Newsletter: Fall 2008
NEW
HOMEOWNERS/ RESIDENTS
Welcome to our new homeowners and
residents. You have chosen a wonderful neighborhood in which to live. I
encourage you to visit our website and to please contact me or any of
the board members if you haven’t already to obtain information on our
Homeowners Association, our rules and regulations, and a discount trash
removal program available to Woodscape residents.
WEBSITE
The Woodscape website
http://www.woodscape.info was
revised over the summer and is full of useful information such as dues,
current board member contact info, phone numbers and links to
Guilderland Town offices, and resident handy-man/vendor recommendations.
Additionally, I would like to start adding more of our landscapes, pet
photos, and general neighborhood photos to the photo gallery section of
the website. Please feel free to submit photos you wish to post on the
website to the email above and I will get them up as soon as possible.
OUTSIDE
LIGHTS
I would like to remind you to
please keep your lamp posts lit from dusk to dawn. In addition to being
a courtesy to our neighbors who routinely walk the development, a well
lit neighborhood deters crime and helps to ensure the security of our
neighborhood. A 40-watt bulb provides more than sufficient light without
placing significant burden on household energy costs. Members of the
Board will be distributing periodic reminders when lights are not lit.
PARKING
First, I would like to ask all
Woodscape residents and their guests not to park on the cul-de-sac and
common area grass. The soft ground this time of year is starting to show
the tire tracks in some areas. Secondly, I would like to remind you that
Guilderland Winter Street Parking rules go into effect on Nov 1st.
You can not park your vehicle on any town street from 2 am to 7 am or
risk being ticketed.
VEHICLE
SPEED
I ask that everyone please be
conscious of your driving speed when you’re traveling in our
neighborhood. Families walk the streets with infants and/ or dogs and
there are many children playing in our neighborhood. Be safe. We need to
be considerate of our neighbors and respect our neighborhood with proper
driving speeds.
ACCOUNTANT/
TAX PREPARER NEEDED
The Homeowners Association had for years been blessed to have one of our
Woodscape neighbors who worked for a local tax company prepare our
corporate taxes pro-bono. In the last year, this resident has since
retired and moved out of state. This year, we are faced with a $500 bill
to have our taxes prepared by the same company. The Board would like to
ask any existing Woodscape resident who is qualified in corporate tax
preparation to step up and volunteer to prepare our taxes to save the
association the $500 fee. Please contact me, Bill Taylor at
wtaylor5@nycap.rr.com or
518-857-6195 for more details.
FRONT ENTRANCE SIGN
The Board of Directors is currently
considering four competitive bids from area sign companies to replace
the decaying main entrance sign. We hope to finalize a decision on the
proper sign and commence the replacement in the up coming weeks, weather
permitted. If you would like to suggest a vendor or have any questions,
please call or email the board immediately as the time to do so is
coming to a close.
GARBAGE
CANS
As a reminder, garbage cans can not
be stored in the front of your home until the night before pickup.
Keeping your waste cans out of view of your neighbors is a necessary
courtesy to maintain a clean neighborhood appearance. Please be vigilant
in keeping cans out of sight. Association members will be distributing
reminders periodically when residents neglect to do so.
FLOODING
Our Woodscape neighborhood has been
suffering from periodic flooding over the last couple of years. The
flooding has grown worse as the recent rain has become more forceful and
heavy. The most effected area covers the wooded area between the
Woodscape cul-de-sacs Townwood Drive and Greenhill Court. Here exists a
stream that is fed from a culvert pipe that comes from under the NYS
Thruway as well as some other tributaries. This stream enters a very old
and smaller culvert pipe that runs behind a few townhouses on Townwood
Drive and under a small swath of Association common property. It is this
pipe that is the cause of the flooding.
This pipe has been cleaned out annually over the last few years by a professional company, Drain Solutions, which has been hired and paid for by the Homeowners Association. The cost has been $300-$500 per cleaning. The most recent cleaning was done on October 12th in response to rat sightings along the stagnant water’s edge.
After the most recent cleaning, Drain Solutions stated that there are a great number of roots growing through the pipe. They say that as the roots continue to grow, the frequency to have the pipe “jetted” will increase as well. They have advised to either, have the drain bored out, have the pipe replaced, or dig a trench along the pipe to connect the two areas of the stream and reinstitute the original stream.
The Association Board is actively investigating the ownership of the land surrounding this pipe to establish proper responsibility of maintaining the pipe. If you would like to learn more about the issue, please feel free to contact me, Bill Taylor at wtaylor5@nycap.rr.com or 518-857-6195.
LANDSCAPING
In the upcoming weeks the Association Board will taking competitive bids
from landscapers to cut our grass, maintain our mulch, and prune our
trees. Please contact any Association Board member with recommendations.
IN
CONCLUSION
I want to send a special thank you
to Lois Berry and Ann Malone who through their efforts and some good
weather created a very successful garage sale.
Regards,
Bill Taylor, President, Woodscape Homeowners Association