Here are some questions that I pulled out of the open ended comments from the survey. I wanted to take this opportunity to answer the questions. Here goes:
Q: Why did nobody welcome me to the neighborhood?
A: To my knowledge we have never really had a designated welcome committee. Tommy Edwards has offered to assist with this, but I’m sure that he would appreciate some help. If you would like to volunteer to help with this, please email us at bramlett.shoals@gmail.com. We could definitely improve on this.
Q: What do I do about a barking dog that is bothering me?
A: You can call Gwinnett Animal control at the following number to file a complaint 770-339.3200 (Monday – Friday, 8:00am – 4:00pm). You can also visit their website at: http://www.gwinnettcounty.com/portal/gwinnett/Departments/Police/AnimalWelfareandEnforcementNew
Q: Why don’t people take better care of their yards, mailboxes and put up their trash cans in a timely manner? Can we give people an incentive to take care of their property?
A: According to section 6.13 of the covenants, garbage cans are supposed to be hidden away from view of neighbors behind your home. A lot of people don’t follow this rule and perhaps it is because they are not aware of it. According to Gwinnett Quality of Life codes, yards are supposed to be maintained as well. When people don’t take care of their yards and mailboxes, put away trash cans or other things it impacts everyone’s property value. We discussed trying to do a yard of the month option, but we are concerned that it will only reward the people that do take care of their yards and not incent others to participate.
Q: Can we have a discounted HOA membership for seniors or for people who don’t use the amenities?
A: We can create new classes of membership if we throw out the old covenants and draft new ones. The problem is that the cost to do this will be in excess of $5,000 so it is really not feasible.
Q: What can we do about people who are renting their homes and the renters are not taking good care of the property?
A: We are exploring options for rental restrictions and rental guidelines. Restrictions would prevent owners from renting their property and guidelines would provide owners with a list of things “to do” for the HOA before they can rent their home. The “to do” list might include completing a background check or contracting with a landscape company to take care of the yard.
Q: Can we have a community playground?
A: Yes, it is certainly an option. If enough people express an interest in this we could potentially add a playground behind the tennis courts. If this is of interest to you, please let us know.
Q: Can we upgrade the tennis courts?
A: Unfortunately we don’t have the money to repave them at this time; however we do plan to enhance the landscaping and make some other repairs to the fence and the shed that is on the property.
Q: I’ve seen a couple homes that appear to have sheets in their windows. Are people allowed to have sheets in their windows?
A: No, according to section 6.13 of the covenants, “No windows shall be covered by unsightly coverings, including but not limited to, paper, foil or sheets”. The HOA will contact these homeowners about the sheets.
Q: What are the rules for storage sheds?
A: I cannot find anything specifically about storage sheds in the covenants. I thought that the covenants allowed storage sheds as long as they are painted to match your siding. I certainly don’t have a problem with them as long as they are painted appropriately to match your home. Nobody is allowed to live in any other structure on your property unless it meets certain qualifications outlined in the covenants.
I hope this helps answer some of the questions that were posed. If you have other questions you can visit our FAQ page or email us at bramlett.shoals@gmail.com or you can make an anonymous suggestion at this page.
Bramlett Shoals 
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