Royal Oaks Estates blog

Need handyman & sitter

Gadget Guru — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 05:32:54 GMT

Home Repairs & Babysitting

We are new to the neighborhood and are looking for a few good recommendations.

Home Repairs: We need some trim around our windows replaced and repairs to the soffits (squirrels are entering the attic).

We have tried three different contractors - two came out to take a look - never followed-up. One never showed for the initial appointment.

Babysitting: we are looking for someone to care for our 4 & 6 year-old children. Occasional Friday or Saturday night out. Possibly a few hours during the "Winter break" from school.
Thank you, Clay & Tracy

Alcohol at the Pool

Gadget Guru — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 19:58:19 GMT

A neighbor writes...

"I will preface this by saying I am not a prude and love my beer, wine, and mixed drinks. But I would like to suggest we open a conversation on curbing alcohol at the pool.

Today, June 9th, I took my daughter to the pool around 1pm. At the pool were four youths genuinely having a good time. However, my guess is all but one were under 21, and they had two open glass bottles of tequila and vodka. There was no profanity, nor drunken behavior, but I felt very uncomfortable having open glass bottles and underage drinking at the pool.

Please feel free to post this. I think when our adults drink at the pool it sets a bad example for our children. They have enough bad examples to follow in their lives -- we can at least set some good ones."

Web/Blog editor writes... First of all, glass bottles of any kind are prohibited in the pool area, and underage drinking is addressed by state law, but what about adults? How do we balance an adult's desire to enjoy a drink or a beer with a need to set a good example for children? What is YOUR opinion?

Recommendations for Home Updates & Repairs

Gadget Guru — Sun, 22 May 2011 17:03:00 GMT

Is anyone in the neighborhood aware of a reliable replacement windows service? After 22 years, we need to change some of ours.

If anyone is looking for kitchen or bath remodeling, Deborah and I had real good luck with Hillman Tile and Stone on Peachtree Industrial across from NG Middle School.

Deborah and I are also entertaining new house siding and an addition of a sunroom and deck replacement.

Referrals are appreciated.

Roger & Deborah Cofer

Yes!

Mark Gupton — Thu, 05 May 2011 14:32:00 GMT

Absolutely! Moved from pop3 to imap and hopefully issues are behind us!
Earl Wolfe

Anyone else having issues with Charter Cable?

Gadget Guru — Wed, 04 May 2011 15:10:00 GMT

Not sure if others are also experiencing lots of issues with Charter cable & Internet service, but we are. I wanted to see if others would chime in on their experiences have been.

Charter has a Twitter team that is very responsive, but our service keeps going out every 2 or 3 days since the bad lightening storms of April 4.

Thanks, Vernon & Linda Walker

Contact UPS to stop speeding trucks

Gadget Guru — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 15:28:00 GMT

I've noticed on at least two occasions UPS drivers exceeding the 25MPH limit. This morning I finally emailed UPS to complain using their "Contact us" page. I couldn't find a topic on their site for driver complaints, so I just used this generic contact form. I know there have been other posts on the blog about speeding, but perhaps we should remind folks that when they see service professionals such as UPS, Fedex, etc speeding, they should report them to their employers. One child hit or pet hit is too many; it's not worth the 20 seconds they save by driving too fast in our subdivision. - Vernon W.

Annual Meeting & Election this Sunday, 1/30

Gadget Guru — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 16:30:00 GMT

Please join us at the Annual Meeting on 1/30 at 3:00 pm in the clubhouse.

This is an important meeting. Candidates for the Homeowners Board of Directors will be elected and we will vote on 3 Covenant amendments. Details are on the website, or you may call 770.614.8028 to pick up a copy of the Annual Meeting letter, which contains the ballot, the proposed amendments, and the Directory Update form.

Bring those 3 pieces of paper (filled out) to the meeting, along with your annual dues!

We look forward to seeing you there!
Royal Oaks Estates Homeowners Board of Directors

Upcoming Events

Gadget Guru — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 16:36:00 GMT

Just a reminder to put the following on your calendars:
August 22, 7pm Royal Oaks Board Meeting, at the Clubhouse
Sept 11, 7pm End of Summer Adult Luau, at the Clubhouse. Buy tickets by 8/29, please. See website for details.

Red Oak Sanitation Can Pickup

Gadget Guru — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 03:14:00 GMT

I have been trying to get a response from Red Oak Sanitation about when they would be picking up our cans and refunding our $50 deposits. Today when I called for the 3^rd time, I received the famous “due to large call volumes” voice response and had to leave a voice message. Frustrated with the lack of response, I sent an email to the company website. Below is the response. Roger and I plan on taking them up on their offer to bring our can to their Gainesville office. Obviously Red Oak has no incentive to pick up the cans or refund the deposits. I will let you know if delivering the cans direct works. » Deb Cofer

Pet killed on Oakwood Hills Dr. by Speeding Driver

Mark Gupton — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 17:12:08 GMT

Yesterday, June 21st 2010 my dog was struck and killed by a speeding auto on Oakwood Hills Dr. I am ultimately responsible as my dog was not on a leash. While I don't have any ill feelings towards the gentleman who struck my dog, bottom line he was speeding and doing so way over the limit despite his own testimony to the opposite. I have lived in this neighborhood for 17 years and speeding has been problematic always. In fact I am watching cars racing down Oakwood Hills as I write this. Most speeders don't even realize they are going fast. Being used to driving 65 MPH on Peachtree Industrial and 50 MPH on Suwanee Dam I can understand why.

The average stopping distance for a auto traveling at 25 MPH is about 30 feet given good reflexes. The same car at 30 MPH is almost 45 feet. At 35 MPH it is over 60 feet, twice that of 25 MPH, our neighborhood speed limit. At 20 MPH the stopping distance is about 15 feet which under most any circumstance is enough time to stop.

Over the years I have stopped many speeders, including a speeder yesterday after my dog was struck. The argument is always "I was only going 30 or 35 MPH". This small "perceived" difference is the difference between life or death for a child or animal entering the road. In reality many speeders in our neighborhood are driving 45+ MPH (I have clocked) and often times on the cell phone which exaggerates the stopping distances considerably. A few years back I even watched a teen loose control of his car at the bottom of the hill on Oakwoods Hill, destroying the front end of his parent Station Wagon. Honestly I am surprised this does not happen more often.

I offer this challenge to everyone reading this: Try consciously driving between 20-25 MPH next time you come down our road. You will notice quickly how "fast" you are going and also sense immediately how much more in control you would be should something jump in the road. Also next time you are driving without thinking too much, look down at your speedometer. My guess is you will be shocked.

For those of you who don't care I only pray to God for you, as one day you may be standing over a child wondering what happened and what you could have done different ... Frank Ditore

STOP at the Stop Sign on Overbend Trail

Mark Gupton — Wed, 19 May 2010 15:27:00 GMT

We are having a problem with people literally pulling out in front of other cars at the intersection of Oakwood Hills and Overbend Trail. Those of us who live past Overbend on Oakwood Hills are now having to very carefully proceed through the intersection as drivers seem to no longer stop at the sign. My family has had way too many close calls! It has become common for people to pull out than to stop. This puts everyone in danger of having an accident and being injured.

I have emailed Mark Gupton, who agreed that it must be addressed, as it has now become a danger to all involved. The lack of compliance with basic traffic rules and acknowledging the there are people who live in the dead end needs to be addressed, and we should be able to drive in our neighborhood without having to worry about who is going to hit us while not paying attention. This means drivers yielding to oncoming traffic UNTIL they either turn onto Overbend or pass at the stop sign, it doesn’t mean you THINK they will turn and therefore pull out onto Oakwood Hills before they have either passed or made the turn.

Thanks, Beth Prince

President's Updates for May

Mark Gupton — Mon, 10 May 2010 18:08:00 GMT

Pool Opens This Weekend!

The pool is set to officially open the weekend of May 14. (Pending final cleaning, ladder & rail installs, to be done by our pool service.) Reminder: The common areas, such as pool, clubhouse, playground, & tennis courts, are for use by ROEHA residents who have paid their dues for 2010 (and are current for previous years, as well.) If you haven’t paid, then please make arrangements with Mark Gupton or David White. You can even pay by credit card. We want everyone to be able to enjoy our amenities.

Please, please, please... when you are at the pool, clean-up after yourself and your neighbors. Empty the trash cans when they are full. Pick up litter and keep the bathrooms clean. It’s all of our responsibility to take care of our shared property. The Pool Rules are posted on the pump house wall. Be sure you read them and explain them to your children. Since there is no lifeguard, an adult must accompany all children under 14 - always!

Please visit the neighborhood website, www.RoyalOaksEstates.com, for the write-up on our May 8 Work Day and the list of things we still need to do. Can we count on YOUR help?

Neighborhood Garage Sale

Gadget Guru — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 13:52:00 GMT

Springtime is here and its time to clean out those closets. The annual Royal Oaks Community Garage Sale will be held May 7th and 8th. There will be a sign out front to direct customers into the community.

Please purchase a balloon for your mailbox in order for the customers to know that you are participating in the sale. The Dollar Store, at Publix on Peachtree Industrial Blvd., carries balloons (and garage sale ones at that.)

Happy selling and I hope you all make a bundle. If you have any questions please feel free to contact Christie White at 678-765-0769.

Storm Drainage Project on Oakwood Hills Drive

Gadget Guru — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 22:11:00 GMT

I am writing to update the HOA on the status of the repair work to the storm drainage project at 71 Oakwood Hills Dr. We reported the problems last October. The county delivered the rock many months ago. We have been contacting John Corn, Construction and Maintenance Manager for Gwinnett County, since Jan. to find out the schedule for repair. Today, the county crew arrived to do the repairs. After reviewing the culvert, they made the decision that the problems were worse than originally thought and the county would need to hire a contractor to fix the issues. They did not know if this would include any need to tear up the roadway, but would include additional ground areas up to the road.

I again contacted Mr. Corn at his office, number (678.376.6950) and his mobile, number (770.712.9005,) and left messages. Mr. Corn has not returned any of my calls. I certainly understand that the county has many areas and roads that have a priority over ours. If there are any questions or complaints from the Royal Oaks residences about the large stack of rocks, you can let them know the status. If there is anything any of the HOA officers can do to speed up the project, help would be appreciated.

Deb & Roger Cofer

Welcome to the Royal Oaks blog!

Gadget Guru — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 20:54:00 GMT

Welcome to the Royal Oaks Estates blog. We hope you will use this forum to improve neighbor-to-neighbor communications and to offer suggestions and feedback to the Board of Directors. Remember to check the Royal Oaks website, as well, for news, announcements, and upcoming events.

PLEASE - maintain a courteous tone as you write your entries. They will be monitored, and submissions containing inappropriate language will not be published.