Update on operations during COVID-19


Announce

April 2020 Pandemic Update

We hope this communication finds you and your families well. We are now in the second month of the self-isolation/quarantine. The Board held the April 21, 2020 Monthly Board Meeting on Zoom. This communication is intended to keep Homeowners apprised of current HOA issues as they are identified while we work our way through this pandemic. Topics covered in this communication will be: Delinquent Account Collections, Monthly Board Meetings, Deed Restriction Letters, Acc Requests, Park Access, and Delinquent Accounts.

Monthly Board Meetings:

The first online Monthly Board Meeting was held on April 21, 2020 using Zoom. Once we got all Directors online at the same time the meeting seemed to go well. We have yet to receive any feedback from Homeowners who may have participated. It is unlikely that we will be able to meet physically in May and will most likely be using the Zoom platform again. We are looking at the logistics of continuing to use Zoom once we are able to resume physical meetings.

Deed Restriction Letters:

No one can predict the long term impact COVID-19 and the self-isolation/quarantine will have on our economy. Having said that, we do believe there will be at least some level of negative impact on the economy that may well result in a depression in home values. For most Homeowners our Home represents our largest single investment. The Association attempts to protect that investment, in part, through the enforcement of deed restrictions and architectural control guidelines. In March the Board chose to hold back on certain minor deed restriction issues to give Homeowners the opportunity to evaluate their position during the quarantine. Current events do not relieve the Homeowner of his responsibility to comply with Deed Restriction and ACC issues. In April the Association will resume mailing notices as usual. Communication is always critical and is now more important than ever. Should a Homeowner be asked to do something that he simply cannot accomplish in the time specified please contact Gina to request an extension with a compliance plan.

ACC Requests:

Many of our Homeowner may find that they have extra time on their hands and decide to use that time for home improvements. Please remember to file an ACC Request for those projects before you start to make certain your project conforms with the Architectural Control Guidelines.

Park Access

The Board has been following the recommendations of the State and Harris County to
determine the status of Oakwood Glen parks. The front park is closed to prevent contact on the basketball court and tennis court. The parking lot at the front park is also closed to discourage apartment residents from looking at our parking lot as axillary parking for the apartments. The back park is open. Residents choosing to use the back park should use common sense and practice social distancing. Unaccompanied children should not be in the back park. Because the Association does not have the ability to consistently disinfect the playground equipment and other physical assets in the back park on a continuous basis, please consider these assets to be closed.

Delinquent Account Collections:

The Board chose to delay the Delinquent Account Collection Letter for a second month to give Homeowners with delinquent accounts more time to evaluate their financial positions. If your assessment is delinquent, and you are not in a position to pay your account in full, please consider contacting our community manager Gina Keller at Gina@sterlingasi.com to request a payment plan. Gina will work with you to set up a plan that is fair to both parties. If your delinquent account is already with the attorney and you are not on a payment plan please contact the attorney’s office directly to request one. Ignoring letters from the attorney can cause your legal costs to increase exponentially.
The Board has a fiduciary responsibility to use all legal means to collect funds owed to the Association. Current events do not relieve the Board of this responsibility nor do they relieve the Homeowner of his responsibility to pay the assessment. Additionally, the Board legally cannot waive any portion of the assessment or any hard charges. For reference, legal fees are hard charges. The Association pays these fees monthly as they are accrued. The Board can, on a case by case basis, adjust the down payment on a payment plan and lengthen the payment period (within limits) to get the monthly payment to a more financially manageable level for the homeowner.
Because these are unprecedented times, the Board has decided to send a courtesy reminder this month to Homeowners with delinquent accounts instead of sending the Delinquent Account Collection Letter. The purpose of this reminder is to encourage Homeowners with delinquent accounts to get on a payment plan. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, we anticipate mailing the first of the two mandatory Delinquent Account Collection Letters (209 letters) in May. By the time the May letter is received the delinquent Homeowners will have had an additional 90 days to evaluate their financial position and get on a payment plan. Each of the two 209 letters, if mailed, will incur a $25 charge to the Homeowner’s account ($35 for rental property). Homeowners with delinquent accounts who are not on a payment plan can anticipate being sent to the attorney for collection once the action date in the second letter expires. The Board would prefer to see all of these delinquent accounts on payment plans rather than being forced to send even one account to the attorney for collections. We are using a law firm that has the most reasonable rates we could find but they are still attorneys and they do not work for free.

Mike Harris

President, Oakwood Glen Association

Board Meeting Agenda - 04-21-2020


Agenda

The April 2020 board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 04/21/2020 at 7:00 PM at the online address specified in the agenda.

 

 

 

To review all meeting agendas please visit the download page by CLICKING HERE

 

    


 

Park Closures


Announce

At the direction of Gov. Greg Abbott as well as guidance from Harris County, Oakwood Glen HOA Parks will be closed to the public effective at 10 am Friday, April 10th in order to maintain the safest environment for homeowners and the companies that maintain the parks. The purpose of this closing is to discourage public gatherings over the Easter Holiday. The Oakwood Glen HOA Board will continue to stay current with the latest public health recommendations and will reassess the situation on Monday. Given the myriad of challenges and heightened risks of operating the parks at this time, the Oakwood Glen Board believe this is the best course of action to meet the health and safety expectations provided by the state and county and is in the best interest of Oakwood Glen residents.

Letter from Mike Harris - President, Oakwood Glen Association


Announce

We are going through unprecedented times and we have no way of predicting how long the self- quarantine will last. A large percentage of us will be negatively impacted by this pandemic in some way before things return to normal. This communication is intended to let our Homeowners know what to expect from your HOA during the quarantine. The topics covered in this communication will be: monthly board meetings, delinquent account collections, deed restriction letters, ACC Requests and the disaster planning committee.

Monthly Board Meetings:

The March 17th Board Meeting was canceled due to the self-quarantine order and we are not optimistic that we will be able to hold a physical meeting in the foreseeable future. Some Association business can be conducted by email but our governing documents and the State require that certain specific topics may only be voted on in an open meeting. With this in mind, the Board tested Zoom’s teleconferencing application. This test was conducted for the sole purpose of confirming that all nine Directors had equipment that would allow them to participate in a teleconference and to work out the details of conducting a meeting by teleconference. No association business was conducted. If it is necessary to meet by teleconference in April, an eblast will be sent to our Membership with a link to the teleconference. The same link will be included on the agenda when it is posted on oakwoodglen.net.
Any Member wanting to watch or listen to the meeting can click on the link provided. Unfortunately, to
eliminate background noise that would disrupt the meeting, Members will not be able to participate by voice at this time. There does appear to be a messaging capability where Members could send in questions. If we do attempt to hold a meeting by teleconference we will be using the free version of Zoom to see how it works in real time. The free version appears to limit meetings to 40 minutes. If this is the case we will provide two links. Should the first meeting time out we will take a 5 minute break and then restart using the second link. We appreciate your patience while we work out the logistics of operating this software.

Delinquent Account Collections:

The Board chose to delay the Delinquent Account Collection Letter scheduled for March to give Homeowners time to evaluate their financial positions. If your assessment is delinquent and you believe your income will be impacted by the self-quarantine, please consider contacting our community
manager Gina Keller at Gina@sterlingasi.com to request a payment plan. Gina will work with you to set up a plan that is fair to both parties. If your delinquent account is already with the attorneys and you are not on a payment plan please contact the attorney’s office directly to request one. Ignoring letters from the attorney can cause your legal costs to increase exponentially. The Board has a fiduciary responsibility to use all legal means to collect funds owed to the Association. Current events do not relieve the Board of this responsibility nor do they relieve the Homeowner of his responsibility to pay the assessment. Additionally, the Board legally cannot waive any portion of the assessment or any hard
charges. For reference, legal fees are hard charges. The Association pays these fees monthly as they are accrued. The Board can, on a case by case basis, adjust the down payment on a payment plan and lengthen the payment period (within limits) to get the monthly payment to a more financially manageable level for the homeowner.

Deed Restriction Letters:

The Board chose to hold all courtesy letters from the last Deed Restriction mail out. Only letters pertaining to serious violations and force mow letters were mailed. Current events do not relieve the Homeowner of his responsibility to comply with deed restriction issues.

ACC Requests:

Many of our Homeowner may find that they have extra time on there hands and decide to use that time for home improvements. Please remember to file an ACC Request for those projects before you start to make certain your project conforms with the Architectural Control Guidelines.

Disaster Planning Committee:

Erica Kelly and the Disaster Planning Committee put together a very detailed disaster plan. A copy of the plan can be found on oakwoodglen.net. In that plan they contemplated hurricanes, floods and tornados but no one anticipated a pandemic. One suggestion that I saw on Facebook was to use the little library as a food bank. I do not know what else we might be able to do as a community to help our neighbors in need but you might consider teleconferencing on Zoom or using a Facebook group to see if the community could come up with anything. Anyone interested can contact Erica at security.committee@oakwoodglen.net

Mike Harris

President, Oakwood Glen Association

Trash Service Change - WCA Covid 19 Trash Guidelines due to reduced staff


Announce

*** UPDATE ***

NOTICE: New MUD #24 WCA Covid 19 Trash Guidelines due to reduced staff.

Effective March 31st until further notice NO RECYCLING PICK UP.

New Pick up Guidelines:

Monday Pick up : Blue trash cart, 2 bags maximum of additional trash, bulk trash.

Thursday Pick up: Blue Trash cart ONLY, no additional items outside of cart will be picked up.

For any additional questions please visit the WCA website or call their customer service line 281-368-8397

 

March 17th Board Meeting Canceled


Agenda

Yesterday Oakwood Glen Association President, Mike Harris issued a statement that "Based on current events, The Board has decided to error on the side of caution and cancel tomorrow nights Board Meeting."

 

Board Meeting Agenda - 03-17-2020


Agenda

The March 2020 board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 03/17/2020 at 7:00 PM at the back park clubhouse.

Oakwood Glen Association
17902 Hawk Haven
Spring, TX 77379

 

 

To review all meeting agendas please visit the download page by CLICKING HERE

 

    


 

Board Meeting Agenda - 02-18-2020


Agenda

The January 2020 board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 02/18/2020 at 7:00 PM at the back park clubhouse.

Oakwood Glen Association
17902 Hawk Haven
Spring, TX 77379

 

 

To review all meeting agendas please visit the download page by CLICKING HERE

 

    


 

Pool Lift Questionnaire


Pool

The Board has received a request from several Homeowners to look at ways to improve access to the pool for
residents who are disabled in a manner making it difficult for them to get into or out of the pool. The age of
the pool coupled with the absence of any design drawings makes any material changes to the pool structure
impractical.
One possible solution would be a swing lift chair that could raise and lower the occupant into the pool. Should
the Board decide to install a swing lift we would most likely also need to adjust the restroom facilities to
accommodate wheelchairs. The space in the pool house restrooms is limited. Accommodations could be
made by converting the women’s restroom to a single large stall and changing the partitions in the men’s
restroom to a single large stall inclosing both the urinal and commode.
Technically, the Association is exempt form ADA requirements. If feasible, the Board would like to ensure that
all residents have access to the pool facilities. The Board is not committing to any action(s). At this point we
simply do not know how many residents may be impacted, how many of those impacted would use the facility
if the equipment was installed or if residents not impacted would object to this use of Association funds.
Preliminary cost estimates for a swing that can be operated by the lifeguards plus installation are
approximately $5,000. This figure does not include any unforeseen intangibles. Costs for modifications to the
restrooms are not know at this time but should be minimal if all we do is adjust the partitions and access. Both
projects do not necessarily have to be completed in the same calendar year. The information below will be
used by the Board to help in making an informed decision. Please answer the below questions and return to
Gina Keller at gina@sterlingasi.com before February 17, 2020. Thank you for your input.


Please respond by February 17th, 2020.

1. Do you have a physical disability or a family member residing with you with a physical disability that
currently uses our neighborhood pool?
A. Yes
B. No


2. Do you have a physical disability or a family member residing with you that has a physical disability that
would like to use our neighborhood pool but is currently unable to do so due to a lack of an additional
assistive device to assist with entry and exit from the pool?
A. Yes
B. No


3. Do you have more than one family member residing with you that has a physical disability that would
like to use our neighborhood pool but is currently unable to do so due to a lack of an additional
assistive device to assist with entry and exit from the pool?
A. Yes
B. No


4. If you or a family member have a disability that prevents your use of the pool and the Board were to
install a swing lift chair would you use the pool:
A. Never.
B. Occasionally.
C. Frequently.


5. As a Member of the Association without a disability or disabled family member residing with you
would you support this use of Association funds for the installation of access equipment?
A. Yes
B. No