Newsletter of the Settles Bridge Homeowner’s Association, Inc.
Post Office Box 837 Suwanee, GA 30024
In addition to great food and good friends, we will be electing officers to the Settles Bridge Homeowner's Association (SBHA) board. Here are the positions that we will need to fill:
It is not to late to nominate officers - in fact, the nominations can be made right up until the vote. If you are interested in serving in any of these positions for the year 2000, please get your name to one of the officers at the picnic (if not before). We will start a meeting and have a vote when it looks like we have the most people present. For your information, here is the list of outgoing officers:
Members At Large: John Burdges, Roger Kennedy, Paul Thompson
After the vote, we will draw for (and announce) the winner of the first annual SBHA dues contest.
Picnic / Homeowners Meeting Details
Thanks to those who called with a count of the number of people that you plan to bring. If you didn't RSVP, don't worry, just show up. We believe that we will have enough hamburgers and hotdogs for everyone, and if we have to we can always make a 'Kroger Run' (a problem that we would love to have). Remember - if you can, please bring some type of side dish, salad or desert, and drinks for your family.
As of Tuesday, June 13, homeowner's of Settles Bridge (as residents of Gwinnett County) are under some fairly restrictive watering rules. And, quite possibly, they will get even tougher, as they have already for several surrounding counties. In case you haven't heard, here are the rules:
· Outdoor water use at odd-numbered street addresses is permitted only on odd-numbered calendar days.
· Even-numbered street addresses may water only on even-numbered calendar days.
· No outdoor water use at all between the hours of 10 am to 10 pm.
The ban is not just on watering; it also covers car washing and cleaning off your driveway. Even if you get your water from a well or stream, the county is still asking you to comply with the new restrictions.
Penalties: First offense, warning; subsequent offenses, fines up to $500 and 60 days in jail. Service may be stopped.
Enforcement: Respond to complaints and call violators
Speaking of water - if your water supply line hasn't broken, consider yourself lucky. We have had several homeowners who have had to replace the main supply line in their front yard. We even had at least one unfortunate homeowner who had to replace pipes inside their house! And many times dry weather will cause the break to occur because of ground movement.
These problems stem from the type of pipe (Polybutylene) that was used in construction of new homes at the time that our subdivision was getting started. This pipe, it turns out, has a tendency to fail after 10 years (plus or minus) in the ground.
As many of you have heard, there was a class action lawsuit (Cox vs. Shell Oil) that allowed some people to have their plumbing problems fixed at little or no charge. Unfortunately, the bottom line for residents of Settles Bridge Subdivision is that it is unlikely that you will be able to take advantage of this financial help - the plumbing must have been installed within the last ten years.
However, just so you will know, here are the details of the settlement. To meet the requirements for a covered repair, you must meet ALL of the following conditions:
· You must own a house plumbed with a Polybutylene (PB) Plumbing System (for inside your house) or a PB Yard Service Line (to bring water from the street).
· The pipes must have been installed between January 1, 1978 and July 31, 1995.
· The pipes inside your house must have been installed using PB pipe and insert fittings - the pipes in your yard can have any type of fittings.
· The pipes must have at least one 'leak' as defined in the lawsuit (briefly, a leak that cannot be fixed without opening up a wall or digging up your yard).
· The leak must have occurred within 10 years of installation.
Also, you generally must have filed a claim within 11 years of the installation. The rules for leaks inside your house are more lenient, so if you do have a leak inside your house, be sure to at least check with the Consumer Plumbing Recovery Center (CPRC). They can be reached at 1-800-876-4698; or try the Plumbing Claims Group at 1-800-356-3496.
NOTE: If you have to fix the supply line in your front yard, there is a good chance that they can use a technique where they actually run the new pipe inside your old pipe. They expand and break up the old pipe, so the new pipe can be just as large. This is a great way to keep from having to dig up your whole front yard!
As you enter our subdivision, just before you start down the first big hill, take a look to your right. Right behind the row of houses is a fairly famous, very old cemetery called Douglass Cemetery. It is located in the woods south of Suwanee Dam Road, west of Settles Point Road, and has now been enclosed by a fence. Of February 14, 1998 (before the fence was installed), I visited there and was able to read the names from some of the graves. There are at least 15 to 20 gravesites there, both marked and unmarked. There is also what looks like a very old road, with ruts about where wagon wheels could have gone. Unfortunately, many of the headstones or markers were carved by hand in fairly soft stone, and are impossible to read. Old cemeteries have always interested me, so I spent some time there in the woods reading as many of the markers as I could. Here is the list of names that I was able to read, written exactly as they appeared on the stones (as best I could make out):
A.D. WisdomDaughter of J.L. and M.J. WisdomBorn Aug 2, 1857Died Feb 10, 1860Asleep in Jesus
Jones DouglassSoldier GA MilitiaWar of 1812Nov 25, 1779 Oct 15, 1846
Gew Douglass
Williams KingWas born Dec 22, 1816Died June 16, 1852
John King
Rebecca TillmanWife of Jones DouglassAug 14, 1781Mar 20, 1864
Most police activity occurred just on the other side of the interstate, near the exit. The other crimes were fairly evenly scattered around the city and, I am happy to say, there were no crimes reported in our subdivision. Here are some of the ones that I found most interesting:
In May, Suwanee had 1 case of armed robbery (at 2925 Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road), 6 cases of assault or battery, 3 burglary and 3 criminal trespass calls. We also had 2 calls for cruelty to children (at 4025 McGinnis Ferry Road and 626 Morgan Bay Court), 6 for property damage, 8 for theft by taking and 1 theft of service.
We had 2 cars stolen, 9 calls for "entering auto", 3 gas drive-offs, and 2 vehicles impounded. Police also handled 10 cases of drug possession, executed 4 warrant arrests, and responded to 1 person carrying a concealed weapon (over on Scales Road).
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