ELDORADO HOMEOWNERS' ASSOCIATION

Transcription

1 Official Newsletter of the Eldorado Homeowners' Association Volume 2, Number 11 November 2007 President s Letter Since this is the time of year when we give thanks for our blessings I thought that I would take the time to give thanks for some of the blessings I have experienced during my tenure as President of the association. I am thankful for a committed and talented Board of Directors. Larry Thompson, Lillian Taylor-Blackmon, Genevieve Sampson, Monte Self, Bob Philo, and Darlene Kellner take their responsibilities as Board members seriously. They are constantly looking for ways to improve our neighborhood and build our community. It is a privilege for me to get to work with them each month. I am thankful for Rob Koop and CMA. Their dedication to their clients is apparent in everything they do. Rob continually looks out for our community and works diligently to ensure that every detail is taken care of. We are blessed to have such a professional manager working for us. I am thankful for the many residents who have helped out the association this year. We have had record numbers of volunteers delivering Community Picnic invites, wanting to serve on various committees, and ing to info@eldoradohomeowners.org with positive suggestions for improvements. It is refreshing to have so many people wanting to help out the Board of Directors. I am thankful for the Block Captains who each year host National Night Out Parties. Many of them start planning the next year s party before this one has even ended. These individuals put a lot of time into organizing and planning their block parties. Our neighborhood is stronger and safer because of their efforts. I am thankful for residents who share their passions with the community. Whether it picking up trash around the lake, writing a column for the newsletter, or volunteering your talents to DJ a party in the park your efforts do not go unnoticed or unappreciated. Finally, I am thankful for the people I pass everyday on the street while I am walking my dog or taking my daughter to school. So many of you have stopped to talk and shared your thoughts about the community. Those words are always encouraging to me because they let me know how deeply you care about our neighborhood. I am very thankful for the opportunity to serve you through this homeowners association. I wish each of you a happy and joyous holiday season. Twinkle Twinkle Little Lights Eldorado is widely known for extensive, theme-based Holiday lights and decorations. People come from great distances each year to drive through our streets and enjoy this tradition. This is an exciting and unique aspect of the culture and aura that attracts families to Eldorado. Several families have recently moved into our neighborhood and are not familiar with this tradition. Other families have been participating, but are not entirely clear on the guidelines we have in place to maintain our theme and structure. An overview with guidelines is provided below as information to all Eldorado residents; it obviously is not mandatory but definitely encouraged. It is a goal to put up lights/decorations prior to the end of Thanksgiving weekend. Common areas and subdivision entry ways will be decorated by the Association on the weekend prior to Thanksgiving. Lights are to be taken down after New Years Day. In past years, homeowners have used the white miniature lights. Multi-colored, multi-sized lights, icicles lights and flashing lights have been used as well, consider LED s to conserver energy. Each street has a theme (summarized below). Be creative with yard decorations that support your theme, If you have any questions about your street theme, please contact your block captain, the association at info@eldoradohomeowners. org, or the property manager. Augusta: (upper) Nativity Scenes, Angels Augusta: (lower) Santa Claus Brookside Lane: Visions of Christmas Carriage Trail: Holidays in the Woods Cedarwood Court: The North Pole Club Lake Trail: Disney or Christmas Trees with Presents Club Oaks: Mailbox Christmas Trees Colonial Circle: (upper) Santa Circle Colonial Circle: (lower) Transportation - Christmas Style, Santa Claus, 12 Days of Christmas Fairway Ridge: Red Ribbons on Mailboxes, wreaths on doors - lit up with spotlight - white lights outline homes Forest Court: Christmas Trees & Reindeer Forest Creek: Angels, Children s Nativity Scenes Forest Hills: Trees made from lights, Christmas with Lights Forest Hills Court: Trees made from lights, Christmas with Lights Copyright 2007 Peel, Inc. (Continued on page 4) Eldorado Homeowners' Association Newsletter - November 2007

2 Mission Statement The purpose of the Eldorado Homeowners Association is to maintain and enhance the quality of life of the Eldorado Community by preserving and beautifying the neighborhood environment and promoting community spirit through the involvement and participation of homeowners. Homeowners' Association Eldorado Homeowners' Association Manager, Rob Koop c/o CMA Management 1301 Central Expressway S, Suite 110 Allen, Texas President Pam Hinterscher... Executive Vice President Larry Thompson... VP Property Modification Monte Self... VP Landscape/Beautification Genevieve Samson... VP Communications Lillian Taylor-Blackmon... Secretary Darlene Kellner... Treasurer Robert Philo... Conservation Corner By Laurie Jay With the addition of our big blue bins, recycling in Eldorado has never been easier. Many of us are finding our blue bins filled to capacity before our regular green bins by trash pick up day. We contacted IESI, McKinney s waste service, to find out how to make the most of our recycling efforts and here s what we learned: Any type of paper is accepted--even shredded, stapled, colored, junk mail, magazines and phonebooks Leaf season s coming purchase and use brown biodegradable bags year round for all yard waste (offered at Home Depot, True Value & Wal-mart) and set them next to the trash for collection each week. Take lids off all bottles. The lid is recyclable as well as the bottle but neither will be recycled if the lid is attached to the bottle. No pizza boxes too greasy! No waxy paper like milk cartons No Styrofoam - there s not a dealer to accept it And hear this. NO plastic bags! You may see a recycling symbol, but plastic bags are NOT recyclable in the City of McKinney. To the detriment of our planet, over 100 BILLION plastic bags are consumed each year in the U.S. Consider purchasing REUSABLE canvas totes for groceries and shopping. IESI s last helpful suggestion? When you go to the park, a store, a school, anywhere and everywhere, if you notice that they do not offer recycling ask them to! Advertising Information Please support the businesses that advertise in the Eldorado Homeowners' Association newsletter. Their advertising dollars make it possible for all Eldorado residents to receive the monthly newsletter at no charge. No homeowners association funds are used to produce or mail the newsletters. If you would like to support the newsletter by advertising, please contact Peel, Inc. sales office at or advertising@peelinc.com. The advertising deadline is the 20th of each month for the following month's newsletter. At no time will any source be allowed to use the Eldorado Homeowners' Association contents, or loan said contents, to others in anyway, shape or form, nor in any media, website, print, film, , electrostatic copy, fax, or etc. for the purpose of solicitation, commercial use, or any use for profit, political campaigns, or other self amplification, under penalty of law without written or expressed permission from the Eldorado Homeowners Association and Peel, Inc. The information in the newsletter is exclusively for the private use of Eldorado residents only. Clip and Save Eldorado Homeowners Association, Inc. Managed by CMA 1301 Central Expwy South Suite 110 Allen, TX Manager, Robert Koop Phone: rkoop@cmamanagement.com 2 Eldorado Homeowners' Association Newsletter - November 2007 Copyright 2007 Peel, Inc.

3 CALL NOW for your Fall Tune-up! ONLY $69.95 per system ELDORADO HOMEOWNERS' ASSOCIATION No Payments Until Nov W.A.C. Up to $ Rebate With the purchase of a qualifying Trane Xli system. Copyright 2007 Peel, Inc. Eldorado Homeowners' Association Newsletter - November 2007

4 Lights - (Continued from cover page) Foxboro: Christmas in the Woods Green Tree: Christmas Critters Greenway: White Lights on Roof line, red ribbons on mailbox, spotlight wreath on front door Hillcrest Court: Elves and Stockings Hogan s Hill: Christmas Around the World (Ski Slope in 1999) Lakeshore Court: Dicken s Christmas Lakeside: Disney Christmas Roundrock Trail: Driveways lit with clear lights and wreaths on doors (Visions of Christmas 1999) St. Andrews: Snowman Street Stonepointe: Santa s Workshop Summerwood Court: The Nativity Sunny Meadow: Santa s Reindeer Sunset Ridge: Songs of Christmas Valley Creek Trail: Southwestern/Texas Christmas Wind Ridge: Songs of Christmas Woodland Court: Grinch Who Stole Christmas Woodside Circle: Tiny White Lights Woodstream Lane: Christmas Critters WOW! Great Yard! Our management company inspects the community for maintenance and violations, however they also help us recognize and commend homeowners that do an exemplary job maintaining their yards. Please congratulate the following homeowners and thank them for helping us all live in such a beautiful and much-envied community! Home Owner Street Inspection Date Alev & Ron Wieland Greenway Drive 10/9/2007 Brian & Suzanne Umberger Summerwood 10/9/2007 Cornelio Runas Stonepointe 9/25/2007 David Pitstick Club Oaks Court 10/9/2007 Hudson & Zoya Mead Colonial Circle 10/9/2007 Jared & Jennifer Smith Woodland Court 10/9/2007 Don't want to wait for the mail? View the current issue of the Eldorado Newsletter on t he 1 st of each month at Building North Texas One Yard at a Time Outdoor Living Structures Outdoor Stone Kitchens Outdoor Stone Fireplaces Cedar Arbors Cedar covered Porches Landscape Bed walls Fencing Pattern Concrete Let us put up your holiday lights! / Craig Dr Ste 300D McKinney, TX Banking Texas Style... and a website that does just about everything but shine your boots! MAIN OFFICE VAN ALSTYNE E. Jefferson St ANNA W. White St CELINA S Preston Rd MCKINNEY W. Virginia Pkwy SHERMAN N. Sam Rayburn Frwy TIOGA Gene Autry Dr TOM BEAN W. Hwy Eldorado Homeowners' Association Newsletter - November 2007 Copyright 2007 Peel, Inc.

5 Water, Water Everywhere Former HOA President David Ewing was able to snap some pictures on the morning of Oct 15th. The pictures below are of Shady Creek and the Dam 4A discharge to Comygys Creek. I think I see some animals lining up two by two. Speaking of rains, some water restrictions have lifted please visit org for the most recent regulations and guidelines. ELDORADO HOMEOWNERS' ASSOCIATION Taking a Trip to the Islands From time to time our association maintained islands take a little beating from truck tires and other vehicles. We get ruts and flat spots, and have had to replace monuments in the past. One of our islands on Wind Ridge had a little bump from a new drive, we had the tree checked out and the damage was only to the bark, see picture. The tree will be fine. Thank you to the driver s father for following up and checking on that. Please Welcome These New Homeowners to Eldorado: Lindsay N. & Carolyn S. Allen...Club Lake Trail Mary Colman...Sunset Ridge Mark & Catherine Moorman...Valley Creek Trail Ronald Schwartz...Greenway Drive Need an elementary tutor as one-of-a-kind as your kid? Think Tutoring 101. Get the individual attention that your child needs to help them master a specific subject or the basics with a one-of-a-kind degreed teacher. All subjects tutored Enrichment TAKS prep One-on-one Need to get their grades up quick? Think Tutoring 101. Get the specialized one-on-one help that only Tutoring 101 offers. Let us inspire your high school student and help them get a higher GPA quicker in subjects like Chemistry, Algebra, or Spanish, all with individual curriculum from a degreed teacher. All subjects tutored SAT /PSAT/ACT prep One-on-one Semester exams and test prep Enrichment NOW OPEN: PLANO > ALLEN > Copyright 2007 Peel, Inc. Eldorado Homeowners' Association Newsletter - November 2007

6 Send an Article Place an Ad To submit an article, please send to To place an ad, please contact Peel Inc. at Deadline for articles is the 15th of the month. DISCLAIMER: Articles and ads in this newsletter express the opinions of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Peel, Inc. or its employees. Peel, Inc. is not responsible for the accuracy of any facts stated in articles submitted by others. The publisher also assumes no responsibility for the advertising content with this publication. All warranties and representations made in the advertising content are solely that of the advertiser and any such claims regarding its content should be taken up with the advertiser. * The publisher assumes no liability with regard to its advertisers for misprints or failure to place advertising in this publication except for the actual cost of such advertising. * Although every effort is taken to avoid mistakes and/or misprints, the publisher assumes no responsibility for any errors of information or typographical mistakes, except as limited to the cost of advertising as stated above or in the case of misinformation, a printed retraction/correction. * Under no circumstances shall the publisher be held liable for incidental or consequential damages, inconvenience, loss of business or services, or any other liabilities from failure to publish, or from failure to publish in a timely manner, except as limited to liabilities stated above. Yard of the Month We would really like to reinstitute the Yard of the Month Program, we just a need a few volunteers to start in April. Please info@eldoradohomeowners.org if you can participate. Below is some information on the program: A committee of volunteers (3 5) is established to judge the yards within our community on the first Saturday of the month from April October (prime growing season). So you know, our community consists of 726 homes. Yards are judged on aesthetics of design and color as well as appearance. No consideration was given in the past to plant material or drought tolerance of the landscape. After last year s major drought and significant watering restrictions this would probably need to be revisited if we revamp the program. Our volunteers would award 2 winners who get a YOM sign placed in their yard. The winners were selected along geographic lines within our association (one from each area). Winners also received a $25 gift certificate donated by a local nursery. Celebrating 30 Years ADVERTISE HERE NO MATTER THE SIZE OF YOUR BUSINESS, WE VE GOT ROOM FOR YOU! Eldorado Homeowners' Association Newsletter - November 2007 Copyright 2007 Peel, Inc.

7 Summary of Covenant Violation Notifications for September Post Card Reminders Debris - Friendly Reminder 5 Exterior Maintenance - Friendly Reminder 1 Landscape Maintenance - Friendly Reminder 10 Recreational Vehicle - Friendly Reminder 1 Signs - Friendly Reminder 2 Trash Can - Friendly Reminder 14 Trailer - Friendly Reminder 2 Vehicle Issue - Friendly Reminder 1 Total Postcard Reminders 36 Certified Mail Notifications ARC Violation - Second Letter 1 Exterior Maintenance -Fine Letter 1 Fence Repair -Fine Letter 1 Landscape Maintenance - First Letter 3 Trash Can - First Letter 3 ARC Violation - Friendly Reminder 3 Total Letters 12 There is a cost associated with each of these notices, please review your CC&R s to ensure you are in compliance. Let us put those funds to better use. If you have any questions please contact info@eldoradohomeowners.org. Approved Property Modifications: October Below is a summary of property modifications approved by our all-volunteer committee in October. Most exterior changes do require approval from the PMC. If you would like to change the exterior or your home, be certain to turn in your application to the PMC. You can download the form online at org/downloads/pmcform.doc Street Modification Approved Date Club Lake Trail Replace existing fence 10/18/2007 Forest Creek Dead Tree Removal, side of House. Pending Sunset Ridge Construct Stone Flowerbed 10/18/2007 Sunset Ridge Repaint house trim 10/18/2007 Woodstream Lane Foundation Repair 10/18/2007 with possible replacement of front walk The new PMC guidelines are available on eldoradohomeowners. org under PMC forms. Classified Ads Personal classifieds (one time sell items, such as a used bike...) run at no charge to Eldorado residents, limit 30 words, please e- mail info@eldoradohomeowners.org Business classifieds (offering a service or product line for profit) are $50, limit 40 words, please contact Peel, Inc. Sales or advertising@peelinc.com. Thanksgiving Recipe Thanksgiving brings so many wonderful traditions and memories. In our house it s my mother-in-law s tater-tot casserole, it s the yummiest easiest side dish you ll ever make. Thought I would share it with you! HASH BROWN or TATER TOT CASSEROLE 1 cup onion, diced 1/4 lb. (1 stick) butter, thinly sliced 1/8 to 1/4 lb. (1 stick) butter, (for topping melted) 1 (8 oz.) container sour cream or plain yogurt (Low fat works well) 1 (8 oz.) pkg. sharp cheese (or cheddar or other yellow cheese as preferred) 1 can Cream of Chicken soup (you can substitute Mushroom or Celery if preferred or for Vegetarian) do not dilute 1 (2 lb.) bag frozen hash brown or tater tot potatoes, thawed 1/2 to 1 cup corn flakes Stir together well the diced onion, sour cream or yogurt, grated cheese, thinly sliced butter, and Cream of Chicken soup. Add the hash browns and mix well. Spread this mixture evenly in a casserole dish If mixture seems too thick, you can add a small amount of milk. Mix ¼ cup of melted butter with crushed corn flakes and sprinkle on top. Bake at 350 F 1 hour. Makes 8 to 12 servings. Call, or go Online today for a FREE estimate! services@othersidelandscaping.com Call to Get Your Free Holiday Light Estimates Today Complete Lawn Maintenance Landscaping Stonework: Borders and Patios Sprinkler Systems and Repairs Fences Retaining Walls Drainage Holiday Lighting Copyright 2007 Peel, Inc. Eldorado Homeowners' Association Newsletter - November

8 ELDORADO ADVERTISE HOMEOWNERS' ASSOCIATION HERE Peel, Inc. 203 W. Main Street, Suite D Pflugerville, Texas PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID PEEL, INC. % Voice V EL Eldorado Homeowners' Association Newsletter - November 2007 Copyright 2007 Peel, Inc.