As members of the SilverHawk HOA, I think we all have roughly the same Wants: we want to live in a safe community, we want the values of our homes to appreciate, we want to know that our HOA dues are well spent. The problem is that to ensure these goals are met, it requires more than just an investment of money. We can and do outsource as much maintenance and upkeep as possible with the help of our management company, but outside agents can only do so much.

For one, decisions about the neighborhood have to be made by members of the HOA, and to make informed decisions, options must be researched. For another, we neighbors are the ones living in the neighborhood, so it's up to us to spot problems and make sure vendors/contractors and our fellow neighbors are acting in the neighborhood's best interest. Until you've served on an HOA Board, you probably do not realize how much work goes into running, maintaining, and improving a neighborhood, and a large chunk of that work is done by volunteers, by your neighbors who are giving their spare time to do what they can to improve on the investment you've made in this community.

Now, this post is not intended to heap guilt onto you. Many of you are already overwhelmed by commitments: to families, to work, to your church, to the PTA, or to the hundreds of other organizations you might choose to participate in. All we're asking is that if you do have some spare time, whether it's several hours a week, ten minutes a month, or a few hours for a one-off project, please volunteer that time to our neighborhood.

Not only are we willing to take whatever time you can give us, we'll take it how you want to give it. If you have an eye for style, we'd be happy to have you help us design holiday décor at the entrances or work with the Grounds Committee to choose flora to add some pizzazz to the public spaces. If you like to throw a good party, talk to the Board to get backing for a neighborhood social event. If you simply want to help, but don't have particular ideas about how you prefer to help, see this running list of work needing to be done.

Finally, if you have a fair amount of time to give, please consider running for a Board position. We have four open positions that will need to be filled at our Annual Meeting on January 29th and not enough volunteers. Board members are responsible for making decisions for the neighborhood and need regular access to email. How much time you give as a Board member is up to you but requires at least a few hours each month.

To close this out, a big thank you to all of you who have volunteered your time in the past. From former and current Board members to pool volunteers to fence repairers to Little Free Library builders and bench installers and everyone in between, you all prove over and over again that SilverHawk is a great place to call home.

To volunteer, use the Committees volunteer form whether you are interested in committee work or something different.

Owners in the Villas section of the neighborhood have been paying monthly dues to cover such costs as the gates. In turning over the road to the city, we also turned over the financial obligation of Villas homeowners for the road to the city. Since the gates have been removed, that process is more or less complete. The Villas account has enough to cover any incidental expenses remaining. Therefore, the bill for November is cancelled and no longer an obligation for Villas homeowners going forward.  All Villas monthly fees that have been paid for November/December will be credited towards 2019 dues. However, any past due amounts billed through October 2018 are still due.

Should you have any questions, as usual contact the HOA Board.

Many of you may have noticed that the Villas road repair is underway. We've been given a limited-time offer: the city is offering to get rid of the two little islands at the entrance to the Villas and to pave over the space left behind at no extra cost to the Villas homeowners, but this offer is only good while the road crew is already onsite. The Board is planning to accept this offer for the following reasons:

1. The two islands were intended for the use of the gates (one for the keypad, the other for the gates themselves), and since the gates are being removed, they will no longer be useful.
2. We have considered leaving the pillar, but: 
   1. It does not match the size of the other pillars in the neighborhood and so would seem out of place, especially since the island it's on is not a substantial island.
   2. For aesthetic reasons and to complete the Villas road project, we would need to get rid of the keypad on the pillar. This could be costly as we would likely also have to replace all of the stonework so that the color of the new stone (covering the hole left by the keypad) matches the rest of the stonework.
3. Removing the gates is also a safety consideration. With the islands being as small as they are, they are more likely to be involved in traffic accidents.
4. Can't beat the price.

We do understand that this would be a change to the look of the neighborhood and would like to give you time to offer feedback, so we will consider any objections until 3:00pm CDT, Sunday, Oct. 21, 2018. To submit feedback, please contact Chris Painter with your thoughts on how you think the problem of the Villas entrance should be resolved.

Here is a quick update on the Villas.  We believe that the end of this project is very near.  City Counsel met and approved the Tax Assessment District on September 11, 2018.  According to our contact, the contractor should begin work mid to late October.  He is now telling us that construction should be about a week.  We are working to get bids on gate removal and will try to have the removal accomplished to coincide with the end of construction.

Once we have more information we will pass it along to you.

The SilverHawk pool closes annually after Labor Day weekend. The pool will be open on Monday, September 3rd, for the Labor Day holiday.  Since the Edmond schools are also closed on Tuesday, September 4, one of our neighbors who is certified in pool care has graciously volunteered to keep an eye on the pool's chemical levels on Sept. 4 so that we can safely keep the pool open one extra day for the kiddos. The pool will close at 10 p.m., Tuesday, September 4th for the season.

Kidd Aquatic has done a great job keeping the pool area and clubhouse clean on a daily basis during pool season, but our contract with Kidd Aquatic expires on Labor Day. We are now looking for a new housekeeping service to come in every two weeks to clean the clubhouse. The housekeeping service will need to be insured and bonded. If you or someone you know is interested in competing for the service, please contact Autumn Harting by September 12, 2018.

esWe have spoken with the city for an updated time line for this project.  Right now we are still a little unclear about the timeline since the timeline given to us in April do not match up with the minutes of City Council.

In April, I was given the following schedule:

April 24 – City Council authorizes final plans and specs
July 3 – City Council advertises plans and specs for bid
July 24 – Bids are opened
August 14 – City Council awards contract
60 day construction period

However, as of the August 14 City Council meeting, it appears that only the plans and specs have been approved and a date has been set to create the tax assessment district on September 11, 2018 during the next City Council meeting.  This is good news because now we have something official to point at as evidence for progress.

After this meeting, the district will be created and then then they move forward with obtaining bids for the project.  Once the City Council awards the bid, then construction begins.  What we are still unclear about is the timeline from the creation of the district to the beginning of construction.  Currently we are seeking this information.

Here is an excerpt of the reason this is behind schedule from our contact with the city:

"...[t]hey are allowing me to move several steps concurrently since I fell behind on getting the necessary modifications made by the engineer to the preliminary report. I am sure it is because I am unfamiliar with the process, but it seems that the Silverhawk HOA providing the preliminary created questions about what steps had been met and what remained."

We are monitoring the meeting minutes and will provide an update after the September meeting.

Below we are providing you with the documents from City Council regarding the matter.