See You on Zoooom….
Don’t forget, this year’s Homeowner Meeting will take place via Zoom on Saturday, April 17, 2021, starting at 9:30 am. Watch your inboxes early next week for details! One item on the meeting agenda will be the announcement of the Board election winners. If you haven’t already done so, make sure you get your ballot back to the office no later than 3pm on Thursday, April 15, 2021 so that it can be counted. [Ballots can be returned via US Mail, email or dropped off at the office.]
We’re also collecting Emergency Prep surveys, and all who participate will be entered into a special prize drawing to be held during the Zoom meeting. You can fill out the paper survey that was mailed with your ballot packet, or you can take the electronic version here: https://forms.gle/JqkRbJrYoEy9sSR76
It’s Time to Clean-UP!
Our Spring Clean-Up has been scheduled for Friday, April 23 through Sunday, May 2nd. Here’s what you need to know:
WHAT: Our spring and fall clean-ups are your opportunity to do a little yard work without having to worry about what to do with the debris. We will set up 5 collection areas throughout the neighborhood where you can discard your leftover plant material and other woody debris, and we’ll dispose of it for you.
WHEN: The clean up will run from Friday, April 23, 2021 through Sunday, May 2, 2021.
WHERE: The collection sites will be marked with orange stakes (or cones) as follows:
- The front of Lot #115 on Fall Creek Drive. (East side of the road, just south of 475 Fall Creek Dr.)
- The Meadow (where Capes Drive, Capes Loop and Capes Point all come together)
- Tract F on Capes Drive (the northernmost point of Capes Drive, right at the point where the road makes a 180° turn)
- Tract N on Promontory Lane (near where the observation platform used to be)
- Near the tennis court
Here is a map for the more visual among us. The sites are marked with a big, red X:
https://www.thecapeshoa.org/documents/forms-and-information/Landscape/Clean%20Up%20Location%20Map.pdf
WHO: Josh Vance of His Glory Landscape Care and Home Maintenance will be organizing the collection sites and disposing of the debris. He is also available to assist with any yard maintenance or tree trimming that you would like (at your expense). Josh can be reached by telephone (503-812-5716) or email (hisglorylandscapecare@gmail.com)
THE FINE PRINT:
- All woody debris (trees and tree limbs) should be limited to NO LARGER THAN 4 INCHES IN DIAMETER. Anything larger is your responsibility and should not be taken to a clean up site.
- Please remember that this is for “clean up” and not “clearing”. If you are clearing or significantly thinning a vacant lot, disposal of large amounts of trees will be your responsibility. (Our budget will not handle the disposal of an entire forest. Sorry!) If you are not sure whether or not what you are planning to remove constitutes a “large amount of trees” then it probably does…but feel free to contact the office and make sure!
- Debris must be taken to one of the staked sites in order to be disposed of as part of the Spring Clean-Up. If for some reason you need Josh to collect debris directly from your lot, it is your responsibility to contact him and let him know. If the debris meets the criteria for items #1 and 2 above (it’s less than 4 inches in diameter and is not a significant number of trees) he will still include it with the HOA disposal items, however, you will be billed for any time/labor charges incurred while collecting the debris from your property. Our contract/arrangement with Josh is for setting up and clearing the 5 collection areas only. Anything above and beyond that requested by a homeowner will need to be done at that homeowner’s expense.
Creepies & Crawlies
It’s that time of year again, when the dreaded Scotch Broom starts to creep back into the landscape. If you’ve never seen the ‘broom before (you must be new), it’s an (obnoxious) invasive weed that blooms with little bright yellow flowers and can shoot its seed pods for miles (ok, for feet, but still…). Those seed pods can live in the ground for at least 475 years (or 10) before sprouting, which is probably how this stuff is one day going to take over the Earth. Our landscapers know to shoot it on sight when they find it on common area or townhome lots. If you have a single family or undeveloped lot and thus are responsible for your own landscaping, please be sure to remove any Scotch Broom that you may find so that we can keep the spread to a minimum. [See photos – one after it’s flowered and one before]
This year we also seem to be spotting a lot more tent caterpillars than usual. While they don’t typically kill trees, they do like to snack on the leaves and can be a little bit of a nuisance. If you see any of their egg masses around, please let the office know, so we can have the landscapers take care of them.
Office Closures
The office will be closed (cerrada, fermé, gerchlossen, Shimatte iru, fechada…take your pick!) April 18, 2021 through April 25, 2021 as I take (what I hope will be my last) staycation. I get my second covid vaccine that week, so figure that’s s good a reason as any to take a week off work. If you anticipate needing something from the office that week, please let me know in advance (and no, that does not mean at 11:59 pm on April 17th, sorry!) so that arrangements can be made.
The office will also be closed on Wednesday, May 5, 2021 – two weeks and one day after my second covid vaccine – so that I can get my first (much needed and even more anticipated) haircut since December 2019.