The Villages at Maxwell Creek HOA Newsletter (2nd Quarter 2006)

Annual Meeting and Elections

Elections for the HOA Board were held during the April 17th backup meeting date since we were unable to achieve a quorum at the April 3rd annual meeting. Previous board members Robert Butler, Yesika Fletcher, and Howard Fisher were all re-elected. At this time, there have been no major changes in officer positions; Robert Butler remains HOA President, Yesika Fletcher remains Vice-President and Secretary, and Howard Fisher remains Treasurer.

Attendance at the meetings this year was very low, with about 20 people attending the April 3rd meeting, and 9 on April 17th. We just scraped by with enough proxy votes to reach a quorum, otherwise we would have had to call the meeting again during the block party on April 29th. 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 60 homeowners either send in a proxy or appear in person, the real cost of these notices is on the order of $7.16 per respondent. Unfortunately, this is an almost 25% cost increase over last year. 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 Thursday, May 18th 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; however, we expect to have an update on delinquent dues collection, an update on the new management company, and updates from the various neighborhood committees. Additionally, we will hold an informal question and answer session, and hope to help everyone meet their neighbors.

At the last open forum, and at the Annual Meeting, several good questions came up and we thought we would echo them here:

Is there anything that can be done to slow down drivers on streets and in alleys? There have been several near-accidents with children playing.

The HOA has tried a number of tactics to combat this issue; we have had the City place their portable radar-system several times, we've had the City install speed limit signs for the streets and alleys on each neighborhood entrance, we've made up and delivered flyers to each residence, and we've mentioned it repeatedly in the neighborhood newsletter. Speed bumps are not an option, as has been investigated and reported on several times. Full details may be found in the FAQ.

Beyond these avenues, there is not much that the HOA can do. If you notice someone driving dangerously, ask them to slow down. Sooner or later, there will be an unfortunate accident that could have been averted.

How many rental properties are in the neighborhood?

There are currently around 20 properties in the neighborhood (out of 303) that are not owned by the resident; some are rental, and some are leased. There are also several homes that are owned by legal trusts, but the owner / manager of the trust lives in the residence.

There are no restrictions against homes being rented or leased, and most such restrictions are illegal. The only limitation imposed by the HOA Covenants is that Each Lot shall be used exclusively for single-family residential purposes only.

Who is responsible for the streetlights: the HOA, the City or the electric company?

All maintenance of streetlights is done by the City of Allen, specifically the engineering department. A form is available online at http://cityofallen.org/engineering/street_lights.htm that may be used to report issues with streetlights.

The HOA has received several questions and complaints over the years that some streets are too dark and would benefit from additional lighting. We spent a number of months in 2004 and 2005 investigating this issue, the full details of which may be read about in the meeting minutes of the HOA board. In short, the original neighborhood developer skimped on the number of streetlights installed in Phase 1 of the neighborhood (Bethany south to Woodstream) enough that we don't technically meet code. In Phase 2 (Bur Oak south to Fir Harbor), sufficient lighting was installed to meet code.

By the time we began investigating this issue in 2004, five years had past since the original development was done (the first homes were built in our neighborhood in 1999), and we were told that it wasn't feasible to go after the developer. If we (the HOA) want to install additional streetlights, regardless of where they are placed, the cost is approximately $5k per light. There would also be additional engineering, survey, and legal costs prior to installation.

One homeowner suggested we the HOA approach various companies that offer services such as landscaping materials and inquire about a group savings discount.

In fact, we have already done so. Last spring, the HOA negotiated discounted rates with our landscape company, Perfecto Landscaping, for weekly yard maintenance. Pricing is based on the number of yards maintained in our neighborhood.

# 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. Contact information for Perfecto Landscaping is available at the end of the newsletter in their advertisement.

Finally, we're aware of several homeowners in the neighborhood that run their own home improvement / yard maintenance companies, and those individuals are welcome to contact us about advertising in the newsletter. Most advertisements for homeowners are free!

A couple of homeowners have caught young men in their garage; they did not get a good look but they think they were teen boys.

As noted in a previous newsletter, there are four basic steps to follow in securing your home:

1. Reduce Opportunity. Place valuables in the trunk or out of sight and lock your vehicle. Keep your garage door closed. Place a wireless keypad outside of your garage so that you don't have to leave it open while around the yard.
2. Be Aware. What is that car doing there? Do I know that person? Smile and Wave! Your neighbors will love you and bad guys will find it unnerving.
3. Report Everything. Report anything and everything to both the police AND the HOA. The police can't patrol the neighborhood 24 hours a day, so they count on you to tell them when something looks funny. If you see anything you think is odd, the police WANT you to call their non-emergency number (972) 509-4321.
4. Light your homes. At night, most streets and alleys are so dark that someone could be 20 feet away and you'd never see them! Place a security light over your driveway and place spotlights on the front of your house.

One of the greatest gifts we can share with another person is a smile. Lets work together to help our neighbors protect their property, while at the same time give them the gift of a caring smile. We encourage everyone to call that neighbor or stop by and remind them their garage door is open. The only cost to you is a smile, which is a very small price to pay to deter a crime from happening. Who knows, one day you may be a recipient of a neighbors smile and a friendly reminder about your garage door being open.

Yard of the Month

After a very long hiatus, the Yard of the Month program is getting kicked off again with voting for May.

The winner for our previous contest for August of 2005 was William & Sally Phillips who live at 1712 Mapleleaf Falls Dr.

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 gift card to a local home improvement store (which varies from month to month, but has included Home Depot, Lowes, and Puckett's Nursery).

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 architecture@maxwellcreek.org.

Water Campaign & Drought Update

Provided by Andrea Smith, Education Specialist, (214) 509-4553; email: asmith@cityofallen.org

"Water IQ: Know Your Water" is a public education and awareness campaign that encourages residents to learn more about their water resources and how to save them. You may have seen or heard the advertisements in local newspapers, on the radio and on television. What is your water IQ? Do you know where your water comes from?

The City of Allen receives their treated water from the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) whose raw water sources include Lake Lavon, Lake Texoma, and Lake Chapman (Cooper Lake). NTMWD serves more than 1.5 million people in 60 cities in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Based in Wylie, NTMWD is a regional water wholesaler to cities in six counties: Collin, Dallas, Denton, Hunt, Kaufman, and Rockwall.

Drought Update

Because of drought conditions, 2006 began with lower than average lake levels. Water usage also increased due to the tremendous population growth. Based on NTMWD's current water use projections for this calendar year, their customers' water demand will exceed the water they have available to supply because there are limits to the amount of water that can be taken from the lakes. Although NTMWD has accelerated development of new water supplies, the results may not be seen until 2008. To help protect our limited water source, we are on course to have Stage 3 of the Drought Contingency Plan initiated by this summer.

The Stage 3 declaration will trigger mandatory water use restrictions and rate increases for member cities. Each member city has discretion to implement the measures that are most applicable to helping overcome our projected deficit. If we are successful at Stage 3, we may be able to avoid or delay the more confining restrictions of Stage 4.

Restrictions for Allen at Stage 3 are expected to include:

• Landscape irrigation will be allowed only once every seven days.
• No landscape irrigation or exterior water usage between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.
• No operation of ornamental fountains fed by treated water.
• No wasteful water runoff including the hosing of pavement, buildings and windows.

• No vehicle washing by hose (commercial car washes will continue to operate if their wastewater drains into the sanitary sewer system that replenishes the water supply).
• Water rates will remain the same on residential water use up to an amount that is considered essential water use. However, a higher rate or rate surcharge will be implemented for water use that exceeds essential levels and for all water that is metered separately for landscape irrigation.

All water customers in Allen will receive notification by mail when Stage 3 is declared. In the meantime, under Stage 2, residents are asked to voluntarily reduce water usage. Resetting landscape sprinkler systems to water less frequently will have the biggest impact. For more water-saving tips, visit www.WaterIQ.org. For additional information, visit www.cityofallen.org or call (214) 509-4553.

Committee Updates

Architecture Committee

With the recent hiring of Neighborhood Management, Inc. as the HOA's new management company, violation enforcement will be taking a much higher priority than previously. Before NMI, volunteers were able to keep up with new violations, but follow-through on existing problems often took a back seat. This should now be resolved, as NMI will be doing twice-monthy inspections of the entire neighborhood.

While the Covenants of the neighborhood require yards to be kept watered and alive, with the expected Stage 3 restrictions taking place on June 1st the HOA will be easing enforcement of this clause. However, while yards may begin to dry out and brown, we will still be inspecting for regular maintenance and general upkeep.

The chairperson of the Architecture committee is Robert Butler.

Landscape Committee

There hasn't been much going on with the Landscape Committee lately, our two largest projects were completed last year. We're going to be investigating new bids from landscape maintenance companies over the next few months in an attempt to see if we can lower costs any, and we're still looking at enhancing the landscape beds around the north and south entrance signs.

The chairperson of the Landscape committee is Stephanie Butler.

Social Committee

Our two big events of the spring, the Neighborhood Garage Sale and the Spring Block Party, are past, and the next big event for us will be the Halloween party in October. Pictures from both the Spring Block Party as well as last year's Halloween party are now available online!

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 Yesika Fletcher.

Kid's Corner

Memorial Day

It's the last Monday in May and school is closed. But do you know why? It's Memorial Day, of course! This holiday commemorates U.S. men and women who died in military service for their country. It began first to honor Union soldiers who died during the American Civil War. After World War I, it expanded to include those who died in any war or military action. Today, some Americans use Memorial Day weekend to also honor family members who have passed away. Church services on the Sunday prior to Memorial Day may include a reading of the names of members who have died during the previous 12 months.

Often, Memorial Day is has come to honor other heros in our community such as the police and firefighters. Both of these groups offer activities to educate and inform the public about their daily duties. For instance, the police department offers a Ride-Along program allowing persons from the media, citizens, off-duty officers, police chaplains, Citizens on Patrol, Volunteers in Policing, Police Explorers, and others to participate.

The fire department offers citizens a chance to participate in the Fire Academy, which is a program designed for persons living or working in the City of Allen who wish to learn more about how the Allen Fire Department is organized and operates. Covered in this program are such topics as department hiring, training, educational requirements, emergency operations, fire and life safety training, and much more. Academy participants are also given the opportunity to participate in demonstrations of emergency operations and to ride with on-duty fire fighters on emergency calls.

Letters From Homeowners

We've decided to start a new section in the newsletter, and include selected letters that the HOA has received, both good and bad. We invite everyone to write in with any questions, comments, or concerns you may have, and we'll do our best to respond as soon as possible.

Just an FYI — several of us on Briarhollow are having serious problems with shingles falling off. I contacted Big D Roofing — who installed the roofs for Diamond Homes:

Terry @ Big D informed me that the "Certainteed Firescreen Shingle" has a serious sealant problem and that both Certainteed and Diamond/Goodman Homes are very aware of the problem. This shingle has, in fact, been pulled off the market. It seems that the sealant that Certainteed provided for these shingles fails after about 3 years.

Currently, the best way to handle this problem is to get the warranty paperwork off the www.certainteed.com website. Contact Terry or Paul at Big D roofing at (972) 495-8000. They will come out to make any immediate repairs, take pictures, and obtain the shingles needed to send to Certainteed. They will also help you complete the paperwork for Certainteed. This costs anywhere from $75 - $250 depending on the immediate repairs needed. Certainteed will reimburse a portion of this cost. (Either $50 or $75, we're not sure yet.) The homeowner does need to have a regular (not digital) camera on hand for the roofers to take the pictures Certainteed requires. The homeowner will also have to supply a copy of the building permit or a deed of sale indicating when the home was purchased to send to Certainteed.

If Certainteed replies to the warranty request with the standard, "this is an installation problem, not our problem," Terry at Big D said to send the letter to him and he will pursue this further. Big D is working with entire neighborhoods that have this problem, so they have some clout here. Goodman Homes (now K. Hovnanian Homes) is also threatening Certainteed with legal action over this issue.

The goal here is to have Certainteed either replace the shingles (less likely) or to pay to have the sealant redone on all the shingles on the house (more likely). The total cost for my house (32 squares of shingles) to be resealed if I have to pay for it, is approximately $1600.

If it's possible to post this information on the website or put in the newsletter, I think it would be a great help. I know all of my immediate neighbors have had significant issues with this problem and we've all been pursuing various avenues to get this resolved. It appears that Big D may be able to assist us with this shingle issue.

Amber Kallstrom
1603 Briarhollow Ct.

Amber, thanks for passing on this information. As far as we have been able to determine, it does not appear that the contractor or shingles in question were used by either David Weekly or Emerald Homes (D.R. Horton) during construction.

If you, or anyone else, comes across useful information such as this in the future, please let us know so we can let everyone know.

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 emailing the HOA management company, at management@maxwellcreek.org,
• By calling the HOA at (972) 359-1548 or (972) 359-1171 fax.
• Through U.S. postal mail at:
  Villages at Maxwell Creek HOA
  P.O. Box 1567
  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!