Roosters and Dogs off Leash

We have gotten several comments from members after the Iverson’s Dog was attacked by another dog and died from its injuries. Your comments have been heard and in September Cameron Lewis who lives on North end of Ocean has accepted the Chairmanship of the Safety and Security Committee. This committee has not been active since 2010 and was brought under the wing of Roads and Grounds when we were not getting enough volunteers to fill another committee. Below is one of the comments from one of our members and our response. We need volunteers so we can continue to keep your Dues the lowest of any gated community of our size in Oregon.

From one of our members:

Good evening… I sent an email back near the end of September,  that must of gotten lost in the shuffle. I have some concerns about what I believe is a newer resident on the North end Manion. There are several roosters running wild causing issues when walking my dogs as well as attracting more coyotes. We all ready have several coyotes running around our properties. Also the roosters are quite vocal and bothersome. At times when walking my dogs they want to pull and chase after the roosters that are roaming free.  The same resident has dogs that they leave outside, that bark continually at night.

I have had to call Ken late at night well after 9pm about these dogs. He assured me he would address the roosters and barking dog issues with the powers to be. As the problems continue I am concerned that maybe this information was lost in the shuffle as well. I myself have dogs that are not the best behaved at times. My dogs Look out the windows and bark at people walking past my house. With that being said I do not allow my dogs to be outside barking at all hours of the night. There is also an increase in newer traffic passing by with loud music and they appear to be speeding by my house often. We have some other dog walkers that do not have there dogs on a leash and it poses a risk when walking my dogs. As they are animals and my dogs want to play. I have had a few times since summer began that we have encountered this issues, with one dog nearly attacking our dogs. I feel these items need to be addressed before something serious happens. I am not sure if or how the HOA rules and regulations are being enforced, but in my 6 years here I feel things are slipping in the wrong direction.

It is nice to have the new gates with security cameras. Although I feel frequent speeding on the north end of Manion and animals roaming free are an increasing issue. I would like to suggest adding another speed bump somewhere after malarkey heading south. Please feel free to contact me with any questions and or concerns. I love our community and I want to see it flourish and not diminish.

Our response:

Thank you for your thoughtful response and thanks for your understanding on why your first e-mail did not get to us. As I mentioned, Annie and I are also big dog fans and owners. As a result, we totally agree that the dog situation that you and another member describe has indeed gotten worse over the last few years. This seems to happen ever so often and does need additional focus. Unfortunately, two things have caused less focus on Safety and Security in Surf Pines.

First we have three standing committees, Roads and Grounds (R&G), Community Relations (CRC) and Safety and Security (S&S). Several years ago Don Krueger combined both the R&G and S&S into one, mainly because of lack of volunteers. As a result, the S&S areas of responsibility were woefully under represented. In addition, the Board has had its hands full with small group of members who want no rules. 

He actually asked us what he could do. He is in the process of getting members that have positive ideas to address the same concerns as you expressed. Cameron’s e-mail is clewis@surfpines.org and his phone number is ‭(415) 793-4754‬. The other member has already indicated she would like to participate and I recommend that you might want to help. It should not require a lot of your time maybe 2-3 hours a month and the Board needs some good ideas on how to address these safety issues.

By the way, I checked on the roosters owner and they have been spoken to. They got rid of one of them and are trying to catch the other two to give them away. They are not new and we’re very understanding. We have spoken to most of the people you speak of. What has slipped is enforcement. This is where the Board needs guidance. The S&S committee can be a great help by coming up with new guidance on how the membership would like us to address enforcement or other ways to mitigate the issues. 

Members response back:

Good morning Tom…. thank you for the response and your attention to these issues. I am happy to hear things are actively moving in the right direction.

I am definitely interested in getting involved with the S&S as it has been an issue for my family and my self. I feel we can definitely use a bit of house keeping to continue to improve our community, and ensure that safety and security are a top priority.

As for the blog, please feel free to use my comments in a constructive way. I definitely want to convey that safety and security is an upmost concern.

Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions, comments and or concerns.