Hello Everyone,
The summer is almost gone but the hot weather is still here. The good news is that we are getting more rain lately and this helps with watering of lawns, shrubs, and plants. This is also hurricane season and we are now in peak hurricane season when these storms tend to threaten our area. It is time to prepare if you have not already done so. Also, make sure you have flood insurance and flood content insurance before a storm threatens our area.
In preparation for hurricanes, we also need our drainage areas cleared so water can flow easily into the retention ponds. If you have not already noticed, the retention pond when you drive into The Meadows and across from the entrance sign is very overground and the culvert pipe is blocked. Also, the culverts along Tanglewood Trail have not been dredged out for a few years and the pipes are almost totally blocked. PLEASE call or write our county commissioners and ask for this to be cleaned out. Call Pinellas County Code Enforcement about the golf course letting the retention ponds get so overgrown. We need their immediate help with this so water can flow out of our neighborhood. The HOA Board needs your help to call and write emails or letters to county commissioners and code enforcement.
Farewell To Our Residents Moving Away and Welcome To Our New Residents!
The faces in our community are changing. Just a few months ago, we shared that 8 homesites were up for sale. As of today, 5 of those 8 homesites have sold so it is time to share who has left our community and who the new residents are and where they live.
Michael Philpott has moved into 3268 Tanglewood Trail, the former residence of Donna Nichols. We wish Donna well and welcome Michael to The Meadows. Michael moved here from Washington State.
Heather and John Curulewski and their two adorable daughters have moved into 3047 Bolt Drive, the former residence of Ita Rothenberg. The Curulewski’s moved here from Chicago and Ita is living with her son, Adam and she and her dog, Jesse are happy and doing well.
Gary and Melissa Keyes have moved into 3273 Tanglewood Trail, the former residence of Maria DeBenedetto and Tom Hall. The Keyes moved here from the East Coast of FL and Maria and Tom have moved to Island Estates.
David and Nicole Paul and their young daughter have moved into 3310 Tanglewood Trail, the former residence of Don Preston. May Don RIP and I am sure he would be happy to have the Paul’s living in his home. David is familiar with our neighborhood because he lived with his parents at 3299 Tanglewood Trail in his younger years. The Paul’s will soon be welcoming another daughter to their family.
The fifth residence at 3529 Tanglewood Trail has been sold however we do not have more information to share at this time.
We welcome all of our new neighbors to The Meadows Community and hope to meet all of you soon.
WE NEED YOU! HOA Board Vacancies and Expansion
We currently have two open positions on the board, treasurer, and director. Please contact Debra for more information. Please consider joining the board and serving your community.
We are looking to expand the board by asking residents who have various skill sets to assist with various roles and responsibilities. You would not be a board member and would not have to attend the monthly board meetings, just be responsible for a specific job. As President, I cannot continue to do all that I am currently doing and devote 35-40hrs or more to maintain this community. I am currently receiving 5-7 texts or calls per day from homeowners asking questions or voicing concerns and complaints, please just email them to the board email address and you will receive a response within 24hrs.
NEW Lawn Treatment Company Contracted – Yellowstone Landscape Management
They will be working hard for the next few months to get our lawns back in shape and healthy again. Yellowstone had two crews here today treating the lawns with ARENA for chinch bugs, Fusilade for weeds in the shrubs and sprayed for weeds in the lawns about 2hrs after the application of ARENA. It will take about 15 days for the Fusalade to kill the weeds. Please do not pull the weeds during this time. It will look bad but we need to let the chemical kill the weeds from top down then pull them out when they turn brown. The weeds that have overtaken some landscape beds will need 2 treatments.
Please look at your lawn and if there are 50% or more weeds, then you need to have it replaced with St. Augustine sod. There are more lawns in need of replacement and some lawns that have chinch bug destruction will also need those areas replaced. The damaged grass will not grow back, it will turn into weeds.
Thanks to all of the homeowners who replaced their lawns after receiving a certified letter pertaining to this issue. Legal Counsel is now taking action on the ones who did not comply.
Per the covenants, it is the responsibility of the board to provide lawn service and lawn fertilization/ pesticide treatment service. It is the homeowner’s responsibility to have a lawn of St. Augustine grass, have an irrigation system, landscape at least the front of their residence, and keep their trees and palm trees trimmed as well as cutting down dead or diseased trees. Homeowner’s can install an irrigation well to cut down on the cost of watering with county water.
Special Assessment for Community Pool and Pool House Maintenance/Renovations
The board received 3 quotes from commercial pool renovation companies. We are in the process of reviewing the quotes completely before finally deciding on which company to contract with. Both quotes for the pool renovation are over $100,000. The community pool is over 40yrs old and the decking is the original cool deck.
We are in the process of getting the quotes for the renovation of the pool house exterior. The wood is rotting and has many holes in the screening. It may also need a new roof. An estimate of the total cost for both projects is not currently known. A portion of the operating budget will also be used to help fund this much needed maintenance/renovation.
There will be a letter mailed to every resident (deed owner) announcing a meeting to discuss the Special Assessment. You will receive the letter with at least two-week notice of when and where this meeting will be held to present what both projects will entail, total cost of both projects, when they will be contracted, how much the proposed special assessment will be and how that will be collected from each homeowner. There will be no voting at this meeting, we are seeking your input before the board votes and selects the best contractor for each project. We want to give all of you as much notice as possible that a special assessment is coming.
ARC Requests
Just a friendly reminder to all current and new residents, an ARC Request form needs to be completed for almost all exterior home/villa projects. Per the Covenants, Article IX. Section H. it states:
Prior to the start of any construction, installation, implementation, or erection of any exterior modification or any residence on any Lot, and before application is made to the authorities for the building permit(s), the plans and specifications for such work must be submitted to, reviewed and approved in writing by the Board of Directors of The Meadows of Tarpon Woods Homeowners Association, Inc. The Board of Directors shall have thirty (30) days to review the plans and specifications. If the Board of Directors shall fail to reject an application within thirty (30) days of receipt of a complete set of plans, said application shall be deemed accepted.
Enforcement of the Covenants is the duty of the board and not completing or turning in an ARC Request Form for approval prior to the start of an exterior project, is a violation of the covenants and residents will be held accountable.
If you are replacing a dead shrub or replacing some shrubs or landscaping with different ones, you do not need to complete an ARC form. If your landscape project changes the appearance of your home then you need to fill out and turn in a completed form to the board.
If you are painting your home or villa, you need to fill out and turn in a completed form even if you had planned to paint the same color that is currently on your house/villa. You are required to select colors from the board approved paint palette and it may be that your current paint color is not be one of the approved colors. Villa owners need to communicate with each other and select a color scheme that is agreed by all attached villa owners however, villa owners are not all required to paint their exterior at the same time.
A revised ARC Request Fillable Form is attached to this email. It can also be found on our website. The board secretary, Peter Perkins is responsible for managing the ARC Request for Approval process. We have an Architectural Review Committee who meets in person to review and make recommendations for approval to the board. The board then approves or not approves a request at the next regular scheduled board meeting.
If you have any questions about the ARC form or process, please reach out or email Peter Perkins.
Forms should be turned into Peter via email: meadowsarc74@gmail.com or mailed to 3087 Bolt Drive, Palm Harbor 34685.
The Meadows of Tarpon Woods is a great community to live in and the board wants to help in every way possible to keep home values up so let’s all work together to maintain our properties and our common areas and be neighborly to each other.
In closing, speeding is still an issue. We have many young children in our neighborhood now so please observe the 25 mph speed limit. We do not want one of our children or pets or an adult to be hit by a speeding car or truck.
We sure do love our pets but they cannot pick-up their own waste so owners please pick-up and dispose of their waste each time you walk them. Be courteous to other neighbors and do not let your dog go way up in neighbors yards.
Wishing All A Happy Labor Day Weekend!
Have Fun, Be Safe and Stay Healthy!