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NOTTINGHAM HAPPENINGS About the time this newsletter comes out residents will be
preparing for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The NCCIA Board wishes all Nottingham Country residents a
happy and safe Holiday Season! For the most part NC has been cleaned up from Hurricane
Ike. A special thanks to MCUD
and their employees who did the majority of the work along with hiring
private contractors to pick up the storm related debris. We should take great pride in the
fact that our area appeared to be cleaned up much quicker than many
neighboring subdivisions. The
cost of the clean up is yet to be determined and it will be born by MCUD and
NCCIA. There is hope that there
maybe some reimbursement from FEMA and/or Harris County. We shall see. Nottingham Country was fortunate in that it appears we had
some minor roof damage, a few uprooted trees, numerous downed small limbs,
and many flattened fences. Frankly there were many fences in NC that were in
need of replacement before Ike hit and those were the ones for the most part
that were flattened. No one likes to have to bear the cost of fence
replacement but the time had long come for many homeowners. Very few fences
are viable after about 20 years.
ItÕs a positive for all that we now see so many nice new fences around
the neighborhood. SCS Management has held off on citing homeowners for deed
restriction violations related to Ike. However 60 days would seem to be
plenty of time to get issues resolved such as taking boards off of windows,
cleaning up yards, hauling away debris, taking tape off of windows and taking
down broken trees. Homeowners
who have not done these things will be cited by our management company. If you fall into this category,
please get your property in order.
To the 99% of homeowners who quickly cleaned up, we thank you and I am
certain your neighbors do also! Presently the Board is in negotiations with the homeowners on
Abbotswood that back up to Westgreen. The hardiplank fence was destroyed by
Ike and we are all in agreement that we need to have a fence along Westgreen
that provides a positive look for the subdivision. However the fence is on private property and the
area outside of the fence is owned by Harris County. Therefore we are very
limited in what we can do. A
brick wall is not an option due to the cost and the fact there is a utility
easement along the fence line. Director Bruce Hamelin is working diligently
with the nine affected homeowners along Westgreen to come up with a viable
solution to the fencing issue. Hopefully by the time you read this article,
the project will be completed. SCS Management will be sending out notices shortly for the
$200 annual maintenance fee. The
fee is due by 12/31/08. There is
a 30 day grace period and if not paid by 1/31/09, a late fee of about $20 is
assessed. The NCCIA fee is one
of the lowest in Harris County. There is very little excuse for any homeowner
who cannot budget $16.67 per month to pay the fee on time. Please avoid late and potential legal
fees and send in your payment upon receipt of the invoice. For new homeowners, your mortgage
company does not escrow for homeowner association fees. Those are your
responsibility to pay Don Mach NCCIA President and Legal Liaison Here it is – The Holiday Season! Is
it possible that a whole year has passed since the last one? We
will soon put up decorations in the neighborhood and weÕll see individual
homeowners doing their own decorating.
No wonder this is my favorite time of the year. WeÕll
give Yard of the Month prizes for the best and most festive decorations; so
it will be fun to drive through the subdivision and really get into the
spirit. I
recommend going to any of the area high school activities; for instance the
Madrigal Dinner at Taylor on December 7th and 8th. The Madrigal Dinner is a tradition – this will be
about the 25th year.
It is something I havenÕt missed for many years. Even the food is good. The
THS orchestra has its Winter Extravaganza Concert December 11th. If you havenÕt been to one of the
Orchestra concerts, now is the time to go. Check
the High School websites throughout the area and see what is available. These kids are so good that it makes
me prefer staying in the community to going to the theater district for the
seasonÕs shows. The
THS Band has its Holiday Concert Monday the 8th of December. This is a very good band, so you
wonÕt want to miss this concert either. St.
PeterÕs has a Community Messiah Sing-along on Sunday December 14. Everyone is invited to participate. I
am certain many of the other churches in our area have great events so please
check them out. Well,
now! You can almost walk to
enough performances to make the season complete. And
I have ordered up some snow I
have asked that it be on the dates of these performances so we can really
feel like weÕre in one of those ads that shows Santa Claus and a couple of
reindeer and huge show flakes!
Like the old Coke ad. If
thatÕs not enough, donÕt forget about the Polar Express, White Christmas,
Holiday Inn, ItÕs a Wonderful Life. The Grinch, the one about the little boy
who wanted a Red Rider BB gun, The BishopÕs Wife, well, this is a very long
list. Home Alone? The Very Best PageantÉ Nobody does Christmas quite like Bing
Crosby, Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, and the old timers. Although, Tom Hanks WAS Polar
Express. And
remember that we need to be more security conscious than usual at
Christmas. Unfortunately, we
need to be extremely aware of our surroundings at all times. So,
from your NCCIA Board of Directors, we wish you an exceptionally joyous
December and may 2009 be your best year ever! Carol
Neef-Brown NCCIA
Secretary September 2008 Security Report The
following is reported by our Precinct 5 Constables regarding calls and
arrests in Nottingham Country for the month of September:
A
sure way to become a statistic on this report is to leave your home or garage
unlocked when unattended. Please
make sure you lock up at all times, unfortunately itÕs a necessity these
days. NCCIA
Board of Directors |