We will be going back to our guys doing trash beginning Monday, August 3rd. By having all maintenance guys concentrating on painting, we have gotten the base coat painting done for the year and are finishing up with the trim colors.
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Just a reminder to everyone, July 31st is the last day to apply for a Visitor Parking Permit and also for getting your Pool Pass.
- On Saturday, August 1st, no one can enter the pool area without a Pool Pass. Pool Passes are limited to 5 persons per pass.
- Also beginning in August, we will begin tagging and towing cars that are parked in Visitors Lots that belong to homeowners. We still have around 15 Applications available for the remaining Visitor Permits.
It seems like anytime we send a Violation warning letter to a resident to inform them that they are in violation of the CC&R or other enforceable HOA rules, we often hear the same phrase, “But, I pay my dues!” Sometimes, they will include “on time” to bolster their position, apparently. We have even had a supplemental phrase of “I pay my taxes!”, although I am unsure what that has to do with HOA rules. We have even had someone tell Terry that their dues pay her salary, so they are her boss. Really??
So, perhaps we should revisit what your monthly, mandatory dues include:
- Utilities – Water, sewer, trash pickup
- Maintenance – Exterior painting of your home and trim, exterior woodwork (soffets, facia, gables and other wood areas, excluding entry doors), gutters, front faucet, storage building (excluding framing and doors), common area fences, sidewalks, roadways and a few other things detailed in our documents.
These are the main things your monthly dues cover but also includes payroll, grounds maintenance, landscaping, pool costs and maintenance, and picking up the exorbitant amount of trash people toss out around our 22 acres. We have one maintenance guy whose primary job is to pick up trash that inconsiderate individuals toss out all over the property; his salary is better utilized maintaining the 416 homes here, but we do have prevent the area from looking like a landfill. We also acknowledge and thank the homeowners who pick up trash from near their properties; we have others, mostly renters, who believe we are here to pick up after them, as if we were their Mom.
To date, we have less than 15 homeowners apply for a Visitors Parking Permit. Anyone interested has until the July 31 deadline to apply. We will issue a final warning to those violating the Visitor Parking Only rules. In addition to the possible towing of vehicles at $300 each instance, violators are also subject to monetary fines per the CC&R, Fines and Enforcement Policy and other governing documents.
The Pool is open today at the normal time. We will monitor the chemistry and adjust as needed.
Everyone who has already paid their $5 needs to stop by the Office and get their Pool Pass. Once fully implemented, no one will be allowed in the Pool without a Pool Pass. There will be a 5 person limit on how many people can be on a single Pool pass.
Below is an example of the pass:
There seems to be some confusion about one of the requirements to get a rented visitor space, which states:
No visitor parking permits will be issued to any property where these two parking spaces are used for any other purpose than for parking operable motor vehicles. There are boat, trailer and RV storage places where space can be rented for those items or other recreational vehicles.
A few people think this says that you cannot park a boat, trailer or RV camper on your own property under your carport; it says no such thing. What it does say is that you will not be considered for a rental visitor parking space if you use your carport for something besides a place to park 2 cars.
We remind everyone that we do require any vehicle, boat or trailer to have current registration, inspections, or other state required permits while parked under your carport, as stated in our Parking Rules. You can be issued fines if they are expired, even under your own carport.
We ask our residents to please water the recently planted trees and the grass in the common area in the front and rear of your property. No rain is forecast for many weeks and we need to protect the money we have invested in trees and the 500-600 pounds of grass seed we have sown around the subdivision. The water used to keep the trees and plants alive is part of your HOA dues, you will pay nothing extra.
As a reminder, here is the watering schedule from Grand Prairie: (the first three restrictions apply to sprinklers)
Current Water Restrictions
The following restrictions are in effect in the city of Grand Prairie:
- No watering on Wednesday, Saturday or Sunday.
- Even Numbered addresses may water on Mondays and Thursdays.
- Odd numbered addresses may water on Tuesday and Fridays.
- Handheld and soaker hoses are allowed to be used any time.
*The following restrictions also apply at all times:
- Residents and business are prohibited from watering their lawns anytime between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
- When watering, a constant stream of water should not be allowed to flow into the street drainage.
- Watering during precipitation is prohibited. Rain sensors are required on newer watering systems.
We are working to get things fixed and the chemistry back where it needs to be. Our chemical costs have increased with the increase in swimmers, some who are non-residents and acting like this is a public pool.
I recently had a resident ask this question. He was genuinely trying to find an answer. After I explained things to him, I invited him to attend the August 6th Board meeting; I thought the actual numbers might explain things better:
- Townhouses – 416
- Spaces under carports (2) – 832
- 4 cars per home – 1,664
- Spaces needed to park the other 2 cars – 832
- Number of Visitor Spaces – 249
The numbers show we are 583 parking spaces short for all residents to have 4 cars per household. Yes, this is a worse case scenario, but it does illustrate the problem.
Where are visitors supposed to park if residents continually fill up the visitor lots? That’s the problem we are addressing, entirely too many residents parking in the Visitor Lots. Whether or not there are empty Visitor spaces available is irrelevant.