Our first Board meeting of 2019 is in the books and it was a productive one. In addition to four board members we had one neighbor in attendance. 

Landscaper
Just a heads-up – our landscaper, Greater Texas Landscapes (GTL), has been purchased by BrightView. We could start to see the BrightView marketed vehicles as early as this Wednesday. In regards to landscaping, we've recently had a report from a neighbor that GTL was mowing into their property. GTL quickly dispatched a supervisor and rectified the problem. If anyone has any issues please contact CAM and we'll do everything we can to address the issue quickly and appropriately.

Upcoming Repairs
Based on a recent reserves study we've identified multiple areas that are sorely needing attention. The reserves funds are required for the HOA and are limited in what they can be used. Our management company will begin getting bids for repairs to the secondary drives, repairs to the parking lot at the playground, repairs to cracks in the basketball court, and replacements to the rusting grills.

Reserves Interest
We've also asked CAM to investigate a move to a higher yield savings account so our existing Reserves can make us an impactful amount of money.

Trail Maintenance
The trail is clearly an area that needs some work and we are focusing on a few of the problematic areas that affect safety. One of our board members is investigating irrigation control devices and expects to make a proposal at our March meeting.

Architecture Committee (AC)
We discussed the AC process and how we as a board need to do a better job of making sure that any rules and guidelines the AC use in making their decisions are better communicated to owners. We'll be discussing this in more detail during our next meeting.

The Board held its final meeting of the year on December 13.  We thank those Home Owners in attendance.
The focus of our final meeting was to address the 2019 HOA dues.  We are happy to report there will be NO increase.  Happy Holidays from the Board!!!   ** please, however, anticipate an increase in dues for 2020
Happy Holidays, Safe travels & See you in the new year!

Grand Oaks OA Board of Directors Meeting
Thursday, December 13, 2018, 7:00 p.m.
Location:  Woodlawn Baptist Church (Note the change of venue)
4600 Manchaca Road – Room M100
 
AGENDA

1. Call Meeting to Order and Establish Quorum.
2. Approval of September 13, 2018, Board Meeting Minutes
3. Election of Officers
4. Ratify of Actions Taken Between Meetings – Weekly trash service for the park receptacles by Doody Calls approved by the board November 27, 2018 via email.
5. Unfinished Business / Updates
   Discussion of any uncompleted items from prior meetings.
   1. Reserve Study - Texas Reserve submitted the preliminary report for the board’s review in October.  The Board will do an extensive review at their January 2019 meeting.
   2. 2019 Budget – final review and approval.
6. New Business
   1. Meeting Dates for 2019
   2. Assessment Rate for 2019
7. Committee Reports and Appointments
   1. Maintenance
   2. Social
   3. Architectural
8. Owner Requested Topics
   Discussion of topic requested by owners.  Owner must be present at the meeting to present the topic for discussion.
9. Enforcement Actions
   Decide enforcement actions, which may include assessing fines and forced maintenance.  This may be done in executive session to protect homeowners’ privacy.
10. Collection Actions
    Decide collections actions, which may include assessing late fees and collection costs and referring delinquent accounts to attorney.  This may be done in executive session to protect homeowners’ privacy.
11. XI.  Executive Session
    Discussion of any items requiring confidentiality for specific owners or employees.  Summaries must be given for the minutes at the end of the session.
12. Member Communication
13. Adjourn  ​

The annual membership meeting of the Grand Oaks Owners Association will be held on November 15.

Date: Thursday, November 15, 2018
Time: 6:45pm – 8:45 pm
Location: Austin Community College – Stassney Campus, Room 1130
Address: 1820 W. Stassney Ln, Austin, TX 78745

If for any reason you cannot attend it's important that you submit a proxy. We must have quorum to be able to hold the annual meeting. You can find a copy of the proxy at the bottom of this article. 

The Agenda is as follows.

• Sign-in & Social Mixer 6:45–7:15pm (Association to provide light refreshments)
• Call to Order and Establish Quorum
• Reading and Approval of Meeting Minutes
• Directors Report / Financial Review
• Committee Reports
• Unfinished Business
• New Business
  • Election of Director
• Member Discussion
• Adjourn

Below you'll find a copy of the Annual Meeting Letter, 2017 Annual Meeting Minutes, Income/Expense Statement from Sept 2018, Current Balance Sheet, 2018 Agenda, and 2018 Proxy.

• ​The Grand Oaks HOA Board of Directors reconvened on Thursday September 13, 2018. 
• An initiation of a Reserve Study was approved by the Board.  You might wonder what a reserve study is.  Quite simply, it is a study which evaluates how much life the capital assets of the neighborhood have left and how much they are likely to cost when they wear out.  Some of our assets are the Playscape and pavilion at out community park, for example.  Understanding their value and lifespan will help us determine how much money the HOA should set aside each year in order to be able to replace them when they do wear out.  The study will identify all HOA assets and provide us with tremendous insight.
• Doody Calls, pet station patrol, began its weekly service on Tuesday September 18, 2018. 
• Our Annual Meeting is set for Thursday November 15th, 7p at Austin Community College – Stassney location Rm 1130.  Refreshments will be provided with thanks to our Social committee headed by homeowner Zoe Wafelbakker.  Please plan on attending this annual meeting as it provides a venue for community discussion and can help provide the Board with topics that matter to you.  As well, we invite you to join one of our committees with the purpose of keeping our neighborhood a place we all like to call home.  There will be sign up sheets at the meeting for all committees.
• The City of Austin is analyzing Davis Lane as part of the 2016 Mobility Bond for substandard streets.  They will hold an Open House for all concerned to share feedback on the recommendations. This will be held:
• Date: Wednesday, September 26
• Time: 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.  (stop by anytime!)
• Place: Cowan Elementary School Gym (2817 Kentish Drive, Austin, TX 78748)
• More information can be found at https://data.austintexas.gov/stories/s/Davis-Lane-Substandard-Street/ksj4-57hk

See you around the neighborhood!

We wanted to let you know about three improvements approved at the last Board meeting. Two of which are already completed!

The signs, or monuments as the specialists call them, at the Manchaca entrance and Davis entrance have been cleaned. You can see the before and after pictures to see what an amazing job 360 Power Washing did.

We previously sent out a survey about the median on Keepsake between Campfield Pkwy and Empress Blvd. The board voted in favor on going with the popular vote on the survey and as you can see when you drive by, the work has been completed. We were very pleased with the 104 responses to the survey. Below are the survey results.

Lastly, are the trees at the park. The trees are starting to creep into the playscape and generally need some work. The board approved the following work and it will be done on Tuesday, August 7.

• Raise low limbs over the sidewalks to 8 feet
• Raise low limbs over the playscape 6 feet
• Clear limbs from pavilion roof 3-4 feet
• Remove small dead hackberry to the ground, North of the pavilion
• Remove dying hackberry to the ground, North West corner of BBQ area
• Remove hazardous (90% dead) cedar elm to ground level, East of basketball court
• Prune back trees to the edge of the North end of the basketball court
• Remove 5" hackberry with entire canopy leaning over North end of the basketball court

There was further work recommended to prune six of the large oaks at the park, but at an additional cost of $4,800 we could not afford to do that work this year.

* Room updated to 1130

​The next HOA Board meeting of 2018 will be held Thursday, July 19.

Date: Thursday, July 19, 2018
Time: 7:00 P.M to 9:00 P.M.
Where: ACC Campus, 1820 West Stassney, Room 1130

Please accept this as notice that the Grand Oaks Owners Association Board of Directors will meet on July 19, 2018, at 7:00 p.m., at Austin Community College – Stassney Campus, Room 1130, located at 1820 W. Stassney Lane, Austin, TX 78745. Topics may include general association business, including unfinished business and new business, covenant enforcement, budgeting, and assessment collection. Executive session matters may include personnel matters, litigation, contract negotiations, enforcement actions, confidential attorney communications, matters involving the invasion of owners’ privacy, or matters involving parties who have requested confidentiality and the Board has agreed to honor that request. Thank you.