Dates to Remember
- October 27th: Ourstreet Committee Meeting, City Hall, 4:00 p.m.-Neighbors Welcome!
- October 29: Washington Square Harvest Party, Noon-3:00 p.m.
- Trick-or-Treating-Monday, October 31 from 6:00-8:00 p.m.
- November 6th, Daylight Savings Time
- November 12th: Last day for leaf pick-up.
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Greetings!
Fall is in the air, and this month's newsletter has an outdoor theme - from open burning in the city to fall planting tips. In addition we highlight special incentives for new home buyers, and the Year of the Garage Incentive.
If you haven't a chance to check out the City website, go over to www.cityofholland.com and browse a bit.
To find the Ourstreet page:
- Under Departments, click Community Neighborhood Services
- Under CNS, click Housing & Neighborhoods
- Under Housing and Neighborhoods Home, you'll find the Ourstreet information on the right hand column or follow this link.
Enjoy the fall colors. See you around the neighborhood!
Sincerely,
Sue Harder
Ourstreet Coordinator
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Home Buyer Incentives for the Ourstreet Target Area-
The Ourstreet Program is pleased to announce an exciting partnership with Macatawa Bank. Macatawa will offer a special financing program for home buyers participating in our Home Purchase and Rehabilitation Program (HPR). The HPR Program will provide down payment assistance to owner occupants in addition to funds to fix up their new home.
Macatawa Bank will provide a 15 year fixed-
rate mortgage, with no Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI), to qualified participants in our Home Purchase and Rehabilitation Program. (The loan is also subject to the bank's normal credit approval process.) With no PMI requirement, more of the buyer's payment goes toward paying off the mortgage quicker. This loan may not work for all buyers, but for those who qualify, a 15 year mortgage means paying off their home much faster than a standard 30 year mortgage. The buyer pays less interest, over the life of the loan, since the loan term is shorter. This will be a "portfolio" loan and will be held by Macatawa Bank, our local community bank, as an investment and will not be sold to other investors.
For more information on the Home Purchase and Rehabilitation Program contact Sue Harder at 355-1330 or click here for a program summary.
The Year of the Garage Incentive is a grant program offered by the City of Holland that can increase your home's resale value, help give you as the homeowner the convenience of a two car garage, or help you build a new garage at your new home in the target area. Click here for more information and an application.
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Open Burning in the City of Holland
As the weather cools down, enjoying a fire in a fire pit is a great way to extend outdoor quality time with friends and family. Here are some things to keep in mind: - Recreational fires require a burn permit. These can be obtained through the Fire Department.
- Small recreational or cooking fires are permitted in chimineas or fire pits.
- Only clean, dry wood should be burned in small quantities, during fair weather periods with light breezes to carry smoke away.
- Burning grass clippings, leaves, brush, limbs or other unwanted vegetative materials is not permitted.
For complete information about open burning in the City of Holland, please contact the Holland Fire Department at 616-355-1020 or by email at firedept@cityofholland.com
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Fall Planting Tips
For Planting Trees & Shrubs:
"Fall is a great time to plant perennials, bulbs, trees and shrubs. Container plants and balled-and-burlapped specimens usually have well-developed root systems. Because roots don't have to supply nutrients and water to growing stems and new leaves, they can concentrate on getting established. Roots grow - although slowly - even when soil temperature is as low as 40 degrees.Before you plant, make sure to allow enough time for the roots to get settled in and acclimated before cold weather sets in. If it's well into fall where you live, plant the species that are most easily established. The current wisdom is to dig a hole no deeper than the depth of the root ball or container but three or four times as wide. In fact, it's even better to dig the hole a couple of inches shallower than the depth of the root ball. Digging a hole that's deeper than the root ball and then filling it partially with backfill before placing the tree invites settling. With a few waterings and a little time, the tree could sink below ground level - a fate that could mean death to the tree." excerpt from HGTV.com, "Fall Planting Tips"
For Planting Bulbs:
"Flowers blooming in spring from bare little bulbs planted in the autumn has got to be one of the all-time great miracles of nature. Hold a few daffodil, tulip, and crocus bulbs in your hand, and you'd be hard-pressed to convince anyone that these rock-like balls have the power to deliver a profusion of color just from some sunlight and water.When you're choosing the bulbs, think too about color and size of the blooms; there should be photos of the flowers next to the bin of bulbs. For the most part, smaller bulbs produce flowers that bloom earlier in the spring, and the flowers are small, like snow-on-the-mountain or crocus. The larger bulbs, such as tulips, bloom later and produce larger blooms. Make sure the bulbs are firm, clean, and free of mold.
The best time to plant is after the first frost, so the bulbs will stay cool throughout the fall and winter. What this means in terms of the calendar depends in large part on where you live, so check with your nursery about what the schedule for your area is. The first bulbs to plant, in any zone, will be the daffodils, some of the hyacinths, and camassia; next come the tulips, crocus, snowdrops, and iris, and finally the paperwhite narcissus and amaryllis.
After you dig the holes for the bulbs, add fertilizer before replacing soil. Add plenty of water as you fill the hole back in. Mix in organic material too. Check with the nursery where you buy the bulbs about how deep and how far apart they should be planted, but as a rule of thumb, you can plant large bulbs 8 inches deep, and 6 inches apart and small bulbs 5 inches deep, 3 inches apart with all pointed ends up. Add 3 inches of mulch to retain moisture and protect the bulbs." excerpt from DoItYourself.com, "Fall Bulb Planting"
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Ourstreet Program
