Dutch Island Wave

DUTCH ISLAND HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION OCTOBER, 2020

Dutch Island Wave

Editor: Joyce Bustinduy ([email protected]) • Designer & Photographer: Vanessa Deshpande ([email protected]) Write us with story ideas or to submit your own stories.

Dutch Island HOA Board Updates The recent meeting of the Dutch Island

HOA Board covered many topics. The follow-ing updates provide an overview of key issues.

1) Vote on Zoom Meeting: The rec-ommendation and vote to conduct the next Dutch Island HOA Annual Meeting via Zoom was approved. The date and future details will be provided at a later date.

2) HOA Board Elections: There are three open Board positions and the nomi-nation and voting process will be done via mail/email. The exact process is being finalized by the Board’s legal counsel.

a. First, residents will self nominate during the ‘enrollment’ period from mid-October to mid-November.

b. Second, residents will vote for their candidates during the ‘vote’ period from mid-November to mid-December.

c. Third, the new board members will be announced at the Zoom annual meeting in January.

3) Halloween: The topic of ‘trick or treating’ was discussed and while the Board acknowledges that they have no control over how families celebrate this holiday, they suggest that everyone fol-lows CDC guidelines (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/holidays.html)

A proposed idea: pre-package treats and have them available on a table in the yard or driveway.

4) Adult Swim at the Pool: Residents

have expressed interest in having access to the pool for non-lifeguard-present lap swim-ming. To move this idea forward, interested residents are encouraged to create a group and elect a spokesperson to meet with the Board. If you are interested in forming a Dutch Island “Master’s” swimming group, please email: [email protected] and use “Master’s Swim” in the subject line.

5) Pool Parties: The pool is officially closed for the season and the pool area is now available for private resident pool par-ties (access to the pool is not part of any pool area rental). All events must abide by CDC guidelines for events (see link above in Halloween update). Forms for request-ing pool parties are available on the Dutch Island website: dutchisland.net

6) Front Gate Fountain Rehab: The fountain outside the main gate to Dutch Island is in need of repair and there are plans in place to begin renovation to repair the fountain water features, lights and the metal sign. This work will create a nicer neighbor-hood ‘welcome’ when visitors and residents come through the front gate. Only main basin

now. Front sign being studied.

7) LED Sign: The LED sign at the front gate (it’s currently the wooden and brick sign viewed as you leave the island) will be installed within the next 3 – 4 weeks. This sign will be available for resident messages (happy birthday, etc.) and details on how to request a message will be available soon.

8) ARC Guidelines: Beginning January 1, 2021, residents need to request permission for a POD or dumpster. PODS will have a 30-day limit and dumpsters a 6-month limit. Look for details about requesting these items coming soon to the Dutch Island website.

9) Causeway Trail: Residents have been requesting a walking/running trail along the causeway. Discussions are underway with the County because they administer a fifty-foot buffer zone along the causeway. While a paved trail is not feasible, a porous surfaced one is now being considered.

As always, if you have a question for the Board, please email: [email protected]

October - Fall is here and the weather is perfect for walking, biking, rak-ing up leaves and getting ready for

the spookiest day of the year – Halloween. COVID is still here and celebrating Halloween is going to be different than in years past. Take a peek at the Board update

for more info about Halloween on Dutch Island.

The September issue brought a resident’s query about the water story. The question: where does Dutch Island get its water? Read the follow up story to learn about the Floridan Aquifer and how we benefit from

this precious natural resource.The volunteers who put together the

Dutch Island Wave would love your feed-back about this newsletter. What do you like, don’t like, want to read, etc. Send your comments to emails in the footer of this page or to the Board at: [email protected]

OCTOBER 2020THE DUTCH ISLAND WAVE • www.dutchisland.net

Back to School!

Hunter 4th grade and Campbell Shaw 3rd grade Savannah country day school, Landon Shaw - isle of hope united Methodist church preschool

Hunter, 3rd grade, Haley pre-k at Hancock Day School

Above - Libby Ann, 2, Calvary Early Learning Center, Jon Tucker, 6, Calvary Day School- K, Benton, 8, Calvary Day School- 2nd grade, Carter, age 15, The Habersham School- 9th grade

Reagan, pre-K, Hancock Day School


Water, Part IIThe September issue of The Dutch

Island Wave printed an article about water usage on Dutch Island. A resident wrote and requested more information about this topic so this follow up story is about just that – where does Dutch Island get its water?

City Staff with the Water Resources Department says that Dutch Island – and five other states – gets water from the Floridan Aquifer. The city of Savannah has two water resources: the aquifer with six well systems and the Abercorn Creek surface water system for industrial and residential use. Check out the sidebar about the aquifer.

Dutch Island – and other areas outside the Savannah city limits – has a series of wells that provide access to the aquifer’s water. City Staff states that this water is very good quality and the only treat-ment is to add little chlorine to provide Dutch Island residents with their safe water needs.

The wells on Dutch Island were con-structed as part of the initial development of this property but the City of Savannah took over the wells when it provided sewer services so that the island could be devel-oped. The Dutch Island Water System has three potable water wells on the Island. The primary function of these water wells is to provide safe potable drinking water (limited irrigation) and support the Fire District with resources when needed. The City provides all water withdrawal permit requirements and maintenance, chemicals, technical assistance, testing and other sup-port for our entire water infrastructure. Water is pumped from about 400 feet deep, a bit of chlorine is added to compensate for disinfection.

Water pricing includes a base charge that is tied to the size of meter you have and a usage charge. Savannah has 2 water rates one for inside City Limits and one for outside City Limits. In a rather eye-opening fact, City Staff says regular water audits reveal that per capita, Dutch Island has the highest water usage in the Savannah area due to irrigation in the spring and summer months.

What about the Landings and all their beautifully landscaped golf courses and lawns? Well, the Landings has, a separate system owned and operated by Utilities, Inc., the largest private utility in America. It is tightly regulated coupled with an aggressive conservation pricing program and the use of lesser quality waters to irri-gate the golf courses.

So, how can all of us on Dutch Island take this information and be better water conservators?

• Read your water meter at least six times a year when you receive your water bill (https://www.savannahga.gov/2757/Educational-Videos).

• Check for leaks in the house and the irrigation system.

• Use drought resistant plants and con-sider replacing grass with less thirsty gar-den plantings.

• Follow the outdoor water schedule for watering days and times (no watering from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. and only water 3 days per week https://www.savannahga.gov/2746/Outdoor-Watering-Schedule).

The Floridan AquiferThe Floridan Aquifer is a vast

underground freshwater lake cover-ing five states: about 100,000 square miles in southern Alabama, southeast-ern Georgia, southern South Carolina, Mississippi and all of Florida. It aver-ages 1000 feet thick and up to 2000 feet deep. It is said to be one of the most productive aquifers in the world.

The water is very clean and is considered an extremely high-quality waters source.

In Coastal Georgia and South Carolina this high quality water is being contaminated by salt water. We should all do our part to conserve this precious resource for drinking and per-sonal health.

If you want to do more research on this aquifer, here’s a link: https://fl.water.usgs.gov/floridan/


Meet Max – Max the Service Dog

Dutch Island is home to dogs of all sizes, colors and breeds. These pups are all special to their families and one dog, Max, is not only special, he is a potential lifesaver. Max is a ‘diabetic service dog,’ specifically trained to alert his owner of blood sugar lev-els that are either too high or too low -- both possibly life-threatening situations.

Max is a seven-year-old black Goldendoodle and he assists 15 year-old Carter who was diagnosed with Type 1 dia-betes when he was only six years old. Max has been with Carter since 2017 and they go everywhere together.

Diabetes 101So, what is diabetes and why do little

kids get this disease some think is only for overweight adults who eat too much sugar? Carter’s dad, Kris, is the owner of Everyday Diabetes Center (https://www.everydaydiabetescenter.com) and he pro-vided this overview about diabetes:

The pancreas is the abdominal organ responsible for producing insulin, which regulates blood sugar. Insulin is like a key that unlocks cells to allow sugar inside. The pancreas releases insulin, regulates blood sugar and responds to signals such as food consumption, hormones, stress and exercise.

In Type 1 Diabetes, the pancreas stops producing insulin, therefore sugar in the blood doesn’t have access to the cells needed to fuel the body. Individuals with type 1 Diabetes must get insulin either through injections or through a pump to keep their blood sugar regulated. This can be difficult particularly for growing children.

Sometimes, individuals with diabetes struggle with high blood sugar (hyperglyce-mia), which can have long-term effects on many other organs including the heart, kid-neys and eyes. Very high blood sugar can also cause an immediately life-threatening condition called Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA). On the other hand, individuals

with diabetes often struggle with low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) for a variety of rea-sons. Some of these reasons include excess dosing of insulin, under consumption of carbohydrates combined with too much exercise. Hypoglycemia can also be life threatening. Kids, like Carter, with type 1 diabetes must make a multitude of critical decisions everyday for their health

Carter’s ToolsCarter is a freshman at the Habersham

School and has many tools to help him with his diabetes. An insulin pump and a con-tinuous glucose monitor are two key tools. Carter’s dad says, “We like to put as many tools as possible in Carter’s ‘diabetic tool belt’ to help him manage his health. Max is one of those tools.”

Here’s how Carter’s pump and monitor work: The continuous glucose monitor transmits sugar levels to Carter’s phone every 5 minutes without a finger stick. (Many folks with Type II diabetes are more than familiar with the finger stick…about three times a day that leads to very sensitive fingertips.)

The monitor also shows glucose trend-ing information – the ups and downs during the day. The insulin pump com-municates with the monitor and auto-matically adjusts insulin dosing to prevent hypoglycemia (low) and hyperglycemia (high). Additionally, Carter carries a kit containing fast-acting sugar and additional medication to help him with any extremes in blood sugar.

MaxMax was born in Montana and trained

at All Purpose Canines in Ranger, TX. Max is the most visible tool for Carter. Max spent three years of intensive training to be a diabetic alert service dog.

First, Max had to go through basic dog obedience training and then he was trained to sense Carter’s hypoglycemia scent (Carter’s parents would take a rag and rub Carter’s arm and torso when he was having a low blood sugar event. The rag was packed in an air-tight bag, frozen and shipped to Max’s trainers).

Last, when basic training was com-pleted, the final phase began. Carter and his dad spent a week at the Texas training ranch to get in-person training.

So how does Max help Carter? Max is trained to sense hypoglycemia and also alerts hyperglycemia. The “signal” is dif-ferent for each extreme: too low and Max bumps Carter with his nose; too high and

Carter, left and Max

Max gets agitated by walking in circles or barks until someone takes action. Max has even alerted before the monitor caught any change. Max’s training is ongoing and reinforced with treats whenever he cor-rectly alerts Carter.

Before MaxIn the early days of Carter’s diagnosis,

his parents checked his blood sugars at least six times a day. This ‘finger stick’ method is effective but can be painful and frustrating. Blood checks in the middle of the night – a necessity – were very hard on everyone involved.

Meet the FamilyMax and Carter are part of a big fam-

ily. Brothers, Benton, 8, a second grader and Jon Tucker, 6, a kindergartner both at Calvary Day School and Libby Ann, 2, at the Calvary Early Learning Center.

Mom, Natalie, is an emergency room doctor at Southland MD. Dad, Kris, as mentioned above, is the owner of Everyday Diabetes Center. They moved to Dutch Island from Kensington Park earlier this year.

Max interacts with the rest of the family just like a family pet. He adores Carter's brothers and sisters and has an especially close relationship with Libby Ann (it has to do with a special ‘treat’ sys-tem between Libby Ann and Max when no one is watching!)

Service Dog Protocols!Max knows when it is time to work –

when he is wearing his vest. At home, things are more relaxed, although he continues to alert whether he is "on duty" or not.

If you see Max out and about on a walk with Carter, it’s okay to approach them calmly and extend a hand for a sniff and a pet. However, if Max is wearing his vest, he is working and you cannot approach.

It’s important to understand that service dogs are service animals first and then fam-ily members.

Supporting Juvenile Diabetes

www.jdrf.org & www.beyondtype1.org

Check out these websites for additional information.

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) is the largest organiza-tion specifically dedicated to research for Type 1 Diabetes. Local retailers partici-pate in JD fundraising events and there is an amazing camp for kids diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes: a donation Camp Kudzu. This camp provides a life-changing expe-rience for kids who have to deal with an incredibly serious condition every day.

Editor’s Note:My niece was diagnosed with JD when

she was eight. She has gone through many life-threatening experiences during her nearly 40 years of living with this disease including losing eyesight in one eye.

I’ve seen diabetic service dogs in action and they are amazing. Please consider supporting the efforts to find a cure for this condition that can be devastating not only to the people who are diagnosed but the people who love them.


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