Weekly Update

Six Palm Trees Planted at Park - July 2 : This morning Natural Design installed six (6) very healthy 14 to 16 foot palms at the Park to produce some shade for the most open part of the playground, the northeast corner. Installation of these trees were part of a $16,000 Phase I Playground Upgrade. The Phase I Playground Equipment should be arriving in mid-July and be installed by the end of the month. The Playground Upgrade Committee will be meeting in the coming weeks to start working on Phase II enhancements.

ProcellaCor Application - July 1 : Yesterday there was an unusual aquatic herbicide and algaecide application by airboat in the large pond near the Van Dyke Road entrance to Van Dyke Farms. There has been a significant outbreak of the aquatic perennial Slender Spikerush. ProcellaCor, a commonly used aquatic herbicide and regulated by EPA, was applied to control the Slender Spikerush. ProcellaCor is in EPA's Reduced Risk category and deemed safe for applications such as treating the front pond. It will take about two weeks for the ProcellaCor to eliminate the Slender Spikerush. The algae should start dying off in days.

Reclaim Water Mainline Repair - June 30: A mainline reclaim water line leak across the street from 17207 Equestrian Drive was repaired by Natural Designs on Tuesday June 30. There are three main lines at the site and the middle line developed a leak. An immediate fix was needed to ensure watering of the new annuals and landscape at the Clubhouse during the mini-drought the region is experiencing.

Solicitation in Van Dyke Farms - June 27: There has been a recent uptick in solicitation in VDF. Several members have complained to Board Member(s) about a rather persistent pest control person. Solicitation on commercial products in VDF has always been prohibited. Several members have reported that this particular solicitor is stating they've received special permission from the VDF Board to promote their services door to door. This, of course, is not true. To the best of my knowledge there has never been an exemption granted to the Association's no solicitation rule. If you are approached, please respectfully let the sales person know that solicitation in VDF is prohibited. If you feel uncomfortable, frustrated or threatened please call or email me or Tasha McAlister, our Property Manager. We can usually be onsite within minutes and will ensure the solicitor leaves the neighborhood. I believe we all appreciate the challenges associated with building a successful small business. However, there are many ways to secure business that do not violate other's protected rights.

Board Video Conference Meeting - June 25: The Board held its video conference at 7:00 PM, Thursday June 25, see agenda. Please visit the Van Dyke Farms Web Portal for the comprehensive background materials including attachments under My Association/Association Documents/Board Meetings/June 25. A key item reviewed was the proposed Van Dyke Farms Common Areas Rules and Regulations. Every member is encouraged to review these proposed rules and regulations, which the Board will consider at its August 27, 2020, meeting for approval.

Basketball Hoops Remain Removed - June 25: At its June 25 meeting the Board voted to keep the basketball hoops down. On March 27 the Hillsborough County Commission issued a Safer at Home Order, and on April 1 the Governor issued a Stay at Home Order to minimize the spread of COVID-19. On the night of March 31 the Board made a commitment that the Van Dyke Farms Homeowners Association was going to strictly abide by these Orders and signs were posted by April 3 at the Park (please click here). This decision was further discussed and ratified at the Board's April 6, May 6, May 20 and June 25 meetings. Based on requests by members, the Board elected to be more lenient than the County or surrounding Homeowners Associations as we allowed limited activity at the Park including basketball play by an individual and by multiple members of a family. This flexibility has been in contrast to surrounding County and HOA facilities. To this day (July 1), all surrounding basketball courts run by the County continue to be closed and basketball hoops boarded up or taken down. Please click on the following to see pictures - Northdate County Park Hoops. Additionally, Homeowners Associations such as Carrollwood have strictly followed the County's restrictions and have also closed its basketball courts and removed the rims. Please click on the following to see a picture of the Carrollwood Village HOA Hoops. Additionally, all Playgrounds continue to be closed at these facilities. Please click on following to see a picture of the Carrollwood Village County Park. The County's current policy is that only green spaces, hiking trails and outdoors tennis, pickleball and volleyball courts are open due to the non-contact nature of these activities. The Association continues to closely monitor the County's policies and expects to open these courts when the County lifts its restrictions on such activities.

Community Sidewalk Survey Complete and Submitted to County June 22:

Based of several recent falls and numerous complaints, the Association completed a comprehensive sidewalk survey, which was submitted to the County June 5. The survey was conducted by the Association between May 20 and June 5 at no cost. These offsets were put in a table listed by address or for those not in front of a home distance from the nearest intersection was used. After input from several members the spreadsheet was revised and an updated version forwarded to the County on June 22. There are currently 201 sidewalk offsets of one-inch or greater. Please review the updated spreadsheet and report any additions, deletions or comments to tmcalister@greenacre.com or vdf.dave.moore@gmail.com. The County has a substantial back-load and will probably not be able to get to Van Dyke Farms until 2021. However, they have committed to visiting the neighborhood in the next few weeks to develop an action play and paint or tape the worst of the offsets in the interim.

We will endeavor to update the News Alert Page at least weekly, typically on Fridays. Please send any suggestions for further improvements to vdf.dave.moore@gmail.com or tmcalister@greenacre.com