CoryLakes APRIL MAY 2010.pub - IKarePublishing

Board Room Continued…The City of Tampa’s Water Department came out to thecommunity to verify that it was the City’s water that wasbeing used. Their tests showed that it was City ofTampa water, but some work needed to be done on thewater quality, so that was done immediately. However,there was still some question on the source of severalirrigation feeds and it appeared that usage meters werenot installed at these locations. Since March of 2009,District representatives have repeatedly contacted theCity to ask for next steps in figuring out what was goingon with some of the irrigation areas since Nanak’s stillcould not locate meters for these areas. In the meantime,irrigation without meters were shut off until and remainshut off today.After further investigation, it was determined that there areapproximately 36-38 illegal taps into the City waterlines, whichfeed small areas around Cory Lake Isles. These areas are alittle over a half acre IN TOTAL. The CDD has had numerousdiscussions with the City over this issue to determine whowould be responsible to rectify the water taps.It has been determined, based on input from horticulturistsand other specialists, that the areas affected by these illegalwater taps contain Florida Friendly Landscaping (FFL). FFLmeans that the plant material can sustain itself based onnatural precipitation and does not need supplementalirrigation. It should be noted that these areas have not hadirrigation for a year or more, and are continuing to thrive.The District is not the entity responsible for these illegal tapsand the CDD Board is continuing to maintain that stance.Despite what the St. Pete Times articles indicated, there hasbeen no agreement for the District to pay anything pertainingto this incident. The District has determined that thelandscaping does not need irrigation in those areas, andtherefore has agreed with the City’s decision to come out andcap off the illegal taps. The City of Tampa has been out inCory Lake Isles performing this work for the last severalweeks. While it is recognized that it has been disruptive tomany residents and cumbersome for those whose lots wereaffected by the digging, the City has committed to repairingand restoring everything back to the original state. If you arenot satisfied with how an area is left, please contact the City ofTampa Water Department at (813) 274-8121.2. Synopsis of the Canary Island Date Palm “street tree”policy. To reiterate what was mentioned in the lastnewsletter, the bottom line is, the District has requestedthat residents maintain their own Canary Island DatePalm “street trees,” by watering, trimming, and fertilizingthem as appropriate. This decision was driven by thesubstantial costs involved with tree removal andreplacement. Because these trees are privately ownedby residents, it was not prudent for the CDD to handlemaintenance on them. To understand further details, likethe reasons why and updates on policy regardingreplacements and handling of diseased trees, please goto www.corylakescdd.com to review the policy in full.3. Though it may not be immediately noticeable, therehave been many improvement projects underwaywithin the community. We’ll touch on just a few in thisportion of the article.Cachet Isle Gate: This was a project paid for by specialassessment to the Cachet homeowners living behind thegate. A user group comprised of these residents was createdand they approved each step of the project. The gate wasrepaired several safety improvements were made. Overall theuser group is quite pleased with the changes. Additionally, itshould be noted that there is a special reserve set up for futuremaintenance and improvements to the Cachet Isle Gate withalmost $10k in it, so barring any unforeseen catastrophes,Cachet residents should not expect to see another specialassessment for a while.The Beach Club required several improvements this pastyear. The windows were tinted with film that is hurricane proof,provides shade and filters UV rays that were damaging thecarpet and raising the temperature inside the building. Also, theBeach Club was suffering water damage from poor drainage.A new drainage system was designed and installed around thestructure to remedy this situation. Several tiles (both inside andout) were repaired or replaced and properly secured to thebuilding (you may have noticed tiles had fallen off from theexterior of the building and from the fire place and TV area).A security system was installed to protect the Beach Club andgym, including recorded security cameras for added monitoring.The dock walkway and lighting were repaired and improved forsafety. Electrical work was performed to fix code violations withlighting fixtures and outlets. Geo-webbing (plastic webbing filledwith rocks) was installed along the shoreline behind the BeachClub. This is meant to address the erosion problem that waseating away at the foundation of the building. In recent past,kids have been seen throwing the rocks into the lake. Pleasenote that these rocks are there to keep the webbing in placeand prevent further erosion and damage to the Beach Clubstructure. Please do not remove or play with these rocks.There are still many more improvements left to be made, but ithas come a long way.Playground equipment at the Beach Club was replaced and anew toddler area was built complete with fake turf – no morebringing home half the beach in your kid’s shoes after playing atthe park! The volleyball area was in complete disrepair, so itwas decided to tear that down and reclaim all of that sand tomake the beach look new again. Once the beach was combedand cleaned, the place looks new again! There are many ideasswirling around for what to do with some of the reclaimed areaon the beach. Look for opportunities to share your opinions withthe Strategic Planning Committee that is now forming!Around the community, you may have noticed that all signlighting has been repaired and upgraded for better illuminationand safety. Additionally, both entrances are getting an electricoverhauling to replace faulty and dangerously neglected andoutdated hardware. Cross Creek entrance is getting a facelift tomake it a showcase entrance (at press time, the repairs and firststages of painting have already begun!).Most likely you’ve noticed the repairs that have been done tothe brick streets, replacing damaged areas and fixing deeplydepressed sections. The District had taken strides to reuse asmany bricks as possible to keep a consistent color palette. Thisminimizes cost, optimizes response time to address problemareas and maintains the look of the roads. Currently the roadsare about 20% fixed, leaving 80% of the repairs. These roadshave been neglected for over a decade, this is a significanteffort with large costs associated with the repairs. To keep othercosts down, the Landscaping committee has dedicatednumerous hours of volunteer time to move plants, clearovergrown brush, and suppress the street “crack weeds” (thoseweeds that pop up between the last brick and the gutter area oryour drive way).Continued On Page 8...Page 6 Ikare Publishing, Inc. 907-3629