Bella Vista - November 2013

November 2013

Official Publication of the Bella Vista Homeowners Association

Volume 5, Issue 11

BOARD REPORT

The Board met on October 2, and minutes will be posted to the Bella Vista website (www.bellavista-hoa. com/bellavista/home.asp) after Board approval in November.

Limited Annexation – Good News! Both Bella Vista and Twin Creeks got enough petition signatures to move forward, and City officials reviewed and certified them.

That’s terrific! See the Annexation Update article for the signature count and next steps.

Self-Storage Facility – For an update on where we stand, be sure to read the article By Caleb Magee later in the newsletter.

Xeriscaping – The Board is working with attorneys on a proposed Xeriscaping policy to conserve precious water resources. It will include rainwater collection with relaxed rules governing rain barrels.

Trash Collection – Director Smith is working to finalize a contract with Al Clawson for improved services for waste and recycling, targeted to start in November.

All residents will get recycling at no additional cost, and those who already recycle will see a reduction in cost.

Budgeting – We’re still operating within budget and are approaching budget season. Several new maintenance and beautification items are being scheduled for later

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in the year, after the pool season, including some rock/ gravel landscaping, tree lighting for the pool/parking area, Christmas decorations, and more.

Monthly Board meetings begin at 6pm at the RealManage office (10800 Pecan Park Blvd, Suite 100) on the first Wednesday of each month, and a notice will be posted on the Bella Vista website at least 3 days before the meeting.

HAVE YOU HEARD? Facebook – Our group (www.facebook.com/ groups/60243129318/) is less formal than the newsletter but is a fun and interactive way to socialize with neighbors and participate in the community. It’s also a fast and easy way to distribute information, so we encourage you to join. Group membership is up to 207 members, but with 301 households many are still missing out.

If you know a neighbor who is trying to join this group please remind them to check their FB messages (and their “other” messages folder). Since we closed the group membership to limit the trolls & spammers, we have sent messages to anyone asking to join to provide their address and the names of a couple of neighbors.

Bella Vista Bulletin -November 2013

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IMPORTANT CONTACTS President, Veronica Frederick............ vfrederick@austin.rr.com Vice President, James Smith..............jsmith.bvhoa@gmail.com Director, Steve Bosak …………………s.bosak54@gmail.com Treasurer, Wayne Caswell....................hoa.caswell@gmail.com Secretary, Julie Fowler.................juliefowler.bvhoa@gmail.com Recreation Committee, Jill Calcote........ jillcalcote@gmail.com Maintenance Committee, John Shumaker................................ .................................................... john.h.shumaker@att.com ACC Requests................................... bellvist@realmanage.com

Chili Cookoff

Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 2 from 4-6pm. That’s the date of our first ever neighborhood Chili Cookoff. As noted on the mailbox signs, you can still compete by emailing JillCalcote@gmail.com.

HOA MANAGEMENT RealManage Resident Services (pool, issues, etc.)

1-866-473-2573.................................. Service@RealManage.com Association Manager: Bill Brooks 1-866-473-2573........................william.brooks@realmanage.com www.realmanage.com RealManage, 10800 Pecan Park Boulevard, Suite 100, Austin, Texas 78750, P: 512-219-1927

MISSION STATEMENT Peel, Inc. Community Newsletters

Our goal is to provide the Bella Vista community with one source of local news content that is provided by Bella Vista residents. Our goal is to help build Bella Vista by connecting local businesses with residents and residents with relevant neighborhood information.

"Be the Community."

ARTICLE INFO The Bella Vista Bulletin newsletter is mailed monthly to all Bella Vista residents. Residents, community groups, churches, etc. are welcome to submit information about their organizations in the newsletter.

Personal news for the Stork Report, Teenage Job Seekers, recipes, special celebrations, and birthday announcements are also welcome.

If you have an article of interest to the community, please submit it to hoa.caswell@gmail.com with copy to vfrederick@austin.rr.com by the 8th of the month..

The newsletter can also be viewed online at www.PEELinc.com.

NEWSLETTER INFO Newsletter Publisher Peel, Inc......................................................... 512-263-9181 Advertising.........advertising@PEELinc.com, 512-263-9181 2

Bella Vista Bulletin - November 2013

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Dies Ranch Storage Update

By Caleb Magee, CPNAN community activist and Twin Creeks resident Over the past 7 months many people volunteered their time, hard work, and money attempting to prevent the Dies Ranch Storage Facility from becoming a reality. Some lived close to the proposed development, but most didn’t. We all believed that this beautiful community, and the environment that surrounds it, is truly a special place worth protecting.

We also recognized that working together as neighbors offered the greatest chance to be successful in spite of some significant obstacles. The goals of those involved have always been the following: • To advocate for a purchase for the purpose of conservation and maintenance of the land in an as-is state; • In lieu of a conservation purchase, pursue residential development of the land that would be consistent with the surrounding neighborhoods, the City of Cedar Park’s Future Land Use Map, and the original plans submitted by the developer; and • In the event that the project could not be prevented, to minimize the impact of Storage Unit development on the surrounding neighborhoods.

CPNAN has worked closely with the City of Cedar Park, Twin Creek’s WCIDs and the Bella Vista MUD on options for funding and executing a conservation purchase, including the use of eminent domain, issuance of bonds, or a simple collateralized loan. These options have proven to not be legally possible or feasible on the accelerated timeframe we are subject to. The facts of our current situation are that the developer appears to have the legal basis for bypassing all future subdivision hearings at the City and their Code of Ordinances and to begin construction in a matter of weeks, rendering all calls, petitions, emails, etc to the Planning & Zoning Commission and the City Council to take specific action pointless. While he may or may not choose to exercise that option, it is a reality.

Therefore, the only remaining option on the table for purchase appears to be interest expressed recently by homebuilder Standard Pacific, who committed to initiating a discussion with the developer. We do know from our discussions with the developer that he would consider valid offers that came with sufficient, non-refundable earnest money to cover his carrying costs during the contract period. This is the only way construction gets delayed at this point.

Therefore, recognizing that a purchase is at best a long shot, we’ve pivoted back toward the developer in an attempt to identify meaningful ways that the impact of the Storage Unit development could be significantly minimized (primary example being access to water).

As Assistant City Manager Josh Selleck mentioned in his recent note to the community, CPNAN is working to identify ways to provide access

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Bella Vista Bulletin - November 2013

to water, which would save the developer approximately $400K that he would otherwise have to spend to drill a well and pump the water into the elevated storage tank. We asked whether the developer would be willing to direct a portion of that savings toward a down payment on a community purchase of the front 2.5 acre parcel of land currently owned by Beau Theriot. He expressed interest in that option and committed to brokering a discussion with Theriot. There are many other options for minimizing impact to the neighborhoods that will be discussed including: • Reducing the total number of city required saplings planted on the property in favor of fewer mature trees, • Leaving as much existing vegetation along the perimeter property line as possible, and • Community input into building and roof color selections.

At the end of the day, all reasonable options have been explored and the remaining members of the CPNAN core team believe that continuing to direct effort toward opposition of the development is not the best use of limited time and resources. We would appreciate your support as we work to making the proposed development aesthetically less impactful.

For those who donated toward our $10,000 seed fund, the CPNAN team took concrete steps to prevent expenditures of any amount that were not consistent with the intended use, and since that intended use never materialized, we initiated full refunds on all donations. The refunds were processed by our service provider on October 11th. Please check your credit card statement to verify that your refund was fully processed and contact us immediately if you have any questions or concerns.

Thank you for your interest and support!

ABOUT CPNAN Cedar Park Neighborhood Action Network (cpaction@groups. facebook.com) is a grassroots organization formed by residents and citizens of Cedar Park and is dedicated to: • Encouraging the participation of our neighbors in the process of shaping the direction of our City; • Fostering a sense of connectedness within our community; • Protecting our Quality of Life; • Advocating for smart, sustainable, community oriented development; and • Developing partnerships between the City, its residents, and the surrounding communities that are based on trust, mutual respect, and a common desire to continue to see the Texas Hill Country be one of the premiere places in the US to live, work, and play.

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Yard of the Month

Traffic Safety

Carmen noted on Facebook that “People are still driving way too fast in our hood. Kiddos play in the streets everywhere, which I love (it means we have a family-friendly neighborhood). However, parents Yard of the Month is suspended until Spring, but please supervise your kids. Their judgment isn’t as good as yours. We Christmas offers another way to earn that coveted yard sign don’t want a senseless accident…” with the best Christmas decorations. Let’s do it up bright Tim added that “In addition to people driving too fast, I’ve and with plenty of good cheer. observed bikers barreling through the neighborhood way too fast as well, predominantly adults. The other night there was a group of kids (supervised) playing and some guy dressed in black on a black mountain bike almost picked off a few…”

And then Jacqui said “It would also be helpful if people would use their garage and driveways for their vehicles instead of the streets (especially bad along Corabella). Kiddo’s are riding their bikes again, and with all the cars parked in the streets, it’s very dangerous.”

Because the HOA Board concerns itself with neighborhood safety, we ask that you send Safety ideas to Board members (inside flap) or post them on our Facebook group. That might include things like speed bumps or even a change in restrictive covenants to limit parking on streets. Other neighborhoods do that; we don’t. Should we start Prmrs_66435 _- Rdns Gen Ad #1803 -THIS AD CAN NOT BE EDITED7.5 x5 before some kid gets killed or injured? ‘Just asking.

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Bella Vista Bulletin -November 2013 8/31/11 5:03 PM5

ANNEXATION UPDATE

Here’s the final signature count: • Bella Vista MUD – 67.86% (359 signatures out of 529 property owners) • Twin Creeks WCID 1F – 79.01% (136 signatures out of 172 property owners) • Twin Creeks WCID 1G – 73% (857 signatures out of 1174 property owners) NEXT STEPS: City staff will draft necessary annexation agreements for Travis County, the Bella Vista Municipal Utility District, and the Cedar Park Water Control and Improvement Districts. We will continue to pass on updates as we receive them via Facebook.

There will be public hearings that will be scheduled by the City and may include the MUD and WCIDs. Once the hearings are scheduled, we will post information regarding the date, time and place. It’s important that as many people as possible attend the public hearings! Since not everyone will be available to do so, IF you can and want to see the annexation process continue, please attend.

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Bella Vista Bulletin - November 2013

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Secret Santa Gift Program Would you like to help us make the holidays brighter for hundreds of Central Texas foster children! Secret Santa is a special holiday gift program of the Adoption Coalition of Texas (ACT) helping Child Protective Services and foster families provide gifts and spread holiday cheer to Central Texas foster children through the generosity of community donors.

If you would like to be a Secret Santa this year and purchase holiday gifts for a Central Texas foster child, please email your name, email address and contact phone number to ACTSecretSanta@gmail. com. The gift drop-off days will be at several Austin-area locations on Wednesday through Saturday, December 4–7, and caseworkers will be picking up the gifts the following week. Once you sign up to be a donor, we’ll send you all the details. Last year, thanks to the kindness of people like you, we brought smiles to the faces of more than 350 foster children!

The Adoption Coalition is a partnership of nonprofit adoption agencies and Child Protective Services working together to find forever families for abused and neglected children waiting for adoption. These are usually older children, sibling groups and children with special needs. For information about ACT and adoption, visit www.adoptioncoalitiontx.org.

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