A NOTE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Dear Bent Oak Residents,

Each year since Clay Springs Elementary School was built, the Bent Oak Board of Directors has received numerous calls from our residents about the congestion at our main entrance on weekday mornings. The concern is for the safety of children, both from our neighborhood and children who are dropped off in our entrance. Elementary school children stepping out from between parked cars are in jeopardy of not being spotted by vehicles driving through our entrance. There are other complaints as well, about the difficulty getting out of our neighborhood during morning drive time, and some of the residents near the entrance have had damage to their property. We've also had many requests for 'No Parking' signs, mostly from Bent Oak parents who don't feel the situation is safe for their children trying to walk to school.

The board has contacted the county for help in dealing with this situation presented to us by our residents, and the solution we have sought on more than one occasion was curbing for the four corner properties. The county has turned this request down each time, even with a turnover in our area representative. In trying to work with the county to help alleviate the risk, as this is essentially a road issue that the neighborhood has little control over, their solution was to put in the signage you now see on each corner. This signage accomplishes nothing other than to detract from the appearance of the entrance while offering no relief from the problems. If signs were to be our only recourse to increase the safety of the elementary school children, we requested that they at least be moved from their current position to farther away from the corner to create a bigger buffer for the entrance. We also requested that the signs limit 'No Parking' to the beginning and end of each school day. The county said that moving the signs would require a petition from the property owners in this area. However, there was not sufficient support from the property owners in proximity to the entrance so we will not be able to pursue this option. That leaves us at square one, except for the addition of the ridiculous signs the county put in place. At this time, since we cannot move the signs, and cannot curb, we will attempt to have the county remove the signs.

We know this issue is of great concern to many of you. Please feel free to contact Anita Roberts or one of the board members with your suggestions to address this situation. Meanwhile, at least you now know why we have those signs and that your board has been attempting to address this issue for quite some time.

Sincerely,

Gwen Comfort

President, Bent Oak Homeowners Association