Falcon Ridge Neighborhood Association

This was an email that I, Peggy, president of association,  received after our meeting October 9, 2008.

This is a concerned neighbor that believes in getting involved and works hard to make it to the meetings. As you can see, she beleives that we are moving in the right direction, we just need more neighbors to get involved to make a more productive association. You can get involved, like her, by just giving concerns and ideas for the association. It is great to have many ideas to work with and to use. Please read the email carefully and see if you would like to get involved. To make some of the ideas become reality, we need volunteers to help it happen. We can do a lot for our neighborhood if we work together to raise money, so that we can have parties for the neighbors, parties for the children and get more information to more neighbors about our great association.

Thank you,

Peggy Wilosn

President of FRLNA

  I would like to thank  both of you for being a productive part of the community.  I was one that got busy and did not return the response. I have the opposite schedule than most.  However; I would like to become a part of the planning committee for the park. Also, a Sargent of Arms was mentioned as well from Peggy on her email.  Perhaps we can have a nomination at the next meeting allowing parties that are interested to present themselves and maybe have an assistant in the event they don't show or have other plans.

   Peggy is doing a great job on keeping us informed of local and City News.  Her efforts are very strong as well as Evelyn's (not me).  As a suggestion, any progress from the previous meeting should be revisited and reported at the beginning of each meeting.  Also, we need to adopt a mission statement.  I feel that we should open with the mission statement and depart with the mission statement. (Open on time and close on time).  Because we are grouped with all races, creeds and colors and religion, we should adopt this statement with sensitivity.  Perhaps, it can be on the agenda of the next meeting. 

   Officer Ken seems to be very knowledgeable of HOA/Neighborhood Assoc guidelines. We have to get the community involved.  I suggest a neighborhood get together with hot dogs, burgers and refreshments a loud speaker and a newsletter ready to give to the participants. Invite the neighbor.  You mentioned Walmart and Albertsons, I'm sure they will donate for the cause.

   Let's not forget the new construction businesses, they may want to participate as well (QT, restaurants, banks and credit unions). We all will gain from this effort.  Lots of work but well worth it.  

   Then, the pass the funds bucket until we can get the assoc dues amended and accepted by the homeowners.

  Next, we can have a community yard sale and each home that have product to sell can donate $10.00 to the association.

   The last thing, we need a community clean up.  Trash, carts and debris need to be picked up.  Perhaps we can have the City to bring us a couple of containers or we we can use the schools recycling bins.

   Call Choice Homes and complain about their lots or send an official letter of concern.  Actually, code enforcement can do this officially, they are out of compliance.  They are cutting the lots and leaving the trash and not edging the curbs and utility boxes and leaving grass cutting in the streets.   There is a ton of debris going into the sewers because of damaged code bags and or grass growing in the bags.  This is very unsightly. 

  Our goal is to make our community a place where property value will remain stable and new homeowners will want to buy in our community.  Hence, to sell we will make money.  

 Councilman Burnett is a person we need to stay in contact.  Let's become noisemakers.     

I will be happy to participate in anyway I can.  I actually did not know a neighborhood association existed until this month's meeting, and it was only because I saw it in the newspaper.  Peggy, you said that flyers were passed around the neighborhoods.  I know for a fact (because I know a good portion of the people on my block) that no one on our block was aware that this association existed.  I think we would have more involvement if the neighbors knew about the association.  As I told you at the meeting, I am willing to be a block captain for our block on Blue Bell Dr., and I would love to help with the newsletter.  I believe the newsletter should be something that can be distributed in a physical format until more people are aware of the association and the website.  I am very interested in being on the park committee, mainly because my house backs up to the park area.  Please let me know how I can help...I am willing and able.

I am happy to see we have an association even though there are still so few participating. I think if just "keep at it" others will join in.  So often people just wait to see what happens before getting involved, or wait until they have an issue and decide to bring it to the attention of the group. If we stop now because there are not many involved it will only reinforce the belief so many hold that there is no reason to get involved because nothing ever happens.

I think it is possible lots of people still think we are just about gas leases and see no reason to get involved in meetings and such. Now with the news about other gas leases these people will probably feel less inclined to get involved. How can we get the word out that we are NOT the gas lease group?

I will be happy to help distribute flyers, newsletters, or anything else in my block on Long Rifle. I don't know many of my neighbors, but I will be happy to knock on their doors and get to know them and let them know about the association.

I am not sure how many people in the neighborhood are involved in high school sports, but in the fall Thursdays are freshman and JV football nights. As a high school teacher I can assure you that this involves a lot more people than you might think. Perhaps after football season is over more of those families can become involved.

Anyway, there are definitely issues of concern that were brought out at the last two meetings, and even though we are small we can still be vocal with the city about what we need. If we give up because of low numbers the city has no reason to take any of what we said to them seriously.

I understand about the football season and a lot of people involved, so that is one reason that our attendance has been low but when football season is over, there will probably be another sport season after that. We have put fliers and/or door-hangers on every house in our association at least three times, probably more and there still hasn't even been a  big response by email or phone much less attending meetings.  We did get some responses but some people say they are not getting any kind of flyer or door-hanger on their door, what is happening to them? !  We have put articles in the paper, put signs out in the neighborhood ( with half of them disappearing) and we have even put fliers in the nearby restaurants. We are afraid that we may have some people working against us to keep our neighborhood association active.

So, you asked how we can we get the word out that we are NOT the gas group? That is what we have been trying to do. Someone made the suggestion that we should think about having a neighborhood party in the lot that our park will be developed on. Another suggestion was going door-to-door and let people know who we are and what we are trying to do.

But to do either of these suggestions or any other suggestion that involves organizing, we need volunteers to help make them happen. We have been told by some people that they would like to be block captains, but when we try to get in contact with them, we don't get a response.  We can set up a meeting somewhere for all volunteers that would like to help get the word out, and see how many we can get. If we can get everyone's email, the ones that have one, that would be the best way to contact everyone for upcoming meetings. And the ones that don't have an email address, they can ask to use their neighbors or go to the library and look on our web site to get information.

I, myself, am not willing to give up but it is hard to keep others motivated to continue. We do not have enough officers for the association and we need to add more positions for different duties.

It has been very hard to conduct meetings with only me and one other officer present and to also to stay with the ground rules that we, the executive board adopted.

So it would be a great help if we can add more officers, and positions and also to get people to pay annual dues so that we will not have to continue to pay our of our pockets to pay for the fliers, the door-hangers and any other supplies that we need for the association.

I would love to have a neighborhood wide garage sale, to help raise money for the assocation. Everyone have their stuff at their own house but all have a garage sale at the same time, donating a percentage to the association. I can come up with all kinds of ways to raise money for the association and also to get neighbors meet but it is back to, it takes volunteers to make it happen.

So we are completely open for ideas and volunteers