Fourth of July Parade and Celebration: The Baxter Lakes trustees, through the excellent leadership of trustee, June Deane, wish to extend a sincere thank you to all who participated in the July 4th parade and celebration. After the parade we had fun swimming at the Cedarmill Bath and Tennis Pool. Our pool hosts, barbecued hamburgers and hot dogs. We enjoyed swimming and sunbathing with our families, friends, and neighbors. A wonderful time had by all. The trustees look forward to celebrating the Fourth of July with you next year too!!! If you would like to volunteer, please contact June Deane at 636-532-5850. Neighborhood Clean-up Day: To all residents, please help us keep our lakes beautiful!!!! We need your help, so please grab a friend/neighbor and bring your lawn tools to the lakes on Saturday, October 18th for a Subdivision Lake Day. Grounds and Maintenance: The trustees are reviewing our Grounds and Maintenance contracts for the 2009 season. If you know of a reputable lawn care company that you would like to recommend to your board of trustees for consideration, please contact Lisa Adams at adfam95@sbcglobal.net. You are the eyes and ears of our neighborhood!! If you see an area of common ground needing attention, please contact Lisa Adams via email. Trees on Baxter Lakes Common Grounds: The trustees continue their commitment to the care of the many trees on the common grounds in our subdivision. Recently, broken branches and dead limbs were removed from trees along Baxter Road, at the Cedarmill entrance and at the east end of the lower lake. This represents an ongoing effort by the trustees to beautify our neighborhood. Please report any tree work to Jerry Troester at jbtroester@charter.net. Baxter Lakes Homeowners Survey Results: The trustees thank all of you who responded to the homeowner survey earlier this year. Responses were received from 160 of the 309 homeowners. Reponses were tabulated and distributed at the annual meeting in June. Trustees have decided to wait until completion of the culvert repair work between the upper and lower lakes before funding any other capital projects. The following priorities were determined from the survey: - Improving landscaping at the medians and monuments with 44 residents rating this as top priority and 77 residents rating it in the top three priorities.
- Improving circulation around the lakes with 38 residents rating it as the top priority and 68 residents rated it in the top three priorities.
- Installing benches at the lakes was given a fairly mixed priority with 87 residents rating it at some priority.
- Extending the paths around the lakes was also given a mixed priority with 79 rating the lake lower path at some priority and 72 rating the lake upper path.
- Installing an irrigation system for the medians and monuments received second and third priority ratings from 38 respondents, but trustees feel that this may be needed to adequately maintain improved landscaping and new plantings at the monuments
To review the complete results of the survey, please click on the "Survey" link on the home page of the Baxter Lakes' website. Thanks to our residents for responding to the homeowners' survey. Culvert Repair between the Upper Lake and Lower Lake: Linda Ceriotti, a trustee, and Bob Deane, a long time resident of Baxter Lakes, worked together to determine the best solution for repairing the culvert located between the upper and lower lakes. They consulted with Mark Schlotzhauer, a Civil Engineer with Chesterfield's Planning and Zoning Dept., and commissioned two engineering studies to devise an appropriate plan. The studies determined that the overflow corrugated pipe installed more than 30 years ago had rusted and the entire bottom of the pipe was gone. This condition caused the ground above the pipe to wash away creating the holes on the lower edge of the dam below the pathway between the lakes. After receiving bids to install a new heavy gauge polyethylene 40 foot pipe inside the corrugated pipe and sealing it, the trustees awarded the contract to Bi-State Utilities Company from Bridgeton, MO. The cost of this installation was $18,000. Some years ago, the trustees established a capital improvement fund and added dollars to this fund each budget year. This prudent management enabled the trustees to contract for this repair work without a special assessment to Baxter Lakes' homeowners. The pipe was installed on Tuesday, September 23, 2008, completing the first phase of this project. The second and third phases of this project will be filling in the sinkholes and the void around the culvert and grading the area along the dam where all the trees and underbrush have been removed. We will give you more information on these phases via this website as decisions are made. The board of trustees and Baxter Lakes' neighbors would like to take this opportunity to thank Bob Deane for all his efforts on this project. We are forever grateful to him!!!!!!! Grateful to our Volunteers: We would like to thank residents for outstanding service to our neighborhood. We thank Tony Furlong for his commitment to our neighborhood and to CERT. Our neighborhood is better prepared for disasters due to his preparedness training offered through Chesterfield City Hall. Thanks, Tony! We would like to thank Don Missey for improving the landscaping on his cul-de-sac on Iron Lake Court and Dave Oleksa for improving the landscaping on his cul-de-sac on Golden Lake Court. Check out their picture on the Photo Albums page of the website. Just a Final Note: The complete roster of your Baxter Lakes Board of Trustees, elected this past June at the annual meeting, is posted on the Baxter Lakes website. We welcome your comments and input. We strive to keep the lines of communication open and believe that the Baxter Lakes' website is an effective and efficient avenue for communication. We encourage your participation. Respectfully submitted by your Board of Trustees October 2008 The content of the online newletter is updated by the trustees on a regular basis. Check back frequently for updates. If you have news you would like to report and be displayed on this page, simply send an email to the dc@ceriotti.com or one of the trustees. In the email include the title, the content, and the desired run-time (60 day maximum) of your news story. The information should be added to the site within 48 hours in most cases. | 
