Our annual meeting was held on Monday, April 6, 2015 at the police department on Zumbehl Rd.

We had a lot of good discussion on agenda items and current events regarding our subdivision. Alderwoman Laurie Feldman and two gentlemen from the Community Development and Public Works departments were there to speak on current events and construction within the City.

The meeting opened with Alderwoman Feldman speaking. She talked about the Streets of St. Charles development and some of the new businesses slated to open in the near future such as a Picasso coffee shop and Wasabi Sushi Bar. She stated that there is still 50% more land to be developed in that area. She noted that the Columns banquet facility has been closed and sold to SSM Health Group. They are planning to tear down the Columns and build a 4 story medical center and garage. Lombardo homes currently has nine new homes under construction on the old golf course property and the first phase is just about sold out. The new subdivision will be called the Estates at Talbridge. She also mentioned the city has purchased Bangert Island as part of a renewed effort to get developers interested in the shore opposite the island for a major development. They are going to be making improvements to the island, but it will continue to be a recreational area.There were questions regarding the Edward Rose development on the old golf course property. Alderwoman Feldman is aware of the fact that things are moving slower than hoped, and she expressed frustration to our residents on the lack of movement on construction. She said that they will continue to monitor the situation. Rose has applied for permits, so there is not much that can be done at this point.

Next to speak was John, the Assistant Director of Public Works. He talked about the new Public Works facility being constructed on the north side of town near Mueller Field next to the Coke warehouse. On November 6, 2012, voters of the City of St. Charles approved Proposition 1 to allocate $8.3 million in General Obligation Bonds to design, construct, and furnish a new Public Works Facility  This new facility will combine the Water Distribution and Streets Division departments. The new facility will include:

• Additional service bays to maintain over 150 trucks, SCAT buses, and various heavy equipment
• An indoor storage area for weather sensitive equipment, tools, and materials
• An outdoor bulk storage area for street construction, lighting, and landscape materials
• On-site storage for trucks, construction equipment, and snow plows
• An area to house and store sewer pipe, manhole structures, and components
• Signs and traffic control barricades storage
• A proposed salt dome with 4,000 ton storage capacity
• Administrative offices and training room for Public Works personnel

Next to speak was Kevin, an engineer from the Community Development department. He gave us an update on the Fifth Street construction project from Booneslick to First Capitol currently underway. This construction will entail putting in wider sidewalks, widening the street, improved lighting, replacing the water main and storm sewers, and eliminating the overhead utilities. There will be one more traffic signal added along the way.  When completed, there will be 4 lanes…..2 lanes northbound, 1 lane southbound, and a center turn lane.  This will eliminate the merge issue that slows traffic and is a pain to deal with currently. He stated that this is a $10.5 million dollar project of which the city will pay only $2.8 million. The city received a federal grant of over $7 million.

Kevin also spoke about the redevelopment of the 5th Street overpass. He said that is the next overpass to be reconstructed, but it will take place within the next 5 years. It will be a “Diverging Diamond” concept like the one recently completed at Mid Rivers and Hwy 70.

A question was raised concerning the Fairgrounds Road extension project. Kevin said that it is in the long range plan, but there is still no funding available for it.

Hidden Oaks board member Rich Siemons talked on the 2014 budget and reviewed the spreadsheet that was given to those in attendance. After all expenses were paid, we saved $1065 this year. Due to legal expenses projected for 2015 relating to the amendment changes and various price increases for budgeted items, it was discussed and determined to cut back on the social activities budget for 2015. Several budget questions were addressed concerning lawn maintenance, rental locker fees, and the percentage of people attending social events.

Next were nominations for board positions. No other candidates expressed an interest in serving on the board, so the three current members, Vince Ratchford, Rich Siemons, and Mark Verzino, were nominated for a another term. Ballots were then passed out, and voting took place. All three members were elected to another term.

Then came discussion on the amendment changes. Everyone should have received a copy of the proposed changes to the subdivision covenants on their mailbox. The first amendment is to change the allowable materials to be used for fence construction in your yard with the exception of chain-link. The second amendment changes the length of terms that the board members can serve to two years and staggers elections so that no more than two of the three board members may change in any given year. This will allow better continuity to the Board and operations of the association. The third amendment is to modify the requirements for passage of an amendment from 70% approval of all homeowners to only 70% of those who vote, provided at least 50% of the total homeowners vote. After some good comments and discussion, it was decided to move forward with the first two proposed changes, but to hold off on the third one relating to the voting percentage on amendment passage. A few residents brought up the fact that this amendment would allow less than a majority of all homeowners to change the covenants.

Finally, the floor was opened for questions or comments regarding the subdivision. The idea of having a mobile, commercial shredder come to the subdivision for document shredding was shared. We are looking into this. There was a reminder that the annual subdivision garage sale has moved to June 3rd, 5th and 6th this year. Questions were asked concerning the best way to report maintenance issues in the neighborhood, such as pot holes, overgrown trees/bushes, trash/debris, dangerous sidewalks, etc.There is an app for your phone called “See-Click-Fix” that can be used to report these types of problems in the subdivision, or you can go to their website SeeClickFix.com. It was mentioned to visit our website, Hidden-Oaks.com frequently, for any updates or information in the neighborhood. Also, if you are not a member of our Facebook group, you can send a message to the Board at to our gmail account at “hiddenoaks63303@gmail.com” and ask to be added to our Facebook group (this is a private group). Once a member, you will be able to get real time updates on things occurring in the neighborhood. You can also send out information that will be received instantly by all members of the group. We highly recommend doing this to stay informed.

ANNUAL MEETING

Please mark your calendars for April 6^th, 2015 at 6:30pm for our Annual Meeting.  The meeting will be held at the St. Charles Police Station, as it has been in recent years.

We will elect board members for the upcoming year, review financial statements, and hear from Alderwoman Laurie Feldman.  We will also get some safety tips from a police officer who regularly patrols our neighborhood.

We will also discuss updating the covenants and restrictions for the neighborhood.  We also hope to re-establish a social committee that can help plan activities that will appeal to kids, adults and families.

Please be sure to pay your yearly assessment by March 31^st in order to be able to vote at the meeting or to serve on the board.

UPCOMING EVENTS

The Easter Egg Hunt will be held on Sunday, March 29^th at 3pm at the Canyon Oak common ground.

The Annual Garage Sale has moved to June 3^rd, 5^th & 6^th this year.  More details will be announced closer to the date.

FOUR LEGGED FRIENDS

We have a few reminders about being neighborly when you have pets.  First of all, it is against city ordinance to not pick up after your dog when out for a walk.  Please don’t leave any waste on the sidewalk or in someone else’s yard.

City ordinance also requires that a dog be on a leash or lead at all times, even while in the front yard.  Please be considerate if you use a lead in the front yard, though.  A dog on a long lead that can almost reach the sidewalk can be intimidating; especially if the person walking or jogging by doesn’t see the lead.

Lastly, please don’t leave your dog out for extended periods of time if they are constantly barking.

SPRINGTIME

Now that we have entered the spring season, we will have more kids playing outside.  Some of those kids will wind up running into the street without looking.  Please drive slowly enough that you will be able to stop if this happens.

Please make sure that you keep trees & bushes pruned so as not to interfere with someone passing by on the sidewalk.  Branches will continue to droop as the season goes on and the leaves fill out.  Please keep your sidewalk safe.

We are all responsible for keeping our neighborhood looking good, so please keep your lawn and landscaping in good shape, and don’t blow your yard waste into the street.

Boats/RVs/etc. can only be parked in front of your home or in your driveway for short periods of time while loading or unloading.

Our annual Easter Egg Hunt will be held at the Common Grounds on Sunday, March 29th.  We can start arriving at the common ground around 3pm and the hunt will begin at 3:30pm.  There will be a special area for those three and under.  Thanks to Karon for heading this up.  If you’d like to help out,email her at hohahunt@gmail.com

Please mark your calendars for Monday, April 6th at 6:30pm for the Annual Meeting. It will be held at the St. Charles Police Station (1781 Zumbehl Rd.) as in years past.  We will send a formal announcement soon.  Please let us know if there are any topics that you would like discussed at the meeting or if you’d like more information on getting involved with the board.  We will have a discussion about updating some of the covenants at this meeting, so please try to attend.  Please make sure that your assessments are paid before the meeting.

Don’t forget to email the board if you’d like to be added to the Facebook group.

The St. Charles Police Department is now accepting applications for the 2015 Citizen’s Police Academy Class.  Class is scheduled to start on January 19, 2015.  Classes are held on Mondays and will start at 6:00pm at the Criminal Justice Center located at 1781 Zumbehl Rd.  Please see below link for the application.  If you have any questions you can call 636-896-1550.  Here is more information.

Don’t forget about the Annual Picnic coming up on September 27th.  We have created a survey to get some feedback on what sort of food & entertainment you’d like to see there.  Please email us for a link to the survey.

St. Charles Night Out is scheduled for September 8^th, 2014 from 5:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m.  Please let us know if you’d like to get involved in planning a block party around this event or participating in Neighborhood Watch.  We already have one volunteer, but we need more support to get this moving.

If you are a resident of our subdivision and would like to be added to our email distribution list, just let us know and we will add you.  We also have a very active facebook group. This is a hidden group, so you need to be added to it if you’d like to participate.  Any current member of the group can add you, so you can ask a neighbor that participates, or just email the directors at hiddenoaks63303@gmail.com.  This email address can be used to contact us about any of the topics in this post.

Please mark your calendars for the afternoon of September 27th for our annual picnic.  It will be held at Vogt Brothers Park.  More details will be announced as we near the date.  Let us know if you have any ideas!

UPDATE:  The water conservation notice has been lifted.

A water conservation notice will be in effect beginning on Monday, June 2nd.  Here are the details:

City of St. Peters and City of St. Charles officials issued a joint notice asking their customers to conserve water beginning the morning of Monday, June 2, 2014. This water conservation notice will be in effect as the cities’ secondary water supply line from the City of St. Louis is shut off to repair a leaking water main. The water conservation notice is expected to last two to three days.
 
The City of St. Peters and City of St. Charles will oversee a controlled shutdown of the secondary water supply line during repair operations. A contractor is expected to complete repairs within 24 to 48 hours. Another 24 hours will be needed to flush and refill the water main line, and test the water quality before the water supply line is placed back into service.

During this repair period, both City of St. Peters and City of Charles water customers are asked to conserve water for essential purposes, and to refrain from using water for non-essential activities such as irrigation, lawn sprinkling, pool filling, car washing and other outside watering. 
 
The goal is for St. Peters and St. Charles water customers to conserve water during this repair process so their water systems can maintain adequate water pressure and avoid the need for a subsequent boil order.

NOTE:  This water conservation notice does not apply to Missouri-American water customers.

Check for the latest news concerning this water conservation notice at www.stpetersmo.net or www.stcharlescitymo.gov.  In the City of St. Charles, customers can also obtain additional updates via Twitter @StCharlesCity.

FYI…Elm Point Water Treatment Plant phone #636-949-3366 will be answered 24 hrs/day and the Public Works Department phone #636-949-3237 will be answered between the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday-Friday.

Don’t forget about the Neighborhood-Wide Garage Sale coming up on April 30th and May 2nd & 3rd.  Naomi Potts has done a great job with the Garage Sale for many years, and has passed the torch to Jamie Godar and Carol Callahan.   We will have maps, signs, flyers & postings online and in print.  You can participate one, two, or all three days.  Just let us know if you want to participate and we will put you in touch with Carol and Jamie about getting on the map.

Thanks to Josh Gentry for serving on the Board of Directors and welcome to Mark Verzino who was elected to the board on April 16th, along with Rich Siemons & Vince Ratchford.

If you’d like to review the notes from the meeting, just shoot us an email at hiddenoaks63303@gmail.com and we will send them right over.

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