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| The Lakes Need Help |
As you probably know, there's been a lot of community chatter about annual dues recently. After a new budget appeared in our mailboxes with a substantially increased "ask" for annual fee, many of us began vocalizing concerns. Our communication has gotten new traction with social media, particularly on the community discussion board called Next Door. Some have been pretty bold posting condemnations of the board for everything from irresponsible spending to cronyism.
I've come to understand that our old HOA may not have been paying enough attention to the needed upkeep of the lakes. The upshot from the old days is that money had not been allocated for the degree of work needed to maintain the lakes properly.
Read up on community drainage ponds and you'll see that these are features that require regular and aggressive maintenance. After years light-handed managing, the banks are eroding, the drain pipes are filled with sludge, and non-native plants are clogging the waters.
Who cares? You do! Live on one of these lakes--there are nine--in Colonial Oaks or not, drainage concerns all of us. Still not convinced? Local environmental regulations from the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD--sounds like "swiffmud") will convince you otherwise with tax assessments covering the cost of upkeep if we don't tackle the problem ourselves.
Learn more from SWRWMD yourself in this brochure about local water management.
Th new assessments for our annual dues have been impacted by renewed concerns about these ecosystems. The Board has been researching bids and getting a crash course in drainage issues. Interested in learning more about the bids? In the last HOA meeting, I was pleased to find one of the bidders pitching his plan of improvement to the board. More bids to be pitched in the next meeting.
