Dear Neighbors:

 As you may or may not know, Bexley Park HOA is participating with Delray Beach in the City’s “Adopt-A-Park” program.  The primary purpose of this program is to enlist the community's involvement with selective maintenance within a park in order to maintain a clean park environment for all to enjoy.  Activities include litter removal, weeding and raking playgrounds, cleaning picnic tables, reporting vandalism and/or graffiti, removal of exotic or invasive plants, and generally keeping a collective eye on things.
Due to tight budgets and limited manpower the City is restricted in the amount of attention that can be given to any one park (there are over 40 parks, recreation areas, and preserves within the City limits) and the HOA board is looking for volunteers who would be willing to pitch in and help keep our park as clean and safe as possible. 
There are two ways that anyone who is interested can help out—one is very simple, while the second requires a bit more time and physical activity. 

1.        The easiest way to contribute to the upkeep of the park is to simply treat it as you would your own property by picking up any litter you happen to see in the wooded trail area or the playground/picnic areas as well as reporting any unsafe or illegal activities you may notice.  

There was an instance recently where some residents noticed an animal in a cage trap in the woods and immediately contacted the authorities who removed it as well as several inoperable ones.  We are not sure who placed them there but members of the HOA board walked the entire site with City staff in the last week and while we did not find anyone presently camping in the woods, it does reinforce the need to keep our eyes open for anything out of the ordinary.   

2.       Another opportunity to help is to get your hands dirty and help remove some of the non-native invasive plants that are rapidly taking over the property.  The main culprits are Brazilian Pepper, Malaluca, Umbrella Plant, and Earleaf Acacia and these species are detrimental to native plants and animals as well as have no natural enemies here in Florida so they quickly take over if not kept in check.   

So if you enjoy getting in touch with nature, enjoy working outdoors, or simply want a little exercise we would certainly appreciate your help in clearing as many of these that are possible without heavy equipment.  The city will grind or remove any trees we cut so the process will consist of identifying the invasive species (this will be done ahead of time by those familiar with them), cutting them down, and stacking them in various collection points where city workers can deal with them.  Due to the nature of this work, it is not suitable for younger children or those who have significant physical limitations.   

If you are interested in getting together once or twice on Saturday mornings over the next month or two before the weather gets too hot or have any questions, please contact us through the Bexley Park website at bexleypark@gmail.com or come to our next board meeting at 7:00pm, April 16th at the community pool.  We have tentatively scheduled the first volunteer event for May 2nd.  

Thank you from your Bexley Park HOA Board of Directors