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!

Solutions and Forward Thinking

On one of our tabs, "Facilities" it has been mentioned that our sign has been recently re-stained and while it looks nice there is a bit of dribble into the white lettering.  When I look at the sign I don't see the dribbling, I see a community that is struggling with moving forward. I am tempted to suggest we call the subdivision "Pawnee Hills 112" because that comes up over and over and over again. I believe everyone is very much aware that it takes the 112 yes votes to change the covenants. That message has been sent and received.  Now let's talk about solutions and start thinking outside the box a bit.  Let's do the math again and question it.  Let's talk about changes we'd like to see and get started on writing the language.  There are things we need to change inside the community like how we treat each other as well as how the outside community perceive us and our community.

112 is based on 167 homes in the community and needing 2/3 of those homes to provide a yes vote for the proposed change.  How about some discussion on out of those 167 homes are they all occupied by owners or bank owned - shall we change the language to be fair so that the banks are expected to vote?  Or is that beside the point. We need to get to a reasonable calculation amount while still protecting our community. We also need to understand that some changes won't affect all of us.  Let's break through the need to control others and let each of us have the right to express our interests.  We own our land, the HOA does not.  A new homeowner belongs here just as much as someone who has been here for 30 years.  We are all one in the same, residents of Pawnee Hills so please let's work together and make Pawnee Hills an amazing and friendly community where our children and grandchildren can learn about living in the country.

Take a look at the Community Issues page, one of our residents is voicing concerns about the Grasshoppers.  We fight them too every year.  I can't want to hear your solutions too.  I haven't tried the NoLo but that is what I was leaning towards this year.  Today as the snow is blowing around I have a terrible case of Spring Fever!

We Welcome Your Comments

Please feel free to comment on proposed changes no matter what your position is.  We want to hear from everyone.  You can place your comments here anonymously if you prefer.  And if you are a resident here that does not participate in the voting process, please tell us why and what we can do to make it better so you will vote.

Annual Homeowners Meeting 1/28/2013

Our Annual Homeowner's Meeting is coming up soon. The biggest challenge of these meeting is to actually hold one.  First a quorum must be met which is very difficult to do unless we have something on the agenda that really gets the attention of a lot of homeowners.  The last time we had a quorum was in July due to the proposal to change the covenant to allow 8 hens on our properties.

If any changes are going to be proposed, they will need to be approved by the board and then be included in the agenda that must go out to the homeowners, I believe 15 days before the meeting date.  I don't have a copy of the bylaws up so I could be wrong.  The point is if anyone is going to submit something, it needs to be done fast.  There are several ideas brewing and good ones at that.  I hope to see many residents at the meeting and hopefully we can see some changes this time around.

Come on Pawnee Hills, lets move with the times.  It seems we are stuck in the 70's and it's time to become a community that is open to change.  A place that people want to live because we work together on issues and evolve like other communities.

Black Friday?

I understand the term Black Friday but the term itself sounds like a bit of a dooms day to me.  The thought of going out on a day where thousands turn out to find the best deals is not appealing to me.  However, I am a people watcher and can see the appeal there.  Being at the mall seeing people with their friends having fun in the spirit of the season sounds like a nice way to start the season....for some.  If I wasn't working today and was intent on shopping I would more than likely opt for shopping on line.

This year our family has decided to keep the holidays simple.  We'll make gifts that we can and shop local when we can't.  I love small business Saturday.  That's my favorite shopping day.

As for the guys, will they be hanging Christmas lights this weekend?  I sure hope so :)  I love it when Pawnee Hills is lit up for Christmas, I look forward to it every year.  Will you be decorating your home this year?

The LLamas are back

Now I imagine we have folks on both sides of the fence here, some who are not so happy there are llamas hanging out in Pawnee Hills and some who don't really mind.  I don't mind at all.  I have heard them called alpacas but folks I assure you they are not alpacas, they are their larger cousins the llama.  Search google to see the differences not only in size but in appearance as well.

Back in the summer I recall speaking to a gentlemen who suggested the llamas were here to graze because the drought had been tough on their owners land and they needed a bit more feed for them.  So a friend was helping out by allowing them to graze here in Pawnee hills.  Now I am well aware it is against the covenants here, but sometimes in life we have to look at the greater good and that's what I see out of this story.  Now you can argue the same case for visiting cows, donkeys, giraffes and elephants and this would be a different conversation.  I just don't see the llamas disturbing the land or neighbors.  Kind of like chickens, eh?

Holiday Sharing

Here come the holidays.  For many of us it is a time for family & friends.  Some of that may include some amount of travel, for others it means inviting out of town guests in our homes.  Regardless for most of us it is a very busy time of year.  There is shopping, baking, decorating and lots of organizing to do.  Not to mention all the socializing!  For some it can be overwhelming and others relish the thought of it all.  I love the holidays.  I love the spirit of it all, the smells the decorations, the old classic movies on TV, you name it I love it.  We have some wonderful family traditions, but if we stray from those to try something new that's OK too.

Every year it is most important to be thankful for what we have and remember that there is someone who may need help.  It doesn't take much to help someone out.  Do you know a family in our community that may need a little help during the holidays?  If so please send a private email to the address listed below.  If you are interested in helping some of our families in need please let me know as well.

Send private emails to:  barbstc@gmail.com