Happy Labor Day. Here's hoping everyone enjoyed the long weekend and will be refreshed and ready to take on a new week tomorrow.
Today, we are asking for your input. As most of you know, the anti-tailgate arm is regularly knocked off. It's our guess that the preponderance of cases include trailers behind trucks, but am sure it gets knocked off by other vehicles as well.
Our gate company says there's little way to prevent the arm from getting knocked off. It happens in other communities. Trucks don't get through the gate soon enough to keep the arm from hitting the trailer. If we change the timing to allow more time for trailers, it ends up leaving a gap for tailgaters.
Because we try to be budget conscious, until now, some members of the board have borne the responsibility of putting the arm back up. That situation is not sustainable. We can't make any one responsible for maintaining that gate arm.
We are not asking for volunteers to help with It because that never works out. So, instead, we're asking if you want to keep the anti-tailgate arm after reading the associated costs.
If we have our gate company come out and put up the bar, the cost is:
1 hour labor $129.00
trip fee $45.00
Total $174.00
If we have to replace the arm due to damage, the cost is.
Bar/arm $377.00
2 hours labor $258.00
Trip charge. $ 45.00
Total $680.00
Since we got the gate operational this year, the arm has been down eight times.
Right now, it needs to be replaced, which means we will be spending 680.00 in the next week or so.
Had we paid for the eight instances where we did the work and put the arm back up, we would have paid an additional $1392.00, bringing the total to date for 2023 to $2072.00
And we did not have the gates working for the full eight months. We present this information to you because there needs to be transparency as to what is spent, and also because it's your community and you deserve a say. The Board will act accordingly to the wishes of the community.
Will you please weigh in on this and reply accordingly?
Poll on keeping the gate arm
Yes
No
You need only a one-word reply.
Yes (to keep the tailgate arm)
No (to try leaving it off and see how things go with traffic into the community)
Thanks for your input.
Yours in service-
The Board
People keep sneaking in that don’t live here. Makes you wonder why? You got guys like this one speeding all over our neighborhood he lives in the First community coming in from Pleasant Hill. And that’s one of many that do that.
I was looking at the arm the other days when a gate maintenance guy was there working on the electrical box. I pointed out to the guy that the electronic eye that keeps the gate open as vehicles pass was not working with the arm. That’s why the arm will come down on longer vehicles. He told me that he will tell the association about it and also see if he might be able to fix it. Not sure if he did but that’s the reason behind the arm problems. Iam a strong believer in keeping the arm and I also can volunteer to fix it when it’s down. In fact if there is several people that would hel…
I've seen a vehicle drive straight through the arm once the gate was opened, before the arm had time to rise up. Perhaps a sign alerting drivers that the arm closes after each car would alert drivers that they need to wait, and also help deter tailgaters from trying to rush in would help?
Additionally, I, like Kurt said before me, am able to drive through with a trailored boat with no issues.
when in fla, dec to late april i will be glad to maintain the arm when it is knocked off, assuming the parts are available. the closing is not timed so quickly that a truck and trailer cant make entry. i regularly pull a boat through the gate with plenty of room to spare. kurt hoelter