MOM - Community Residents Meet - 1/11/18

Hello All,

Thank you all for stopping by for the Community Residents meeting held on 1/11/18 at the Community Center. 

Scott Stauffer addressed with Welcome notes and Gangadhar Kotu explained the accomplishments and issues discussed during the HOA Annual Meeting. After that, opened up for the collaborated discussion on many things where most of the attendees were part of and all the MOM is provided below for reference.

MOM:

1. Accomplishments
1. 4 Street lights installed in the community by Water District.
2. Fall event was successful

2. Issues discussed
1. Discussed the items discussed in HOA Annual Meeting (MOM: https://castlehillsnehomes.blogspot.com/2017/09/mom-2017-annual-hoa-meeting-on-sep11-at.html)
2. HOA Annual fee rise has been discussed at length
1. During Annual Meeting
1. Checked with HOA whether the community center can be given at free for residents usage/community meetings -> Eric Stanley (Bright Reality COO) simply denied this.
2. Also checked if the Pool can be accessed at no additional fee, but denied this as well.
3. Requested for Sand Volleyball court by the Pool, HOA mentioned they will look in to, but there was no ascertain commitment.
2. Look at the HOA financial statement
1. Do we have an attorney to look at the details? Any auditor in the community can volunteer to look at the details?
2. Can we get the Cost per Unit level details?
3. Can we form our own HOA?
1. Fortunately yes we can form our own HOA, but it will be called as Sub HOA (works with main HOA and adhere to their policies), so it is not an independent HOA. This was confirmed by Bright Reality COO during the Annual meeting.
2. Unfortunately we also need to bear additional cost to manage sub HOA.
1. IMO, this would not be a wise decision. However, we can form it if all the residents agree to it.
4. When does the Castleshills development stops? - As per the Community Impact newsletter, it will be 2031 the development ends.
1. My assumption is that until then HOA will definitely be under Bright Reality. :(
3. There was a big crack on the retaining wall off the Windhaven Pkwy and the homeowner was working with the HOA since more than an year.
1. HOA's response was that is ok for now, but no definite response if the repair can be done.
2. Home Owner was worried if any snakes comes over to their backyard. This is the safety issue.
4. Water Pressure issue
1. This had been discussed with Water district couple times and per GM, we might need to work with City of Lewisville as the Water district purchases water from City.
5. Can we have more Christmas Lighting?
1. Per HOA, this is as common as other Castlehills phases, but main castlehills always have more lighting to the trees in the median as well. We will have to keep poking HOA to get more lighting for us.
6. Who manages Trees in front of houses (Between the Sidewalk and the Street)
1. Home owner is still responsible for the trees not to see them dead, otherwise HOA will issue a fine.
7. Additional Trees in the common green area between the houses 116 and 200 Wiltshire.
1. Need to work with Water District if this is possible as there is an gas pipeline underneath.
8. Some residents expressed that it is only $37 increase, instead of discussing the HOA fee, we need to focus on the property taxes.
1. Discussed the property tax rates we had in our 1F ($.92) and 1G ($1.00) districts.
2. We also had discussed the Homestead exemptions in 1F (10%) and 1G (8%). Need to work with Water District to have the same % exemptions for both the districts.
9. We need amenities like Volleyball/Basketball as to help the young kids in the community towards the sports.
1. As we are not getting support from HOA, we can also work with Water District.
10. Mail delivery issues - Mails are being delivered to wrong addresses especially delivered to another streets with same number.
1. We can write an email to Jeff Young. [jeffery.young@castlehills.org 972-899-0030]
11. Audrey Wiseman clarified on how Water district functions.
12. District Elections - May 4th 2018
1. 1F has 2 open positions which needs to be filled out.
2. 1G has 5 open positions which needs to be filled out, so far 4 residents applied for having their name on the ballot. Need one more resident submission. Let me know if needed any help on this.
3. Ballot application submissions will start from Jan17 -Feb16 2018, .
4. Who are eligible? - Any tax payer within the district eligible (Attached the eligibility criteria)
5. Who can vote? - Anybody who has registered Vote with State of Texas can vote.
6. Board maybe thinking of avoiding elections if they just have sufficient candidates as Elections will be an expense at the door.
7. Benefits
1. Having residents on the Board will help strengthen the influence to get the needs fulfilled
2. Shaded Area for the Play Area (estimation is $25k)
1. 1F has already passed a motion to share the cost of $20k towards amenity improvements in the community.
2. 1G is yet to pass the motion on the sharing the cost of $20k. [Expecting this to be in the month meeting on 1/17]
3. The remaining amount can be used for another amenities.
3. IMP: Boards are discussing how can they help the communities before the annexation depending on the reserves left.
13. Annexation to City of Lewisville (https://communityimpact.com/dallas-fort-worth/lewisville-flower-mound-highland-village/development-construction/2018/01/08/lewisville-officials-new-law-poses-no-threat-castle-hills-annexation/)
1. Benefits - City benefits would apply here instead from Water District. (Attached)
2. Once the Annexation is complete (by 2020), the City property tax ($0.436) would be applied for all the residents - This would save at least $1200 and up to $2500 each year (as per the current values). This would be depending on property value.
3. Someone asked a question like, does the property value go down in this context as the rest of the lewisville property values are not at this high.
1. Median property value in Lewisville is around $350k.
2. Property values are depending on the area.
3. Castlehills is very hot in the market as we are very closure to all the new infrastructural developments and City also gets a benefit in this, don't think the property values would go down. But may not rise much though. It all depends on how Appraisal District sees this.
4. Update:
1. There seems to be very much assurance that 1B - 1F districts will be annexed to City of Lewisville.
2. Another interesting comment from City Impact newsletter was still evaluating the ways on how to annex 1G and 1H as this are the recent districts and the tax rates are at $1.
1. It mostly applies to 1G as 1G has the residents
2. 1H doesn't have any development so far.
3. Total Castle hills assessment value from all districts is $9.5b (attached)

3. Community Expenses sheet location - https://goo.gl/Q7yD6w.

If any of you are not part of WhatsApp group, pls reply me with your number.

Should you have any other items missed after the above list, pls reply everyone so all are aware of the things discussed.

Best Regards

Gangadhar Kotu

Community Blog: https://castlehillsnehomes.blogspot.com/