Road Maintenance Checklist

April 5, 2011

Dear Neighbors and Lystra Estates Property Owners,

Over the years, we have talked a lot about maintaining the road and trying to extend the life of the pavement. We have a special assessment ongoing since 2010 to prepare for the next time the road must be paved, and we want to make the expensive surface we paid for in 2000 last as long as possible.

At the Annual Meeting in February 2011, we agreed that it would be useful to have a check list of exactly what each of us should do as property owners to take care of our portion of the road. You will find that checklist on the next page.

Katherine Lindsey, Chip Chescheier and I volunteered to put together the checklist and to use the terms of the Covenants to be sure that anything that should be done, is done. We have walked the road, testing the instructions on the check list and they seem to be workable and effective.

In the next few weeks, Katherine, Chip and I will talk with some of you concerning work that needs to be done, and we will ask that the work be done within a month of our talking with you. If you need an extension, let us know; we’ll be reasonable if we can be. Also, some of us may be willing to help you with some tasks. That will be voluntary, and it won’t change your overall responsibility for maintaining your property.

If necessary, we will hire someone to do the needed work with the lot owner being responsible for the cost. We realize that for some of you, especially those who do not live in Lystra Estates, this may be the best way to take care of any problems, so please let us know right away if you would like for us to proceed with that. Please understand, we will not seek multiple bids.

Mature landscape plantings may not have to be removed, if trimming of branches and/or roots can accomplish the goal of preventing further damage to the road.

Please get in touch with Katherine, Chip or me if you have any questions. This is still a work in progress.

Thanks, everyone!

Nora Esthimer

919-968-7877

nesthimer@bellsouth.net

March 22, 2011

CHECK LIST FOR MAINTENANCE OF LYSTRA ESTATES DRIVE

Based on a consultant’s recommendations for extending the life of the pavement of Lystra Estates Drive and previous agreements among lot owners, each lot owner is responsible for these items:

It is important to keep roots from growing under the pavement, causing the pavement to crack or heave, or growing down into the pavement so that water can infiltrate. Therefore,

·         Keep the pavement along your property clean by brushing, raking, sweeping or blowing off all debris such as pine needles and leaves. This should be done several times a year, especially after leaves fall in the autumn and in the early spring before new growth starts.

·         Dig up or spray Roundup on grass and weeds growing out of or into the pavement. Note that debris on the pavement can give grass a chance to grow.

·         If you have grass that borders the pavement, keep it edged, or use Roundup or another herbicide to kill weeds and grass within 3 inches of the pavement.

·         Cut and clear saplings (under 6 inches in diameter) and brush back from your edge of the road. This should be done back to the far side of the ditch on your lot, or, if you do not have a ditch, back to a distance of 10 feet. If your property slopes off sharply in less than 10 feet, clear from the pavement to the drop off. (Please note that to really kill a small tree, you need to treat the stump with Roundup and may need to repeat.)

·         No new trees, shrubs or woody perennials or invasive plants such as English ivy should be planted within 10 feet of the pavement.

It is also important to keep ditches and culverts clear so that rain water drains freely and does not stand on or seep under the pavement. Therefore,

·         Rake or dig accumulating dead leaves or other matter out of the ditches on your lot.

·         Keep the culverts from filling with debris. Rake or dig them clear several times a year.

Both to keep leaves and pine needles from collecting on the road and to prevent damage to our cars and trucks,

·         Trim back limbs lower than 8 feet so that they do not hang over the road.

·         If you have trees that cannot be trimmed back that much, please note that you need to make extra effort to keep the pavement along your lot clean of debris.