Hello, my name is Jay Thompson and I am the Vice President of the Board of Directors this year. First of all, my appologies for not writing this sooner, but I am ‘old fashioned’ and don’t really do blogs like I should. Even though I build websites for a hobby—please see ours at: www.SettlersCrossingCommunity.com -- I really haven’t caught on the the blog thing. I have always liked the personal approach and talking face to face. I plan on starting a blog on our website also as I get time. I really want our community to have a forum to communicate with each other and voice our oppinions. I am writing this to reach more of our community.
Let me give you a little of my background… Personally I have been in law enforcement for many years and am serving as a reserve police officer and deputy sheriff at this time. I am a full-time Registered Respiratory Therapist at a hospital. I have a family with children ages 4 to 28 years old. My wife and I moved here 10 years ago and were pretty much one of the first homes built. I, like many of you, moved here because of the area, schools, and community. It’s a great place to raise a family. We were made a lot of promises that did not pan out as the years progressed. Law suits between the developer and original builders stopped most of the plans that were supposed to happen. I have watched our community decline. I finally got fed up last year because I wanted to see where the money was going and wanted to see why (I felt) nothing was being done.
I like you did not feel like the previous boards were doing anything. There is no way that I wanted to see my community go downhill. My wife and I are here to stay and will not consider moving because we like this community and our neighbors. So… I decided to get involved to make a change… something I should have done long ago.
The current board is made of individuals who are very concerned about our community. Not just community events but really finishing the projects that should have been done years ago. I’ve decided to list current things on this blog to get the word out on what we are doing. Newsletters did go out but from what I am reading many of you did not get one. We will be posting newsletters on our website also from now on. It may be confusing having the ‘Neighborhoods Plus’ website and our own, but I really wanted an easy access for all for our own community.
As the current board, we have made set of goals or a mission statement of sorts:
- Create a safe environment for our families and children
- Bring pride of ownership back to our community
- Help to maintain our property values
This year, it seems, we have been mostly ‘putting our fires’ in our community. We have had record heat that has been very hard on our ponds (like other communities I have talked with), increased vandalism, bagworms, and not to mention how the economy has hurt some of us. Please keep these things in mind as I continue.
As we looked at the budget (one of the reasons I got involved) I noticed we were spending what I thought was too much money on landscaping (mowing, etc.) among other things. The last few years were an average of $40,000 - $50,000 or more per year. I felt like no one has looked at this. At about the same time we were looking at how our ponds were being maintained. I found out that we had a contract with the previous pond person who was only maintaining 3 ponds. Not 4. When we asked what he did specifically, we were literally told that “he didn’t have to tell us anything”. By law there needs to be Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) when chemicals are being used in the ponds. The previous pond person was unwilling to provide those as well as specifically what he did to maintain them. It was a mutual decision between him and us to end the contract and find a new pond person. Thomas James ( our current President) has a pond background and has taken it upon himself to measure the ponds, create data sheets and records of all the ponds. This is something we have never had with previous boards… records of anything! We have contracted Michaels Landscaping to take care of the ponds (all 4 of them) at a substantial savings. He is also doing our landscaping at a substantial savings. Some people have complained about the landscaping and ponds not being maintained as well as before. However, remember the record heat. Because of the heat many ponds have gone down 2-3 feet and algae has overgrown (sunlight grows algae) which uses oxygen. Many of our fish have been starved for oxygen this year. Many communities are having the same issues. Because of some vadalism, we have had control boxes and pond pumps (fountains) broken. These have been repaired and are working. We are in the process of purchasing more pond fountains for the other ponds, as well as quality benches and picnic tables at the other ponds. These fountains should have been purchased when the ponds were built years ago.
The playground set has been vandalised 3 or 4 times in the last year. It has been costly to repair. We not only have repaired it but set the slides in cement and attached iron to keep the vandals from breaking the wood and tearing it up. We are also in the process of putting benches and tables there also, again something that should have been added with the playground when it was first installed. I don’t like seeing parents sitting in their cars on the street or just standing because there is no benches to sit on. We have been looking very hard at putting a playground at the main pond also.
We have had increased vandalism this year. Realtors signs painted or missing, playground being destroyed, chemicals being dumped into the ponds, and the letters on the community entrances (Lake Shadows) and others being removed and destroyed. These are very costly to replace and had to have been pulled of with prybars. These are just a few of the things that have happened. We have contacted the sheriff’s office and they are stepping up patrol. I also am patroling myself (you may have seen a white unmarked police car) and have made my personal intention to catch these guys. We have had teens make remarks to women as they taking a walk, beer cans thrown everywhere, and other things. I want this to be a safe community for my family and intend to make it that way. If I find these people, I will arrest them.
We have placed ‘No Motorized Vehicle” signs at the ponds as some have seen. There has been controversy about this but it comes down to safety again. I don’t want my kids or wife run over, and I don’t want to see a 4-wheeler in the pond with a drown kid. We have had many complaints about the 4-wheelers on common areas and the only ones who want no signs are one or two people who wanted to keep riding them. I also have personally stopped children riding unlicensed vehicles on the streets. I really don’t have a problem with this but the ones I have seen were not even stopping for ‘stop signs’ and were being very irresponsible. It was time to curb this behavior before it got out of hand and someone got hurt or worse.
Liens and gravel driveways, etc… We are not ignoring these issues. We have hired an attorney, who works on commision only so it is not costing the homeowners, to collect liens on homeowner who have not paid there dues. Also, we are sending letters and issuing fines for homeowners regarding gravel driveways, yards not mowed, abandon vehicles, etc…
As far as contacting the board, or not being able to, as some have stated… no board has given out there numbers because we do work and have families. We have had people call us in the middle of the night and others be just plain rude on the phone. All calls havealways been screened through Neighborhoods Plus and they have always contacted us with your messages. Now, you can contact us through the contact form on our website: www.SettlersCrossingCommunity.com and we will respond. We, the board, do value your comments and I personally want to hear from you. If you see me driving the neighborhood, please say hello and if you want to comment in person I will be glad to hear you. We want constructive comments (please, no childish behavior) and really do care about this community. We need your input so we know what the community wants and needs. And, please come to the HOA meeting set sometime in October (will be announced on the website). We need your involvement.
I know this is a lengthy blog. I wanted to let the community know what is happening and what the board is doing. There is so much more we have done but these are just the main points for now.
I want to hear your comments, so please comment to this blog and/or contact me from the contact form on the website, or email: jayboyai@gmail.com
Thanks,
Jay Thompson, RRT, M.Ed.
