General Manager’s Update

Dear Landings Association Members,

Spring is just around the corner, and many of us are looking forward to longer days spent enjoying family and friends and, of course, warmer temperatures that are perfect for walking, running, cycling, and more. There is nothing quite like spring in The Landings. It’s a time of renewal, as we recommit to enjoying the natural beauty that surrounds us and remember what a great place this is to live, work, and play. As you are out and about, I encourage everyone to keep safety top of mind. Watch out for your neighbors, and be sure to take some time to enjoy the views. Plan to catch a sunrise at Landings Harbor Marina or a Sunset at Delegal Creek Marina. I promise it will be worth your time.

Recently, a local engineering firm completed the first comprehensive traffic study I’m aware of for streets within The Landings. The purpose of the study was to examine current best practices versus what may have existed 52 years ago, in the name of enhanced safety and ease of travel. You can view the highlights by clicking Traffic Study.

This Study contains almost 30 recommendations to review, ranging from speed limits, to alignment of paths along roads, to potential crosswalk lighting, to sign size, placement, and materials. The Board, Committees, and Staff now are working through the recommendations, some of which are fairly easy to put in place, with minimal cost, while others will take longer to implement, if desired, with budgeting required. One item already addressed is increasing the width of stop bars as repaving occurs. Be on the lookout as your Association takes action, while also respecting the character of our community.

Staff now are creating action plans following the review of the recent Community Survey. A couple of areas we are targeting for improvement, based on results, are customer service and follow-up by our Security Officers. New training and procedures are being created to ensure improvement, including reviewing the 833 comments received from our residents about Security.

Access control also scored highly as not only an important item but one that needs to be addressed. Security and Public Works are reviewing various access points to our community to determine low-cost improvement opportunities, as well as some more high-tech options to review for costs and acceptance.

We continue our search for the new Traffic and Safety Enforcement Officer position. However, we have begun sending courtesy notices to those speeding in our community. We have a system similar to the speed cameras in the school zones we’re all very familiar with by now. We hope we don’t have to begin implementing fines like with the school zone cameras, but we are serious about increasing the safety on our streets by controlling the speeds.

I’m pleased to report we believe we have found a solution to the Tidewater Square brick column that has been closed due to its tilting. A local contractor has been secured to partially dismantle the structure, secure it in place, including adding some concrete inside, and then replace the bricks. We heard loud and clear from the community the desire to maintain this entrance to the square a couple of years ago when redoing the driving surface and center island. Work should begin this spring.

Speaking of spring, although tickets are sold out for the April 5 Savannah Bananas game, you  still can  win four tickets by sharing an act of kindness. Read the contest details on the front page of the March Journal. Don’t forget to check out the Courtesy page on our website (www.landings.org/courtesy) to follow along with the latest on the campaign.

Finally, please plan to attend the Association’s Annual Meeting, which will be held Wednesday, March 6, at 7 p.m. in Palmetto’s Ballroom. We’ll present financial results from the past year, as well as a look ahead at key projects this year. I encourage you to review the Annual Report before the meeting.

As always, your comments and feedback are important to me. Please let me know if I can be of any help (karls@landings.org).