Landscape Landscape is in the usual winter maintenance stage with general mowing, trimming, edging, etc.  In February, we will begin walking each court and determining scope of landscape replacement across the property which will start in early spring.

Miscellaneous Maintenance/Information

• We have completed bids for the resurfacing of the tennis courts and work to improve the usefulness and appearance of the tennis courts will begin in the next couple of months.
• We have found a new source for nearly identical exterior building lights as those we are currently using. The great news is that they are less expensive than what we have been using for the past several years and replacing failed units will be cheaper.  Based on this, we will discontinue our research into a different style of lighting for the building exteriors for a future time.  The property wide replacement of these fixtures will be a very large expense.  By staying with our current style, it will allow us to focus available funds on other needed property improvements.
• As a reminder, for those of you that wish to add additional lighting to illuminate the walkway to their unit in darkness, the Board of Directors has approved a guideline with specifications for additional lights which would be permitted on the fences. This guideline/specification can be found on the website on the “Documents” tab with all of our other governing documents.
• The drainage work at the Bamboo Canal swale has been completed. This work should improve the drainage of standing water in areas outside of the canal.
• Exterior painting of buildings 14 through 25 has been completed. The next 13 buildings will be completed in our 2017 fiscal year which begins in July.
• The Board of Directors understands that those living in the Orlando area wish to have a security system and with that comes signage which aids by acting as a deterrent. Our rules and bylaws are written to disallow signage of any type.  Therefore, the Board of Directors has developed and approved Architectural guidelines which allow owners and residents to post security signage as long as the MBP guidelines are followed.  These guidelines can be found on this website on the “Documents” tab.
• As you know, the MBP Board of Directors has been working to find ways to save money on water used for irrigation for the past several years as it is such a large expense for us. Several years ago we had work completed that would enable us to draw water from our lake and a well to be used for irrigation.  It took only a few months to fully recover money spent on this financial investment by the reduction in our water bill.  Our supplier of water then notified us that we could not use any alternate water supply and had to reconnect to their water service.  We have spent the last few years doing research and utilizing attorneys in an attempt to reverse this mandate so that we can once again realize a reduced irrigation cost.  Following the latest meetings with our supplier and attorneys for both sides, we have been able to substantially reduce our future monthly cost for irrigation water based on a new survey of our property.  For now, we are happy with this “WIN” which will allow us to use funds for other much needed work.  However, we will attempt to recoup some of our past expenses and monitor the costs to ensure that this was the best possible outcome for the owners of Middlebrook Pines.

Rules & Reminders

I wanted to take a moment to remind our Middlebrook Pines property owners that we all have a stake in ensuring that our community and property remains a place that is comfortable and safe to live in, as well as a contribution to our individual financial stability and success in the future.  We all have an investment and stake in the success of Middlebrook Pines.  With 344 units, it is a large property and Corporation to keep track of with a lot of moving parts.  We pay for the service of having a certified and professional Property Manager that takes action based upon the direction of your Board of Directors.  Conversely, the seven people who make up the Board of Directors are volunteers and donate their time and knowledge on behalf of and in support of the 344 owners of Middlebrook Pines property.  I encourage you to look through that past many years of minute meetings on the website and you will find that none of us on the Board ever makes decisions that have personal benefit to us.  We volunteer our time because we care about our property and want to ensure that decisions are made which are in the best interest of all owners and act based on the best information available to us.  I bring this up as there seems to be a misconception that the Board of Directors is a paid position and I want to clarify that it is strictly voluntary with no financial or personal benefits.  We encourage sharing of information and ideas from all of our homeowners either via our website, or by meeting attendance.

Monthly Words to Live by

Every thought is a seed.  If you plant crab apples, don’t count on harvesting Golden Delicious. Bill Meyer