Towne Lake Garden Association

@Faith62: 95% of the potential criminals, really? I heard 95% of just people fishing were from outside the gate. We can't even keep out feral hogs. and it's only a matter of time for a drug dealer to figure out the best times to hit the common areas are when the SAFE Officer is at work..

You also expressed that the original developers goofed. Perhaps they didn't provide for what could be defined as a minimum standard for safety with regard to the families being solicited for occupancy. We can still be a unique community without the gate, we'd still have a lake.

The water bill is a question of how much, and according to the minutes of September's meeting it could be as much as $20,000.00 a year. Your point about not watering as much could be countered with the effects of your own point of being in a drought causing a need for more water just keep the lake filled during warmer months. We'll just have to wait and see.

@Draston: Your point is not germane to this point of the discussion. We know that traffic laws are un-enforceable on our streets right now, we get that. Cornyn's reply was just a rather lengthy speech referring to the TX Transportation Code about the very same thing. Now, there could've been remedies within the very same code Cornyn used, depending on the circumstances, but government is not obligated to inform.

Perhaps the SAFE Officer was speaking to the residents at the meeting, and telling them the power to allow for ticketing was in their hands, maybe or maybe not in so many words. The point being, the 1^st step in the process is for the gate to come down.

@Everyone: Typically, the HOA is a separate legal entity that holds formal title to the "common areas" such as streets, parks, recreation facilities, and other common property. The individual owners of neighborhood properties are also automatically the "shareholders" in the homeowners association who collectively own the assets and control the actions of the association.

All it should take is 1 Board of Directors willing to put the safety of the residents above esthetics, better that than 1 dead child. I just wanted to put the info out there. We can do something about the gate and ownership of the streets.

The bottom line is that our streets are not safe, never mind any other type of incident Police can already be called out for. I believe ticketing will send the message that there will be a Police presence, and that will even help to alleviate the concerns over other types of incidents which are not the subject of this topic. We are not so far off the beaten path, as it were, and SAPD is not stretched so thin that an occasional patrol car couldn't drop by from time to time. There is also the willingness of the SAFE Officer to help with protecting the kids. However, all that is secondary the primary goal should be to get to a point where traffic laws can be enforced.

Look, my main concern starts with our communities children. Forget the outside criminal element for a moment, I'm just as concerned about the neighbor with little regard for people walking their pets, and kids playing in the street and getting on or off a school bus.

What it looks like to me is that developers had to create a whole bunch of properties off the lake to support the standard of living for those with properties on the lake, and they didn't take the safety of all the residents and/or their children into account. Maybe it's time we did.

The gate can go somewhere, and it's within the power of the residents to make that happen.

After taking another look at the URL provided by Draston, it looks as though it could be as simple as taking down the gate and declaring the streets open for use by the general public. We wouldn't have to declare the parks or lake open for use by the general public, just the streets. Thanks Chief.

FYI:  

Ferrel hogs.

Metal barracades were installed in the drainage areas under the fences that lead to Salado Creek.  This improvement was approved by your BOD & paid for by your assessment.  Installation occurred about 45 days ago. There have not been any hog sightings since.

On Wednesday of this week I received a first hand account that two SAPD officers shot & killed a 300lb ferrel hog in the vacinity of Titan & Missle streets.  Perhaps this was the hog that was in Towne Lake.

Look for the good & you will find it.......Look for the bad you will also find it.  In other words try to be a part of the solution.   There are way too many critics on this site.