The Villages at Maxwell Creek HOA Newsletter (2nd Quarter 2005)

Annual Meeting and Elections

Elections for the HOA Board were held during the April 16th open-forum meeting since we were unable to achieve a quorum at the April 5th annual meeting. Previous board members Robert Butler and Bill Butt were re-elected, and new canidate Howard Fisher was elected. At this time, there have been no major changes in officer positions; Robert Butler remains HOA President, Bill Butt remains Vice-President, and Beth Cline, the HOA's accountant, remains Treasurer. Howard Fisher has taken the position of HOA Secretary.

This year was by far the lowest turn out, with no more than a dozen homeowners present at each meeting. Luckily, we had enough proxy votes to reach a quorum, otherwise we would have had to call the meeting again during the block party on April 30th. This isn't a frivolous action, the HOA is required by our Bylaws to hold elections each year.

Each time we send out a meeting notice, the HOA must spend a minimum of $215 between postage, paper, labels, printing, and stuffing envelopes. Because we had to call a second meeting, and because we only had about 75 homeowners either send in a proxy or appear in person, the real cost of these notices is on the order of $5.73 per respondent. It may not sound like a lot of money in the big scheme of things, but that is money and time that could be used for other neighborhood improvements or wouldn't otherwise even need to be assessed at all.

Bimonthly Open Forum Meetings

The next open forum meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 14th at the Allen Public Library, starting at 7pm. Please note the new location at 300 N. Allen Drive. As with previous meetings, there is no specific agenda, the plan is to hold an informal question and answer session, and to help everyone meet their neighbors.

A running theme for some time has been the overall lack of volunteers and homeowner enthusiasm. Attendance at the annual meeting notwithstanding, there have been several positive changes lately, as we've had a number of new volunteers help out in the last couple of months, and we hope it continues in the future. An ongoing list of volunteer needs for the HOA is available at http://www.maxwellcreek.org /community/hoa/committees/volunteer/

Homeowner Yesika Fletcher has stepped up to act as a volunteer coordinator for the HOA, and will soon begin contacting volunteers and organizing new activities and events in and around our neighborhood.

Web Site Updates

The HOA web site has had a slight update to its appearance recently, and we've also reorganized the site to (hopefully) make it easier to locate information and answer your questions.

Additionally, we've added several new features including the long-awaited Message Boards, and a voting system which allows everyone to (among other things) vote for Yard of the Month. Work is continuing on the neighborhood directory as well as reporting deed restriction violations, architectural modification requests, and other problem reporting and tracking. Sometime next year we hope move more of the budgeting and homeowner records online, which will allow homeowners to view their account status as well as the overall HOA budget.

It is necessary to create an account and log in to the web site in order to access these new features. Additionally, some areas of the web site (such as the neighborhood directory, residence details, and violation reports) are further restricted to users that have been verified as a homeowner or resident in the neighborhood. However, most of the work on the web site has been, and continues to be, focused on the administrative aspects of running the HOA, meaning that it may be some time before these other areas are ready for general use.

If you have any questions about the web site, or are having trouble accessing it, please contact webmaster@maxwellcreek.org.

Allen Goes Extreme

Provided by Shawn Mosley, Marketing Coordinator, Allen Parks and Recreation (214) 509-4708; email: smosley@cityofallen.org

Recognizing the ever changing landscape of sport, the City of Allen began additions to the south end of its pre-existing Allen Station Park, located just east of 75 on Exchange. Plans included a concrete skate park, two roller-hockey rinks, BMX track and youth center. As construction progressed and community interest grew, it became evident that this project would keep Allen at the forefront of recreational offerings. The stage is now set as the city will unveil "The Edge at Allen Station Park" on June 4. The event will be the public's first look at extreme sports done the City of Allen way.

Skate Park

The skate park was designed and built by Site Design Group from Tempe, AZ, one of the premier skate park design companies in the country. The structure spans 37,915 sq. ft, and is the largest in the state of Texas. Street fixtures such as stairs with handrails to "ollie on to", boxes, rails, ledges, a "picnic table" (not for picnicking) are what make this park so unique. The grounds are lighted and also contain a wide variety of bowls and transitions ranging from 6' - 9' deep, steel coping throughout for grinding and a large amount of bank slope areas for beginners to practice on. The skate park is open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Admission is free to all users, though certain fees may apply during special events, clinics or classes. To ensure safety, a call-box is located on the west side of the park and directly connects to emergency dispatch.

BMX Track

This track is 900 ft. of twist, turns and fun. The "U" inside the "V" layout design guarantees a natural flow into the first corner. A rhythm section from corner to corner in the third straight away and 10 different jumps to complete add to the excitement. The feature section of the lighted track is the second corner where a slope was created from the highest point of the track to ground level so that riders will turn while going downhill. The first straight away consists of a double, roller, and table step up to a step up; the second straightaway consists of a double, triple and a huge step up with three consecutive doubles in the fourth straight away to finish out the track. There are no fees for the BMX track at this time, but may become applicable for practices and races if the track becomes a sanctioned facility. Hours of operation are Monday - Sunday, 8 a.m. to dusk.

In Line Hockey Rinks

This element of Allen Station Park has two full size hockey rinks suitable for adult and youth play, covered spectator seating in addition to team and scorer's boxes. Both rinks are lighted and during hours of operation, the Allen Sports Association has priority use of this facility for league play and practices during hockey season. Hockey rinks may also be rented for private use as available. Except during league play, one rink will always be available for open skating and individual practice. There is no charge for open use of the rinks and they are open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Youth Center

Perhaps the most highly anticipated facility in Allen Station Park is the 4000 sq. ft. youth center complete with media room, computer lab, game room and snack bar. Equipped with 12 computers in addition to a printer and software, the computer lab was outfitted through a generous donation from the Kiwanis Club of Allen. The media room consists of five televisions, including one wide screen television for watching movies, music videos and sports.

Play Station and X Box systems will be available for use on the four smaller televisions. The game room is equipped with a projection screen and four 27-inch televisions, in addition to ping pong and pool tables. This supervised facility is open to youth ages 10-17 or up to 18 years if still in high school. Membership cards are required for admittance into the youth center. Because this is a youth/teen oriented facility, younger children or adults will not be permitted access to the facility beyond picking up their child. However, periodic family days will be planned where members may bring in their adult guests and siblings to participate in activities. Hours of operation are as follows:

Summer Hours of Operation:

Monday - Saturday, 12 p.m. - 8p.m
Sunday, 1 - 6 p.m.

School Year Hours of Operation:

Monday - Friday, 3 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Saturday, 12 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Sunday 1 - 6 p.m.
* The youth center will open at noon during school holidays.

For rules and regulations of all the facilities mentioned above, call 214-509-4700 or visit www.allenparks.org.

Yard of the Month

Based on your input to last year's homeowner survey, the HOA recently kicked off a Yard of the Month (YOTM) program. The Yard of the Month program is the HOA's way of recognizing neighbors whose yards stand out from the rest. The extra time, energy and money these residents expend on their lawns, and the imaginative touches they bring to their landscaping not only enhance the value of the homes around them, but also foster a positive image of the entire neighborhood.

Each month, the HOA will post pictures of candidate yards on the web site for voting. The residence with the highest number of votes will be announced at the next Open Forum meeting, on the HOA website, and in the next HOA newsletter. Additionally, the winner each month will receive a $25 Home Depot gift card.

All candidates for YOTM should have:

• Well manicured, weed-free yards,
• Trimmed bushes and shrubs,
• Aesthetically appealing flowers or other elements.

For more information on the exact details, please check out the Community Beautification Standards on the web site. If you would like to nominate one of your neighbors for the Yard of the Month please contact landscape@maxwellcreek.org.

Spring Block Party

The Spring neighborhood block party was held in the cul-de-sac on Woodstream Ln from 4:00 - 6:00pm on Saturday, April 30th. We were able to dispense with the discussion of HOA business this year, since we were able to conclude all of the elections and other annual meeting details during the April 16th meeting.

This year we did a switch from the usual hot-dogs to BBQ, and everything turned out great! Homeowner Kevin Welch smoked 55lbs of brisket for everyone, and we also had potato salad, baked beans, rolls, cotton candy, and a number of homeowners brought other goodies to share! The HOA also provided water and soft drinks for everyone. We also had a bounce house shaped like a big monster truck.

We want to thank all of our volunteers for their assistance, including Kevin and Michelle Welch, Andrea Westmoreland and Matt Golub, Zubir and Jeremy, Yesika and Adrian Fletcher, Bill Butt, Howard Fisher, and Stephanie and Robert Butler.

Spring Neighborhood Garage Sale

The neighborhood garage sale was held Saturday, April 23rd, and there seemed to be a good sized crowd at all of families participating. We had two reports of sales exceeding $250! The HOA placed advertising in the Dallas Morning News, Allen American, Plano Star Courior, and McKinney Messenger newspapers.

Due to the construction on Malone that cut down on the amount of traffic through the neighborhood, the HOA is planning to hold another neighborhood garage sale in the fall. Additionally, anyone wishing to sell or advertise their business may do so both by either advertising in the HOA newsletter and web site, or by using the new message boards on the web site.

Committee Updates

Architecture Committee

Given that some homeowners have now been living in the neighborhood for five years (believe it or not — the first homeowner moved into our neighborhood on December 28th, 1999!), we would like to remind everyone that it's time to start looking at your siding for areas that need repainting. Even some of the newer homes that were built in 2002 and 2003 may already need repainting, as the builders could never be accused of putting on too much exterior paint.

At the same time, check your siding and fence for loose or rotten boards, and whether your trees may need pruning in order to promote better growth and shape. If you never stained your fence, it still may not be too late to have it cleaned and sealed. A little preventative maintenance can save you a big expense later on — or at least postpone it by several years.

The chairperson of the Architecture committee is Robert Butler.

Landscape Committee

The HOA has concluded negotiations with our landscape maintenance company, Perfecto Landscape, and is happy to announce that they will begin offering discounted rates to homeowners in our neighborhood! Each week, Perfecto will perform mowing, edging, and weed-eating of the entire yard (front and back). The pricing is based on the number of yards maintained.

# Homes Maintained	$ Cost Per Week
Less than 20	$25
20+	$20
30+	$17.50
50+	$15

Additionally, Perfecto offers substantially discounted rates for other landscape services, such as planting, trimming of bushes and shrubs, and sprinkler system maintenance and repair.

The HOA has renewed its contract with Chemlawn for maintenance of the common areas. Even with the amazing progress last year in cleaning up the weeds along Malone, there are still more than enough weeds in all of the Common Areas to justify the cost of renewing their contract for another year.

The installation of lighting at the neighborhood entrance signs has been completed, and bushes that were obscuring the signs have been removed. We are currently seeking quotes for enhancing the landscaping in the center median on Maxwell Creek Dr.

Bill Butt has taken over as chairperson of the committee from Stephanie Butler. Several members of the committee have resigned in the last year, and we are in need of additional members. If you're interested in volunteering, please contact us!

The chairperson of the Landscape committee is Bill Butt.

Social Committee

With the Spring Garage Sale and Neighborhood Block Party behind us, there isn't much activity going on currently. We are planning on holding another neighborhood garage sale in the fall (currently planned for October 15th). Otherwise, the next major activity being held will be the Halloween Party on Saturday, October 29th.

Several members of the committee have resigned in the last year, and we are in need of additional members. If you're interested in volunteering, please contact us!

The chairperson of the Social committee is Stephanie Butler.

Kid's Corner

HOA Contact Information

The Home Owners Association and its agents may be contacted in several ways:

• Through the HOA web site, at http://www.maxwellcreek.org/,
• By emailing the officers of the HOA, at officers@maxwellcreek.org,
• By calling or faxing the HOA at (972) 739-5221.
• Through U.S. postal mail at:
  Villages at Maxwell Creek HOA
  P.O. Box 2265
  Allen, TX 75013

We welcome any questions, comments, or concerns you may have. Please include your name and street address on all correspondence in order to expedite a response. Please allow two business days for your call or message to be returned.

Is there anything that you've wished to know more about or is there something you would like to share with other association members? If you want to suggest a topic, write an article, make a suggestion or even correct a mistake, please contact us at newsletter@maxwellcreek.org! The deadline for all submissions is the end of the first month for each quarter-year.