Grove Newsletter, July 2024
Happy Summer, neighbors! We hope you’re all off to a great start and the heat isn’t too bad. We have a few things your board has been working on, so we wanted to fill you all in.
New Florida HOA Laws: Governor Ron Desantis has signed several new bills into law that govern how HOA’s are run, and the board is going through them to make sure we are in compliance. The good news is, we meet the requirements for most of them and we will be meeting soon to address the places where we are not. As soon as we have a comprehensive list put together, we will send a separate email out.
Our Water Bills: The Harbor Hills POHH group has been doing some research on our water bills and Grove board member Robert Chimento has been working with them as our representative. He’s done some great work on his own to help educate us all on why our bills may be high and some practical tips for how we can reduce and conserve. Click here to view his findings.
The ARC and Recent Violations: Lots of us have been working on the upkeep of our properties lately and we’re so excited to see our homeowners get involved in keeping The Grove looking beautiful. Just a reminder that we have very clear guidelines about getting written approval from our ARC before you make changes to your property. This includes taking down trees (even dead or dying ones), painting your home (even the same color), taking out or replacing bushes, etc.
Article V section 5.1.2 of our community covenants states “No construction, modification, alteration, or other improvements of any nature whatsoever, except interior alterations, which do not change or affect the exterior structure or appearance of a building, shall be undertaken on any lot unless the same shall have been approved in writing by the ARC”.
Why is this important? I know you’re asking yourself, “if it’s the same color, why do I have to seek approval?” If you painted your house 18 years ago, that paint color is not the same anymore. Plus, times and styles have changed and we want to keep our community looking fresh and modern a place where people want to buy and live. And, why, if a tree is dying, do you have to ask to take it down? Sometimes, it’s about keeping the committee in the loop, in case we have any questions. And because you may be required to replace the tree, if taking it down puts you under the number of trees you are required to have on your property.
Our ARC strives to answer any request within 48 hours. There have been rare times this has been longer, but they do their best to answer as soon as possible. Forms can be found online here or at the small black box attached to our community bulletin board by the mailboxes. You put your request in, raise the flag, and wait for their answer. You must not begin work unless you have an approval from them. If you have any trouble getting an answer, feel free to reach out to any board member.
Celebration of Life for Margra Grillo: Homeowner and long-time board member Margra Grillo passed away on June 5 and her family will be holding a celebration of life reception in her honor on August 17 from 2-5pm in the Harbor Hills Clubhouse lounge.
Block Party: Talk has begun about having a block party again this year and a group of homeowners are taking the lead! If you are interested in joining in on the discussion or have ideas of how we can make it more fun this year, please contact Lisa Chimento at [email protected]. The more, the merrier.
AND SOME REMINDERS
Speed Limit: The speed limit on our streets is 20mph. Please be mindful of this when driving through.
Our Website: Our Webmaster Anita Diamond-Korndoerfer takes great care to keep our website current. If you have ANY questions about anything in our community, you’ll most likely find the answers there. All of our community documents, information about where you can send your dues, meeting minutes – all of it – can be found on our website https://thegrovehh.org
Text Alert System: We have created a text alert system for The Grove Homeowners, to be used when there are urgent or pressing notifications that need to be sent out. An example might be if there is a power outage in the community, or (as we’ve seen recently), a sustained issue with access to the west gate. Notifications will be one-way (no reply) and participation is voluntary. If you want to sign up for text alerts, please email [email protected]
Facebook: If you are on Facebook and wish to be invited to join the Grove Facebook page, please send a friend request to Dana Dragani Delzio and she will add you to the group. This is an owners-only private group not visible to anyone who is not invited.
Thank you for making The Grove the best community in Harbor Hills.
