Eaton's Ferry Estates Property Owners Association Inc.

Boat Slip Drawing for March 2012

From: Connie Moore [mailto:cnmoore@embarqmail.com]

Sent: Sunday, February 19, 2012 5:06 PM

To: EFEPOA Webmaster

Subject: Boat Slip Drawing for March 2012

The boatslip drawing is held the first Saturday in March. This year it falls on March 3rd at 9:30 in the morning. Thanks, Connie

Webmaster Note: These slips are for use by EFE property owners only. Boat slips are assigned to be used from April 1st to March 31st. For the approved Boat Slip Procedures, click on the link below or see the copy posted at the Parkway Drive Recreational Park bulletin board.

BLACK BEAR SIGHTING IN EFE

Dear EFEPOA Neighbors,

A black bear was spotted at the tip of Forest Hill Drive around 8am Sunday morning, June 12th. Various neighbors saw it meander down Forest Hill and believe it exited the housing area of the community. It may, however, be in the woods along 903. It was reported to be relatively large but it did not threaten anyone or any pets. It could easily wander into the Parkway Drive side of the community at some point so everyone should be alert. If you do see it, please notify immediate neighbors to keep pets indoors.

A call was made this morning to the NC Wildlife Commission Enforcement Division. Their advice is to: keep your distance, ensure no food is available, and keep your pets indoors if possible.

This is probably not a serious concern but we should be aware.

Sincerely,
EFEPOA Webmaster
on behalf of the EFEPOA Board

2011 Annual Meeting Mailing
Every EFE property owner should have recently received via USPS a May 20, 2011 letter from President Bill Peterson and a copy of the agenda for our annual meeting at 10am Saturday, June 25, 2011 in the meeting room of LongBridge Volunteer Fire Department on Eaton Ferry Road, Littleton, NC. After the meeting, there will be a picnic at the community park on Parkway Drive. Also enclosed with the letter was a proxy and ballot for nominated board members. If you did not receive your letter or wish to read it online, it can be found at "Meetings" under the EFEPOA Menu.

The EFEPOA Board of Directors urges everyone to join them for the annual meeting and the picnic.

Eaton's Ferry Estates News
        “Take Pride in Lake Gaston Cleanup Day”:   On May 7, 2011 the Lake Gaston Association is organizing a first ever event to prepare for the summer recreation season by removing trash and debris from our shorelines and open water. Seven dumpster sites along the lake will be located at different areas and volunteers will be on hand from 8 a.m. till 4 p.m. to assist you as necessary. The one closest to us will be at Morningstar Marina on Eaton’s Ferry Rd. Trash bags will be available if requested. Over 40 subdivisions have already agreed to participate and communicate this event to their homeowners. All you need to do is walk or boat the shorelines of your subdivision as appropriate to gather all debris that has collected over the winter.   Additionally, as manpower permits, pick up trash along the roadways within your subdivisions and then transport collected trash and debris to special dumpster sites provided for the event. LGA will have assistance with larger items if needed. Al Hartley and John Cataldo will be available with chain saws if you have some large limbs that need to be cut up, or if you simply need assistance getting larger items out of the water. They can be reached on Al’s cell phone at (252) 578-2628 on the day of the event. Keep in mind that anything that cannot be cut up to put in a six-foot dumpster is too big for this project. No refrigerators or other such items please. If you are out and about that weekend, we ask you to participate to help our community look even better!
       Front Entrances Decorations / Beautification Committee: Your Board is attempting to form a committee to oversee the appearance of our entrances year round. Funds are available to provide the materials what we need is those people willing to provide the ideas that will enhance the areas. Seasonal changes in flowers; new plantings, holiday decorations are some of the possibilities. An appropriate member of the Board will oversee the projects. If you have an interest in helping our community in this area please contact President Bill Peterson at 252-586-7957 or email peterson12@aol.com
       Send us your email address: We are attempting to improve our communication and at the same time keep your costs in line. The way to do that today is to maximize the use electronic mail. We currently have active emails for 170 of our 280 members and are beginning to send out important information about happenings of Property Owners Association and on the Lake. Send your email address to Rich Thomas at leroy141@embarqmail.com and don’t forget to use our website at http://efepoa.com/ to keep up with things.
       Lake Gaston Association Membership: Enclosed (or included with this email) is a letter concerning joining the LGA association. Currently only 51 of our property owners are members. If you are not a full time resident or if you just own property and may build in the future, this group is our strongest voice on the Lake and in Warren County. They are our advocates in so many areas and in particular for us in Warren County they are very active at the county meetings to be a voice for all of us. Your board of directors urges you to consider joining the fight to keep our Lake safe, clean and a good place to be either for a few weekends a year or for a lifetime. JOIN THE LGA!!

For Your (Security) Awareness
From: Richard E. Thomas [mailto:leroy141@embarqmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, January 16, 2011 2:55 PM
To: Richard E. Thomas
Subject: For Your Awareness

THIS WAS RECEIVED EARLIER & YOUR BOARD THOUGHT WE SHOULD PASS IT ALONG. TO OUR KNOWLEDGE THERE HAVE BEEN NONE IN EATONS FERRY ESTATES. IF YOU KNOW OF ANY BE SURE TO LET US KNOW SO WE CAN ALERT OTHER HOMEOWNERS.

RICH THOMAS – BOARD OF DIRECTORS

From: LGA Executive Director
Sent: Thursday, January 06, 2011 3:18 PM
To: Lake Gaston Association Members
Subject: LGA: Heads up! Several home break-ins over the past month

Our lake side communities have had a number of home break-ins over the past month. The four that were reported to us (there probably were others that we haven’t heard about) all were in Warren County. Our part timers don’t get up here very often in the winter and if neighbors don’t check on vacant houses break-ins may not be found until spring. They all had similar details, door forced open, flat screen TVs and DVDs taken. Exact dates of break-ins are not known. No one in the communities saw anyone suspicious.

What is disappointing is that all were discovered by owners returning for a weekend, not by neighbors checking on a regular basis. Most will not be solved. Let’s see what the evidence is: We don’t know when the break-in occurred; we don’t have any suspicious people to question; CSI is not going to test any DNA; the Deputy will get a list of the missing items, note the method of entry, and ask if anyone saw any suspicious characters. These guys will not get caught until someone gives law enforcement some help or one of the bad guys gets caught for something else and turns in his buddies.
Here are some suggestions to help keep our neighborhoods safer. Some are contained in the latest LGA Bulletin which may be found on the LGA web site at www.lakegastonassoc.com, but are worth repeating.
·         Full timers divvy up the community by their closest neighbors and become the "watchers" for those neighboring properties. Get the normal residence phone numbers for the part timers and lake numbers for their neighbors so they can call and say "Is that you, a guest or offspring, or a thief at your house? Call the normal residence first.
·         When it snows the watchers can make tracks in the snow up the driveways and to the closest entry. Check in the snow for tracks to other entry doors.
·         Do a check of properties more than once a week. When high winds and heavy rain or snow storms cause damage in the neighborhood, call and let the owners of the property know how they fared, and any damage they might have incurred.
·         Make sure there are no flyers, "To Postal Patron", newspapers, or phone books left on drives, mail boxes or porches.
·         If the neighbor leaves the garbage container on the street when the weekend is over move it back to the house for them.
·         Urge neighbors to put in light and sound timers in their properties and share the timed on/off schedules with permanent residents.
·         Buy a Dremmel tool and etch on names only with the term "Property of" before the name on all valuable equipment.
·         Be especially vigilant on houses that are advertised for sale. Owners who subscribe to virtual tour advertising of the inside of their homes could become even better targets, especially if valuables remain in the home.
If we do nothing, nothing will change and the thieves will prosper.

From LGA: How safe is your neighborhood? - recent lake home break-in
All five of our local sheriff’s tell us that we here at the lake live in a low crime area, and they are right. However, that does not mean that crime cannot happen. One of our sub-divisions experienced a break-in last week. Some of the facts that we know are that the owners were weekenders and discovered the break-in when they arrived on Friday afternoon. The criminals took a TV and satellite receiver boxes. They entered through the front door by breaking an oval glass window in the door with a large rock.
The owners had taken some precautions. They had security system signs, but no real system. They had an outdoor light that comes on at night. They did not have the house lights or radios on timers. No neighbor was making special checks of the house. They did not leave a vehicle in the driveway. The sheriff took a while to get there after they were called, but it is a cold case by then and speed is no longer important.
As an interesting follow-up, one of our Directors did a walk around the next morning and checked every unoccupied house in the HOA. He found one house where the front door was locked but left open, and another where a sliding glass door was unlocked.
How safe is your neighborhood? Does every house have someone assigned to keep an eye on it? Are phone books or other objects allowed to lie on front porches or in driveways? Are people regularly walking the streets? Yes we live in a low crime area. We do not live in a crime free area. These are the kinds of events that can often be prevented by an active Neighborhood Watch organization. For more information on creating a Neighborhood Watch organization, contact safety@lakegastonassoc.com.

Treasurer Rich Thomas Email 08152010
From: Richard E. Thomas [mailto:leroy141@embarqmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, August 15, 2010 8:56 AM
To: Richard E. Thomas
Subject: Eaton's Ferry Estates Hydrilla Treatment

TO: Eaton’s Ferry Estates Property Owner;
We are creating a data base of email addresses (currently we have about 60% of unverified emails for owners of record) which we plan to use from time to time to share information or requests form Board and Committee members. Only emails that pertain to the Eaton’s Ferry Estates Property Owners and the Association will be sent to the electronic address on record. It is our attempt to help keep everyone informed, those making a permanent home here as well as those who do not. All emails will be sent by blind copy to protect your email address from unwanted exposure. The distribution list will not be shared with anyone other than your elected Board. If your security software protects you against attachments and junk mail please add this sending email address to acceptable senders.
If you desire not to be kept informed about events affecting your property here on the Lake just click reply and send us an email asking to be removed. If you change your email address be sure to let us know so we can keep our list up to date. We will continue to use regular mail for billing and important meeting notices. It is our hope to enlarge the data base so that in the future we can help control the ever rising cost of mailing and administration.

The first important email below is being sent out from resident Bruce Fowler who administers our Hydrilla treatment program. If you have comments or concerns please reply directly to any Board member or Bruce (email addresses can be viewed in the electronic directory at our website http://efepoa.com or in your hard copy of the directory. If you have not registered take a look at the website and provide our webmaster with your feedback so we can make it more useful to you, our residents.

We are experiencing unusual pocketed growth in various lakeside coves this year.   Another touch up with Komeen where needed by inspection will be attempted on Monday August 16th. Full treatment with Sonar and the other chemicals is set for August 24th timeframe; posting notices will be made prior to. An evaluation of the mixed results to date will be made at the end of the season but for the moment we believe we got a late start, experienced low water levels with more heat than normal and didn't achieve the chemical dispersion needed in various areas. Having said that there are areas in which the results have been excellent. Feedback is helpful so please relay any issues people might have.

Rich Thomas – Treasurer & EFEPOA Board member

If you choose not to receive our emails please reply to be removed from the distribution list.

IN GOD WE TRUST

Suggestions to EFE Property Owners
It is good to have reflecting easily discernable house numbers on the mail boxes (and houses if appropriate) for first responders--EMS, fire, police, to quickly spot. I note that some houses do not have those. These are of help both for the specific owner as well as for neighbors in an emergency, maybe even for UPS etc.
Another suggestion: when telephone directorys etc get thrown out in front of your house, take them in as their lingering presence suggests to would-be burglars there is no one at home and is a ripe target.
As a retired "spy" believe me it is of value to have a light on inside the house at night. It is even more valuable to have a car parked visibably outside the house. And it is of value to have the little decals on your basement windows that read "Warning, alarmed". As well as a sign that reads "Be ware of Dog". And as some recently learned lock your car doors if parked outside. At one time we had a neighborhood system going for EFE: It fizzled when several of the volunteers moved away. I still have the magnetic "Security Patrol" decals that get slapped on the side and back of cars for the patrol, which EFE paid for. The patrols were mostly weekend and only for short periods including nights for a few hours to "show the flag" : incidentally that is why the signs were placed at both entrances that read "Patrolled", still of value even if an empty threat. So for whatever the above is worth.
In the spy business (working overseas of course) a targeted facility had to be evaluated first for guards present, then patrols, then security alarms, then nosey neighbors, then dogs present, then the type of locks encountered.

EFE is a great place to be, and thanks to such volunteers as the boards of directors and now this web site which brings us into the 21st century.

Jerry Shin

Changes to this Website
At the direction of the new 2010/2011 EFEPOA Board, a number of notable changes were recently made to this website. The EFEPOA Covenants were moved to the Main Menu and are accessible by the public. An updated (i.e. July 2010) EFEPOA Members Directory is located in the EFEPOA Menu and available only to EFEPOA members.

NEW EFEPOA 2010/2011 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Following the July 8, 2010 Board meeting, your new 2010/2011 EFEPOA Board of Directors/Officers are:

President - Bill Peterson
Vice President/Planning - Ron Sondergard
Secretary - Tim Stone
Treasurer - Rich Thomas
Parks/Recreation - Connie Moore
Parks/Maintenance - Hugh Fowler
Roads - Artie Seymour
At Large - Charles Maready

Hugh Fowler stepped down after several years of service as our Board President. Many thanks and much gratitude is due Hugh for his excellent leadership. We are fortunate that he has chosen to continue his EFEPOA service in his new capacity as Director of Parks/Maintenance.

The EFEPOA Board welcomes Bill Peterson as the new President and Rich Thomas as the new Treasurer. Ron Sondergard, Tim Stone, Connie Moore, Artie Seymour, and Charles Maready continue in their EFEPOA Board terms of office.

Contact information for each Board member can be found in the Members Section of this website. If you choose to contact members of the Board, please remember that ALL Board members are volunteers, provide their selfless service willingly to the EFE property owners, and should be treated with respect.