Carrington is organizing one for the same day.  Norma’s phone number is 219-3778 and her email is kmsnlf@columbus.rr.com.

Please let her know if you plan to participate so she can deliver some balloons for your mailbox and include your address in a Craigslist ad.

Included for the pre-paid price of $75.00 will be buffet lunch beginning at noon, two beers or refreshments, carts, free range balls and golf (shot gun) starting at 1:30pm.  Also, a free round of golf at this course will be subsequently given to each player by management.  Prizes will be awarded for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place foursomes.

Same rules as last year with the exception that two shots must be used for each player.  It is our hope to have 72 players this year (one foursome to begin at each of the 18 holes).

Please e-mail me at cstepp3@columbus.rr.com with your name, phone # and any others that you wish to play in your foursome.

Let’s make this year even better than last.

Thank you,

Bob Stepp,

BFHA President

Norma Schneiderman will be placing ads, posting signs and providing balloons to participants.

It is time for that spring cleaning you have been putting off!

Teresa would like to make this her last hunt so she is hoping someone will volunteer to understudy this year and thent ake it over next year.  This is a fun event to organize and put on, especially if you have young kids who can help out.

All those interested,  please contact me.

Bob Maruniak

Ted Barrows updated us on the financials and dues collection for 2011.

We have collected $20,000. ,all but 32 dues and final notice letters are going to be sent out on those. Last year we received a judgment of $1631.50. against one homeowner who was renting out his house and refused to pay the $75. dues. We currently have a resident who has not paid for last year and we have placed a lien on their house for the dues, legal expenses and interest. We currently have a balance of $36,784.

Bob Maruniak reviewed the budget which is on our website at brittonfarms.com. $11,500. is budgeted for the entrances. Creative Spaces will be planting a red, white and blue theme prior to Memorial Day.

The Susan White Extra added Police patrols will be continued at a cost of $1500. Toni Starcher will coordinate these in the future.

Misc:

We will continue our new neighbor welcoming program. Lee Salcome has volunteered to head this up. She will decide how this will be administered. Scott Hunt (shunt@cscc.edu) will add new neighbor information to the directory. He will be maintaining the directory and arrange printing and distribution in the future.

Social events planned for this year include:

The annual bowling tournament was run in Jan. by Glen Bolognese. Ted Barrows (dmallor@wowway.com), volunteered to coordinate this activity next year
The Easter Egg Hunt set for Sat. April 23 at 10. Teresa Pepera, (kpepera@columbus.rr.com) is handling this again. Teresa has done a great job with this popular event. She would like to make this her last, so we need a volunteer to take over this event.

• Norma Schneiderman (kmsnlf@columbus.rr.com) has set the date for our annual garage sale at Sat. June 11. She will be placing ads, posting signs and providing balloons to participants.
• The Independence Day bike parade is set for Sun., July 3 at 1. Pete and Mary Chase will be setting ujp the park and providing games and activities. Julie Slough will provide the watermelons and goodies, buy the prizes and arrange for judging of the bike decor. John DeLeo will kick things off and take the pictures. Christine Keidel (christinekeidel@yahoo.com or 527-6908) will make arrangement for the police and fire departments and for the Giggle Factory to attend.
• Bob Stepp (cstepp3@columbus.rr.com) will set up the golf outing at the Golf Club of Dublin on July 31. There may be a block party following the outing.
• Jan Mulhern will be responsible for setting up our second annual Art Day in the Park this summer.
• Amy Windon will again be hosting her annual hot dog Halloween happening. Costume judging will not occur unless someone wants to organize it. If you’re interested, contact Chritine Keidel (christinekeidel@yahoo.com or 527-6908).
• Michelle Diercks (Michelle.Diercks@abbott.com), will arrange Santa Visits in December. Paul Sohner will provide the suit. Depending on scheduling, Ted and Paul will be Santa. Other Santas are welcome to participate.
• Julie Slough Hijulieandtaylor@aol.com will coordinate the entrance decorating again but will need help for her and Bob Stepp to decorate and take down the decor. Ted Barrows kind enough to continue to store all the decorations.
• The Sohner family will be judging the Christmas lights and delivering the prizes.
• Glen Bolognese has resigned as VP/Social Chair, so that means that his annual fishing derby will come to an end unless someone volunteers to organize and run this event. If you are interested in continuing this fun event, please contact Christine Keidel at christinekeidel@yahoo.com or 527-6908.

-> Christine has volunteered to be our new Social Chairperson. Thank you Christine!!

We are always open to ideas for new events. If you have any suggestions, please contact Christine.

There was a discussion about the condition of a few homes and yards and the fact that this may become more of an issue if more foreclosures occur. Bob Stepp would like for the Block Captains to notify him of any obvious instances of neglect.

The other issue was house colors outside the original guidelines. If uyou are planning to repaint or stain and do not have a copy of the color pallette, please contact Bob Stepp. If you are unsure about a color you’d like to use, please contact Bob Stepp who will run it by our Architectural Control committee consisting of 3 Trustees (Bob Cronin, Ed Kampbell, and Paul Sohner), the Pres. and VP.

We will miss you Bob!

We said goodbye to Bob Maruniak and thanked him for his service to the neighborhood. Alicia Barker provided delicious pizza from her Wedgewood pizza shop in Grove City. Norma Schneiderman brought home made cupcakes and presented Bob with Tucson gift cards as a going away gift from the Officers and Trustees. Bob Stepp will take over as President until October elections.

Message from past president, Bob Maruniak

I have enjoyed my run as VP and President and appreciate the work of all those mentioned above who have volunteered to help make this a better place to live.

This is a great core group, but we can use more people to get involved and help out. Cheryl and i will miss all the good friends we’ve made in Britton Farms over the past 11 years and wish you all the best.

Bob Maruniak

Submitted by:

Toni Starcher

Additional lighting is something that always comes up when theft and vandalism is discussed. The fronts of houses are generally pretty well lit with street lights, post lamps and other lights. I made a suggestion that we contact a contractor to arrange a group rate on rear lighting installation. Our neighbor, Jeff Reasinger has agreed to install motion lights at a total cost of $90.00 with existing wiring/box. If you want to DIY, we can get the lights for $40.00 including tax. The lights can be seen on Home Depot’s website:

The SL-5512-WH features 240 degree motion detection up to 100 Ft. Tempered glass provides protection for the bulbs. Swivel arms allow directional lighting. Features DualBrite 2-level lighting. Uses (2) 150W halogen bulbs (Included). $8.00 for two to replace.

• Patented DualBrite Two-Level Lighting Technology

• Up to 100 Ft. Detection Range with Adjustable Detection Sensitivity

• Selectable Light Timer (TEST, 1 min, 5 min or 20 min)

• Uses 2 – 150W Halogen Bulbs (Included)

• MFG Brand Name : Heath Zenith

We will be contacting Steve Mazer at Hilliard Parks and Rec to discuss options to help reduce vandalism in the park. Possibly tying down the trash cans and adding some lighting. At Mike Cope’s suggestion, we may send a letter to the City Council if the situation with the park does not improve. We will continue our special duty police patrols again next year unless the police chief talks us out of them. We will be adding 5 more nights.

For our budget, we should end up the year with expenses between $20,000 and 21,000. depending on the Christmas lighting cost and legal expenses for dues collection. We will be adding at least $1000 to surplus plus the $1900 we recovered from our damage claim. Next year, we will max out at $21,000 in expenses with another $1000 surplus.

We collected all but 5 dues and two of those are renting, but being pursued. Ted has contacted a lawyer to help us collect the other three. If we have to use an attorney, legal fees and 12% interest will be charged.

We will be staying with Creative spaces as our landscaper for next year at no increase and a better color scheme. Susan White was instrumental in the design for next year.

Election results

Glen Bolognese will be second VP and will serve as our social chairman. Anyone interested in helping Glen should contact him at glencbolognese@yahoo.com. Glen has a lot of ideas including a Bowling party, Golf tourney, the second annual fishing derby, and kids’ activities in the park in the Summer. We could use the input of a few parents of young children on the committee.

Unless someone else would like to volunteer to head up the entrance decorating for Christmas, Bob Stepp will be the lead person on this again. We have very little decorations left after the wind of the past two years, so you’d have an opportunity to design and purchase whatever you like. Contact Bob Stepp at 777-8354 if you want to take this over or just want to help Bob out.

The Sohner family has volunteered again to judge the lights. Anyone interested in participating in the judging should contact Paul Sohner… spsohner@yahoo.com

Bob Maruniak

President

Britton Farms Homeowner’s Association

The split rail fences along the outside borders of Britton Farms are finished at a total cost of $3070.00.

FYI, the fence installer informed me that some of the posts along Britton Road were full of termites.  So, they are in the area and will spread with all the rain we’ve had.  Be sure to inspect your property for evidence of damage or the mud tunnels they make up walls.  Wood sheds and firewood are especially vulnerable.  He said they like soft woods like pine.  Do not store firewood or other wood near your house.  Make sure windows and doors are caulked to reduce wood which attracts termites.  Also, limit pine mulch close to the house.

Paving of Davidson Entrances

The paving at the Davidson entrances to the park will be completed within the next month.

I am meeting with Steve Mazer, the new parks and rec director to discuss their plans to improve the gravel pathway and the split rail fences in Britton Farms Park.

Spring Cleanup

Creative Spaces will be out to do their Spring cleanup, some planting and some work on the sprinkler system in the next two weeks.

You may have seen the article in the SNP about Hilliard’s Spring Cleanup and special chipper routes in the four quadrants.  We are in the purple quadrant, so ours will happen next week, the week of April 14th. Have the material curbside by 7am on Monday.  During this special cleanup, there is no need to cut to 4 ft lengths or to bundle the material.   In a note from the Hilliard Tree Commission, “please remove ugly suckers Sucker growth is not only unattractive, but also helps harbor disease and insects.

If anyone knows a good tree pruning service, please contact Susan Fitzpatrick at Ssnfitz@aol.com

Britton Farms’ park and the ponds are in need of spring cleanup as well.  Bob Stepp will supervise and needs volunteers.  Anyone needing community service or boy/girl scouts please contact Bob at 777-8354.

Cable Upgrades

All those little yellow and pink flags at the Davidson entrance up along the ponds and between Huntwicke and the schools are marking the underground utilities in preparation for AT&T to do some cable upgrades.  As Tom Molina suggested, I’ll contact AT&T to make sure they don’t tear up our sprinkler system.

Britton Farms Garage Sale

Norma Schneiderman will be coordinating our garage sale May 17.  Carrington is organizing one for the same day.  Norma’s phone number is 219-3778 and her email iskmsnlf@columbus.rr.com.   We have 6 people signed up so far.

4^th of July Parade

Sue Bachmoyer volunteered again to do the buying for our 4th of July parade.  We could still use help with cleaning up and decorating the park pavilion and maybe organizing a few games.

Updated Directory

The directory will go to print May 1, so be sure to get you update forms in or email me with any services or ad information ASAP.

2008 Dues

We have 80% of our ’08 dues paid.  Thank you all for 100% in ’07.   If you haven’t gotten this year’s in yet, please send or deliver a check for $75.00 to BFHA to Ted Barrows at 4834 Sarasota Dr.

Britton Farms Website

Our website is up, but not fully populated.  You can check it out at brittonfarms.com.  If you have feedback, email John DeLeo at johndeleo@rrohio.com.

Mailbox Painting

June DeLeo has offered up her kids to paint mailbox post.  They will clean the post, remove and replace numbers and do the painting with the proper paint all for $25.00.  If you are interested, please contact June at 529-1986.

Police Patrols

Don’t forget that our added police patrols will begin in May.  Curfew for kids 17 and under is midnight.  13 and under is one hour after sunset.

Meeting with the Mayor

I received this invite from the Mayor’s office and would appreciate any comments or suggestions you have for me to take with me to the meeting.  You are invited to attend the Annual Homeowner Association Presidents’ meeting being hosted by Mayor Don Schonhardt and Council President Brett Sciotto.

Mayor Schonhardt and President Sciotto will review recent and upcoming developments in the City and seek your ideas and feedback.   This is a wonderful opportunity to hear about the City’s plans, ask questions, and convey your thoughts/ideas on your neighborhood to Hilliard’s elected officials.

The meeting will be held Tuesday, April 22nd beginning at 7:00 p.m. at the Hilliard Senior Center.

I’m sure the Darby Accord will come up.   I talked to Dale McVey about this and he is willing to attend an upcoming meeting.

Other Input or Information from Homeowners

A note from Dede Saelens, Sarasota Ct…. I remind people that part of the joy of our community is its diversity of quiet older folks, laughing shouting children, pets that can be noisy at times and us working middle agers! We are not a retirement community.

Bob Stepp is lowering our flags in honor of Mrs. Sharp.

Bob Maruniak

921-8163

rmaruniak@wowway.com