Holidays/Vacation/After Hours Contact Information

There was some confusion this week regarding the hours of staff members and who to contact when we are away from the property. For those of you receiving this blog via email, please see the attached notice with the official office hours, important numbers  and emergency after hour procedures. This notice will also be posted on boards at both towers and on the notice board in the clubhouse. There are many issues and procedures that arise which mean we may not be at our desks, but there are several ways to get in touch with Michelle or me.

If there is an after hour emergency, you can call Sterling Property Services and speak to the on call manager, or you can call Security and they will get in touch with me. If it is before 6 PM M-F or before 5 PM on Saturday or Sunday you can call the Sales Center or go down stairs and they will call me or Michelle if they are unable to assist you.

Also, when Michelle and/or I are away from our desk a new notice will be put up at the front desk letting residents and vendors know we are on the property but away from our desk. When I am on vacation/take a day off, another notice will be at the front desk letting residents and vendors know that Michelle will cover for me (but in a limited capacity). After I have left for the day (office closed), another notice will be placed at the front desk with emergency numbers.

Back Gate Codes

The back gate codes will be changing Monday June 4^th. The new gate code has been emailed to all residents.

Landscape Report

I meet with the landscape representative from Greenscapes this morning since owners have expressed concern to John Callahan about some dead plant material and palm fronds. The last landscape review was done on April 19^th. Here is what they found at that time and what was done to correct it:

Prune the dead fronds off the Medjools. These are the palms out by the pool. The ones closest to the clubhouse were done but when they got to the other two by the fountain there were a lot of homeowners at the pool and they were not able to get to them. They were done this morning when the pruning crew was here.

The 2^nd quarter shrub fertilization was completed the week of April 23^rd, 2012.

The 2^nd quarter turf fertilization was completed the week of May 1^st, 2012. There are three spots where we had some turf brun from the fertilization. Greenscapes will be replacing these spots at their cost.

There were some hot spots due to the irrigation issues we had last month. Those have since been corrected and those plants (the awabukis and Mexican pentunas) and the turf is coming back nicely.

The plumbagos have been treated for chili thrip and the crotons have been treated for scale and both are recovering nicely.

Greenscapes were keeping their eye on two sabal palms at the east tower. IPM looked at both of these palms and she was not concerned with them. We will continue to keep an eye on them though.

There are three small trees over behind the west tower that are not doing well and will be removed. Greenscapes will be providing a proposal for a tree that will do well in this area.

There is a dead sabal at the foot of the ramp leading to the 2^nd floor garage at the west tower. This was removed today.

The pruning crew hand pulled some of the weeds in the beds since they seemed to not respond to the round up.

The annuals out by the pool (where we have had the most problems with annuals doing well) are doing very well. Pictures will be included in the blog next week of all of the annuals.

While walking around, it was reported by Mr. Swenson that the irrigation is soaking one of the tennis courts. A work order has been put in to the irrigation tech to correct this again.

Any questions regarding the landscape please let me know.

Last Call On Storage Units

The following storage units are still being used that are assigned to homes that are being sold. Items will be discarded if they are not claimed by May 29^th.

West Tower

P-120 – Pool chairs, pool floats and pool noodles – No lock

P-117 – Mattress, sink and Directv dish – No Lock

East Tower

P-048 – TV in storage unit - No Lock

 

Credit Card Payments

We will soon be able to accept credit card payments for maintenance fees. This will be available to all residents starting with the 3^rd quarter payment that is due July 1^st, 2012. Please see attached flyer. If you have any other questions regarding credit card payments, please let me know.

IMPORTANT & URGENT - PLEASE READ

Smoke Test By LCU – May 22^nd, 2012

Lee County Utilities stopped by North Star this afternoon and informed me that tomorrow they will be smoke testing the sanitary sewer lines in the area. Certain conditions may cause smoke to enter your home around the toilet base. This smoke is not dangerous to humans or animals. If smoke does enter your home, please call 239-533-8700. I would have loved to give all residents more notice on this but just was made aware of it an hour ago. There will be door hangers also. LCU did not want to hang this on everyone’s door but gave us about 10 to put in the towers. Any other questions regarding this please call Lee County Utilities at 239-693-2992 as this is the only information we received. Seeing that smoke may enter your unit, we have also called and spoken with the fire department so they are aware of the testing since they will probably be getting a lot of calls from this area tomorrow.

Update - 21st May 2012

Office Phone

Century Link was at the property again Friday to look at our ongoing troubles with the office lines (239-656-1430 and 239-656-1796). It would appear that the phones have been call forwarded on one of the lines to another number which was then causing issues saying the mailbox was full. None of us (Century Link included) knows how this happened but to prevent it from happening again, we have removed the call forward feature on both of the office lines. If you experience any more issues with it saying the mailbox is full and you cannot leave a message, please let me know so I can get Century Link out here again.

Fluorescent Light Bulbs

In response to my recent email regarding disposal of fluorescent light bulbs, Ken Williams informed me that you can also drop them off at Lowes at the Return Counter. This is a lot closer and easier than dropping them off at the recycling plant.

Recycling and Florescent Light Bulbs
Michelle has sent out two or so emails in the last week regarding recycling in addition to my blogs previously. She has also put notices on all of the recycling totes so everyone knows what is recyclable and what is not. I have attached the flyer incase someone did not get it through her emails.

Florescent Light Bulbs are not to be thrown away or recycled. They have to be taken to the Hazard Waste Plant located at 6441 Topaz Court (off Metro Pkwy) in Fort Myers. Residents may now dispose of household chemical waste at the facility between the hours of 8 am and 5 pm, Monday through Friday and every first Saturday of the month from 8 am to 12 Noon.  The facility will be closed on holidays observed by Lee County.

West Tower Number Two Elevator
The west tower elevator number two had to be taken out of service last night. The elevator company was here this morning and found that a repair needed to be made with the compensation ropes. Depending on parts and manpower, they will be out here later today or first thing in the morning for the repair. Until the repair is made, the elevator will be out of service. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Reminders

Exterior Building Repairs

The association will be having some work done to the exterior of the building starting next Monday. You might see rope and a person outside the living room windows in the units, please do not be alarmed. The work should be completed by Thursday.

Posted Parking Decals and Resident Information Sheets (last posted January 11, 2012 and September 23^rd, 2011)

For those new owners that have not filled out and turned in a resident information sheet, would you kindly collect a form from the North Star office or the guard house. Also, if you do not have a NSYC decal on your car, please send me an email or call me to set up a time to get your decal.

*This helps out when we get reports of people parking in the wrong spots as we can get a name right away and contact the person vs. running the plate through a company.*

Memorial Day – Offices Closed

Our office will be closed Memorial Day but the sales office will be open. I will be off Friday May 25^th. If you have any problems or issues that need to be addressed, please call or see Michelle or you can call the Sterling Office at 239-947-4552.

Pool Update
The pool techs were out here late this morning and were able to at least get the pool pump controller up and running for the weekend until a part can be shipped and installed. The notice was removed by the pool guys allowing the pool to be open. I am very sorry I did not get an email out to the residents sooner as I wanted to include other items in the blog today that I felt were important. Just remember, we are only a phone call or email away if you have questions. I am sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused.

Emergency  - After Hours

Just a reminder  - on the weekends and after hours, there are two ways to get in touch with Property Management. Call Sterling Property Services (239-947-4552) or Security (239-961-8923). If the on-call manager can not handle the issue themselves, I will be called. Security would call me right away if it is something they feel needs my immediate attention.

Recyclables – Cardboard Boxes

Please remember to break down all boxes and put neatly in the Recyclable area.

Trash Chutes and Dumpster

I have spoken to the cleaning company regarding the dumpster rooms and the trash chutes smelling so bad. They said the smell is caused by the dumpsters filling the chute with the horrible odor. They clean the trash chute rooms on the floors every time they clean the floors (once a week). To help elevate the smell, at no cost to the association, WastePro will be delivering four new dumpsters to the property and remove the old ones. This may take a few weeks.

Parking Spots/ Storage

We are still having a major issue with people parking in the wrong spot and using the wrong storage units. If you have any questions regarding your parking spots/storage, please let me know. There is a lock on P-030 wish is assigned to a home that is closing tomorrow. The lock will be cut tomorrow to figure out who has been using this storage unit. A sign has been on the door for the last month.

Lobbies/Elevator Cleaning – Clarification to posts on Shutterfly Website

The lobbies and elevators are cleaned everyday of the week just as the old cleaning company did. There was nothing the cleaning company would have been able to do to take care of the smell of the dead rat in the elevator pit of the West Tower over this past weekend. As I have stated in the previous post above, for property emergencies or issues on the weekends/after hours that cannot wait until the next business day, there are two phone numbers that can be called to get the issues/emergencies reported and/or corrected. I am not here on the weekends/after hours so I rely on communication from Residents.

Pool

The pool has been shut down due to the pool pump controller not working. Yesterday afternoon around 2:30 p.m. the pool company alerted me to the problem and said an electrician would need to come out. By 3:30 p.m. the electrician was here checking out the power supply. It was determined the pool pump controller was not working. Unfortunately this means the pool will be closed until they get the controller working. As soon as that happens, the notice will be removed from the pool and I will send out an email to everyone letting them know the pool is open for use.

Back Gates

The back gate codes were changed this morning and all of the back gates are working properly.

West Tower Lobbies and Elevators

A very foul smell in the 1^st and 2^nd floor lobbies and both elevators in the west tower was reported this morning. The elevator company was called out and a dead rat was located in the pit. With the help of the elevator tech, Roberto was able to remove the rat and pour bleach on the floor.

Door Jam Painting

Here is the list of door jambs that are going to be painted tomorrow. If you are not on the list and feel you should be, please let me know and I will add you to the list.

West		East
302		301
304		305
305		307
403		308
405		402
501		403
506		404
605		405
607		407
703		501
704		502
706		503
801		504
1002		505
1003		602
1008		606
1103		702
1105		705
1205		801
1207		806
PH5		901
		904
		1103
		1105
		1108
		1201
		1207

Update - 6th May 2012

Notary My notary stamp and documentation has finally arrived. If anyone needs something notarized, just let me know. Reminder – Back Gate Code The back gate codes will be changing Monday May 7th. A Blog went out April 30th to all owners with the back gate codes. Copies of the last two blogs were also put in the lobbies for homeowners to pick up. Balcony Please do not throw or sweep things off your balcony. Some of the Third Floor owners are seeing Parliament cigarettes butts, cigars, cigar wrappers and debris from potted plants. Boats, Moving Trucks and Trailers Just a reminder, Boats, Trucks and Trailers are not allowed on the property without prior approval from the Board of Directors. The Board has approved for these items to be parked at the property overnight for one night ONLY but Management needs to be notified so it does not get towed and so it is parked in a way that it does not take up other homeowners parking spots.