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Post by BagLady on Dec 30, 2013 5:43:34 GMT -5
Yes, there is a collective blindness in SLR to some of life's unpleasant and inevitable realities. Many people in here summarily reject, without examination, thoughts about these possibilities and wear their "all is well" filter in this fantasy place. SLR is just a temporary respite for so many people who do not make their home in our region of the US or in our country. This does not, in any way, denigrate those who do not live here, but SLR is not "home" and that results in a disconnectedness to the everyday concerns of every Neighborhood USA. These same folks would never tolerate the kinds of stuff that goes on in here "back home".
Add to that the ugly layer of governance and property mismanagement that exists and it is just too much to want to deal with when one is "on vacation". I think this is a fundamental demographic problem in SLR. If the makeup of this community was more invested in permanency and homesteaded, these conditions would not exist to the extent they are now.
People do not want to see and cannot even entertain the thought that anything is amiss in terms of the financial integrity of SLohA or the absence of fiduciary by their elected representatives. I hear people say all the time about (theoretical) general corruption in HOA's "Yes, I have heard of people in power defrauding the accounts" but they immediately dismiss the possibility in SLohA---why? What is so different about SLohA? What happened to "healthy skepticism"?
Those who do have a commitment to the welfare of the community--with all its inevitable blemishes--are seen in a negative light and as the actual cause of unrest and are blamed for everything that upsets the status quo. The minority who are invested in pointing to the problems come to be seen as THE problem, rather than as an early warning system and conservators of order.
SLR also has a characteristic that does not support "change" in any way--even Sm all ones. One must do things the way they have always been done or you are an unwelcome outsider to be feared and rejected from the community. This attitude is largely responsible for the decline in volunteerism in that new blood will not tolerate business as usual for its own sake. We are extremely "inbred" and are the sociological counterpart to biological breeding within bloodlines! Fear of change is pathological in SLR and over time, creates an unhealthy and stagnant community. That coupled with "management's resolve to only employ workers (for insurance liability reasons!), volunteerism will continue to decline and eventually be a memory.
Many things are in a state of change now..the resident forum will raise awareness and hopefully, people will engage in some critical thinking and discussion (even in their own minds!) about problems. In the vacuum of effective management and environment of abusive management, residents are beginning to access the outside world (like the EPA and the FL Attorney General) in helping to solve the most serious problems--like defacement of our roads and the pollution of our lake by TT and law violations. Residents have begun to the cH allenge the secrecy with which our governing affairs have been conducted by demanding accountability and through legal means (i.e. covenants expiration lawsuit will be a game changer in SLR). These varieties of "conversation" can only benefit the health of our community in the long run by engaging the 'checks and balances' that stimulate growth in a system and upon which this country was built. In the short run, it will be a painful process.
S's Sociological Moment
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Post by Anita Gofradump on Dec 31, 2013 6:01:31 GMT -5
I miss the recyclable dumpsters in the back--they were so much more efficient than all these stupid bins--plus this just gives the big yellow hydraulic oil belching monster more opportunity to spew out gallons of this toxic and biologically harmful discharge all over the roads--and then eventually into S-bag Lake and our DRINKING WATER--ISN'T ANYONE paying ATTENTION HERE--this has been discussed in great detail--some great freekin' idea, thanks a lot "manager" this makes me wanna puke.
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Post by BagLady on Jan 2, 2014 15:16:21 GMT -5
I pulled up behind TT this afternoon to speak with the picker-upper. The truck was dumping liquid in buckets--a near steady stream of fluid. I asked the guy "What is that liquid leaking from the truck?" He said it was water. I suspected he was right because it was yard debris pickup day and we had so much rain. He seemed to be a friendly sort so I asked him if he was aware of the complaints that had been made about TT's trucks dumping garbage liquid and hydraulic oil? He said "I told my boss about that!" and seemed a bit agitated.
I told him that complaints had been filed with the EPA and other regulatory agencies and photos had been sent of the environmental hazards going into groundwater and our lake from their trucks. I told him "I'm not beatin' up on you because you are just doing your job, but you might not have a job to go to if the EPA shuts down TT". He was listening...I then suggested that he talk to his boss again. I said that TT is being watched by many people in here who are upset about TT leaking crap on our roads. I know he understood what I was saying and feel pretty certain he is going to take this streetside conversation back to his boss.
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Former Waste Mgmt Employee
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Post by Former Waste Mgmt Employee on Jan 3, 2014 10:52:25 GMT -5
At WM the driver is the last guy you want to talk to. He will say anything and really doesn't care except to do his job. The chain of command at WM: Driver reports to Route Manager, RM reports to Route Director (Boss of Dispatch, Route mgrs. and Drivers) The Route Director reported to the Manager of that office (who usually is the top dog)
Not sure how TT works their system but surly it can't be far from something like that. So in all honesty, you are wasting your time and effort talking to the Driver.
Get your pics of the truck with license plate and truck number (usually on the back of the truck) Document what was done and what you saw and call TT and ask for the Route mgr. or go to the top and ask for the Director or manager of the facility - get the email address and send your documentation and FOLLOW UP. They get tons of emails daily so you need to follow up to make sure it's taken care of.
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Post by Dick Tracy on Apr 28, 2017 21:36:32 GMT -5
Koffee Klatch update 4/24/17
Good Morning, I hope you have all had a great Weekend . Last week’s Board of Director’s meeting saw many motions passed for upcoming improvements to the resort. Cue Time billiards will be repairing 2 of the pool tables in the recreation bldg., replacing the felt surface and the bumpers. Six stools have also been ordered to replace some of the stools we have had to remove because of damage and safety issues.
We have also ordered a new AED to replace the portable one carried in the security van which was damaged during use.
Recently we have received complaints about noise from the blowers at the sewer plant disturbing owners along the lake shore. Although the noise has always been there we have recently trimmed away a lot of the over growth that blocked the sound from reaching those owners. In an effort to reduce the noise Ray will be installing nylon slats to the chain link fence behind the blower room to help block the noise from traveling across the lake.
Friday, TT had a truck that blew a hydraulic line and sprayed fluid along many of the roadways throughout the resort. TT called in an environmental clean up crew to deal with the mess. While petroleum products like hydraulic oil cannot be completely removed from asphalt they did act as quickly as possible to minimize any staining. They used a product called Portland cement which is designed to bond to the oil and reseal the asphalt in the process.
I wanted to personally thank the new Garden Club for the incredible amount of work they have put in to beatifying the resort with new plants. Under Dave Gates leadership the club has been very busy over the past week as you can see by the work they have done around the Memorial H all and the Clubhouse.
Thank you and have a Great week!
Chap
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Post by Dick Tracy on Apr 28, 2017 22:02:20 GMT -5
What a shame a dumb ass TT driver drove around SLR for about 2 miles before all of the hydraulic oil completely drained out of the system. I believe the driver of the TT truck was fired over the negligence on his part. What a "Big Ugly Sight" miles of hydraulic fluid all over our roadways. Chap, please note: "Portland Cement" is not a new product. And it is not designed to reseal any Asphalt Roadway. I maybe wrong, but your statement above is a real stretch about Portland Cement. But now I know what that crap was all over my Black Ford Focus, last week. That "Grey Powder" mixed with the early morning "Dew" did a number on my Black Ford Focus. I do believe SLohA owes me a complete deluxe auto detail job on my black Ford. My entire car needs to be gone over with a clay bar to remove the Portland Cement grim. Plus several thousand feet of SLR's Road Surface looks like "Crap" and the hydraulic fluid over time will deteriorate the asphalt. You can not un-ring the bell, with Portland Cement. The damage is done. The quote below is pure BS in my opinion !
16RC Friday, TT had a truck that blew a hydraulic line and sprayed fluid along many of the roadways throughout the resort. TT called in an environmental clean up crew to deal with the mess. While petroleum products like hydraulic oil cannot be completely removed from asphalt they did act as quickly as possible to minimize any staining. They used a product called Portland cement which is designed to bond to the oil and reseal the asphalt in the process. NOTE: History of Portland Cement Joseph Aspdin took out a patent in 1824 for "Portland Cement," a material he produced by firing finely-ground clay and limestone until the limestone was calcined. He called it Portland Cement because the concrete made from it looked like Portland stone, a widely-used building stone in England.
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Post by Admin on Apr 29, 2017 11:25:47 GMT -5
Jm & Jew-D: I am so very sorry to hear about another round of bad luck that you have suffered at the obviously incompetent hands of TT. You have been subject to extreme stress--part of which caused you to have to purchase the now-damaged Ford Focus. I fear you will need a least a partial repainting and will either fuss with the HOA or just go to Sm all Claims Court. I also suspect that yours is not the ONLY vehicle damaged and many snowbirds will not discover damage until returning to the Bag.
TT has been called out before for dropping hydraulic oil on our roads. Unfortunately, the people who PAY them have not been the ones to call them out, and they continue to damage our property. Here is the which is under the Board MAINTENANCE>>Trash, Recycling and Debris>>>Trash Service
Here is an excerpt from asphaltinstitute.org on the likely sequel to this incident:
There is no evidence that portland cement "bonds" to hydraulic oil. The situation would have been better handled by kitty litter and a broom truck. There will likely be ongoing damage as "like bonds to like" and the hydraulic oil is chemically "like" the oil in asphalt. SLohA will find itself polluting ground water, suffering ugly roads and continuing degradation of the surface.
Another benefit of HOA living and "professional" management! We will pay for remedial work to patch the road and then do the whole thing over again--time to accelerate the Reserve depreciation schedule for our 3 year old roads!
The Board should take action NOW to put TT on notice to completely remediate our roads to their original condition before the spill and assume responsibility for future repairs in accordance--not with TT's own "environmental crew"--but with industry standards.
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gusto
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"A Friend of Bill W."
Posts: 117
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Post by gusto on Apr 29, 2017 13:17:21 GMT -5
S-bag Lake Resort has a manager that thinks Portland cement is a new product. Now that says a lot about his knowledge base in construction.
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Post by Admin on Apr 29, 2017 23:01:24 GMT -5
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Post by Dick Tracy on Apr 30, 2017 22:51:59 GMT -5
The next logical step would be to have a contractor Seal Coat all of the Asphalt Road Surfaces in SLR. But, Tkr Paving and Friends did such a lousy paving and compaction job it would be just throwing good money away, do to the humpty dumpty, and bird bath road surface.
We pissed away ($500,000 +) for one of the worst paving projects I have ever seen. All due to our Dumb Ass Manager, Stmbug Ixx Inc. and our BOD's at the time, because they refused to listen to experts in the Asphalt Business who resided in SLR. Let us never forget that Folks...
What a Crying Shame !
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Post by Admin on Apr 30, 2017 23:37:19 GMT -5
Dick Tracy posted: Yes, that was the contract that was never signed by ANY Board Director. The contract was bidded out by a wet-behind-the-ears property manager AND there is no indication documented anywhere that there was any in-depth review or bidder comparison discussion by the Board. M. e. l. signed the contract.
Tkr's office was in Winter Hayvn near Stmbug Ixx's office. What a coincidence.
Notice that when Tkr first arrived to give their sales spiel at the specific request of a Member (not the board), they vowed to be SO GOOD that they would be our "go-to, one stop shop" to do everything on the property except clean the toilets. Well, you never hear their name anymore and I cannot see their company name on any check registers since then.
There would be a civil uprising if Tkr was on the property again. They did a Very, Very Poor Job that started to show cracks/splits and defects in the barely measurable asphalt surface within months. The road surfaces are uneven and there are dangerous drops at the edges of some streets. OSHA paid them a visit while they were working on our roads because of neglect of safety measures.
In the final analysis, it was a Stmbug Ixx Production. M. e. l. was in way over her head and the Board didn't want to do anything. They were on permanent vacation with the Dragon Lady at the helm. (That is, except to conjure up a scam with KCNet to force owners to pay for Kay c's bandwidth).
The board ignored the many experienced residents in S-bag who told them it was a very, very poor job while it was being done.
Will the board hold TT responsible for the damage of our roads which has been occurring with spill after spill after spill since 2013?
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Post by Dick Tracy on May 1, 2017 3:01:50 GMT -5
I truly believe some did the unthinkable, they took the "Forbidden Fruit" and looked the other way. SLR is not different then any other community in the USA, they all have a few bad apples under the radar.
When one speaks out, you then become the problem bad guy. The below quote by BagLady back in 2013 is all so true. 16RC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quote by: BagLady December 30, 2013
Yes, there is a collective blindness in SLR to some of life's unpleasant and inevitable realities. Many people in here summarily reject, without examination, thoughts about these possibilities and wear their "all is well" filter in this fantasy place. SLR is just a temporary respite for so many people who do not make their home in our region of the US or in our country. This does not, in any way, denigrate those who do not live here, but SLR is not "home" and that results in a disconnectedness to the everyday concerns of every Neighborhood USA. These same folks would never tolerate the kinds of stuff that goes on in here "back home".
Add to that the ugly layer of governance and property mismanagement that exists and it is just too much to want to deal with when one is "on vacation". I think this is a fundamental demographic problem in SLR. If the makeup of this community was more invested in permanency and homesteaded, these conditions would not exist to the extent they are now.
People do not want to see and cannot even entertain the thought that anything is amiss in terms of the financial integrity of SLohA or the absence of fiduciary by their elected representatives. I hear people say all the time about (theoretical) general corruption in HOA's "Yes, I have heard of people in power defrauding the accounts" but they immediately dismiss the possibility in SLohA---why? What is so different about SLohA? What happened to "healthy skepticism"?
Those who do have a commitment to the welfare of the community--with all its inevitable blemishes--are seen in a negative light and as the actual cause of unrest and are blamed for everything that upsets the status quo. The minority who are invested in pointing to the problems come to be seen as THE problem, rather than as an early warning system and conservators of order.
SLR also has a characteristic that does not support "change" in any way--even Sm all ones. One must do things the way they have always been done or you are an unwelcome outsider to be feared and rejected from the community. This attitude is largely responsible for the decline in volunteerism in that new blood will not tolerate business as usual for its own sake. We are extremely "inbred" and are the sociological counterpart to biological breeding within bloodlines! Fear of change is pathological in SLR and over time, creates an unhealthy and stagnant community. That coupled with "management's resolve to only employ workers (for insurance liability reasons!), volunteerism will continue to decline and eventually be a memory.
Many things are in a state of change now..the resident forum will raise awareness and hopefully, people will engage in some critical thinking and discussion (even in their own minds!) about problems. In the vacuum of effective management and environment of abusive management, residents are beginning to access the outside world (like the EPA and the FL Attorney General) in helping to solve the most serious problems--like defacement of our roads and the pollution of our lake by TT and law violations. Residents have begun to the cH allenge the secrecy with which our governing affairs have been conducted by demanding accountability and through legal means (i.e. covenants expiration lawsuit will be a game changer in SLR). These varieties of "conversation" can only benefit the health of our community in the long run by engaging the 'checks and balances' that stimulate growth in a system and upon which this country was built. In the short run, it will be a painful process.
S's Sociological Moment
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Post by Admin on May 23, 2017 8:53:38 GMT -5
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Annonymous Environmentalist
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Post by Annonymous Environmentalist on May 23, 2017 12:39:18 GMT -5
I would call TT a a "trash DIS-service" company. They are still polluting our streets and now there are evidently damages to residents' properties as well.
This morning i got a phone vite from manager stating that in the end of April, when the trash truck came into the park to pick up trash, the truck's hydraulic lines broke, spewing industrial waste over our roads and onto some residents' properties. The trash truck also spilled a plethora of foul-smelling, garbage-soup onto our streets--consistent with the age old problem we have had for years with this trash company. Manager indicated that any residents with damage to their properties to come to the office for the appropriate forms to file claims against the trash company.
What about all the damages to our roads as well the environmental hazards from such egregious, continual EPA violations?
Now, wouldn't you think that after 4 (years) this trash pick-up company would have fixed any and all leaks in their trucks so as to be compliant with EPA regulations?
Unfortunately NOT!
I'm glad one of my friends called the EPA, and will do so again & again, if necessary...
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Post by Dick Tracy on May 23, 2017 22:21:41 GMT -5
A Notice to The BOD's and Stmbug Ixx Inc.:
A accident is waiting to happen. Last week the "smaller white trash truck" that picks up the recycle-able trash was speeding in excess of 25 mph on BeaverKill. It is only a matter of time before we have a very serious accident on our roadways in SLR.
It will make the "Oil Spill" look like a minor problem.
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Post by AnonEnvironmentalist on May 24, 2017 17:33:11 GMT -5
The manager said at some previous meeting awhile back that if any trash trucks are going over 15, the driver of said truck would be fired.
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Post by Admin on Jun 7, 2017 20:05:39 GMT -5
Surprise surprise. Can't pressure wash away this crud from the road. It gets inside the asphalt and rots it from the inside out. Resealing will at least restore some cosmetic fix.
Maybe NOW someone will pick up the phone and put TT on probation and keep EPA on speed dial. Cheapest vendor turns out to be expensive disaster for the park. And, they have known about TT's constant spills for FOUR YEARS! They are also speeding on our roads...
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Post by AnonEnvironmentalist on Jun 8, 2017 18:08:49 GMT -5
They never heard of the old adage:
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!!!
Except these days, the pound of cure keeps costing more and more...
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Post by AnonEnvironmentalist on Jun 9, 2017 19:09:08 GMT -5
So, the resurfacing of our roads will no doubt start when all the snowbirds are back. Great. Really looking forward to the streets being clogged even more so than ever this fall and winter. It was the worst ever last winter when the snowbirds got back--those returning thought nothing of parking in the streets to chat, and didn't care if they caused traffic jams in both directions, even when there was ample parking off road or in the driveways of whom they were visiting. When they noticed they were causing all traffic to stop--they still did nothing until someone asked them to move. It's going to be damn near impossible to get out of the park when you add in the resurfacing contractors' vehicles & equipment, as well those of other contractors working in the park; speeding trash trucks: not to mention lollygaggers like Mr. Sidewide Supervisor; and the usual parade of slow-poke golf carts and cars going between 5-10 mph because they are sight-seeing.
SHARE THE ROAD! It is neither an option nor a parking lot!
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Post by AnonEnvironmentalist on Jun 9, 2017 20:34:23 GMT -5
I think Admin should change the title of this thread to "Trash Disservice" IMO...
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