Northcliffe

Articles from the June Newsletter

Jun 13, 2009

NORTHCLIFFE NEWS:

For many of our residents who enter
Northcliffe by way of Chelsea, this sign
along the I-35 Access Road is probably
something new. However, one cannot
live in Northcliffe or any of the other surrounding
communities and not have heard
the rumblings that simulated an earthquake
of 8.0 magnitude on the Richter
Scale! The Northcliffe Golf Course is, indeed,
for sale!
More than 125 residents from all of the
subdivisions attended City Council on
April 21, 2009 to recommend that the City
of Schertz consider buying the golf course
and operating it as a municipal course.
According to the owners at a recent community
meeting and at City Council, they
have no choice but to sell, as they are losing
as much as $20,000 every month. The
City, while expressing interest in having
the golf course as a city course, requested
that the owners have a meeting with the
community to determine what the community
might be able to do to help save the
golf course and prevent it from being sold
off in pieces for general businesses and
more houses.
An estimated 200 plus residents gathered
at the golf club pro shop on May 7th to
make suggestions while the owners,
through a local Realtor, recommended that
homeowners along the golf course pay a
monthly fee to help support their investment.
Residents provided alternative
suggestions to help the Course become
profitable. Given the size of
the crowd and the number of suggestions,
the Realtor recommended that
a committee of 10 be formulated
from the local subdivisions to meet
with the owners?’ representative to
look at solutions. That committee
has been decided, but the meeting
will not occur until after this newsletter
has gone to the printer.
All residents should be aware that
losing the golf course will impact
home values of every family in this
community, not just the homes that
back up to the course. A renowned
expert from Texas A&M, Dr. John
Crompton has written that there is a
20 per cent increase in the value of
homes living on or NEAR a golf
course. Living in a golf course community
increases the value of all
homes around it whether homeowners
play golf or not. This is why this
issue is so important to all of us!

EMAIL ADDRESSES

We love to keep homeowners
informed about many important
events that may be happening around
our neighborhood and the city. We
notify homeowners to look out for lost
pets, be aware of suspicious happenings
in the area or of important community
meetings like the recent one
concerning the Golf Course sale. Our
Email address list has been growing,
but has a long way to go. If you, too,
would like to be notified about important
events please email your name and
email address to:
northclifnews@aol.com.

COMMUNITY GARAGE SALE

The community would like to take this opportunity
to give many thanks to Alex Trinidad and Betty
Haas for all of their hard work to make our annualspring garage sale a success. They had to deal with rain in the middle of a drought, and the challenge of some of the other communities wanting to participate when the City requires separate permits.
Sixty (60) homeowners signed up, and the rain on
April 18 actually provided us with a free weekend
the following week. Even though the weather was
doubtful the first weekend, it was great to see how positive and enthusiastic participants were.
Thank you again, very much, Alex and Betty!!


THANKS TO OUR NORTHCLIFFE?“UNSUNG?” HEROES!

Jimmy and Link Linkenhoger: For the last three
years these residents who live on Harvest have maintained the Chelsea street entrance. Each week Jimmy has picked up trash along the Chelsea entrance while Link mows the grass.
Joan Greyer: During her morning walks, Joan who
lives on Cherry Tree always stops by the Northcliffe City Park and picks up trash that was left the night before.
Wendy Swan: Lives on Sherwin and has worked tirelessly for the past 3 years to help improve the Northcliffe City Park.
Dave Garber: Lives on Columbia and maintains our
beautiful flag.
Our volunteers who prepare and deliver the Newsletter each Quarter:
Wendy Swan Duane McCune
Maria Scagliola Shirley Langston
Sara Jordan Marcia Mardis
Virginia Kobiec Jake Turner
Dorothy Boyle Carol Young
Steven Bish Rick Hammer
Kortnie Barnes Pauline Pisaneschi
Waynette Dolan Billy Robinson
Phyllis Stevens Charles Harris
Lois Beck Tina Martinez
Matthew Marr Debbie Bell
Virginia Autrey Kevin Hallman
Pat Haugen Wendy Rapier
Gloria Minson Jan Jones
Dan Sheely Denise Jackson
Ella Risley Terri Stewart
Audrey Pietre Dean Butterfield
Gayle Johnson Mr. Lubowicki
George Waterman

If you would like to volunteer your time, volunteers are needed to help plan a community get together for ?“National Night Out?” in October. If interested please
contact Jack Mitchell at (830) 625-3044.
There are also openings on the HOA Board of Directors. Anyone interested in participating should also call Jack.

A HUGE THANK YOU

Our community needs to extend a HUGH thanks to Bud Dieter for the fantastic job he did to renovate our message boards on Country Club Blvd. and Chelsea Drive. These boards were over 20 years old and had become decayed and weathered. Bud had a major challenge
because he had to renovate them without removing the side posts from the ground. Schertz does not allow these types of boards to be installed in city easements (as ours are). Because they were installed prior to annexation,
they were ?“grandfathered?” by the City. However,
if we had removed the posts, we would not have
been allowed to replace them.
Rebuilding the main body of the boards, therefore, became cumbersome and time consuming for Bud. The rebuilt body had to be precise in order to slide into the existing frame that would fit between the posts. Saturday, May 2, several volunteers worked the entire day to help Bud install the new boards into their existing
frame and secure them at each entrance. The result is a 1000 percent improvement, and sign boards that will be more durable and look better longer. There are a few cosmetic touches that still need to be completed but most of the task has been accomplished. Because of Bud?’s many volunteered hours and smart handling of funds the renovation and addition of new letters cost only about $800.00 out of HOA dues. The
benefit is the improvement to the appearance of our entrances and better communication. Thank you Bud for spending over a year of your time accomplishing this challenge.

NORTHCLIFFE HAS ANOTHER CITY PARK IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD:

Northcliffe has another ?“Golden Egg?” that many
residents are unaware of. The 2 acres of land behind the Community Center North Building on
Morning Drive has officially been designated as a
City of Schertz Park. The only amenities that the
park has now is a volleyball net and one soccer net. According to George Logan, Director of Parks and Recreation, plans to improve the Park are to: ?“Pursue the purchase of adjacent property and install a walking trail, picnic pavilions and open space and benches.?”

The Community Center in front of the park can be
rented for receptions or social events. RENTAL
RATES: Mon-Thur?—$15.00 per hour (2 hour minimum)
and Fri?—Sun?—$150.00 per day. Residents
of Schertz receive a 25% discount.
A resident has suggested that it would be helpful if the Community Center had block letters identifying it as a City Building. Also suggested was that the park have a sign designating it as a park with the
park hours included. This is a good suggestion that will be addressed with the City of Schertz.

NORTHCLIFFE IMPACTED BY RAPID GROWTH IN OUR AREA

Northcliffe continues to be one of the best kept secrets in Schertz. All of us for many years have enjoyed the quiet, safe and peaceful way of living that our community offers. But we have also seen our community grow at a rapid pace, as five new Subdivisions have been added around us. Several residents have asked that information be provided about our growing community. Our Northcliffe community was built in 1975 by
U.S. Homes. They built the Golf Course, the
Neighborhood Park and Pool, 700 homes in Northcliffe and most of the homes in the Scenic Hills Community. Due to the slowdown of the housing market, no other homes were built in this area for 25 years. We remained a small rural community of 2,600 citizens that got its services from Guadalupe County. The
residents of Northcliffe built their own Fire Station that was manned by volunteers from the neighborhood. In 2001, Northcliffe and Scenic Hills were annexed by the City of Schertz. As Schertz residents, our services improved. The new EMS/Fire station on I-35 was built to assure that the city could respond to emergencies in this area. We were provided police,city water and waste service and strict code enforcement
for all new building. The Northcliffe
HOA Park and Pool became a City of Schertz
Neighborhood Park. Soon after we became Schertz residents in 2001, the building boom started around us. As the enclosed map shows, five new Subdivisions have been started, that completely encompass our original Northcliffe /Scenic Hills Community. When all five new Subdivisions are completed, there will be 1,125 new homes added and the population of our community will have doubled to 5,978 residents in just 8 years.!
As a community, Northcliffe is being challenged
with issues that are a result of the rapid growth in our area. Common issues that affect us all are: increased traffic and speeding on main thoroughfare streets, lack of enough parks and open space in this area for our children and adults to enjoy and increased crime. The only way these issues can be addressed is by coming together as a neighborhood and continuing the excellent dialogue that we have experienced with the City of Schertz. The City has the ability to control additional growth, buy more land and develop parks in our area, study traffic flow patterns and evaluate police interventions needed based on trends in our crime statistics.

CHELSEA/FM 1103 AND NORTHCLIFFE STREET REPAIRS UPDATE:

The traffic safety issues at the Chelsea//FM 1103
Intersection will soon be resolved. City Council approved $809,000.00 to realign Old Wiederstein
Road with Chelsea. Work should begin within the
next month. The engineering phase for repairing Country Club Blvd is complete and the project is ready to go out for bid. Barring any delays, construction should start in August.
Improvements to Morning Drive and Cliffside are
about two months behind the Country Club Blvd
project. Per David Scagliola, Schertz City Councilman,there is still money for road improvements(about $5M) authorized by the 2006 Bond initiative. The City Council and Staff are in the process of developing a strategy to sell the bonds and complete all of the projects outlined in the bond election. The primary
challenge is to complete these projects, without
raising the tax rate.?” Our thanks to Councilman Scagliola for this valuable and informative information.

FREE LINE DANCING CLASSES:

Intermediate classes are held at the Community Center North(the old NC Fire station on Morning Dr.), on Thursday mornings from 9-11 a.m. Beginner classes to learn the basics steps are held at the Schertz Community Center on Schertz Parkway on Tuesday mornings at 9:00 a.m. What better way to exercise and socialize than to line dance. These classes are sponsored by the
Methodist Health Care System. Please call Dorothy at 830 606-0501 for further information.

NORTHCLIFFE DUES DRIVE:

Our Homeowners?’ Association is currently in the
midst of its annual membership dues drive. We
had excellent results from our drives last year,
but we need more support from our residents
who are concerned about the quality of our
neighborhood. By paying the annual $25.00
dues, you have a counted vote at community
meetings; help to maintain the landmark American
flag that so proudly flies at our entrance and
support services like this newsletter. Please
make checks payable to NCHOA and return this
form with your dues to: NCHOA, P.O. Box 502,
Cibolo, TX 78108.
Thank you for your support.

NORTHCLIFFE CITY POOL:

The City Pool at Northcliffe will be open everyday except Tuesday starting on June 6th.
Daily hours are 12-7pm. Pool Admission: $1.25 per entry or $3.00 for daily passes. (unlimited entry during 1 day). Season Passes are available and are sold at the pool during all hours of operation. The YMCA of San Antonio has been contracted to maintain and run both the Pickrell
Pool and the Northcliffe Pool. The YMCA has
a meticulous water testing program and all lifeguards are certified.

The YMCA will be offering swimming lessons starting 15 June for Pre-School (Ages 3-5 yrs) and School Age Children (Ages 6 and up.)
There will be four sessions of swim lessons:
Session 1: June 15th ?–June 26th
Session 2: July 6th-July 17th
Session 3: July 20th-July 31st
Session 4: August 3rd-August 14th

Fees per session are $54.00. Registration for
swimming lessons starts 1 week prior to session.
For more information about swim lessons
please contact Sarah Wiemers, Pool Manager
at 210-365-2687 or Sarah@ymcasatx.org.

All children 12 years and younger must be
accompanied by an adult who is at least 18
years old. No flotation devices or fins are allowed to be brought into the pool.
The maximum capacity of the pool at any
given time is 50 people. You may want to call
the Northcliffe Pool at 830-625-5009 to
check and make certain that the pool is not
full prior to your arrival.

Pool Rental: The pool can be rented out for
special events. Rental rates are available on
the Schertz Website.

Mike Trainor, Schertz Park Manager and his
staff deserve a big thank you for getting the
Northcliffe City Pool ready this season. During
the last month the water from the pool
was emptied, and the surfaces were scrubbed down. New drain covers were installed and repairs made to the pump filtering system. The pool was then refilled.