It’s springtime as witnessed from the yellow dust that is now blanketing all our outside furniture and yards — oak pollen is everywhere! And what a great set of quick storms complete with hail, wind and rain today to usher in April!
There are lots and lots of things happening in and around the neighborhood and here are a few of the highlights from recent e-mails, newsletter articles and other information provided to property owners:
April Board meeting – There’s a TPOA Board of Directors regular meeting scheduled for Tuesday, April 5, 2016, 7 p.m. at our clubhouse. Some of the topics of discussion include the newly proposed renovation/rebuild of the clubhouse and the results of a survey of property owners recently taken. Plan to attend to learn more about upcoming plans and discussion underway about this large project and how your annual assessment dollars will be allocated to make it happen.
Some of the activities and events around the neighborhood:
Old Tennis Courts – The old tennis courts will be closed for the next 3-5 weeks as upgrades are completed to include resurfacing and the addition of a new basketball court.
Chili cook-off – A chili cook-off along with day long activities for all residents including live music, food trucks, and activities for the kids, and more! Join your neighbors in the park on April 2, 2016 for the entertainment.
Lifeguards are needed – Life guards needed for our neighborhood pool: Working hours are between 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. Applicant must be at least 18 years old, and have lifeguard certification, please email contact@spectrumam.com. Please include your name and contact information.
Pool season – The 2016 pool season begins on Friday, April 15! Pool passes are on sale and can be purchased in the park office, which is open from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Friday or at the Spectrum offices located at 17319 San Pedro, Suite 318, from 9am- 5pm. To purchase the pool membership this year, please bring your park entrance cards with you so they can be activated to open the pool entrance gate. For rates and more information, check the April issue of our neighborhood newsletter.
Answers to several questions I hear regularly from property owners:
- Are we non-annexed from the City of San Antonio? Yes! We will be for a total of 26+ years from 2006 when the agreement was reached with the city. Being non-annexed means we don’t have any city services like SAPD, fire or EMS, but it also means we are not paying city taxes for services which the city was unable to provide us at the time of negotiation. Our neighborhood is so unique with bar ditches, winding streets, no sidewalks or curbs and no storm water drainage (we are all on septic) and that made annexation far less attractive than was originally thought. There was also considerable discussion about what the SAPD could or could not offer in the way of timely support to our neighborhood given our location near the northern edge of Bexar County. As a result, the negotiations resulted in our non-annexation. You can read more about the entire agreement on the web page www.timberwoodparksa.org under the Documents tab – click on the Non-annexation agreement. We do receive full law enforcement support from both the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) and the Precinct 3 Constables. They handle traffic control, calls by property owners for assistance, emergency calls, etc. Originally, while we worked turnover, we even had the BCSO use the old TPPOA office at the corner of Borgfeld and Timberline as a stop off and break spot which in turn provided us a great deal of additional timely coverage on a regular basis for the neighborhood.
- We are also part of ESD #3 (Emergency Service District #3) which handles our fire, EMS and other emergency calls. We are covered by the Bexar Bulverde Fire Department with substations on Borgfeld and on Bulverde Road. A new station is planned for the Overlook Parkway area (property already purchased) with ground breaking being discussed however the annexation efforts currently under discussion for much of the neighborhoods which surround us may be having an impact as to what will be happening to that site.
- Why don’t we have speed bumps or speed turtles on our streets? We researched these options on several occasions during the turnover process as well. In the case of speed bumps – because we don’t have curbs and sidewalks to attach them to and in the case of speed turtles – without curbs and sidewalks to keep drivers from avoiding them by driving into our bar ditches and onto private property we have been unable to install them. Our roads are public and maintained by the county and the county doesn’t install speed bumps or turtles for any of their maintained roads.
- Did we ever discuss gating the community? Yes, on several occasions while we were working on turnover and we even looked into its feasibility initially. The short answer is that we have approximately 40+ miles of public roadway that would need to be turned over to our HOA and managed and maintained by same if we did gate our community. Assessment fees would have to be adjusted to cover this very large expense — roadway maintenance, bar ditch maintenance and easement management in addition to our gates and the mechanisms that would control them.
- Did we ever look at hiring security for the neighborhood to help with crime management? Yes, again, while we were working on turnover details we did several studies and had several companies provide proposals to do the same. When we were a volunteer association with very limited funds at the time — about $25,000 a year to be exact to make what we were able to make happen work for the neighborhood —- it was impossible to even consider as the proposals brought us a figure that would have amounted to at least $100 per home increase annually to the assessment fund to fund a partial security force. And that was if the entire neighborhood participated. Did you all know how low our crime rate is compared to the rest of the greater San Antonio area? We have one of the lowest crime rates in our entire area and most of our crime is thankfully considered minor in nature compared to what some of our other neighborhoods face on a regular basis. I know that is of little solace to anyone who is impacted by a criminal act, and I don’t minimize being a victim for one minute. Join the crime watch group and keep up with what’s happening in the neighborhood. They do a great job keeping neighbors informed!
A note about a new local business:
New Indoor practice range – There is a relatively new indoor range which has gone into business on Hwy 46 just outside Bergheim and heading toward Boerne. Ballistic Therapy is a great place to relax and enjoy an afternoon or evening with a team of informed, professional staff who want you to enjoy your experience in an air conditioned, comfortable facility. They also teach firearms classes for License to Carry each Saturday by appointment, as well as offer private individual classes to help improve your skills or teach you how to correctly shoot a firearm you might not be familiar with. Practical advice and instruction are what I experienced in several instances for different training and course instruction. For more information, visit www.ballistictherapy.com . Great owners and staff…give them a try!