the hickory creek newshickorycreekjax.com/newsletter/november '17.pdf · chuck van camp...
TRANSCRIPT
Board of Directors
President:
Josh Keenan (904)607-1282
Vice President: Vacant Secretary: Lennette Hauver (904)544-3992 [email protected] Treasurer: Terry D. Wanbaugh: (703)508-9867
[email protected] Architectural Control Committee (ACC): Vacant Lakes Committee Chair: Chuck Van Camp 574-210-2231 [email protected] Newsletter Editor: Robert Hayeck (904) 866-2250 [email protected] Member At Large: E. Frank Brunson (904)477-1288 [email protected] Welcome Committee: Roseanne Norwood: (904)221-7352 roseanne.norwood @comcast.net Sandy Maynard: (904)221-3613 Web Master: Nell DeCoursey [email protected] Grant planning committee: Ed Hauver Social committee: Nell DeCoursey Nomination committee: Lennette Hauver Neighborhood Watch/Safety com-mittee: Steve Simmons
The Hickory Creek News Hickory Creek Homeowners Association
P.O. Box 350323
Jacksonville, Fl 32235-0323
www.hickorycreekonline.com
Jacksonville, Fl 32225
President’s Message
By Josh Keenan
Happy Fall Hickory Creek Neighbors,
This time of year is fantastic, it’s cooling down each
and every week and many are planning Thanksgiving feasts.
Believe it or not, Christmas is a month away! I’m thankful
Hickory Creek made it through another hurricane with really
no major damage; yes we all had fun with debris pickup and
I’m very sorry to the few with trees and fences down. As you
know, we lost some of our perimeter fence along Hickory
Creek Blvd. The board has worked diligently to move the bro-
ken panels, make an insurance claim, gather estimates and
finally we have selected a local fence company to make the
repairs. This was a tough decision due to the lack of interest
of these fencing companies and being overloaded. We are also
in need of a completely new fence. So, do we make repairs or
put a plan together to start replacement. Please know the
board is working hard to make decisions that best represent
the community going into the future. We do need more help!
Please consider joining the Hickory Creek Board. I will tell
you that I personally enjoy serving our neighborhood. Many
will say it’s a thankless job, but I love it! I love communi-
cating, visiting and meeting with you, seeing progress made
and being a small part of making Hickory Creek a great place
to call home! Come on, come join us.
We awarded Terry Tatum “Yard of the Month” for Oc-
tober. He was so honored and Thankful to receive it. We also
awarded Bob and Cathy Colgan “Yard of the Month” for No-
vember and they were so excited to receive the award. They
said it brought back memories of doing their landscaping in
the heat of July. They also said how proud they were to live in
Hickory Creek and loved being a part of our community.
We’re looking for the next yard of the month, who will it be?
God Bless you and Happy Thanksgiving!
November 2017
PAGE 2 THE H ICKORY CREEK NEWS
IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO ALL HOMEOWNERS
Your Community needs you
ACC Chairman needed!!
This position is very important to our community. The ACC committee is important in helping
us all maintain our property according to the CCR’s (Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions)
that we all agreed to live by when we purchased our homes in Hickory Creek. It is the reason
why our community looks better than surrounding communities without HOA’s. The position
requires no experience, a few hours a month (at your discretion), attendance at the monthly
BOD meeting and submits a monthly report. All of us on the board are more than willing to
train and assist this position wherever is necessary.
According to our Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions article IV, section 21, paragraph a.
Membership, the ACC position cannot be filled by a homeowner that currently holds a position
on the Board of Directors, nor can anyone else in the same household hold a position on the
board.
Due to lack of interest from homeowners we have been unable to permanently fill this position
since May 2017 and starting Dec 1, 2017 Skip Hauver will be “Acting ACC Chairman”. Skip is
the husband of Lennette Hauver our current Secretary which in not in accordance with our
CCR’s. However, because this position can no longer go vacant we have had to make temporary
arrangements until a permanent ACC Chairman can be found.
The current board is working very hard to maintain this community in a way that we can all be
proud to say we live in Hickory Creek. Without the support and participation of the homeown-
ers we will not be able to do all that needs to be done and will have to consider a management
company. This will mean an extreme increase in our yearly dues, upwards of $300 a year. Let’s
not lose control or our neighborhood, come join us. We need you!
If you can help please call NOW, this position cannot wait to be voted in at our next annual
meeting in Feb 2018.
President – Josh Keenan 904-607-1282
Secretary – Lennette Hauver 951-544-3992
Treasurer – Terry Wanbaugh 703-508-9867
Happy Holidays from
Board of Directors
Hickory Creek Homeowners Association
PAGE 3 THE HICKORY CREEK NEWS
The Board of Directors voted at its November 6, 2017 meeting to increase 2018 homeowner dues by 5.0%,
bringing the annual assessment to $97.65. Per our Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions, this is the highest per-
centage increase the board can make without a vote of two-thirds of the association’s members. This increase still
keeps our dues below $100 for the year and one of the lowest for a homeowner association our age and size. The
increase is necessitated by the fact that our association is 30 years old and maintenance of the common areas, pe-
rimeter fence system, entrance signs, lakes and lake system are needed.
Invoices for 2018 dues should be mailed out to all homeowners the first week of December. Our budget for
2018 will be included with the invoice. Payment of 2018 homeowners assessments are due by January 31, 2018.
If your property is a rental, please ensure we have the correct mailing address to send invoices. Contact our
treasurer, Terry Wanbaugh if you need to update that information. Her contact info is listed on our web site and
Facebook page.
2018 Homeowner Assessments
Welcome to Hickory Creek
The Hickory Creek Welcome Committee is Sandy Maynard and Roseanne Nor-
wood. We don’t want to miss a chance to welcome our new neighbors. Contact us
at [email protected] or call Roseanne at 221-7352 or Sandy at 221-3613.
We visit both new owners and new renters – we want everyone who lives here to
know that we are glad to have them in our neighborhood – and, to help them be
good neighbors, we provide copies of the covenants and restrictions and other ar-
ea information including trash pickup schedules so that they understand the
neighborhood procedures. Please email or call and let us know if you have a new neighbor. If you are new to the neighborhood and have not re-
ceived your Welcome Package, please call or e-mail and let us know.
This summer and fall we have had the opportunity to welcome many new neigh-
bors, including those at 12517 Ivy Bellflower Drive, 309 Scarlet Bugler Ln S., 304
Lazy Meadow Drive East, 265 Downy Branch Court, 626 Lazy Meadow Dr. East.,
12553 Misty Hollow Dr. North, 379 Misty Hollow Drive West, and 271 Otterwood
Court.
Please take a minute to meet your new neighbors and make them feel welcome.
HICKORY CREEK
WELCOMES OUR NEW
NEIGHBORS AND
HOMEOWNERS TO THE
COMMUNITY.
THE H ICKORY CREEK NEWS PAGE 4
By: Nell McLeod DeCoursey
Hello fellow homeowners and neighbors of Hickory Creek, as Web master and all things internet in our community I wanted to an-nounce that we are on Face Book now! We are now part of the social media giant and a new way to communicate with one another. I am excited about this new endeavor, hope you will be too!
If you have a Face Book account just search for Hickory Creek Homeowners Association and request membership. It is a closed group for only the residents of our community to post, share, chat and keep the community aware of any of your concerns. This is the popular venue for our community to keep in touch with each other. In today’s world, things are hectic and neighbors really do not know each
other like in times passed, maybe we can get to know each other a little better with having an open forum on Face Book. We will carry the domain name www.hickorycreekonline.com for one year to make sure we will have a successful transfer from our existing website to the new domain, as well as time for the homeowners to learn the new domain name.
The new domain name is hickorycreekjax.com
You can go to the website and download any of our community documents that you may want as well as on Face Book.
Hope to see you on Face Book, check out our page and if you would like to volunteer for any committee, let us know.
Hickory Creek is on Face Book
Keeping the Neighborhood Safe and Beautiful
Safety Tips
The number to report a streetlight outage is 665-6000. You need to give them the num-ber of the pole and the nearest intersection.
Lock your cars! This neighborhood and a number of the surrounding neighbor-hoods have had issues with people “testing” car doors at night to see if they are open and then taking things that are in the car.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s non-emergency
number is (904) 630-0500. Make sure that your house numbers are
visible. Emergency services need to be able to find your house if they need to.
Curb Appeal
Please don’t litter our neighborhood. Or anyone else’s. Our neighbor
Connie Bell picks up trash along Hickory Creek Blvd. every week.
Thanks, Connie! And there is always trash thrown in the bushes at the
neighborhood entrances. Help keep Hickory Creek clean.
Keep our neighborhood looking tidy by cleaning up your yard. Even if you
aren’t competing for yard of the month, edging and mowing regularly
and keeping your garbage cans out of sight makes your property look
nicer.
PAGE 5 THE H ICKORY CREEK NEWS
Hello Homeowners
Our Annual Members Meeting will be on Tuesday, February 20, 2018 at Abyss Elementary School, time to be announced. Proxy forms will be available in the next Newsletter and our community website www.HickoryCreekJax.com. The proxy forms must be completely filled out and submitted to the Nomination Committee by the date printed on the form. No forms will be accepted that are not completed. The purpose of this meeting IS ONLY for the homeowners to vote for Board positions that will or have been vacated. No other business will be discussed at this meeting. During the meeting we will announce nominations that have been previously submitted and take nominations from the floor, before calling for a vote. Per our By-Laws a quorum must be present or the meeting will have to be rescheduled, so please put it on your calendar now, this is very important. Every household has a vote. Currently the positions of Vice President, ACC Committee Chairman and Neighborhood Safety Committee Chairman will be on the ballot. If you are interested in filling one of these positions, wish to nominate some-one or just have questions please call Lennette at 951-544-3992. New homeowners are encouraged to join the board and it’s a great way to meet fellow home-owners and share new ideas. See you all there Lennette Hauver Nomination Committee Chairman
Have a Complaint?
The City of Jacksonville has municipal codes and many of the issues that get reported (complained about) to the Homeowners Association Board of Directors are really city issues such as piles of trash or furniture left out by the street, lawns that need mowing, etc. I have had excellent responses when I have contacted the City to ask that a neighbor’s furniture be picked up or to let them know that a sidewalk repair needs to be done. You can contact them by email at coj.net or by phone at 630-CITY. They will respond and give you a work number so that you can call for a status on the issue.
Don’t know if it is a homeowners or City issue? Just check the covenants and the municipal code which can be
found at http://library.municode.com/index.aspx?clientId=12174 to see who you need to call. If you don’t
have a copy of the covenants, let the board know and someone will provide them to you - or you can down-
load them from the Hickory Creek Homeowners Association website at http://www.hickorycreekonline.com.
Dear,
My Fellow Neighbors of Hickory Creek,
Third Newsletter for pond and Lake Compliance
I would like to thanks everyone who participated in cleaning up the banks of the ponds. The ponds are already looking so much better.
I still need all your assistance in not storing lawn debris near and around the storm drains. Also, please do not block the storm drains, this is an important part in keeping roads safe to drive in our community. Please do not pour hazardous material down the drains, this damages all life in and around the ponds.
The stocking of fish for three ponds has been delayed due to the fact the outflow weirs on the ponds are not in current Florida State and Wildlife codes. Two repair the three ponds it is estimated at $1,800. Currently three of the ponds do not qualify for grass carp to assist with algae removal.
We had a major loss of fish in pond 9, recently approximately 1000 fish were dead and floating on top of the water. We believe that something came through the storm drain during the Hurricane and caused this mass fish loss.
I am going to continue to monitor these ponds because in the future I would like to teach the kids in our com-munity how to fish and have tournaments. I need everyone’s help to get the ponds properly stocked so we can begin having these fun tournaments for the kids in the community.
I look forward to serving you in keeping our ponds clean and ready to fish.
Call me with any questions 574-210-2231.
Sincerely,
Charles VanCamp Jr.
For Drainage questions and Rules and Regulations concerning the lakes and ponds you can go to
[email protected] or call 904-630-2489
PAGE 6 THE H ICKORY CREEK NEWS
Living and Gardening in Hickory Creek
by Roseanne Norwood
Winter Gardening in Jacksonville This is the time of the year to be vigilant to cover or bring inside any sensitive plants when a frost or freeze is projected. When you are covering your plants, it is better to use blankets or sheets than to use plastic. Plastic can burn the plants where it comes in con-tact with the foliage. You should water your plants – both in ground and in pots – a couple days before any cold weather is pre-dicted. Moisture in the soil helps hold more heat than dry soil.
Things to Plant Now
Even as cooler weather arrives, there are a lot of things that can still be planted in our area for the winter. Try including petunias, pansies, and flowering kale in your landscape. Plant snapdragons at the end of December or the first of January. They just explode with long-lasting blooms when spring arrives. Another easy way to get early spring flowers is to plant a package of sweet pea seeds in a pot. They will need some sort of support – a tomato cage will do.
Questions about Gardening
If you have questions about any lawn or garden problems, you can contact the Duval County Extension Service. You can call them at 904-255-7450, or send them an e-mail at [email protected].
PAGE 7 THE H ICKORY CREEK NEWS
Bob and Cathy Colgan “Yard of the Month” for November
Terry Tatum “Yard of the Month” for October