BW Newsletter December 2002

The Balcones Woods Club, Inc. Board of Directors invites you to attend the neighborhood annual meeting on Tuesday, January 21, 2003. The meeting will be held at Davis Elementary and will start at 7:00pm.

Your attendance at the Annual Meeting will help shape what happens in our neighborhood in the coming year. Please make plans to attend.

Voting by Proxy Ballot

Your vote is important. Please plan to attend the annual meeting. If you are unable to attend, please complete the ballot attached (at end of this e-mail—a paper version will be in the newsletter mailed to your home) and mail it to the address indicated on the ballot. Please allow five days for delivery. If you are attending the annual meeting, please bring your ballot with you. If you forget your ballot, there will be extra ballots available.

There are several new names and several repeat names on the ballot. These are neighbors who get involved by donating their time and make our neighborhood a great place to live. As you can see, there are several openings on the Operating Committee. If you are interested in one of the openings, please contact Dottie McClain at 345-4122.

Note that dues must be up-to-date to vote in person or by proxy. If you have a question about your account or your balance, contact John Schexnayder at 343-0873.

Included at the end of this e-mail newsletter is a copy of the Balcones Woods Club, Inc. Budget Analysis and two proposed amendments to the bylaws. The budget is divided into three sections: (1) Operating Income, (2) Operating Expenses and (3) Capital Improvements. The Analysis includes 2002 actual expenditures to compare to the 2003 budget.

A printed version of this newsletter will be delivered to your home within two weeks.

Currently, the club has openings for new members. Every second Saturday of the month, the club hosts a theme dinner. The dinner host provides beverages and member guests bring appetizers (served at 6:30), the main dinner (served at 7:00), and desserts. The club provides a great forum for exchanging recipes and is open to couples and singles. For information, please call Cristina at 794-8991 (after 5:30 p.m.)

At September’s Women’s Club meeting Jodi Schrobilgen introduced the idea of a neighborhood meal circle. The intent is to bring food to neighbors in need of a helping hand. Maybe a neighbor has fallen ill or someone on your street has just had a baby. Just among Women’s Club members, we’ve had a terrific response and already a few families to provide meals for. If you’d be interested in learning more, being on the Meal Circle e-mail list, or know of a family that could use this, visit the website or write us at mealcircle@balconeswoods.org Thanks!

I was recently contacted by a representative from the LCRA. He wanted to let me know they were going to need to “clear out the area under the high power lines.” This includes taking all the brush under the high wires down to the ground and putting a herbacide on the stumps to ensure they don’t grow back. LCRA will also be removing the two trees on the commons area drive that were topped last summer. They sit directly under the power lines.

While I’d personally like to see the area remain as it has, there is nothing the Balcones Woods Board of Directors can do should the LCRA choose to exercise its rights to maintain its easement as it deems fit. This includes the wholesale removal of trees and brush as long as the actual maintenance is conducted in a reasonable manner. The one thing I was successful to negotiate was that LCRA trim back as many of the trees on the sides of the ROW as possible in lieu of removing them – 20 feet away from edge of line.

This is going to change the look dramatically of the ROW. The LCRA began work in late November but quit after complaints from neighbors. It’s unclear at this time if and when they will resume.

The Balcones Woods printed edition monthly newsletter sells ads. Approved by the BWC Board, ad rates are as follows:

All ad copy is subject to approval by the publisher, and no political ads will be accepted.

Space reservations for display ads are due by the 20th of the month prior to publication, with the camera-ready art due by the 1st. As space is limited, placement is on a first come, first served basis.

For more information, please contact:
Ray Spivey, c/o Balcones Woods Club, Inc., P. O. Box 11560, Austin, TX 78711-1560
phone 512/338-4971 FAX 512/474-9180 newsletter@balconeswoods.org

Your Neighborhood on the Web

Visit the Balcones Woods web site at www.balconeswoods.org. It’s very user-friendly and full of news and updates. Please e-mail us with your suggestions, news, and comments at webmaster@balconeswoods.org.

Just move into the neighborhood? We have BWC care packages for new neighbors. But we don’t always know when someone new moves in. Please call Nikki, 502-8726.

Disaster Ready Austin is concerned about the risks residents face, such as floods, wildfires, tornadoes and other disasters. The group explores how best to protect the community in the event of a disaster.

Based on feedback from the public, City officials will propose strategies to reduce damage brought on by future disasters. Disaster Ready Austin is a program managed by the Office of Emergency Management to educate and better prepare the public about potential disasters.

Tuesday, January 21, 2003 7:OOPM

Your vote is important. Please plan to attend the annual meeting. If mailing in your vote, please allow five days for delivery. Note dues must be up to date to vote in person or by proxy.

If I am unable to attend the annual meeting, I give the Board of Directors my proxy ballot to vote as I have indicated.

Contact me to help with neighborhood activities:_______, best time to call: AM____ PM ____.

2. Please vote by placing a check mark For, Against or Abstain in the space provided:

(write-in position) (write-in name)

Amendments For Against Abstain

Amendment#1, rule enforcement ____ ____ ____

Amendment#2, supervisory control ____ ____ ____

3. Please fill in the information and sign. Please vote, fold, secure and mail to:

The amendment to the bylaws to provide for rule enforcement by the Board of Directors, including the power to impose reasonable fines, and to provide for procedures for the imposition of fines.

Section 1. Article VIII of the Bylaws is amended by adding two new sections to read as follows:

“Section 3. Rule Enforcement. The Board of Directors shall have the power: (a) to impose reasonable fines, which shall constitute a lien upon the property of the violating member, and to suspend a member’s right to vote or any person’s right to use the Common Area for violation of any duty imposed under the declaration, these bylaws, or any rules and regulations duly adopted hereunder; and (b) to delegate the enforcement of this section to the Operating Committee. In the event that any occupant, guest or invitee of a property violates the declaration, bylaws, or a rule or regulation and a fine is imposed, the fine shall be assessed against the member owning the affected property. The failure of the Board to enforce any provision of the Declaration, bylaws, or any rule or regulation shall not be deemed a waiver of the right of the Board to do so thereafter.

“Section 4. Fining Procedures. The Board of Directors shall provide for procedures for the imposition of fines. Such procedures shall, at a minimum: (a) provide for written notice to a member of the nature of the alleged violation and the proposed fine to be imposed; (b) give a member reasonable time to correct or respond to the violation; and (c) provide for increased fines for violations which are neither corrected nor responded to within a reasonable time.”

Section 2. This amendment shall become effective upon the date of its adoption by the homeowners.

Section 3. The bylaws as amended herein are hereby re-enacted as of the date of the adoption of this amendment.

The amendment to the bylaws to provide for supervisory control by the Board of Directors over all committees appointed by it and to provide for procedures for appeal of any committee’s decisions.

“The board of directors shall appoint an Architectural Control Committee, as provided in the Declaration. The board shall also appoint a Nominating Committee and an Operating Committee, as provided in these bylaws. In addition, the board shall appoint such other committees as deemed appropriate in carrying out the purposes of the Association. All committee members shall be members of the Association. The board shall have supervisory control over all such committees and shall provide for procedures for the appeal of any committee’s decisions to the board.”

Section 2. This amendment shall become effective upon the date of its adoption by the homeowners.

Section 3. The bylaws as amended herein are hereby re-enacted as of the date of the adoption of this amendment.

"Bert" and Val Schroeter moved into their Mesa Park home on November 3, 1976 after living in the Panama Canal Zone for 25 years, where Bert worked as an electrical engineer. In 1977, after realizing there was no homeowner's association in Mesa Park, they organized one. The first meetings were held in their home until officers could be elected. Stanley Parrotte was the first elected President, with Bert Schroeter the first secretary.

The 12.6-acre plot of land now called Schroeter Park was originally intended for an elementary school. After 'busing' was decreed, that plan was abandoned and the city sold it to a developer for more housing. The Mesa Park Civic Association (as it was first called) started a campaign in cooperation with Angus Valley and Balcones Woods for the land to be used as a neighborhood park. The land was again acquired by the city at a cost of $285,000 in 1982. The original bond money allocated to development was $100,000 with $50,000 for the second phase.

After Hubert (Bert) C. Schroeter died in 1982, several of the Mesa Park neighbors petitioned the Austin City Council to name the park in Bert's honor (Val still has the original cassette of this proceeding on August 11, 1983). Schroeter Park was formally dedicated on October 13, 1985, and was attended by Stuart Strong, Park Supervisor of Planning and Design, as well as the officers of all the neighborhoods involved. According to the Austin American Statesman article published around 1982, the first phase of development included play equipment, a shelter, picnic facilities, a multi-purpose slab for basketball, and a hike-and-bike trails designed around the existing landscape to allow patrons 'to walk through the typical native Hill Country-type vegetation,' according to Ron Sparks, then manager for North Austin Parks operations.

Plans for the second phase included additional picnic facilities, improvements to the existing softball field, restrooms, and drinking fountains, according to Stuart Strong. "There is still a great need (for restrooms and drinking fountains), which I emphatically approve of," Val said when she was asked about this issue. "I wish to thank everyone who continues to work to keep the park beautiful (and safe)."

Mesa Park Neighborhood Association is continuing to work with Parks and Recreation Department and Park Planning to have the second phase of the plans implemented at Schroeter Park. The request for water includes requests for desperately needed restrooms, water faucets, water hydrant, as well as a fire hydrant located near the center of the park. Austin Energy continues to support Schroeter Park by installing solar powered security lighting, currently scheduled to be completed by the end of November.

Val Schroeter, who also provided copies of the Austin American Statesman newspaper articles, contributed information for this story.

Calendar

Tuesday, January 21, 2003 7:00 pm

Voting by Proxy Ballot

Your Neighborhood on the Web

Tuesday, January 21, 2003 7:OOPM