Nottingham Country Newsletter

March 2007 …

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NCCIA BOARD NEWS 

Your Board re-elected the same officers that served last year for another term at the January meeting.  Ron Hudson -  President,  Don Mach – Vice President,  Ken Gentile – Secretary, and Bob Wills – Treasurer. The Committee Chairpersons are: Legal – Don Mach, Security & Contract Deputy Patrol – Ken Gentile, Architectural Control – Bruce Hamelin, Deed Restriction, Bruce Hamelin, with assistants Carol Neef Brown, and Shanon Hole, Community Relations & Social.– Shannon Hole, Environmental – Ron Hudson, Landscaping – Kim Svetlik, Finance and Audit, Bob Wills,  Web – Don Mach.  Volunteers are needed to assist in these committee areas.  If you have some time available and wish to improve the conditions of Nottingham Country, give us a call.  You can reach us at www.nottinghamcountry.org  or call SCS Management at 281-463-1777. Additionally we solicit your ideas and suggestions for the community.  Please give your Board a call.

A significant expenditure of your annual budget is for the Contract Constables that patrol our community and respond to calls for law enforcement.  Too frequently we hear that residents don’t call when there is an issue that deserves the Constables attention or the call is made long after the fact.  When you see conditions that need police attention please CALL 281-463-6666 IMMEDIATELY.  This is how your security office can best support our community. Our officers are very supportive of your needs.  Ron Hudson,  Board President.

REGISTERED SEX OFFENDERS IN NOTTINGHAM COUNTRY

If the above headline does not get your attention, perhaps it should.  Yes, there are registered sex offenders residing in Nottingham County along with most every other subdivision in Harris County.

The State of Texas passed a law in 1995 which is commonly known as Ashley’s Law that created the Texas Sex Offender Registration Program.  The law requires adult and juvenile sex offenders to register with the local law enforcement authority of the city in which they reside, or, if the offender does not reside in a city, with the local law enforcement authority of the county they reside in.  Registration involves the offender providing the local law enforcement authority with information that includes, but not limited to, the offender’s name, address, a color photograph, and the offense the offender was convicted of or adjudicated for.  A sexual offender who fails to comply with any registration requirement is subject to felony prosecution. 

There are a number of websites that interested persons can access to obtain information regarding Ashley’s Law and learn about sexual offenders who may reside in our vicinity.  The NCCIA website, http://Nottinghamcountry.org contains a link to the website:  www.familywatchdog.us.  Another website for obtaining information is the Texas Department of Public Safety website which is:  http://records.txdps.state.tx.us/soSearch/.  We encourage all Nottingham Country residents to visit these sites and become informed as to registered sex offenders who reside in the area.  Both sites contain valuable information and provide maps showing where sexual offenders reside and actual photos of those individuals.  However, please remember that the public cannot rely entirely on public information to educate themselves on potential danger from sex offenders within the community.  The law requires convicted sex offenders to register with law enforcement authorities but if the offender is non-compliant, it is very difficult to track their movement.

Hardly a day goes by whereby we do not hear or read about juvenile abductions and sexual offenses against children.  By educating ourselves about the potential risks that might exist within walking distances of our own homes, we could possibly prevent a future tragic event from taking place.

DISCLAIMER:  Please note that the NCCIA does not endorse and is not associated with the two websites listed above that track sexual offenders.  NCCIA has not verified the accuracy of information supplied on those sites and provides this information only as a service to the area homeowners.

Don Mach

NCCIA Vice President and Legal Liaison  

SECURITY REPORT

Some residents have expressed concern about the parking of automobiles on the streets of Nottingham Country.  First let me emphasize that, except where posted by county traffic signs; parking on the streets is permitted as long as the vehicle is parked compliant with Texas traffic statutes. No cars may be parked obstructing driveways, near intersections, obstructing mail boxes or fire hydrants, or facing on-coming traffic. Furthermore, if a car appears to be abandoned, however, the constable’s office can investigate. If determined to be abandoned and not attended to within 72 hours of being “tagged” by law officers, an automobile may be removed.

While residents and high school students may park on public streets, the practice does present concerns about safety and the neighborhood appearance. For example, included in the Constable’s statistics (table below) are three burglaries of motor vehicles. All of these burglaries “MV” occurred in vehicles parked on the streets. 

All of Nottingham Country would benefit if parking on the subdivision streets was kept to a minimum.  When you must park on the street; please do so safely and respectfully of the residents, motorists, and others affected.

Ken Gentile

CURB APPEAL

 ATTENTION ALL HOMEOWNERS:

Now is the time to do the fix-up, clean-up, paint-up chores that you deferred because of the hot weather last year.  If and when the rain goes away, you can fight the “cabin fever” syndrome by doing the landscaping you neglected or perhaps some tree-trimming or add some color to your beds, etc.  If you have to bend over or do the limbo to mow around your trees, raising the crowns of your trees would be in order.

As we know, curb appeal is the first impression that a potential home-buyer receives when house hunting.  This applies to individual houses as well as the entire subdivision.  After 3 years of involvement with Deed Restriction violations and Architectural Requests, I see Nottingham Country as a large development with a variety of home styles in all price ranges.  The vast majority of our homes are maintained with pride.  However, the small percentage of homes that are the “sore-thumbs” reflect poorly on the whole neighborhood. If we would all approach maintaining our homes as if we were putting them up for sale very soon, we will have maximized our investment while we lived here. Also, the entire subdivision would benefit because the reputation of Nottingham Country would spread as a destination for well kept homes with trees and mature landscaping.  These features are not always available as a homebuyer heads west on I-10. Plus, Nottingham Country has quick access to the beloved Katy Freeway that other areas do not.  Remember, someday your home will be on the market and it makes sense for everyone to get the maximum for their property in the meantime.

Finally (in the area of “Pet Peeves), years ago when our family was house-hunting, a feature that somehow appealed to us was the brick mailbox that most homes in NC featured.  Today, most of them have been destroyed by vandals, visitors, or other parking impaired individuals. If you chose not to rebuild your brick mailbox, at least make sure your replacement is plumb and square, the post is not rotting, etc. and the box is not rusted or dented. Also cars that are always parked on the street cause home buyers to look for less crowded subdivisions.  In Nottingham Country our streets are also our sidewalks, so put your vehicles in the garage or driveway.   Remember, “Curb Appeal” starts at the curb.

Your neighbor,

BRUCE HAMELIN

Web Site Report

Thanks to all of you who visited http://www.nottinghamcountry.org this past month.

Recently, we had an incident in Nottingham Country involving two Pit Bulls running loose that killed a neighbor's pet rabbit in its cage and in their back yard.  Residents who had signed up on the Email List were alerted within hours and the search was on.  Thanks to the diligence of several residents the dogs were found and removed from the neighborhood by animal control.  This incident not only proved the effectiveness of our 'Eblasts' but neighbors joined together to make our neighborhood a safer place.  To learn more, please go to the Nottingham Country web site and follow the links . . .  AND,  If you haven’t signed up for our email list, please take a moment and do so by visiting our website at http://nottinghamcountry.org and click on the “Email List” link.

It is worth noting, that there is a Harris County Leash Law and all residents are reminded to keep their dogs leashed AND if you see any dogs running loose, especially if you perceive them to be a threat to children, other pets or residents, please call Harris County Animal Control.  If you have a description, or better yet a photo (even with a camera phone) you can email me at webmaster@nottinghamcountry.org and I will post it on the web site.  You may prevent another serious incident or, at the very least, you may help someone locate their lost pet.

You may have noticed that you can read the NCCIA Board and Website Reports found in this newsletter on-line at http://nottinghamcountry.org.

The forms can be found by clicking on the "Forms & Maps" link on the Nottingham Country Home Page:http://www.nottinghamcountry.org.

Remember, the “NEW STUFF” Button always denotes where the latest information is.

The Deed Restrictions for All NC sections, as well as, the current By-Laws, Forms and Board Reports are posted on the web site.