Co-Editors:  Clary Donehew, phone 558-6681, email address: gdonehew@aol.com

Judy Greenberg, phone 690-5384, email address: gammytexas@cs.com

SECURITY CONCERNSSMITH SECURITY SERVICES

Any resident seeing suspicious activity may call Smith Security at 681-8221 (note: this is the correct number-the number given in the Pony Express dated August 2003 was wrong).

SAN ANTONIO POLICE

If a crime is observed call the San Antonio Police at 207-7273 as well as Smith Security. Crime and vandalism still occurs in the community but not much, at least not as reported to the Board of Directors. Two incidents occurred recently; several houses were paint balled near the intersection of Stable Trail and Stable Pond, and a weed-eater was stolen however the location is unknown. These incidents are reminders that residents need to be vigilant in securing their items and looking out for each other to minimize such incidents.

BOARD MEMBERS AND OFFICERS FOR THE ASSOCIATION

Daniel Schauer, President, phone 699-9332

Victor Hernandez, Vice President, phone 696-2165

Alex Davila, Treasurer, phone 561-9402

Gerald R. Donehew, Secretary, phone 558-6681

Arthur Moczygemba, Director, phone 641-7311

Pam Bogen, Webmaster phone 558-3007

Kathy Bowers, ProComm Representative for Oakmont Downs, phone 545-1888 ext. 240

 

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETINGS AND ACTIONS

Board Meeting July 31, 2003

Reports

Ms. Bowers presented the Financial, Security, and ACC Reports. During the last month Smith Security reported no serious incidents and the ACC had little activity.

Unfinished Business

  • The Community Party will be held September 27, 2003 at the Recreation Area from 4-7.
  • The Annual Meeting will be held Tuesday, November 11, 03 at San Antonio Christian Church on DeZavala Rd.
  • The next newsletter will be mailed Aug 15, 03. 
  • The swings and grills in the Recreation Area have been installed.
  • A Playground Rules sign was approved and will be supplemented by two signs indicating no alcoholic beverages, no loud music, and reservation information.
  • Proposed changes to the By Laws were discussed and they will be printed in the next Pony Express.
  • The City will be contacted regarding re-striping DeZavala road near Babcock and mowing the drainage canal near DeZavala.

New-Business-

  • Oz Roofing and Remodeling was approved for repairing and painting the pavilion.
  • The siding on the columns will be removed and replaced with Hardie Plank siding and trim.
  • Oz Roofing was also selected to install fence panels along the drainage canals at ends of Stable Road, Stable Square and Stable Pond, and to replace the gate to the drainage canal on Stable PassBoard

Meeting August 28, 2003

Reports-

Sharon Fajkus gave an update on Park and Pavilion reservations. She is working with Ms. Bowers on developing a waiver form. In addition she suggested that a lockable bulletin board be installed at the Park where a monthly calendar could be placed.

Mr. Smith gave an ACC report. Four requests have been received. He also led a discussion about clarifying rules in governing documents.

Unfinished Business-

  • Ms. Bowers reported that Smith Security had not encountered anything unusual during their patrols.
  • Plans were discussed for the BBQ party at the Park.
  • A budget of $500.00 was approved for the annual meeting expenses such as facility rental and refreshments.
  • Board members were encouraged to solicit door prizes from local business to be given away at the annual meeting.
  • City Councilman Art Hall will be invited to address the community at the annual meeting.
  • The next newsletter will be sent early November.
  • Several community interest questionnaires have been received and are being tabulated.

New Business-

  • Ms. Bowers was asked to contact the landscaper and have them trim several trees at the North Entrance.
  • She was also asked to contact the City about the unsure lanes for traffic between the corner of DeZavala and Babcock and the west gate as well as ask the City to mow the drainage canal.
  • She was also asked to contact the landscaper to check the sprinkler system at the west gate. It seems to be improperly operating and one of the new oak trees appears under stress.
  • The Board approved the budget for planting fall and winter flowers at both gates.

BOARD COMMITTEES

Architectural control committee

Ken Smith, ACC Chair, phone 558-8505, email address: kvsmith_2000@yahoo.com

PAVILION RESERVATION COMMITTEE

Sharon Fajkus is in charge of Pavilion reservations for personal or group use. Sharon has lived in Oakmont Downs at 12303 Stable Wood since June 1995.  She has been scheduling reservations for the Pavilion for the past six years.  

Sharon is also a member of the neighborhood bunco group. She has worked for civil service since 1979.  Sharon’s duties include the managing of various missile fuel propellants in support of worldwide space programs. 

Her hobbies include traveling, square dancing, bowling, needlework, Disney, bunco and putting Don, her husband, to work on home decorating projects.  However above all this, Sharon enjoys spending time with her family and friends.  Sharon has seven nieces and nephews (soon to be eight).

She and her husband are currently working with the National Square Dance Committee to bring a national convention to San Antonio in 2006.  They hold the position of Convention Secretary.

If you are interested in reserving the pavilion, you can reach Sharon at 690-8968 or email DFajkus@ev1.net

.ADVERTISING COMMITTEE

Samuel Greenberg, Chair, phone 690-5384, email address: gammytexas@cs.com

Mr. Greenberg graduated from City College of New York with a B.B.A. degree.  He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean conflict.

He served as Vice President General Merchandise Manager for a 100 store retail apparel chain he joined in its infancy and was a key figure in its growth and development. 

He also served as President of a 450 store apparel chain and during the last 11 years of his career worked in the wholesale field and was a key figure starting and developing a firm that in its 5th year reached $200 million in sales volume.

After working 46 years in the apparel field as a marketing executive with both retail and wholesale firms, he retired in 1998 and relocated to San Antonio.

Sam and his wife Judy will soon celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

RESIDENT VIOLATIONS

During the months of July and August, 55 letters of violations were sent to homeowners. Thirty seven were for yards needing maintenance; eleven for improper storage of basketball goals; two for ACC violations; four from improperly stored items in front or side of house: and one for fence repair.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

As of August 31, 03, forty-three members were behind in their Association fees.
  • Two were more than 120 days behind
  • thirty-one were 61-90 days behind
  • one was 31-60 days behind
  • eight were 30 days behind.

As of August 31, 03, the Association has year to date income of $33,942.35 with year to date expenses of $47,591.54. The two largest expenses have been Administrative Expenses of $10,055.21 and capital improvements of $16,332.18. As of Aug 31, 03, the Association had $6,494.44 in the checking account, $12,071.24 as reserve funds and $19,626.78 in a Money Market account.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Board Meetings  (last Thursday of the month at 7:00 PM unless otherwise scheduled): November 20th (third Thursday), December 18th (third Thursday). Residents are welcome to attend. Call or email one of the officers to find out the place.

Other Important Dates
  1. November 11th (Tuesday) - Annual Meeting, 6:30 refreshments, 7:00 meeting, San Antonio Christian Church, 6123 DeZavala Rd.
  2. November 15th- Holiday decorations may be put up on homes and community entrances on or after this date.
  3. December- Judging of decorated homes.
  4. January 31,2004- Holiday decorations should be removed from homes and community entrances by this date.

Annual Meeting

Great news- At this year’s annual meeting, Art Hall, District 8 Representative (Oakmont Downs is in District 8) will be the main speaker.

This community has several issues that lend themselves to a political solution such as a traffic light at the intersection of Stable Oaks and DeZavala, more street lights, street bumps to slow down traffic, and reworking the water flow above Stable Pass to pass under the street.

Come and use Art Hall’s presence as an initial expression of these concerns.

Also at this year’s annual meeting the Board plans to present several proposed by-laws changes to be ratified by the community residents. The proposed changes are listed below.

  1. To require that all members of the Board be residents of the community.
  2. To change the quorum from 1/3 to 10% of the residents.
  3. To permit renters to attend, discuss and, if appointed, act as proxy of the homeowner, to vote.

Residents are encouraged to submit other proposed changes to the by-laws or covenants to the Board for consideration.            

Two new board members must also be elected. Any person, interested in becoming a candidate for one of the positions, is encouraged to call Kathy Bowers at ProComm and request a candidate form be sent to them.

If you feel ignored, become a member of the Board.

COMMUNITY INTERESTS, ISSUES, IMPROVEMENTS

A. Community Improvements

  1. Fences were place above the drainage ditches at the end of Sable Pond, Stable Square, and Stable Road Drives.
  2. The gate to the ditch on Stable Pass has been repaired and is now secure.
  3. These improvements will increase the security of Oakmont Downs Community.
  4. Only the north and west main entrances will be convenient entries/exits to and from the community.
  5. Residents near the drainage ditches, on the above streets, are encourage to monitor the fences and report any future damages promptly to a board member or to the ProComm representative so action can be taken to have them repaired.
  6. Residents across the street from the fence gate are encourage to monitor the gate and report any future damage promptly to a board member or to the ProComm representative so action can be taken to have the gate repaired and secured.

B.     Pavilion Improvements-

  1. The weather damaged and rotting frames and covers of the eight columns were removed, replaced with Hardie Board and caulked.
  2. The Pavilion was then repainted.
  3. A new sign has also been posted at the Park that gives hours of use, contact person for reservation, and courtesy rules for using the Pavilion and Park.
  4. All the inside and outside lights have been replaced.
  5. A damaged inside ceiling light was replaced.
  6. Two motion sensor lights have been installed.

C.     Skate Boarding

Very near the community is a City of San Antonio Skate Plaza. It is located at 6571 Spring Time and is named Spring Time Park Skate Plaza. Its hours of operation is 9:00 AM to 11:00 PM. On Babcock go to the Dairy Queen and turn right on Spring Time. Drive 0.1 miles and the Plaza is on your right. The Plaza could probably be used for other types of skating such as in line skating.

D.     Thank You

The Board Members wish to express their thanks to all residents who have faithfully maintained their yards and homes in accordance with the Covenant.  Most have also put out their trash and stored their basketball goals appropriately. All the above residents have contributed positively to the beauty of our community.

E.     Pavilion and Park Use

  • The Pavilion and Park are available to all residents of Oakmont Downs Community at no charge from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM seven days a week.
  • It is an excellent place for family and small group outings such as picnics, birthday parties, and other types of celebrations.
  • It is clean and well maintained and hopefully as future improvements are made, it will become an even better place for group activities.
  • The Pavilion is also well lighted thus it could also be used for evening activities.
  • The inside lights are controlled by the user. The outside lights come on and off automatically according to the settings of the timer.

Please remember the Pavilion and Park as you plan for a place for your special events. 

You may contact Sharon Fajkus at 690-8968 or email her at DFajkus@ev1.net to make a reservation.

Residents living near the Pavilion and Park are asked to monitor the Park.

If any unusual activity is noted, especially after 10:00 PM, please call the police.

F.       Rules for Use and Reservation of the Oakmont Downs Pavilion and Grounds

  1. Call Sharon Fajkus at 690-8968 in order to reserve the pavilion for your event.  Provide your name and the date and hours that you desire to reserve.  She will confirm the availability of the pavilion, schedule your event, and notify you of the reservation.
  2. Reservations will be made on a first-come, first-serve basis.  The party that has reserved the pavilion for a particular time has exclusive use of the pavilion and grounds.  If that party does not need all of the area, the party may give permission to others to use the unneeded area during the event’s time.
  3. The event organizer is responsible for leaving the pavilion and grounds in a clean and orderly fashion after the event.  Garbage will be picked up and deposited in receptacles provided there or removed from the area.  The event organizer may be charged if the association needs to do additional cleanup after the event due to inadequate cleanup by event participants.  In addition, the event organizer is responsible for any damage to the area caused by event participants.
  4. Additional rules are posted at the entrance to the Pavilion and Park.

G.     Advertising for the Pony Express Newsletter

Samuel Greenberg has volunteered to lead the process of developing an advertising policy and soliciting ads from local businesses. Sam will need help with this project and any one wishing to become involved in this project and aiding the community is requested to notify Sam at phone 210-690-5384, or email gammytexas@cs.com or one of the Board members.

The Board has already received an offer to advertise from one business. In addition the community may already have business owners as residents who may also be interested in advertising in the Pony Express Newsletter. Such owners are invited to express their interest to Sam or any member of the Board.

H.     Community Picnic

On Sep. 27, 03 the community held its first community wide picnic. Even the weather cooperated. About a hundred people came. The BBQ grills were grilling, the swings were swinging, the Pavilion was filled with conversation, the tables were filled with hotdogs, hamburgers, baked beans, potato salads, etc. But the best was the desert table. All your sweet tooth could wish for. Everybody seemed to have a good time and enjoyed meeting and getting acquainted with neighbors. If you were not there, you should have been. Pictures may be seen at website http://bogenwebs.org/oakmont.

POLITICAL REPRESENTATIVES FOR OAKMONT DOWNS

Texas State Senator
(Senate District 26)

Senator Leticia Van De Putte

Capitol Office: CAP E1.808

Capitol Phone: 512-463-0126

District Address: 3718 Blanco Road, Ste. 2

San Antonio, TX 78212

District Phone: 210-733-6604

Texas State Representative
(House District 125)

Capitol Office: Ext e2.714

Capitol Phone: 512-463-0669

District Address: 6502 Bandera

San Antonio, TX 78238

District Phone: 210684-6896

CITY REPRESENTATIVE
District 8

Art A. Hall
District Office Address: 4204 Gardendale, Ste. 208
(Office hours: Tues., Wed., Fri. 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM)
Phone: 210-692-0463
Mailing Address: Downtown Council Office
P.O. Box 839966, SAT 78283
Phone: 210-207-2888
Email: ahall@sanantonio.gov

 

FROM THE EDITORS-CLARY DONEHEW AND JUDY GREENBERG

To those who answered the Community Interest Questionnaire in the last Pony Express Letter, we thank you especially to Laura Boone.

She wrote,

”This newsletter was great!  It is the best one thus far. Appreciate the review notes from the board meetings. The community interests section was very good and updated lots of good things.Thanks for your volunteer time in doing the newsletter.”

The answered questionnaires indicated that residents were interested in getting a group together to go walking, interested in playing Bunko, in bowling, in Board Games and starting a Sr. Citizen’s Group.

Quite a few people were interested in obtaining a babysitter however only one person answered that they were interested in babysitting. For those needing babysitters, would you be interested in getting together and sharing babysitting among yourselves?

We have communicated back to the questionnaire respondents, to date, information they can use to join with each other in their interests. We really would like to receive some more input so that we can enhance these interests. 

Please let us hear from you so that we can enlarge the interested groups and give you the opportunity to meet more of your neighbors. Attached again is the questionnaire that was distributed with the last newsletter.

Please complete and return it to Judy Greenberg or complete it on-line at http://bogenwebs.org/oakmont/activities.htm

We would like to plan a holiday season neighborhood party. Anyone interested in such an event, please call either Clary Donehew at 558-6681 or Judy Greenberg at 690-5384 with your ideas and suggestions.