Fall Newsletter -->    Fall 2011 Newsletter

Monthly Board meeting moves to Johnston Library
The monthly board meeting are moving to the Johnston Library. Meetings are the 4th Tuesday of each month and start promptly at 6:30pm.  January 24, 2012 Agenda . 

Open Committee Position
We have one open committee positions on the Social Committee. If you are interested in joining this committee, please sumit a short paragraph of your applicable experience, knowledge, and interests. Everyone has something valuable to offer the Association. Please send your information to Cyndy Rath with Knapp Properties at 515-222-5206 or by e-mail (Cyndy.Rath@knappproperties.com).

Neighborhood Watch Program
The board is considering starting a neighborhood watch program.  Find out more information regarding the CARE Program.  Also check out the Top Ten Johnston Crime Prevention Tips on how to prevent crime and how to receive email notifications, E-LERTs of any law enforcement related alerts the Johnston Police Department puts out regarding activity in our specific neighborhood or development. 
If interested in starting a neighborhood watch program or questions about any of these programs, please contact Lt. Lynn Aswegan at
515-252-1363 or laswegan@police.ci.johnston.ia.us

Inger Lamb Hired
The board has unanimously approved the hiring of Inger Lamb from Prairie Landscapes to renovate the associations prairie conservation area. We recognize that the conservation area has not lived up to our aesthetic expectations so we are excited about the knowledge and expertise that Inger brings with her and we are looking forward to the improvements she will be able to provide to our prairie area. If you are not familiar with Inger or her work you can learn more about her at www.iowaprairienetwork.org or view a scrapbook of her work at http://picasaweb.google.com/Prairie.Landscapes.of.Iowa.LLC.

Part of the renovation project will include the elimination of eight of the nine existing mulched planting beds that currently line the conservation trail. These beds provided limited enhancement to the prairie area and proved to be of significant expense to maintain. Inger will also be spraying and spot mowing the entire prairie area to eliminate unwanted growth which she will then replace with 600 native plantings followed by heavy native seeding. We can expect to see an almost immediate visual improvement to the prairie area which will only continue to progress as the plants and seeding take hold. Once the plantings become fully established they will not only visually enhance the area but they are expected to provide better erosion control and significantly reduce the prairie' s yearly maintenance costs.

 View the Prairie info page for updates .