Preserve at Astor Farms Official HOA Community Site

There are vacancies on both the Architectural Review Committee and the Social Committee.

The ARC committee reviews and approves all petitions from homeowners for additions, changes, and modifications to their homes and yards that require such approval under the HOA Rules and Regulations. This is an extremely important committee to ensure that everyone maintains the standards of our community, which is designed to protect all of our property values.

The Social Committee is responsible for coordinating such beneficial activities as the community wide Garage Sale, the Easter Egg Hunt, the Halloween Parade, the Santa Sleigh ride and any other social activity they deem would be worthwhile and approved by the Board.

We need community involvement at all levels to make sure we have a strong vibrant community. If you are interested in joining either of these committees, please fill out the information in the Leave a Reply link and you will be contacted by the appropriate Committee Chairman or Board Member.

The next Board of Directors Meeting is set for Monday, March 15^th at 7:00 in the community room at Lake Sylvan Park.

All Homeowners are welcome to attend.

Highlights of the Board of Directors Meeting of Feb 24^th, 2010

1. Adopted a new approach to make sure the lawns of abandoned and vacated homes are mowed on a regular basis.
2. Allocated funds to install new security lighting near the entrance gate to ensure there is enough lights for cars to be clearly visible on the security cameras after dark. Requested price quotations to install security lighting by the school bus stop as the first pick up times are in the dark.
3. Allocated funds to replace the strip of grass in front of he school bus pick up area with pavers. We have had a recurring problem with parents driving over this strip and tearing it up as they pick up or drop off their children, so the Board saw this as a permanent solution.
4. Allocated funds to install new landscaping on both sides of the main entrance off Orange Blvd., which includes trimming about 20 crepe myrtle trees for the first time in about 4 years.
5. Allocated funds to remove the worst 10 infected fir trees near the entrance pond. All trees are infected to some degree. The grounds committee was asked to develop a 3 year program to eventually replace all the infected fir trees with more attractive trees.
6. A program to repaint and refurbish all homeowner mailboxes was tabled.
7. The Board was asked to have the large flat grassy area at the end of Hawks Hammock Way evaluated for excessive fire ants, and resolve the issue if needed.
8. The fining committee was asked to submit a plan to the Board to have our streets monitored  nightly to ensure compliance with the no parking in street overnight rules of the Association.
9. Request for volunteers to serve on the ARC and Social Committees was made.
10. Plans were discussed to organize the annual Homeowners Meeting in May.

You might have noticed the entrance gate sticking in a semi-closed/semi opened position a few times over the last few months. The Gate Repair service was dispatched each time and tried different approaches to fix it. Finally, the decision was made to replace the entire gear box and that fix seems to have permanently solved the problem.

The Board is also experimenting with having the exit gate automatically stay open from 7 to 9AM and the entrance gate automatically stay open from 3:30 to 6PM, Mon – Fri. These are high traffic times for the gates and if you’ve ever watched them during these time periods, they are constantly opening and closing. In addition to saving wear and tear on the moving parts of the gate, having them stay open during these time periods leads to an easier traffic flow for our commuters. The gates will remain closed at all other times, maintaining our security level.

Dear Astor Farms Home Owners,

Due to a communication error the HOA meeting that was scheduled for Monday, February 15th has been moved to Wednesday February 24th, 2010. As usual there will be a sign at the community entrance announcing the date of the meeting at least 48 hours prior to it.

We apologize for any confusion and look forward to seeing everyone at the meeting!

The recent weather has been very hard on our Queen and Robellini Palms. Typical cost to have these trimmed is $35 – $50 each. As a service to our Homeowners, the Board has negotiated a deal with our landscape service to trim these for $25 each (for example, 3 palms would be $75).

If you would like our service to trim your palms, simply call House of Management at 407 852-5300 and tell them to add you to the Astor Farms Palm Trimming list and how many palms you want trimmed. Our service will do the trimming about the 2nd week of March, depending on weather, workload, etc. You will then be billed directly by Ultimate Image Landcare.

By working together, you get a great price, and our community stays beautiful.

Dear Astor Farms Home Owner,

We would like to inform you that this month’s HOA Board of Directors Meeting has been moved to Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 due to the Martin Luther King holiday. Normally our HOA meetings take place on the third Monday of every month. As usual the meeting will take place at the Sylvan Lake Park location at 7:00PM. We look forward to seeing you soon.

Dear Neighbors,

Before Santa dashes off to the rooftops of all the good boys and girls, he is stopping to visit the wonderful children of Astor Farms! Just like last year, there will be a hayride while singing carols, and plenty of cookies to eat. This event will take place on Christmas Eve, 12/24/2009, starting at 7:00pm at 1791 Astor Farms Place. Please bring cookies to share with your neighbors!

See you there!

The Astor Farms garage sale on Saturday was a big success.Thank you to everyone who participated and thank you for all the donations that were made to AmVets!

AmVets informed us that their driver was able to reach everyone on Saturday except Cains Wren Trail and Swallowtail Lane. His truck was FULL…even in the cab. She promises to be out tomorrow morning and asks for just a call from anyone that wishes for a pick-up. She was all apologies and they were overwhelmed with the number of donations. Sine today (Monday) was garbage day we feared that most would just let it go in the trash, but she could do nothing today as they were short a driver. She thanked us for thinking of them and promised to have a truck out tomorrow morning (Tuesday) – with receipts, of course. If you call after 3 PM, please leave your name and address and she will check it first thing in the morning. The number is 407-290-6003.

Halloween 2009 is over and the Annual Astor Farms Halloween Parade was a big success, especially for all the kids. Below is a gallery of over 90 pictures taken at the parade. Enjoy

Thank you to all residents who submitted their pictures. If you would like your pictures to be posted here as well please email them to admin@AstorFarms.com