95 gal. green recycling carts

I believe that yesterday everyone in the Manors received a new, 95 gal. green recycling cart.  Note that this cart is not to be used for trash, only recyclables (a list of accepted items for recycling can be found here).

I spoke with a customer service rep at Rizzo this morning and here is what Manors residents need to know.

• Even though we are a multi-family sub and the Association pays the bill quarterly for all the addresses, all residents at our individual addresses qualify to receive a 95 gal. green recycling cart.  If you did not receive a cart and want one, call Rizzo Customer Care at 1-866-772-8900.
• if a resident at one of our addresses doesn't want to make room in their garage and use the 95 gal. recycling cart, they may call Rizzo Customer Care at 1-866-772-8900 and ask to have it picked up.  Rizzo will still allow them to use the 18 gal. blue bins for their recyclables.
• even though individual residents do not have a billing account with Rizzo, their street address is on-line at www.rizzorewards.com and they may register at that web site to become eligible for recycling incentives.  Once they have activated their rewards account, a RFID chip embedded in their cart will cause their account to be updated with the date each time the Rizzo truck empties their cart.  This incentive program rewards consistent and frequent recycling efforts with ongoing access to local offers of value.
• The Board asks that all trash and recycling containers be stored inside your garage except on collection day (exceptions made during the next week or two if you are returning the cart and leaving it outside your garage for Rizzo to retrieve)  

From more information, click here to visit the Shelby Twp. Waste Service web site.

Notice of road closures

Last Updated on Aug. 3rd:

The seal coating portion of this project is now complete.  The only remaining work to be performed is the striping of the pedestrian crosswalks, which will not require any street closures or parking inconveniences.   Thank you for your cooperation.

 The Central Park Master Association is having a seal coat applied to the asphalt road surfaces of North, East, South and West Central Park Avenues during the week of July 16, 2012.  Sections of these roads and intersections will be closed while the work is performed. This work does not include the Manors private access drives that are parallel with North Central Park. On certain days the Van Dyke entrance to Central Park will be closed and on other days, the 22 Mile Rd. entrance will be closed. It will take six Work Days to complete this project.

Here is the full project plan along with an updated map, scheduled Work Days and locations of the road closures. A hard copy of the original plan was delivered to each home prior to Monday, July 16th.

If rain is forecast, the contractor will cancel that Work Day and move it to the next scheduled date, with the remaining schedule delayed accordingly. Below is the latest  Work Day schedule, which was revised to add Work Day 6 (to do the northerly portion of what had been planned for Work Day 2).  Check back here regularly to see the latest schedule.

• Work Day 1 was completed on Monday, July 16, 2012.
• Work Day 2 was completed on Friday, July 20th
• Work Day 3 was completed on Wednesday, July 25th
• Work Day 4 was completed on  Monday, July 30th - everyone must enter and leave via Van Dyke
• No seal coat work planned for Tuesday to avoid interference with the trash collection. 
• Work Day 5  was completed on  Wednesday, August 1st - everyone must enter and leave via 22 Mile Rd.
• Work Day 6  was completed on  Thursday, August 2nd.

This seal coating project is separate from the Manors asphalt paving project, which is being funded by the Special Assessment that was approved in April.  The Manors paving project will not begin until the Board knows that we will be able to pay the project invoice, which is due 30 days after the paving is complete. Since about half of the Special Assessment money will have been received as of Aug. 1st,  the paving will probably begin around Sept. 1st and the Board will pay the invoice by borrowing the remainder from our replacement reserve account.  The Board will repay the "loan" as the October and November Special Assessment payments are received.

A dry June

According to the National Weather Service, 1.31 inches of rain fell at Metro Airport during the month of June 2012, compared to the normal average of 3.52 inches.

Here at the Manors, my rain gauge collected only 1.05 inches of rain during June, which is 2.5 inches below normal for the month. [UPDATE: we received 3.8 inches of rain on Tuesday, July 3rd]

Daily rainfall here at the Manors - May & June 2012

Since the sprinkler system was made operational six weeks ago on May 18th, we have only received a total of 1.25 inches of rain. Basically, it is our sprinkler system that is keeping our lawns green and preventing them from going totally dormant.

I read each of our water meters yesterday and again today.  Using the Township's billing rate of $3.431 per hundred cubic feet of water,  it cost us $397 to water all of the lawns last night.

According to the experts, proper turf management involves watering the lawn with 1" of water per week. This water can come from either rainfall or the sprinkler system.  However a lawn could need more, depending on factors such as soil type, sun exposure, large tree root systems, etc.  For example, a lawn in sandy soil such as ours may need as much as 2" of water per week, whereas a lawn area that is in shade for most of the day may only need one-half inch of water per week.

Since the beginning of June, I have been running the sprinkler system zones at 120% of their normal programmed times ($331 per night) and on June 28th I increased it to 140% ($397 per night).  That means that a typical front yard zone that is normally set to run for 20 minutes will run for 24 minutes at 120% and for 28 minutes at 140%.  At 100%, the lawn in that front yard zone would receive about 0.2 inch of water each night, or about 1.4 inches per week, while at 140%, it is receiving about 2.0 inches per week.

Because of the design of the irrigation system, a rear yard zone that runs for 20 minutes will only deliver about about 0.13 inches of water and in some areas it is even less.  Where we have rear yard sprinkler head on the same zone with heads in the front or side yard, I have to set the timer to avoid over-watering the front or side yard, even if it means dry spots will develop in the rear yard.   Where a zone consists of all rear yard sprinkler heads, I set it to run for 30 or 40 minutes at 100%, depending on whether it includes half-circle or full-circle rotary heads. Actually, they should be set to run for about 40 and 65 minutes at 100% to receive the same amount of water as a front yard zone, however with only $37,500  available to spend in our budget for water this year, I have to manage our water usage judiciously.

This year's budget line item for water was set based upon the average amount we have spent on water over the past four years, plus 9% to accommodate the rate increase that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2012.  From May 18th through June 30th, I calculate that we have used $14,573 worth of water and we still have two-thirds of the season to go.  If the hot and dry weather continues for the rest of the summer and we continue at this rate of water usage, we will exhaust our budget line item amount for water sometime just before Sept. 1st.