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Items of Interest from the Goldenwood West
POA Office
August 1, 2009
Neighborhood Poll
The Board of Trustees has completed many budgeted improvements in our common area this year. The planting beds at the pavilion have been irrigated and the irrigation in the entry sign bed has been repaired. The tennis court has been resurfaced and the iron gates at the pool have been repaired and fitted with hydraulic hinges. New pool furniture has been enjoyed by many and the pool has a new pump and filter to keep up with our swimmers. The Board is continuing to seek more solutions to optimize the pool to keep it enjoyable for everyone as well as look to the future to budget for other improvements. In order to reflect the neighborhood’s interests in both upgrades and repairs and also new improvements in our common area, the Board is asking for your input to help guide future budget plans. Click here to download a survey asking for your ideas; included are many empty lines for your suggestions. Please return to the POA box at the mail station or through regular mail to the POA office.
Proposed Zip Code Change
At the suggestion of several property owners, the Board of Trustees is considering petitioning the U.S. Postal Service to change our mailing address from Austin 78737 to Driftwood 78619. Our mail is currently delivered by the Oak Hill Station post office in Austin located at 6104 Old Fredericksburg Road; any certified letters or special packages that a property owner needs to pick up at the post office are at the Oak Hill Station post office. The proposed change would enable our mail to come through the post office in Driftwood at 100 Elder Hill Road. The Driftwood mail carrier would still deliver to our boxes at the mail station at the front of the subdivision but any certified letters would then be picked up at the Driftwood post office. Some of the supporting ideas for requesting the change are proximity (the Driftwood post office is approximately 5.5 miles from our neighborhood while the Oak Hill post office is approximately 11 miles), shorter lines and wait times at the Driftwood post office than Oak Hill, and simply identifying with the area where we live (we do not truly live in Austin or Dripping Springs and are closest to Driftwood). The Board would like to know where property owners in our neighborhood stand on this issue and asks for you to please mark your preference accordingly on the enclosed survey.
Pool Practices
The Board is working closely with our pool service company to find solutions to keep our pool clean and clear with the large number of swimmers we have this year. The pool has a new filter which was installed at the start of the swim season and now also has a new pump which was installed a few weeks ago. Even with these new upgrades, the older design of our pool and the drain plumbing does not give optimal flow to the filter so at times the pool is still struggling to keep up with the usage. The Board has stepped up the service schedule to help the filter; we now have full service visits on Monday and Friday, this includes backwashing the filter, vacuuming the bottom and balancing the chemicals, i.e. chlorine. Then on Wednesday, we have a service visit simply to check the chemicals and add chlorine and backwash the filter if needed. The Board is exploring options for a salt system to chlorinate the pool which will be easier on the eyes.
In order to achieve a balance between our filter and our swimmers, the Board is asking property owners to adopt some suggested "Best Practices" when using the pool:
| Apply sunscreen before arriving at the pool to give it time to penetrate the skin and not wash off in the pool and slow down the filter |
| Shower before entering the pool (there is a shower on the west side of the pavilion behind the rest room), |
| Use swim diapers and not regular diapers (and if there is any kind of diaper accident, contact the Administrator immediately (858-9528) so we can contact the pool company to treat the pool) |
If wearing long hair in a pony tail, please exit the pool before removing rubber bands to minimize hair in the pool and filter. |
Keeping the pool clean is a priority for the Board and any pool upgrades that should be considered will be discussed at the next BOT meeting.
Email Option for Pool Code
If you would like to receive the new pool code each month via email, sign up for emailed billing and your statement which includes the pool code will be emailed to you at the first of each month. Contact the Administrator to sign up.
Oak Wilt
After a recent diagnosis of Oak Wilt in the GWW neighborhood, former GWW Board member Tom Watson, who is also a Texas Master Naturalist and Retired Botany Professor, offers the following information for property owners on diagnosing and treating Oak Wilt. Thanks to Tom for putting together this information for the neighborhood:
Because of the extreme drought conditions, our trees are under significant physiological stress and, as a result, some are dying for lack of soil moisture. In addition, when under stress trees are susceptible to insect infestations and diseases that are normally present but usually not harmful. The ultimate culprit in this instance is not the infectious microorganism but rather the drought. Oak Wilt, on the other hand, will spread through healthy trees even in wet years. Oak Wilt fungus is diagnosed by a particular pattern of discoloration in the leaves (see below) at first followed by defoliation as the disease progresses. When a tree has died and completely defoliated, it is almost impossible to accurately determine the cause of death.
Oak wilt is a fungal disease that primarily infects red oaks, among which are our cultivated Shumard Oak and our native Spanish and Blackjack Oaks. White Oaks (such as Post Oak, Burr Oak, Chinquapin Oak) are resistant to the fungus with the notable exception of Live Oak. The fungus in Live Oaks spreads from tree to tree in two ways: through wounds and through the roots. The usual spread of the disease is through the roots because roots of oak trees in close proximity are joined; the fungal filaments and spores then spread from one tree trunk to another by traveling inside the roots. The second mode of infection is by spores carried from an infected tree by small beetles (called nitids) to a wound in another tree. These spores can also be carried from one tree to another on garden tools such as pruning shears. The disease, unlike other airborne and insect-carried diseases, spreads slowly from tree to tree.
The diagnostic features of an Oak Wilt infection is browning or discoloration of the veins in the leaves (veinal necrosis), abnormal leaf abscission (many leaves falling in a season other than early Spring), and eventual defoliation in which the tree develops a "naked" appearance. Under drought stress otherwise healthy trees will drop leaves and kill small branches so these two features taken alone do NOT indicate a tree is infected with Oak Wilt; the leaves must show the discoloration pattern of the leaf veins in addition. Another feature of Oak Wilt occurrence is the presence of an "infection zone" in which trees in close proximity exhibit the diagnostics listed above; in other words, more than one tree at a site will show signs of infection.
Treatment of Oak Wilt infections is by deep trenching around the infection zone which severs the roots radiating out from the infected trees. The trees within the trenched perimeter may then be removed. Simply cutting down the infected trees will NOT prevent disease spread as the roots will continue to live. Any tree(s) within the infected zone that does not appear to be heavily diseased can be treated with a fungicide which is injected into the trunk at ground level and will prolong the life of the tree.
Spread of Oak Wilt can be contained by avoiding pruning healthy trees from February until mid-July which is the cooler time of the year in which the nitid beetles are active, by sterilizing pruning instruments with Lysol or a dilute solution of bleach, and by painting over pruning wounds with pruning paint. Since the temperatures are uncharacteristically hot this year, the Texas Forest Service approved pruning in late June so it is safe to prune Live Oaks now until next February.
If a tree is suspected of having Oak Wilt, one should contact the Texas Agrilife Extension Service, the Texas Forest Service, or an arborist who has been certified for oak wilt identification by the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA). Contact information for these services and more information regarding oak wilt is on the official oak wilt website. Please be aware that if your tree(s) is dying, it may be due to drought stress and not from Oak Wilt.
APC Yard of the Month
The Architectural & Protective Committee proudly recognizes Yard of the Month winner Karen Guess of 17123 Westview Trail. The committee emphasizes that during this time of drought, it is not advocating water usage to beautify yards, but simply selects properties to recognize that are well maintained and add value to our neighborhood.
Upcoming Meetings 08/10/2009 – BOT @ 6:30 PM at the pavilion. 08/13/2009 – APC @ 6:30 PM at the pavilion.
Business Sponsor
Marsh-Vorspan Partners
Office Phone: (512) 450-0305
Office Fax: (512) 292-1493
Email: info@marshvorspan.com
www.marshvorspan.com
Marsh-Vorspan is a member of NARI, the National Association of the Remodeling Industry, Austin Energy Green Building Program, HBA Greater Austin and the Better Business Bureau. We are also a Certified Remodeler, certified by NARI. |
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