Woodrim Crossings Neighborhood Association

Neighborhood Newsletter - June 2004 Edition

Sep 26, 2004

Dear Neighbors

Our next bimonthly meeting will be on Monday, July 12, 2004 at 7:00 p.m. at the Life Care Center of Aurora, 14101 E. Evans Ave. located at Blackhawk and Evans. At this meeting, you will have the election of board officers for the next year. All neighbors are encouraged to attend!

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***CODE CORNER***

Ongoing Drought to Impact Landscape Maintenance Codes

The city?’s code requires that all landscaping be maintained in a healthy condition, which includes all plants, trees, shrubs and turf; especially in the front and side yards.

However, due to the severe drought facing the city, only minimal requirements will be enforced. Those requirements include the cutting and removal of weeds when they become 8 inches or higher (12 inches high on vacant lots) or when the rock/mulch landscape area becomes weed in-fested. Also, any dead trees and/or shrubs must be removed.

Keep in mind that any evidence of soil erosion is a violation of Aurora City Code. Since the city does require a percentage of live vegetation to be installed in the front and side yards, do not install rock throughout your landscape as a way of resolving any drought or erosion problems. Using Xeriscape plant material is a recommended approach.

There are some minimal requirements that should be taken by homeowners to maintain property:

• Water your lawn on the scheduled day;


• Water your trees and shrubs as needed, but avoid over watering; and


• Mow your lawn when needed, cut and remove weeds and if the soil is barren, apply mulch or landscape matting or blankets over these areas.

Lawn watering is limited to two days per week from 6 p.m. to 10 a.m. Please water in a way that water is not lost on driveways or sidewalks. Residents may hand water trees, shrubs, flower and vegetable gardens on any day. Installation of new lawns requires a lawn permit, which is available from the Aurora Utilities Department.

For more information, call Neighborhood Support at 303-739-7280.

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WCNA CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Please see the "Community Calendar" that is on our website for this information.

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WOODRIM CROSSING NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION
MINUTES OF MEETING
May 3, 2004

The meeting was called to order by Vice President, Russ Perron, at 7:05. There were 20 in attendance. The minutes of the March 1, 2004, meeting were summarized and approved.

The April 19 Fence Replacement meeting sponsored by the city for our neighborhood was discussed. About 35 people attended. A neighborhood map was shown which showed those who signed the original petition. About 45% of homeowners had signed the petition. Examples of fencing were shown and explained. Marilyn Turner asked for additional people for the Neighborhood Fence Committee. The first meeting will be on May 6. After the committee meets to make the decision of which fence to have installed, then there will be a meeting between the Neighborhood Fence Committee and the Public works Dept. Next there will be a benefit study by an independent consultant followed by the creation of a special improvement district petition. Following this will be a neighborhood-wide meeting hosted by the city prior to carrying the petition to explain the details. The petition will then be circulated and signatures reviewed. Then there will be a public hearing at which all can speak and change their mind even if they signed the petition. There was a show of hands to show whether those present were in favor of the original brick fence decided upon or one of the cheaper prefab alternatives now available. Most preferred the brick fence.

Barb Johnson reported that our Mini Grant we submitted for landscaping for the Ethiopian Church was approved. The grant is for $2900. The money will be spent at Nick?’s and reimbursed as it is spent. The plan is to have the new plantings in before the end of May. A group of church members and Woodrim/ Crossings neighbors will do the planting.

Barb also reported on the status of the Micro Grant for sending the newsletters by mail. We are waiting to see if the $250 for the postal permit will be approved. It was mentioned that we hope to use our web site more to give out information.

Barb reported that there will be an automated car wash on the lot in back of Zio?’s and Texas Road House. It will not be part of the existing gas station on that lot as thought at the last meeting.

Under New Business it was mentioned that we could put signs in our yards saying, ?“Drive 25, Save Lives.?” They are $13 a piece or 20 for $255. Not much interest was expressed by those in attendance.

Barb reported that notification has been received from the city that Gander Mountain Outdoor Supplies will be going into the Home Base building on Abilene. It is a national retail company. There will be ATV service inside the building. Neighbors wanted to know the hours that ATV?’s could be driven outside and where.

It was reported that the building going in on the corner of Jewell and Sable is the third and final one that was planned originally to be built.

The treasurer?’s report was given by Madolyn Paroske. One check of $73.75 was written for our newsletter printing. Our balance in $953.90.

The election of officers for the next year was held. The following were elected: Russ Perron - President, Treasurer - Madolyn Paroske, Secretary - Kathy Gamrath. No one submitted their name for the Vice President.

Our garage sale will be on May 14 and 15. Marilyn Turner and Ken Werth took the garage sale signs to put on their back fences. Our third garage sale sign is missing. Madolyn reported that an ad will be in the paper the Thurs., Fri., and Sat. of that week.

The valuation of our properties was discussed and it was mentioned that brick fences around neighborhoods have been shown to increase the value of houses.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:35.

Respectively Submitted,
Kathy Gamrath

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City Council Information
Aurora City Council
15151 E. Alameda Parkway
Aurora, CO 80012
Office 303-739-7015
Fax 303-739-7594

Ed Tauer, Mayor 303-739-7015
Nadine Caldwell, Mayor Pro-Tem 303-364-2859
Kathy Green, Ward II 303-367-1106
Ingrid Lindemann, Ward III 303-739-7508
Molly Markert, Ward IV 303-739-7516
Sue Sandstrom, Ward V 303-739-7510
Bob Broom, Ward VI 303-739-7015
Ryan Frazier, At-Large 303-739-7015
Steve Hogan, At-Large 303-739-7015
Brad Pierce, At-Large 303-739-7015
Bob FitzGerald, At-Large 303-739-7514

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Ward IV Town Meetings
Please see the "Ward IV Town Meetings" link that is in the Community Pages section on our website for this information.

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Important Telephone Numbers
It has come to our attention that there have been several phone numbers advertised that have been incorrect. Please see the "Important Telephone Numbers" link in the Community Pages section of our website for the corrected phone numbers.

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Neighborhood Watch

An open letter from our PAR Officer, Damon Vaz:

Well summer is upon us. With the weather getting hotter residents will begin to open up those windows to let the cool breeze in. However, sometimes more than just a cool breeze enters your peaceful quite abode, like noise.

What is a noise complaint? A noise complaint can be several different things. The most popular is loud music; however, it may not be limited to just that. There can be loud talking, loud arguing, loud cars, loud parties, fireworks, barking dogs and those obnoxious Go-Peds! Whatever noise occurs that disturbs your peace is a noise complaint. Noise complaints, if gone unchecked, could possibly turn into a regular occurrence. I suggest that if you are a victim of a disturbance not to let it slide. In cases where your neighbors are the source of unwanted noise your first recourse should be a talk with the person creating the disturbance and let them know that you do not appreciate it. Often times they have no idea that they are bothering you and will correct the problem on their own. This will go far in keeping a mutual respect for one another and will avoid resentment. In many cases I have been told by the suspect of a noise complaint that all the neighbor had to do is tell them instead of calling the police the first time. From that point on the neighbor will usually harbor some type of resentment and will call the police for the first thing that you step out of line on.

In cases where you cannot talk to the person, such as loud mufflers on vehicles, or Go-Peds or just don't feel safe confronting someone about the noise, you can report it to the Aurora Police non-emergency line
303-627-3100. Please have the description of the vehicle and the plate number. You can remain anonymous if you like.

TIP: If you call in as an anonymous caller, essentially there is no victim. 9 times out of 10 if there is no victim, no summons will be issued. APD officers need a victim and an additional non-interested party as a witness to charge someone with disturbing the peace. The arriving patrol officer can be the additional witness if he/she hears the disturbance himself. You will need to tell the dispatcher that you wish to press charges and would like to be contacted. If you do not do this, the officers will simply issue a verbal warning to the perpetrator and the noise problem will more than likely not stop. Noise complaints are a low priority call and may take some time for officers to arrive. After APD has received 3 verified noise complaints the PAR officer (me) can issue the resident a nuisance letter. Failure to abate the nuisance complaint will result in the person receiving a summons for failure to abate a nuisance. In the case where there are renters creating the disturbance, the owner of the property receives this nuisance letter as well; and his/her failure to abate the problem will result in the owner receiving summons for the tenants?’ noise. In most cases, abating the problem is eviction. If the owner fails to abate the problem and the noise continues, then the APD begins filing the residence as a crime house and the City seizes the property.

That's it in a nut shell! This has been a crime tip from your PAR officer. If you have any other suggestions on tips that you would like to know about please email me with your topic of concern and I will put something together.

Thanks for helping keep your neighborhoods a safe and peaceful place to live

Officer Damon Vaz
Aurora Police Department
23911 E. Arapahoe Rd.
303-627-3173
dvaz@auroragov.org

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