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Contacts
Visitor Pre-Call - 482-6998
South Gate
- 433-0110
North Gate
- 482-5039
Club House - 433-5111
Golf Shop 444-3639
Fitness - 444-3644
Marina - 437-0881
Sheriff - 477-1000
Property Management By:
Sentry Management, Inc.
6330 Techster Blvd. Suite 1
Fort Myers, FL 33966
Grant Gorski
239-277-0112 ext. 32
239-277-0114 (fax)
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Welcome to the Osprey Point
Homeowner's Association web site.
ospreypoint@gulfharbour.net
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Notice
To Owners (last update to these pages
06/23/2009)
Hot Topics
Hurricane Preparations:
Please make sure you clear
your lanai in the event of a Hurricane Warning or Watch!
Have a Great Summer!
Landscaping
Update - Nov. 14th
Osprey Point
Homeowners,
Some of you probably
noticed the people working on a boat in our lake this morning.
This was the Master Association's lake maintenance vendor, Florida
Aquatics, applying a new treatment for the stubborn algae bloom we
have in the lake. This type of new peroxide based treatment is
very expensive and must be applied from that kind of boat with
assorted other special application equipment. They are hoping to
stabilize and reduce the algae growth so that is does not go
dormant again and reoccur later in the spring or summer as it has
done in the past.
I have
recently been communications with the chairman of the Lakes
Committee about the condition of our lake's littorals, and they
have agree to replace the littorals that were killed last summer
when they treated our lake to kill the Lilly pads that were
starting to grow. There was no way to avoid this destruction of
some of the littorals since it takes a very strong aquatic
herbicide to kill Lilly pads. They will not be replacing
littorals until just prior to the rainy season next spring. All of
the work done today, the water treatments, and the littoral
replacement is being paid for by the Master Association as the
manager of the communities lakes.
I want to share with
you a common theme keeps coming up in my meetings with experts and
vendors regarding weeds, pests, landscaping, and aquatics... that
theme is that in this multiple year drought cycle we are
experiencing, the indigenous vegetation adapts to the dry
conditions in various and erratic ways that are not always
acceptable to homeowners. The recent state and national
limitations placed on herbicides, pesticides, and lake treatment
chemicals is severely hampering all of these vendors from having
any ability to eradicate the weeds, pests, and aquatic growth the
way they once could, which is why we are seeing more weeds here in
Osprey Point. Even the nursery's the sell sod will no longer
warranty their sod to be weed or pest free since the new chemical
restrictions were announced.
One thing is clear,
the state of Florida is trying to crack down on fertilizing
frequency, pesticides, and herbicides. To illustrate this point,
Osprey Point has been warned, more than once, by the SFWMD and
Florida Aquatics not to fertilize or apply other chemicals within
20ft of the lake, and with our steep banks it would be best if
we reduce applications of these chemicals as much as possible on
the home surrounding the lakes. The SFWMD and our vendors have
also recommended that all Osprey Point homeowner's be required to
install gutters and directional drain pipes to better control
runoff away from the lake, or at least off of the lake banks.
They also found that some of the homes, without gutters,
are experiencing the pooling of rain water that rots/kills the
grasses and encourages fungus, weeds, and pests between our
houses.
The Master
Association's experts say we don't really need to fertilize at
all. They believe that if we reduce irrigation, minimize
fertilization, and pesticides to minimal levels, and let the grass
and bush roots to naturally reach deeper into the soil for water,
the stronger root systems will ultimately provide healthier,
greener, and more robust lawns and bushes. On the other side of
the coin, the vendors, who are being pressed to kill more weeds
and pests, are saying their hands are tied as they don't have the
chemicals they need to eliminate the weeds and pests. The vendors
only answer to the problem is to apply more of the available
chemicals on our yards, more frequently, which clearly increases
their revenues and makes the customer feel like something is being
done.... but they all agree that approach contradicts what other
experts are suggesting about minimizing treatments.
Mari and I recently walked the
property with Rich Lewsader and Tom Schiavo to review our
services, and to get a general state of our yards and landscaping
opinion from them. We asked Richie to remove several dead bushes
from the islands and common areas and replace them with about
15-20 new bushes. We are having him do a special fertilization of
the fichus hedge to see if we can revitalize it. We also asked
about rough estimates for upgrading the four islands with with
part perennials and part annuals yearly to provide more pizzazz
and color. His very rough estimate was about $3,000. per island
for the first year, and $1,000.-$1,500. annually depending on how
many annuals are planted each year. In Carolyn's absence I am
filling-in to meet with some competing vendors this week to get
other perspectives and possible solutions to improving your yards
and landscaping.
Once she returns in December, I
have asked Carolyn develop a list of priority landscaping items,
with prices quotes, that all homeowners can consider. I know
that over the years there has been discussion regarding an upgrade
of plantings in the islands and possibly adding more palm trees
and/or accent landscaping around the lake. Obviously, anything
beyond our normal operations would require an assessment to all
owners, but I think the community could really benefit greatly if
that's what you all want. I think it would be important
to assess all owner's interests in these kinds of projects to
provide all of us an idea of what they would cost.
Your Board is on top of these
issues and we would like everyone's input and comments, as all of
these issues will be developed and discussed further in subsequent
communications, Association Meetings, and at our Annual Meeting on
January 7, 2009, at 7:00pm. The next meeting is our
budget approval meeting on November 18th at 4:00pm.
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