May 25, 2024

Hello neighbors,

I wanted to take a minute to introduce myself and update you on a few things.

My name is Cliff Broughton and I am the new President of your Civic Association. I have been a resident of Foxridge for 31 years. My children graduated from Middleburg and Ridgeview High Schools. I have been married to my wife Karen for almost 45 years. I am retired Navy and recently retired from teaching. I taught at Orange Park and Fleming Island High Schools. I tell you all this to let you know that I am invested in this neighborhood. I care deeply about it and desire to help keep it as one of the premier places to live in Clay County.

As many of you know we do not have a true HOA, you do not have to be a member and dues are voluntary. Doing so is a civic responsibility
and in fact, I do not like the term “dues”. It is actually a contribution to the betterment of our neighborhood. I hope you noticed the improvement to the main
entrances on Foxridge and Circleridge last fall with the islands mulched and free of weeds. This was not done by the association, but by a group of your
neighbors with voluntary contributions from residents of Circleridge. It was a rewarding experience to see a group of neighbors working together clearing weeds and putting down ground cover and mulch. This was done at a cost of $4,000 dollars contributed by 18 households.

We are a community and if we work together, Foxridge will continue to be a great place to live. The Association also spent $14,000 to trim the island palm trees last fall. There are about 91 palms, mostly by light poles, that need trimming and I am working on a plan to get that done. This would likely cost about $5,000. The Association is also paying $1000 per month to trim weeds in the islands. I will be reviewing this effort to see if we are getting what we are paying for and explore options, as I know the islands are not in great shape. As I rode through the neighborhood, I saw several islands that are obviously being maintained by residents. I applaud your efforts. If you are maintaining an island/islands, would you please email me the location so that I ensure our contractor does not interfere with your efforts. With all that said, we are averaging just under 40 percent of our residents contributing to this effort. We ask just $50 per year, but again, this is not a requirement and I would love to see closer to 100% participation. It is your neighborhood so I ask that you contribute what you can. Send $10, send $25 or if you really love this neighborhood, we can accept contributions of any amount. A number of residents have sent significantly more than $50. When the residents of Circleridge organized to do the entrance islands there were several contributions of $100, some of $500 and the owner of Orange Park Furniture who lives in Foxridge gave $2,000. So if you have not contributed yet this year or if you wish to contribute more, I encourage you to do it today.

I assure you if we have the money, we will aggressively pursue the beautification of our neighborhood. You can send your contributions to Foxridge Civic Association, PO Box 65815, Orange Park, Fl 32065. In addition to island and tree maintenance, it will be our goal to work closely with Clay County Code Enforcement to ensure compliance with county code. Concerns voiced to me so far include things like trailers parked on the street, commercial vehicles in the street overnight, junk cars and overgrown yards. I will be placing Realtor style flyer boxes in strategic places throughout the community so that we can save on postage and still provide you with vital information concerning our neighborhood. Additionally, we will use our website www.foxridgeop.org to keep you up to date. We are a diverse community going through some transitions. We have many residents like myself who are empty nesters, more younger families are recognizing the value of this community to raise a family and we have many properties that have become rental units. In years past when we had mostly families and full school buses there were many planned annual events, a yard of the month, neighborhood watch and much more. I would love to hear from you about what you envision would make this neighborhood a better community.

Please feel free to contact me at cliffbroughton@att.net with any suggestions or concerns

Regards,

Cliff Broughton

President