March 2012 Newsletter

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B AY I S L E N E W S L E T T E RM A R C H 2 0 1 2

M i s s i o n S tat e m e n t: To p r o v i d e i n f o to o u r c o m m u n i t y a n d to p r o m ot e o l d fa s h i o n e d n e i g h b o r ly s u p p o r t a n d f r i e n d s h i p.

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M e s s ag e f r o m yo u r n e w b oa r d :

M O N E Y S AV I N G S :

R a c h e l C o o l e y, P r e s i d e n tK r i s t i Ti lto n , Vi c e P r e s i d e n tG r e g g M c G o wa n , Tr e a s u r e rJ e s s i c a M c C l e a r y, S e c r e ta r yH o r a c e S e w s a n k a r , D i r e c to r

GATESIn an e!ort to save community money we've recently gained control of our gates. We are now able to re-program the gates from a personal-ized standpoint such as owner name(s) and the phone number to which the gate calls for entry. We are also able to control when the gates are open/closed. Instead of having to pay the gate company $25 every time school is out to modify the program-ming we can make those changes for free. This could potentially save hundreds of dollars per year to the community and will get rid of individual charges to those needing to make changes to their personal information that is stored within thecall box. The gate company forgot to make the modification to close the gates over Thanksgiving break and were unable to fulfill the Christmas break request because the phone line had accidentally been cut by the landscapers. The phone line is now fixed at the landscapers expense. In December, we closed a storage unit the community paid $45 per month for to store Christmas decora-tions. Rachel Cooley has graciously o!ered to store the decorations in her attic. This will save the commu-nity over $500 per year.

Events Around Town for March 2012:

UCF Book FestivalDescription: The Third Annual UCF Book Festival will be held

March 31, 2012 at the UCF Arena, showcasing renowned authors; free book appraisals;

exhibitors; student, family, children’s & teen’s activities,

book signings and more. Admis-sion and parking are free; 9 a.m. –For more information, please

visit www.bookfestival.ucf.edu

ON-GOING ISSUES:Several years ago the community realized we have some issues with our Storm Water Drains. The City of Winter Garden came out in early 2011 and ran cameras into the drains to see where and determine what issues exist. There have been steps taken to understand the situation but to date nothing has been done to rectify the issues. It is the board's primary goal at this point to get resolution. We have been told there is possibly a 10 yr statute of limitations which would likely put our deadline this year! If we have any engineers in the community who would be interested in lending their expertise please e-mail the board via www.bayislewg.com.

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A l e r t s

O N - G O I N G E V E N T S

CommitteesThere is always a need for committee members. If you are interested in serving Bay Isle in any capacity please let us know. We've considered a Neighborhood Welcome Committee who would greet new homeowners as they move into our neighborhood. We want the neighbors to feel welcome!

Home Owner DuesSevern Trent recently changed their ACH process for making payments of dues. We have included instructions on the www.bayislewg.com website for those of you who would like to sign up. The payment is processed through Mutual of Omaha bank and allows you to set up and control your payments.

Your New BoardWhile serving in a homeowner association capacity is new for many of the board members we want to let the community know we are educating ourselves as quick as possible. Orange County o!ers classes for association members and we will be participating in those as well as some other schooling that has become available. Our individual world experience coupled with diverse career backgrounds will guide us from a business standpoint and the specific process of associations will come through these education courses. We appreciate your support and are doing our best to serve!

Fridays on the Plaza

Check out the website calendar for band listings.Centennial Gazebo, West Plant Street

Farmer’s Market

City Pavilion, Tremaine Street

Cruz-N-Car Shows

West Plant Street

OrlandoFestOrlandoFest at Universal

and most exciting music festival in Central Florida. Designed for middle school, junior high and

high school performance ensembles, Orlando Fest is a

positive and educationally meaningful music festival experi-

ence that is open to concert bands, parade bands, vocal and

instrumental jazz ensembles, orchestras (both full and string only), concert choirs, chamber

and specialty choirs, show choirs, percussion ensembles

and auxiliary units.

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S E C U R I T YAs most Bay Isle Home Owners are aware, we have had a number of burglaries in the community. Fortunately the Winter Garden Police Department has diligently remedied the situation. However we have listed a number of security tips below that should be taken into consideration in all your homes for the safety of our families and friends.

Top Home Security Tips

Doors & Locks & Windows: The front or back door is the most common point of entry. Make sure you have strong doors and door frames, and use a deadbolt to back up the primary lock. Sliding glass doors are a favorite target for lifting out – and your alarm system’s glassbreak sensor is a good backup if someone breaks through the glass – which they do. The door from the garage into the house also deserves a deadbolt. Your window locks may not be strong enough, so upgrade them – and use them! Unlocked windows are a frequent point of entry. And remember, one glassbreak sensor can cover many windows in an area.

Keys and keychains: Chances are your hidden key is not so hard to find. The first place a burglar looks is under your doormat, pots, rocks, exterior outlets, or mailbox. Leave it with a trusted neighbor or friend.

Light it up: The last thing a burglar wants is to be seen. Exterior lights (especially the ones that are activated by motion) are a great deterrent to intruders, who focus on the rear and sides of your home.

Get a dog: Dogs are great deterrents to intrusion. Most make noise, which burglars hate, and some are even scary (even if not so to you!). Just like your alarm system’s siren, noise is good. It’s not hard to design an alarm system around your pets – and make sure to add fire monitoring, for their protection. Some people even post a “Beware of Dog” sign – and there’s no Rex to be found.

Think like a burglar: This means looking objectively at your home and trying to find a way in. Ladder left outside? Put it away. Shrubs to hide behind, or trees to climb giving access to upstairs? Vents? Dog doors? Get creative – and sneaky! And remember: burglars do cut phone lines, which is why cellular monitoring models are so much safer.

Alarm company signs: Here are a couple of scary stats: (1) the FBI reports that there is a burglary in the US every 15 seconds, and (2) without a monitored alarm systems you are three times more likely to experience a break-in as your neigh-bor with a system – and that deterrence starts with yard or fence signage and window decals. Make it clear you’re protected, and reduce the risk by encourag-ing the perp to find another target

Securing your WiFi (Prevent Drifters in Bay Isle):

Secure your wireless router or access point

administration interface

Almost all routers and access points have an administrator

password that's needed to log into the device and modify any

configuration settings. Most devices use a weak default

password like "password" or the manufacturer's name, and some don't have a default password at all. As soon as you set up a new WLAN router or access point,

your first step should be to change the default password to

something else. You may not use this password very often, so

be sure to write it down in a safe place so you can refer to it if needed. Without it, the only

way to access the router or access point may be to reset it

to factory default settings which will wipe away any configuration changes you've made. For more

information, please visit www.pcworld.com