HOA Fees

Several people have asked me why we've had the increase in HOA fees. I have been wondering the same. I have been told by our property manager at Oasis that a packet of information explaining the increase is being mailed to us and we should receive it some time during the first week of February.

Holiday Safety

Tonight we met and discussed holiday safety, graffiti (on SRP boxes), and other blockwatch matters. It was wonderful to meet so many of the newer residents from Parcel 1 (the northwest corner of Castlegate--the new construction)! I feel blessed to have such great neighbors and look forward to getting to know them better. It was great to see the regulars, too. To those of you who were unable to make it, I really do miss you when you're not there, and hope you are doing well!

Here are some reminders about holiday safety:

While shopping, keep your purse secure on your shoulder or strapped securly into the child seatbelt on the shopping cart (still watch it, though!).

Cover the keypad with your other hand when entering your PIN number for debit card payment.

Be aware of people around you in parking lots; ask for security to walk you out if you see suspicious looking people.

Don't leave your already purchased items sitting in plain view in the car; lock them in the trunk (if you have one).

Be cautious about scams; if someone asks you to donate toys or money, make sure it's to a well known organization (like the Marine Corps or Sheriff's Office).

SAFETY TIP: Keep your car keys with "key fob" next to your bed at night; if you hear someone attempting to break into your car or house, hit the horn button on your key fob to scare them away.
SECURITY TIP: Remember to keep your porch light and coach lights on at night

TRAVEL TIP: If you are traveling during the holiday season, be sure to have a trusted neighbor keep an eye on your house; leave a phone number so they can reach you if needed.

REMINDER: Have you tested your fire/smoke detectors lately?

No Quorum for December HOA Annual Meeting

Last night as I approached the small group of people gathered outside Simonton's Multi-purpose room waiting for the karate class to finish, I quickly realized there weren't enough people there to make a quorum for the HOA Annual meeting.

Again.

This happened last December, too.

This meeting is important because it involves election of new board members (or reelection of current ones), and because no new items can be brought to the board until this Annual Meeting is properly conducted.

I know this is the holiday season and we are all busy with festivities and planning and shopping and all that good stuff, and it's hard at the end of a long day to leave the comfort and warmth of our homes to get out to an HOA meeting (or a blockwatch meeting), but in order for our community to run the way WE want it to, we have to take Nike's advice and "Just Do It."

The HOA Annual Meeting will be rescheduled for January. Please make every effort to be there, and if you cannot, please MAIL IN YOUR BALLOT; mailing in your ballot will count toward a quorum.

Thanks so much!
sandi

Link to Tribune Article on Proposed Freeway

Even if ADOT won't openly admit that we residents influenced their decision to throw out the route that would destroy our homes, I think it's obvious.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/131475

New HOA

I just found out today that our new HOA is called Oasis; our manager is Brett. The new contact phone number is: 623-241-7373.

Happy November!

Early Voting Sites

Press Release For Immediate Release

Early Voting Sites Open to Pinal County Voters
FLORENCE-

Voters who want to avoid the lines at the polls on November 4th’s General Election can place their ballot at numerous locations throughout Pinal County.

“We have our main office in Florence open for early voting as well as our satellite offices in Apache Junction and Casa Grande,” said County Recorder Laura Dean-Lytle. “These three sites are open Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, through the end of October.”

In addition to the three County Recorder offices, there will be regional early voting sites in various areas of the county, Dean-Lytle added.

“We are working hard to make voting a little easier for those who want to place their ballot before the general election.”

If you were mailed an early ballot, please don’t forget to vote it, sign it and send it back in to Pinal County.

Monday-Friday Early Voting Locations (8:00 am until 5:00)
Florence; Recorder’s Office (Building E) County Complex
Apache Junction; Recorder’s Satellite Office; 575 N. Idaho Road, Suite 110
Casa Grande; Recorder’s Satellite Office; 820 E. Cottonwood Lane

Regional Early Voting Locations
Maricopa; 19955 N. Wilson Avenue (JP Court); Thursday, October 16 and 23
San Tan; 968 W. Hunt Highway (Next to Johnson Utilities); Tuesday, October 14, 21 and 25 Saddlebrooke; 63701 E. Saddlebrooke Boulevard, Suite C; Wednesday, October 15 and 22 Kearny; 355 Alden Road; Saturday, October 18
Arizona City; 13970 S. Sunland Gin Road; Saturday, October 18
Gila River Indian Community; Site to be Determined; Friday, October 17 and 24

If you have any questions please call the Pinal County Citizen’s Contact Center at (520) 509-3555 or 888-431-1311.

Security Peephole

Okay folks, I didn't want to recommend a product to you until I reeeeeally knew for sure all I could know about it, so I got myself what has to be the coolest and best peephole in the Universe from the very cool, very nice guys from Security Peephole. They came to install Saturday morning, were quick and efficient, made sure I knew all I wanted to know, cleaned up, and offered to come to our next meeting (which will be soon, I promise). They will have a peephole on hand for you to see.

I'm including pictures; I promise I don't always look so bad; it was early. :o)
Click here and it should take you to their official brochure (which has much better pictures than mine!)

In the first one, you can see the size of the peephole. My thought was, "WOW, that's huge!" My second thought was, "That's the coolest thing ever!" It's so easy to see through--you don't have to put your eye up to it and squint to see a tiny little image. You can see who's there from several feet away (great for kids--my 2-year-old can even identify people through it, short people like me, people whose vision may not be great, etc.). It's like looking through a video monitor:




You can see the street in front of the house and a huge chunk of the front yard very clearly:


This is what someone looks like standing outside the door. I couldn't get my camera to focus very well; it was a lot clearer in real life, but you get the idea:

And here's how it looks on the outside of the door. If I had never seen one of these before and approached a door that had one, I would think I was on camera or something. That in itself might be enough to deter someone trying to get in:

I think this is a great product! If you would like to have one installed at your home, contact Jeremy and Scott at securitypeephole@cox.net