Somerset Hills VIII Homeowners Association

Trees, wildlife, peace, and quiet

Featured

After the Snow

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Your HOA board is very aware of issues we face as homeowners after the heavy snows February 25-27. We have received several messages about damaged trees and snow removal. Here is where we stand as of February 28.

Snow removal: Your board explored finding a snow removal service in 2017 after the storms of 2016-2017. We contacted several contractors offering snow removal and were unable to find even one that would provide this service to our neighborhood, at any price. Calls immediately after this most recent snow confirmed that this stills seems to be the situation. We are sorry, but even if we had the budget (we don’t), we can find no one to provide snow removal for our private streets.

Damaged trees: Thank you to homeowners who helped clear fallen trees or limbs from streets. For damage to property, homeowners should first contact their own homeowner’s insurance. As the weather and streets clear, and our arborist/tree service person is able to schedule it, we will respond to messages (please use a contact form on this web site) about damaged/leaning trees and broken dangling limbs on trees on common area. Safety issues will have priority, so if there is not a direct threat to life or property, dealing with a broken tree limb or even a fallen tree may not be deemed necessary. We have a limited budget for all of these issues. Please notify us if you would like our arborist to review a tree or trees near your property.

Cleanup: Your board meets again on March 12 and will discuss budget and scheduling for a possible cleanup day when a tree service could pick up downed tree material. Again, budget is a concern. The last time we did this was very expensive and some homeowners added to the expense by putting out material that was clearly not from storm damage. We will notify homeowners if a cleanup day is scheduled.