‘Tis the Season…to be Prepared!
Fire season is once again upon us. Up until last year fire never really seemed to be of as much concern here at the coast as it is in other parts of Oregon, but it seems those days are over. We’ve already had our first “scare” of the season last week when a car went into a ditch near Grand Avenue on Highway 131 and caught fire. Thankfully, the Netarts Oceanside Rural Fire Protection District was able to quickly get it under control before it spread too far into the nearby brush.
Our Architectural, Landscape and Emergency Preparedness committees are working to put together a comprehensive set of recommendations to help make The Capes a more fire-safe community, which we hope to have available to all Capes owners later this year. In the meantime, here are a few things that you can do right now to be just a little more prepared in the event of a wildfire.
- Take a close look at your landscaping and see what changes you can implement so that it is more difficult for a wildfire to reach your home. The Landscape Committee has put together Landscape Fire Guidelines for The Capes based on the Oregon State University extension service published guidelines for rural communities called “Home Ignition Zone.”
- Sign up for Tillamook County emergency alert notifications (you will need to create a free account) and nixle alerts. (These may actually be the same thing, but they have different login/sign-up pages, so it can’t hurt to do both.) When registered for these services, you can receive text messages, emails and/or automated voice messages to alert you to emergency situations and hazards within Tillamook County. Depending on what you sign up for, you can also receive notifications of road closures, power outages, severe weather, missing persons, etc.
- Make sure that you are signed up with a phone number in our Capes Owner Portal to receive voice blasts and with a valid email address to receive email notifications in the event that an emergency notice specific to The Capes is sent out.
- Prepare a Go Bag and keep it somewhere handy. You can pack your own, or you can purchase a pre-packaged bag and add any personal items you may need such as medications or copies of important documents. Regardless of whether you make it or buy it, your bag should have enough food and water to sustain you for at least 3 days in the event of an evacuation.
- If you have firewood stored outside, please remove it immediately! (Either put it inside your garage or get rid of it.) Not only is it against the CC&Rs to store firewood outside of a living unit, but a big pile of dry wood right beside your home is just not a good idea during fire season. [See Section 6.19 Miscellaneous Restrictions: https://www.thecapeshoa.org/documents/governing-documents/current_governing_documents/2003-03-22%20CC&Rs%20Amended%20and%20Restated.pdf]
Some Document Updates
You may recall that last month we updated our guest/renter registration process to make it a little simpler for homeowners to pre-authorize their guests and renters. (If you don’t know what the new process is, you can read all about it here: https://www.thecapeshoa.org/guest-and-renter-registration-procedure/) Since no good deed goes unpunished, this change in procedure has created the need to update a couple of documents so that the policies “match.” At their next meeting on September 18, 2021, the Board will vote to update the documents below in order to incorporate the changes to the guest/renter registration procedures. No other changes have been proposed for either document.
- The Capes HOA Community Rules – The proposed changes begin at the bottom of page 5. We are basically removing the specific procedural information and replacing it with a more general rule that homeowners must register their guests or renters according to the policy specified in the Capes Policy for Guest Registrations. This way, if the policy changes in the future, this document will not need to be amended.
- Capes Policy for Guest Registrations – The policy has been updated to reflect the current procedure by which owners should register their guests or renters.
Once these changes are approved, a second notice will go out to homeowners and the amended documents will be uploaded to The Capes’ website.
Another Video Tutorial!
In an effort to drag you all kicking and screaming into our new owner portal, we’ve added a new tutorial video to our How To’s page. Dues, Statements and Payments explores where to find your current dues account balance, how to customize and print an account statement if you need it, and where to find your payment history all within the Manage My Nest owner portal.
Raccoon Attack
We haven’t heard of any more raccoon run-ins since one of our Capers was bitten several times while trying to protect her dog from an angry trash panda on July 20th, but that doesn’t mean the coast is clear. If you are out walking in the neighborhood – especially on one of the wooded nature trails – please be alert at all times and steer clear of any raccoons that you see. Even if you are walking away from a raccoon, keep an eye out to make sure it isn’t following. While they don’t typically attack humans, they will go for a dog that they think may be a threat…especially if they have babies nearby that they are protecting. If they happen to be rabid, all bets are off and they could potentially attack anything or anyone. [We do not know at this time why the raccoon attacked or if rabies was involved. There does not yet seem to have been any follow-up by Animal Control.]