The Year in Review
Area Burglaries
Here’s Your Chance!
Estates Website
Board Officers
Money Matters
Your Chance to Share
New Look for Our “Front Door”
Board Meetings
Holiday Decoration Winners
Spring Veggies
Hello all. Last year passed all too quickly! Starting in January of 2003, your Board began holding its monthly meetings in the Bailey Middle School cafeteria to make them as accessible as possible to all Homeowners’ Association (HOA) members. When Bailey wasn’t available, we held our meetings at St. John’s Presbyterian Church. We are grateful to both for the use of their facilities, especially since it is at no cost to the HOA. Those homeowners that had issues for the Board and attended one of our meetings did seem to approve of the format, and we will continue to follow it this year.
Also in January of last year, three new members were appointed to the Architectural Controls Committee (ACC): Bernie Cordoba, Allen Gunter, and Ysabel Pena. Thanks for their time and service on the ACC goes to Bob Crick, Alexis Montgomery, and G.C. Pettey who left the ACC in January. Their willingness to give of themselves has made our community a better place.
The first 2003 annual HOA meeting was held on October 14, 2003. However, not enough homeowners attended to have a quorum. Therefore, we had a second meeting on November 4th. Approximately 25 homes were represented at the November meeting, (about 10% of all HOA members).
After opening remarks by the Board members, the floor was opened for individual homeowners to speak. The major issues for discussion were the election of two new Board members and three proposed changes to our rules.
For the Board to work optimally and ensure that all homeowners who want to serve on the Board have the opportunity to do so, Board members serve a two year term and terms are staggered - two Board seats become available in one year, three in the following year. Since all five of the Board members were new for 2003, Brad McMahon and Richard Reyna volunteered to serve just one year. John Anderson and Allen Gunter were elected to two-year terms to replace Brad and Richard, restoring the staggered two year term cycle. We want to extend our thanks to Brad and Richard for taking the time to be part of the Board of Directors. Their insight and willingness to give of their time has made our HOA a better organization for everyone.
Homeowners at the 2003 annual meeting acted on three proposed rule changes. The first proposal was to make the HOA subordinate to lenders (necessary for home equity loans and lines of credit); this was approved. The other two issues, screening and time the ACC has to act, were not adopted. Our website and the letter sent to all homeowners in advance of the meeting have the details of these two proposals.
I thank all of you for the opportunity to serve on your Board. I look forward to meeting more of you during 2004. Remember, our meetings are open to any homeowner who wants to attend. Dates and times are posted on the website. Come by and say “hello”.
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The Austin Police Department Southwest Investigation Unit is currently investigating open garage burglaries in the Circle C, New Villages, Escarpment Lane and Brodie Lane areas dating back to May 1, 2003. Detective Feinartz is leading the investigation and is seeking witnesses that have experienced a subject walking around the area, entering open garages and then, if encountered, stating that he is "looking for his dog." The suspect specifically looks for open garages, and then steals purses and financial documents from vehicles parked in the garages, subsequently using them to fraudulently purchase items at HEB, Target, and other stores in the area.
A suspect has been identified with respect to three such incidents. Det. Feinartz would like to send him away for an extended period of time and is trying to link him to as many unsolved burglaries as possible to add additional charges. If you have noticed any activity like that described above, or have been a victim of an open garage burglary where credit cards were stolen, contact Det. Feinartz at 974-8252.
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There is a vacancy on the Architectural Control Committee (ACC). If you are interested in serving, please let one of the Board or ACC members know by March 12. Your Board will be filling this vacancy at its March meeting. If you want to get more information on what the ACC does and what it requires, please call Rich Anderson at 280-2212.
If now is not the right time, keep in mind that the normal rotation of seats on both the ACC and the Board means that there will be seats available on both at the end of the year. If you have questions or want more information, please get in touch with anyone on the Board or ACC.
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Our community website (www.theestatesofshadyhollow.org) has only been visited about 800 times since it was moved to its current location last April. That’s less than once every 3 months per household on average. We are considering modifying the site to improve its usefulness for you and are looking for suggestions.
The site currently contains the following pages:
- About the Estates: A section on the Neighborhood Association and a map of the area.
- Board of Directors (BOD): A list of the directors, their email addresses, and phone numbers.
- Committee Chairpersons: A list of committees, with member names, email addresses, and phone numbers.
- Newsletter: A copy of the most recent newsletter.
- CC&R’s: The Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions of Shady Hollow Estates.
- Meetings: Information about the next BOD meeting.
- Community Links: A list of informative websites.
- Helpful Phone Numbers: Sheriff, Fire, Water, MUD, etc.
- Bulletin Board: Neighborhood notices and clarification of some of the CC&R’s.
Some suggested changes:
- Show the agenda for the next BOD meeting with information on major topics, if any.
- Put minutes from BOD meetings online.
- Maintain online copy of Architectural Control Committee (ACC) policies.
- Provide printable proxy form for next homeowners meeting.
- Add the Estate’s Bylaws.
- Keep past issues of the newsletter.
- Change the current “Bulletin Board” so that it is subdivided into different topics. Add topics such as oak wilt status, current community events, updates to newsletter articles, and/or a personal section for baby sitter needs/services, pets lost/found, etc.
- Implement a message board with multiple forums, where homeowners can carry on dialogues about community events/concerns.
Please visit the site and give us your comments and suggestions. Also, give us your comments on the suggested changes above. The website could play a significant role in supporting an informed and involved community. Submit your comments to the site manager, John Anderson (send email).
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At its January meeting, your Board chose the following officers for 2004:
If you have any issues you would like to see addressed by the Board, please contact any of your Board members. Our phone numbers and email addresses are on the last page).
President Deborah Treece Vice President John Anderson Treasurer George Robbins Recording Sec Allen Gunter Member-at-Large David Carpenter
The Estates of Shady Hollow had a good year in 2004 in the financial department. Our annual budget was $ 22,300.00 but our actual expenses for the year were only $20,916.35. We were able to end the year $1,383.65 below budget.
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Do you have a great story to tell? How about some helpful consumer, household, gardening or other tips? Our neighborhood is filled with smart and interesting people doing smart and interesting things, and we’d love to be able to share some of that through this newsletter.
Your article doesn’t need to be long, neat, or even written! Just touch base with Allen Gunter and he will work with you to make it happen. We can’t promise you 15 minutes of fame, but we do have a circulation of more than 350 smart and interesting people!!
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The beautification of the main entrance into the neighborhood at Brodie and Edwards Hollow Run will be done some time in March. The project has been budgeted for $900.00 and will be a nice enhancement to the entrance to our neighborhood.
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The date, time and place for each Board meeting is posted on our web site at least two weeks in advance. Check it out!
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There were a lot of great holiday decorations this year throughout the neighborhood, but based on the “Wow!” factor, the following have bragging rights for 2003/2004 (sorry, no monetary award):
1st Place 3804 Ebony Hollow Pass Rich and Georgeanne Reyna 2nd Place 1250 Black Mesa Cove Don and Kim Perryman 3rd Place 12004 Corner Brook Pass Norlmitsu and Kiyoko Nojima
All gardeners realize how difficult it can be to know when is the best time to plant some of our favorite crops. The weather is unpredictable in the spring, and the average date of the last frost for our area is March 18th.
With this in mind, the following table is a planting date guide for a few of our favorite spring vegetable plants. Remember to mulch your garden beds at least two to five inches deep. Shredded cedar works best followed by shredded hardwood bark, compost, or shredded leaves.
Good Luck and happy gardening!
Tomato transplants March 15 - April 10 Summer squash March 5 - May 1 Pepper transplants March 15 - May 1 Cantaloupe March 15 - May 1 Cucumber March 5 - May 1 Bean March 15 - May 1
President Deborah Treece 291-4892 Vice President John Anderson 280-7383 Treasurer George Robbins 292-0610 Recording Sec Allen Gunter 292-4035 Member-at-Large David Carpenter 280-9025
Chair Rich Anderson 280-2212 Member Bernard Cordoba 282-8082 Member Ysabel Pena 282-0351 Member Asanga Weerakoo 282-9514 (Remaining position to be filled at the March Board meeting)
Carl Gamble
Goodwin Management, Inc.
502-7517