29 Jun President’s Message – July-august 2014
On May 17, the FHA sponsored a four-event day at the Gathering Place for Fearrington residents. Here are the results: 3340 lbs of private papers shredded, 1800 lbs (from 90 different homeowners) of hazardous waste materials disposed of safely, and 33 lbs (16,400 dosage units) of unused prescription drugs turned in for proper disposal. Finally, homeowners purchased 20 new fire extinguishers, had 22 inspected, and had ten refilled as part of the morning’s activity.
All in all, it was a very productive morning for the community and for the environment. I’d like to thank our membership for their responsible approach to these matters and some of our board members for organizing and staffing the activities. These include Debbie DiSabatino, Bob and Marji Maarschalkerweerd, and Carol Kurtz. Ken Benjamin and his Green Scene team also deserve kudos for the enthusiastic staffing of the day’s events.
The same events, with the exception of hazardous waste disposal, will be repeated on October 18. On a related matter, Debbie DiSabatino worked with Habitat for Humanity to provide a Habitat truck at the Gathering Place on June 7 for residents to drop off donations of resalable household items. Thirty-three homeowners dropped off donations and a full truck returned to the Habitat store in Pittsboro. This event will also be repeated sometime in October.
To change the subject entirely, you may have noticed by now that water is flowing again from the upper pond in Camden Park to the lower pond. After repairing the pump with new parts that failed, Fitch Creations installed a brand-new pump which, as of this writing, has kept the water flowing nicely for several weeks. Aside from the fact that this is a feature of the park that we all enjoy, I raise this issue to point out that some of the causes for pump failure in the past have been attributable to users of the park. Pump repairmen have found the pump clogged with items not normally found in pond water, including dog waste disposal bags.
Most of us love dogs; dogs are not the problem. The problem is that an obviously small number of dog owners take the easy way out by getting rid of already-bagged feces wherever they can, whether it be near the pump in the pond or any of the other places in the park or the wider community where such bags continually have been found. These are thoughtless acts, not in keeping with the kind of community that we are, and they result in unnecessary expenses. If you ever see anyone do this, please let a board member know.
Joe Mottola