General Manager’s Update

Dear Residents, I’ve written recently about the importance of the Capital Reserve Fund for the repair and replacement of our community infrastructure and capital assets. A recent road failure of a short section of Landings Way North in the roundabout behind the Main Gate illustrates the importance of reserve funding. The surface, or wear layer, was replaced two years ago, showing no indication of a base failure at that time. Our severe weather and storms in the last two years and resulting heavy truck traffic for debris removal, coupled with recent heavy rains, increased the stress on the road in this location, ultimately causing the wear layer and base to fail in this section of roadway. So why the failure of the street base layer? The original base material of our roads is soil cement, a mix of soil, gravel, and Portland cement This type of base material is an economical method to use onsite materials as a base versus costly hauling of granular base materials. Once the base began to fail, reflective cracking and potholing occurred in the asphalt wear layer within days. As a result of the failure, the Association is currently performing a full replacement of the road, including milling to an eight-inch depth and replacing the soil cement base with six inches of 19mm asphalt base, capped with a two-inch wear layer of 9.5 mm asphalt Superpave. The total cost for this repair will be almost $50,000. Well before this recent failure, the Association had engaged Thomas and Hutton Engineers to perform comprehensive structural inspections of all Association roads and community paths. Our engineers conduct smaller scale inspections each year, in conjunction with our Public Works Committee and staff. However, the age of our community infrastructure warrants the first larger such review in several years. We will communicate the findings once they are received. I cannot stress how important it is to our future to maintain such critical infrastructure assets through our Reserve Fund. Within the next couple of months, you should receive The Landings Association’s next Community Survey. The survey consultant approved by the Board at the April meeting will conduct several focus groups in advance of the survey to assist in identifying relevant issues and designing objective questions to obtain detailed, actionable community feedback. This is imperative to determine the appropriate level for the next vote on property owner dues, as well as to update the Association’s Strategic Plan in 2020 for the next six years. You can read more in Budget Box by clicking here. As our weather warms up, the calendar fills up. The Community Events calendar for May offers a variety of opportunities for our members. First up, there is a presentation by Griswold Home Care on What is Dementia on May 2. Next, our Girls on the Run team will be completing its Celebration 5K on May 4 at Hutchinson Island, and the community is encouraged to attend and cheer for our team in this youth-empowering event. Through Bull River Cruises, we're offering three afternoon Estuary Explorations and three evening Sunset Cruises throughout the month. These waterfront favorites fill up fast, so make sure to register early. Our monthly Sunset Sips educational series on May 16 will feature how the Coastal and South Georgia ecosystems were historically shaped by fire and what that means for those of us living in the area. We wrap up the month with HarborFest on May 25 to celebrate the unofficial beginning of summer. This year’s event promises not to disappoint, with live music by Chuck Courtenay, Leopold’s ice cream, sailing demonstrations, boat rides, fishing and crabbing lessons, and a demonstration from the US Coast Guard’s helicopter rescue squadron (providing there are no real emergencies where the team is needed during the time of the event). These are just the highlights, so be sure to check The Landings Association’s online calendar (www.landings.org/calendar) for all the details on these events and more. Finally, please mark Wednesday, June 12, at 7 p.m. on your calendar, for The Landings Association’s Hurricane Town Hall Meeting at Plantation Club’s ballroom. At this meeting, you will learn from Chatham Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) what you need to do to be prepared in case a storm threatens our area.