September, 2003
Dear Friends and Neighbors:
I am writing this letter to update you on
major events in the Deerwood community over the past five
months. My April letter identified six items the Board planned
to focus on this year. The following is a summary of their
current status:
- The drainage study and water flow
modeling has been complete. The system is generally in
better condition than we anticipated, but certain segments
are 30-40 years old and deteriorating. We now have a
strategic plan for replacement. Eight projects were
completed this summer. Unexpected problems do occur, but we
believe there will be less of those in the future.
- We have just begun the budgeting process
for 2004. Our Finance Committee will be finalizing the
Reserve Study and incorporate much of it in the budget
planning for next year and beyond.
- An architect was engaged to assist in the
renovation and expansion of the playground. The first design
was good but constrained by the limited land then available
for expansion, to include a soccer field and jogging/fitness
trail. Recently, through agreements reached by the Deerwood
Country Club and the DIA (see enclosed joint letter)
additional lands are available to us. Our architect will
revise the plans over the next several months.
- In May, new entrance gates were installed.
In late June, the barcode readers and software began to
operate slowly and a decision was made to operate the gates
manually until replacement systems could be installed. After
a review of access control systems available, the Board
selected EZ Gate offered by CQ systems. We also approve the
purchase of new barcode readers. By the end of September the
installation should be complete. You will be asked to verify
that your existing data had been converted to the new
software properly. After that you will be able to update
your guest lists via the Internet.
- The project of fencing the open area in the
northeast quadrant of Deerwood was temporarily sidetracked.
Over Memorial weekend three individuals robbed Carraba's
restaurant and two attempted to escape a police chase by
jumping the Deerwood fence near Walgreen's. Since then the
Board has been meeting with two security consulting firms to
determine what additional options might be appropriate for
our community. We anticipate reviewing their recommendations
in October. We have recently authorized installing some
fencing in the northeast corner where we have discovered
some vunrablity to vehicular traffic.
- Through mailings, the website, and handouts
at the entrance gates we have attempted to keep everyone
informed on the planning for road improvements at Baymeadow
and Southside. At the time of this writing, JTA"s
recommendation has not been made public. Please continue to
check the website for updates.
In addition to the above, three other items
are noteworthy of highlighting.
- The JEA advised us in the spring of their
plans to bring reclaimed water to the Club for irrigation
use. Hollyridge Road north of the Club will be effected. The
project is running about 90 days behind their original
estimates having just started in the past week. Please see
the website for more information on this.
- In the past month, the JEA contacted us
about upgrading their electrical cable in most areas of
Deerwood. We understand they will be putting new cable under
the middle of the roads using small holes and some form of
directional drilling to minimize the damage to roads and the
disruption of traffic.
- By unanimous vote, the Board decided to
discontinue Channel 118. It was expensive to operate and
cumbersome to use. We believe the website is an improvement.
Please mark your calendars that our Fall
Festival is planned for November 15th. The Public Relations
committee is also planning a holiday event for families in
December. More information will be included in the Fall/Winter
Newsletter and the website.
We appreciate the residents who have recently
volunteered to join our Public Relations, Finance and Security
committees and the Playground improvement team.
While you can still access the DIA website at www.dia-jax.com,
you can also use www.MyDeerwood.com.
This new address is a joint directory page that will connect you
to either the DIA's or the Club's websites. More and more
information will be made available through the website.
Accordingly, if you do not have access to the Internet please
advise May Management in writing so that we can maintain a list
of those individuals we will need to write or call in special
situations.
Sincerely,
Lee M. Evans
President
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