I must begin this newsletter on a sad note. Some of you may have heard, resident Fred Donnell of Dali Drive passed away October 13th following a 10 year battle with cancer. I’m sure I speak for all of us in offering our heartfelt condolences to his wife Jacky.

Welcome back to those who have been away! For all of us it is time to take a deep breath as once again we face a holiday season and the year’s end. Each of us have a list of things this time of year to do, but as a HOA community we also have a list of things to do. Trees have grown and have become too low for street cleaning vehicles to pass under and have a real need to be pruned / thinned out to once again be safe and to allow winds to pass through. Many of our yards need to be observed as they may begin to appear as over grown or over planted. DG (decomposed granite) may need to be replenished, and maintenance on of our watering systems for the lower water demands of the upcoming months. With our drought situation it becomes more important than ever.

It is a good time to critically look at our homes as painting and maintenance projects often sneak up on us. Being proactive always feels better than to have someone else prompt us to take care of these things sooner rather than later. It is important to take a moment to also see how our plantings and trees are affecting our neighbors. When hedges are trimmed be sure to retrieve the cuttings that fall in the neighboring yards or on the exterior perimeter. Some of our gardeners seem not to notice.

We have upgraded the phone system at the gates so they can now connect with cell phone numbers. This will allow an option of not having a ‘land line’ to your home and having the gate phones connect to what ever cell phone number you have. It is also a great time to let PPM as well as your Board of Directors update your owner information as to phone, internet, and etc. so we can all remain current. An email covering this basic data can be sent to PPM or to me . . . CurtBeyer@gmail.com. We do not share your information. We also invite you to use https://montage.nextdoor.com for a more community based network. It is free and you can set your communication preferences not only as to who received your postings but also the posting you want to receive. If you want an invitation you can email me in that regard as well.

JoAnn Horwitz, Welcome Committee Chair, and Michelle Madison, Board of Directors, have arranged a holiday party for all of us at our Mission Hills Country Club on December 6th, from 4 – 6 p.m. This will be our third annual holiday party. There is an article about it further on in this newsletter.

Please remember that our streets are also our sidewalks. Be really careful at corners and leave extra room as you go around them as most are blind corners. There have been and reports of cars moving far too quickly and cutting corners. There has already been one accident as well as many close calls. The posted speed limit can be far too fast to travel upon our streets. This is even more important as more of our residents are back and walking or riding bicycles. Remember too, that parking should be up on the curb with the gutter being spanned by our vehicles to allow water to flow freely and not flow out into the streets.

We find ourselves in the last part of the summer. We have had some short but significant cloud bursts delivering a high volume of precipitation in a short duration filling our streets and causing an accumulation for a few hours in the retention basin. It was great to see that changes made to it a couple of years back have it working as it should. (Thank you Nick Nickerson)

I have included a short summary of the Water Use Regulations that began on August 1^st. We have worked to address the automatic watering overflow for some of our residents over the past months and in light of the new restrictions . . . These still occurring flows become more and more of a concern. As the water flows in our gutters the accumulating leaf matter dams the streams in places where they eventually cause degradation of our street surfaces. So, even these seemingly minor over watering become something affecting us all, and the life and cost of maintaining our streets.

If we/you have neighbors that are seasonal or away much of the time . . . Please let them know or let the gardeners know that the watering needs to be adjusted. There are situations where the sprinkler heads do overlap hard surfaces and at times it can’t be helped. However, shorter time for watering or a different frequency of watering can help. By water standards here in the valley . . . Most lawns are being overwatered.

As the summer winds down we will also find attention turning to the pruning of trees. In walking around the Montage we can see trees growing low over the street causing difficulty for the street sweeper and delivery vehicles to pass. Attention needs to be paid to make sure the trees are pruned/shaped rather than improperly topped. Many of us have replaced fast growing inappropriate plantings with those more in keeping with our climate and watering concerns. Be sure to check with the Architecture and Landscape Committee before making changes.

Once again we are getting complaints regarding pets and the inappropriate use of lawns and property of homeowners. Even if the droppings are picked up . . . It is still contrary to our rules to let them be on others’ property. The only common areas in which they can do their duty is on the streets, the retention basin and the perimeter. Of course, droppings must be retrieved and disposed properly. No one wants to have to be a policeman in the enforcement of these guidelines but if reported we have to follow through with fines and etc. Please be respectful of other people’s property.

We want and need more residents to become involved in the various committees here in the Montage. Usually this involvement takes very little time but makes a major impact for all of us. Let me or other board members or committee people know if you are willing to step up and take part in the betterment of the Montage.