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WMPOA Annual Meeting

and Election 11:00 a.m. Saturday,

July 15, 2017 At the Clubhouse

Calendar of Events*

7/6 Card & Board Games, 7pm 7/13 Garden Club Meeting, and Potluck, 6:00 pm 7/15 Board Meeting, 8:30 am 7/15 WMPOA Annual Meeting 11:00 am 7/20 Bunko, 7:00 pm 7/27 Bingo with Bob, 7:00 pm 7/28 Music Jam & Open Mic 7pm 8/3 Card & Board Games, 7pm 8/10 Garden Club Meeting and

Potluck, 6:00pm 8/17 Bunko, 7:00 pm 8/19 Board Meeting, 8:30 am 8/24 Bingo with Bob, 7:00 pm 8/25 Music Jam & Open Mic 7pm 9/7 Card and Board games, 7 pm 9/14 Garden Club Meeting and

Potluck, 6:00 pm 9/16 Board Meeting, 8:30am 9/21 Bunko, 7:00 pm 9/28 Bingo with Bob, 7:00 pm 9/29 Music Jam & Open Mic 7pm. *All events are at the clubhouse unless otherwise noted. Check the calendar at the office or our website for changes.

www.walnutmtnga.com

A FEW WORDS FROM YOUR WMPOA PRESIDENT

A Few Words from Your WMPOA President

Hello, fellow property owners! Please let me take this opportunity to wish you an early goodbye! Thank you for your patience and for allowing me to work for you, with you, with my fellow board members, and with our employees. This is the last newsletter column that I will write before my term ends…that will occur on Saturday, July 15, 2017. On that day, the Walnut Mountain property owners will elect three new board members, and they will then elect new officers, who will work with the entire board to serve you and the community as best they can for the 2017 – 2018 year.

I wish the new board members, the existing board members, and the new officers all the best. If asked, I will pass on whatever information and knowledge that I have to the new president in order to achieve a smooth and seamless transition. I feel certain that they are all more than aware that they are committing to serve for the betterment of the Walnut Mountain community and its property owners.

To all of you, please never forget that the board members are volunteers who are also property owners, like you. They are giving much of their personal time and relying on their past experiences to try to do the best job that they can for you and the Walnut Mountain community. Their work efforts are endless and the demands put on them are mighty; please assist them by approaching them and working with them as you yourself would want to be approached and worked with by others.

I would be remiss if I failed to thank our tireless and hardworking committee members. Their work has not gone unnoticed and is so appreciated. Please consider joining one of Walnut Mountain’s committees. Before leaving my job, I have one last and most important request to ask of you. Please continue to support our employees as they make our mountain community work as smoothly as it does and look as good as it can while working daily under the operating budget that they are given. Please continue to appreciate their work efforts and products and understand that they are performing as best they can in most cases. We are so fortunate to have these employees, and a “Thank You” and a “Smile and a Wave” can go a long way to making them feel appreciated!

I would like to say that this job is not easy, but so many of you have made it much easier. I cannot thank each of you individually but as a group, please accept my sincere appreciation. Hope to see you at activities and events in the future! May God bless you, this community, and the USA!

Warm and sincere regards , Barbara Halliburton

TThhee MMoouunnttaaiinneeeerr

Walnut Mountain Property Owners’ Association Volume 151 July 1, 2017

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It is with great sadness that we inform you that Barbara Halliburton, current President of the Walnut Mountain Property Owners’ Association, passed away on June 11, 2017, as a result of an auto accident. She will be sorely missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family.

Update from the Vice President

As usual, the Walnut Mountain office, Maintenance, and Welcome Center are always busy, but more so from spring until winter. Many contractors and vendors are here on the mountain working at various houses and cabins. Please be sure if you are having work done that you have ACC approval. Let the Welcome Center know who is coming to do the work and when. Instruct all contractors or vendors to check in with the Welcome Center. Gates have been installed and are slower opening than our former ones. They also make you slow down as you exit, which can be a safety feature. It makes you stop and look before pulling out on Turniptown Road. Those of you who live past GATE 1 should not pull onto the bridge until the vehicle ahead of you has cleared and the gate has come down. If you follow behind that car, the gate may close on you. We experienced several major water breaks during the winter-spring time, and I continue to worry about our aging main water pipes. Some are almost 50 years old and must be replaced in the future. We also had a lot of trees down during the recent storms that caused power outages for several areas of the mountain. Side dressing roads continues when time allows. A new roof was installed on the old water treatment building and shed. Dale and Connie attended water classes and a conference recently. Dale obtained his CDL license for operating heavy-duty trucks. Ricky also has his CDL license. Connie will be in water classes again for a week in June to obtain her water license. They are also continuing to install new water meters as time permits. We are doing 200 this year. Roll off dumpsters continue to be a problem in that some people cannot follow rules: NO mattresses, NO large furniture, NO large appliances (hot water tanks), NO garage doors, NO siding, NO cleaning out cabins. If you have a lot of items to discard, please take them to the Gilmer County Landfill.

Our Pool was not correctly fixed last year. Unfortunately, it was not sandblasted before putting on the new finish. Because of that, we have a pitted bottom which was stained by algae during the winter. Water quality is fine, but the pool bottom is not pretty. Now we are experiencing an area that bubbled up and finish came off. Whoever is elected on the Board next year will be faced with getting a complete rehab done on the pool. We can sue the contractor, but we would have to get in line from what I understand. We are filing a report with the Better Business Bureau for incompetent work. New tables were put in the picnic area and the old ones salvaged and placed at the lakes. Connie is in charge of pool staff this summer. Paving should begin in the next few weeks. Our number one spot is Laurel Ridge as you go down the hill to Lake McClure. It is very rough and needs attention. Other areas around the mountain and potholes will be improved.

Respectfully, Terry Frazier

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Protect Your Hemlocks

If you have hemlocks on your property, now is the time to check them for the killing infestation of wooly adelgid, which is a small, aphid-like insect from Asia. You can easily see if this is on your hemlocks, just look for waxy white covering on the underside of the branches. The best treatment for this infestation is a

soil treatment that a licensed plant specialist can offer you. Spraying the trees is a waste of money and time, as the entire tree must be saturated; so unless you have tiny trees, this option won’t work. Walnut Mountain has hired Green Leaf (706-258-2420) to treat the hemlocks on the common areas of the mountain. There are also two products by BAYER, available at Lowes, that you can apply yourself -- either a liquid or granules that you add to the ground. Wind and birds are two ways this is carried to other trees, and the untreated, infected trees will eventually die. For an example of this, just go to Mt. Mitchell in North Carolina where you will see dead hemlocks everywhere. Called the "Redwood of the East," Eastern Hemlocks can grow more than 150 feet tall on trunks measuring six feet in diameter. Some hemlocks in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are over 500 years old.” These are beautiful trees, so protect yours now! (From the National Park Service newsletter)

The Annual POA Meeting and Board Election Scheduled for July 15, 2017

The Association's affairs are governed by a Board of Directors who are property owners and are elected by the property owners of Walnut Mountain. Three Board members are ending their terms and their replacements will be determined at the upcoming election. New or renewing members of the Board are elected by a secret, written ballot at the Annual Meeting of the Property Owners Association (POA) in July. As a property owner, you have a membership in the Association; and, each lot owner is entitled to one vote per lot owned, as long as the owner is current in his/her payment of the Association's Management Accounts and is in good standing otherwise. Not going to be here on July 15, 2017 and unable to personally vote? Not a problem! A Proxy Ballot, which can be used to vote for the candidates of your choice, has been inserted in this issue of The Mountaineer. The Proxy Ballot explains it all, including "How to vote by Proxy and When!" Keep the Important dates listed below in mind & follow the Proxy Ballot instructions given under "NOTES!"

Important Dates: July 1, 2017 Nominations Deadline July 8, 2017 Proxy Votes Due to Secretary of the BOD The declared candidates (as of the publication of this edition of The Mountaineer) for a 3-year Term, effective July 15, 2017, are as follows:

Nancy Soukup

Andy Baughcum

Bernadette Lee

John Keown The biographies for the above candidates are included in this edition of The Mountaineer. Please read them to get better acquainted with each candidate's credentials. Also, please remember that candidates can still come forward at the POA meeting.

Property Owners: Please take note of the companies that advertise in The Mountaineer and utilize their services. Their ads substantially reduce our printing costs..

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Notes from the Treasurer As I approach the end of my term on the Board and reflect over a very tough three years personally, I realize that I have made many good friends and have gotten to know many people on the mountain. I have so enjoyed working with Connie and have gotten to know her much better. I hope my goal has been met to leave things financially in better shape. I apologize for any hurt feelings that have been the consequence of this goal; that was never my intention. I do feel that many things have been accomplished, and that I leave you in good hands with Connie as our Administrative and Property Services Manager. If she ever needs assistance in any manner, I will be happy to help. While I do not wish to continue as Treasurer, I will be happy to serve on a finance committee in the future. Please come to the BOD meetings and POA meetings for more detailed financial information. I do have one remaining goal, in this last month in office, to finish a draft for a 5-year plan. I hope to see you around the mountain.

Sandra Hanna

Activities Committee

Another year has come and gone and we are quickly approaching the annual July Board of Directors’ elections and POA luncheon. Last year we changed our restaurant provider to the Pink Pig out of Cherry Log, and they will be providing our luncheon again this July 15th. The Activities Committee is meeting this week to finalize the menu, which will be posted at the mail kiosk two weeks prior to the event. We welcome all property owners to attend, exercise their right to vote, and enjoy the event. On another note, the annual garage sale event, as well as the annual craft fair, will be one combined event this year. After a hiatus in 2016, the activities committee is working hard to bring these two fundraisers back to the mountain. The “garage sale” part of the event will be held in the downstairs bonus room of the clubhouse. This room has been used often in 2017 with a few meetings, craft classes, and now the garage sale event. The upstairs portion of the clubhouse will house the artists and crafters of the mountain. As of this writing, we have six booths already spoken for. The applications have been limited to Walnut Mountain residents so far, but as of July 1st, applications will be accepted from outside vendors.

New to the event this year will be a food truck owned and operated by part time Walnut Mountain residents who offer some fabulous New York cuisine.

For further information, please contact: Marjory Walsh or Nancy Hollifield - craft fair; and Nancy Soukup or Bernadette Lee - garage sale.

Submitted by Marjory Walsh

Beautification Committee

The beautification committee meets monthly, February through April and September through November. Members share ideas and form plans to make our mountain home community a haven for beauty and tranquility. We schedule workdays for weeding, mulching, and planting. We have planted trees, shrubs, bulbs, plants, and flowers. Our group maintains many sections of the community, including the area around the Walnut Mountain stone entrance signs, both sides of the welcome station, the area around the mailbox kiosk, all trails, and the pool area. Our gentleman "helper" has done an outstanding job cleaning our picnic area. We make sure our trails are cleared and the trail signage is in good condition. We respond to homeowners’ ideas and concerns. We continue to work closely with our maintenance staff in addressing certain projects. We encourage all residents to help keep our community clean and an attractive place to live. We need more residents, men and women, to join our committee. Please contact the committee lead, Sherri McGuff at 706-635-5883 to join the group, ask any questions; or voice concerns. Submitted by Sherri McGuff and Marjory Walsh

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Update on Walnut Mtn. Lakes & Dams

As you may recall, our three Category 1 dams (those that can cause loss of life if the dam were to ever be breached) must have an Emergency Action Plan (EAP) in place and filed with the GA Safe Dams Program, our local Emergency Management Agency and other agencies in the state by July 1, 2017. The EAP’s are on target for completion prior to that date and will be submitted before July 1st, with thanks to Connie McVey, our most capable Administrative and Property Services Manager. Connie has written them and will be attaching the required Appendices, some of which were provided by the Professional Engineering firm, Golder Associates. Those Appendices include a Dam Breach Analysis and an Inundation Mapping for each of the three Dams: Ataghi (Mary), Yanu (Ann) and Dakwa (Leslie). Copies will be available in the office if any property owner would like to sit and review them. Updates on our Category 2 dam, Lake McClure, include: 1) the lake has now been stocked with crappie, bream and bass. Reminder...there will be no fishing allowed for two years; then, the fish should be of a suitable size for fishing; and 2) the Seepage Analysis Proposal will be submitted by the Professional Engineering firm, W. K. Dickson, the third week of June.

Barbara Halliburton

Walnut Mountain Garden Club The Garden Club of Walnut Mountain has had some really beautiful dinners this year, including the Chinese and Easter celebrations. To those of you new to the Garden Club, we are a mostly social club that recently has done very little gardening. We do, however, decorate the mountain for the major holidays and maintain the garden at the entrance on Turniptown and Hwy 52. We meet on the second Thursday of the month at 6:00 pm at the clubhouse. Look for the sign at the mail kiosk for information and how to RSVP. See you there.

Even if you’re on the right track, You’ll get run over if you just sit there.

_________

Don’t let the fear of striking out keep you away from playing the game.

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The Scary Reason You Should

Never Wear Shoes Inside

Most people have a “no shoes” policy in their household, not because they’re afraid of getting diarrhea, but because they don’t want dirty floors. But a shocking new study offers a convincing reason for ditching shoes at the door: Walking around the house with dirty-soled shoes may lead to a serious bacterial infection.

According to a recent study published by the University of Houston, there’s a 26.4 percent chance that your shoes are carrying the infectious bacteria commonly known as c.diff. Known as clostridium difficile or C. difficile, this bacteria can cause a wide range of problems. These may be simple, such as diarrhea, or they may be life-threatening problems, such as colon inflammation. The Mayo Clinic states infections from C. difficile often occur in elderly people, particularly those in hospitals and nursing homes. In these cases, the infections often occur following antibiotic use. The rate of infection is on the rise in the United States. This bacteria can also cause a variety of less-than-ideal health problems, including diarrhea, dehydration, colon inflammation, abdominal cramps and nausea, that can last for days, weeks, or even months.

The ickiest part? C. diff is commonly carried in food products and human and animal feces. So that little bit of dog poop or bologna you stepped in could potentially bring diarrhea-causing C. diff into your home. Once it’s through the front door, the bacteria can multiply and spread on floors and carpeted surfaces.

According to the CDC, nearly half a million Americans suffered from a C. diff infection in 2014, and 29,000 of them died within 30 days of contracting it. While infections from C. diff occur more frequently in the elderly population (nursing homes and hospitals are hot zones), anyone with a weakened immune system, including infants, is at an increased risk of contracting the infection and becoming ill. And don’t think this is the first time wearing shoes indoors has been linked to bacterial infection. In 2008, University of Arizona did an alternate study and found 421,000 different forms off bacteria on the bottom of shoes — with 96 percent of shoes carrying coliform, a bacteria also found in human feces. Meanwhile, a 2014 German study found that more than 25 percent of boots used on farms carried the bacteria E. coli.

But you always wipe your shoes on the doormat before entering your home, so you’re good, right? Sorry, but that’s just not enough. Shoes are especially hard to decontaminate because of the grooves and porous surfaces. Dr. Kevin Garey, one of the authors of the University of Houston study, points out that you also “have to think of the person who wiped their feet before. You might be picking [up] stuff they left behind.”

If you’re still not sold on the idea of leaving your shoes at the door, just think how clean your floors will be and how fresh you’ll look in Japanese-style house slippers.

(Taken from an AOL article on April 26, 2017)

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Communication Report

This may seem redundant, but the following subjects come up so often that they bear repeating. We live in a gated community, which is governed by CC&R’s, By-Laws, and Rules & Regulations. You should have been given a copy of these at settlement on your home, if not before. As a condition of purchase, you agreed to abide by these rules. We have an elected Board of Directors, which has nine members. There are over four hundred houses and many more lots. The board’s job is to run the mountain and enforce the governing documents. This is a very daunting task since there are only nine members. Every property owner can assist the board by reporting to a board member, the office or the Welcome Center problems or “things that just don’t seem right.” One of the two required committees on the mountain is the Architecture Control Committee (the other is the Nominating Committee). Most of the work outside your home requires approval from the ACC. The ACC will tell you if permission is not required for the job in question. If permission is required, they will visit with you, either approve the work or deny it. They will send your signed and approved request form back and also notify the Welcome Center so they can admit the necessary workers when they come. If they do not have a copy of the approved request form, they can refuse entry to your contractors. Contractors normally work Monday through Saturday. They are not permitted to work on Sundays or holidays at Walnut Mountain except in emergency situations. Homeowners themselves may work on Sundays and holidays but should be considerate of the neighbors when doing so. Property owners should notify the Welcome center of any contractor or guest that they are expecting during normal work hours. Contractors and guests should check in with the attendant on duty for access. After hours guests may use the call box for access. I’d like to take this time to thank the members of the Communication Committee for all of their assistance in the past year. First of all, Shyla Brenan and Barbara Nickle for a little bit of everything: typing, formatting, proofing and assembly. Joan Melton helped proof and assemble. A special thanks to our team of assemblers,

who are on call until the last minute when the newsletter is back from the printer. Paul Melton, Sherri McGuff, Georgette Lawrence, Bob and Bunny DeMeo along with others recruited at the last minute, make quick work of assembling and preparing for mailing about 650 copies each quarter. I would also like to thank Jerry and Joy Ward for their time and expertise in updating the look of the Mountain’s web site. I wish it were possible to count the number of property owners (many working unseen), who volunteer in one way or another on this mountain. I’m sure the number would be very impressive. Thanks to all of you.

Don Nickle, Communications Chairman

A hearty welcome goes out to our newest property owners. They are: Julie Brown 241 Walnut Mtn. Rd. Sara Sevin 17 Ridgeview Court Christopher Robinson 324 Walnut Mtn. Rd. Chad Rybolt 60 Laurel Ridge Ct. Don & Linda Castello 331Valley View Rd. Charles Holschuler 801 Skyview Drive

Walnut Mountain Website

Many of y’all are familiar with the recent renovation of the WM Website www.walnutmtnga.com. New features include links to community events, the clubhouse calendar, POA documents, and more. Just published: video clips from our Mountain. This first release has three short videos of our wildlife, all contributed by resident Bill Schnmid. If you want to add some of your own, just let Don Nickle or any other board member know. Enjoy! By Jerry Ward

Michael James Hanna, Walnut Ridge Barbara Halliburton, Walnut Ridge

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Light Bulbs

Time for an illuminating look at a basic household item: light bulbs.

Incandescent: Burn hotter than most types, so they use more energy. Average life: 750 to 1,000 hours. Halogen (also called tungsten-halogen-filament incandescent): A small capsule filled with halogen gas provides the bulb

with its bright light. Uses less energy and is generally more expensive than an incandescent bulb. Halogens have been known to be fire-starters. Average life: 2,000 to 3,000 hours. General service flurorescent: Emits less heat and is generally more expensive than an incandescent bulb. Because of its long, thin profile, this tye of bulb is commonly used for under-cabinet lighting and over garage work benches. Average life: 10,000 to 20,000 hours. Compact fluorescent bulb: Gives off as much light as a regular incandescent bulb, but requires less energy. A 15-watt compact fluorescent bulb produces about the same light as a 60 watt incandescent bulb. Average life, about 10,000 hours. LED light bulb: Saves 90% energy. LED lights last longer, up to 60,000 hours. LEDs are cool to the touch, unbreakable, and save time, money and the environment. Using a 3- watt LED light versus a 60- watt light bulb will save you $405.01 per LED Bulb at 11 cents per KWH/6,000 hours. If every U.S. household replaced just one standard 60-watt bulb with a LED light bulb, it could save 24,184.4 mega (million) watts per day! (from LEDLight.com)

A Note from the Welcome Center

As the weather gets warmer, many people start projects that require the delivery of materials to our community. Here are a few reminders to help make things go smoothly for your contractors and suppliers.

Make sure that you discuss any outdoor projects with the ACC.

Please instruct those coming to see you that they have to stop at the Welcome Center first every day during their stay here. It’s much faster than trying the call box.

Please tell suppliers making deliveries that 18 wheelers and other very large trucks will not make it on our roads. We’ve had several near disasters with such vehicles. If we can prevent this type of truck from attempting deliveries, we’ll save a lot of heartache all around. By Ken Johnson and Jim Waddell