HOA Letters Delivered & New Website!

Attention Residents: HOA Letters are Rolling in! We have received our letters, and you will find the following information inside:

Announcement and Proxy Submission Form

Voting Ballot

Annual Agenda

Letter to Homeowners Re:Websites

Please be sure to attend the meeting! We as residents can not expect improvements in our community if we do not attend the meeting. Your participation is very important.

Take a moment to visit the New Official Bradford Chase Website at www.bradfordchasehoa.info. Their site is definitely a work in progress. We have be notified that they have started copying parts of our website and pasting it to theirs (and without even asking us). Take a look at the contact lists on their site HERE . It's copied from us word for word. We have asked the HOA Manager to give our site credit on their official site since we authored the lists. They have ignored our request. We sincerely hope these actions are not a representation of what our HOA has for our community's future.

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We would like to say a few words about www.bradfordchasenews.com . This site is a resident run site to provide information and updates about our community. You are our voice. We are happy that the HOA has mentioned us in their letter. Yes, it is true that we have not disclosed our identity to the HOA. We did this for good reason. Our site is all about us.. the residents! We feel that the homeowners who volunteer to moderate, edit the site, take pictures, send out postcards, write the articles and reply to email have the right to remain anonymous. Many residents who submit articles and pictures do not want their names disclosed, and we fully respect that. Every member of our team is a Bradford Chase homeowner. We have paid out of pocket for everything we do. Our site and efforts are NOT HOA funded. Why do we do this? Because we care about our community.

As always, we encourage everyone to get involved. We welcome your comments, suggestions, and input. If you have questions about the HOA or need to get in touch with them, please refer to your HOA letter mailing, or contact us at Bradford.Chase@ymail.com and we can relay your concerns to the HOA Manager (or provide you their contact info). We would be happy to help out in any way we can. Thanks for your support!

HOA Meeting Update

We have contacted the HOA Manager, and have asked for a meeting before the turn of the year. They have worked out their schedules to have a meeting on Thursday December 18, 2008 at 6PM. It will be at the Dubose Middle School Cafeteria. The HOA will be mailing out letters Monday, November 17 announcing this new meeting. Please make sure that you make every effort to attend this meeting, and if you can not attend, be sure to submit your proxy vote. Let's start off the year with by-laws that will keep our community beautiful, and protect our investments!

HOA Meeting Postponed

During our last HOA Meeting that occured in September, it was proposed that we have a follow up meeting on November 12. This meeting date has been postponed, and will convene in the month of January 2009. The HOA will arrange door to door proxy voting, and have a quorum prior to the next meeting. It is very important that everyone participate. If you have any questions or concerns for the HOA or the community, please contact the HOA Manager Diane Hommel or President Ray Walsh (Contact info at top left of this page). We will update the website as more information becomes available.

Winterizing Your Home

The temperatures have started to fall and you have pulled out the winter sweaters and coats to keep your family warm and protected from the cold weather, but what about your home?

Now is the time that you start preparing and winterizing your home for the upcoming winter! There are several things that need to be done to protect your home from the frigid conditions.

1. Get your furnace/heat pumps/HVAC inspected. Have a HVAC professional inspect and clean the ducts. Change your filters monthly for optimum performance.

2. Get your fireplace and/gas unit inspected. Inspect the cap and ensure that is not missing. Have your chimney inspected and cleaned, freeing it of soot and other debris. Check the mortar for stability. When purchasing firewood, ensure that it is kept away from your home and covered to stay dry.

3. Inspect the exterior of your home/doors/windows. Check for loose or damaged siding and repair/replace. Check for cracks or broken seals in windows. Prime/paint any exposed wood that has been worn.

4. Clean and inspect roof gutters/downspouts. Clean out debris from gutters and downspouts. Cover gutter with mesh screen to prevent debris from getting into them.

5. Prepare Lawn and Gardening equipment for the winter. Drain lawnmowers of gasoline, clean and store. Clean gardening tools and store. Clean out garden sheds.

6. Check your foundations. Check your foundations for cracks and repair. Remove vegetation away from foundation and trim back shrubs and trees if needed. Remove bugs/foreign objects from window sills.

7. Replace batteries in smoke and carbon dioxide detectors. Check the status of your fire extinguisher and/or purchase a new one if needed in case of emergency.

8. Check your plumbing. Ensure that exposed plumbing pipes are properly insulated. Drain your water heater to remove sediment that settled over the past year. Drain/store water hoses if not needed.

9. Clean up your Landscaping. Trim back trees and shrubs. Remove dead vegetation. Winterize your lawn with the appropriate fertilizer.

10. Pack an emergency kit. Just like in case of a hurricane, it's important to have an emergency kit for winter. Ensure a few warm blankets, matches, water, canned goods, batteries and flashlights are available. Be sure to create a checklist of important items/information for your family in case of emergency.

Lost & Found : IPOD

We received an email from a resident that has found an IPOD in their yard today. If you or your child has lost an IPOD, please contact us at bradford.chase@ymail.com . If you have any lost items that you would like us post, please let us know. Thanks!

Update: The IPOD Owner has been located. Thank you so much for all who helped in the search!

Halloween Trick or Treating Tips

Wow! It's already that time of year again when children are dressing up in their halloween costumes and walk the neighborhoods, trick-or-treating for their favorite candy treats. To keep your little ghosts and goblins safe, just take a moment to read these great tips for this fun event!

• Carry a flashlight with fresh batteries to illuminate sidewalks, streets and pathways. This not only helps you see where you are headed, but also allows any vehicle traffic to see you coming. Glow sticks and reflective tape attached to the costumes are great as well.
• Be aware of how the costumes are designed, and use precaution when walking. Ensure that the lengths are adjusted to avoid tripping, and masks allow proper eyesight during the darkness.
• If a sword, cane, or stick is a part of your child's costume, make sure it is not sharp or too long. A child may be easily hurt by these accessories if he stumbles or trips.
• Always stay in sight of your little ones. Never allow them to run ahead or approach a home alone.
• Carry and extra bag for candy just in case your child's bag breaks or gets too heavy to carry.
• Only go to homes with a porch light on and never enter a home for a treat.
• Children should only cross the street with an adult.
• Do not cut across yards or driveways when trick or treating. There may be items in the yard that can not be seen in the dark that could injure a child.

Homeowners, try to do the following the day before Halloween:

• Make sure your yard is clear of such things as ladders, hoses, dog leashes and flower pots that can trip the young ones.
• Secure your pets. Some pets get frightened or are threatened by trick or treaters.
• If you use candles for your jack-o-lantern, place them a distance away from where trick or treaters will be walking or standing.

There are quite a few homes in our community that have some awesome Halloween decorations this year! Take a moment to walk through the community and enjoy these creative displays. If you live in Bradford Chase, we would be happy to feature pictures of your home on this site if you wish. Please send pictures to bradford.chase@ymail.com . Please specify how and if you want your name displayed. We look forward to your pictures and a safe and Happy Halloween this year!

Caring for Your Vinyl Siding

Keeping our home's exterior in great condition is one of the great prides of being a homeowner. As time progresses, the physical appearance of our homes starts to deteriorate, but good maintenance habits and damage control will keep our homes appealing.


Care of your vinyl siding is an easy step you can take to keep your home beautiful. Some important tips to remember are:

- Wash it annually. Keeping it clean on a regular basis will keep you from scrubbing it harder when it becomes caked with dirt.
- Be careful with it. Keep lawnmowers, bicycles and lawn care items away from the siding so it doesn't crack or break.
- Keep hot things away from it. Grills, smokers, and patio torches can produce heat that can melt or warp your vinyl siding.

Cleaning vinyl siding is a snap with the right tools. If your siding isn't caked with dirt, mildew, or other foreign material, spraying it with a hose can wash away the dirt and grime that has accumulated throughout the year. If you need a cleaning solvent, some ordinary dish soap or laundry detergent mixed with water will do the trick. Where there are troubled areas, such as mildew, a mild solution of 1 quart of bleach, 1 gallon of water and a small amount of detergent. Scrub the areas with a soft-bristled, long-handled brush. You can also do this with Oxygen Bleach, which is a Green Product.

If scrubbing with a soft brush is going to be too much work, you can wash your siding with a power washer, which can be rented at your local home improvement store or other equipment rental business. If washing with a power washer, be careful not to spray into the seams of overlapping siding. This could cause moisture to get under the siding, causing mildew growth. Also, always spray from top to bottom, away from seams.

Try to avoid using bleach on the shutters. They fade extremely fast when bleach is used to clean them. This causes a horizontal streaking fade pattern on the shutters, as seen on many homes in our community. One resident had extreme fading on their shutters, and discovered an easy resolution to remedy the fading. It was ArmorAll, applied with a soft cloth. The shutters have now regained their luster, and look sparkling new! You can see the difference in the picture here.


If you have damaged or broken siding, shutters or other external finishing pieces, you can contact Lowcountry Renovations for repair. Their number is 851-1111. If you wish to do the repair yourself, you can buy the materials directly from our contractor for Bradford Chase at Revere Buiding Products at 745-5444. Their website is http://www.reverebuildingproducts.com/. The siding color palette and design used for our community is located here.

Bradford Chase Kids: Community Wildlife

We have just recently received an interesting article written by one of our young Bradford Chase residents! It is about the wildlife we see in our community. Please enjoy!

Bradford Chase Wildlife

As many of us have noticed, our neighborhood is teeming with a variety of animals and plants. As we become more curious about our native neighbors, we must start with the more obvious things, such as our trees. Every other house in the neighborhood has a maple tree. But some of these trees have been removed due to neglect from current or previous residents. These trees still left in our neighborhood, require simply fertilizer every year or so, and a good watering every week. Though they create brilliant colored leaves soon before going dormant for the winter, they can wreak havoc. While growing larger in such close proximity of our homes, the maple trees’ expanding roots may cause our homes foundation, driveways, and sidewalks to crack, or add to existing damage. And over decades, these trees roots may also find their way to the surface and expose themselves. These roots may cause injuries such as tripping and falling, so always be cautious.

Some of the wildlife sightings in our neighborhood have been really interesting! Some residents, including myself, have noticed a murder (No, not a death, a murder is the name for a group of crows.) that have been lurking around our neighborhood. The strange group is most likely here to feed off of insects and the small birds seen hopping around in our yards. Another common species seen in our community all the time, but hardily noticed, are bats! You can see these creatures from about 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM. You can distinct bats from birds by noticing they never stop flapping their wings during flight. They also resemble triangles, with their pointed tails leading to their wing tips, back to their heads in a straight line. They often fly in aimless circles, because their eye sight is not very reliable. There are also ducks that wander into our yards and live around and in the pond area. As well as ducks there are also turtles that live in both ponds.

Do you know what this is? Well, this creature is a Gasteracantha-Cancriformis or spiny-Backed Orb Weaver spider. This spider is harmless and is known for making large webs, even for many other spiders five times its size. This spider has spines on its shell like back. They are commonly five to nine mm long and ten to thirteen mm wide from spike to spike. They are found in wood line areas during the fall and they only live long enough to reproduce. So these spiders may seem threatening, but they are only another friendly neighbor.

I hope this article has shed some light on your wanders of our neighborhood surroundings. Have a great day!

Reduce the Risk of a Dryer Fire

While browsing through our community I have noticed several homes that have clogged dryer vents, which are a serious fire hazzard. The homes with a vertical venting system (vent on the roof top) are especially vulnerable to clogging and buildup. The picture to the right is a dryer vent on the roof top of a home in our community.



Over time, your dryer vent fills with lint that sneaks by your dryer's filter. Fires can occur when lint builds up in the dryer or in the exhaust duct. Lint can block the flow of air, cause excessive heat build-up, and result in a fire in some dryers. Isolated incident? Not at all. The Consumer Product Saftey Commission estimates that over 15,000 dryer related fires occur each year causing an estimated 97 million dollars in property loss.

What Can You Do?

Dryer vents should be cleaned at least twice a year or more often as needed. There is a kit available that most homeowners should find affordable and effective. This kit is called the LintEater® System by Gardus. The LintEater® was designed for the homeowner by a leading manufacturer of professional duct-cleaning equipment. This system was purchased for under $35 and tested by a homeowner in our community that has a vertical roof top dryer vent. The results were awesome! Drying time for a load of towels went from 1 hr 30 minutes to only 35 minutes after cleaning the vents. If you don't have a ladder or the capability of accessing your outside dryer vent, there is always the option of having a professional clean your dryer vents as well, for a cost of approx $80-$150.

To see a video demonstration of the LintEater® , please visit http://www.linteater.com/ , and also please take a moment to read on the safety tips for dryer use, lint maintenance, and safety at http://www.linteater.com/tips/ .

Annual HOA Meeting Minutes

Our Annual HOA meeting was held on Wednesday, September 24 at Dubose Middle School Cafeteria. There were not enough residents that attended to make community decisions, nor to hold the voting on new convenants or board members. We did, however, manage to ask questions and address some issues in regard to our community. Since a quorum was not met, I have t0 disclose that these minutes are unofficial.

Parking.
This is an ongoing issue in the community. The new convenants outline the specific restrictions on parking (No parking on the street/sidewalk at ANY time), along with detailed information about penalties for violations. Of course, it is not expected that there will never be an instance where you will need to park on the street/sidewalk. Some exceptions are when you have guests/visitors for a short period of time. Please inform the HOA of this, so you will not be issued a violation. If you have a single car driveway, you will need to secure your vehicles in your driveway and/or your garage. If your driveway/garage will not accomodate your vehicles, you are asked to expand your driveway (laying additional concrete pad). Please submit your requests for these types of modifications to the ARB before begining work.

The common areas.
There has been some considerable damage done to the tables and gazebo in our pond areas. Our table was concrete, and it was destroyed and dragged into the pond by neighborhood children. This table was purchased with the funds that the residents pay to the HOA every year. The Gazebo also had to be repaired. It is important that we take care of these items, as they were provided to the enjoyment of the entire community. It is not fair to everyone when the children of some residents damage or destroy these items. We encourage those who have information in regard to these activities to report the information to the HOA Manager Diane Hommel at 843-529-9690 immediately. The parents of the children will have legal action taken against them for these types of activities.

HOA Fees.
Every homeowner is responsible for paying their HOA dues every January. These are mandatory, and enforced by law. Those who do not pay these dues are subject to a lien on their home.

Predators.
There has been a report of an individual in the Bradford Chase Community that has been exposing himself in front of the homes of our residents. This individual is described as a black male in his early 20's, approx 6 feet tall, slim build, short curly hair, wearing basketball shorts and sometimes a baseball cap. The Dorchester County Police Department is actively persuing this individual, and will be patrolling the neighborhood regularly. If you happen to see this individual, please contact the Dorchester County Sheriff at 832-5111.

Boards/Commitees.
The HOA is in desperate need of members for the HOA board and commitees for our community. Social, landscaping, and event committees are just some of the groups they would like to establish. If you are interested in volunteering for a commitee or for the board, please contact The HOA Manager.

Future Meetings.
Due to the fact that we were not able to get enough residents to attend for our meeting on September 24, we will set another meeting date. This has been preliminarily been scheduled for Wednesday, November 12th. We will begin at 6:30 for submitting any voting, and 7:00 the meeting will comense. It is very important that we all attend this meeting, including renters, to discuss events in our community. Please be aware, in order to cast a vote, you must be a homeowner in good standing current with HOA dues.

Welcome!

Thank you for taking time to visit the Bradford Chase Community Blog. This is an informational blog for the residents and by the residents of the Bradford Chase Community in Summerville, South Carolina. I hope that you find the information here useful.