August 2013 Newsletter

The

Redlands Neighborhood Organization

c/o Ron Turner, President 14,012 Apache Dr. ~ Oklahoma City, OK 73013 Hello Neighbors, Welcome to the neighborhood if youre new residents and a simple How are you? if youve lived here awhile. In the past, the only communication between residents and the neighborhood association/organization has been through these newsletters which have been few and far between. This lack of communication is due to three or four basic things which I hope we can improve upon by my volunteering to take over duties for publishing this newsletter. At our last meeting (July 9, 2013) held at Redlands Park, 14,023 NW 141st we had a little over a dozen residents in attendance. We identified the priority need to increase communication and participation among residents and the immediate need to raise funds for our treasury, primarily to cover the cost of lawncare and maintenance of the frontage along north Western Avenue between Bradford Gardens Neighborhood and Coles Road (the north entrance to our neighborhood and north Western Estates neighborhood). I volunteered to take-over responsibility for publishing this newsletter so that we could publish it on a more frequent and consistent basis. I hope to provide more information and news about our neighborhood and the association in a manner that you will find interesting and compelling.

Upcoming Events
September 10 Neighborhood Meeting 7 pm @ Redlands Park 14,023 NW 141st

Important Announcements
New Officers will be elected Crime Statistics will be shared Dues and/or Donations will be accepted Continuing discussions about the future direction and activities of the organization Treasurers report Recap of the last meeting held, 7/10/13 Questions & answers

And, in an effort to increase membership, participation and payment of dues, we discussed other suggestions from those in attendance such as yard signs for those residents who are members in order to encourage other residents who pass by to join. And, as discussed above, better communication about the association/organization, what it does and what the dues pay for and what the dues could pay for Richard McKinney, 1105 NW 140th Terrace

How Your Dues Are Spent

Right now, during the growing season, dues go primarily for lawncare and maintenance of the frontage along north Western Avenue which consists of regular (about every 10 days funds permitting) mowing, weed-eating, edging, blowing, trash pickup and upkeep of what little landscaping we have around the entrances at Apache Drive and Western and Coles Road and Western. Currently, one of our residents who is in the lawncare business does this for us at a reduced price of $ 80.00 each time which is a good deal for the amount of work involved and the square footage. Last year the association spent $ 1,385.00 on this lawncare expense out of a total budget of $ 2,082.01 for all of 2012. So you can see why this concerns us so much because we, as the neighborhood association/organization, are responsible to the City of Oklahoma City for the upkeep and appearance of that area. Failure to maintain that area could result in individual property owners being responsible for their own individual parcels behind their fences and they could be fined for not maintaining it (the City fine for mowing is approx. $ 250.00 each time). Plus, if youve ever been driving along a street like Western where a neighborhood backs up to it that has no organization, youve seen how messy, irregular and sometimes junky it can be. We dont want the front of our neighborhood to look like that! Other than the lawncare, we have no other ongoing expenses. But, because of low participation in the association, we do not have much of a budget either, after lawncare- LOL! Some of the things discussed at the last meeting that would be nice to do if we had the money are; having neighborhood cookouts or parties paid for by the association; better/more landscaping along Western and around the neighborhood; new and replacement signage around the neighborhood and streets; a neighborhood watch program to combat the rising crime in the neighborhood; repaving of all the neighborhood streets. And many others if there was money.

The Importance of Participation

I would like to use this small space to stress the importance of participating in our neighborhood association in some way, even if you cannot afford to pay the yearly membership dues of $ 60.00. If you can make a donation, of any amount, that would help us in paying for the lawncare. Our neighborhood has a little over 220 homes. But we only have 1520% that are paying dues. If we could reach a 50% participation rate that would be an annual budget of $6,600.00 compared to 2012s total of $2,082.01. With that much money we could not only beautify the neighborhood more, but we could look at adding more of the private street lights; adding things to the park like a clubhouse or water-park; we could hire security patrol for the neighborhood; or we could turn our neighborhood into a gated community by putting in gates at the three (3) entrances, etc Hopefully, besides the fairness issue, you can see what great things we could do for our neighborhood with better participation!

Dues and/or Donations can be sent to:

Redlands Neighborhood, c/o Ron or Lorraine Turner 14,012 Apache Drive Edmond, OK 73013