Dear Homeowners,

Our HOA Board is made up of volunteers, we are not paid.  We are willing to listen to complaints, write letters and work with contractors to negotiate better ways to upgrade our community.  I am writing this because I have read blogs of complaints of no newsletters, no fourth of July community event and what does our annual fee go?  So I decided to send you a brief explanation as follows:

We have approximately 365 homes in our community that are supposed to pay $237.00 per year for HOA dues.  We presently have over $20,000 dues that are delinquent from homeowners in Settler's Crossing.  We are spending funds on liens, collections and lawyer fees to try to collect these monies.  The money that is actually collected goes to pay Landscaping fees, HOA Administrative fees, Trash fees, Sprinkler Maintenance fees, Electrical maintenance fees, Pond and Playground fees, Property Insurance fees for all common areas, OG&E and other utilities fees, etc, etc, etc.  We must maintain sidewalks, trails and streets which increase in expense in the event of the occasional acts of god from tornados, high winds, hail etc.  Keep in mind how great a burden this is and the fact that all your board members are volunteers.

Regarding the newsletters.  These came from a group of volunteers called the Social Committee.  This committee wrote, copied and hand delivered each one of these newsletters at their own expense and on their own time.  In addition, they chose to host the Fourth of July event at their own expense while waiting to get reimbursed for what they had spent and only to hear folks complain about having to purchase glow sticks.  There is no Social Committee this year and we are looking for volunteers.  Please let me know if you are interested.

My point is next time you have an issue or concern, please keep in mind that we are all only trying to help and that everyone in the board is donating their time and effort to make our community better.  If you wish to be part of the board and get more involved please make sure you attend our meeting on October 19th.

Thank you

Denise

Denise,

I have a question.  The agenda talked about selling common areas to homeowners.  What common areas are in discussion to be sold and for what dollar amount?

Thanks.

We are talking about common area that is directly adjacent to each homeowners lot.  It must be touching the lot and it will allow for additional backyard or sideyard extension.  We have not yet worked out all the details we need a land surveyer and then we need to discuss the price per parcel of land.  I did not give detail because I want homeowners to attend the meeting.

The best benefit of selling common area is to cut some of our landscaping costs and to use the money to put back into our community.  Fountains, fishing docks, another playground and maybe a basketball area....

Hope this helps, please come to the meeting.

Denise

I think the current (and I mean current) board and last years board are doing a great job under the circumstances. I also hope more people show up this year for the HOA meeting and actually bring up some positive things.

As to the people that do not pay or even attempt to pay their dues, can we be provided with their address during the next meeting? I am sure the residents paying are getting sick of paying for those folks.