Hidden Oaks Annual Meeting – Board Member Needed

Please mark your calendars for Wednesday, April 16th at 6:30pm for the Annual Meeting.  It will be held at the Police Station, as in years past.  Josh Gentry has decided not to serve another term on the board, so we will need another home owner to volunteer to serve on the board this year.

If you can’t make it, please fill out the proxy ballot and give it to a neighbor that will be there.  Last year, we did not have enough home owners attend, nor enough proxy ballots to reach a quorum, so we had to send out a mailing after the fact to conduct voting

Mayor Faith & Alderwoman Feldman have both agreed to speak to the group, so please let us know if there are any specific topics that you’d like either of them to address.

From the surveys that were filled out, here are some topics that we can discuss: 
*speeding
*street parking
*parking across the sidewalk
*property upkeep – structures & lawn
*active neighborhood watch – can someone head this up?

Easter Egg Hunt

Karon Johannes has volunteered to bring back the Easter Egg Hunt this year, but she wants to gauge interest in having the event.  Please let us, or her, know if you would like to see the event happen this year, and if you would have time to help pack the eggs with treats, or set up the day of the event.  It will most likely be held on the Sunday before Easter in the afternoon.

Gateway Green Light

On behalf of your Councilwoman Laurie Feldman…as part of the Gateway Green Light Phase 1 project, contracted staff has implemented coordinated timing plans along Zumbehl Road and Muegge Road, with plans implemented along Fifth Street/South River Road last week. These include all signals along those routes, not just St. Charles City signals, in order to provide cross-jurisdictional coordination along priority arterials. 

 These new timing plans will provide great benefit to congestion experienced at signalized intersections, but there will likely also be some concerns from drivers as they begin to notice the change in operation. 

·       One negative side effect of coordinating the intersections for the major movement (i.e. northbound/southbound Zumbehl) is that the side streets (i.e. Dierberg’s driveways) may experience longer wait times until they get a green light.  This is due to the plans locking in a certain amount of green time for the primary roadway.  Drivers on side streets may be used to pulling up to an intersection, and if no vehicles were traveling on the primary road, they would get their turn within 7-10 seconds.  That will usually not be the case when the coordinated plans are running during the AM and PM rush hours, and sometimes during mid-day and on weekends.  It is important to note that the benefits of coordinated traffic signals are seen when you look at it from a roadway system-wide basis.  The slight increase in time spent waiting on the side streets is extremely minor, when compared to the significant reduction in delay for the high number of drivers along the primary roadway.

 ·       There is sometimes a perception that coordinated timing plans will mean that a driver will never need to stop at a signal along the route.  While that is the goal, it is not very practical to expect, especially during times when the volume of vehicles simply is more than the route can handle.  Drivers should expect better travel times along the coordinated routes, but not non-stop traffic flow.  Also, if the driver accelerates quickly from a red light, and/or exceeds the speed limit between intersections, they are much more likely to need to stop again or slow down to wait for the green light at the next signal.  We set the coordination plans based upon an assumed speed between the intersections, which is almost never more than the speed limit

Police Chief Randy McKinley will be holding a open meeting with the public on Wednesday, February 12, 2014 from 5:30 pm until 6:30 pm.   It will be held in the Community Room at the Police Department, 1781 Zumbehl Road. The purpose of the open meeting is to encourage an open discussion between the public and the Chief McKinley.  Anyone interested in asking questions about the Police department or is curious about changes within the Police department is welcome to attend.

Please mark your calendars for 6:30pm on April 16th for the Annual Meeting.  More details will be announced soon.

We have created a survey to help plan the meeting.  If you did not receive the survey via email, please let us know at hiddenoaks63303@gmail.com and we will send a link.

Don’t forget the picnic is scheduled for September 21 at Vogt Brothers Park.  We will start with a washers tournament at 3pm.  The Burger Ink Food Truck will serve burgers starting at 4:30pm and we will have a strolling magician after dinner.  We do need a few sets of washers for the tournament, so please let us know if you can bring a set to the park: hiddenoaks63303@gmail.com

We will supply some soft drinks.  Please plan on bringing any other beverages you might enjoy and a side to share with the group.

Revised 8/13: Your association fees will pay for the burgers – no need to bring any cash.  We will also have a bake-off, so bring your best dessert!

City Hall has posted some good reminders about safety with fireworks and when they are legal to use within the City Limits.  View them here.

Organic storm debris will be picked up at some point during the week of June 17th.   Hidden Oaks residents will NOT need to call the hotline to request pickup, as all of Ward 3 (general boundary = 364/Page Ext., Hwy 94, I-70) will be checked beginning on June 17th.

If your household was affected, please ensure organic storm debris, including tree limbs, branches, shrubs and other yard vegetation, is cut to lengths of four feet or less and stacked curbside on or before 6:00 am on Monday, June 17 for pick up sometime during the week of June 17.

We will not include storm debris from personal property such as shingles, siding, drywall, tiles and other similar products.  Only organic, vegetation debris will be properly collected and disposed of by the City free of charge.

MAKE SURE AND TELL YOUR NEIGHBORS!!

Please note: All other residents citywide with organic storm debris should call the hotline on or before 3p on Friday, June 14 to be included in this one-time, free pick-up. Please have these residents call the storm hotline at 636-255-6153 for free, one-time pick-up. To ensure this one-time pick up service, please provide your name, street address and telephone number at the sound of the tone.

The annual meeting for the association was held last night at the Police station. We conducted the rest of the business at hand as talked about in previous emails. However, we did not have a quorum for the election of the Board of Directors for the coming year. This means the election this year will be held by mail. You will receive in the mail the information, directions, and the three residents who will be on the ballot.  Please look for this, complete the ballot, and return by the date provided.
 
As noted before Vince Ratchford and Josh Gentry who have served the board this past year will remain on the ballot. At last nights meeting Rich Siemons was nominated to be the third candidate. These will be the names on the ballot.
 
Also noted before, Kirsten Harrison retired with last nights meeting. Currently until the ballot is completed Vince and Josh are the board members. Kirsten will help the process of the election, but is officially retired as a board member.
 
Please look for the mailing and return your ballots.

Annual Meeting Announced
 
You should have found on your mailboxes the announcement for this years annual meeting for the subdivision association. This is an important meeting as we elect the board of directors, review finances, and discuss issues or information that concern the neighborhood.  Please click here for a copy of the announcement and the proxy ballot if you are unable to make it to the meeting.  
 
Need Board of Director Volunteers
 
We do have an open position to fill this year on the board. If you wish to be nominated to be on the board please contact a current board member to express your interest. If you have questions about being on the board they can answer those too. Please refer to Article V of the Covenants as to what is required of a board member. Basically, they are to be in good standing with their association fees to be on the board, and then they are to ensure that the common grounds and island are maintained and that the insurance is covered for the ground and the board. The rest of what the board decides to do is extracurricular!