Mumbo Jumbo

This months Newsletter (May 2013) is...well, I really don't have any words that can really describe it. Let's begin with the front page with "News from the Board".  April Meeting Held.  Good to know.  I look forward to reading the minutes on the website.  Oh, well I will have to wait a bit seeing how February minutes aren't up yet.  The next news is "Annual HOA Meeting", reminding us of the date and time.  Usually we have a barbecue, but it looks like it has been zapped this year.  And no issues up for vote. Hmmm, seems some homeowners tried to get some items on the agenda at the May Board meeting but it was canceled.  Last year the agenda items were announced in the June Newsletter. Hopefully the June meeting won't be canceled so this can be brought up.

Pool is open, Yay!  Now the entire county can come back to Pawnee Hills like they do every year and swim here.  Yes, we pay our dues so Elbert county can hop on over and enjoy our pool.  You and I know that is what happens every year.  Suggestions have been made to hire security, too expensive.  Security camera?  Too expensive, who will maintain?  How about we charge admission to the public, announce it and use that money to pay for upkeep and security and a lifeguard so we don't get sued when a pool hopper drowns one night.  Yes, officer we know they hop the fence and there was a danger and we called the police, but we stopped calling because we felt you wouldn't do anything.  Could we be held liable?  I would rather be safe than sorry and wait to do something until some teenager loses their life because we didn't want to make it safe.

By-law reminder:  Article X, Amendments 1. & 2.  Read them.  Have no idea what context they are pertaining to.  Is this secret code to something that is going on that not everyone is privy to?  This reminds me of a Supervisor at work that doesn't want to talk to the one person who is not coming in to work on time so they send a reminder to everyone.  Guaranteed that little reminder did nothing for 98% of the residents, how about we become a bit more community geared and explain why we are sending out a reminder?

That about covers page one.  Page two has a Covenant reminder and lets just suffice to say a little note along with the mumbo jumbo would be appreciated.

Skip to page 3 to the Website:  Meeting minutes.  Still waiting for February, March......

I am just a bit disgruntled and apologize for my seemingly negative attitude even if it is justified.  You see I really want positive communication from the HOA board.  I don't want this feeling of us against them.  It is our money that they are managing and I take offense to any attitude that doesn't acknowledge that.  I do appreciate encouraging comments from the Vice President to continue homeowner involvement

I get the feeling that perhaps our HOA board has lost sight of the fact the homeowners have contributed monies that with interest now add up to $110,378.79.  That is a lot of money in this or any economy.  Every one of the homeowners should be treated with the utmost respect and courtesy.  Let us help you, let us become involved.  Throwing mumbo jumbo at us doesn't foster a healthy relationship it confuses most and annoys many.

May Board Meeting Canceled

Some neighbors had agenda items for the May board meeting to be held on the 9th at 6pm. To be on time arrangements were made, work schedules were changed to be sure all were there on time for the meeting.  At the very last minute a sign was hung on the door of the community building indicating the meeting had been canceled.  The facility manager came to us and explained that the decision had been made due to not enough board members attending do make a quorum.

A few days later I sent an email to the board members asking if there was a forum to which we could send Agenda items ahead of time to avoid this in the future. I  received a timely response indicating a discussion on a more effective way of handling schedule changes is in the works.  I appreciated this and am glad to see the board is open to discussion.

The response I received also indicated the the Board of Directors (BOD) are volunteers.  I have to assume this was brought up as a possible reason not all members could make the meeting??? That is understandable, our lives are busy this time of year. That being said as members of the board, they accept the responsibility that goes with the position.  I was also directed to the By-laws and Covenants if I had any issues or problems with policies or actions of the board. I can only assume that this refers to the By-laws that indicate the board can cancel a meeting if a quorum is not met without further notice. However I think that when the board posts a statement at the mail-building stating "Homeowners Welcome" to the meetings, then they should stand behind that statement. If there had been 100 neighbors waiting for the doors to open would things have changed?

Calling all Gardeners!

Just want to give a shout out to our residents out there who are Gardeners.  Some might wonder if we are crazy trying to garden in this climate, with this wind. That is not the case at all.  Typically we garden for the sheer love of it.  Watching something you plant grow successfully, whether it be eaten at your table or providing nectar for the bees, it is a beautiful thing.  I have met a few in our community that have the same passion for gardening as I do.  We must deal with the same challenges such as wind, pocket gophers, deer, rabbits and to me the most challenging of all, Grasshoppers. 

If you could share some tips for successful gardening that would be greatly appreciated!   Our local http://elbert.colostate.edu/ office is a wonderful resource, but usually I find the best tips from the gardeners themselves. 

In our garden we only use drip watering due to the high winds here.  In the past I have used "soaker" hoses however this year I will be going with emitter hoses.  They are smaller, easier to get directly to the plants.  

My favorite thing to grow every year is pumpkins for my grown daughters living in the city.  They enjoy picking their pumpkins to take home and carve with their children.

How about you?  What are your gardening tips?  Favorite things to grow?  How you keep the pests out of the garden?  

Board of Director's Meeting tonight, April 11, 2013 6:00 pm.

The HOA board of directors meeting is tonight.  Homeowners are welcome to attend.  One of our homeowners told us a story of their experience with an HOA they were a part of where homeowners looked forward to the meetings!  They gathered in neighborly friendship at each meeting and these meeting were highly attended.  As in the MAJORITY of all the homeowners came to every meeting.  That is a wonderful story.

How can we get there from here?  Well, may be it starts with just a few people.

Board Meeting 3-14-2013

I attended the Board Meeting last night in order to propose a locked bulletin board for Community notices.  I had hoped the Community would have the same advantage as the board by having a protected environment for our notices.  The board voted unanimously against it due to costs, not wanting control of it, fear of vandalism.  It was mentioned that if homeowners want their notices seen they will have to be diligent an keep putting up new notices if someone rips theirs down.  And so it goes....

What about the conduct at the HOA meetings?  Anyone else ever gone to a meeting and felt a bit beat up?  This was discussed last night for just a few minutes at the end of the meeting.  What bothers me is the statement that was said by more than two of the board members is "You can't control how people act".  Excuse me? Let's all take a minute to meet this here document. I would assume the board is familiar with it, but maybe it needs to be dusted off and read again.


http://www.pawneehillshoa.org/media/PHCA_ConductOfMeetings.pdf

There are absolutely rules for meetings.  Now the argument that it was not a meeting deserves a bit of discussion as well.  Due to the fact that our community rarely meets a quorum, the official meetings are often adjourned, then the option of discussion is offered. That is great!  We need to be able to discuss issues, but not without the same rules as a meeting.  It is ridiculous to accept that it is OK for Homeowner's to get attacked at meetings because of their views.  This is why the community doesn't want to get involved.  The board may enjoy conflict, but the majority folks don't.

HOA Meeting

The HOA board meeting is coming up next week on Thursday, March 14th, at 6pm.  Anyone planning to attend?

Community Meeting Tuesday, March 19th 6:30 pm

From discussions on this blog a meeting has been set to meet together for a casual potluck and begin to discuss community issues at our Clubhouse.   This is not an HOA meeting it is meant for residents to get together to discuss any issues we have with the intention of finding solutions.  Please come with ideas that can be explored.  We welcome you, please tell your neighbor about our meeting and that your heard about it here on our blog. The one for our community!