Winter will soon be upon us! The following points are all procedures owners need to know, and to begin preparing for, before the snow starts to fall. First, some important information on a major change in how OLCA will handle snow removal for OUR 28 buildings. The Board recently cancelled the snow removal contract with KEI, due to the many problems we all experienced last winter, and has contracted with Straight Line Lawn Care to service the Condo side of Overlook Lakes as our snow removal vendor. This is a significant change over past years as we will not use the same contractor as the apartment side of Overlook Lakes. This means that OUR contractor will only be servicing OUR 28 buildings. This should significantly reduce the time it takes to service our buildings. SLLC will vary the building that they start with so that the same building is not always last. Whover is last served for the first snow will be first served for the second snowfall. The apartments will continue to use KEI so you will still see their equipment onsite this winter.
Please understand that snow removal operations can occur at any time during the day or evening.
Garages & Vehicles
Please keep your vehicle in the garage whenever possible during the winter months. When our snow removal contractor is onsite to plow and salt driveways, the crews cannot do a thorough job when vehicles are in the way. If your vehicle(s) are parked outside, be prepared to move them when the snow removal crews are present at your building.
Driveways
Owners are responsible for clearing the snow from around their parked vehicles after snow removal operations. Same applies to guests using guest parking. Salting crews cannot properly salt driveways when vehicles are present. During salting operations, owners must move their vehicles if parked outside so that the area in front of the garage can be properly salted. In cases where the vehicles have not been moved, the owner is responsible to clean the area in front of their garages themselves.
Walkways
Crews will remove the snow and apply ice-melt to the sidewalks. Be advised that this is often done in the middle of the night.
Patios
Removing snow from patios is not included in our contract. Owners that desire a snow-free patio will need to take care of this personally.
Downspout Extensions
Some owners have attached plastic, corrugated downspout extensions to the white metal extensions around their units to move water further away from their building. These plastic extensions can easily become frozen shut during winter. Should this happen, the ice could back-up and potentially create ice-damming. Please remove these plastic extensions and store them in your garages before the first snowfall. On many buildings there are downspout extensions that “extend” into the driveway. These must be removed by the owner and stored for the winter (1/4” nut-driver or socket required). If you are unable to remove these yourself, please contact the office or . The plow operators cannot get close to the area immediately in front of garage doors when these are present.
Woodbridge Drive
For safety reasons, Woodbridge Drive is posted “No Parking.” The Board, however, realizes that this is not practical during the Holiday Season, so parking on the ODD address side of Woodbridge will be allowed November 25 through the 28th, and from December 18 to January 5th.
Parking on Woodbridge, however, will not be allowed during snow removal operations. Woodbridge is a private drive, and it is plowed by our snow removal contractor.
Again, in the spirit of fairness, snow removal crews will rotate their starting point. They need to maintain the same “pattern” during snow removal operations, but will rotate the end of Woodbridge and Westlake that they start on so that no one is always at the end.
Our new contractor is well aware of the problems that occurred last winter and is committed to doing a better job in every respect. However, no one is perfect. Should you have a concern please email: with your concern. The Buildings and Infrastructure Committee will be monitoring this email address closely and respond promptly. Please include your address, building number, and details of your concern. You DO NOT have to complete any forms.
If you have a neighbor or another owner who doesn’t get emails, or who might fail to read this notice, please share this information with them or ask them to call the Management Office at 414-427-5715. Or you yourself call the office and identify yourself as a condo owner, share your address, and the details of your concern. Keep in mind the office is not staffed during the evening or on weekends, so your request may not receive as prompt a reply.
Thank you!
Overlook Lakes Buildings and Infrastructure Committee
Published: November 6, 2026 to: Buildings & Grounds
