Dear Chinquapin Homeowner, Memorial Day is upon us and most of the snow has melted.  It was an unprecedented winter.  The snow was piled deep everywhere and there was so much snow on our roofs.  When the situation began to look dangerous we called in a structural engineer to walk the property and look at every building and provide us with guidance.  Some ceiling cracks were reported and we were concerned about roof failure.  Our structural engineer pointed out the roofs where the load should be reduced and we hired crews to shovel the snow off the roofs. We did have ceiling cracks in some units and had a few roofs that leaked, but thankfully did not have any roof failures.  I want to thank Carl Bertelsen and Mitch Packard for coordinating that effort. Once the major snows stopped and the weather started to warm up we began worrying about flooding.  Chinquapin Creek has been flowing heavily, but it has not gone over its banks. Over the last couple of years, we have installed drainage infrastructure and it all appeared to work as planned.  The other issue we have at Chinquapin is groundwater.  Most owners who have experienced problems in the past have sump pumps to move water out of basements or from under unit.  We asked WMC to check all of the pumps to make sure they were functioning.  At this point I believe we do not have any reported issues. This is the time of the year when we begin our Spring Cleanup and begin our grounds and building project.  We usually like to have the Spring Cleanup done by Memorial Day, but we may not be able to complete all the cleanup because there is still lots of snow in shady areas.  Please be patient and we will get it all done as soon as possible. A number of buildings and decks will be painted this year prior to the 4th of July and then after Labor Day.  If your unit is scheduled to have exterior work done you will be notified of the proposed dates.  As you may know, we have a schedule for painting buildings and staining decks. Their will be lots of other activities going on this spring as follows: Paving, sealing and striping our streets and parking areas. Sealing the beach path to protect one of our most valuable assets. New lighting for the Dollar House Pier. New Dollar House furniture for all of our Homeowner events. Additional chairs and lounges at the beaches. More kayak racks have been ordered. A new shuffle board court between the Bocce Ball Courts. Continued clearing of our forests for fire prevention. We are also going to be engaging engineers for two projects.  We replaced one of our sewer lift stations.  This year we will do the engineering for two other lift stations, so when the time comes to replace them we will be ready.  We are also going to plan for the expansion of the turnaround at the Dollar House so that a fire truck will be able to make the turn and come back up the hill. We will be having a Board Meeting on Saturday, May 27th at 9:30am at the Carriage House and I would like you invite you all to come in person or on the phone.  At this meeting we will be filling the vacant Board seat.  Election time is upon us again and there are four seats that are to be filled on the Board of Directors.  Now is the time to make the decision to submit your name for the election.  You need to notify our Secretary by June 7th that you are interested in running. I am going to remind you all that there is a leash law for dogs in Placer County and that leash law is in effect at Chinquapin and is clearly stated in our organizational documents.  Please keep your dog on leash at all times.  That leash has to be held by a human and not tied to a stake.  Please follow the speed limits while on the Chinquapin property.  We have lots of children around that need to be safe. Also remember to respect your neighbors and keep the noise down, especially after 10:00pm. Every year the Chinquapin HOA and Packard Realty put on a Memorial Day Party.  This year it will be on Sunday, May 28th in the afternoon.  Hope to see you there! Steven Giacomi President