River Trails Homeowners Association

Hello neighbors, just signed on the neighborhood link today.  I have lived in RT for 2 years now and so far pretty happy with the neighborhood.  My immediate neighbors seem nice and pretty much keep to themselves.  My only real complaint is that I wish that some of the people on my street would take more pride in their front lawns.  I've seen some beautiful landscapes in the neighborhood, but unfortunately them yard right next door to them looks like a deserted auto salvage.  I'm not saying spend a lot of money on landscaping, I surely don't have the cash to hire professionals to enhance my curb appeal.  All I ask is that you try to mow regularly, trim up your overgrown trees and bushes, and put all that junk in your backyard. 

I have read alot of the posts from my neighbors, especially the ones about thieves and vandalism in our area.  About 10 months ago my truck was burglarized and the criminal(s) got away with a 380 cal. semi-automatic pistol of mine. Stupid of me to leave anything of value in my truck, but I thought is would be secured in the gun safe I bought specifically for a vehicle. The thieves did leave behind a flashlight with fingerprints, but so far no luck from Fort Worth PD.   

The last newsletter I got from our HOA (~ 1 year go) contained info about volunteers needed to patrol our neighborhood in an effort to catch suspicious people and/or activity in the area.  The article asked that if anyone was interested to please email some lady (I forgot her name).  Anyways, I did email that person letting her know that I would like to help, I never heard back from her.

Do we have people in our neighborhood currently doing this?  If so, who is organizing it? I would love to help out so any contact info would be helpful.  Thanks!

Welcome to the neighborhood!  I've been here for just over 4 years and enjoy the neighborhood.  We had a very active HOA and membership was good, we got regular updates, regular newsletters, and the like, however that changed approx 2008 when the President moved away, and the HOA isn't as active as it used to be, it seems like we have obligatory annual meetings (not quarterly like they used to be, I believe).  Several committees like Code Blue (the community neighborhood watch you talked about) seem to be basically dead.  I've emailed Melissa on several occaisions, but seem to get very little or no response myself.

Fortunately we do seem to rally behind major issues (like forcing a pending strip club investor out, before they built any facility), but other major issues like the Gas Lease thing has left a lot of people ticked-off.  We do work closely with City Councilman Scarth, and have one of the lowest crime districts/neighborhoods in the City; mostly because of the involvement from Fort Worth PD & our neighbors.  From websites like crimemapping.com and stopcrime.com(?), they email maps of offenses and they appear to be in the surrounding areas, but very little in our area because of our neighbor observations, & security-sense.

I feel we need some new faces in the HOA or we need to go to a cheap-mandatory one where the officers can be voted out.  The voluntary HOA has severely lost membership ($25/year), seemingly because many people are ticked-off now.  Every HOA needs officers, and nobody steps up to take over the reins, so the same folks get reelected at a 15-person annual meeting.  I understand that many people are busy, including the existing officers, but if they do not have time to respond to take care of the HOA, it would be great if someone else stepped up and provided fresh-direction.  I don't have time to run an HOA, otherwise I would have run for the position a couple of years ago.

I would also like to mention, that whether or not you get involved in Code Blue, I recommend attending the HOA meetings (now maybe 2x a year) and attending police meetings.  The Fort Worth PD is very community oriented & our NPO (Neighborhood Police Officer), Officer Choyce attends our meetings & emails weekly crime trend reports for the area, not just our neighborhood.  When someone breaks into a truck or a homeowner leaves a garage unsecured, it's an opportunity.  We as a neighborhood have called the PD for suspicious activity, and they do respond.  This is what makes theives go to other subdivisions and stay out of ours.

Install cameras and/or motion lighting, they're cheap and catch these theives red-handed.  It's proven to work in the past, and fortunately with the way our neighborhood residents are, we observe and don't provide opportunities for theives & criminals to take something.  Always think to yourself: each time I do something, can someone take something (close your garage, lock your car, don't leave stuff in plain sight, lock your backyard gate, etc).  Common sense stuff.

Landscape is a city code issue, but weeds/etc have to be high enough for the city to act, otherwise they can't legally do anything.  If your neighbor falls on hard-times or is unable to do their yard for some reason, be a good neighbor & chip in.  A poorly maintained yard, lowers your property value, but also makes criminals think nobody lives there.  High shrubs/low hanging branches/etc also provide cover for a criminal entering your home illegally.  Everyone should keep their yard maintained (doesn't have to be fancy-but at least keep it trimmed).

If code is an issue, call the city and ask the code section about grass/weed height-if the neighbor is high enough, the city can do something.

DFWJIM,

Thanks for the reply and the info about our neighborhood.  I am very busy too, I work approx 50-60 hrs per week.  I do not feel like I could put in the quality time into our HOA that it deserves. 

I do have a couple of questions for you.  Do you know when the next HOA meeting is?  Also, what would it take to have a manadatory HOA fee for River Trails?  Where can I get some affordable security cameras for my home?

As far as Code Blue, I am very observant on what goes on my street and ocassionally just drive thru our neighborhood to see whats going on.  I need to make more of an effort in the evenings.

I plan on living here for awhile, at least until both of my kids finish college, so I would like to attend the next HOA meeting if possible.  Thanks again for the info.