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Good Morning.
This past January, 23 residents volunteered to be part of the Buildings
and Grounds Committee and over the last 8 months these folks have
contributed many hours and much sweat and effort, to the furtherance of
the goals and objectives of this committee.
The scope of the committee’s endeavors extends beyond the basic
maintenance of the buildings and grounds of Cypress Landing. It also
includes the ponds, dams, swales and culverts that make up our Storm
Water System, our storage lots, roads and signage, and the
Beautification of this community. This year’s team has willingly taken
on these and other tasks and I’d like to tell you about some of their
diverse and visible activities:
• During last year’s routine inspection of the community, several sink
holes and erosion sites were identified. This year, working with our
Engineering firm, we contracted and repaired:
- Erosion problems
at the culvert on Cypress Landing Parkway, just past James Court.
- Erosion problems
in the easement off Cypress Landing Trail in Phase II.
- Sink hole
resulting from a crushed drainage pipe in an easement off Clubhouse
Road.
These repairs cost over $36,000; the funds coming from a 2006 Repair
Reserve fund and 2007 budgeted expenses, specifically marked for these
projects.
• Redesigned and constructed 39 new Kayak Racks along the Marina’s
bulkhead walkway.
• This spring, after much effort by team members and staff, we finally
secured the Storm Water Permits from the NCDWQ. These documents describe
our duties and responsibilities with regards to the maintenance of our
Storm Water System.
• For the first time, the depths of all our Storm Water ponds were
measured to determine if and where we had any silt build-up areas. We do
have some minor issues, which we are addressing, but overall, the depths
of the ponds are better than we expected, considering the ponds are now
10 years old.
• Developed a plan to expand our storage facilities by 58 spaces, using
our land adjacent to Storage Lot A, and if approved, bring the total to
210 spaces.
• In a few weeks, 8 of the 12 posts in the Bay Club will be removed,
thus improving the sight lines.
• In the area of Community Beautification, the members planted:
- 9 Elm and 3
Gingko trees in the Marina Drive peninsular.
- 64 Juniper and 3
ornamental grass plants along Cypress Landing Parkway.
- 9 clusters of
camellia and hydrangea bushes along Cypress Landing Trail and camellia
bushes on either side of the Fitness Center entrance.
Our Beautification plan for the remainder of this year includes:
- Planting trees
and bushes and constructing benches for the Phase II Upper Pond area.
- Constructing
another landscape wall (using the last of the Schaffer’s donated blocks)
along Cypress Landing Parkway.
- Planting
ornamental grasses along the Cypress Landing Trail.
- Replacing the
bridge and planting ornamental grasses at the entrance to the Nature
Trail on Clubhouse Road.
So far, this year’s Beautification efforts have cost about $4,800.
However, the estimated street-value (cost by outside contractors) is
upwards of $19,000, or a savings of over $14,000 to the community.
If you haven’t had the opportunity to see some of the pictures of the
committee’s work, please stop by at the B & G’s sign-up table
outside…you just might find it interesting enough to want to join us.
At this time, I’d like to ask the members of the B & G committee to rise
and be recognized for their time and efforts.
Thank you.
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