Announcements

Please pardon our dust.....

Dear Homeowners,

We wanted to give you an update as to some of the things the Board has been working on. One of the responsibilities the Board has is to maintain the entrances of the property, and we'd like to offer an explanation as to why they are looking sparse this year.

We are in the process of installing a well for our watering needs. As with many remodeling projects unfortunately, this one has met with a few delays. However, once intalled, it will save us an estimated $14,000 per year from our water bills. The location of the wells will be near the entrance monuments and will need to be dug up for the installation and therefore, didn't make sense to add any new plantings until this work has been completed.

Until we knew exactly where the wells were going to be installed, we held off planting the annuals. Once assured they wouldn't be torn apart during the installation of the wells, they were planted a little late this year. When planted, it turned out to be the hottest week we've experienced so far this year. We also had a problem with the location of where the irrigation was watering so they got off to a poor start.

The remaining 5 trees on the island were removed early this spring because 2 didn't survive the winter and the remaining 3 were not leafing properly which means we would have had to remove them in the fall and incur additional charges for two seperate removals.

The monument signs on 115th & Sapphire have once again been vandalized and replacements are on order.

We're confident that once the well is installed these issues will be resolved and are working on new landscape designs for the entrances. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

Respectfully,

Somefield Board of Directors

Dear Homeowners,

Since this spring, one of the goals the board has been concentrating on has been a more economical and eco-friendly way to maintain the pond. In the past 4-5 months, we have learned quite a bit of which we would like to share with you.

Our first concern was the chemicals that were being used to treat the algae on a monthly basis. Not only is it harmful to the aquatic life, but more importantly to the homeowners living around the pond. When the pond is treated and the fountains are turned on those chemicals are released into the air. The second concern was the escalating costs associated with maintaining this area. 

We posed our concerns at the July board meeting to the two companies’ representatives that are currently responsible for maintaining the pond. When we inquired about a more natural way to maintain it, we were told first and foremost it is a “retention” pond and its intent is to collect water run off from the streets, etc. We also learned that ours is connected to 4 other ponds in the area.

Further, because of the high cost to run the fountains we also inquired about the minimum times needed for them to be effective against the fight against algae at which time we were told they only needed to be on for 8 hours a day during the hottest part of the season from approximately June 1^st to September 1^st.

Because of rising electric costs coupled with extremely high delinquency rates we are experiencing from our assessments, the fountains have been turned off based on these recommendations. As a precaution, the fountains remained in the pond in case we experienced warmer than usual weather for this time of year. As it happened, we experienced a very heavy rain and the fountains were turned on to assist with the movement of the water.

We have by no means ended our quest to look for a more cost effective, natural way to maintain the pond. The Board is currently looking at a MARS Aerator from a company called Sheaffer & Roland. A representative will be at our next general board meeting to give us a presentation and answer any questions. Their system promises a solution that produces aesthetically pleasing pond ecosystems as well as a money-saving long term solution. Further, their system is based on a patented Double Bubble Technology that makes it unrivalled in the field of pond management. If you would like to learn more about this system before the meeting you can visit their website at www.sheafferandroland.com and click on the MARS picture at the left.

We hope this message has offered a general explanation of our focus as well as eases some of your concerns. We hope you can attend the October 22^nd meeting to learn more about this system and be sure to bring your questions.

Respectfully,

Somerfield Board of Directors

10/06/08