Each year your Board of Directors determines the annual assessment to provide the necessary funds for maintenance, landscaping and beautification of Common areas and recreational facilities and for their repairing and replacement as needed Each lot owner receives an invoice for the assessment prior to the beginning of the year. The entire amount is due and payable by January 31st of the new year. For your information, any assessment not paid within 30 days after the due date is subject to interest from the due date at seven percent (7%) per annum.

The Board recognizes that this country is in a deep recession affecting all of us to varying degrees and each of us must prioritize our needs and reduce our spending to the extent possible. That approach also applies to managing the finances of the Westlake Village Homeowners Association. The Budget adopted by the Board has been carefully drawn to keep our village as a beautiful and desirable place to live and at the same time to reduce expenses to a minimum. As expenses must be keep to a minimum so must income be maximized. Therefore, every resident has a stake in the outcome. Failure to pay an assessment by a resident has a negative impact on all residents.

Article VII Section Six in the Declaration of Covenants spells out the responsibility of the Board relative to non-payment of assessments. If your assessment is not received by March 2nd, your account will be referred to our attorney for collection. You will receive a Demand Letter from our attorney for immediate payment of the assessment plus interest and all legal expenses. Failure to pay within 45 days after the date of the letter will cause a lien to be filed. If, after another 45 days, the total amount is still not paid, the property will be subject to foreclosure.

The Board has agonized over how to best protect the financial interests of all our homeowners and feel this is the most impartial policy we can stick to...the prompt and full payment due as laid out in our governing documents. Thank you in advance for your support and understanding.

District asks homeowners to "skip a week" of irrigation in cooler weather

In an effort to conserve water during the ongoing drought, the Southwest Florida Water Management District is encouraging residents who irrigate their lawns to "skip a week" during the cooler months of December, January and February.

According to research by the University of Florida, grass doesn't need to be watered as often during the cooler months. In fact, three-quarters of an inch of water every 10–14 days is sufficient.

“The cooler months are a good time to train lawns to need less water," said Sylvia Durell, Florida-friendly landscaping project manager. “Using less water will encourage deeper grass and plant roots, which makes them more drought-tolerant."

Over-watering can also encourage disease and pests.

Homeowners can determine when their grass needs water when:

• Grass blades are folded in half on 30 percent of the lawn

• Grass blades are blue-gray

• A footprint remains on the lawn for several minutes after walking on it

The region is experiencing the effects of a three-year drought and October through May is Florida’s dry season. All 16 counties within the District are under one-day-per-week lawn watering restrictions through Feb. 27, 2009. In addition, tightened restrictions are currently in affect for all of Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties through June 30, 2009.

Skipping a week of irrigation will help conserve drinking water supplies. Following this skip-a-week plan saves water that the public needs for other critical uses during the dry season.

For more water conservation tips, information about the drought and the current water restrictions, please visit the District's web site at WaterMatters.org/drought.

January happenings

Welcome 2009.

If you have not already rec'd the invoice (you should have), your annual dues of $558are due by Jan 31.

The Pinellas County Hwy Dept has repainted the speed humps in and around the Village so they will be much more visible now. Pls remember school is back in session and residential speed limits are 25 mph. Speeding through the neighborhood might shave 15 seconds off your travel and is NOT worth the danger it entails...pls slow down.

If your New Years resolution was to join the Board of Directors, you're in luck!!! We have a couple open positions for Board members and quite a few open positions for volunteers.

Remember the annual garage sale, Spring Fling, Holiday parties, etc. We have note been able to schedule them because we are MINUS an Activities Chair. If this is your thing, come join us!

We had a resident question this week via email about why we close the pool at dusk. It's a very important question - here's the answer:

"It is a Pinellas County ordinance we must meet due to the fact we do not meet the county guidelines for sufficient illumination of our pool (inside & outside). Simply speaking, the existing lighting situation is below what the county considers safe, i.e. to illuminate sufficiently to see a swimmer at the bottom of the pool. In late 2006/early 2007 the Board conducted an audit and I believe the estimate was appr. $10,000 to retrofit/re-wire the pool to meet county safety code.

Seasonally, it has not drawn many complaints. Normally it's cold and no one wants to be in the pool day or night. It has been unseasonably warm and with dusk at 530ish, it has apparently become more of an issue. In the summer, dusk does not occur until after 8p, which has worked fine for most residents, I believe."