Hello homeowners! It is almost spring, and your landscaping team has been busy at work to ensure our common areas look their best. In January,  Board member Lisa Solick, Community Association manager Laurie Bihailo, North Shore Maintenance’s Irving Alvarado, and North Shore Compliance Manager Tanner Mews, and Servello & Sons’ (our landscaping vendor) Keith Lindquist toured the entire property to inspect landscape changes. These have been made following recommendations made by renowned horticulturist Tom MacCubbin, who has more than 50 years of experience in his field. He is best known for sharing gardening advice through his newspaper column, podcasts, and books, and was on the air in both radio and TV for decades.

Entrances and Exits

At the main entrance, many plantings as well as maintenance of existing foliage was completed in 2023. This greatly increases the attractiveness of the location and creates a great first impression for those visiting the community. On this tour, the team examined the hollies mulched along the roadside and decided not to increase mulch at this time. Much of the Asiatic Jasmine will be replaced with sod, including those between the road and sidewalk. 

The Heron entrance Dwarf Yaupon Holly is under review for replacement. In the meantime, landscapers will try pruning to ½ the height to try to increase the health of the plants.

At the Myrtle Creek Autumn entrance, the Little John Bottlebrush trees will be replaced. 

At the office exit, changes were recommended to increase visibility for sidewalk pedestrians. These include cutting back Ti Plants, removing existing Duranta and refreshing with new plants. Areas that are bare will be sodded. 

Waterways

For the natural water features, the team recommends reducing the water lilies by 1/3 to 1/5 as they are invading the lake near the entrance.  For Autumn Pond, it has been suggested to remove the Water Viburnum and to add more firebush to fill existing voids on both ends. 

Golf Course Areas

In the golf course area, several recommendations have been made. These include under-palm planting at the edge of the course before Myrtle Creek. This calls for the planting of up to 30 plants with a grass-type look, potentially Lomandra Breeze. It is recommended that the voids in the median near the golf course entrance be filled with firebrush, with the declining Duranta and Loropetalum being removed and replaced only with new Duranta. 

Recommendations have been made for the plantings at the Golf Course Circle, including fertilizing the Petunias, and adding a mix of Begonias, Angelonias, and Dwarf Zinnias along the outer edge. Existing plantings will remain until March, and plants to add height will be considered at that time. 

Common Roadways and Walkways

Throughout the community, shrubs have overtaken walkways lessening space for walkers. Shrubs will be trimmed so they don’t encroach onto the sidewalk. 

Overgrown invasive plants located near the bridge before Kirby Smith Road need attention. This includes cutting back Walter Viburnum on both sides of the road at the bridge, removing the large Brazilian Pepper Tree, which is blocking the view, and filling the voids as needed with firebrush. 

The median island improvement between Myrtle Creek and Autumn Creek Lane will include additional sod to fill voids in front of the Loropetalum and Firebrush, and removal of the Asiatic Jasmine beds. 

To conceal utility boxes and the lift station, the addition of Viburnum Suspensum in front of the sprinkler head outward, with Trinette in front to the sidewalk was discussed. 

Dog Walk Area Improvements

The designated dog walk area needs shade and view barriers. It is recommended that a row of 20-25 Crape Myrtles be added in shades of Natchez white and Tuscarora pink, or Muskogee lavender-pink. These trees can be planted in the near future. 

Other Foliage Issues

Many of the lovely Crape Myrtles are being damaged by Spanish moss. Not normally an issue with other trees, the moss overtakes the trees and causes health decline or limited growth, so the moss will be removed from all the crape myrtles. The Phoenix palms will continue to receive bronzing and nutrient injections until they are back to full health. Finally, landscapers will focus on the removal of dead or declining plants.

These improvements will help to best showcase our beautiful community. 

Since the pandemic we have been taking advantage of the convenience of videoconferencing technology. For the most, it has been well received for its convenience, accessibility and reliability. Not surprisingly, it has become the preferred way to conduct business meetings everywhere, including government entities and the judicial system, which uses it daily for depositions, hearings and many other legally sensitive matters.

Some in the community have raised questions pertaining to its proper use for HOA meetings that we’d like to address. The Department of Business and Professional Regulations, which oversees HOAs in our state, recognizes the use of Zoom and other video conferencing technology for HOA Board and Committee meetings.

Additionally, there’s nothing in Florida Statutes Chapter 720.303(2)(b), which regulates HOAs, precluding this practice. It states that members “have the right to attend meetings of the board.” For clarification purposes. It doesn’t mandate one particular way in which the attendance must be enabled, but rather that it is the members’ right to to attend. Zoom fulfills this right while making the meetings more accessible to all regardless of meeting room space, which in our case is very limited, and other potential restraints. Via Zoom, homeowners can attend Board and various Committee meetings regardless of their physical location, and even as they are on the go from any mobile device.

This HOA will continue to make its Board and various Committee meetings accessible to all homeowners by continuing the use of this technology.

 

Each year, as part of the annual budget process, the Board authorizes either a new Reserve Fund study or an update as part of a multi-year agreement with an independent company performing the Reserve Fund study.

During 2023 the final update of a three-year agreement was conducted by Global Solutions Partners. Each year the company conducting the study looks at least thirty years down the road to consider the cost of projected reserve fund assets repairs and replacements. 

Highlights of the 2023 update:

1. 1. 1. The Reserve Fund balance as of January 1, 2024 was $2,370,581.
2. An annual inflation rate of 2.5% was used in the calculations of future expenditures.
3. The contribution needed from the HOA to the Reserve Fund for 2024 is $500,000.
4. The reserve study is recommending that we refurbish:

•  All of the neighborhood entrance monument signs including the rock façade structure supporting the signs and the rock façade structures (columns) supporting the entrance and exit gates. 
• The monument sign and rock façade structure supporting it at the Moss Park Road entry as well as the rock façade structures supporting the metal fencing along the bridge at the Moss Park Road entrance ponds. 

The total estimated costs of the refurbishments are $293.041 per the Reserve Study. The Board approved that project and expenditure as part of the 2024 budget. Staff will soon be putting together a Request for Proposal (RFP) to send out to potential vendors to receive bids on the project. This is a very time-consuming task and usually takes around three months to complete the process of selecting a vendor. 

Additionally, the Board approved at the February 20th meeting to have a study done of our existing irrigation system to determine whether we should plan on replacing the system or continue to repair it as needed. The system is now at least twenty years old and has been repaired multiple times over the past twenty years. Laurie Bihailo, the HOA manager, has talked to two different companies and received very rough estimates in excess of $1,000,000 to replace the system. This study, which will cost around $42,000,  will be paid out of the Reserve Fund since we have been reserving the future cost of replacing the system. 

You can find a copy of the latest update to the Reserve Study on the website at northshoreatlakeharthoa.com. 

Our homeowners association (HOA) strives to do the best possible job managing amenities and maintaining common areas. Part of our job is also to encourage homeowners to understand and adhere to the association’s Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs), as well as HOA policies to help provide uniformity and a beautiful community we can all be proud of.

Over the course of this year, Compliance Manager Tanner Mews will be focusing his inspections on various aesthetic elements such as:

•  Cleanliness of home exteriors, including walls, driveways and sidewalks that  may be in need of pressure washing,
• Well maintained lawns that are free of weeds within the turf and flower beds, 
• Properly maintained trees and bushes, including appropriate trimming and pruning, as well as dead branch removal. The latter is particularly a noticeable eyesore in palm trees. 

It is important to communicate with our staff if you receive a notice. Homeowners will be able to use multiple platforms to communicate with the staff such as Vantaca, the new software that Access Management is transitioning to, email and phone. If you prefer to discuss it in person, you are more than welcome to drop by the office. It may be the case that you are working to resolve the issue, but without proper communication there may be no way to tell with just a visual inspection. By sharing your feedback and bringing the staff up to date you will avoid unnecessary fines.  

We understand that getting some issues resolved, especially those that require the hiring of a contractor, may take some time. That’s why homeowners may request an extension to complete the work. However, extensions can only be granted after a homeowner has received their second notice. And in the case of issues that for some reason or another may require even more time to address them properly, homeowners can often turn in an application to the Architectural Review Board  (ARB) to have a greater period of time granted. Once the approval has been requested, the violation will be placed in a monitored status throughout the ARB approval process. If approved, homeowners are granted six months to complete the work which will be followed by an inspection. Please remember that if you have an open compliance violation, it must be resolved before you submit applications for any other projects unrelated to the open violation.