The HOA’s historical update on pond access, shoreline clearing, cul-de-sac circles, and neighborhood volunteer opportunities.
Original source: 2024 archive; exact posting date not recorded.
Archived announcement. Dates, plans, fees, and contact details below reflect the original notice.
Dear Shadowoak Homeowners,
I want to share with you some upcoming projects and news from the HOA.
Chuck Kleypas (my husband) has joined the HOA Board. His position (until such time as someone else volunteers for the job) is Treasurer. He has over 35 years of experience in cost estimation/cost control and has been thoroughly researching the subdivision finances for as far back as we can find records (approximately 9 years). It has been enlightening to see how our money has been spent over the last nine years. This is giving us a better picture of our finances, and allows us to plan better for the future.
Secondly, one of the projects we need to work on is the appearance of our common ground. This includes the pond area and the circles in the cul-de-sacs. I spoke with the technician who takes care of our pond last Fall and he made some suggestions on improving the appearance and functionality of the pond. We are currently collecting money (from increased HOA fees) in order to dredge the forebay of the pond. We hope to have enough to take care of this in 2025. The other issue at the pond is overgrowth along the shoreline. We have a lot of elm trees and sprouts, which are invasive. We also have some honeysuckle, mostly at the front of the pond where the water comes in, which is another invasive plant. Having someone come in and remove these plants would be quite expensive, so we are hoping to get a group of people and do this ourselves in order to keep our HOA fees from increasing. Not only will this involve chain saws and yard tools, we will also need to dispose of the cut brush. If the elms are put into the pond, they will sprout and create a worse problem, so we need to physically remove all the brush. Our hope is that people who have yard waste service will agree to take some of the brush. If you can’t physically take the brush to your house, we can organize some kind of delivery service. Not everyone may be physically able to help, but taking some yard waste would be a great help to our project.
Chuck and I have put pink ribbons around the pond, to indicate where we need to take things out. We will leave the trees (except for one or two that are definitely dead), and would like to remove the brush. There is an area at the outlet of the pond which also has some heavy brush that must be removed, as the technician who monitors our pond water quality cannot get down to the shoreline. We will try to schedule some work days to get this started. If anyone is so inclined to go down there sometime when they are free, and is able to cut a few things down and take them away, that would be amazing. This is not going to happen overnight. It may take a year or two, but I think we, as a community can accomplish this and restore our pond to a more scenic area of our neighborhood. In case you are not aware, there are two entrances to the pond via Common Ground corridors. One is located on Vistaoak Court. between the homes at 210 Vistaoak and 218 Vistaoak. The other entrance is located on Shadowoak Drive between the homes at 1119 and 1123 Shadowoak. These Common Ground corridors to access the pond are not on private property, and all Shadowoak Subdivision residents have access to the pond via these two entrances.
We would also like to do some work on the circles. This would also involve some yard work, and hauling out some yard waste. If you know of a specific circle that you want to work with, please contact me and we will try to help you get some volunteers.
What we would like to know from you is, would you be interested in helping at the pond? In what capacity? Can you take some of the yard waste? Would you be interested in helping at one or more of the circles that are in need of attention? Would you be willing to put your name on a list of volunteers who can be called upon to help with these issues? Please email me if you are willing to help.
I appreciate you reading this rather long news update. The Board is greatly interested in creating a community spirit in Shadowoak which will bring us all closer together and make our subdivision a place to be proud of.
Thanks,
Paula Kleypas
President, Shadowoak HOA
pkleypas@gmail.com