep non-residents from the lake.
• Issued park access keys to eight new residents.
• Monitored beaver activity in lake and scheduled a trapping service to preserve integrity of the dam and shoreline.  
• Removed 16 beavers from the lake.
• Southern Industries (Archadeck) and Southern Landscaping installed a 50 ft. long retaining wall, board walk, and benches at the water's edge below the club house.  This gives the community another place for fishing and to just enjoy the lake.  This project was delayed almost a year due to new state permitting regulations.  

POOL COMMITTEE

• Fixed and replaced pool decking boards and stained deck.
• Painted Bathrooms and installed new exhaust fans in bathrooms.
• Straightened fence.
• Swim Team had a successful season with 85 members and winning the Dual Meet Division 3 Championship.
• Purchased 14 lounge chairs and 8 stackable chairs.
• Had a 4th of July Party for members.
• 124 Resident members, 55 non resident members, 13 senior members.  

SOCIAL COMMITTEE

• Chick-Fil-A hosted a customer appreciation neighborhood block party in June.
• Sponsored Annual Picnic.
• Sponsored Children’s Halloween Party and Christmas Party.  

TENNIS COMMITTEE

• Courts are being utilized by Men’s 3.5 Tennis Team, Ladies 2.5 Team and a Junior Tennis Team.
• Replaced faulty lock and repaired net straps.
• Replaced entrance lock so that the lock couldn’t be left in an unlocked position.
• Added a timer to the tennis court lights to be more energy efficient.
• Purchased two new court squeegees.  

WELCOME COMMITTEE

• Continued Neighborhood Welcome Program – over 35 new families greeted.  

MISCELLANEOUS

• Established a reduced neighborhood garbage disposal rate with Augusta Disposal & Recycling (22.7% savings).
• Organized Spring and Fall neighborhood Yard Sales.
• Supported Spooky to be Hungry collecting over 1000 pounds of food and $1500 cash for the Golden Harvest Food Bank.
• Started annual rotating job for teenager to remove clubhouse trash.
• County Commissioner Tom Mercer met with residents.
• 23 attorney letters sent for overdue assessments and 13 liens filed for homeowners not paying association dues.
• Eight attorney letters mailed to residents with assessment payment amounts older than a year. Four of the eight were served with papers notifying them of intent to seek payments including legal and court fees.
• Reviewed financial accounts to assure monies were protected and utilized correctly. Cap account in process of being closed and checking and money market accounts opened.
• Met with Georgia Power for suggestions to improve street lighting in neighborhood.