May 2002
Volume 4, Issue 2

SPRINGLAKES NEIGHBORHOOD PICNIC

Join your Springlakes neighbors for the annual Springlakes neighborhood picnic. Canoeing, floating golf, swimming, karaoke, DJ, and much more fun!!!

When: August 10, 2002 from 5PM until 9PM
Where: Springlakes Clubhouse & Pool

• "Rain or Shine"
• Dinner will be catered by Dye's Restaurant

• RSVP to Kristi Baker, Social Chairperson

SPRINGLAKES OUT TO LUNCH BUNCH

June 11–Carrabas 
October 8–Cadwalladers
July 9–Red Lobster 
November 12–Monterrey (Washington Rd/Evans)
August 13–Logan’s Roadhouse 
December 10–French Market (Surrey Ctr) 
September 10–The Upper Crust

The Springlakes "Lunch Bunch" would like to invite all interested ladies to join us for lunch the second Tuesday of every month. This is a great way for new residents to meet their neighbors and for old friends to catch up. The lunch bunch meets at 11:30am. Please contact Sheila Pedraza (refer to Springlakes directory) to arrange for seating ahead of time.

WELCOME COMMITTEE

Greetings to Everyone (which is exactly what the Welcoming Committee hopes to accomplish)! A great big thank-you to Barbara Plumley who has organized these efforts for the past 3 years. Since my assuming this role, I have been enlightened to just how many new residents we have in Springlakes. Since January, approximately 30 new families have been greeted and unfortunately there are probably ones who have been missed! Because of this, I would like to encourage all of us to be intentional about welcoming our neighbors. If you would like to get involved in these efforts or perhaps you’re a new resident and no one has "officially" welcomed you…..Please contact Kay Knight (refer to Springlakes directory).

CRIME WATCH

Last month, a number of Sprinlakes residents attended a Neighborhood Crime Watch meeting at the clubhouse sponsored in conjunction with the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office. Several deputies were available to answer questions and provide recent crime statistics for the Springlakes area.

Although we are very pleased to report a very low incidence of criminal activity in Springlakes over the last six months, residents are asked to remain safety conscious and alert to suspicious activity in you area. Locking your parked vehicles and closing your garage door will help prevent theft of your valuables.

At the crime watch meeting, some residents expressed concern about cars continuing to speed through the neighborhood, particularly on Quail Springs Circle, Reed Creek Drive, Springlakes Drive, and Stone Mill Drive. The Sheriff’s Office will be monitoring these streets closely and will issue citations as necessary. Also, with the warmer weather, the roadways are being utilized by an increasing number of pedestrians and bicyclists, so we remind all residents to please obey the speed limit and use extra caution on the many existing blind curves.

Residents who operate golf carts and other motorized vehicles, such as scooters, on the road at night are reminded that they must utilize lights. Driving or riding bicycles without required lights and reflectors is dangerous and creates an unnecessary roadway hazard.

Please take the time to report the tag numbers of speeders and suspicious activity you may observe to the Sheriff's Office at 541-2800. Together we can keep Springlakes safe!!

COVENANTS

With the arrival of summer, it is imperative that we improve the curb appeal of Springlakes by cleaning up our property. All residents should set aside some time for yard work: Cut the grass, trim the bushes, and especially, edge along the curb. These are simple things that will preserve and enhance the value of your home.

The Springlakes Board of Directors recently adopted revised guidelines for satellite dish installation. These guidelines require dish placement no more than two feet off the ground and not generally visible from the street or any adjacent lot.

Please remember to submit a project request BEFORE you do anything to change the appearance of the exterior of your property. This includes installing a dish or changing any of the colors on your house. The committee meets the third Tuesday of each month. We will do our best to work with you if your project review cannot wait for the next scheduled meeting.

PET OWNERS

A good neighbor is a priceless gift. As a long time resident of Springlakes, I’ve lately seen some pet owner manners need improvement. It is not the pets, but the owners who are at fault. A bit of thoughtful consideration, please. Keep cats inside, except on a leash. For your health and safety as well as the animals, we have a large fox and raccoon population in Springlakes. In this area of Georgia/South Carolina we are often in a rabies epidemic. Keep dogs inside, fenced, or on a leash. Scoop your dogs poop! Obey the law!

A Concerned Neighbor

PRESIDENT'S NOTE

The Springlakes Association Committees have gotten off to a great start this year! Many thanks to our Committee volunteers!! The Easter egg hunt was a great success organized by Kristi Baker the Social Committee Chair. The Crime Watch meeting held in March with the Columbia County Sheriff’s office was very informative and our neighborhood achieved additional support from the Sheriff’s office during this meeting. Special thanks to the Crime Watch Committee co-chaired by Bryan and Janet Drouin. The Springlakes grounds are looking great handled by Tom Cook our Grounds Chair. The Tennis program is very active through the work of Heny Lam the Tennis Committee Chair. The Welcoming Committee got off to a great start this year chaired by Kay Knight. The Pool Committee chaired by Dee Beard has done a great job by obtaining a new pool management contract and the pool season is ready to get into full swing. The Covenants Committee continues to be very active with new home architectural reviews and project requests. The new By-laws Committee has been formed chaired by Larry Flynn. They are beginning the process to review our by-laws and board election process. The Special Project Committee chaired by Bill Nelson has secured quotes for tennis court repairs. Our Lake Committee chaired by Terry Bland is evaluating a number of improvement options to our lake. The Clubhouse rentals have continued to increase and you may have noticed the new furniture in the Clubhouse. Melanie Villemain continues to do a great job with the Clubhouse! Special thanks to Charlene Rushin for putting together the newsletters and the monumental task of issuing the Springlakes directory this year! The glue that holds us all together is our Association Manager, Sue Lang that continues to do an outstanding job to make our neighborhood the best it can be! Thanks from all of us!

The Association will close on the Cofield pond in May being delayed due to drafting the appropriate legal documents. This is proceeding well and one of the pond residents Malcolm Hogg has volunteered to be on the Lake Committee to help maintain this pond.

The 9.6 acre Day road property adjoining our new 7.5 acre Cofield property has been sold so this is no longer an option. Engineering bids were secured to begin planning the development of six (6) new tennis courts, playground and walk area on this new property this summer. A property development committee is being formed to get this underway now that the Day road property is not an option. Please give me or Sue a call if you would like to serve on this committee.

The 7.5 acre Cofield property has been a playground for many of our neighborhood children. The grounds have become cluttered with debris having been used for paint ball fights and off road golf cart racing all of which are an insurance liability to the Association. Special thanks to the parents that worked with their children to clean up the debris from the grounds and stop dangerous activities on this property! The Board of Directors will post a No Trespassing sign to help reduce use of this area until fully developed. Your support is requested to keep this a safe area for our neighborhood!

The Association continues to look for volunteers to work on our committees. It’s a great way to get to know more of your neighbors. We need you! Please give me or Sue Lang a call or email us if you would like to serve on a committee. Working to make our neighborhood its best!

Reece Bridges

POOL NEWS

Summer is here! By the time you read this newsletter, the Springlakes pool will be operating at full steam with daily and nightly swimming, swim team practices and meets, and pool parties. If you havent paid your membership fees or picked up your pool tags, please contact Dee Beaird or Jeanne Keeler to make arrangements to do so. If you are a new resident to the neighborhood and are interested in joining the pool, please call for a personal tour of the facility and application information for membership. This year pool members will see some changes that are being implemented. As a reminder, please be aware of the following:

1. All pool members and guests will be required to wear pool tags or wristbands. Wristbands for guests can be purchased at the concession stand for a fee of $3.00 per day. Membership tags must be visible to the lifeguards while you are at the pool. Lifeguards have been instructed to ask anyone not wearing a tag or wristband to leave the premises.

2. All private parties must be registered with the pool committees social secretary whether the party is during normal pool hours or after hours. Registration of the parties is necessary to ensure that we have an adequate number of lifeguards at the pool during the time of the parties.

3. Management of the pool has changed over to Carefree Pools and Spas.

Fortunately, Shannon has returned as the head lifeguard with some other familiar faces on our staff from the past few years. A special thanks to all of those who contributed to the workdays at the pool prior to tag day. Christy Baker, Jennifer Miller, Ed Miller, Don Rogers, and Mike Fritts definitely went above and beyond to help with the many chores that needed to be completed. Make sure to give them a pat on the back the next time you see them at the pool. The pool is open and in operation for the summer. We invite you to come and join us for the summer.

LAKE REPORT

I am sure everyone has noticed that the lake has recovered nicely from the work that was performed this winter. We have finally had some rain, which tested the riprap sediment barriers placed at the mouth of Reed Creek and the storm water discharge alongside the park. The barriers appear to be working. Time will tell.

The spring batch of bass and bream seem to have been unaffected by lowering the water level. This is evidenced by the many people enjoying the fishing on and around the lake. I especially noticed a lot of young people fishing this year. Each time I see kids fishing, I can't help but think of the slogan, Get Hooked on Fish, Not Drugs. Our community's lake is a great investment in our children's future!

A note of caution: Swimming is not allowed in the lake. There are many reasons for this rule:

1. The bottom of the lake is deceiving there are a few solid sandbars, but it is mostly gumbo-like mud. It will not

sustain a persons weight and it is possible to get stuck in it. The mud is at least three feet thick as measured from the bottom of my foot up to mid thigh!

2. There are at least two very large snapping turtles in our lake weighing in excess of 40 pounds. Their size and aggressiveness are becoming legendary. They are not sea monsters, but when hungry, they will eat whatever comes along. For instance, they have been stalking geese, chasing dogs in someone's backyard and I had to bury one of the large white ducks who had stuck her head under the water to eat once too often. I would hesitate to even have feet dangling in the water from boats, rafts, etc. with these guys around. Hmmm, I wonder what a toe looks like to a snapper ???

3. This past year there have been at least two sewer problems which has resulted in sewage being released into the lake. The county posted signs only at the park. While this may not have long range adverse affects on the eco system of the lake and its inhabitants, there are better places to swim.

Finally, we are planning to erect one or two Martin houses on the lake to entice natures pest control specialists to share our neighborhood. If anyone has expertise in this area, please contact the lake committee. Your input and or help would be very much appreciated.

WELCOME NEWEST RESIDENTS