Northcrest Village News and Views

The great thing about community newsletters, or any news for that matter, is that we as a society are all “a little nosy”, right? That’s why “E”

Entertainment News, “Nancy Grace”, “The View” and “Oprah” are all TVO’D and watched regularly. We get caught up in the DRAMA, the stuff that can

make our lives seem slightly “normal” (whatever that means). Well, let’s just thank the “Tiger Woods” and “John and Kate’s” of society for keeping all of

us a little grounded.

The purpose of this quarterlyquarterlyquarterlyquarterly newsletter is to keep everyone informed about upcoming events, HOA information and the “spirit” in our community,

hence the title NEWSNEWSNEWSNEWS and VIEWSVIEWSVIEWSVIEWS. Let’s get to know each other by sharing what’s new, new neighbors, new births, gardening tips, great recipes, books,

school spirit, and so on. Some regular articles you may see are: The “Good Neighbor” Spotlight, HOA updates, Real Estate Corner, Gardening Tips and

Cook’s Corner. At this stage, we are spreading the word about the newsletter and are confident the format and information will shift and expand as we

move forward through this New Year.

Your Neighbor,

Deana Barns

Welcome to Northcrest Village

“Good Neighbor” Spotlight with Yolanda Parks

Northcrest Village News and Views J A N U A R Y — M A R C H 2 0 1 0 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

Our first “Good Neighbor” Spotlight is on Yolanda Parks, single mother of two boys, Cameron and Chaderick. You may remember that on April

17, 2009, Yolanda’s home was struck by lightning, caught fire and burned for quite some time during a heavy rainstorm. My husband and I

watched as fire-trucks lined Marle Point Ct. The few neighbors we had on the streets at that time gathered outside and offered support as we wit-

nessed the catastrophic event. Simply, we were in disbelief.

After 7 months, Yolanda moved back into her home with her sons and I wanted to sit down and revisit the incident in hopes to share some

insight, possibly provide some foresight and learn from her devastating experience. The first thing Yolanda did; She called her Insurance Agent. Her

family stayed with neighbors that night awaiting the emergency responder from the insurance company, who arrived around 1:00 am. So, what can

we learn from Yolanda’s experience? Here are some valuable tips she recommends you do now to ensure you are protected.

1. Keep a safety deposit box to store important documents away from your home!

2. Keep a Fire safety lock box in your home for kids shot records, insurance docs, anything you will need right away.

3. Review and plan at least two ways to exit your home.

4. Review insurance plan every 5-6 years and speak with your agent to find out if your house were to burn down tomorrow, what

it would it cost to rebuild.

P A G E 2

Mueller Update

Northcrest Village Directory

May

Chick-fil-A Spirit Night

May 6th 3-8pm

last one of the year

Memorial Day Holiday

Monday, May 31st

Papa John’s Pizza Night –

May 27th

last one of the year

April

Easter Holiday /Good Friday

April 2nd no school

Staff Development Day

Monday, April 5th – kids out


April 8th – 3-8pm

Science Carnival Night

April 16th 4-8pm

Papa John’s Pizza Night

April 29th

June

Last Day of School

Thursday, June 3rd

February

Chuck E. Cheese 100th Day

Wednesday, February 3rd

more info to come


Thursday, Feb. 11th 3-8pm

Valentine Class Parties

February 12th


February 25th

March


Thursday, March 11th 3-8pm

Spring Break

March 15th – 19th


March 25th

Mueller Spring Open House

& Dedication Night

Tuesday, March 30th

more info to come

January


Thursday, January 14th 3-8pm

Staff Development Day

January 15th Students Out

MLK Day

January 18th – school out


January 28th

N O R T H C R E S T V I L L A G E N E W S A N D

A community directory is a great way to stay connected with neighbors. Oftentimes, emergencies arise and we need to communicate to ensure a speedy response. Recently,

my neighbor had an incident where his sprinkler system malfunctioned and thankfully, we had exchanged numbers so I was able to call him immediately and inform him of the

situation. You may provide me with all contact information including Name and Address, Home Number, Cell Numbers and Email Addresses. Also, there will be a Business Sec-

tion in the Directory. If you own or operate a business and would like the information in this section, just provide the Business Name, Contact Number and Website, if applicable.

Please send information to:

Deana Barns

[email protected]

(281) 300.1118 Cell

Join us on i-neighbors.org

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

Due to our busy schedules and

addiction to technology, our

neighborhood has utilized the

free service of an online forum.

Just sign up at i-neighbors.org.

Jasmine Gilliam was kind enough

to share this website with our

community. This site allows us to post

questions, comments and develop surveys

specific to our neighborhood. When you

post a comment, it will be sent via email

to all the residents that have registered

and associated themselves with our

neighborhood. In order to respond, you

just log into the site. Also, you can

browse prior discussions and get a lot of

useful information and answers to all of

your questions. Most of you may not

know that our neighborhood also has it's

own website www.ncvillage.org. This

is another place that you can find pictures

of our past events, as well as places you can find

discounted meals for your children. Currently,

we are seeking assistance in maintaining this site.

This position is one of 3 people that will maintain

and be responsible for the information that is

published. Please contact Meredith Ellender at

[email protected] for more information.

Northcrest Village Book Club Song of the South By Darla Gaylor Song, song of the South, sweet potato pie and shut my mouth! Alabama There is just something about a gifted Southern writer’s literary voice that makes me want to snuggle into my most comfortable reading chair, send the kids to a neighbor’s house, and read until the dishes can walk them-selves into the dishwasher. There is, by the way, a huge difference between “writing about” the South and “being” a Southern writer. In my experience, a Southern writer can write about anything and still be distinctively Southern in the articulation of their story. Whereas, a writer from any other part of the country can write about the South, yet never achieve an authentic Southern style. The first time this truth was made clear to me was several years ago when our book club decided to read The Secret Life of Bees, which was well before we were aware a movie was in the works. I had not heard of the book before, so I didn’t know anything about the story or the author. I was probably on page three or four, when a thought struck me, “Is this writer from the South? She’s got to be!” Indeed, she was; Georgia, to be specific. At that point, I started to calculate other books I had enjoyed in the past that had a similar “feel,” and I found there were quite a few. I hadn’t really given it much thought before. But truly, a Southern writer has a way of expressing himself that makes it clear he developed his storytelling skills somewhere below the Mason-Dixon line. If I had to choose one word to describe The Secret Life of Bees it would be “longing.” In much the same way your heart may have ached for Francie Nolan in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Bees’ fourteen year old Lily Owens will surely evoke a similar response. Both girls are hungry for a mother’s love, both girls are seeking validation and struggling to find themselves, but only one has a living mother from whom she can garner even a little piece of what she needs. For more information on joining the Book Club, please contact Darla Gaylor at [email protected]

P A G E 4

Northcrest Village 2010 Approved Budget

N O R T H C R E S T V I L L A G E N E W S A N D V I E W S

Income 2010 Approved at $435.00

2010 Annual Assessment 109,620.00

Builder Assessment 21,750.00

Prorated Closing 19,792.50

Late Fee Income 700.00

Interest Income 300.00

Pool Tag Income 500.00

Collections Legal Fee Income 500.00

DR Fine Income 600.00

Total Income 153,762.50

Administrative Expenses 2010 Approved Office Supplies 800.00

Postage and Delivery 2,000.00

Copies 1,100.00

Welcome Packets 1,080.00

Newsletter/Comm. Mail outs 150.00

Billing and Collecting 600.00

DR Expense 600.00

Bank Charges 60.00

Permits/Filing Fees/Licenses 25.00

Committee Expense 250.00

Community Supplies 0.00

Legal - General 300.00

Legal - Collections 1,000.00

Legal - DR 300.00

Total Administrative 8,265.00

Contract Services

Management Contract 12,000.00

Landscape Contract 31,500.00

Pool Management Contract 34,404.00

Audit/Tax Return 650.00

Pest Control Contract 1,500.00

Total Contract Services 80,054.00

Budget 2010 Continued


Maintenance & Repair 2010 Approved

General Maint. & Repair 300.00

Pool Gate Repairs 500.00

Landscape - Irrigation Repair 500.00

Landscape - Repair/Replace 1,000.00

Landscape Color Change 6,000.00

Force Mow 100.00

Playground Maintenance 300.00

Pool Equipment & Supplies 1,500.00

Pool Repair/Replace 1,500.00

Total Maintenance & Repair 11,700.00

Utilities

Electricity 5,000.00

Telephone 1,850.00

Water & Sewer 26,000.00

Street Lights 26,000.00

Total Utilities 58,850.00

Insurance

D&O 1,678.00

General Liability 7,209.00

Crime 272.00

HNO Auto 148.00

Umbrella 206.00

Total Insurance 9,513.00

Taxes

Property 100.00

School 100.00

MUD 100.00

Total Taxes 300.00

Reserves

Reserve Contribution 0.00

Bad Debt 0.00

Total Reserves 0.00

Total Expenses $168,682.00

Net Income/Loss ($14,919.50)

P A G E 6

Questions and Answers with HOA

N O R T H C R E S T V I L L A G E N E W S A N D V I E W S

1. Stop Signs – This was a hot button issue, as you already know. All homeowners in attendance expressed concern over the “speedway” in our neighborhood.

Answer: At the time that the community was set up, only one stop sign was assigned by

the engineer for Northcrest Village Way. The Developers office has contacted an engineer

for Harris County in regards to installing additional stop signs. The County advised that a

traffic study would need to be conducted for a price of $4400. In addition to the funds re-

quired for the study, there would be additional engineering services required with no guar-

antee the County would even authorize the installation of the signs. This would entail a

large amount of funds being dispersed without any guarantee the situation would be re-

solved.

2. Semi-Truck – As you are aware there is a semi-truck that constantly parks in the neighborhood. It was moved after an orange sticker was place on the driver’s side window, however this morning the truck was back in its usual spot.

Answer: Anytime you see the truck in the community, please report it to Harris County Pre-cinct 4 at 281/376-3472 and they will sticker the truck. If you know where the owner of the driver in the community lives, you can take a photo and email it to Hilleary Hatchett at

[email protected] along with the property address so that a letter may be sent to the owner. Lighting – The entrances at 2920 and Spring Stuebner do not have lights. All homeowners ex-pressed concern about this. We need streetlights and signage lighting. Additionally, there was con-cern about the electricity budget. What rate are we currently paying for electricity and through what provider?

Answer: The Developer is waiting on Harris County acceptance of the street before any lighting may be installed. Currently Harris County is not accepting the monuments as they stand. Once the streets/monuments are accepted, the Developer will be installing the light-ing.

Sidewalk – The sidewalk ends in front of the recreation center. Are they planning on finishing the

3. Lighting – The entrances at 2920 and Spring Steubner do not have lights. All homeowners ex-pressed concern about this. We need streetlights and signage lighting. Additionally, there was con-cern about the electricity budget. What rate are we currently paying for electricity and through what provider?

Answer: The Developer is waiting on Harris County acceptance of the street before any lighting may be installed. Currently Harris County is not accepting the monuments as they stand. Once the streets/monuments are accepted, the Developer will be installing the light-ing.

4. Sidewalk – The sidewalk ends in front of the recreation center. Are they planning on finishing the sidewalk from the recreation center to Glade Canyon Court? Without the sidewalk homeowners and children are forced to walk on the “speedway.”

Answer: There were not any plans to extend the sidewalk further than it currently exists and therefore, will not be completed.

5. Gated Community – Some homeowners expressed an interest in gating the entrances to our neighborhood. Please explain the cost versus benefit.

Answer: Unfortunately, once a community is built without gates, it cannot become a gated community. Just to give a little insight on a gated community: When a community is con-sidered gated, the streets, drainage for the subdivision, street signs, etc. all belong to the homeowners association and the county will not maintain them. The assessment fee would be at least if not more than double if not triple what the owners are paying now. The addi-tional fees would be for maintenance repairs to the gate/gate system, building up reserves for repairs to streets and drainage problems, etc. Also if the community were gated, the only time that the police would come into the community would be for an emergency situa-tion. You could not any longer call them to issue tickets for speeding, illegal parking, park-ing of semi trailers, etc. in the subdivision and would have to hire a private patrol to enforce this (which would be an additional expense of around $40,000 per year). While gates sound like a great idea to keep people out, they do not. For instance, if an owner puts in their code to open the gate and has a car sitting behind them, they generally let the car follow them in without knowing if the person behind them lives in the community.


Kicking off Spring Break! Outdoor Movie Screening

March 12, 2010

7:30 pm.

Recreation Center

Northcrest Village

6. Homeowners Dues – Most if not all homeowners were upset at the increase in dues. Please explain how this is calculated. Have all homeowners paid their dues, and if not what is our current deficit?

Answer: Each budget season all vendors are contacted to find out what, if any, increase there will be for the following year. That along with current year to date actual expense totals help determine a projection of what the expenses would be for the next year. The assessment rate is originally specified in the governing documents. Additionally, the documents allow for a certain increase per year. If the current rate cannot meet the association’s expenses, an increase would be necessary. The total delinquent accounts total $7,725 as of December 31, 2009.

7. Fines and Drive-Through – How can homeowners assist in keeping our neighborhood looking beautiful? Can they email you

addresses and pictures in an effort to help enforce the rules? Answer: As MMC, Inc. only completes inspections once a month, we request a photo be taken of the violation and send it via email along with the property address to [email protected]. Mike Harney has been contacting Mr. Layton at the Precinct Office about a light at Northcrest Drive and Spring-Steubner. With the high school traffic it is a nightmare and could account for an accident a week (5 from time school started to end of October). He has said any traffic signalization would be in the widening package for Spring-Steubner, which won't start until 2011 at least. Mike has been pushing him on it, hoping they would move the signal ahead, but with no luck so far. He also asked that they contact Klein ISD and ask them to put an officer there to direct traffic, but don't think anything will come of it.

There are a great deal of hot topics that homeowners question Amanda and Meredith about daily, weekly and monthly.

Some of these topics are the same, so Amanda and Meredith thought that they would try to keep them in one central location.

It is proven effective to direct these important issues to them so they can collect them all and present them at one time to

MMC, however; you are always welcome to contact MMC on your own. We regularly ask for updates and will continue to do

so. We will continue to check in with MMC for any updates and publish them in this section quarterly. Should you have any

issues that you would like to have them approach the management company, please forward to Amanda or Meredith's email.

Meredith Ellender

[email protected]

Amanda Sears Talley

[email protected]

Let’s Kick Back and Relax with a Spring Break Community Event! We will be hosting an Outdoor Movie Screening on March 12th at 7:30pm. at our Recrea-tion Center. Please bring your own chairs, blankets, coolers and snacks. We will have a 14ft by 20ft inflatable screen to view the movie. Any movie sugges-tions are welcomed and must be suitable for young Spring Breakers. Just email me your suggestions and we will circulate a Flyer prior to the event with the Winning Pick and details. Also, any other ideas, suggestions/donations for the event are welcomed.

Deana Barns REALTOR, Coldwell Banker United

18425 Champion Forest Dr. #100

Spring, Tx. 77379

[email protected]

(281) 300.1118 Cell

We want to hear from you! Any interesting articles you want to write, pass on or if you’d like to be a regular contributor

for gardening tips or great recipes, let us know.

Also, I like to “BE GREEN”! Going forward, everyone should sign-up for i-neighbors. org and pass on your email address so I

can publish the newsletter online. There is a great site called ISSUU.com where I will post this newsletter. Those of you

who’ve already sent me your contact information will see this quarter’s newsletter online now.

This is also a great way to allow everyone to post Business Ad Space for no cost, only time and energy.

Northcrest Village Newsletter brought to

you by:

Deana Barns

REALTOR, Coldwell Banker United

18425 Champion Forest Dr. #100

Spring, Tx. 77379

[email protected]

(281) 300.1118 Cell

Northcrest Village News and Views

Deadline for Submissions

2nd quarter Newsletter

March 5, 2010 (All articles subject to editorial Review)

Special thanks to the following

contributors:

Meredith Ellender

Darla Gaylor

Hilleary Hatchett

Karen Hathorn

Mueller Elementary PTO,

Treasurer

Amanda Sears

Northcrest Village News and Views

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