Hello Everyone!

We hope everyone’s summer is going well and everyone is staying safe when going out.  In today’s Social Distancing world, we have avoided having in-person HOA meetings in order to avoid unnecessary contact, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t keep you updated on neighborhood projects and goings-on.  Since we haven’t been able to have any meetings, we thought it was time to send a mid-year update so that everyone is as informed as possible.

 

Pool Status

The Pool opened on June 20th with new social distancing rules and restrictions on hours, visitors, and pool toys.  We would like to thank those residents who have been using the pool for obeying the rules and for using the provided sanitizer when arriving at and leaving the area.  We have had very few incidents with the pool thus far.  We would like to remind everyone that pool floats like loungers and toys like dive rings are not allowed this year as part of the new pandemic rules.  Children’s life vests and float wings are of course allowed for safety.

We’d also like to thank those volunteers who have been going out to spray down the pool area with disinfectant on a regular basis after closing time at 8PM.

 

 

 

Completed Neighborhood Projects

Replacement of Leland Cypress Trees

As many of you observed last year, we removed the last of the giant cypress tress that were encroaching on many homes.  These trees were too big for the areas in which they were planted and too close to many houses.  The remaining trees are at an appropriate distance from homes.  The removal effort left many ugly areas that we were not able to re-landscape before winter.  In the spring of this year, all of those areas were re-landscaped with bushes, rocks, and pine straw, ensuring that we would not once again face an overgrowth of trees.

 

Clubhouse Projects – Railing & Deck Painting & A/C

Late last year, the clubhouse railings were rebuilt due to being rotten and wobbly.  We suspect that the materials used were interior-grade staircase material, and were manufactured such that they were holding water and causing wood rot.  The railings were rebuilt using proper exterior grade pressure treated lumber to ensure that they would stand the test of time along with the existing spindles, which were still solid.  The project was completed early this summer after the new lumber had a chance to dry out and was ready to paint.  At the same time the railings were painted white, the decking was also re-stained to ensure weatherproofing and a finished look.

We also had an issue whereby the air conditioning in the clubhouse was not working at the beginning of the summer.  While we thought the worst and assumed that the entire system would need to be replaced given its age, it turned out to be a simple matter of a bad capacitor that was easily replaceable and a comparatively low-cost repair.

Playground Mulch

Every few years, the playground requires a bit of a refresh of its mulch.  This year, we added quite a bit of mulch to ensure even coverage of the area

 

Projects Left To-Do

Playground Maintenance

The playground is in need of some fencing repair as well as replacement of some rotten boards on the equipment itself.  We have already contracted to have the repairs made.  The area will be pressure washed, fencing will be re-secured, the fencing will be repaired with new pickets and completely repainted white, and a new gate latch will be installed.  The playground equipment will also be repaired.  This work will be started as soon as possible, however the current availability of fence pickets is actively delaying the project.  As soon as stock is available, the repairs will commence.

Helpful Information & Contacts

Our community lies on the border of several jurisdictions.  for reference, here are a number of useful contact points should you need them.

HOA Contact Info

Liberty Square is managed by Team Management.  For issues, questions, and concerns, please contact our Property Manager Chardon Wyatt at [email protected] or 678-393-2202.

Our Mailing Address is:

Liberty Square HOA
c/o Team Management, LLC
P.O. Box 670177
Marietta, GA 30066

Liberty square’s covenants, by-laws and architectural request forms may be found at:

Covenants & By-Laws
Architectural Request Forms

City of Acworth Contact Information

City of Acworth Web Site:  https://www.acworth.org/

Police:

For emergency issues, of course always dial 911.  Don’t be surprised if you hear Kennesaw mentioned – Kennesaw & Acworth share 911 dispatch services.  Make sure you give your location clearly.  For less urgent issues, you may call the direct dispatch line for the Acworth police at 770-974-3111

Note that Acworth Police have advised us to be very clear with requests and reports.  For example :

“I live at 1234 Liberty Square Drive and there is a suspicious person walking the neighborhood” will likely get the neighborhood patrolled by a car.

“I saw a suspicious person and I would like you to come to 1234 Liberty Square Drive so I can describe the incident” will bring an officer to your house.

Bartow County Contact Information

As a general reference point, Bartow County begins just past our entryway monument moving toward I-75.  This is where the jurisdiction of the City of Acworth Police ends.  For any issues around the I-75 junction and beyond, you will need to contact Bartow County

Bartow County Sheriff:  770-382-5050

Bartow County Commissioner:  770-387-5030

Army Corps of Engineers

Much of the community abuts land belonging to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  If you have any issues with this land, such as overhanging trees, trespassers, etc. you may need to contact the Corps.   Please also note that they may contact you if they have issues with your land – they have been known to fine residents whose properties directly abut theirs in order to levy fines for encroachment, such as storing your property on their land.  Their Alatoona Lake Project Office may be contacted at:  [email protected] or (678) 721-6700.

To all residents of Liberty Square, please mark your calendar for Tuesday October 3rd -7:00 p.m. for our next HOA meeting.
Looking forward to seeing everyone there.

Thanks,

HOA Board

To: Liberty Square Residents
From: HOA Board
We are aware of some of the issues regarding landscaping complaints. The board met today to address this problem. We spoke to the owner of Gold Touch at length on a phone conference relaying how displeased residents and the board are with their recent services. Tomorrow ( Friday 18th) the owner of Gold Touch is planning on being on the property and will be walking the entire neighborhood with members of the HOA board doing a thorough inspection of the all commons areas and resident’s properties. We want residents to know that we (HOA Board) are addressing this problem and will do whatever is necessary to ensure that the landscapers are providing us with the service that is outlined in our contractual agreement.

Dear Liberty Square Homeowner:

 

Following the tree removal work earlier this spring, many of you have expressed concern and interest in the issues the neighborhood is currently facing with the trees and sidewalks.

 

At the last Homeowner’s Association Meeting, held on May 3rd, the community voted to form an Ad-Hoc committee to deal with tree-related issues in the neighborhood.  The committee was formed from those volunteering on that same night.  Since that time, members of the board of directors and the tree committee have met with the city to discuss various options for tree and infrastructure management.  The City of Acworth has committed to fixing all of the sidewalks in the neighborhood, including those sidewalks impacted where trees still exist, and will do so this season.  Many of you may have seen the orange cones placed on some of the sidewalks with no work having progressed.  This is because the city has determined that the amount of concrete to repair is too big a job for their in-house teams and they have sought an outside contractor. The city is planning to invest $11,000 towards repairing 540 feet of sidewalks.

 

We have also been informed by the City that there is a longer-term issue with the trees that until now had not been brought to light. According to utility surveys done by the City (and confirmed via the plan submitted by the builder to the City when the neighborhood was being constructed), the power, gas, telephone, and cable lines were buried in bundles right beneath the trees that line our streets. The City has acknowledged that this was an oversight at the time of construction and should not have been allowed to happen. The City’s concern is that due to the fact that these cables are buried in bundles rather than in conduit, it’s possible that in the future the neighborhood may experience infrastructure problems should tree roots cause a short in any of the lines. The City has stated that residents in Liberty Square may be facing 24-48+ hours of power outages should we ever encounter a problem, as wide scale trenching would need to be done in order to find and repair the problem.

 

The City has recommended a “wait and see” approach with regards to the buried utility lines in the neighborhood. While they advised that the only way to truly eliminate the risk would be to remove all of the trees, they understand that maintaining the aesthetic integrity of the neighborhood is also important.

 

That being said, the position of the City at this time is that the sidewalks must be repaired in order to maintain a certain level of safety for those in the neighborhood.  They have a great deal of concern about the way the trees are impacting the sidewalks, and have stated that they will be removing additional trees that they believe pose an infrastructure risk.  While the HOA has stated that it will not be removing any trees in the neighborhood this year, we would like to make clear that as the trees lie on City land, the City will be removing additional trees as they deem necessary to avoid future sidewalk problems.  They have also stated categorically that their position is that the neighborhood not replant any trees which are removed, as there is simply not enough room within the neighborhood to support mature trees without impact to both sidewalks and underground utilities.

 

Following the meetings with the City, the tree committee has put together a list of options moving forward following the initial repairs and tree removal by the city.  These options are:

 

●      Option 1: Continue to allow the city to handle all future repairs to the sidewalks. We have been warned by the city that should they continue to handle the maintenance that they will remove any trees causing damage to the sidewalks at the time of repair.
●      Option 2: Raise funds to cover future sidewalk repairs without the assistance of the city. We discussed this option with the city, and while it’s not being presented to us as an option for this initial round of repairs (as the city has already procured funding and a contractor), we as a neighborhood would have the option to manage future repairs ourselves. This may leave us with the option of leaving trees intact, but would require sidewalks to be diverted around problem areas and encroach upon homeowner property in some situations. This would also mean that the city would no longer be responsible for the maintenance of the sidewalks, and the burden of future costs would be upon the HOA.

 

●      Option 3: Individual homeowners can assume the maintenance costs of the sidewalks bordering their homes should they object to the removal of trees adjacent to their property. The City has advised that in this scenario, individual homeowners would be responsible for repairing any trip hazards that develop as the trees mature, and that the City would not resume ownership of maintenance in the future unless the trees in question were removed.

 

These options will be up for discussion at the next scheduled HOA meeting on June 25th at 7PM in the clubhouse.  We invite all those interested to attend the meeting, where we will not only discuss the options but also have the ability to ask questions of City of Acworth representatives Mark Hipp, Director of Public Works, and Brandon Douglas, Assistant City Manager.

 

For additional information on this and other neighborhood issues, we invite you to visit our newly created web site at LibertySquareAcworth.com. Sign up for our email list and you will receive the most up-to-date communications.