Carrotwood Trees - Wanted Dead (not Alive)

Have you seen this tree?

If you are like me, you may have never realized it was a non-native, highly invasive “weed” that displaces Florida’s natural flora and landscaping.

Recently, the Association has started removing the smaller trees we come across, as they can be taken out by hand. We do have a couple of larger trees which will merit more attention in the near future.

Carrotwood is an evergreen tree native to Australia, Indonesia, and New Guinea. It is a slender tree usually with a single trunk that has dark gray outer bark covering inner bark that is often orange in color. Birds, particularly fish crows, are the primary animal dispersal agents of carrotwood seeds, which they ingest and later deposit a considerable distance from parent plants.

Carrotwood is listed as a Category 1 invasive exotic in Florida, capable of altering native plant communities by displacing native species and changing community structures or ecological functions. Spoil Islands, beach dunes, hammocks, marshes, mangrove and cypress habitats, scrub, coastal prairies and coastal strand are among the Florida coastal natural habitats susceptible to invasion by this species. Once it invades a new area, Cupaniopsis anacardioides can crowd out and out-compete native vegetation to form dense stands of carrotwood trees.

Cupaniopsis anacardioides (aka carrotwood) can alter the community structure of native plant communities, e.g., mangrove marsh, and negative economic as well as ecological impacts are probable.

To minimize impacts, the plant was added to the DACS Florida Noxious Weed List in 1999. Plants on the Florida Noxious Weed List, including carrotweed, may not be introduced, possessed, moved, or released without a permit.

Need: Proxies & Volunteer Help...Annual Meeting Questions Answered

Unfortunately, we did not receive our 190 residents in attendance via in person or by proxy - we had 145 at last count. Our Green book says we MUST have an Annual Meeting, so we will need to come up with 45 more proxy votes and then we will reconvene to do the business of the Annual Meeting. If you have a proxy, please designate the Secretary as your proxy and mail it to or drop it off at the Clubhouse. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

As president, I did have a few opening remarks for those present. 2007 was a year of change in Westlake Village - we greeted a new Office Administrator (Rosemary), a new Director of Buildings and Grounds (Jim), a new insurance company (Carlton Fields), and a host of other "new" things! The challenge we face in 2008 is simple: lack of man/womanpower. Without going into too much detail, we (the Board) are TIRED. We are trying to give 110%, but we find ourselves being pulled in every direction. Anything you, as a resident, can do to help out would be greatly welcome.

We were also able to field some great questions from the membership… touching on a variety of topics including, but not limited to, the pool maintenance costs, legal costs and challenges, finances, and FORECLOSURES. Let's look a little deeper into that. As you know, we find ourselves in a challenging time financially. Every household is being asked to do more with less (or at least the same), thanks to rising energy costs, growing insurance bills, and other costs. Westlake Village is now feeling the pinch of foreclosed and abandoned properties. Currently, there are approx 3 - 4 active foreclosures in our neighborhood. It is common for embattled owners to simply walk away from the properties, leaving the growing grass and decaying pool for neighbors. It sometimes takes 3 or 4 months before the lender (or buyer) to take possession of the property, at which time it is cleaned up.

So what do we, as a community, do when the property is abandoned for those 3 - 4 months? The Board has been examining this issue since it was first brought to our attention in September, then it was tabled in October, and will be finally addressed in Nov. Our legal counsel has advised us it is not financially wise to begin mowing these properties, as there is little chance we will be reimbursed for the costs of imposing a lien on the property for the actual mowing. There are many liability issues with going on a property that we don't own, although the Green Book does grant us the power to do this. And finally, where does our “power” stop – do we mow peoples lawns who are NOT in foreclosure but appear to have abandoned the property (yes, we have received a request already).

My wife is so smart and timely. When I told her of this quandary, she related a story to me about a California community who was seeing 20% - 25% vacancy in their new development, as investors bailed on the properties. It was so bad that residents formed "mowing parties" and began caring for the homes until the banks received possession and began their maintenance program for the property. Again, just an interesting story and it this does not address the liability these conscientious residents (perhaps unknowingly) took upon themselves.

The Board will adopt measures that address these abandoned homes while also minimizing the financial toll and liability such a program entails. Where does the balance fall? I'm not sure. If you have any ideas, please call or email ANYONE on the Board...www.WestlakeVillageHOA.com.

Thanks for your support

ANNUAL MTG!!!

All,

The ANNUAL MTG is tomorrow (Tuesday) at 7pm at the Clubhouse. If you can make, please stop by. We need AT LEAST 190 proxies/votes to have a quorum and have the meeting.

If you have any questions, please call Rosemary in the Office at 784-3054.