8:00 AM, WEDNESDAY, JULY 14 !

Please mount your transponders on your windshield with tape until you have tested the placement to make sure it will open the gate.  After testing, please permanently attach the transponder to your windshield.
Only residents with transponders will be able to enter any of the four gates.  If you do not have a transponder, you must enter through the Visitor Lane only at the front gate located off of Zebulon Rd.  If you do not have a transponder, you will NOT be able to enter through the Back Gate, Peake Gate or Table Mountain Gate.

If you need transponders, you can still come to the office and get them as long as you have paid your dues or are on a payment plan. If you have not paid your dues/fees, I encourage you to call the office and set up a payment plan so you will be able to enjoy the benefits of the new automated gates.
Everyone should have filled out a Resident Information Sheet already, which list any guests, contractors, etc. of people that may be coming to Lake Wildwood to visit you.  You may still turn those in to the office if you have not already done so.

If you need to inform Security of a guest or someone coming to visit you, you may do so by calling

478-757-9922

and leaving a message as to who the person is.  That message will get transferred to the GateHouse Security System and they will be ready when your guest arrives.  You must call from a phone number that you turned in on the Resident Information sheet for the GateHouse system to recognize or you will need a PIN number from the front office. Do NOT call the Guard House to give them this information.
Speed Bumps have been installed at all gates and they are there for your safety.  Please proceed through all gates with safety in mind and abide by the 5 MPH speed limit.  Please drive slowly through this area and all gates.
PATIENCE is the key word for the next month or so!  Until everyone gets accustomed to the new automated gates, there may be delays, cars trying to turn around and transponders that are not working properly.   Please be considerate of others, as we are making this transition. This Transition is certain to improve many aspects of Lake Wildwood.
In addition, please be courteous to the Security team and other staff members.  They are here to assist you and make this transition as pleasant and effective as possible.  If they ask you to do something, there is a reason that will impact the quality of life at Lake Wildwood.
If we can assist you with anything, please let us know at the Lake Wildwood office.

Lighthouse Property Management

… unless there’s an emergency, of course!

; )

The Automated Gates will be live on Monday, May 24th.

(EXCEPT Table Mountain. It will be a few more weeks before Table Mountain is active)

Please put your transponder on the inside of your windshield with scotch tape according to the instructions.

After driving through the gate to test that the transponder is working, you can permanently apply transponder to your windshield.

If you are having trouble finding the correct spot for you transponder to open the gate, there will be a representative available from Integrated Gates to assist.

Please approach gates slowly.

Please use extreme patience during these next couple of weeks while we work out the kinks.

Reminder, only residents that have paid their dues or are current on a payment plan will have an activated Transponder to enter any of the gates.

All other residents/visitors must use the Front Entrance visitor lane only.

Please call the office to arrange to pay your dues if you haven’t done so already.

As you know we have a sizable number of elderly people, (some of whom require outside assistance to maintain a healthy & productive life style).  And this is during NORMAL times.

Off hand, I do not know precisely how many of our residents fit into this category, but this is something we need to know, and is a project we will launch in upcoming weeks, to collect this data.

For now, we need to become familiar with the services that outside agencies have to offer.   If there’s enough interest in these web seminars, we will consider getting together at the clubhouse on the days they are offered, and participate in them as a group.   We’ll take this one step at a time…

This is a good start, as it’s a practical & free method of becoming better informed.    For those who can’t participate in this Webinar, you can view the discussion on this site:   (www.citizencorps.gov)

Please spread the word, and invite others to become involved in our emergency preparedness activities & events.   Stay safe.

– Wes Patton

Additionally, the webinar will highlight the Meals On Wheels Association of America (MOWAA) Emergency Preparedness (EP) Standards that Meals On Wheels programs are encouraged to use when developing an emergency plan.  Webinar login will begin 15 minutes prior to the start of the webinar and registration is not required.  A question and answer period will follow the presentation.

Live Webinar:
Introducing Emergency Community Stakeholders to the Meals On Wheels
Role in Emergency Planning

May 12th @ 2:00 PM EDT
https://connect.hsin.gov/mealsonwheelswebinar

May is National Older Americans Month.  In recognition of the month, we are please to feature the Meals On Wheels Association of America (MOWAA).  MOWAA  is the oldest and largest organization in the United States representing community-based Meals On Wheels programs. Currently, there are approximately 5,000 Meals On Wheels programs operating in the U.S. These programs are responsible for providing over one million meals each day to seniors living in their respective communities through home delivery or at congregate locations like senior centers.

As a national Citizen Corps Affiliate, MOWAA is encouraging local Meals On Wheels programs to develop emergency plans, coordinate their planning efforts with members of the community responsible for providing core and secondary emergency services, and to engage in coordinated planning activities with Citizen Corps Councils and other community-based organizations involved in emergency planning and response.

Presenting on behalf of MOWAA will be Vice President for Grants Management, Linda Netterville.   Linda has worked in Older Americans Act funded nutrition programs at all levels of the aging network.  She has been employed as the State Nutritionist for the Texas Department on Aging; Executive Director of a non-profit rural nutrition program; and Nutrition Program Manager for an Area Agency on Aging.  Linda has a Bachelor of Science in Food and Nutrition from the University of Missouri and a Master of Arts in Adult Education/Human Resource Development from the University of Texas-Austin.

The Community Preparedness Webinar Series features new community preparedness topics several times each month and is free to the public.

Each webinar will accommodate the first 500 visitors that enter the website at the time of the webinar. In addition to airing live, the webinar will be recorded and viewable at your convenience on the Citizen Corps website (www.citizencorps.gov) usually within 24 hours after the live webcast.  To join the webinar live simply go to https://connect.hsin.gov/mealsonwheelswebinar 15 minutes prior to the webinar and sign in as a guest.

If you need special accommodations or require additional assistance to view or listen to this webinar, please email us at citizencorps@dhs.gov no later than 5pm EST on Monday, May 10^thand we will provide you with additional resources so you may participate.

More details on this webinar and upcoming webinars in the Community Preparedness Webinar Series are available at http://www.citizencorps.gov/news/webcasts.shtm.

Sincerely,

The National Office of Citizen Corps
FEMA Individual & Community Preparedness Division

[Edited 12:30 pm 4/16 to add cost explanation at the bottom]

Links:

• the original letter sent out to residents about the gates and security changes
• Security Policies – notes from the February Security meetings

Questions

[from replies byMike Kasko & Wes Patton questions posed on the Yahoo group]

• Up to two transponders will be issued to each owner of a property, for
  their vehicles, free of charge
• Additional normal transponders will be $16 each.
• Six Month passes will be available for the same charge as they have been in the past [$10 for six months] with one important
  distinction: There will now be an additional, one time charge per
  vehicle, of $16 for the regular Transponder.  The transponder will last
  many years. So initially the six month passes will be $26.
• The exception will be if special, more expensive, transponders are
  needed. Typically motorcycles & high end vehicles with metal
  integrated windshields require these special transponders.
• {from the Webmaster} In the security notes from February it was mentioned that the special transponders cost LWW an extra $20 – so if it is one of the first 2 “free” ones, then you only pay the $20 difference. If it is your 3rd, it will cost you $36.
• Please keep in mind that infrequent visitors will still be able to visit
  you via the Lake WildWood Drive entrance, free of charge, provided they are on your access list…

From the Webmaster:
I just spent some time with Kim in the office, and here are some details:

What to bring:

The xeroxed copy of the form you filled out earlier in the year. Assuming everything is working, that’s all you need – but this a new system, so I, personally, wouldn’t assume! So, ALSO bring:

• Driver’s License
• Registration OR Insurance card (only 1 card needed if all teh vehicles are on the same policy). If you have multiple policies, bring multiple cards.
• Tag numbers for each vehicle – write ‘em down, you won’t remember them!
• Cash or a check – IF you are getting more than 2 Regular transponders, or are getting ANY Special types.

There are TWO transponder types:

—Regular is for regular cars/vans/trucks etc.

—Special is for motorcycles and also for cars with a lot of metal in the windshield (generally these are more expensive models)

Easiest way to think the cost is this:

1. Each account starts with a $32 “credit”.
2. Each regular costs $16, each special costs $36
3. If you get 2 regulars your cost is $16 regular + $16 regular – $32 credit = zero.
4. If you get one special (and that’s all you get) your cost is $36 special – $32 credit = $4.
5. If you get one regular and one special your cost is $16 regular + $36 special – $32 credit = $20
6. If you get two regulars and one special your cost is $16 regular + $16 regular + $36 special – $32 credit = $36.

This is also up on CH99. Spread the word!

He & his staff will give a 20-22 hour block of instruction for LWW residents only, at the EMA Emergency Operations Center bunker, at a later date.

To SIGN UP for this training, and to participate in drafting our Emergency Response Plan, please come to this meeting:

- 10:00 AM,
- Sat,  April 10, 2010
- LWW Clubhouse

Our objectives are:

(1) Recruit volunteers who will assist in and be trained for many of the emergency tasks that may be needed at LWW.

(2) To identify the services we will need to provide to LWW, and prioritize the training necessary to accomplish these goals, (i.e.):

– Directing traffic,
– Radio Communication Protocols,
– CPR, AED Certification
– Safety & First Aide
– Community Emergency Response Team, (CERT)

(3) Set a time & date for our first CERT class

Please RSVP by emailing 4wes@cox.net.   We must have at least 15 participants for this training to become a reality.

Wes Patton
Board Advisor, LWW
Emergency Mgmt Committee

—–

The new transponders are very small and only contain numbers, and will not say LWW or anything else on them.

[NOTE FROM WEBMASTER: You can see some promo material from the sticker manufacturer about these at http://www.transcore.com/pdf/411863.pdf]

1-How to manage Pedestrian traffic in and out

• Beautification Committee will put together a plan to plant decorative bushes (with Thorns) to funnel pedestrian traffic towards the guard house.  Future plans to include decorative iron fence.

2-How to manage Two wheeled traffic

• Motorcycles use regular Transponder if it is mounted on the windshield.
• A license plate mounted transponder is available for those who don’t want to mount the transponder on the windshield. License Plate transponder will cost $20.00 if it is one of the two allotted. (this is the difference between the regular and License Plate transponder cost)
• The Motorcycle transponder is counted as one of the two transponders.  If resident already has two cars with transponders, the motorcycle license plate transponder will cost $36.00.
• Bicycles treated as pedestrians

3-Emergency Vehicles procedures

• Fire, Ambulance, Police use yelp on Siren to activate the gate.

4-UPS, Postal Trucks, Buses, Pizza Delivery, etc procedures.

• Postal comes from Zebulon through front gate, No issue there.
• All Pizza deliveries come through the front gate and get processed as visitors.  May be able to sell transponder to Pizza Company if mounted on company property. (Dominoes Sign on top of car)
• UPS, FedEx, Etc. Make multiple stops and should not require a pass during normal business hours.

5-New Car and Rental Cars procedures

• rental/purchase agreement must be shown before temporary transponder is issued
• A transponder will be available for Members in good standing that is activated for 2 weeks at a time.  It is issued after receipt of a refundable deposit of $25.00. It automatically expires after 2 weeks and must be returned or renewed.

6-Preventative measures for piggy backing through gate and fines for doing so

• If a vehicle piggy backs, residents can to report offenders with type of vehicle and time.  Fine of $450.00 for each offence in accordance with the schedule of fines.
• Add double speed break before gate to slow oncoming traffic.  This will allow the first vehicle to pass the close loop before the second vehicle (without a transponder) can get close enough to piggy back.
• In the event a vehicle is hit with the gate while attempting to piggyback, there will be a fine for running the gate and destruction of LWW property.  All incidents will be recorded and no compensation will be available for vehicle damage.

7-Homeowners access and egress being tracked

• While the code of the transponder is recorded, nobody is tracking anything.  At least not until a crime is committed, then the data  is available if needed.
• BOD is drafting a privacy policy to detail what the association can and cannot use this information for.

8-How many transponders issued to each homeowner

• One Transponder per homeowner vehicle up to 2 at no cost to the homeowner.

9-Cost for additional transponders

• Additional Transponders will cost $16.00

10-Transponders being issued for 6 month pass? Cost?

• Yes, cost of transponder plus $10.00
• Renewal $10.00

11-Traffic back ups at main gate and others

• Outbound traffic will not be an issue since the gate stays open as long as a vehicle is over the open or close loop.
• Inbound traffic not an issue as the gate opens fast enough that a car does not need to stop and gate stays open as long as it reads an inbound transponder.
• The gates do not close after every car unless the close loop is clear AND the open loop or transponder readers are BOTH clear.

12-Houses for Sale/Open Houses-Realtors and potential home buyers-procedure

• Realtors need to be registered at the office and passes will be issued to the realtor.
• Realtor meets client at office and escorts to homes for sale.
• For Sale By Owner (FSBO) need to put their home on the guard list as being an FSBO so prospective buyers will need to provide an address to enter.
• Open house realtor to post address of open house at guard house and visitors will be processed to that address.

13-Rental property procedures

• Homeowner needs to register guests/potential renters
• Prospective renters treated as guests and processed to the rental property.

14-Power outage procedures

• Gates to open automatically during a power outage.
• Security will dispatch additional guards to the open gates as soon as possible

15-Insure equipment for malfunction or damage to vehicles

• Checking with our Association insurance for vehicle damage coverage
• People without transponders piggybacking through gate will not be covered.
• 2 year warranty covers malfunction of equipment.

16-Temporary passes being issued and managed

• Daily Passes issued to visitors
• Multiple day passes will be issued at homeowners request

17-ID’s for every passenger in visitors cars

• Checking ID for every rider is not feasible.
• Homeowner is responsible for guests.

18-Party guest lists

• Call in or drop off or E-mail guest list to guard shack

19-Flooding protocols

• Roving patrol closes gate and places signs for rocky creek, colaparchee creek, and spillway when water level exceeds 2 inches across road.
• Checking on alternate procedures for signage and closing of flooded spillways

20-Payment Plan Member procedures

• Monthly Transponder issued and renewed when payment is made.

21-Banned people

• If LWW has banned someone it can be put on the LWW ban list

22-Procedure for calling residents for visitors-backing up traffic

• 1 call…that’s all.  After the first call fails, vehicle relocates to office parking lot until resident can be reached.

23-Destruction of gate fines along with BSO involvement

• Intentional destruction of gate subject to the schedule of fines for destruction of LWW property and running the gate.
• BSO called and given a copy of the video and a request from LWW to press charges for destruction of property and trespassing.

24-Yard sales

• Each Homeowner will list their address on the Yard sale list with the guards.
• The guard will issue a pass to specific yard sale locations

25-Chain of Command

• BOD – Make policy Only
• Board advisor to security Liaison between board and manager
• Manager directs policy to head of Security
• Head of security provides Property Manager a report on incidents monthly at a date set by the Board Advisor to Security committee for Security committee and neighborhood watch Wildwords articles.

Forget all the rumors – get your questions answered from the source!

Furthermore, as our largest expense category, security was also being carefully evaluated by the CEO and General Manager of Lighthouse Property Management, who has managed our property since January of 2009.

Process

As such, in June of 2009, the CEO of Lighthouse with multi-property and multi-state management experience made an impassioned suggestion. He asked to lead a top to bottom review of security with the belief that we could develop a more effective, modern and homeowner-controlled security program ….. all while saving significant money for our community.

The Board then reflected on and later discussed this suggestion as a group. Our General Manager in conjunction with the Board Security Advisor then began to research and interview some of the largest and most respected security firms available to us. Once the list of potential firms was culled, remaining Board members were briefed and joined in a process of significant dialog, extensive research, field study and cost analysis over the course of half a year.

Concurrently, Dr. Craig Anderson led a search along with our General Manager, for new legal counsel to coincide with these security changes. This resulted in LWW securing the largest and most experienced Georgia firm specializing in matters of property management, as our new legal counsel.

Result

The result of this work will yield the most comprehensive upgrade in security for Lake Wildwood in years; all while achieving cost savings both immediately as well as in subsequent years for the community.

The first quarter of the year will see the installation of a modern integrated gate and active resident controlled access system. Included will be a more advanced and scalable CCTV Monitoring system at four full time gates:

• Zebulon Rd,
• Peake Rd,
• Thomaston Rd and
• Table Mountain.

That means that “dues paying residents” will be able to enter and exit at any of the four gates, any time of day or night. All the while the community will continue its policy of maintaining around the clock security officers, including a full-time roving security detail.

“Decals”

The annual changing of passive “dummy” decals that we have used in the past will no longer be necessary. Instead, each resident’s vehicle will be issued an RFID (radio frequency identification) windshield sticker tag.

This technology is in fact the same that the Georgia Department of Transportation recently selected for the state’s toll road system.

The tags must be affixed to the INSIDE of the windshield, on the PASSENGER SIDE. Each tag has a unique serial number and when a valid tag is read by the readers at any of the four gates, access is immediately granted.

The system will consist of the following:

• Automated gates on all lanes
• Transponder Readers at front gate resident lane & three other RFID only gates
• Visitor and Resident Management software (residents will now actively control their own personalized visitor list by phone, web/email, or at the office).
• CCTV Monitoring at each gate location & the Clubhouse

Please complete the  information form no later than February 15th to avoid any inconvenience for you or your guests. This form can be returned:

• in person to the office,
• mailed to: 115 Lake Wildwood Dr. Macon GA 31220,
• or emailed to: office@lakewildwood.org

(Webmaster note: See the link to the form at the bottom of this entry)

Visitors

ALL Visitor/Guests must use the Main Gate Visitor Lane.

Each guest/visitor vehicle will be greeted by an officer, who will process the person via the visitor and resident management system. The officer will enter the resident’s name in the system, which will bring up the resident’s authorized guest list. If the visitor is on the list, the officer will proceed as instructed.

Parents will even have the ability to create time frames when their children can or can not have visitors.

All approved visitors will be issued a resident specific and coded pass, which will also include driving directions to your home.

If the visitor/subcontractor is not on the residents authorized list, the officer will process them by either calling the resident for approval or denying them access to the community. Visitors who are not authorized will not be granted access.

Simply put, we have shifted from a visitor initiated program to a more appropriate resident initiated and resident controlled program.

Exit Lanes – This is a free exit lane. The gate will open when the exiting vehicle triggers the open loop. Once the vehicle clears the close loop, the barrier gate will close.

In addition, we continue to work with the Bibb County Sheriff Department to better improve communication and their service to our community. BSO has agreed to support and prosecute within the law, any intentional damage/destruction to these gates or attempt to enter Lake Wildwood property without proper authorization.

With this new system, all rules will be strictly enforced.

Result

We feel most residents will immediately recognize the positive impact these improvements will have for the community.

• Active and personalized control for residents,
• scalable and class leading technology,
• significant cost savings for the community and its residents,
• faster and more efficient entry and exit options for residents,
• and a reduction in overall mileage on LWW roads

are just a few of the first that come to mind. Most importantly is the hope that this will improve security overall and allow us to better focus on future improvements in security for the community.

Meetings

Naturally, even positive improvements create questions and we want to welcome these questions primarily through two orientation receptions at the clubhouse for residents on the following dates:

Thursday, February 11th at 7:00 pm
Saturday, February 27th at 10:00 am

Please attend one of these receptions to meet our vendor partners, Lighthouse management staff, LWW board members, and other community transportation executives to become familiar with these improvements.

We will also have additional information available over the next few weeks in the Wildwords, on the Lake Wildwood website, and on Cox Channel 99.

Please plan to be a part of this exciting change for Lake Wildwood!

Lake Wildwood Board of Directors
Lighthouse Property Management
ABM Security

LWW-Gate-Thing-Signup – pdf of the form you need to fill out and take by/send to the office.

Please, if you haven’t gotten your 2009 LWW ID cards, go get yours ASAP! THEY ARE FREE THIS YEAR! That’s right folks, I said FREE!!!! Please get your ID before the Memorial Day rush.

If you go ahead of the rush, Kim could probably have it prepared for you in under 5 minutes.

For all of you newbies, you must have an LWW ID to use any of the amenities in our subdivision. In order to obtain an LWW ID your dues must also be paid in full or, if you are on the payment plan, you must be current with your monthly payments.

Office hours are 9-5 Monday thru Friday. Any Saturday hours will be announced in the Wildwords, Channel 99 or on the sign at that front gate.

Cara W. Barnes
Committee Chair, LWW NW