Subsequent to the last newsletter in which I informed you about two board vacancies, I am pleased to announce those positions were filled at our last meeting. The 2nd vice president for security is Lawrence McKinney, who came to Memorial Northwest several years ago after a career with the San Diego, CA, police department. Lawrence served in a variety of positions and ultimately retired as Assistant Chief of Police for San Diego. Our new 3rd vice president for architectural control and deed restrictions is Ryan Pyle, who has lived in Memorial Northwest for almost ten years. Ryan is the sales director for Malin Industries, a material handling firm with warehouses all across the United States. His duties include oversight of not only sales but engineering of the warehouses, which brings him into contact with city and county building codes in numerous areas. Additionally, Ryan is heavily involved with the Memorial NW Marlins swim team. We welcome both Lawrence and Ryan to the Board and look forward to their contributions in these two, vital areas.

The Board was pleased to recognize one of our homeowners for her performance as a crossing guard near Theiss Elementary School. While we are happy to recognize her work and the work of other volunteers who perform this important duty, the circumstances that led to this recognition are of great concern. As some of you may know, on April 21st Carolyn was instrumental in preventing an accident that might have resulted in either serious injury or death to two school children. The driver of a vehicle came through the school zone with no attention or regard to both traffic laws and pedestrian traffic. It was only through the quick thinking and reaction by Carolyn that prevented one child from entering the crosswalk and ensuring that another, already in the crosswalk, ran safely to the other side. The driver of the vehicle subsequently crashed into the back of a day care van, and this accident led to ten people, mostly children, being taken to the hospital. Prior to the accident, as reported by a local news station, the vehicle driver ran a couple of stop signs and was speeding down a side street.

Although an ultimate tragedy was averted in this instance, obeying traffic laws in our subdivision seems to be difficult for some people, both residents and nonresidents. There are daily occurrences of drivers going through stop signs and speeding. The incident related above must be a warning to all that these laws serve a distinct purpose. We have asked our sheriff’s department deputies to continue doing their utmost to enforce traffic laws in every respect. That said, however, we can never afford to have enough deputies present at every location to stop and ticket violators. Obeying traffic laws must become second nature to all, but of greater importance is the need to watch out for our children as they go to and from school. A driver can be driving within acceptable speed limits and still cause serious injury, or death, to a child on a bicycle, or walking out into the street. To put it bluntly, it’s a matter of putting someone else first, other than yourself, when you are behind the wheel of a motor vehicle.

Last month’s newsletter highlighted a need to conform to deed restrictions, particularly those that have an impact on the appearance of our subdivision to both residents and visitors. Just to make sure everyone is on the same page, lawn bags and other detritus from cleaning up our yards are not to be put curbside for pick-up until the late afternoon of the day before the scheduled pick-up by the waste company. Doing otherwise will result in sending a written notice of the violation to the homeowner. While much less noticeable, backyard pools can also become the source of violating deed restrictions. The lack of routine maintenance can lead, and has led, to several complaints in the past concerning mosquito outbreaks. The subdivision has a mosquito spraying program, but it cannot overcome the problem when a huge, mosquito breeding ground exists in a homeowner’s pool. The forecast for this summer calls for a wetter than usual summer, and controlling mosquitos and other pests will be difficult enough without any of us adding to it. I urge each of you to do your part in making MNW a better place to live.

Roy May
MNW Board President