Oakwords
The newsletter for Oakwoods Homeowner’s Association – November 2007
OHA Board Contacts
April Jackson, President – 827-0019
Jeff Stromberger, Vice President
Cory Schummer, Treasurer – 827-6516
Hope Chubb, Secretary – 827-8684
Nichole Britnell, Board Member – 820-7579
Debbie Gaines, Board Member – 828-6325
Terry Jackson, Board Member – 827-0019
Message From The President
I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge our outgoing board. Tamara, Chuck, Rick L., Tara, Shannon, Rick A., and Franco have all devoted countless hours on your behalf and it is greatly appreciated. We would like to thank them for their cooperation in completing a smooth transition for the new Oakwood’s Homeowners Association Board.
I am proud to introduce the incoming board. You have elected capable and well-motivated people that are excited about this task. A short bio follows these remarks to present them to you. I look forward to working with these selfless individuals for the next year on your behalf.
Our goal for Oakwood’s is simple. We want to represent all residents of the association and transact business that will enrich the lives of our neighbors. It is our belief that effective community relations are key for the positive progress of Oakwood’s. We will actively seek ways to resolve issues through discussion and consensus while avoiding conflict that will disrupt the team effort crucial to this association.
The most essential participant of this process is YOU, the residents of Oakwood’s. You may have noticed in our email tree correspondence our new motto of, “Be Part of the Solution!” Many of you have stepped forth already and volunteered for committees and block captains. Both Rick Austin (previous board) and Debbie Gaines (current board) came up with the block captain idea independently of each other. We thought it was a great idea and are asking for YOU to help us put into place a great system, which can provide many benefits to our community. I have received calls from some of you with questions concerning issues that we face. We welcome that, we encourage that, and we want you to contact us! The board has seven ideas but you provide the eighth and ninth idea.
Now I know that some of you have been “fed up” with the association in the past. Why not give us a try? Let your voice and ideas be heard. Together we can all make a difference and we encourage you to consider becoming a part of the Oakwood’s solution!
April Jackson
Meet the Board
April Jackson - April has lived in Oakwoods for over 20 years. She has two grown children that grew up in Oakwoods. April telecommutes for Owens Nursery as an Executive Assistant. Prior to her current position, April owned and managed two highly successful home based businesses. April has been actively engaged in OHA service in the past as a Board Member and the Newsletter Editor. She is excited about the upcoming year and feels privileged to work with this dynamic, motivated, talented and diverse new board.
Jeff Stromberger - Jeff has lived in Oakwoods for3 months. He will be getting marriedon February 23, 2008 to Renee.Jeff is an Auto Claim Representative with State Farm and has been with the company for 4 years. He is currently serving as the Vice President of Public Relations for Toastmasters Internationalas well. Jeff is proud to serve as the Vice President for the upcoming year.
Corey Schummer – Cory has been an Oakwoods resident for 9 years and has been married to his wife, Julie, for 10 years. They have two children, Megan who is 7 and Zachary who is 4. He is an Auto Claim Representative with State Farm and has been with State Farm for 8 years. He previously served as OHA President and looks forward to the upcoming year as your treasurer.
Hope Chubb – Hope has been an Oakwoods resident for 4 years. She has been married to John for 10 years. They have 3 children: 8 year old Carter, 5 year old Spencer, and 2 year old Garrett. She works from home as a Commercial Sales Coordinator for Old National Insurance and has been there for 12 years. She currently serves on PTO committees for Pepper Ridge. She previously served as President of the Kiwanis Club of Greater Terre Haute and President of Insurance Professionals of the WabashValley. She is very excited to bring some of her past experience with her to help our association.
Nichole Britnell – Nichole is excited about serving as an OHA board member. She lives with her husband, Ryan, their 5 year old daughter, Emma, and their chocolate lab, Bruno. She and her family moved to Oakwood's two years ago and love the park-like setting and the friendly community that this subdivision offers. She looks forward to meeting her neighbors and being part of the Oakwood's solution!
Debbie Gaines-Debbie is from Bloomington and moved into Oakwood's with her husband Dave 14 years ago. They have four grown children and six grandchildren.Justin, their eldest grandson, lives with them and attends Parkside Junior High. She has been an Executive Recruiter for over 24 years. She owns her own executivesearch business that specializes in placing professionals within the automotive industry throughout the USA and internationally. She is looking forward to serving as anOHA board member.
Terry Jackson - Terry is no stranger to the Oakwood'sHomeowners Associationas he has lived here for over 20 years and has been a previous Board Member.He has been employed with an Insurance Company in Bloomington for the past 15years with the last 8 years as a Technical Analyst in the Contact Center Technology area. Terry grew up on the west side of Bloomington and when he,along with his wife, April, started looking for a home to buy they began lookingon the west side. Terry loves the Oakwood's area because it has the sense of asmall community inside a large city. He is looking forward to servingOakwood's and to those that saw fit to elect him, he pledges his best.
OHA Financial Update
Your Finance Committee consists of Mike Eckhoff, Andrea Schuneman, Cory Schummer (Chairperson), Bart Swanson, and Franco Quatrini. This committee was put in place tohelp oversee our finances, and for making recommendations to the full OHA Board of Directors.
Your OHA Board and Finance Committee will be 100% transparent when it comes to your homeowner's dues and how we spend your hard earned dollars. Therefore, we will open our books during each OHA Board Meeting for any interested resident to review. If you are unable to attend one of these meetings, and would like to review our records, please contact OHA Treasurer Cory Schummer @ 827-6516 to schedule a time to meet.
Located below is a rundown of the following OHA accounts and their values as of September 30th:
- Cash Balance:$360.00
- Money Fund: $19,152.81
- Money Market: $75,000.00
- CDs: $33,443.02
It's important to note that we will be re-evaluating our current investment strategy to mirror our subdivision's short and long term needs.
Lastly, we have just completed our work on the 2007-2008 budget. To obtain a copy of this budget, please contact OHA Treasurer Cory Schummer.
Welcome Home
We are privileged to welcome home Staff Sergeant Sean Harris who returned from Iraq in September. On behalf of the Oakwood’s Homeowners Association, we would like to thank Sean for his honorable service to his country. Welcome Home!
Would You Like To Receive Your Newsletter Via E-Mail???
We are trying to come up with ways to save your money!!! This year we are going to distribute newsletters through your block captains and through e-mail. If you would like to receive your newsletter through e-mail, please call your secretary, Hope Chubb, at 827-8684 or send an email to her at . This is the most cost-effective way for distribution – it will save on paper costs, printing, and postage! If you still want a paper copy, do nothing and it will be dropped off by your block captain or a board member.
Block Captains
“BE PART OF THE SOLUTION”
Volunteer as an OHA Block Captain and help our neighborhood to:
- Savehundreds of $$$’s per year by eliminating postage for newsletters
- Facilitate a quick response in case of a neighborhood emergency such as a missing child
- Expedite the distribution of time sensitive information if needed
- Inform the Board of any issues within your block area
We are so excited to tell you about a new project that we have started. We have decided to assign 36 block captains in the neighborhood. We have divided the subdivision into blocks that consist of around 10 houses. Some have a few more, some a few less.
The block captains will be used to distribute our newsletter (if you don’t want it via e-mail). They will also notify you when there is an emergency situation in our area. We don’t currently have an emergency plan in place if there is a missing child in the subdivision or an evacuation plan. The block captain will be in charge of notifying their block if something like this were to occur. Of course it is our hope that the block captain will only be needed for distributing the newsletter, but having an emergency plan in place is always a good idea.
We still need volunteers to be block captains. It will only require a very minimal amount of time. It will be a great way to meet more people and build unity in our neighborhood.
Please go to our website and send an email to the board if you would be willing to volunteer. Thanks to the volunteers that have already notified us!
Bulletin Board
As a service to our residents, we are now making space available in our newsletters for homeowners to advertise services or goods. If you would like to place something in the bulletin board section, please contact Nichole Britnell at 820-7579.
Christmas Decorating Contest
It’s that time of year again! Can you believe it is time to start thinking about holiday decorations? The Oakwood’s Homeowners Association will be holding the annual holiday decorating contest in December. There will be three categories, and winners in each will receive a gift certificate from a local business! The three categories are: Most over the top or Griswold inspired, Most elegant, and Best overall theme. Judging will take place sometime the week of December 16th.
Covenant Violations
As a reminder, all homeowners must adhere to the covenants. A copy of our covenants may be obtained by visiting our website or by contacting a board member. We would like for everyone to be aware of the process for a covenant violation. There is a 3 step process. If a violation occurs, a warning letter is sent first. If the violation is not taken care of, a 2nd letter is sent letting the homeowner know that a fine will be assessed if the violation is not taken care of. If the matter is still not resolved, a fine of $100 per month will be assessed.
All violations will be monitored appropriately. If you would like to report a violation, please visit our website.
Most complaints that we receive are in regards to the storage of boats, campers, trailers, etc. in driveways or lots. Please be considerate by not storing these items. We have had problems with mail delivery on the cul-de-sacs because when these items are in your driveway you sometimes have to use extra parking spaces on the street. It is also a safety concern. We have many children playing in their yards, driveways and streets. If there are large items in your driveway, it cuts down on visibility for drivers.
We want to keep our neighborhood as friendly and safe as possible – please do your part and be “Part of The Solution!”
E-Mail Tree
Mary Heern has graciously agreed to continue as our e-mail tree steward. Thanks so much for your work on this in the past and in the future! If you would like to be added to the e-mail tree, please send an email to or visit our website.
Website
Erik Larson has been hard at work updating our website this year! Erik has done a great job over the past couple of months and has offered to keep going… thank you, Erik!
Welcoming Committee
Your new board of directors has resurrected the “Welcoming Committee”. The following have been appointed: Kendra Harvey (chair), Kathy Massey, Julie Schummer and Bridgette Edmonson. They have been hard at work compiling lists of new homeowners. When a new family moves into the neighborhood, the committee will visit the homeowner and give them a welcome packet. They are currently making visits to people that moved in over the past several months – thanks for all the hard work!
Road Committee
The board has also been busy working on a solution for our road situation. They have appointed the following people to work as the road committee: Jeff Stromberger (chair), Terry Jackson, and Cory Schummer. The board has met with McLean County Asphalt and is currently waiting on some recommendations.
EdgewoodIsland Project
The project on EdgewoodIsland has now been completed. Some board members, along with volunteers from Oakwoods, spent several hours working on this project. Posts have been installed for safety purposes. Digging, mulching and planting were some of the items that were done. Thanks to the volunteers that helped with this project and to Joan Brucker for donating a post-hole digger, Becky Baugh for donating plants and Kevin Shah for heading up the operation!
Fire Hydrants
Some of the fire hydrants in the subdivision have been bagged. We have contacted the fire department to have these fixed. The fire department said many hydrants in the area have been bagged because they have frozen shut and not been opened routinely. Our hydrants are pretty new so they think that maybe they have just been painted shut. We are on the list to get them opened back up again.
Boat Lot
We are trying to identify who is currently using the boat lot. This will help for our insurance purposes and also to notify you if there is a problem in the lot. We are starting a list of residents with items stored there for the subdivision records. Please notify our secretary, Hope Chubb, if you have something stored or if you plan on storing something. You may send an email to stating your name, address, description of item, and tag number.
TwinCity Wood Recycling
TwinCity Wood Recycling offered us a nice discount on our mulch for the EdgewoodIsland project. THANK YOU TWINCITY WOOD RECYCLING! The next time you are planning some landscaping, be sure to think of them! They are located at 1606 West Oakland Avenue in Bloomington. You may contact John Wollrab at 309-827-9663.
Friendly Reminders
LARGE ITEM PICKUP: Please be aware that large item pickup takes place on Wednesday mornings. No items should be placed outside for pickup before Tuesday night.
YARD SIGNS: Our covenants do not allow for signs to be placed in yards. If a special occasion warrants signs, you may contact the board to ask for permission. If the board agrees, you must also check with each homeowner before placing a sign anywhere on their property. Screws and nails should not be used in trees, telephone poles or mailboxes! Please be considerate of personal property.
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT - LEAVES: We have had several complaints concerning the leaves in the streets and the issue of children playing in them while in the streets and the safety concerns this raises. Please be mindful of the city’s ordinance regarding leaves:
Chapter 21:Section 300.9:Leaf Collection.Leaves may be collected by the City from time to time as directed by the Director of Public Service and approved by the City Manager. No person shall rake or store leaves on any street. (Ordinance No. 1995-63).
Please place your leaves for collection at the edge of your property but not on the street. The police have cited residents for this violation.
Board Meetings
Please come to a board meeting and share your thoughts and ideas!
November 15th @ 6:00 p.m. – 2308 Timberview
December 20th @ 6:00 p.m. – 11 Spiria