News

 

Drivers traveling at a high rate of speed continue to pose a safety threat. 

Recent incidents of drivers exceeding the posted speed limit include personal property and community damages.

 

Folks, please obey our neighborhood Speed Limit! 

 

 

Please do not allow animals in the playground, anyone caught wil lbe responsible for the clean up and replacement of the mulch

Greater Pines home assessment fees are collected annually with your property taxes by the Lake County Tax Collector. According to the Bylaws of the Greater Pines Homeowner’s Association, Inc., these mandatory fees are for neighborhood operating expenses. They are intended to pay electricity bills for street lamps, landscaping, general repairs and maintenance of community areas that include the pool & cabana, tennis courts, tot-lot, water retention areas, entrance monument walls and the wall along Hancock Road.

 

Membership in the Greater Pines HOA is voluntary. Applications for membership may be submitted to the HOA Board of Directors along with $20 annual dues payment, which is due at the beginning of each calendar year.

 

Monies collected from the membership dues are used for social activities in the community. Prior activities include ice-cream socials, movie nights, community-wide garage sales, neighborhood breakfast, pool parties and the very popular Annual Family Summer Fun Days and Winter Holiday Parties. Additionally, HOA members are entitled to vote for your Board of Directors at the Annual Meeting. These special events are designed to promote and foster neighborhood involvement.

 

COVID-19 caused the cancellation of most 2021 neighborhood activities. We hope to bring them back as soon as safely possible.

 

Membership applications and dues may be mailed to the HOA at 14925 Greater Pines Blvd, Clermont FL 34711.   They can also be paid on this website via paypal. You can reach the HOA by calling (352) 404-7878, or Email at GPHOA@cfl.rr.com

                                          

 

Statewide, 92% of vehicle break-ins occur on unlocked vehicles. 

An overwhelming amount of weapons, mostly handguns have been stolen from such vehicles.

 

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office urges you to protect yourself against this type of crime by taking the following actions:

 

·      Always lock your unoccupied vehicles and do not leave weapons of any type in them.

 

·      Remove valuables from your vehicle. Criminals are attracted to valuable items left in sight.

 

The HOA Board of Directors would like to extend our deepest gratitude to all the volunteers that help keep our neighborhood GREATER!

 

To the members of the Neighborhood Watch & Safety Committee, Architectural Review Board and the many flexible volunteers:

 

You are all amazing and our community is better because of you!

 

 

As Americans focus our attention on a safe and healthy reopening of our country, it remains critically important that as Florida residents, we also remember to make the necessary preparations for hurricane season which began on June 1st.

 

Take time now to prepare for an emergency and potentially catastrophic damage.  Take steps to minimize damage to your home and property as well as the homes and properties of your neighbors.

 

We’ve compiled a list of helpful links to aid neighbors in preparing for hurricane season.

 

Preparations to complete before hurricane season:

 

For specific information regarding how to prepare during a hurricane watch, hurricane warning and what to do during a storm please refer to the following links:

 

The National Weather Service and NOAA have compiled a wealth of materials and activities to help educate and discuss severe weather (including hurricanes) with kids and teens here: 

 

Check in with your neighbors and help the elderly or others who may need assistance getting prepared ahead of a storm.  Consider exchanging phone numbers and contact information so that you have them in the event of an emergency.  

 

Together, we can weather any storms.

SOURCE: The News Leader, Clermont April 1, 2020

 

Here are several FREE resources for interesting projects and fun activities to keep youngsters busy:

 

Award-winning children's author and illustrator Mo Willems, the Kennedy Center's first Education Artist-in-residence, is offering educational "Lunch Doodles" videos daily at 1 PM EDT at www.kennedy-center.org/education/mo-willems 

or on the Kennedy Center's You Tube cannel (www.youtube.com/channel/UCeJesXuEK5ERsyh-0DvM4PQ)

 

NASA offers a ton of educational and fun resources for children and students of all ages,

from spacesuit coloring pages to instructions on how to build and launch a foam rocket.

Visit nasa.gov/stem-at-home-for-students-k-4.html

 

The Old Farmer's Almanac has a nice variety of games and stories at www.almanac.com/kids

 

Scholastics offers resources for teaching grades K-12 to keep kids reading, thinking and growing.

Visit classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome.html

 

The San Diego Zoo has a website just for kids with interesting videos, activities, fun critter facts and games.

Visit kids.sandiegozoo.org

 

Yellowstone National Park virtual tours provide opportunity to explore the vast park from the comfort of your home.

Begin your trek at www.nps.gov/yell/learn/photosmultimedia/virtualtours.htm

 

PBS Kids has games, videos and more to entertain and educate the younger members of your household. Visit pbskids.org

 

 

For CoronaVirus Questions:

 

The LAKE COUNTY CITIZEN LINE is open.

Residents may call (352) 742-4830 

Monday-Friday, 8 AM - 5 PM

 

 

The FLORIDA DEP'T OF HEALTH HOTLINE

can be reached 24/7 by calling 1-866-779-6121

 

 

Over the last several months your HOA accepted bids and contracted with an environmental company to clean and grade the neighborhood’s storm
water runoff retention areas, culverts and baffles.  In all, there are 25 drainage culverts with baffles in Greater Pines and nearly all of them were almost completely blocked with debris. Unfortunately, there was a huge volume of garbage and litter including old car tires, engine oil bottles, (even an old set of crutches!) as well as papers, soda/beer cans and bottles, snack wrappers, paper etc.

 

 

      

 

As homeowners, please be mindful that all of the street gutters in Greater Pines lead to these drainage areas. It is vitally important that yard clippings and waste not be blown into the street where it eventually makes its way down these drains then collects and quickly blocks the flow of water.  Instead it should be blown back into the yard-please be sure to communicate this to any lawn service you use!  These culverts do not drain into Lost Lake at the back of the neighborhood as the lake and immediate surroundings have been deemed a conservation area by the State of Florida.  Instead the water is directed into one of the retention areas until it is absorbed or evaporated.

The expense to complete this project was approximately $20,000, however it is evident from the pictures it was long overdue. Thanks to the foresight and planning of the Board there were sufficient funds available to complete this project.  After recent heavy rains, the drainage system proved it was restored and working as intended. 

 

Moving forward, the landscaping crew is responsible for maintaining the baffles and drainage areas, keeping them free of litter and clearing any vegetation as it grows.  Additionally, there will be annual Spring time inspections of the baffles and regularly scheduled inspections every 5 years of the rest of the pipes/cleanouts.

 

     

 

 

A few weeks ago our Board of Directors were walking neighborhood property with members of the Florida Forest Service and examining pine trees for pine beetle infestation when the Forest Service noticed an infestation of Cogon Grass.  The Foresters immediately became very concerned and adamantly recommended doing whatever it takes to eradicate it as quickly as possible. 

Cogon grass is an invasive, non-native plant that is considered a pest in 73 countries and one of the “Top 10 Worst Weeds in the World.”  It is extremely difficult to control once established, and the longer treatment is delayed the more expensive treatment becomes.  Left untreated, it will increase fire hazard, kill pine trees, decrease native plant and wildlife habitat and continue to spread, ultimately decreasing the value of real estate. (Reference: Florida Department of Agriculture and the Florida Forest Service Websites https://www.freshfromflorida.com/Divisions-Offices/Florida-Forest-Service/Our-Forests/Forest-Health/Invasive-Non-Native-Plants/Cogon-Grass)

Over the next several weeks, our HOA Board will be working with the Florida Forestry service to formulate a plan to treat and eradicate Cogon Grass from the community areas.  Each homeowner is asked to inspect their property for Cogon Grass—together we can beat this pest!

 

IDENTIFYING COGON GRASS

 

 

HOME ASSESSMENT FEES: Greater Pines home assessment fees are collected annually with your real estate property taxes by the Lake County Tax Collector. You will see them listed in the Non-Ad Valorem Assessments section on your tax bill. According to the Bylaws of the Greater Pines Homeowners Association, Inc, these mandatory fees are for neighborhood expenses. They are intended to pay electricity bills for street lamps, landscaping, general repairs and maintenance of our community areas that include the pool and cabana, tennis courts, tot-lot, water retention areas and the wall along Hancock Road.

 

HOA MEMBERSHIP DUES: Membership in the HOA is voluntary. Applications for membership may be submitted to the HOA Board of Directors along with $20 annual dues payment. Monies collected from the membership dues are used for social activities in the community. Prior activities include ice-cream socials, movie nights, community-wide garage sales, neighborhood breakfast, pool parties and the very popular Annual Family Fun Day and Winter Holiday Parties. Additionally, HOA members in good standing (no covenant violations and paid annual dues) are entitled to vote for your Board of Directors at the Annual Meeting. These special events are designed to promote and foster neighborhood involvement.

 

Simply click on the “Documents and Forms” tab to find the neighborhood Bylaws, Covenants, HOA Membership Application and more.

The Septic Tank Home Wastewater Treatment and Disposal System

 

 

Find out the following information:  

 

-What is a Septic Tank System

-How Does It Work 

-Operation and Maintenance

-Location

-Preventing Failure 

-Do's and Don'ts

 

 

Some homeowners have received "violation notices" on their vehicle windshields that were fraudulently signed by the HOA. Please know that communication avenues from the HOA will consist of email, postal mail, or courtesy telephone calls. We DO NOT place notices on vehicle windows. 

 

Greater Pines and Coyotes....

 

Find out the following information: 

 

-Living with Coyotes

-Keep your pets safe 

-Preventing problems

-Coyote fast facts

-Co-existing with coyotes

-Myths about coyotes

 

Please review the following information: ]

 

 

We are looking for individuals willing to volunteer in a variety of areas and capacities. Volunteers may provide short term or long term commitment to such things as: serving on the Neighborhood Watch & Safety Team, organizing and promoting one-time special events like the Family Fun Day or Holiday Party, or assisting the Architectural Review Committee.

 

Volunteers derive a great sense of fulfillment and satisfaction from their work and our neighborhood is certainly very much enhanced by their generous efforts.

 

If you are interested in learning more about volunteering in our neighborhood, we would be delighted to hear from you. Please complete and return the Volunteer Interest Form found on this website.

Good news!

 

This holiday season our neighborhood experienced exceptionally low crime activity!

 

There is no doubt the dedicated members of our Neighborhood Watch & Safety Team are the ones to thank for that! Their "proactive instead of reactive" approach really paid off.

 

Even though the busy package delivery season is behind us, we encourage everyone to continue your efforts of vigilance. A simple gesture like getting to know your neighbors and their vehicles will enable you to recognize when something is wrong. Let us all keep our eyes out for each other and remember when you see something, say something. 

 

Great job everyone!

 

Have a happy and safe 2019!