Lexington Glen HOA: President- Mica Calfee

President- Mica Calfee

Board members are currently visiting those of you who did not send in your vote postcards.

Several good questions have been brought up about the Quorum vote. Here are (hopefully) some answers to your questions:

1. “Why do we need this?”
• We are required to have an official meeting at least once a year. In order for the meeting to be “official” we must have a quorum.
• Without a quorum we can’t do the simplest things such as elect officers.
• The way we have been electing officers is to get proxies after the fact. While this does work it is a big pain and I am not 100% sure of the legality of the process.
• We may wish to increase the number of board members to four in the future. (To include a VP position)

2. There are many things we would like to do in the future. These include committees, block parties, and improvements (trees etc.). “Can’t we do this without having a meeting?”
• Yes, but wouldn’t it be better to ask for committee volunteers at a meeting than to go around knocking on doors?
• We can always use the input and feedback that comes from having a meeting. This HOA belongs to the members and a meeting is probably the best way to have discussions and decide on plans or directions.

3. “How come the HOA never does anything about people who do not keep up their lawns?”
• We do it all the time. All it takes is an email from the website and the person whose lawn is a problem will be contacted usually within 24 hours. If it is really bad the city will be contacted as well.

4. “Why are we never notified of an upcoming meeting?”
• I put signs up for a month ahead of time. The first one this year was rained out. (Remember all the rain we had?) The second one was in June.
• We also post it on the website for at least a month.

5. Upcoming hopes and plans.
• New trees for front to replace the dead or dying.
• Some form of HOA party or picnic. (This great weather makes me want to do it next October.)
• Yard of the month. (Calloways will give a $50 certificate.)
• New Committees- Welcome, Compliance, Yard of the month selection, Social etc.

6. “Is this so you can raise the dues with just a little number of people voting?”
• This vote probably will never affect dues. No matter how small the number of people at the meeting is, what are the chances that a dues increase would be easy to pass or that it would fly with the members?
• There is no need to raise dues in the foreseeable future. But the board already has the power to slightly raise dues without a vote.

Also, we are NOT altering the requirement that we must have 75% of the members voting to pass an amendment. We will not be able to enact major changes to the CCRs just because we now have a smaller quorum requirement.

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As president I am charged with the task of building the HOA into something that will serve the residents of Lexington Glen for a long time. To do this I have to rely upon two very dedicated fellow officers. But I also need the assistance and input of the residents.

As I see it, this young HOA has several goals and objectives.

(1) Develop the HOA by establishing clear job descriptions for the officers.
(2) Bring the common areas up to city code. Ordinances require maintenance and certain landscaping. One of these requirements concerns trees. The city ordinance establishes a maximum distance between trees and their minimum size in the Garden Ridge “buffer zone”. We presently have several dead and missing trees.
(3) Build the coffers of the HOA to a level where we can function adequately.
(4) Establish the HOA as a legitimate organization for the protection of the peace and tranquility of our neighborhood. We also strive to protect the property values of our homes.
(5) Build upon the obvious friendliness of our community by creating means of communication (such as the website) and encouraging community activities.
(6) Create a convenient way to allow members to pay dues online using PayPal or any credit card.

As time goes by, other goals and objectives will surely be discovered and defined. I look forward to serving this community in whatever way I can.

Mica

Mica Calfee served in the U.S. Army for seven years before becoming a professional firefighter. He is currently a Captain on the Irving Fire Department. Mica was born in Dallas and graduated from Sunset High School. Mica and his wife come to Flower Mound from Duncanville where they lived for over 25 years.
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A message from the president of your HOA.

Dear Homeowner/Resident

On June 9, 2007 we held a meeting of the HOA, in Grove Park, (on Braxton). Several things were brought up and many were resolved.

- Julie Sanders was elected our new Secretary/VP. We wish to extend our appreciation to Camisha Gossett for her work in this position, during the past year.

- Several issues were brought up about the park. The fact that it is dark, with low hanging trees encourages unwanted behavior. Many felt that is was not maintained as well as other parks. After a letter from me, the park department was out to trim the trees back to 14 feet or more from the ground. The also removed some other debris and filled a hole that some were concerned about. I also received a promise that they would work on getting a light, for the park as soon as possible. Our concern about the condition of the grass was well received also. I was assured that they would try to work on that too. I am guessing that several other homeowners must have written them as well and my letter was just one of many.

- One of the biggest complaints was about residents not maintaining their lawns in a “neat and attractive manner” as required by our HOA CCR’s. As president, I stated that I felt that the heavy rain had caused many residents, who do regularly maintain their yards, to get behind. But I also added that the time has come to insure that our neighborhood lives up to the standards established by our rules and regulations, as well as those of the Town of Flower Mound. Several residents received notices that day that they needed to maintain their lawns. I am pleased to say that most responded by immediately bringing their yards up to an acceptable appearance. It was stated, by more than one member at the meeting, that our yards are so tiny that there are very few excuses for not keeping them maintained in a neat and attractive manner. Remember, tall weeds and grass, even in your flowerbeds and in the ally easement, are subject to the city code and the HOA regulations.

- We were reminded by several members, and it was verified by our local, resident, police officer, that the law requires that you park on the side of the street according to direction of travel.

- It was brought to our attention that several homes have had items stolen from their garages. Please keep you eyes open and report any suspicious persons and keep your cars locked and garages shut. We need to do all we can to discourage this kind of activity.

- The problem of parking near, or in front of, mailboxes was brought up. Postal regulations require that the mail carrier have “unimpeded access” to the mailbox. If a vehicle is parked in front of a mailbox, mail will not be delivered. It is one thing for you to block your own mailbox, but to block a neighbor’s is inexcusable.

- We also discussed the fact that the parking of commercial vehicles, on the roadway is not allowed by the CCR’s and city code/law. Please keep this in mind.

- We have had some near misses of children darting out from between cars. The reduction of situations where several large vehicles are parked on the street may help to reduce this possibility.

- It was asked if we could put a list of contact information for the town of Flower Mound on the web site. It is now there.

- Many people were alarmed that we have members who are behind in their dues. We discussed options to deal with this.

- We also discussed changing the quorum requirements to either 25 members or 25% for future meetings. Look for a letter about this in the near future.

- Several members expressed concern about the stakes people are placing near ally entrances. They feel it may be a hazard to children and is unsightly. It is assumed that this is done to discourage drivers from driving over lawns when entering the alleys. We are looking into this issue.

Please read the Covenants, Conditions and Regulations of our HOA. It is the responsibility, of your HOA Board, to consider all complaints and enforce these CCR’s to protect the property value and appearances of our neighborhood. If you can’t find the copy you signed for at closing, you may read them on our website, www.lexglen.com. You may also receive a scanned, pdf copy by contacting us through the website.

Mica Calfee
Lexington Glen HOA, President.