Wow, what a great turn out for our town hall on January 31, 2024. Thank you to all who attended in person or via Zoom. Overall, we have received very positive feedback; we also received feedback on room for improvement. We are listening to you and wanted to provide you with some additional information to help clarify the Landscape Planning Process.

We understand some of you did not receive a copy of  the  Landscape Strategic Development Plan.  Here is a link to that document.

As you will see in this document, there are Six Strategic Areas of Focus:

The presentations in the Town Hall were in support of these strategic focus areas:

Gallery Maintenance Contract 

Harvest Landscape Enterprises, Inc. was awarded the contract and began on December 9, 2022. The year 2023 was spent on-boarding Harvest to the community and working with them in continuing our planning process to keep our maintenance aligned with our Strategic focus.

Water and Irrigation

Water Efficiency and New California Laws (AB 1572) presented by Max Moreno, VP Water Conservation at Harvest Landscape Enterprises, Inc.

Water, Irrigation, and Trees

Rebates and Parkway Transformation presented by Ignacio Chavez, Regional Manager at Harvest Landscape Enterprises, Inc.

Plants, Water, and Front Yard Guidelines

Discover the Green Landscape Design Ideas – presented by Kevin Gear, VP of Construction at Harvest Landscape Enterprises, Inc.

Trees

Presented by David Ramos and Casey Brown, Certified Arborists at Harvest Landscape Enterprises, Inc.

Front Yard Guidelines - Fire Safety

Information on New Defensible Space Inspections (AB 3074 and AB 38) – presented by Nathan Babbit – OCFA

These presentations and the Q & A at the town hall were recorded and are available for your review on the Landscape Committee link on the TGCA website. The link is Lawn & Order Town Hall.

What is a Rebate?

Rebates (money back) are offered by the Santa Margarita Water District (SMWD) as an incentive to use water more efficiently. They have a Turf Removal Program, a Drip Irrigation Program, and a Smart Irrigation Program. The goal for SMWD is to incentivize their users of water to use less water. SMWD understands that there is an investment required to make changes and therefore has made these rebates available. Rebates are only available as long as there is money available, and there are rules that must be followed when applying for rebates. You cannot start a project before acceptance into the program which is why we must apply before any work can be completed. The cost for the Smart Controllers was $59,688 and the rebate amount is $19,355, reducing the total expenditure to $40,333.

Go to https://www.smwd.com/179/Rebate-Programs to find more information.

Maintenance

We will continue to focus our efforts on ensuring we are completing our Landscape rotation on time – every 8 weeks – and mowing based on winter and summer schedules. We will continue to focus our efforts on fixing bare areas in our turf and on irrigation repairs. Updates are provided in the monthly newsletter in “Neighborhood Dirt”.

Water, Irrigation, and Trees

We will continue to recognize the impact of AB 1572 on our planned parkway transformation project which includes removing the turf, installing drip irrigation, replacing trees with “the right tree in the right place”, and installing ground cover.

Plants, Water, and Front Yards

We will continue looking at ways to provide water to the proper plants and hydrozones and identify ways to place “the right plant in the right area” as we move forward.

Defensible Space and Immediate Zone

We will continue working with OCFA as we look at plants and placement of those plants in future landscape designs. Homeowners are encouraged to work with OCFA to reduce your home’s vulnerability to wildfire. As Nathan stated at the end of his presentation: Maintenance, Maintenance, Maintenance!!

We will continue to provide updates as we move forward.
Please do not hesitate to contact us at the Talega Gallery Clubhouse office if you have questions.

Have a Great Weekend!