Northcliffe

Articles from the June Newsletter

Jun 09, 2008

NORTHCLIFFE MESSAGE BOARDS TO BE IMPROVED:

The Northcliffe Letter Entry signs on Country Club Blvd. and Chelsea will soon be updated. The HOA Board approved funds from the annual HOA dues to update both signs. Bud Dieter, a long time Northcliffe resident has graciously offered to head up this project. Anyone who would like to assist with this project can call Mr. Dieter @ (210) 473-5910.

Plans include straightening and stabilizing the signs, adding new posts with decorative spinals and refurbishing the white background.

The task of improving the appearance of the signs is a challenge because of a City code which prohibits signs in City easements. Because our signs were in place prior to annexation in 2001, ours are grandfathered. However, they must be renovated without removing the sign posts from their current location.

Community residents have also expressed the need to rebuild a large stone or wood Northcliffe entry sign on Chelsea. For many years there was a beautiful wood ?“Northcliffe?” sign on the west side of Chelsea. Unfortunately, 3 years ago the sign, due to aging, had deteriorated and collapsed on its foundation and had to be removed. When we went to rebuild, we found out that the land on which it had been located for over 20 years was private property not owned by Northcliffe. It has taken some time, but the developer of Fairway Ridge has agreed to donate a corner piece of his land along Chelsea so that we can build a new sign.

That brings us to a ?“Call for Help?”. Anyone interested in heading up a project to build a permanent stone or wood Northcliffe entry sign on Chelsea please contact an HOA Board Member or send an message to our email address at the top of this newsletter. We need your help and expertise to beautify our community.

CITY POOL AT NORTHCLIFFE OPENED MAY 28th:

The City Pool at Northcliffe opened on Memorial Day and will remain open until August 24th. Hours are 12 noon to 7:00 pm. every day except Monday when it will be closed.

The City has contracted with the YMCA to run its pools. They are providing 4 lifeguards each day to assure the safety of the residents and a top quality water testing program.

Cost to use the pool is $1.25 per entry or $3.00 for daily passes. Schertz residents may purchase a summer pass at the pool for the following numbers of household members:

1?—$30 2?—$40
3?—$50 4?—$60
5?—$70 6?—$80

The pass can be used at Northcliffe or Pickrell Pk.

All persons age 2 and older must pay to use the pool. Children under the age of 13 must be accompanied by an adult 18 years of age or older.

The YMCA will also offer swimming lessons . For information regarding swimming lessons, call the YMCA @ 210-246-9629.


A NOTE FROM THE SCHERTZ PARK DIRECTOR:

Mr. George Logan is the Director of the Parks for the City of Schertz. The HOA asked him to provide information to our residents:

I am pleased to see the number of people who are enjoying the City Park at Northcliffe. Our Parks Department has worked hard to design and build a park that would meet the recreational needs of the residents in this area.

In all of our parks, however, potential vandalism is a challenge we routinely deal with. To try an stay ahead of this, we will be installing video surveillance cameras in several of our parks this summer, including the City Park at Northcliffe. We will not be monitoring the cameras in ?“real time?”, but if there is an occurrence of vandalism it will allow us to go back and review the tape to identify the persons responsible.

The residents of Northcliffe Community can also help us keep the City Park safe and in prestine condition by calling the Schertz Nonemergency Police @ (210) 658-5421 to report any problems that they observe.

The Parks Department has more exciting plans to improve the park facilities in the area. The 2 acres of land behind the Community Center North Building (Old Fire Station) is now also a City of Schertz Park. We currently have soccer goals and a volleyball net there now for the citizens to use. Further improvements will be made to this park in the future.

The City also has purchased 8 acres of land for a park on top of the hill behind ?“The Links?” subdivision off Columbia. My plan is to clear the land on the highest part of the hill and add a pavilion and sitting area. The view of the rest of the City from there is breathtaking ?— you can see for miles! The rest of the land there will be left in its beautiful natural state. We plan to add walking and bike trails thru this natural habitat in the future.

The Parks Department welcomes any feedback from citizens regarding suggestions on how we can continue to best meet their recreational needs. Please feel free to contact me at the Parks Dept at:
GLogan@Schertz.com.

NEW DAY CARE CENTER APPROVED IN NORTHCLIFFE:

As we reported in our March Newsletter, an Office and Professional Complex is going to be built at the corner of Country Club and Portage surrounding the Convenience Store. Permission to build and operate an Day Care Center in that complex has now been approved by City Council. To date, that is the only business scheduled to be built. At last report, the developers were still attempting to locate medical professional personnel and other businesses that may be interested.

DID YOU KNOW?…?

The City of Schertz does not have districts or precincts and, therefore, City Councilmen do not represent any particular group of residents. The City believes that ALL councilmen represent ALL citizens. A resident may contact any councilmen, including the Mayor at the following email addresses:
Mayor Baldwin: HBaldwin@schertz.com
Mr. Scagliola: DScagliola@schertz.com
Mr. Fowler: JFowler@schertz.com
Mr. Carpenter: MCarpenter@schertz.com
Mr. Wilenchik: TWilenchik@schertz.com
Mr. Trayhan: JTrayhan@schertz.com

TRAFFIC ISSUES AN ONGOING CHALLENGE FOR NORTHCLIFFE COMMUNITY:

A resident of Northcliffe recently contacted the HOA regarding his concern about the increased traffic on Morning Drive. Two months ago, the City opened up a direct connection between Morning Drive and Country Club Bld. This was a connection that was planned over 30 years ago, but did not occur until K.B. Homes started to build and completed the extension of Country Club Blvd. Many are now using Morning Drive as a main thoroughfare to access FM 1103. This creates a potential safety and noise concern for the citizens on Morning Drive. The citizens on Mayfair have also, at times, voiced their concerns about that street being used as a main thoroughfare since the I-35 access road was made one-way. What can we do? The City of Schertz has a Traffic and Safety Advisory Committee, (TSAC) whose role is to get input from citizens regarding health, safety and welfare concerns due to traffic issues.

Meetings are held on the first Thursday of every month at 6:30 p.m. in the City Hall Conference Room on Schertz Pkwy. Citizens may speak at the beginning to be heard and voice their concerns about traffic issues.

PRESIDENT'S CORNER:

Our community is very lucky to have residents who care so very much about the quality and appearance of our neighborhoods. I would like to thank the following people who volunteer their time:
Link and Jimmie Linkenhoger for all of their volunteer work mowing and trimming on Chelsea as well as picking up trash every week that is thrown out by thoughtless individuals.
Vicki Burkhammer ,Janis Waterman and Veronica Coffee for all of their hard work organizing our very successful Community Garage Sale.
Also Vicki Burkhammer for picking up trash on Wimbledon.
David Garber for all of his hard work maintaining and caring for our Flag on Country Club Blvd.
All of our Block Captions for making certain that 659 newsletters get distributed every quarter.

Any parents who are looking for projects to teach their children community service, helping to pick up trash on Chelsea Blvd. and other community areas would be a wonderful lesson. Everyone?’s help is needed to help keep our streets and our neighborhood looking FINE!

Community Center North Improvements Underway
Per Leonard Truitt, Director of Development Services for the City of Schertz; the $100,000.00 renovation will include:

Updating the electric, mechanical and plumbing.
Updating the bathrooms and making them handicap compliant.
Remodeling the main meeting area and hallways with new drop ceilings, new sheetrock and carpet or floor covering. Installing an awning over the main entrance and replacing existing sidewalks and driveway to the storage area.
Also, some parking will be provided to the rear of the building.
Very little will be done to the kitchen at this time other than a fresh coat of paint.
Stucco and masonry/stone will also be installed on the exterior plus new glass doors.

The Renovation is expected to be completed by the 1st of July. Once Morning Dr. has been cleaned up following the renovation of the Community Center and the installation of the water pipeline., the corner of Morning Dr. and Country Club should have a whole new look. Citizens may then call (210) 619-1600 to rent it for an event.

NEW WATER PIPELINE INSTALLED THRU NORTHCLIFFE COMMUNITY:

A water pipeline is being installed thru our Northcliffe Community. The 16 inch diameter pipeline will run from the new one million gallon Booster Pump Station at the corner of Morning Drive and Country Club Blvd. to Cherry Tree, to Chelsea, and across FM 1103 up Wiederstein. It will then connect with the new Riata Subdivision being built next to the new Sipple Elementary School.

According to Councilman Scagliola the rapid growth in Northeastern Schertz has tremendously increased the need for new water infrastructure.

In 2001, Northeastern Schertz consisted of Northcliffe and Scenic Hills. There were 900 homes with a population of 2,330 people.
Since then, five new subdivisions have been added, Whisper Meadow, The Fairways, Fairhaven, Fairway Ridge, Belmont Park and Riata. These Subdivisions are adding 2,374 homes and 6,700 residents to our area in Northeastern Schertz.

According to Mr. Dennis Little, Assistant Public Works Director: ?“The project has begun and the contractor will send out door hangers with additional information. The project should take 60 calendar days. There will be some traffic delays in and around the construction site but they will dig and backfill as they go to keep any inconveniences to a minimum. If you can't get through the construction zone you will need to go around the block to get to your residence.?”

The short term inconvenience should lead to better long-term water support for our area.

ATTENTION NORTHCLIFFE STAY-AT-HOME MOMS!

Noone understands the joys and struggles of being a mother better than another mom! I am a stay-at-home mom with toddlers, and I have noticed that there are many of us in the neighborhood. I have tried to find playgroups in the area, and realized that they are hard to come by. With summer coming in a few weeks, it seems that we will be spending a lot more time outside with our children. I have an idea that might interest some of you. I was thinking of starting a group that would get together monthly. It would be a great chance for the kids to interact with each other, and of course we would be able to meet to share tips and stories. On Wednesday, June 18th, a small group of moms and I will be meeting at 9 a.m. at the neighborhood park on Cherry Tree. If you are interested in meeting other moms who are active with their kids, and are excited to make new friends in the process, come join us!


Schertz Revises City Ordinance on
Nuisances:

The City defines ?“General Nuisance?” in Chapter 54 of it?’s Code of Ordinances as:
?“...any condition or use of a building, structure, lot, parcel or premises which is in an unsanitary, objectionable, or unsightly condition or injurious to public health, which is detrimental to the property of others, or which causes or tends to cause diminution in the value of other property in the neighborhood in which such premises is located.?”
Some of the Ordinances that should be of interest are:
It shall be unlawful for any person to cause or permit to be or remain upon any premises under his control in a public or semi-public area that might be accessible to children, any large appliance (freezer, refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, clothes washer, clothes dryer and other similar appliances).
It shall be unlawful for any person to permit or allow the keeping or the depositing on, or the scattering over the premises of any of the following:
Lumber, junk, trash, debris, brush, garbage or animal, vegetable or mineral matter and/or any composition of residue thereof;
Abandoned, discarded or unused objects or equipment such as furniture, stoves, refrigerators, freezers or other appliances and including empty and discarded cans or containers, inoperable motor vehicles, car parts, tires and structurally unsound fences.

It shall be unlawful for a person to park or allow to remain parked a motor vehicle, construction vehicle, boat, personal water craft or trailer of any kind at any time in the side or front yard in any single-family residential zoned district, unless parked on a well maintained parking area extending from the curb, street or alley in a contiguous course, and construction of concrete or asphalt. ***
All chimneys shall be maintained structurally safe and sound, and in good repair.
Garage doors shall be capable of being closed reasonably plumb, properly attached and the exterior surface maintained weatherproof as required to prevent deterioration.

*** Northcliffe Deed Restrictions prohibit ANY boats or trailers in public view!