Our membership drive for 2005 is complete. We are proud to announce that we currently have 188 out of 286 homes supporting the civic association. Two thirds of our residents have shown their support by joining the civic association. The board of directors wishes to thank all those who have shown their support for our efforts by joining the civic association. We wish we could coax the one third of our residents who have not joined to do so. We are looking into preparing a survey to send to our non-member residents to find out why they haven't joined the civic association.

In an effort to determine if there is a pattern to residents of our community not joining the civic association, we prepared a brakedown of the membership on a block by block basis. It is as follows: Cayuga Place: 12 out of 12; Columbia Drive: 16 out of 26; Dewey Street: 13 out of 18; Halsey Avenue: 36 out of 44; Key Place: 13 out of 19; Leahy Street: 12 out of 24; Manhattan Court: 3 out of 4; Manhattan Drive: 4 out of 6; Marginal Road: 8 out of 16; Nimitz Street: 3 out of 9; Orleans Lane: 5 out of 11; Schoharie Court: 3 out of 5; Schoharie Drive:19 out of 21; Seaman Road: 17 out of 32; Simpson Street: 0 out of 1; Wayne Street: 13 out of 17; Willets Lane: 11 out of 21. If anyone has any ideas as to how to attract more members, the board of directors would welcome your input.

By mistake, a cancellation notice was sent to our members by the Syosset-Jericho Tribune. Anyone who has renewed their civic association membership will not have their subscription to the Tribune canceled.

Our sidewalk and tree replacement project began at the end of last year. Anyone who has not had a tree removed who had requested it and has not had their sidewalks replaced should contact me. The processing of the permits and the coordination with the town took longer than anticipated. As a result, some jobs had to be put off until the spring. Please let me know if you have signed up for this service, but have not yet had the work done.

We are seeking proposals from landscaping services, including the gardener we used last year. The more residents who avail themselves of the services of the gardener the civic association uses, the lower the price. In addition, our gardener has indicated that should he sign up a sufficient number of homes, he will be able to provide the civic association with maintenance of our five adopted areas for a reasonable sum. We hope that those interested would let me know, so that I am able to negotiate the lowest price with the gardener. The annual cost for OPPCA members last year was $1,170, which included a spring cleanup, fertilizer applications four times a year, two applications of weed killer and insect control, once a year fungus control, soil testing, a lime application and shrub trimming. A fall cleanup was also included. Anyone who wishes to inquire as to these services should contact me at 681-0020.

As a reminder, the Town of Oyster Bay has two rules when it comes to putting out garbage. There is a town ordinance that stipulates that garbage may be put at the curbside only after 5 p.m. the night before a scheduled collection and that containers must be removed from the curbside by 8 p.m. on the day of collection. The ordinance also stipulates that containers should be placed at the curb, NOT in the roadway.

Although it may not be convenient to wait to put your garbage out until after 5 p.m., doing so earlier in the day or days before the collection day makes our community less beautiful than it should be. Please be considerate of your neighbors and of your community by waiting to put your garbage out and please make an effort to put your empty garbage pails away as soon as possible.

Lastly, we wish to remind everyone that sidewalks should be shoveled after it snows. It has been several weeks since the large storm and several homeowners have not shoveled their sidewalks. If anyone is physically unable to do this work, please contact me and we will inquire as to whether our local teenagers are providing this service.