We begin our report this month with my fellow Board members joining me to express our deep gratitude to Roger Hovis who has managed our gate operations during the past several years. Like a number of people here at the lake, who wish to keep our subdivision safe and neat and tidy, Roger has devoted countless hours making sure the gate is operational and addressed problems when they occurred. Roger advised us recently that he no longer wishes to serve as the gate manager, so we do want to express our appreciation to him for his past services and volunteer hours.
Residents and other property owners have noticed the gate bars were removed several weekends ago, and that is the reason. We are searching for someone who will be willing to step up and take over management of gate operations. Jason Covington has volunteered to be that person and has suggested it would be good if others volunteered to help in this effort, so that no one person would be required to be the overseer all the time. Jerry Uhlenbrock made that suggestion several years ago, however, no one offered to help Roger. Mike Leiwicke has offered to be one of the persons who will help in this regard, and so has Fred Steinmetz as well as Rich Hirsch. If there are others who have an interest, please contact Jason. Once we have people who understand the gate operation, the bars will be reinstalled.
Our new aluminum gate bars were delivered the week of January 16, 2006 and installed by Roger several days later. It didn't take long for the entry gate to be severely damaged the following weekend by someone who was found tailgating another car when entering the lake. We have identified the violator, and he has made financial amends.
We are making preparations to get one more sign installed near the front gate so that people arriving here understand that tailgating is not allowed, and when that occurs, the gate will be damaged and costs will be assessed.
I wish that my abilities allowed for me to be totally responsible for the operation of the gate, but let me assure you there is truth to the old adage that you can't teach an old dog new tricks. And let me assure you, I am old enough to realize this.
We thank Jason for offering to consider managing the operation of the gate.
There were no incidents of any nature reported to me since our last meeting, and that is good news.
In conclusion, I want to report that in the last publication of the newsletter, we asked for people's comments about whether the present schedule for when the gate bars are lowered are satisfactory, or if they should be down more hours every day of the week. Only one individual has contacted me via e-mail to suggest we should have the gates down all the time. I presume this indicates everyone is satisfied with the current schedule, and therefore, we will adhere to those wishes.
Submitted by
Ray Lauer