News
Park and Pool Security Improvement
Greetings, Residents of Westfield Village!As many of you know, we have been working hard at improving the park and pool areas for this year. The work has been a collaborative effort between the CIA Board, the Planning Committee, and many wonderful local Contractors. The ultimate goals have always been a safer and more comfortable place for our residents to come and enjoy themselves; let their children run and play; and utilize the pool facilities.
To that end, we have completed the fencing project, and the parking lot and common areas are now only accessible to residents of Westfield Village that possess an access card for those areas. This card is the same one that was provided with your welcome packet when you first purchased your residence in our community. By updating the access card system and improving the fencing, we are ensuring a greater reduction of transient and non-resident traffic to our facilities, further preventing any safety concerns or vandalism that may have been present in the past.
As of April 1, 2010, we will be utilizing the locking gate and access points as part of the new system; these barriers will only be accessible to residents of Westfield Village from that point on. Further, these systems and policies stipulate the requirement of being current on homeowners' dues to fully utilize the common areas from this point forward. Lastly, we have provided a new, emergency contact number for the CIA Board; this number will be posted prominently in these areas in case residents have a problem with the access systems or common areas.
Again, we would like to thank everyone for their support and participation in our endeavors to improve the Westfield Village common areas, and look forward to seeing everyone at the Spring Festival on April 3rd!
Sincerely,
Michael Willett, President
Westfield Village CIA
New Mailing Address
We were notified after mailing the 2010 HOA assessment invoices that the owner of the mail box store we have used for the last 9 years was closing. Our new address is:Westfield Village CIA
5425 N Fry Road Ste 2
Katy, TX 77449
We have already put in the change of address notice with USPS, so that your payments should reach us. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Homeowner's Association Dues
In order to avoid any confusion; your 2010 Homeowners association dues invoices were mailed separately this year. These are due January 31, 2010. These funds are used to pay for the operating expenses of the association and any capital improvements that the Board may elect to make. Enclosed is the approved 2010 operating budget listing our expected expenses. Also included are our financial reports as of 10/31/09. A copy of our audited 2008 Financial Reports will be available at the annual meeting.While we understand that some of you are having financial difficulties, you still need to pay your dues. Late fees and collection charges are assessed February 1, if payment is not received. If you cannot pay the entire amount by January 31, 2010, please send in a portion of the amount you owe. The Board will work with you if you contact us with alternative payment arrangements.
Deed Restriction Violations
One of the major changes that we have made this year, regarding our deed restriction control is the hiring of Graham Management.We remain a self managed HOA, but use a management company to perform the deed drives and coordinate the mailing of violation and fine notices.
We have been pleased with the performance of Graham Management and have certainly seen a marked improvement with respect to enforcement. We understand that the process is not prefect and welcome your comments and suggestions. I would challenge the community to attend one of our monthly board meetings and give us your two cents. Monthly board meetings are held on the third Tuesday of every month at 7 PM at the WV pool and any homeowner is welcome to attend.
We mentioned last year that the Board was aware of the number of commercial vehicles such as dump trucks, semi trailers and other commercial vehicles being parked overnight in our subdivision. In order to deal with this situation appropriately, we have been directed to prepare a petition to submit to the Harris County Commissioners� Court. Once the petition is accepted by the court, the county will install signs posting the ordinance that dictates such vehicles are not allowed to park in the community.
We are still working to get the required number of signatures for our petition and need the support of the whole community for this to happen. If you have not signed it, please come to the annual meeting or any monthly meeting and do so there.
Financial Highlights
2009 was a challenging year for our Homeowners Association. The current economic problems have been noticed in our general area. We have had more foreclosures in our neighborhood since the mid 1980s and our collections, while still better than most HOAs, are down from previous years. We reluctantly sent more homeowners to the attorney for collections than in previous years.| Capital Repairs/Expenditures: | |
| Sunshades around pool area |
$ 6,400 |
| Park Expansion |
$74,500 |
| Percentage of 2008 Dues collected as of 10/31/08 |
82% |
| Number of homes foreclosed as of 10/31/09 |
18 |
| Loss of revenue due to foreclosure |
$ 9,919 |
| Homeowners sent to attorney |
12 |
| Average Owed This was an uninsured cost as it was belowour deductible. |
$ 1,061 |
| Estimated number to be sent in 2010 |
20 |
Other Matters
In the interest of keeping the community informed we need to point out that there are board members who receive payment for services they provide to Westfield Village. These payments are not for fulfilling obligations in any one position, but rather for services rendered that would normally be outsourced by a management company. In all cases, these payments are substantially less than what would be charged by any management company and provide our neighborhood with a greater quality of service than would have normally been provided. Board Members who have received payments under contractual arrangements were the Treasurer, VP-Operations and VP-ACC Approval. Copies of the contracts and payments under these contracts will be made available at the annual meeting.President's Corner
I am sure you have seen the improvements in the park area that have been coordinated by Marshall Wier and the Planning Committee. Marshall has done a fine job with the project and things have come together quite well.It has been a busy year for us here in Westfield Village. The Planning Committee has been busy implementing community improvement projects. Robinson Elementary School has opened and MUD #12 has begun their construction projects in the area. We endured the wrath of Hurricane Ike and thankfully had little damage to contend with, as compared with others not too far from us.I wanted to take a few moments to explain our park expansion project to you so that everyone understands what is happening and roughly how long it will take to complete.
We are working with a fixed income in Westfield Village, as all HOA's do. Our only source of revenue is the maintenance fees paid by individual homeowners every year. In order to accomplish our goals we need to budget the development in phases. This year we have completed the first phase, which has been to delineate the acreage and secure it with fencing. The following phases will be to add more parking, playground equipment, benches, tables, grills and eventually a community center. The only way that we can afford to do this, however, is to wait for the funds to build in our account. We spent a fair amount of our surplus this year to get the fence up and the new acre cleared and planted, as a result we will likely have to wait for another two years before beginning the next phase. This will allow us to build income in order to pay for the further development. According to our budget forecast and the master plan in place, we are estimating that the entire development will be completed in about 5 years. Again, this will be a phased development, so there will be portions added either yearly or bi-annually depending on cost of the addition.
We have received a number of comments regarding additional installations in the park area and also comments about why the construction has apparently ceased. Hopefully I have clarified this question, but I would also like to point out that the plans going forward are not written in stone. They can be changed and if you would like to offer your input on the development, I would encourage you to attend our board meetings or even better, volunteer to sit on the Planning Committee and be a part of the exciting project development. The Planning Committee is always looking for members and could certainly use the help.
Anyone interested, please send an email to Marshall Weir at Planning@westfieldvillagecia.com.
I would also like to point out one important point about the new park expansion. You have all noticed the gate to enter the parking lot. Within the next several weeks, this gate will remain closed and only accessible with a valid key card. The same card that allows you access to the pool will also open this gate. There will be another gate in the NW corner of the park for foot traffic. Once these gates are activated, we are confident that the level of vandalism and neglect will be curtailed.
Once again, I would like to encourage all who are interested in volunteering to serve on a committee or as a board member to come to the monthly meetings and introduce yourself. You can always go to the website and send an email as well. Your board is made up solely of volunteers from our neighborhood; all of us are homeowners in Westfield Village. There is always room for more, so don’t be shy.
I would also like to let you know that if there are teenagers in Westfield Village that are interested in obtaining community service hours for school, please email president@westfieldvillagecia.com for more details.
Have a safe a prosperous year in 2010!