The Ridge at Fox Run

Fox Run News

August 1999 Volume 1, Issue 2

Fox Run News
ANNUAL MEETING


ANNUAL HOMEOWNERS
MEETING

The 3rd Annual Homeowners Association Meeting has been set for Tuesday, September 28th. We intend to meet at Antelope Trails Elementary as we did for last year's meeting. The exact time and place will be announced in the official notice that will be sent approximately 2 weeks prior to the meeting.

COMMITTEES UPDATE

Following last year's annual meeting we formed four homeowner committees. They are Welcome Committee - Events Committee - Communications Committee and Trails & Landscape Committee. The committees also named block captains. We have recently experienced a year of transition with our new management company with Hammersmith Management taking over from the former Warren Management. Now that Hammersmith is firmly in place, we are looking for an expanded working relation with the committees and we are also looking for additional volunteers. Please give consideration to joining a committee and contributing to our community in whatever way you can.

DEVELOPER TRANSITION

DEVELOPER TRANSITION

As we are coming closer to the development being sold out we are looking for more involvement by homeowners. In a short time, the actual running of the Fox Run Homeowners Associations will be up to you. Having a smooth and working transition from developer to homeowners is extremely important. Therefore, we would like to see as many people become involved with the current committees as possible and we are looking for a record attendance at our upcoming 3rd Annual Meeting. There will be many very important issues and decisions to be discussed.


COMMUNITY DIRECTORY

We are requesting everyone's cooperation to update the community directory. It is our intention to publish a new, completely current edition prior to our 3rd Annual Meeting in September. We're looking for input from everyone. Enclosed with the Newsletter is a profile sheet. Please complete and return to us as soon as Possible by faxing to 488-8780 or sending to the Fox Run sales office at 15755 Longmeadow Lane, 80921. Feel free to add any additional information about your family on the profile form that you would like to see included in the directory. We would really like to have this directory printed and ready to distribute by the September meeting but we need your immediate cooperation to accomplish this goal.

NEW REP FOR HAMMERSMITH MANAGEMENT

Angela Artale has joined Hammersmith Management Inc. as the new Director of Community Relations for Fox Run Homeowners Association. She comes to us with over 12 years experience in homeowner associations and management. As a condominium owner, she served on her own association's board of directors including one term as President. Angela's husband, Ted Garcia, is a native of Colorado Springs. They have moved into their new home with their two dogs and cat and are looking forward to becoming part of the Colorado Springs community. You can reach Angela and her assistant Lyann at the office at 520-0009.

DEVELOPMENT UPDATE

TRAILS - As you may have noticed, work on the final layer of the trail system is on-going. It is the developer's goal to have the trail system completed by the end of summer on the south side of the project.

DRAINAGE ISSUES - With the deluges we have experienced this summer, our project has withstood way more than its fair share of water - as has the entire of El Paso County. Overall, we have held up extremely well. We continue to work on the re-directing of drainage channels along Longmeadow Lane and Dearcross Court. El Paso County has committed to perform this work and has given us a tentative date of September to have the work completed.

LANDSCAPING/EROSION - Please remember that one of the paramount ways to prevent water damage and erosion problems is to comply with Fox Run requirements to landscape and reclaim all disturbed areas of your lot within 3 months of home construction completion. And, until landscaped or revegetated, erosion control devices such as silt fencing and hay bales must be in place. We reiterate this in all of our communiques for a reason. It is imperative that all disturbed ground be reclaimed to prevent drainage problems on your own lot or to prevent impacting your neighbor's lot.

CUL-DE-SAC TREE ISLANDS - Many residents have asked about tree islands maintenance. Technically, the islands are part of the roadways and therefore belong to El Paso County. The developer has been maintaining them, i.e., weed pulling, etc., on a limited basis. The responsibility for the future lies with the HOA or individual residents on a given cul-de-sac. The possibility of surrounding homeowners being responsible for their island was discussed at length with the Trails & Landscaping Committee. The planting of flowerbeds or native grasses or any combination by the cul-de-sac residents was suggested as the best solution.

PINE BEETLE ALERT

We're reprinting an article recently featured in the Colorado Springs Gazette regarding the possibility of trees being affected by pine beetles. While Fox Run is not experiencing an overwhelming problem, the building of your home can make the trees on your lot vulnerable. For example, during home construction, trees can be hit by equipment, cutting into the bark and thus rendering them weak. A weak or dying tree can be an open invitation for a pine beetle attack.

As we indicated in previous correspondence or Newsletters, if you have an infested tree on you lot, it is your responsibility and obligation to have it removed. First you must inform the HOA Management Company at 520-0009. You can then contact the tree removal service of your choice. Dundee Tree Service works in the area for the developer and has agreed to give us a discounted group price. Dundee can be reached at 4954928.

ABOUT THE PINE BEETLE

IDENTIFYING AND TREATING INFESTED TREES
Signs and Symptoms - Popcorn-shaped masses of resin, called "pitch tubes," on the trunk where beetle tunneling begins. 0 Wood dust in bark crevices and on the ground. Evidence of woodpeckers feeding on the trunk. Patches of bark are removed and bark flakes lie on the ground. Needles turning yellowish to reddish throughout the top of the tree. Usually occurs eight to 10 months after a pine beetle infestation. Presence of live beetle eggs, larvae or pupae under the bark. This can be checked by chopping off a piece of bark. What to do with infested tree. Once the tree is infested, it cannot be saved. Logs can be burned, preferably in the fireplace, to kill developing beetles before they emerge. Logs also can be stripped of their bark and buried at least eight inches underground or chipped. Foresters are increasingly using a solar treatment that calls for wetting the tree and wrapping it in clear plastic, then placing it in direct sunlight. The technique can raise the underbark temperatures to more than 100 degrees, lethal to the beetle.

Prevention

Certain sprays - mainly carbaryl and permethrin - can prevent attacks on individual trees. Applied in early summer, the sprays are quite effective, but only for that year's crop of beetles. Generally, beetles like forests that are old and dense, as they contain weak and stressed trees. Thinning out excess trees will reduce density, lessen fire hazards and improve individual tree vigor. Who to call for more information - Colorado State Forest Service: 687-2921
El Paso County Department of Forestry and Noxious Weeds: 575-8490 Colorado Springs Forestry: 385-5942