In This Issue - February 2004
Holiday Lighting Contest Winners
Be a Director
Annual Membership Meeting and Election of Directors
Yards Look Good
Cypress Isles Contact List
Yard of the Month
Neighborhood Watch
New WLCA Board Elected
Floods, Your Mortgage Company, and YOU
Do You Know Where Your Pets Are?
Holiday Lighting Contest Winners
Last year's Holiday Lighting Contest was, December 21. Here are the kudos
and prizes.
It was another difficult year for the judges in Cypress Isles, trying to
choose the best holiday lighting displays from among dozens of very well
decorated homes. Several design approaches seemed evident - most lights
on a single electric meter; most colors; most diverse mix of lamp types;
best overall color composition; best all-white composition; most extension
cords connected to a single outlet; most well-aligned net lighting; most
cheerful display; most elegant display; and most grazing electric animals.
In the end, we chose three awards and one honorable mention. The winners
of the 2003 Cypress Isles Holiday Lighting Contest are:
Be a Director
Cypress Isles is running smoothly, but we will need some new directors in
April. Could you be one? Think about it.
As noted by the late U. S. House speaker Thomas "Tip" O'Neill.
"all politics is local." So before you contemplate your choices
for U.S. congress, senate and presidency later in 2004, consider being a
choice for the Cypress Isles Board on April 20th.
Granted, the Cypress Isles Board doesn't decide whether to invade other
countries or whether to confine pregnant pigs, but we do oversee how our
common properties are maintained, and how the occasional homeowner situations
are handled. These tasks are neither difficult nor politically charged,
but they are still important, and they need conscientious attention by level-headed
people - such as you.
Cypress Isles has been self-governing since 2000, and most of the "kinks"
have been worked out. Nothing runs perfectly on Planet Earth, but Cypress
Isles works pretty well. We don't have any major problems, thanks to a steady
stream of responsible decisions by responsible Boards with help from responsible
property managers. Most importantly, our homeowners care about their properties
(just look around), and the Boards care about the homeowners. Responsible
caring makes it all happen.
The Cypress Isles Board has nine directors - a group that is small enough
to work effectively, and large enough so that nobody gets stuck with too
much work. Some directors will be running for re-election, but other directors
will be leaving the Board for various personal reasons unrelated to Cypress
Isles. As a result we will need some new candidates for Director.
Each homeowner will receive a blank Candidate Information Form along with
the notice of the Annual Meeting in the coming months, but why wait that
long? If you'd like to help keep Cypress Isles as one of the best neighborhoods
in east Orlando, talk to any Board member anytime. If you'd like to see
how the Board works, come to our next meeting on February 17th.
Elections are Tuesday April 20th. The term of office is one year. The people
are good and the properties are good. If this prospect intrigues you, we
need you. Think it over.
Dennis Horazak, President(running for re-election)
Annual Membership Meting and
Election of Directors
The Annual Membership Meeting will be held on Tuesday April 20th, 2004 at
7:00 p.m. Approximately 5 weeks before, in the week of March 15th, each
homeowner will receive a written invitation to attend the meeting. Included
with the invitation will be a 'Candidate Information Sheet' and a 'Proxy
Sheet'. We urge you to consider running for a position on the board, since
vacancies in the board membership are bound to occur and good candidates
to fill these positions are needed from time to time. Furthermore we strongly
urge each of you to attend the meeting in order to meet the candidates and
vote in person. If you are not able to attend the meeting, please send in
the proxy to the Secretary or bring it to the meeting. Your presence in
person or via proxy is needed to obtain a 30% (30% of 140 is 42) quorum
to be able to conduct the meeting.
Jean ThomsinSecretary of the Board
Yards Look Good
The neighborhood looks great, with most people taking good care of palms,
shrubs, bushes and lawns.
No ARC violations have been given out in awhile, and the few homeowners
who had received notices are in the process responding. The ARC is planning
to walk around the neighborhood again in the spring, so keep up the good
work!
Chip Crane, Architectural Review Committee
Board
Cypress Isles Contact List:
Board Members
Chip Crane, Director 407 823-8601 chptv@aol.com
Myron Davis, Treasurer 407 737-8200 mdavis8200@adelphia.net
Steve Hartman, Director 407 384-8203 steve.w.hartman@gsk.com
Dennis Horazak, President 407 207-6557 densus@bellsouth.net
Larry Sheeler, Vice-President 407 448-2979 larry325@bellsouth.net
Bill Snook, Director 407 380-2202 wsnook1@cfl.rr.com
Cookie Symons, Director 407 273-5460 minnieland@aol.com
Jean Thomsin, Secretary 407 306-8459 j.thomsin@worldnet.att.net
Ron Wiley, Director 407 384-2564 rwiley4@cfl.rr.com
Tom Bontrager, Penn First Management 407 260-5344 Ext.205 tbontrager@pennfirst.net
Dennis Bode, Webmaster dbode@cfl.rr.com
CI News Editor and Copyboy
Sandy & Denny Horazak 407 207-6557 sanden@bellsouth.net
Handy Numbers
Animal Control (unleashed pets, etc.) 407 352-4390
Orange County Sheriff Non-emergency 407 737-2400
Yard of the Month
Art and Tina Gordon of 508 Divine Circle were awarded the Yard of the Month
for December 2003.
Congratulations on your exemplary yard!
Neighborhood Watch
We're happy to report that it was another quiet quarter -- well, almost.
We had one report of a Santa and snowmen characters stolen from a homeowner's
front lawn for the second time in four years. We are sorry for these incidents,
and can only again suggest that you try to find a way to anchor down your
lawn decorations.
Here are some other noteworthy reminders that apply all year long:
Keep your garage doors closed when you are not in your garage or in the
nearby area.
Lock your car doors, and bring in garage remotes from cars left in driveway.
If you're away, have a neighbor bring in your newspaper and any fliers left
at your front door.
Use timers on your lights when you're away.
Let's be careful out there!
Neighborhood Watch Coordinators:
Cookie Symons - 407-273-5460
Myron Davis - 407-737-8200
Sandy Horazak - 407-207-6557
New WLCA Board Elected
Representatives from the 25 Waterford Lakes neighborhoods elected three
new members to the WLCA Board at the annual meeting on January 27th. After
the election, the Board elected its own officers. Here is the 2004 Board.
President Jim Witmer (Bramble Bluff) begins his first year as president and the second year of his 2-year term as director.
Vice President Tom Bontrager (Bradfordt Village) was elected to a 2-year term.
Secretary-Treasurer Alvin Little (Bradfordt Village) was re-elected to a 2-year term.
Member Tom Greenwood (Bradfordt Lakes) begins the second year of his 2-year term.
Member Bill Massey (Barrington) was elected to a 2-year term.
Floods, Your Mortgage Company,
and YOU
We first ran Michael Langan's article in the May 2003 issue, and we're running
it again for those who are new to the community.
Your mortgage carrier may tell you that you need flood insurance when you
do not. If you are notified by your mortgage carrier that you need Flood
Insurance, here are the steps to take to resolve this issue.
1 - Contact your mortgage company, and discuss everything and explain what
you will be doing to resolve this matter.
2 - Contact Orange County Public Works Department. (407) 836-7990
3 - Explain that you are being told that your mortgage company is requiring
that you purchase flood insurance within 45 days. They will send you the
necessary documents that show your property in a SHFA (Special Flood Hazard
Area), but that your structure is not located in a SHFA. Specifically they
should reference Letter of Map Amendment case no: 94-04-952A.
4 - Send a copy of this information to your mortgage carrier, and be sure
that they send you a letter stating that you no longer are required to carry
Flood Insurance. Keep all correspondence for your records, if this should
pop-up again.
I hope this helps.
Michael Langan
Do You Know Where Your Pets Are?
They're in our yard!
We know you love your pets. So do we. Okay, so we don't love your pets as
much as we love our own. We especially don't love your pets when they are
allowed to roam free, using our properties as their personal toilet area,
and upsetting our pets, which are either leashed, or being kept under control
in our screen enclosures. This applies to dogs and cats. It's also against
the law
not part of the local or master HOA documents, but an Orange
County law. Orange County enforces animal leash and waste laws subject to
fines up to $500 for non-compliance. And don't forget to clean up your pet's
waste. We only want to clean up after our own pets, so please be responsible
for yours. Report violators to Orange County Animal Control 407-352-4390.