Traffic & Safety Committee: Holiday Season

It’s the Holiday Season:
Unfortunately, as the Holidays near it appears that thieves are preparing for it. For months we didn’t experience any reported thefts, but just recently, reported incidents of theft are picking up at an alarming pace. Without going into a long diatribe about the causes, there seem to be a lot of opportunists lurking about. However, if we take just a few actions, we can be assured that we are unlikely going to fall victim to them.
The first precaution you can take is not to leave anything of value in a parked car. Every thief out there understands that during the Christmas season there tends to be more items of value in cars. As a result, the corresponding rate of thefts from vehicles skyrocket. The second precaution is to always lock our cars when parking them.
It wasn’t that long ago that thieves just often as not, forced entry into locked cars. For the most part, as the result of new sentencing laws, they don’t take those chances anymore.
Besides, they find that there are plenty of unlocked cars out there. Last, but not least, ensure that our doors remain locked when you leave the house. Along this line, ensure that garage doors are shut when busy elsewhere. Eliminate the opportunity.
72-Hour Rule:
Our rules prohibit us from storing vehicles on the street for more than 72 hours. This simply means that a vehicle cannot sit on the street without being moved at least once during that time frame. Virtually every city has a similar rule or law. Unfortunately, several folks have recently been in violation of this rule received a citation(s) and found their vehicle towed away. If we find ourselves in a position (vacation, construction, unexpected absence, or other compelling reason) where we have to leave our vehicle parked on the street for a considerable period, please contact the office.
They will work with you to hopefully resolve your dilemma.
Preclude Frustration During Holidays:
Tis the season to host more guests than usual. Please ensure that you’re Guest list is up to date. Some folks will be having Holiday festivities with more guests than normal expected to attend. Whether they be elves, reindeer or just regular people they will not be admitted to our community unless they are on your Guest or Party lists. All of us are limited to five folks on our computerized Permanent Guest list. The other guests have to be on a Party list. There is usually no problem unless the number is excessive. Most importantly the Party list must be submitted to the Office at least three business days before the occasion.
The reason for this is simple; it allows the office the opportunity to communicate with you should an unforeseen problem become apparent. Also, it ensures that we have a record of those people you authorized to enter our community. Further, it allows staff the opportunity to print out the permit for your guest’s vehicle ahead of time to preclude congestion at the gate.
We always said that: As the old folks always said at this time of the year, Nollaig Shona and Athblian Faoi!
—God Bless…Tim Murphy