Ever wanted a history of events in the VOCC?
The last year, the HOA has stopped posting minutes to their meetings and when you go to their meetings they talk in a whisper and try their hardest to keep what they are talking about a secret.
If you have ever wanted to see what has happened in our community visit out interactive timeline.
http://voccproud.com/timeline.asp?s=s111
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Thursday, December 24, 2015
A Drive Through The VOCC On Christmas Eve.
Every year at this time, people get into the holiday spirit by decorating their homes.Taking a drive on Christmas Eve 2015, around the VOCC and you will feel the Holiday Spirit. Many of the homes are decorated with Christmas decorations and colored lights.
Some neighbors even teamed up and made a light show completely synchronized with music that played via your car radio as you drove by. The homes painstakingly ran lights into a controller and even decorated the Half Cul-De-Sac and included it in the show! This was by far the best decorated homes in the community.
There were so many homes in the VOCC that showed off their Holiday Spirit. Some of the homes had cut outs and others displayed dazzling lights.
Here are some pictures of a few of the decorated homes in the community, in no particular order.
Thank you to all the homes that decorated their yards. If you would like more community information be sure to visit VoccProud.com
Some neighbors even teamed up and made a light show completely synchronized with music that played via your car radio as you drove by. The homes painstakingly ran lights into a controller and even decorated the Half Cul-De-Sac and included it in the show! This was by far the best decorated homes in the community.
There were so many homes in the VOCC that showed off their Holiday Spirit. Some of the homes had cut outs and others displayed dazzling lights.
Here are some pictures of a few of the decorated homes in the community, in no particular order.
Thank you to all the homes that decorated their yards. If you would like more community information be sure to visit VoccProud.com
Friday, October 9, 2015
The HOA Raises Dues to $550 a Year, How does the VOCC Compare To Other Communites?
The HOA board raised dues from $520 to $550 at the last HOA meeting. The HOA justified it by stating that the landscape maintenance and pool cost have both gone up.
How does $550 a year in dues compare to other communities around us?
Communities located between Landing blvd and Bay Area Blvd. on the South side of 518 and their HOA dues
How will this affect your resell?
Buyers that are looking for homes will usually shop around neighborhoods that are of like kinds, this means that they will shop by sq ft, community, amenities, price, and cost of living.
Compare the VOCC to Adjacent Communities
When you compare our community with the others that are located between Landing Blvd. and Bay Area Blvd., you can see that we are the most expensive in terms of HOA dues. When you compare the amenities of the surrounding communities, our community is right in line with some and not others.
The VOCC has a community pool, a public path, a playground and a green space. These are the things that make our community desirable.
Rustic Oaks
Rustic Oaks has a Swimming pool, Public path, multiple playgrounds, Basketball Court, a public park (with Tennis courts and soccer fields), and a green space. Their dues are $355 a year.
The cost of living in Rustic oaks is now $200 a year cheaper than the VOCC and Rustic Oaks has more amenities.
Claremont Park
Claremont park has a swimming pool, Green spaces, private paths, and playground.
The cost of living in Claremont park is now $125 cheaper a year than the VOCC and has about the same amenities.
At $550 a year in Dues, The VOCC is now categorized with larger communities.
The VOCC is now placed in competition with West Over Park and Magnolia Creek. How do we compare to those Communities?
West Over Park
West Over Park has 5.5 acres of recreation that includes a rec center, soccer field, multiple playgrounds, ponds, paths, green spaces, and a great pool with many amenities.
The HOA dues in West Over Park are $650.
Magnolia Creek
Magnolia Creek is a master planned community that is complete with Pool with great amenities and a Golf Course.
Should the VOCC be in the same category as these other communities that have so many more or better amenities?
Will this raise in dues have an effect on your resell value? Time will tell.
How does $550 a year in dues compare to other communities around us?
Communities located between Landing blvd and Bay Area Blvd. on the South side of 518 and their HOA dues
| Cedar Landing | $ 250 / ANNUALLY |
| Clear Creek Meadows | $ 300 / ANNUALLY |
| Rustic Oaks | $ 355 / ANNUALLY |
| Claremont Park | $ 425 / ANNUALLY |
| Villages of Oak Creek Colony | $ 550 / ANNUALLY |
How will this affect your resell?
Buyers that are looking for homes will usually shop around neighborhoods that are of like kinds, this means that they will shop by sq ft, community, amenities, price, and cost of living.
Compare the VOCC to Adjacent Communities
When you compare our community with the others that are located between Landing Blvd. and Bay Area Blvd., you can see that we are the most expensive in terms of HOA dues. When you compare the amenities of the surrounding communities, our community is right in line with some and not others.
The VOCC has a community pool, a public path, a playground and a green space. These are the things that make our community desirable.
Rustic Oaks
Rustic Oaks has a Swimming pool, Public path, multiple playgrounds, Basketball Court, a public park (with Tennis courts and soccer fields), and a green space. Their dues are $355 a year.
The cost of living in Rustic oaks is now $200 a year cheaper than the VOCC and Rustic Oaks has more amenities.
Claremont Park
Claremont park has a swimming pool, Green spaces, private paths, and playground.
The cost of living in Claremont park is now $125 cheaper a year than the VOCC and has about the same amenities.
At $550 a year in Dues, The VOCC is now categorized with larger communities.
The VOCC is now placed in competition with West Over Park and Magnolia Creek. How do we compare to those Communities?
West Over Park
West Over Park has 5.5 acres of recreation that includes a rec center, soccer field, multiple playgrounds, ponds, paths, green spaces, and a great pool with many amenities.
The HOA dues in West Over Park are $650.
Magnolia Creek
Magnolia Creek is a master planned community that is complete with Pool with great amenities and a Golf Course.
Should the VOCC be in the same category as these other communities that have so many more or better amenities?
Will this raise in dues have an effect on your resell value? Time will tell.
Monday, September 21, 2015
Raising Dues
At the last meeting of the HOA board, the directors discussed raising dues. The discussion was the preliminary discussions to the 2016 budget. The talks were brief and really concentrated on how much the HOA could raise the dues at one time. The Board can raise the dues as much as $52 from the current $520 a year dues to $572.
My question is why do we need to raise our dues? In the past the HOA has presented the community that with the current dues of $520, the HOA has $5,000 surplus that the HOA can move to the Reserves and still has a $9,000 surplus remaining for "capital improvements". http://home.earthlink.net/~vocc2/2013_HOA_Assessment.htm
The HOA dues are based on our operating budget. Our Major expenses for every year is approximately $32,000 in Landscaping, $30,000 in pool services, $7,600 in contract and $3,600 in "administrative fees" for the management company.
Our community has not changed other than the new path, so why is the board needing more funds to maintain the community? The Green space has not changed, the Pool has not changed, and the manager has not changed. Why do we need over $12,000 more in revenue? (242 Homes * $50 = $12,100)
My question is why do we need to raise our dues? In the past the HOA has presented the community that with the current dues of $520, the HOA has $5,000 surplus that the HOA can move to the Reserves and still has a $9,000 surplus remaining for "capital improvements". http://home.earthlink.net/~vocc2/2013_HOA_Assessment.htm
The HOA dues are based on our operating budget. Our Major expenses for every year is approximately $32,000 in Landscaping, $30,000 in pool services, $7,600 in contract and $3,600 in "administrative fees" for the management company.
Our community has not changed other than the new path, so why is the board needing more funds to maintain the community? The Green space has not changed, the Pool has not changed, and the manager has not changed. Why do we need over $12,000 more in revenue? (242 Homes * $50 = $12,100)
Monday, August 24, 2015
Common Area Changes and Lawsuits
As most of the Members know, the VOCC is currently in litigation, part of the claim is for placing a park and path in the restricted reserve and the changing the use of said restricted reserve.
This lawsuit has been the subject of several Home owners during the Home owner input session at the Monthly HOA meeting and most members do not seem to realize how serious this lawsuit is and what it has to do with.
Will the VOCC win this case? There is no way to tell for sure if the VOCC will win or loose, however we can look at other court cases to see how other HOAs have fared in similar situations.
There is an article from a California court case that is very similar to the lawsuit that the VOCC is currently in. The article is almost word for word what has happened in the VOCC. This of course, does not mean this is how the judge in Texas will rule in our case.
The case starts off with an HOA that decides to change a common area that in this case was a community slope. The slope was restricted to landscape use and the HOA converted it into a Park, complete with a walkway with little or no input from property owners that lived adjacent to the newly constructed park.
The HOA in this California case attempts to use their governing documents as the reason the HOA could change the use of the land and construct the park, the Judge did not agree with the HOA's claims. The result was a lawsuit that cost that community over 1/2 million dollars.
Here is a link to the article. http://www.hindmansanchez.com/resources/article/common-area-changes-require-input-owners-compliance-governing-documents/
What's the VOCC Case about:
The one of the lawsuit's claim is less to do about the placement of the playground or path and more to do with the changing the use of the restricted reserve or in our case the non use of the restricted reserve and the added burden that this change in use has created to the property that is adjacent to the playground.
Background of the VOCC Case
The play ground placement was a hot topic at the time and here's a few excerpts from the Annual meeting minutes that are available at: http://vocc.info/2013-02-21_General_Mtg_Minutes.pdf
The Opposition (this does not include all of the opposition's comments)
"The community was not notified of the purchase or location of the play structure."
"The builder’s master plan had the playground by the pool."
"The builder promised homeowners that no building would be placed on the green space."
"Homeowners on the greens pace paid a premium to live there"
"The opposition believes they have been asked to watch or "police" the structure, or at least they have a sense of added responsibility"
The Proponents (this does not include all of the proponent's comments)
"75% of the community is within 900 feet of the proposed site"
"Modern builders place pocket parks in communities which are spread around a neighborhood, some close to homes. "
"...the Board concedes that VOCC was not "master planned" for pocket parks and we are retrofitting"
"The play structure has already been purchased and was scheduled to be installed February 20."
"The Board agreed to postpone installation to hear opposition feedback."
"...builder promises made twelve to fifteen years ago are no longer binding"
"Per our governing documents, the Board has full authority to make an independent decision on project purchase and placement and is not required to notify the community beforehand on such decisions."
Note:The most relevant line from the minutes of this annual meeting is that our HOA claims that our governing documents give it the authority make independent decisions on project purchase and placement.These are similar to the claims that the HOA in the California case quoted and the Judge in that case and the Judge in the appeals case struck down these claims as a legitimate reason to change the use of a property.
The Yahoo Group VOCC1
The playground placement was also the subject of several emails on the now deleted Yahoo Group by several members. Some of the emails were for the placement and some were against the placement, a copy of the a few of these emails are available at http://voccproud.com/p/2-19-2013MembersRespondToPlaySet.pdf
"I also cannot attend tonight due to a business commitment. About 2 years ago replacing the playground equipment was voted down at the home owners meeting. When I posed this recently privately to the board, I was basically told the board can make these decisions regardless of what we think."
"I see on Feb 2012 “baby pool shade cover and permanent message sign are the primary neighborhood projects at this time.” My first notification of the placement of the playground was when utility flags and stakes were placed outside."
"I have read all of these emails from the first day the playground was talked about and I think the location is perfect for many reasons."
"Why can't the play ground go in the middle of the trees opposite across the parking lot from where it used to be? It is a bigger space and it has parking. It doesn't have to go in the same exact spot as the old one. It is no closer to the street than the proposed site."
"I think a centrally located play structure is a great idea for our neighborhood. Putting it in over by the pool means almost everyone has to drive to it. Putting it on the greenway off Biscayne Bend provides the easiest access for the most people."
"...I think the safest place is by the pool the majority of the people it is going by are not
against a playground just the location it adds responsibility to some homeowners that do
not have young children 3 driveways back up to it there's just a lot of concerns that
should be heard I honestly felt before we'll it's not by me so why get involved then I realized how much it will affect the homes directly by it & the traffic I genuinely believe it is not a safe location it is very close to the road 3 driveways face it I don't know why anyone would have problems w it going by the pool..."
By reading the minutes that are posted online and the email exchanges from the Yahoo group, one can see the similarities between the California case and the one that the VOCC is currently litigating.
The issue is not really the placement of the playground. The issue is the changing the use of the restricted reserve or in this case the non-use of the reserve and the adding a burden on the homes that are closest to the new park.
How much is this costing the VOCC?
If the HOA wins great, The lawsuit will not cost the HOA anything as we can seek attorney fees!
We also have insurance to help us out in the cost. As per a meeting with the HOA Board in September of 2014, if we are sued for the placement of the playground, the law suit will only cost the HOA $1,000, however recent post on Next door.com suggest that this lawsuit is costing us much more. https://villagesofoakcreekcolony.nextdoor.com/news_feed/?post=14792798
If the HOA looses, how will the HOA pay for the damages?
This may be done with a special assessment as the HOA has about 40K in the reserves. This means that every Home owner may have to pay an extra assessment in order to pay for the damages of the case.
If the damages are similar to this California court case ($500,000) that could mean that every home owner could potentially have to pay $2,066.11 ($500,000 damages / 242 Homes) in a special assessment on top of the normal dues of $520.00.
This lawsuit has been the subject of several Home owners during the Home owner input session at the Monthly HOA meeting and most members do not seem to realize how serious this lawsuit is and what it has to do with.
Will the VOCC win this case? There is no way to tell for sure if the VOCC will win or loose, however we can look at other court cases to see how other HOAs have fared in similar situations.
There is an article from a California court case that is very similar to the lawsuit that the VOCC is currently in. The article is almost word for word what has happened in the VOCC. This of course, does not mean this is how the judge in Texas will rule in our case.
The case starts off with an HOA that decides to change a common area that in this case was a community slope. The slope was restricted to landscape use and the HOA converted it into a Park, complete with a walkway with little or no input from property owners that lived adjacent to the newly constructed park.
The HOA in this California case attempts to use their governing documents as the reason the HOA could change the use of the land and construct the park, the Judge did not agree with the HOA's claims. The result was a lawsuit that cost that community over 1/2 million dollars.
Here is a link to the article. http://www.hindmansanchez.com/resources/article/common-area-changes-require-input-owners-compliance-governing-documents/
What's the VOCC Case about:
The one of the lawsuit's claim is less to do about the placement of the playground or path and more to do with the changing the use of the restricted reserve or in our case the non use of the restricted reserve and the added burden that this change in use has created to the property that is adjacent to the playground.
Background of the VOCC Case
The play ground placement was a hot topic at the time and here's a few excerpts from the Annual meeting minutes that are available at: http://vocc.info/2013-02-21_General_Mtg_Minutes.pdf
The Opposition (this does not include all of the opposition's comments)
"The community was not notified of the purchase or location of the play structure."
"The builder’s master plan had the playground by the pool."
"The builder promised homeowners that no building would be placed on the green space."
"Homeowners on the greens pace paid a premium to live there"
"The opposition believes they have been asked to watch or "police" the structure, or at least they have a sense of added responsibility"
The Proponents (this does not include all of the proponent's comments)
"75% of the community is within 900 feet of the proposed site"
"Modern builders place pocket parks in communities which are spread around a neighborhood, some close to homes. "
"...the Board concedes that VOCC was not "master planned" for pocket parks and we are retrofitting"
"The play structure has already been purchased and was scheduled to be installed February 20."
"The Board agreed to postpone installation to hear opposition feedback."
"...builder promises made twelve to fifteen years ago are no longer binding"
"Per our governing documents, the Board has full authority to make an independent decision on project purchase and placement and is not required to notify the community beforehand on such decisions."
Note:The most relevant line from the minutes of this annual meeting is that our HOA claims that our governing documents give it the authority make independent decisions on project purchase and placement.These are similar to the claims that the HOA in the California case quoted and the Judge in that case and the Judge in the appeals case struck down these claims as a legitimate reason to change the use of a property.
The Yahoo Group VOCC1
The playground placement was also the subject of several emails on the now deleted Yahoo Group by several members. Some of the emails were for the placement and some were against the placement, a copy of the a few of these emails are available at http://voccproud.com/p/2-19-2013MembersRespondToPlaySet.pdf
"I also cannot attend tonight due to a business commitment. About 2 years ago replacing the playground equipment was voted down at the home owners meeting. When I posed this recently privately to the board, I was basically told the board can make these decisions regardless of what we think."
"I see on Feb 2012 “baby pool shade cover and permanent message sign are the primary neighborhood projects at this time.” My first notification of the placement of the playground was when utility flags and stakes were placed outside."
"I have read all of these emails from the first day the playground was talked about and I think the location is perfect for many reasons."
"Why can't the play ground go in the middle of the trees opposite across the parking lot from where it used to be? It is a bigger space and it has parking. It doesn't have to go in the same exact spot as the old one. It is no closer to the street than the proposed site."
"I think a centrally located play structure is a great idea for our neighborhood. Putting it in over by the pool means almost everyone has to drive to it. Putting it on the greenway off Biscayne Bend provides the easiest access for the most people."
"...I think the safest place is by the pool the majority of the people it is going by are not
against a playground just the location it adds responsibility to some homeowners that do
not have young children 3 driveways back up to it there's just a lot of concerns that
should be heard I honestly felt before we'll it's not by me so why get involved then I realized how much it will affect the homes directly by it & the traffic I genuinely believe it is not a safe location it is very close to the road 3 driveways face it I don't know why anyone would have problems w it going by the pool..."
By reading the minutes that are posted online and the email exchanges from the Yahoo group, one can see the similarities between the California case and the one that the VOCC is currently litigating.
The issue is not really the placement of the playground. The issue is the changing the use of the restricted reserve or in this case the non-use of the reserve and the adding a burden on the homes that are closest to the new park.
How much is this costing the VOCC?
If the HOA wins great, The lawsuit will not cost the HOA anything as we can seek attorney fees!
We also have insurance to help us out in the cost. As per a meeting with the HOA Board in September of 2014, if we are sued for the placement of the playground, the law suit will only cost the HOA $1,000, however recent post on Next door.com suggest that this lawsuit is costing us much more. https://villagesofoakcreekcolony.nextdoor.com/news_feed/?post=14792798
If the HOA looses, how will the HOA pay for the damages?
This may be done with a special assessment as the HOA has about 40K in the reserves. This means that every Home owner may have to pay an extra assessment in order to pay for the damages of the case.
If the damages are similar to this California court case ($500,000) that could mean that every home owner could potentially have to pay $2,066.11 ($500,000 damages / 242 Homes) in a special assessment on top of the normal dues of $520.00.
Saturday, August 1, 2015
Flagged as "Inappropriate."
Recently on NextDoor.com several of my Posts were deleted as they were "flagged as inappropriate"
I wanted to get other people's opinion are these posts inappropriate? If so, please let me know how. As per NextDoor's guidelines (https://help.nextdoor.com/customer/portal/articles/1428058-nextdoor-guidelines-faq ) These posts had no foul language and did not personally attack anyone, however someone does not want this information to be seen. I would post the person's replies however, the entire post has now been removed.
Hopefully he can post them in the comments below as it was a great discussion and he had valid points and I am sorry that they were removed as I always welcome a true debate.
The post I responded to was titled
My reply:
Posted on Jul 30, 2015
"Funny league City has a lower crime rate then most other cities and Yet the VOCC Crime rate is up 600%. What's changed? or are you suggesting that all crime is up 600% in all of League City? No one said that crimes don't happen, that's crazy talk, What was said is that in the 15 year history of our community We have never had such a high crime rate as we have had this summer.
Sad fact is that there is a direct correlation with petty crimes happening and the higher exposure that our community now has. Simple math more people = more bad people = more crime in the community. Again, when looking at the effect of things you want to look at Year over Year crime reports. In past years, we have never had the crime that we have had this summer. Several years we had zero crimes in the community, That is a simple fact. http://raidsonline.com/
Now, I realize that the HOA pushed this path to our community, telling people it was worth 250K, the city said it was only worth 150K. (http://voccproud.com/p/
They told the Community "The community voted on a similar easement proposal in May and while an overwhelming majority did vote in favor of this proposed easement we were unable to reach the desired number of votes." http://voccproud.com/images/
As defined in the By-Laws, the term "majority" shall mean those votes, owners, or other group as the context may indicate totaling more than fifty (50%) percent of the total eligible number There are 242 members that make up the "Community" and they were all eligible to vote. http://home.earthlink.net/~
During the May vote to authorize the City's Trail, there were only 87 members who voted for the easement, a simple majority of the community is 122 votes, an over whelming majority would be even higher. http://voccproud.com/p/2014-
The HOA went home to home and told the community that the city presented a revised "easement" and asked us to vote for it. That did not happen, CMSI asked the city for the new easement document and the city never asked us to vote for it. http://voccproud.com/images/
The HOA told the community that this path would raise our home values, Studies state that Path have little to no effect on home values. ( http://www.cadsr.udel.edu/
While our home values in our community went up this year compared to last year,they did not go up proportionately to the surrounding communities we are still lower in price per sq ft than Claremont, who was originally a cheaper community than we were 15 years ago (http://har.com)
The HOA told the community that we would save 20K on maintenance of the easement and path, as the city would mow the easement and maintain the path Guess what? We are still maintaining the easement, we mow it, edge it, water it and insure it.
By increasing the length of the path, the HOA has actually increased our landscaping bill as the edging needed to be done to the path and now the path is two times as long as it was before, how is this path saving us money?
We are still waiting for trashcans and dogi-pots which have not been installed. As a result I pick up trash almost daily as I walk the path and I can't even count the amount of dog poo that is in our green spaces.
At our annual meeting the Board disclosed that we spent zero on maintain the HOA path that is $0.00 (I would show you the minutes of the annual meeting but our HOA refuses to post minutes these days for 2015 meetings and they refuse to keep minutes at all for their committee meetings or their "workshops" where they strategize about the next board meeting, They don't even keep agendas for these "workshops".
How does the community stay informed about what happens in the community?
Do you know to get a copy of the HOA minutes you have to pay 3 bucks to send a certified request to the management company? Just to be informed about what is happening in your Community., Seems very transparent doesn't it? )
How do you save thousands on Maintenance, when we did not maintain the path before? In 2013, volunteers weeded the path and replaced gravel, not the HOA. When members complained about the maintenance Board member stated not to confuse maintenance with a re-grade, which is exactly what the HOA did later when they stated we would save 20K (source email from VOCC yahoo Group - http://voccproud.com/p/
The HOA was told that there is no correlation with paths and crimes, yet other communities who have the same path, complain about graffiti and drug deals that happen on these paths ( https://villagesofoakcreekcolony.nextdoor.com/news_feed/?s=&link_source_user_id=4203405&post=12955613&ct=Lxzo3EpBWMTr-Al8JCJNO7EJDVSoHx6Lc5bar43k_ilNpgtCQM8-XsTL_nmytgKh&is=nce&mobile_deeplink_data=action%3Dview_post%26post%3D12955613&lc=233 ) and now our community crime rate is up 600%. Just goto Raidsonline.com or spotcrime.com and do a search yourself or goto : http://voccproud.blogspot.com/
We are now in a lawsuit over these misrepresentations and it could cost our community a ton of money. Meanwhile, you want to point out that crime happens in other communities too? I can only hope that the HOA prevails in the lawsuit and they are not found guilty of misrepresentations as I do not want to have to pay a special assessment to resolve the issues and cover the court cost."
End of Post
Then a second post was also "flagged"
This was a response a post that asked "if you are so informed, why are you not on the board? or volunteer"
Posted on Jul 30, 2015
"I can not condone actions by participating in them. I volunteered for the social committee, when I asked the HOA to keep minutes of the committee meeting, the Committee chairperson refused, I refused to participate in an illegal activity as our by laws states that all member meetings must have minutes (committee meetings are meeting of members) and Texas Business code specifically states that minutes of committees must be kept. http://www.statutes.legis.
When I bring this to our HOA attention they tell me that they don't have to and state no legal reason why they don't follow such a simple rule.. I volunteered for the pool committee and headed the parking committee, what have you volunteered for?
I have in the past attended HOA board meetings, however After the last meeting I attended, I refuse to go to anymore. The Board sat with its back to the audience, and then whispered so that the assembly could not hear them. Real transparent huh?
The board has made decision not to listen to members and has placed us in a position that in time could cost us a lot of money, I do not appreciate that. I have for two years tried to advise the Board on things, they have refused to listen. We are now in a lawsuit.
In September of last year, I had an executive session with two other members where we warned the HOA that a lawsuit was going to happen and showed a similar court case that the HOA did the same actions and it cost that HOA $500,000... here's the court case I referenced. http://www.hindmansanchez.com/
The response, A lawsuit would only cost the HOA $1,000 bucks... I hope that is true as now just like I warned we are in a lawsuit.
While I agree being a volunteer on the board is a difficult task, following the basic laws and common sense is not. The new people on the board, I wish the best of luck and hope that they can make a difference, but atlas since I can not view the minutes is hard to know if they are good or bad.
You have not looked at the crime maps provided... Here's a year over year for the summer months https://scontent-dfw1-1.xx.
Its not three crimes in our community its much higher. I would suggest actually looking for yourself. Again, its not the amount or the number of crimes its the comparison of going from zero crimes to multiple crimes in the same time period year over year.
Do you not think that A 600% increase in crime in our community is a large increase, or are you stating that all crimes in League City are up 600% , so no big deal? Again, If all of League city had an increase of 600% in the crime rate you would have a point. However, Crime rate for League city is not up overall 600%.
I realize that you do not want to admit the negative effects that happen when more people transverse the community but that does not mean it does not happen. Post away! It's a free country and you are more than welcome to your opinion, however when I state my opinion I back it up with facts.
I do not discount your opinion as you are well with in your rights to have your opinion, as I am to have mine.I do not call you names or try to belittle you. I simply point out that crime in our community is at the highest its ever been, what's changed in our community this year?
Why is this summer so high and other summers were not? Again does the trail have benefits? Of course it does... However, since its now public property it also has liability, that liability is the increase in traffic, the wear and tear on our playset, the trash and dog poo that is left on our green space, and the increase in crime to the community. I understand that you are in favor of this trail and its not going anywhere.
No one said it is going anywhere. It's here to stay, so now we need to figure out how to curve the liability that it has created. This means having a neighborhood watch, requesting the LCPD to patrol the area, and for the the city to at least install the amenities that were promised (trash cans and dogi-pots)
Thoughts?"
end of Post
The person answered that he believes that last year there were more crimes, So I was happy to use his numbers and responded
This post was also "flagged"
Posted on Jul 30, 2015
"I am happy to use whatever numbers you would like. Only 1 crime pulls up for our community when I query it.
If there are two more then great, let's use that number, We have still doubled in crime. What's changed? Has all of League City crime doubled?
Nope, just our community. Again I always welcome other people's opinions and input, if you have a number you like great we can use that number.
The reality is that more people = more problems. How do we curve these problems? Is it unreasonable to ask LCPD to patrol the path? Is it unreasonable to ask for the city to make good on their promises of maintaining the easement? Is it unreasonable to make the city install amenities that they stated that they would install? Mainly the dogi-pots and trashcans? Is it unreasonable to save the 20K that we were promised that we would save?
We were promised that crime would not go up, but it has, even by your numbers crime has doubled... These are things that every home owner and member were promised.
I want to feel safe in my community, I want to save money on the maintenance of the path as that was promised, I do not want to pay more to edge a longer path or have to pay to mow it, I was promised that OUR community would not have to maintain these things. You too were promised the same things.
I want the HOA to hold up the promises that they made in order to push this thing through. Promises made should be kept. Those promises are not being kept.
I want my green space kept nice and neat, it is not. If it was I would not have to pick up trash daily. Any way that you want to draw it, crime is increased, trash has increased, wear and tear on the community's resource has increased (the playset is constantly used by the trail travelers).
How can we curve these items? What can we do? You can disagree with me all you want, as I have stated you are more than welcome to your opinion, I do not put you down for your thoughts or belittle you.
I enjoy having a debate, as we did not get one at the meeting that this was pushed through. So we are now stuck with it, so how do we deal with this new liabilities that it has created? Is it unreasonable to expect what was promised to be delivered?
Do you think what we were promised is what we currently have? Do we have a $250,000 trail? Nope, we have a $150,000 trail. Has our home values increase due to the trail? Hard to say but we are still selling for less than the surrounding communities, so my opinion is nope.
Did we save 20K on the maintenance of the trial? Nope, as we are still maintaining the trail and the easement as we are watering it, mowing it, and edging it. How is this saving us money?
Crime is up and by your calculations, Crime has doubled in our community. So Feel free to use that number it still illustrates the same point. Again, What can we do to change the trend? How can we get the public to not abuse our land?
What promises that were made were kept? I have stated it before, but you seem to ignore the statement, the path has benefits, but it comes with liabilities... If this path was the HOA's property it would be the best thing ever, but its not. We have lost the right to tell people to get off the property and we have lost control of our green space and playground."
End of Post
The person responded that he believe that crime had not doubled in the community even when I used his numbers So I responded:
This post was also Flagged
Posted on Jul 30, 2015
"Ummm, 3 to 6 is doubling... since you have seemed to miss one here's the list from this time:
1. On June 24,2015, a home on Brookstone was burglarized and several items were stolen. A window in the back of the house was broken and the burglars gained entry.
2 On June 19,2015, suspects were filmed breaking into a truck and trying to get in to other cars, they were last seen on foot transversing Cottage Grove, Biscayne Bend, and at the park heading south on the path. On June 25,2015, the same suspects were seen parking a white Toyota in a members driveway and then proceeding on foot to scope out homes and cars.
3 On June 20,2015, A home on Brookstone reported the theft of items from the residence.
4. On July 6, 2015, a car was reported broken into on Williamhurst, several items were taken from the car including sunglasses, gift cards, and currency.
5. On July 6, 2015 a home on Avery Hollow had a Suitcase stolen from the front porch,with in a few feet from the path.
6. On July 13, a home was attempted to be entered without permission on Spring Iris by a minor under the influence, the minor then walked around the cul-de-sac until the LCPD arrived and arrested her for being under the influence.
Yup, that's 6. So you are saying that all of League City crime has gone up the same ratio? Funny the Chief stated it was not at his public meeting the other week. Have a great day!"
End of Post
All of these message were marked as "Inappropriate" and deleted by our leads or by the original poster. None of the messages contained foul language or were attacks on other members. These post did include facts about the misrepresentations that were made to the community about the Hike and Bike Trail, these misrepresentations are part of the reason that the HOA is currently in a lawsuit.
Let me know if you find anything inappropriate about these posts and if so please let me know what you found Inappropriate so that I can avoid it in the future!
I wanted to get other people's opinion are these posts inappropriate? If so, please let me know how. As per NextDoor's guidelines (https://help.nextdoor.com/customer/portal/articles/1428058-nextdoor-guidelines-faq ) These posts had no foul language and did not personally attack anyone, however someone does not want this information to be seen. I would post the person's replies however, the entire post has now been removed.
Hopefully he can post them in the comments below as it was a great discussion and he had valid points and I am sorry that they were removed as I always welcome a true debate.
The post I responded to was titled
Not only where they have hike and bike trails
It was a link : http://m.click2houston.com/news/police-search-for-burglary-suspects-in-league-city/34418314
My reply:
Posted on Jul 30, 2015
"Funny league City has a lower crime rate then most other cities and Yet the VOCC Crime rate is up 600%. What's changed? or are you suggesting that all crime is up 600% in all of League City? No one said that crimes don't happen, that's crazy talk, What was said is that in the 15 year history of our community We have never had such a high crime rate as we have had this summer.
Sad fact is that there is a direct correlation with petty crimes happening and the higher exposure that our community now has. Simple math more people = more bad people = more crime in the community. Again, when looking at the effect of things you want to look at Year over Year crime reports. In past years, we have never had the crime that we have had this summer. Several years we had zero crimes in the community, That is a simple fact. http://raidsonline.com/
Now, I realize that the HOA pushed this path to our community, telling people it was worth 250K, the city said it was only worth 150K. (http://voccproud.com/p/
They told the Community "The community voted on a similar easement proposal in May and while an overwhelming majority did vote in favor of this proposed easement we were unable to reach the desired number of votes." http://voccproud.com/images/
As defined in the By-Laws, the term "majority" shall mean those votes, owners, or other group as the context may indicate totaling more than fifty (50%) percent of the total eligible number There are 242 members that make up the "Community" and they were all eligible to vote. http://home.earthlink.net/~
During the May vote to authorize the City's Trail, there were only 87 members who voted for the easement, a simple majority of the community is 122 votes, an over whelming majority would be even higher. http://voccproud.com/p/2014-
The HOA went home to home and told the community that the city presented a revised "easement" and asked us to vote for it. That did not happen, CMSI asked the city for the new easement document and the city never asked us to vote for it. http://voccproud.com/images/
The HOA told the community that this path would raise our home values, Studies state that Path have little to no effect on home values. ( http://www.cadsr.udel.edu/
While our home values in our community went up this year compared to last year,they did not go up proportionately to the surrounding communities we are still lower in price per sq ft than Claremont, who was originally a cheaper community than we were 15 years ago (http://har.com)
The HOA told the community that we would save 20K on maintenance of the easement and path, as the city would mow the easement and maintain the path Guess what? We are still maintaining the easement, we mow it, edge it, water it and insure it.
By increasing the length of the path, the HOA has actually increased our landscaping bill as the edging needed to be done to the path and now the path is two times as long as it was before, how is this path saving us money?
We are still waiting for trashcans and dogi-pots which have not been installed. As a result I pick up trash almost daily as I walk the path and I can't even count the amount of dog poo that is in our green spaces.
At our annual meeting the Board disclosed that we spent zero on maintain the HOA path that is $0.00 (I would show you the minutes of the annual meeting but our HOA refuses to post minutes these days for 2015 meetings and they refuse to keep minutes at all for their committee meetings or their "workshops" where they strategize about the next board meeting, They don't even keep agendas for these "workshops".
How does the community stay informed about what happens in the community?
Do you know to get a copy of the HOA minutes you have to pay 3 bucks to send a certified request to the management company? Just to be informed about what is happening in your Community., Seems very transparent doesn't it? )
How do you save thousands on Maintenance, when we did not maintain the path before? In 2013, volunteers weeded the path and replaced gravel, not the HOA. When members complained about the maintenance Board member stated not to confuse maintenance with a re-grade, which is exactly what the HOA did later when they stated we would save 20K (source email from VOCC yahoo Group - http://voccproud.com/p/
The HOA was told that there is no correlation with paths and crimes, yet other communities who have the same path, complain about graffiti and drug deals that happen on these paths ( https://villagesofoakcreekcolony.nextdoor.com/news_feed/?s=&link_source_user_id=4203405&post=12955613&ct=Lxzo3EpBWMTr-Al8JCJNO7EJDVSoHx6Lc5bar43k_ilNpgtCQM8-XsTL_nmytgKh&is=nce&mobile_deeplink_data=action%3Dview_post%26post%3D12955613&lc=233 ) and now our community crime rate is up 600%. Just goto Raidsonline.com or spotcrime.com and do a search yourself or goto : http://voccproud.blogspot.com/
We are now in a lawsuit over these misrepresentations and it could cost our community a ton of money. Meanwhile, you want to point out that crime happens in other communities too? I can only hope that the HOA prevails in the lawsuit and they are not found guilty of misrepresentations as I do not want to have to pay a special assessment to resolve the issues and cover the court cost."
End of Post
Then a second post was also "flagged"
This was a response a post that asked "if you are so informed, why are you not on the board? or volunteer"
Posted on Jul 30, 2015
"I can not condone actions by participating in them. I volunteered for the social committee, when I asked the HOA to keep minutes of the committee meeting, the Committee chairperson refused, I refused to participate in an illegal activity as our by laws states that all member meetings must have minutes (committee meetings are meeting of members) and Texas Business code specifically states that minutes of committees must be kept. http://www.statutes.legis.
When I bring this to our HOA attention they tell me that they don't have to and state no legal reason why they don't follow such a simple rule.. I volunteered for the pool committee and headed the parking committee, what have you volunteered for?
I have in the past attended HOA board meetings, however After the last meeting I attended, I refuse to go to anymore. The Board sat with its back to the audience, and then whispered so that the assembly could not hear them. Real transparent huh?
The board has made decision not to listen to members and has placed us in a position that in time could cost us a lot of money, I do not appreciate that. I have for two years tried to advise the Board on things, they have refused to listen. We are now in a lawsuit.
In September of last year, I had an executive session with two other members where we warned the HOA that a lawsuit was going to happen and showed a similar court case that the HOA did the same actions and it cost that HOA $500,000... here's the court case I referenced. http://www.hindmansanchez.com/
The response, A lawsuit would only cost the HOA $1,000 bucks... I hope that is true as now just like I warned we are in a lawsuit.
While I agree being a volunteer on the board is a difficult task, following the basic laws and common sense is not. The new people on the board, I wish the best of luck and hope that they can make a difference, but atlas since I can not view the minutes is hard to know if they are good or bad.
You have not looked at the crime maps provided... Here's a year over year for the summer months https://scontent-dfw1-1.xx.
Its not three crimes in our community its much higher. I would suggest actually looking for yourself. Again, its not the amount or the number of crimes its the comparison of going from zero crimes to multiple crimes in the same time period year over year.
Do you not think that A 600% increase in crime in our community is a large increase, or are you stating that all crimes in League City are up 600% , so no big deal? Again, If all of League city had an increase of 600% in the crime rate you would have a point. However, Crime rate for League city is not up overall 600%.
I realize that you do not want to admit the negative effects that happen when more people transverse the community but that does not mean it does not happen. Post away! It's a free country and you are more than welcome to your opinion, however when I state my opinion I back it up with facts.
I do not discount your opinion as you are well with in your rights to have your opinion, as I am to have mine.I do not call you names or try to belittle you. I simply point out that crime in our community is at the highest its ever been, what's changed in our community this year?
Why is this summer so high and other summers were not? Again does the trail have benefits? Of course it does... However, since its now public property it also has liability, that liability is the increase in traffic, the wear and tear on our playset, the trash and dog poo that is left on our green space, and the increase in crime to the community. I understand that you are in favor of this trail and its not going anywhere.
No one said it is going anywhere. It's here to stay, so now we need to figure out how to curve the liability that it has created. This means having a neighborhood watch, requesting the LCPD to patrol the area, and for the the city to at least install the amenities that were promised (trash cans and dogi-pots)
Thoughts?"
end of Post
The person answered that he believes that last year there were more crimes, So I was happy to use his numbers and responded
This post was also "flagged"
Posted on Jul 30, 2015
"I am happy to use whatever numbers you would like. Only 1 crime pulls up for our community when I query it.
If there are two more then great, let's use that number, We have still doubled in crime. What's changed? Has all of League City crime doubled?
Nope, just our community. Again I always welcome other people's opinions and input, if you have a number you like great we can use that number.
The reality is that more people = more problems. How do we curve these problems? Is it unreasonable to ask LCPD to patrol the path? Is it unreasonable to ask for the city to make good on their promises of maintaining the easement? Is it unreasonable to make the city install amenities that they stated that they would install? Mainly the dogi-pots and trashcans? Is it unreasonable to save the 20K that we were promised that we would save?
We were promised that crime would not go up, but it has, even by your numbers crime has doubled... These are things that every home owner and member were promised.
I want to feel safe in my community, I want to save money on the maintenance of the path as that was promised, I do not want to pay more to edge a longer path or have to pay to mow it, I was promised that OUR community would not have to maintain these things. You too were promised the same things.
I want the HOA to hold up the promises that they made in order to push this thing through. Promises made should be kept. Those promises are not being kept.
I want my green space kept nice and neat, it is not. If it was I would not have to pick up trash daily. Any way that you want to draw it, crime is increased, trash has increased, wear and tear on the community's resource has increased (the playset is constantly used by the trail travelers).
How can we curve these items? What can we do? You can disagree with me all you want, as I have stated you are more than welcome to your opinion, I do not put you down for your thoughts or belittle you.
I enjoy having a debate, as we did not get one at the meeting that this was pushed through. So we are now stuck with it, so how do we deal with this new liabilities that it has created? Is it unreasonable to expect what was promised to be delivered?
Do you think what we were promised is what we currently have? Do we have a $250,000 trail? Nope, we have a $150,000 trail. Has our home values increase due to the trail? Hard to say but we are still selling for less than the surrounding communities, so my opinion is nope.
Did we save 20K on the maintenance of the trial? Nope, as we are still maintaining the trail and the easement as we are watering it, mowing it, and edging it. How is this saving us money?
Crime is up and by your calculations, Crime has doubled in our community. So Feel free to use that number it still illustrates the same point. Again, What can we do to change the trend? How can we get the public to not abuse our land?
What promises that were made were kept? I have stated it before, but you seem to ignore the statement, the path has benefits, but it comes with liabilities... If this path was the HOA's property it would be the best thing ever, but its not. We have lost the right to tell people to get off the property and we have lost control of our green space and playground."
End of Post
The person responded that he believe that crime had not doubled in the community even when I used his numbers So I responded:
This post was also Flagged
Posted on Jul 30, 2015
"Ummm, 3 to 6 is doubling... since you have seemed to miss one here's the list from this time:
1. On June 24,2015, a home on Brookstone was burglarized and several items were stolen. A window in the back of the house was broken and the burglars gained entry.
2 On June 19,2015, suspects were filmed breaking into a truck and trying to get in to other cars, they were last seen on foot transversing Cottage Grove, Biscayne Bend, and at the park heading south on the path. On June 25,2015, the same suspects were seen parking a white Toyota in a members driveway and then proceeding on foot to scope out homes and cars.
3 On June 20,2015, A home on Brookstone reported the theft of items from the residence.
4. On July 6, 2015, a car was reported broken into on Williamhurst, several items were taken from the car including sunglasses, gift cards, and currency.
5. On July 6, 2015 a home on Avery Hollow had a Suitcase stolen from the front porch,with in a few feet from the path.
6. On July 13, a home was attempted to be entered without permission on Spring Iris by a minor under the influence, the minor then walked around the cul-de-sac until the LCPD arrived and arrested her for being under the influence.
Yup, that's 6. So you are saying that all of League City crime has gone up the same ratio? Funny the Chief stated it was not at his public meeting the other week. Have a great day!"
End of Post
All of these message were marked as "Inappropriate" and deleted by our leads or by the original poster. None of the messages contained foul language or were attacks on other members. These post did include facts about the misrepresentations that were made to the community about the Hike and Bike Trail, these misrepresentations are part of the reason that the HOA is currently in a lawsuit.
Let me know if you find anything inappropriate about these posts and if so please let me know what you found Inappropriate so that I can avoid it in the future!
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Be on Alert: Several Crimes in the Community
On June 24,2015, a home on Brookstone was burglarized and several items were stolen. A window in the back of the house was broken and the burglars gained entry.
On June 19,2015, suspects were filmed breaking into a truck and trying to get in to other cars, they were last seen on foot transversing Cottage Grove, Biscayne Bend, and at the park heading south on the path. On June 25,2015, the same suspects were seen parking a white Toyota in a members driveway and then proceeding on foot to scope out homes and cars.
On June 20,2015, A home on Brookstone reported the theft of items from the residence.
On June 29, other communities that are a part of the League City's Hike and Bike Trail complain about graffiti and Drug deals that happen on the path.
On July 6, 2015, a car was reported broken into on Williamhurst, several items were taken from the car including sunglasses, gift cards, and currency.
On July 6, 2015 a home on Avery Hollow had a Suitcase stolen from the front porch,with in a few feet from the path.
On July 13, a home was attempted to be entered without permission on Spring Iris by a minor under the influence, the minor then walked around the cul-de-sac until the LCPD arrived and arrested her for being under the influence.
On July 30 EquaSearch searches the city's Hike & bike trail for a missing 24 year old man. The man, Antonio Martins of Clear Lake was last known to be meeting a guy at 11:30pm on July 30th, his truck was found on Candelwood approximately 100 feet away from the City's trail.
On July 30, a stolen Glock 22 was recovered from a white Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, this truck matches the description of missing person's car.
On August 27, 2015, Cars on Canyon Crest were burglarized and Radar detecter, sunglasses, and gps were taken.
On October 2,2015 an assault happened on the 4400 block of Canyon Crest.
If you have any information on any of these crimes please contact the LCPD as soon as possible.
See something, Say something!!!
Get Email Alerts to crime in your area and view Year Over Year Crime Map Available at http://spotCrime.com/tx/league+city
On June 19,2015, suspects were filmed breaking into a truck and trying to get in to other cars, they were last seen on foot transversing Cottage Grove, Biscayne Bend, and at the park heading south on the path. On June 25,2015, the same suspects were seen parking a white Toyota in a members driveway and then proceeding on foot to scope out homes and cars.
On June 20,2015, A home on Brookstone reported the theft of items from the residence.
On June 29, other communities that are a part of the League City's Hike and Bike Trail complain about graffiti and Drug deals that happen on the path.
On July 6, 2015, a car was reported broken into on Williamhurst, several items were taken from the car including sunglasses, gift cards, and currency.
On July 6, 2015 a home on Avery Hollow had a Suitcase stolen from the front porch,with in a few feet from the path.
On July 13, a home was attempted to be entered without permission on Spring Iris by a minor under the influence, the minor then walked around the cul-de-sac until the LCPD arrived and arrested her for being under the influence.
On July 30 EquaSearch searches the city's Hike & bike trail for a missing 24 year old man. The man, Antonio Martins of Clear Lake was last known to be meeting a guy at 11:30pm on July 30th, his truck was found on Candelwood approximately 100 feet away from the City's trail.
On July 30, a stolen Glock 22 was recovered from a white Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, this truck matches the description of missing person's car.
On August 27, 2015, Cars on Canyon Crest were burglarized and Radar detecter, sunglasses, and gps were taken.
On October 2,2015 an assault happened on the 4400 block of Canyon Crest.
If you have any information on any of these crimes please contact the LCPD as soon as possible.
See something, Say something!!!
Get Email Alerts to crime in your area and view Year Over Year Crime Map Available at http://spotCrime.com/tx/league+city
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