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12/24/06-BR Update |
11/21/06-BR Update |
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9/14/06-BR Update |
6/14/06-Open letter on Fence ownership |
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4/3/06-KISD Bond Forum |
3/10/06-HOA Meeting & Trash
Pickup |
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3/3/06-Mulch Warning |
2/7/06-Homeowner Dues |
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1/12/06-Traffic
Light |
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2005 News Items |
2004 News Items |
2003 News Items |
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2002 News Items |
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Friends & neighbors,
I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday season (yes, it's been that long since we've disseminated information on Barkers Ridge). In the hopes of playing "catch-up", please find attached an update of events & news for the Barkers Ridge community. As always, I look forward to any questions or comments.
Easter Egg Hunt
- April 7
The Annual Easter Egg Hunt is scheduled for
April 7, at 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. As we have done in the past, we will break up the
search for eggs by age group -- and wll have both the Petting Zoo for the kids.
In addition, we'll have cookies/lemonade, a "egg decorating" art contest, and the
yard games that some of us can recall
from years back (burlap sack race, egg-on-a-spoon race).
We are looking at making this event one to celebrate giving as well, by asking
the children to donate a canned good item to those in need. Please come
by and enjoy this festive holiday together.
Newsletter
The next newsletter is scheduled for release
for the first week of March. We need help in the distribution of these
newsletters, again. If you have any contributions or updates to the Personal
Advertisements section, please contact me at
jmcglaughlin@miswaco.com.
Pets Lost & Found
Steve Crane has set up a "lost & found" for
pets on the Barkers Ridge website (www.barkersridge.org) to
connect those residents who have lost their pets with those that have found
them. If you find yourself at either end of this spectrum, contact Steve at
clcrane@swbell.net to post the requisite
information.
Traffic Signals
The county will be constructing traffic
signals at the corner of Morton Road & Eagle Ridge Way, as well as Morton Road
and Dulaney. The light at Eagle Ridge Way will provide a safer passage for
pedestrians and cyclists on the new hike/bike trail as they cross Morton. The
county determined the lights are required to continue their development of
Morton Road as a major thoroughfare, a plan that was put in place well before
Barkers Ridge was constructed. There will be
more information in the newsletter.
Currently, construction is to start March 12-13.
Annual Meeting
- March 29
The Board (and I) extend our personal
invitation to you to attend this year's Annual Meeting. We will highlight the
key themes for this meeting in our newsletter, so that we can spend most of the
time discussing your concerns for the Barkers Ridge community & how we can
achieve our common goals. The Annual Meeting will be held on
Thursday night, March 29, at the
MCJH Cafeteria, and we start promptly at
7:00 p.m. so yours truly can get home by 8:30 p.m.
My best to you all,
Judith
McGlaughlin
President,
Barkers Ridge HOA
Annual Homeowners Dues
The invoice for your 2007 annual HOA dues will be going out November 27. In addition to the invoice, there will be a letter explaining the increase in dues from $400/yr to $440/yr. If you need additional information regarding this increase, please feel free to contact Katie Schlett at katie@crest-management.com. As you know, these payments are due by January 31, 2007. We will mail out reminder notices in mid-February, and certified notices in mid-March. If you know you are going to have some cash flow problems, get with Crest before the certified letters go out to avoid picking up any penalties or interest.
BFI/AW Thanksgiving Schedule
BFI employees are given Thanksgiving Day off to be with their families. There is no trash collection on Thursday, but trash collection will resume on Monday, November 27.
Crime Watch Warnings
Don't forget to obtain a Vacation Watch form from your block captain or, if there is no block captain for your section, from me if you plan to leave for the Christmas holidays. A Vacation Watch assures that the constable will drive by your home once a day while you are gone & make sure your home has no unwanted moving vans out front. It's great for your neighbors, too, since it provides additional law enforcement presence for your street during the holiday season.
Deputy Schultea also wanted me to remind you that, with the holiday shopping days, comes an increase in armed robberies. If you are out shopping, pay attention to the environment (especially the parking lot) around you. Keeping alert is your best defense.
Trail Update
We spoke with one of the workers involved in the trail construction. Currently, the concrete is being poured for the cross-over and sidewalks, and one of the supervisors said all of the trail should be finished by mid December. He also said they would be installing lights along e trail. The county engineer is out on vacation this week, we'll follow up with him to confirm this information.
We have also been told that the installation of traffic lights at the corner of Eagle Ridge Way and Morton Road is imminent. We will provide an update to these plans as soon as we contact the county engineer.
Flag Man Position Open
One of our key volunteers in Barkers Ridge who has been making sure that the Barkers Ridge flags are flown in concert with U.S. & Texas protocols will be moving from Barkers Ridge. I want to thank Frank Zabava for his spirit of contribution, not only in his current position, but also as a former member of the HOA Board of Directors - and we all wish he & his family well in their new community.
If you have an interest in filling Frank's position, please let me know. This is an ideal job for a Boy Scout Troop or just a citizen who takes pride in maintaining this symbol of our country for the community. Frank has provided a "user manual" as well, so the transition should not be difficult. Please let me know your interest when you can.
Christmas Decorations
With his own history of contribution to this community, Gerard Spinnler will be installing the Christmas decorations for Barkers Ridge at the end of this week. This year, Gerard will be joined by Dianne & Morris Bennett, as well as a number of volunteers that they have conscripted, to put up & take down these decorations over our 762-home community. We want to thank them for adding our own touch of joy & wonderment to the coming season, and we wish you all a very, very Merry Christmas this year.
Update, 09/14/06
Trail Connection to be Presented at MUD Meeting - September 20
There will be a presentation by Gregg Nady of the trail connection proposal, which would link the Cullen Park system of trails on the north side of I-10 with the Terry Hershey and Cinco Ranch system of trails on the south side of I-10. You should attend this meeting if you have an interest in this project. All MUD's are being asked to contribute to this project, as well as local businesses & individuals.
While the City of Houston is supportive of the trail concept, they have no funds to build the trail connection, which is why private funding is sought.
The MUD 238 meeting will be held at 1300 Post Oak Boulevard, Suite 1400. See the attached link for map & directions. The meeting start time is 11 a.m. http://pview.findlaw.com/view/1277066_1
Burglaries Up
In our last newsletter, we reported that there was an increase in vehicle burglaries & break-in's on the south side of I-10. We have begun to see signs of the same trend in Barkers Ridge, with burglaries this last week on Cobblestone Creek Way (2) and Appletree Hill Lane (2) And, last night, three suspects were arrested in Barkers Ridge for a burglary in Silvermill. These suspects were not from the Mayde Creek area.
Most of the burglaries in Barkers Ridge have occurred when the car is parked on the street, but there has been evidence that the perpetrators are entering the garages as well.
Please, make sure that your garage door is closed & locked when you go to bed at night. And, if you see that your neighbor left his/her garage door open, give them a call & tell them.
Another "tip" was contained in the Fall newsletter: put your keys beside your bed at night. If you hear a noise outside your home or someone trying to get into your house, just press the panic/emergency button for your car. The alarm will be set off, and the horn will continue to sound.
Open Letter to the Home Owners Association and the Home Owners of Barkers
Ridge
Subject: HOA Ownership of Fences
The current edition of the Barkers Ridge Newsletter presented the Results of the Reserve Study – Capital Requirements
Judith deserves all our praise and thanks for commissioning this forward thinking exercise.
The results however highlight the continuing cost, and a major expense in 2009, that the community has to carry for the decision, by a previous HOA board, to purchase the Morton Road & Greenhouse Road exterior fences.
The purchase was made with the argument that “the fences are highly visible…has a material effect on the property values of all Barkers Ridge residents”. As quoted in the newsletter.
1) Is this cost justification valid? Does the subjective appearance of these fences affect “all property values”.
2) Was this policy and expense ever approved by even a quorum of the homeowners (10%).
Cost Justification
The justification has not been supported, for example by a study. Certainly the homes whose exterior fence has been improved, at community expense, will have had their values improved (and their maintenance costs decreased). The home value impact will possibly fall exponentially from the exterior street to a negligible effect further into the neighborhood.
ALL homes will however be impacted by the HOA fees to support this policy.
When you bought into the neighborhood did you ask what the MUD, school tax, and HOA fees were before you purchased, or did you ask if the HOA owned and maintained the exterior fences?
Approval
Very rarely is there even a quorum at the AGM. At the time of the fence purchase there was not even immediate 100% support from the homeowners whose fences were being purchased.
Future
Again praise to Judith & the first ever forward looking board.
But should all Home Owners continue to incur the expense to maintain the Morton Road fence and replace the Greenhouse Road fence?
What about the exterior fences to the future walk trails around the retention ponds? Does the “home value” argument also apply to these fences?
Will the HOA fees increase to build a reserve to support this fence ownership policy?
How could a “fence” HOA fee more appropriately be used? Name the ways! Would a lower crime incidence, reduction in speeding etc., through more paid constable hours support house values better?
Way Forward
Use HOA fees wisely.
KISD has scheduled the bond election for May 13th, and a group called KIDS (Keep Investing in District Schools) is holding a forum on this components of this bond request on Tuesday, April 11. This forum offers all residents in Barkers Ridge an opportunity to become informed about the components of the bond package, to learn about its impact on Barkers Ridge, and to ask questions about the issues that it encompasses. The forum will be held in the Mayde Creek Junior High Cafeteria, starting at 7p.
HOA Annual Meeting
Please plan to attend the 2006 Annual Meeting, scheduled for March 22 at 7p. We
will review the current & future outlook for our community, and we have invited
Lt. Chapa from the Constables Precinct 5 to address concerns about the seeming
increase in criminal activity in Katy and in Barkers Ridge. Additionally, two
positions on the HOA Board of Directors are up for election & re-election.
We are still delivering flyers for the non e-mail enabled residents of Barkers
Ridge. If any Section 1 (the Park) residents have an interest in community
service hours or good exercise, please let me know. The Village, the Estates,
and the Place are covered. However, I may be short 1-2 persons in the Village,
so the offer is open for you guys as well. Delivery will be during spring break.
Heavy Trash Pick Up
We have had a few questions about Heavy Trash Pick Up, especially as BFI seems
to not be picking up some bundles -- apparently enforcing compliance guidelines
that they may not have enforced in the past. Here are the guidelines around this
service for your review.
Heavy Pick Up days are Mondays, at curbside. This service does not include
carpeting, bricks, stone, tree trunks, or construction debris. Construction
debris is defined as waste building materials resulting from construction,
remodeling, repair of demolition operations – and includes sheetrock, paneling,
windows, doors, insulation, masonry debris, roofing materials and lumber.
Bags - Plastic bags designed to store refuse with sufficient wall strength to
maintain physical integrity when lifted by top.
Bundles – Tree, shrub and brush trimmings or newspapers and magazines securely
tied together forming an easily handled package not exceeding four (4) feet in
length or 45 pounds in weight.
Bulky waste – One bulky item per week, to include the following: Stoves,
refrigerators, water tanks, washing machines, furniture and other waste
materials other than construction debris, dead animals, hazardous waste or
stable matter with weights or volumes greater than those allowed for the
containers.
Any item containing Freon must be “red tagged” by a licensed technician.
Late Pick Ups
In the past few weeks, the refuse at least one section in Barkers Ridge has not
been fully picked up on the scheduled day, and BFI was required to return the
next day. This, of course, is not acceptable.
We reported this to BFI, and effective March 9, the Operations Department will
program pick ups to take place in the morning time to eliminate trucks being out
there late in the evening time or possibly missing anyone. In addition, they
will add another truck beginning April 1st, 2006 to offer additional support to
the existing trucks in the area and ensure that every one whose garbage cans are
out by 7:00 a.m., and fall within compliance, is duly serviced.
Judith McGlaughlin
President, Barkers Ridge HOA
Mulch Warning
If you use mulch around your house, be very careful
about buying mulch this year. After the Hurricane in New Orleans many trees were
blown over. These trees were then turned into mulch and the state is trying to
get rid of tons and tons of this mulch to any state or company who will come and
haul it away. The problem is that New Orleans is one of the few areas in the
country were the Formosan Termites has gotten a strong hold and most of the
trees blown down were already badly infested with those termites.
The serious concern is that the mulch will be transported to other parts of the country, either at the retail (Home Depot, Lowes) or wholesale level (landscapers who buy in bulk). To be safe, you should let the bags of mulch sit in the hot sun for several days to “cook” the insects before using the mulch.
Apparently, this story has been picked up by KPRC,
and will appear on Monday/Tuesday of next week.
For further information on Formosan termites, see
the following site developed by the Louisiana agricultural department:
Shortcut to: http://www.agctr.lsu.edu/termites/
A number of you have contacted me to ensure that your payment for the 2006 Homeowners' Dues was received. I wanted you to know that Crest has finished processing the large number of checks that it receives by the due date of 1/31/2006, and we do now have a complete list.
There are 20% of our residents who have not paid yet, and I wanted to give you the key upcoming dates in this process:
Date Activity
10/15/2005 Barkers
Ridge HOA Board of Directors confirmed maintenance fee unchanged at $400 for
2006
11/1/2005 Maintenance fee statements mailed to owners
1/1/2006 Maintenance fees due
1/31/2006 Maintenance fees delinquent, interest begins accruing
2/1/2006 Reminder notices mailed to delinquent accounts
3/1/2006 Certified letters mailed to delinquent accounts, charges for
individual letters added to individual accounts, payment required within 30
days
4/15/2006 Board of Directors receives list of delinquent accounts, at
their direction, turned over the HOA attorney for legal pursuit
We have also set the date for our Annual Meeting, at which time we'll go over how this money is spent, as well as lay out what we consider our key goals for 2006. The date is March 22 at 7p, and I am very hopeful that as many of you will attend as possible. We will not keep you too long, but we would like to talk about the opportunities & challenges facing our community, and how we can effectively respond.
To answer the question of where your homeowners' dues go, here is a preliminary breakdown of 2005 expenses. As you can see, the largest component is street lights & water, followed by the pool and maintenance of the common grounds.
I look forward to seeing you at the Annual Meeting. If you haven't gotten around to paying the HOA dues, you should receive a friendly reminder from Crest. Any questions on the status of your account, please feel free to call them as well. Crest Management's number is 281-579-0761.
Kindest regards & thanks
Your HOA Board of Directors
Traffic light at Eagle Ridge Way and Morton Road
I'm sure most homeowners have seen the survey trucks, yellow and
orange paint sprayed on various streets and yards, mainly near Eagle Ridge Way
and Morton Rd. This is the initial survey to prepare for a stop light to be
installed at this intersection.
I talked to Paul Hawkins in Steve Radack's office about a time frame on the
installation. This will give us a heads up when/if residents have questions
about all the markings and survey trucks. Steve said the survey for various gas,
telephone, etc, lines is just the beginning to prepare for the light. It will be
June/July before all the information is accumulated/mapped out and then put out
for bids. The job should be awarded by December and completed by March/April,
2007.
The installation of this is a safety precaution for area residents to cross
Morton to continue with the trail past Morton. There was no time table on when
the trail will be c ompleted. The trail will have to wait until the light has
been installed.
Margaret Moore
Barkers Ridge HOA