Nellie Gail Ranch June 5, 2019, Annual Meeting / Ballot

Ballots for the June 5, 2019, Annual Meeting of the Members and election of the Board of Directors were mailed today and should be in your mailbox within the next few days. This year it is doubly important for each homeowner to participate in the annual meeting by casting your vote for directors and a special ballot measure related to 24-hour mobile patrol services.  
 
The quorum requirement is 50%, 704 homes of the 1,407 total represented. Please help us achieve quorum by promptly returning your ballot. Postage is pre-paid to make it easier than ever to submit!  
 
Select the following link to review the candidacy and ballot measure statements. Again, ballots are in the mail today, please return your ballot at your earliest opportunity.  
 

Nellie Gail Ranch Wood Trail Fencing Colors and Meanings

As you walk or drive through Nellie Gail Ranch, you may notice some of the wood fencing materials along the trail system have different colors. All of Nellie Gail Ranch’s trail fencing, which totals approximately 11 miles, is made of pressure treated pine lumber. Pressure treated wood is widely used for outdoor construction projects because of how well it resists the elements. The lumber is treated under high vacuum pressure that forces chemical wood preservatives into the fibers of the wood. The color of pressure treated lumber depends on the chemical that was used during the pressure treatment process.

GREEN (Discontinued Product)
Chemical used – Chromated Copper Arsenate
The most common preservative used to pressure-treat lumber when Nellie Gail Ranch was first developed was chromated copper arsenate. However, due to its harsh chemical properties, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency banned the use of this type of lumber for residential use in 2004. Nellie Gail Ranch stopped purchasing this type of treated wood six years earlier around 1998.

BROWN (Currently Used)
Chemical used – Copper Azole
Copper azole mixtures, which combine copper with a fungicide from the -azole (nitrogen ring-based) chemical group, are considered a safe and effective replacement for chromated copper arsenate. Wood treated with copper azole mixtures is light brown when new, but its color fades to a silver-gray as the wood ages.

In this photo taken on one of our trails, you can see the lighter green (almost white) board which is an old piece of fencing that was used as a patch. The brown boards pictured are new treated lumber patches and the predominant color you see, dark brown/silver-gray is the aged brown treated wood. In a few years, the newer brown patches will match the older fencing color as it fades.

To efficiently use Nellie Gail Ranch resources we try to balance when we should replace full sections of fencing and when repairs should be performed to extend the overall life of the fencing. This does result in some fence color variations that take some time to fade together.

Equestrian Center Clubhouse Construction Update

Work continues at the Equestrian Center Clubhouse to replace the patio cover, railings, stairways and sliding glass door. Components of the project include extending of the deck to meet disability access code compliance and installation of bar seating viewing area. Work scheduled for next week include deck footings and framing work. These are reserve projects funded 100% by boarding fees with no homeowner assessment contribution. Work is anticipated to be completed by mid-May.

April Board of Directors Meeting

The regularly scheduled April Board Meeting and Homeowner Forum has been deferred to Tuesday, April 23, 2018, at 7:30 p.m. in the Association Clubhouse.

This Year’s Board Candidates

This year’s Board candidates are Alexandra Presley and Loree Blough. Look in the next issue of The Pony Express for candidacy statements. The ballots will be mailed to members by May 3, 2019.

Weed Abatement

Many hillsides throughout Nellie Gail Ranch are currently adorned with Summer Mustard a beautiful yellow flowering plant. Despite its current beauty, Orange County Public Works advises it is in fact designated an invasive “noxious weed” that was first introduced on the West Coast about 200 years ago. There are a number of curious theories on how wild mustard, native to Spain and other Mediterranean countries, arrived here. But what we do know for sure is it has really thrived in our climate and is now found on almost every undisturbed hillside and vacant lot in Orange County.

Trail grading and weed removal is the main focus for Nellie Gail Ranch trail maintenance crews this month and next. The first priority is grading and filling ruts caused by rain and removing sandbags. The second is removing the weeds from the physical trail (graded dirt path) followed by the large scale slope weed abatement through the end of May.

April Pony Express

Read the April issue of the Pony Express HERE before it hits your mailbox.