Newsletter:Layout 1.qxd

The Village Voice
Official Newsletter of The Hills Property Owners Association
www.thehillspoa.com
May, 2015
The President’s Corner
In This Issue
President’s Corner
Mildew
Pick Up After Your Pet
New HCM GM
Walking Trail
Noisy Neighbors
Gates
Guard Week
Welcome New Neighbors
Shop Local
Save the Date-HillsFest
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
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Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10
Committees and Members:
Architectural:
Melanie Damron Chair
Christine Boswell
Paul Lovato
Mike Maroney
Lee Nelson
William Zepp
Security:
Diane Thompson,Co-Chair
Robert Smith, Co-Chair
Mike Brimmer
Casey Koberg
Thomas Mohler
Landscape:
Anne Hewgley, Chair
Hilda Potsavich
Diane Thompson
Roads:
John Almond, Chair
Jim Lennon
Larry Mayo
George Mihalcik
Don Murff
Park Commission:
Eric Ovlen, Chair
Janis Clements
Steve Pavlas
Grace Plummer
Pattye Ward
Gary Weldon
Patricia Zepp
Hal Lanham, POA President
There are a number of POA projects
and repairs occurring in The Hills, but
before we update you on those projects, I would first like to recognize
two POA Board members - Anne
Hewgley and Melanie Damron. They
deserve a great deal of credit and
recognition for our new street signs.
The new signs enhance the appearance of our subdivision and they are
easily readable during the day and
night. We also want to express our
thanks to the Village who agreed to
convert all the traffic signs to the new
design and paid for them.
New Resident Software – new resident software has been developed
by Radiant RFID. This software will replace the current CapSure software
and should interface more effectively
with our Radiant RFID automobile
tags. Rollout is scheduled for early to
mid June, 2015. Information regarding how to access and utilize the new
software will be sent out via e-mail
and regular mail. Please check your
information and update as needed.
The Club Estates Exit Gate – as we are
all painfully aware, this gate has suffered an unusually high failure rate
over the last several years and most
recently was severely damaged by
the storm. The POA Board has determined that the gate must be modified in order to operate in a reliable
manner. The POA Board has voted to
remove the large gate and install two
smaller gates of similar design. Until
this project can be completed, a temporary gate has been installed.
Updated Shared Gate Agreement
with the Flintrock Falls POA - the new
agreement provides for both POA’s to
utilize Radiant RFID software to manage the shared gate. The shared gate
was intended to provide access to
the Flintrock Clubhouse and golf
course; and for us to visit friends in either subdivision. While most of us use
the gate for its intended purpose,
some use it as a cut through to other
locations. Please be aware that the
Radiant software will detect anyone
“cutting through” Flintrock or The
Hills which can cause loss of privileges to use the shared gate.
Reconstruction of the Security Parking Lot on Cottondale - The current
parking lot has severely deteriorated.
Fortunately the MUD is in the process
of constructing a drainage improvement in the general area of the parking lot on Cottondale. Working with
engineers from our Road Committee,
we will utilize the Mud’s contractor to
re-construct the security parking lot.
Our thanks to the MUD for its cooperation to allow the contactor to construct both projects at the same time.
Reserve Funds – fortunately, The Hills
continued on Page 2...
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Official Newsletter of The Hills Property Owners Association
www.thehillspoa.com
May, 2015
Things you will need:
Instructions:
1.
Spring has finally sprung after a long,
cold winter and thankfully recent
rains have greened trees, shrubs and
flowers up very nicely. The recent hail
storm certainly did it’s share of damage to the Lakeway area.
Because of the rain, many homes
have experienced issues with mildew
that is quite unsightly on your mailboxes and exterior walls.
These high moisture areas leave limestone prone to developing mildew
stains over time. Use of the wrong
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Once you have finished cleaning, be
sure to rinse the area thoroughly.
Bucket, bleach, warm water, scrub
brush, sponge and a hose.
HOW TO REMOVE
MILDEW STAINS
FROM LIMESTONE
New Lawyer
If you ever need assistance or have
questions about The Hills POA, please
feel free to contact Angie Thielemans,
who is the POA Site Manager at
512.261.0321 or come by the POA
office. at 102 Trophy Drive.
If you choose to do power washing
for those tough stains, please be sure
that you contact Hurst Creek MUD to
obtain a variance. Despite the rainfall, Central Texas is still in extreme
drought conditions.
We have one new POA Board member, Mr. Lee Nelson, who moved up
from the Architectural Committee.
We want to welcome Lee to the
Board.
product could damage the stone.
Never use acidic products that contain vinegar, ammonia or even citric
acid to clean limestone. Instead use a
mild bleach solution, which will not
react with the stone or its sealant.
POA has adequate reserves to fund
all these projects without any increase in resident’s assessments.
President’s Corner...continued
Mix a solution of 1 tbsp. bleach
and 1 gallon of warm water or 1
tsp. of bleach in 1 qt. of water.
2. Dip your scrub brush in the water,
then use it to scrub the mildewed
area.
3. Leave the bleach to penetrate the
limestone for five minutes.
4. Scrub the area again.
5. Wipe up with the bleach cleaner
with a clean sponge or rinse the
bleach solution away with a hose.
There are also several products on
the market which are not officially endorsed by the POA, but worth trying:
Mold Armour- Walmart
Wet & Forget - online
Air-Care Environcon - online
Simple Green - online
CLR Mold & Mildew Stain Remover
online and retail
A young lawyer, just graduated
from law school, returned to his
hometown to start up a law practice on his own. He knew he had
to make a good impression to get
clients to start coming to him.
On his first day in his new office,
he saw a man approaching his
door. Just before the man walked
in, the lawyer lifted up the receiver on his phone and began
talking.
He continued on for
several
minutes,
making
the man
wait, talking about
an important case he had just concluded,
and how he would be busy for
quite some time to come. He continually gestured to the man to
wait.
After hanging up the phone, he
said, “What can I do for you?” The
man said, “Nothing. I’m from the
phone company and I’m here to
hook up your phone.”
Official Newsletter of The Hills Property Owners Association
www.thehillspoa.com
May, 2015
storm water drainage management
to The Hills and surrounding areas.
Also, the District provides personnel
to the Village of The Hills under an Interlocal agreement.
EARL WOOD PROMOTED
TO HURST CREEK MUD
GENERAL MANAGER
Earl Wood, a 17 year employee of the
District, has been promoted to General Manager, as Dan Roark, who has
been the GM for 33 years, transitions
toward retirement.
Earl has been the Assistant General
Manager for the past two years and
holds “Double A” licenses in water utilities from the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality. He has over 20
years experience in water utilities and
computer systems.
Earl and his wife Melissa have two
children, Elizabeth, 5 and Daniel, 4.
“Earl has effectively acted in the general manager role for several years,
preparing and administering the
budget, overseeing personnel and
maintaining the District’s complex
computer SCADA and accounting systems. I have no doubt of his readiness
to assume all functions and responsibilities of the General Manager position, while I concentrate on
administering Village affairs,” Roark said.
Additionally, Earl acts as Assistant Village Administrator for the Village of
The Hills.
Where flowers
bloom so
does hope.
Lady Bird Johnson
By taking a few simple steps to clean
up after your pet, you can contribute
not only to the beautification of our
community, but also towards the
elimination of one of the most irritating nuisances in our community.
There are a
number of
doggie stations along
Hills Drive
that have
both bags
and trash receptacles.
Please throw
the waste in the receptacle, not on
the ground!
When walking your
dog in our community,
remember that it
should be leashed.
Also, it is important to remember to
immediately clean up after your pet.
Take along a baggie with you
to pick up waste with and then dispose of it properly.
Besides being unsightly and smelly,
animal waste can be hazardous to
the health of our children who play in
the community and other pets. One
of the most common forms of disease transmission between dogs is
through fecal matter.
It doesn't take much to remember
that we have pets in our community.
In fact, if you don't watch your step,
your liable to step in one such reminder!
PLEASE PICK UP
AFTER YOUR PET!
Hurst Creek Municipal Utility District is
a subdivision of the State of Texas created to provide water utilities and
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Official Newsletter of The Hills Property Owners Association
www.thehillspoa.com
May, 2015
WALKING TRAIL UPDATE
by J.R. Smith, Board of Aldermen
When I am prompted to recount the
progress of building a Walking Trail
in The Hills, I suddenly remember the
ancient declaration that “ Rome wasn’t built in a day”. It follows that the
Walking Trail in The Hills won’t be
built in a day, either! And if you are
new to The Hills, you may have noticed that there are many pedestrians on The Hills streets. Many
residents have communicated to the
Board of Aldermen the need for
walking trails or sidewalks. Various
plans have been proposed to accomplish this. The most ambitious is the
grand plan to construct a walking
trail that completely encircles the Village following The Hills Dr., Club Estates Parkway and Club Estates Dr.
We believe this route incorporates
the walking route of choice for most
of the residents in The Hills.
Since we completed the pilot effort
of a walking trail in the vicinity of
Tournament Way, The Golf Academy,
Club Estates Dr. and Gentlebrook
Bend, your Board of Aldermen have
been working on mundane issues of
design, engineering, financing, support, approval and such for the balance of the project.
In the meantime, a new committee
has been formed and brought into
the main stream of the project. Perhaps, some of the new committee
members are your acquaintances,
friends and neighbors. It would be
good if you knew who these folks are
so that you might communicate your
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feelings, or thoughts and ideas about the trail to them. They are as follows: J.R.
Smith, Alderman, Dan Roark, Village Administrator, Earl Wood, Ass’t Village Administrator, Rick Zehrer, Alderman,
Laura Pavlas, Resident and John Almond, Resident. Be assured that any
of your communications will be given
due consideration by the Committee.
While the Committee, (along with
the Village Board of Aldermen) has
been pondering and debating the
aforementioned issues, it was decided to proceed with a segment of
the proposed trail. Perhaps you have seen the construction that extends from
the Tournament Way intersection with Club Estates Parkway thru the parkway
median to a point that connects with the Village Park Walking Trail near The
Hills Dr. This section was selected because of the desire to join the Park walking trail to the new trail, minimal engineering issues, few traffic concerns, and only
one drainage structure. Surely, the remaining portion promises to be much more
complex from all these standpoints.
The construction has been under the able
supervision and personal efforts of Melvin
Williams. Melvin Williams is the former Club
Corp Golf Course Superintendent who built
a major part of the cart trails on the Hills
golf course, prior to his retirement. We believe this portion of the project has been in
very good hands.
The current status as of press time finds the planned portion from the Village
Park to Tournament Way open for use. Some minor cleanup, signage and road
crossing striping remains and will be completed over the coming days. Further,
plans for some well thought out landscaping will be undertaken that should
help make the route a pleasure to use.
The trail already built along with the new trail were all completed with available Village funds with no debt. More on that subject for the remaining trail
will be forthcoming as the detail is available.
As always, we welcome your input, both positive and negative, and request
that you direct your input to: [email protected].
Official Newsletter of The Hills Property Owners Association
www.thehillspoa.com
May, 2015
HOW TO LIVE WITH NOISY NEIGHBORS
Close living can be challenging, especially if your neighbors tend to be noisy. Even in a suburban neighborhood, a loud group next door can rattle your last nerves. There are constructive ways to deal with
the nuisance. Keep these tips in mind next time there is a cacophony next door.
Is It Really a “Nuisance?”
You will need to become familiar with the POA’s rules and regulations. What may be
a nuisance to one person may not fall directly under the scope of the law. People who live with special circumstances (a night worker who sleeps during
the day, a mother with a napping baby) are often more sensitive to day
time noise, but these situations are most often not protected under
the law. To find a copy of your local noise ordinance, visit your local library or contact the Travis County offices. You may also be able to find
these laws on the Internet.
First Go to the Source
Your best bet would be to calmly approach your neighbor directly without being
confrontational. This may seem tough
to do, but if approached with respect,
this might be all it takes. Often people
don’t even realize that their noise level is
disruptive and will work with you to resolve
the matter. You may also wish to speak to other
neighbors to see if anyone else has discussed the problem with the noisy neighbor, to
gauge what the reaction might be.
This is preferable than getting the Association involved at the get-go.
Start Documenting
If this does not resolve the problem, you can send your neighbor a letter describing
the problem. Mention your attempt to correct it previously and include a copy of the
The Hills Rules and Regulations and/or The Amended Master Declaration which pertain to noise restrictions. Let your neighbor know in the letter that you will be discussing this with the proper authorities (property manager, the police department, or
an attorney) if it cannot be resolved, but stress your hope that you can come to a reasonable solution. Be sure to be as specific as
possible, noting dates and times as much as you can.
Take It to the Next Step
If the noise problem persist, you do have recourse. You can speak to your Property Manager. The Association does have ways to
handle these types of problems. If you own your own property or the problem is persisting, a call to the police might be worth a
try. You would need to do this when the noise is at its worst, so that you will have a valid complaint. A warning could be issued, and
sometimes this is all it takes.
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Official Newsletter of The Hills Property Owners Association
www.thehillspoa.com
May, 2015
THOSE DARN GATES... WILL THEY EVER BE FIXED?
If you think you are frustrated by the gates broken all the time, you aren’t alone! The first quarter of the year was relatively quiet for
gate repairs and we hoped that with preventative maintenance and special care that the previous problems were finally fixed.
Since the hail storm that blew into The Hills a few weeks ago, we have experienced a number of issues that have affected all of the
gates. The recent hail storm bent the Club Estates exit gate so badly that the Board is investigating having two smaller, more lightweight gates to be constructed in its place. The existing gate is extremely heavy and must go uphill making it prone to more repairs. The Association has received proposals and the replacment cost is high. The Board will
be reviewing those proposals at the upcoming May 18th meeting.
The Serene Hills gate had been working very well until there were two accidents in one day. A
vehicle bumped the gate until it opened which damaged the motor arm and motor. The damage was so great that we had to purchase a new motor. Later that day, a club member allowed
a contractor to tailgate behind him. The dump truck was attached to a large trailer, and as a result, the entire barrier arm and motor were taken out.
Eighty percent of the gate repairs are attributed to driver error, whether it be those that try to
tailgate through, drive too far into the center of the lane causing damage by the barrier arm or
those who are impatient enough that they will pry the gate open, yes with their bare hands or
their vehicle. These repairs are very costly to the Association, which in turn affects your pocketbook.
The POA has had rules in place which require all contractors to enter through the Club Estate Gate. Both the Serene Hills and Hayden Ridge entry gates are not wide enough to accomodate large trucks. In 2014, Lake Travis ISD was asked to change their route so
that they would not enter through the Serene Hills gate.
The roads throughout the community are owned by the POA and unauthorized vehicles
are not permitted. An unauthorized vehicle would include those who are denied entry by
the resident or the driver of that vehicle does not have a current driver’s license or insurance. We ask all residents to provide that information to us when you move in and we require it of contractors as well.
Thankfully surveillance cameras at the Serene Hills gate were able to capsure video of the
offenders and restitution will be sought, but we ask that our residents please be patient
when driving through the gates. It is important that you wait for the arm to come down
before proceding behind another vehicle. Please do not escort other vehicles through
the gates, as it will surely result in damage to the barrier arms, but will also result in an automatic 30 day suspension of your RFID tag. Repeat offenders will be indefinitely suspended and will only be able to access the community via the two manned gates.
In an effort to accomodate our residents when a gate is broken, the Board established a
policy which keeps the unmanned gates open from dawn to dusk and is staffed by a security officer during those hours. The gates
are then locked down at dusk. These officer hours cost the Association hundreds of dollars in overtime and could so easily be
avoided if residents would just slow down.
We hope to have the gates repaired quickly, the Club Estates gate has a temporary gate up in it’s place and we’ve now encountered
more problems with the motor and may have to replace it as well.
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Official Newsletter of The Hills Property Owners Association
www.thehillspoa.com
May, 2015
Guard appreciation week
June 1st through June 7th
Kip Leyba
Enrico Rubino
Justin Davisson
Interim Site Supervisor
K
K
Ace Mahmoud
Howard Bair
Ali Alkhayyat
Armando Urena
Jessica Simon
Anthony Nassour
Wes Hatfield
Security for The Hills is one of the most costliest of monthly invoices for the Association. Executive Security Services was
hired in February, 2014 and we have all been on the learning curve since that time. However, we feel we have established a good team now! The security officers are often the most liked and disliked of our team for obvious reasons.
Please remember they are doing the duties that have been dictated by The POA Board. They don’ t make the rules, but
they must enforce them.
So many residents have shown their appreciation by showering the team with food and other goodies. Now we would
like to declare June 1st through June 7th as The Hills POA Guard Appreciation Week.
These officers work in the rain, the cold and the heat. They are courteous and professional and often have to put up
with flared tempers and impatient contractors or guests.
Please take the time to say thank you to our Security Guards, stop in and introduce yourself! We always hear all of the
problems and complaints, but what we don’t often hear are the words, “job well done or thank you”!
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Official Newsletter of The Hills Property Owners Association
www.thehillspoa.com
May, 2015
New Neighbors...Welcome to the Neighborhood!
Mr. & Mrs. Robert Bassman
Mr. & Mrs. Mihail Koulakis
Gary Skinner
Kenneth Ramsey
Jamie Do
Imad Constantini
Mavis Dutson
Gary & Mahre Wolff
David & Jogee Comegys
Brittany Burris
Anne Kaye
Christopher Angelo
Steve Dedcar
Nancy Lee and Bruce Christopherson
Ajit & Kimberly Kambil
Kevin & Torie Pearce
Golf Carts, Kids and Rules in The Hills
Over the last several months, there have been many complaints by residents who are awakened in the middle of the night due to
kids ringing doorbells. In addition, there have been numerous reports of underage kids driving golf carts with more far more passengers than the golf cart can safely accomodate.
The Hills POA Board and The Village Board of Aldermen take these issues very seriously and will take whatever steps are necessary
to deal with these issues. The Travis County Sheriff’s Department and The Travis County Constable’s office have been called out to
The Hills on multiple occassions and are diligently working to determine who are the culprits. Our major concern is that someone
might be harmed as a result. While it may seem like “harmless fun”, we have received reports that these kids are trespassing into
both the front and back yards of your neighbors.
As a reminder of The Hills POA Rules and Regulations, golf carts may be operated upon The Hills private streets and vehicle access
paths by a licensed drivers only. Passengers are limited to the number of seats available on the golf cart. If used after dark,
the golf cart must have headlights and other reflective markers to ensure visibility from other vehicles. Golf carts must comply
with all traffic laws, as well as posted signs and must be driven in a safe manner.
Owners of those golf carts are subject to POA fines and legal action if a resident is willing to press charges. Please obey the rules
and should you see this activity, please report it to Security and/or the police.
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Official Newsletter of The Hills Property Owners Association
www.thehillspoa.com
May, 2015
Community Business Leaders
'21¾75(3/$&(Æ
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512 591-1121
512WOOD & FIBER
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Official Newsletter of The Hills Property Owners Association
www.thehillspoa.com
May, 2015
Community Business Leaders
Please shop local for
your sales and
service needs.
10
Support local, it all
starts here!
Official Newsletter of The Hills Property Owners Association
www.thehillspoa.com
May, 2015
Save the Date!
The 6th Annual HillsFest hosted by
The Village Park Commission
and The Hills POA
Sunday, October 18, 2015
1-4 p.m.
Food, Fun, Pet Parade and Music!
Stay tuned, more details to come!
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