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We have 172 homes in Muir Woods. It takes the care and
concern of all owners to insure that our subdivision maintains
its visual appeal and property values. |
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Take A Look At Your Landscaping, Bushes and Mulch ...
sadly the bush trimmers continued
on with 'on the job training' this year. New mulch was put
down in 2010 very thinly ... The previous described over-mulching apparently
never did actually occur ... now we have so-so mulch with a
relatively nice crop of new weeds flourishing in the beds and
the lawns. The 2011 mulch, installed in July, was rather
sparse and disappeared by October.
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Considering the extremely poor handling of the
ice and snow during the first week of February, 2011, we are
sure that BAM won't be using Muir Woods as a reference for new
customers. Five days of treacherous snow and ice is a bit
much. Of course, there were apparently few problems with
snow and ice removal by BAM for their work for the Town of Fishers. And to top
everything off, we were then forced to pay a special HOA Assessment
for the job.
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Exterior Lighting is a serious Security Issue.
You are responsible for the exterior light bulbs at your
property.
This outside lighting at your
garage and your walk way or porch is very important for the
safety and security of your home as well as for the
neighborhood. If you are not concerned, this issue could
easily become a necessarily forced issue from the Home Owner
Association and your Board of Directors resulting in a charge to
you for replacement of those light bulbs. How much would
you be willing to pay to have the bulbs replaced on a, perhaps,
once monthly basis? $5.00, $10.00 per bulb? Or, perhaps
you could
do it yourself
... or have a neighbor assist
you.
Notifications have been placed on Garage Doors in the past to assist in
determining that your exterior lighting is not functioning and
requires repair or bulb replacement. Apparently some folks
just can't read. By the way, burglars
love you! |
The Board of Directors has acknowledged
responsibility for the wood decks in Muir Woods. The Declaration of Horizontal
Property Ownership and the By-Laws discuss Common Areas and Limited
Areas and specify who is responsible for things like garage doors,
doors, windows and screens but do not specifically discuss wood
decks. It does say at one point the the Owner is responsible
for Limited Areas that are reserved for his use (would a second level deck
not accessible from the ground be reserved?). However, the
Board of Directors had the exterior sides of the decks repainted and
will start scheduling repainting of the unit doors.
Some wood decks are in serious trouble as apparently
few have
ever had any wood treatment. Problems include warped and
cracked boards, and lifting nails and screws. Some of these
events are causing more difficulties to those under the decks.
Delayed maintenance is causing what could have been preventable deck
replacements at probably everyone's expense. A repair person
is repairing some of the deck problems. Report your
problems to Omni Management to get on the schedule.
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Trash
and Recycling containers are
not to be out until after DUSK the night before collection and
are to be taken INSIDE by 6:00PM the day of collection. Putting unsightly containers out on Thursdays and Friday is
inconsiderate of others in the neighborhood. Outside storage of Trash
and Recycling Containers is prohibited. Obviously, some folks can't tell time or just don't care. Perhaps someone
could arrange to have the offending containers removed to the
club house parking lot. The owners could then pick them up
at that location for a small fee rather than at the end of their driveway.
A Note: If you have trash for pickup that does not fit into the
approved container, you should contact Republic for a special
pickup ... they usually won't pick
it up without the call. |
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Parking
in the Roadways is becoming less of a problem over time
except North of the Clubhouse on Muir Lane and on the
turnarounds.
It is a fact that the roadways were designed
for driving and not
for parking. There are no curbs and the roadways were not
designed to be wide enough to become parking lots.
Vehicles parked in the roadways really should have their Emergency
Lights on at all times. It is obvious that some
people apparently don't have enough sense to know where the
roadway ends and the lawns begin, thus damaging the lawns with
tire ruts. Property owners, visitors and contractors cause these
problems ... the individual owners should be billed for the
repairs. I was personally informed by one owner that 'as
he paid the monthly fee he could therefore park in and damage
'his' lawn if he wished!' (The home owners expect the Association to repair the
damage for free ... the Association is US!). The
FedEx and UPS drivers have both stated that they must turn
around in driveways because of the parked vehicles in the
turnarounds. There has been conversation regarding
installing curbing in Muir Woods. It would obviously be a
help from 106th to the Club House to make it more difficult for
people who like to park in lawns on that part of the roadway.
It would also control some of the water draining into the street
from over-zealous lawn sprinkling and underground water sources
flowing into and destroying the roadbed. Cobblestone at
Eagle Creek has just completed the same task at their entrances
with the exactly same road and drainage types. |
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Two Car Garage plus a Drive Way equals 4 vehicles.
Muir Woods was designed to provide 4 parking spaces per owner
PERIOD! Guess where your Guests should park? In the driveway and
not on the roadway!
There is additional parking at the Club House or, perhaps, even
in a neighbors driveway if you ask. And, what happens if
you have 5 vehicles? Park the extra vehicle in the Club
House parking lot (temporarily) until you can arrange for
off-premise vehicle storage. Vehicles stored temporarily
at the Club House should be parked toward the rear as a
courtesy to the people desiring
to use the Clubhouse, the Pool and the Exercise Room. There is no parking
on the turnarounds on Muir Lane, Wadsworth, Huxley or Winslow.
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Boats, Campers and Commercial Vehicles are
never permitted for overnight
parking in Muir Woods (certain owners take advantage of this on
weekends). The Association should have them
towed away promptly at the owner's cost. By the way,
putting lipstick on a pig results in a funny looking pig with lipstick.
Covering up the name of a commercial vehicle with a blank
magnetic sign is pretty much the same thing. |
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Over
Zealous Lawn Sprinkler Systems are easy to identify by looking
at the damage to Muir Lane. They are obviously a
major cause of damage
to the roadways in Muir Woods. A secondary cause is
excessive ground water in certain locations. Property owners who
have sprinkler systems installed should have also had French drains
installed to dissipate the excess water that is damaging the
roadways. At least, they could have the sprinkler heads
diverted to control the amount of water flowing onto the
streets ... or, they should be assessed annually to repair the ongoing
damage. No lawn in Indiana requires daily watering unless
it is a golf course green. Per the Citizens Water
Company, daily watering promotes short
roots and lawns that cannot handle drought even with daily
watering. Once weekly watering promotes long
roots and a better lawn ... and saves the association a lot of
money for the community water paid for by your HOA fee. People who water daily and
damage the roadways are just plain inconsiderate. The
HOA should have long ago installed French drains at other locations where
ground water runs into the roadways.
Roadway repairs have now been required multiple times since
2004. And, we now have multiple chuck holes on Muir Lane.
The roadway is now in very poor condition and continues to
deteriorate. That will soon result in a rather large
'capital expenditure' in the near future. |
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The entire complex was roofed with 25 year architectural shingles
from November 2010 through February 2011. A Special Assessment was
not required as the roof job was covered by an insurance settlement from
Nationwide Insurance several years ago. Some buildings also
received gutter guards to control leaves.
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Lantern Road School Zones -
Steve Pickett of the Fishers Police Department at 595-3376 stated on June 21, 2010, that school zone
enforcement occurs only during times when school is in session ...
obviously the signs should be changed to reflect that policy. You
should personally verify this statement and keep his name and phone
number in your vehicle when driving in the vicinity. Perhaps this
will eliminate problems caused by those who 'push' you along 106th
Street and those who will pass you on the double yellow lines.
Something else
about School Zones - who are they protecting? The kids, the
so-called soccer moms, or are they just places that cops can
give tickets! School Zones in the area run from 15 mph to 40 mph,
control different time frames, control different days of the week,
and in many instances have absolutely no bearing whatsoever on the children the
laws were designed to protect. Why would a school that
sets 1,000 - 1,500 feet from the roadway with a fence around it need a school zone?
Especially when the kids play at the back of the school!
Obviously, there are many useless laws out there designed
without thinking about the costs of gasoline or the costs to the
violators of rather outlandish placement of School Zone signs
(behind bushes comes to mind).
Have you ever driven through a School Zone where you could not
even see the supposed school ... is it really there? Is a School
Zone with a start sign but no end sign actually legal? |
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Reported Tips and Information for you ...
Some Baldwin Owners have problems with the owners living overhead in
the Chateau models.
Hills representatives LIED when they
assured buyers verbally that only an occasional loud thud might be heard from
upstairs neighbors if something was dropped or perhaps a heavy object
was moved. Apparently, that was not ever the case and Hill's knew very well that it
was not ever not the case ... they did investigate several solutions but
decided it was not worth the $300.00 cost to them. The standard Hills purchase
contract stated that nothing verbal would ever be considered for any
reason whatsoever and you agreed when you signed it. This is, in effect, a fraudulent cover-up
... and yes, they did get away with it! And, yes, you are or will
pay for it!
It
has been reported that some of the folks living in the Baldwin
homes
can and do hear loud
music especially with a heavy bass, loud
conversations as well as noise from vacuum cleaners (please don't sweep
carpeting at midnight), dishwashers,
out-of-balance washing machines and out-of-balance dryers (again a problem at midnight),
water softener re-cycling in the middle of the night, furnace blowers, stereo
systems with earth shaking bass speakers, radios and TV’s, hard sole and high heel shoes, closing
of front doors and sliding doors, closing of drawers, voices and even bedroom activities, barking
dogs and their toe nails on the floor, the neighbor’s garage door opening and closing, outside water
spigots turning on and off, and believe it or
not the blowing
of one’s nose as well as the tinkle, tinkle of using the bathroom.
Owners have the legal right to
be free of unreasonable levels of noise. You do have to put up with some
reasonable amount of normal living noise. Most owners of
condominiums know this fact ... and it is really no big deal; however,
expensive LEGAL ACTION is always a possibility. The owners and tenants
of the Chateau units must take care to minimize interference
with their neighbors below.
The problem
can result in
legal action against the Chateau owner. Complaints to offending owners or
tenants and owners must first be put in writing to those owners. You
should also contact
the Fishers Police to get their assistance. In most cases, your
written complaints plus intervention by the Fishers Police will solve
the problem. If you are forced to move due to excessive noise, you may
be entitled to receive compensation from the offender in Small Claims
Court or even Superior Court. Privacy is just not what
you may think it is. The writer presented a low cost workable solution to the
problem to Hills ... it was ignored completely. There still is a
solution, the spraying of sound deadening foam into the 18" space
between floors, but it would be rather costly to implement at this time.
Hills knew of this solution, but refused to spend the few bucks it would
have cost to resolve the problem.
Refrigerator
water leaks from a Chateau will run through the entry ceiling of a
Baldwin. Water leaks from a shower will run through the master
closet ceiling. Water heater and washer leaks will run through the
master bath and hall ceiling of a Baldwin. Your upstairs neighbor is
responsible for the repair of the problem and the repair to the damage
done to your property. Your insurance probably does not cover the
damage created by them (although State Farm does). You have a legal right to access that
owner's insurance and, as a last resort, file suit for compliance.
Also remember that your screened or glass enclosed patio is not covered
by the Muir Woods HOA Insurance Policy.
Speaking of water leaks, if the unit next to or above you
does not have the heat on for some reason and the temperature drops
below perhaps 20 degrees for a period of as little as 3 days, water pipes could break and
require a complete remodel of your home. It has happened in Muir
Woods! You must speak with your condo insurance representative to
make very sure that you are covered by water from above and from the
next unit.
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There are 172 homes in Muir Woods. From a financial
standpoint, this means that it costs you, personally, $1.00 each time
the Association is required to spend $172.00 for anything whatsoever.
That is what your monthly Association Fee is for. Excessive
expenditures can and will result in Special Assessments. A Special
Assessment could be necessary to pay for un-budgeted snow removal or
perhaps the cost of the insurance deductible for roof replacement caused
by a serious hail storm or even repairs to lawns caused by folks who
leave vehicle tire ruts in those lawns. It can also be necessary
to repair excessive water damage to our roadways.
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Blowing Trash is always a problem
in our community. Folks apparently just don't understand that
newspapers, magazines, pizza boxes, whatever must be INSIDE trash bags
before being placed INSIDE trash containers. Stacking stuff up on
top of the trash can only exacerbates the problem. Perhaps, some
just don't really care... and the trash blows everywhere!
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Please do not ever use salt on your driveway or sidewalks. Salt
and other such chemicals will damage concrete and create unnecessary
expenses for everyone. A little bit of sand or even cat litter
will do the job rather efficiently. A suggestion, if your garage door
bottom weather seal sticks to the concrete, clean and wipe it dry with a
cloth and then spray something like WD-40 or vegetable oil on it ... problem solved.
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Pet
Urination and Bushes don't go together. Why would
anyone allow a pet to urinate on a bush and then call the Home
Owner Association to have the dead bush replaced? Why do
some folks allow their pets to urinate on other folks bushes?
Drive through the neighborhood and look at the damage ... this
is your money!
_______________________________________ Dog Waste
is the problem of the dog owner. It must be removed by
the dog owner (the dog doesn't have any hands). If it is
not removed properly and promptly, perhaps the Association
should hire someone to place the dog waste neatly outside the
homeowner's front door or at least invoice them for the job.
Mr. Biscuits
at 381-9395 picks up dog waste for a fee. The
Association should contract with him to remove offending dog
waste for a fee and then charge the dog owner a premium fee. The
problem would soon be solved. It is probably a better
solution than having fresh dog waste dropped on your porch or
patio in the middle of the night by an irate neighbor.
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If you see someone pushing the large landscaping rocks around
with their vehicles,
please record the license plate number and type of vehicle and then
report the person to the Board of Directors or just call the Fishers
Police.
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Vandals in the neighborhood
HAVE COST YOU MONEY! I use the term, vandals, loosely as these
criminals are little more than relatively ignorant people who are
attempting to show others just how stupid and idiotic they really can be
(obviously the result of a poor childhood). Driving though lawns,
tearing down speed limit signs, and breaking Stop Signs with concrete
blocks is nothing more than some poor soul trying to get some small
satisfaction out of their sad and apparently useless lives and be
recognized (yet they hide under cover of darkness). Such a shame! If
more of the exterior lighting had working light bulbs, it would be
easier for you to see these folks and then call the Fishers Police. ______________________________________
Having trouble finding 16x25x3 Furnace Filters. Check out
simplyfilters.com.
They charge $20.08 to ship one, $42.34 to ship 3, and $72.55 to ship a
case of 6 to your home. They have just about every filter size you
could want. There is a low cost alternative at
WorldWideFilters.com at 3318 Pagosa
Court, Indianapolis, 46226. You can buy on line or just pick them
up.
The President of the
Country Fields Home Owner Association says that raccoons are creating
havoc in the attics of the homes there. They are somehow entering
through the poorly protected soffit vents. We have the same vents.
OMNI Management. The Help Desk is accessed at 541-0000 or after
hours at 1-800-215-0023. If you do not receive a prompt reply, go
online to
www.omni-property.com and click on Help Desk.
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