Please Put Your Toys Away

The warm weather is finally coming and in just another month, the pool will be open and we will be scheduling the fishing derby for the kids. Soon, the flowers will be blooming, the trees and shrubs will fill in and we will see the kids running around and being kids. There is nothing that makes us happier than to see kids laughing, playing and enjoying themselves.

We expect children to have toys to play with, but all toys, no matter how big or small, must be stored inside your apartment. If you live on the first floor, you do not even have to lug your toys up a flight of stairs. You can store them on your patio when they are not in use.

As much as we understand kids need their toys, it does not mean that just because they are toys, you can leave them in the grass and hallways of buildings and not pick them up at the end of the day. This is everyone’s property and living in a multi-family community means being respectful of others. It actually means that you treat the common areas as though it were someone else’s and not your own. The landscapers should not have to pick up toys or mow around toys or any personal property for that matter, that are being left in the grass. The building cleaners should not have to clean around toys and shoes left in hallways outside your apartment doors.

I also need to ask that your children, especially young ones be supervised while out playing in the community. I was sent a video today of children destroying one of the trees behind building 307/309. They were just standing there, breaking branches off of this tree. These trees were planted 10 years ago. It takes a long time for trees to mature. These kids were 4 to 10 years old and there was not a parent in sight.

Lastly, we spent over $15,000 in masonry work last year on the walkways. We know many of these bricks come up during snow removal, however, we have also have seen the evidence of children pulling bricks out of the walkways and tree rings as well. Please supervise your children so you are not unnecessarily fined for these repairs.

There are a large amount of toys behind the 300 buildings, specifically 309 and 315. If you own these toys and there are too many toys to store on your own patio, than we are afraid you are going to have to get rid of them. Next week we will be doing a thorough inspection of the property.

Beginning next week, if we find toys, bicycles and any personal property anywhere in the common areas, ie., the lawns, the hallways, we will be disposing of it. If it takes our crew a significant amount of time, or there are repeat offenses, you may end up being fined for our time.

I appreciate your attention to these matters. We really do not want to be the bad guy. We just want the kids to play while being mindful of others and the property.

Thank you and have a wonderful weekend.