Village of Oak Lake Homeowners Association

N e w s l e t t e r May , 2017 Volume XVI, No. 05

Message from the Board

Pool Opens May 27th

The HOA Board had its monthly meeting Monday April 10th at Pool House Room B. We had one concerned homeowner requesting clarification on his alleged deed restriction and fees. Please note that the HOA does not have a mechanism in place to place fines on home own-ers and the fees are the charge to send a certified letter AKA 3rd letter. The Association Manager will remove that charge if the 3rd letter is deemed not applicable. The Board discussed the email expense directive that occurred since our last Board, Alpha GTS: tennis courts new wind screen at a cost of $195.00. The Board reviewed the Action Item List and discussed the April 2017 Eggstravaganza. We appreciate Victor Montalvo and the Board members that made this a suc-cessful event. The all-beef hot dogs were delicious and may become a staple at all our events. The Board then discussed the use of the tennis courts and we would like to remind you all that the tennis courts are to be used for tennis only. Cricket is not tennis and the ball used for cricket has damaged the USTA regulation textured acrylic which we installed in 2015 at a cost of $7,400. A sign is to be placed stating the obvious that the tennis courts are for tennis only. The Board reviewed the 2017 pool rules, schedule and supplies. The Board directed the HOA Manager to have the pool prepared for the opening May 27th to include pool conditions and equipment. Please look out for pool information being delivered via US mail. This year we will not have pool card “stickers” as we have done in the past because we have gone with electronic pool cards. The

(Continued on page 4)

2017 Annual Pool Opening Celebration

VOL Pool House 16321 Ash Point Lane

Saturday May 27th 11 AM to 1 PM Goodies to be provided

LEST WE FORGET…

By Wayne Chandler When will we learn, still, almost every day of our U.S. mili-tary personnel dying in the Middle East it’s agonizing. The latest figures that I’ve found show that a total of nearly 7,000 U.S. personnel have died since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Of course, thousands more have come home greatly injured. As terrible as this is, I got a reminder, in a recent visit to New Orleans to the National WWII Museum, of the six years in the 1940s when U.S. military deaths totaled 416,800! As a young newspaper carrier in Indiana I remember see-ing the daily headlines about hundreds and thousands of young men who were only a few years older than me, who were being killed or hurt. In those days, by 1944, almost everyone you talked with knew of someone who was ei-ther injured or not coming home alive. World War II was the worst war of all time. Fortunately, it didn’t get to our shores. It’s estimated that 65 million per-sons died due to that war. The USSR suffered more than 23 million deaths, including some 8.8 million soldiers. Other military deaths: Germany 5,533,000 China 3,400,000 Japan 2,100,000 United Kingdom 383,600 Italy 301,400 France 217,000 The National WWII Museum has collected thousands of personal accounts by U.S. personnel. There are two ma-jor theaters in this huge museum complex, one showing “The Road to Tokyo”, with film, I dare say, you’ve not seen unless you’ve been to this facility.

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The LetterWorks

...the letter works

Steve McHale Publisher

Wayne Chandler Editor

This newsletter is published privately, but with the concern and support of the Village of Oak Lake Homeowners Association. It is delivered, door-to-door, to 1,150 homes in VOL the last two days of each month. For advertising information, call

281-277-5267. The Newsletter reserves the right to reject, edit or omit an ad for any reason, and is not liable for any losses sustained as a result of printing errors.

For newsletter matters, call

281-277-5267 or e-mail to: stmchale@yahoo.com waynechandler@windstream.net

For matters regarding the Village of Oak Lake Homeowners Assn., Including Architec-tural Control and Landscaping Committee. Sterling Association Services, Inc One Avalon Place Sugar Land, Tx 77479 Becky Salinas Phone: 832-678-4500 Ext. 303 Fax: 281-966-1785 E-mail: servicedesk@sterlingasi.com

FOR VOL WEBSITES : WWW.VOLHOA.COM

WWW.STERINGASI.COM

AROUND THE ‘LAKE’

VOL OFFICERS

Laura Montalvo, President lauravol@windstream.net

Leo Furman, Vice President florpag@yahoo.com

JR Garcia, Treasury Ygarcia@pgal.com

Joe Hernandez, Secretary joehdez@hotmail.com

Walter Young, Director YOU1996@yahoo.com

RENT THE VOL SIGN

Rent the VOL sign at the entrance of the subdivision.. Use it for birth announcements, birthday wishes, awards, wedding congratulations, bon voyages, anniversaries, special occasions, welcome home, etc. It's $10 a day per side. Contact: Alan Ligh by e-mail at ajl.vol13@yahoo.com

VOL residents, please notice an article on Page 4, which offers you a free evaluation of your current lawn irrigation system, and a $15 incen-tive if you are present for completion of the evaluation. There’s no obli-gation for you to comply with recommendations from the evaluation.

***** Simple Recycling officials were encouraged by VOL residents’ response for the month of March. In the first month, Simple Recycling reported that 1,050 pounds of recyclables were collected in this neighborhood. Please remember to leave unwanted clothing, shoes and other materials in the green bags and place them on the curb Saturday mornings next to the other trash collections.

***** May, to me, starts “flag season” again. As I’ve roamed your neighbor-hood this past month, I’ve seen more displays already of the American flag than I recall in recent years. I think every day is a day to proudly display the American flag, and we’ve included some flag etiquette tips in this newsletter. Here are some spe-cial reasons for displaying our flag this year: May 20 – Armed Forces Day ; May 29 – Memorial Day June 14 – Flag Day July 4 - Independence Day August 1 – Air Force Day ; August 4 - Coast Guard Day September 4 – Labor Day ; Sept. 11 – Patriot Day ; Sept. 15 – MIA/POW Recognition Day ; Sept. 18 – Constitution Day

***** Also, I’ve noticed more residents making home repairs and landscaping improvements this Spring. This is great to see because it not only im-proves the value of your property, it enhances the neighborhood and helps the property values for everyone.

***** Here are some other suggested Spring tasks: 1) change batteries on smoke alarms and carbon monoxide monitors, 2) clean out and organize the medical cabinet, throw away all expired medications , 3) remove ex-pired food items from the pantry and refrigerator, and 4) large print emer-gency numbers near the phone (911, doctor, personal contacts, poison control).

***** (Continued on page 3)

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281.313.5700 In Kroger Shopping Plaza

Dr. Marlo R. Griesser, D.D.S. Cosmetic & General Dentistry

Dr. Bryan Boshart, D.D.S., M.S. Board Certified Orthodontist Children & Adults

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Some lines from comedian Steve Wright: How do you know when you’re out of invisible ink? What happens if you get scared HALF to death, TWICE? Shin: a device for finding furniture in the dark.

***** A suggestion: The next time that you take a shower, make it a short and cold water shower. That’s the suggestion to the whole world to help save the planet from climate change. This suggestion, and several others, comes from the student government at Indiana University. I’m an alumnus of Indiana University, leaving there many, many moons ago, and I’m not urging that you follow this advice from the folks who now inhabit the Bloomington cam-pus. I’m just taking notes.

***** I asked Jackie Rangel, who religiously delivers this newslet-ter each month to every door in Pheasant Creek, to meas-ure, via her stepcounter, the number of steps that she takes during the monthly delivery, For the April issue she reports that she took a total of 37,704 steps ( 16.6 miles in seven hours). You may recall that Jackie reported last month that she took more 60,000 steps (23 miles) to deliver all of Village of Oak Lake. Jackie delivers nearly half of the Woodbridge homes, and, for the April issue she took 31,407 steps (12.3 miles) in 5 1/5 hours. Sooo.. you may want to total up all her steps or miles each month. I don’t.

(Continued from page 2) ***** Winners of the 2017 Live Healthy Fort Bend County Well-ness Challenge were recognized last month by Judge Robert Hebert. More than 400 county employees partici-pated in this 8-week challenge, and lost a combined total of 1,392 pounds while logging 1,199,258 minutes of physical activity!

***** Nurse Nancy Cartie came with the new Oyster Creek Ele-mentary School some 18 years ago. Early on, I asked her if she would write an article each month regarding stu-dents and parents health concerns at the school. Nancy gratefully accepted, and has produced an informative arti-cle , even through the Summer months, regarding your children’s health concerns. Now, Nancy has accepted the challenge of moving to a new Fort Bend ISD school. See her final article on Page 5. Administrators, teachers, parents and children will miss her 18 years of TLC at this school, and I know that I have been blessed by her conscientious efforts all of this time. We miss you already, Nancy. Thanks for everything.

***** Have a safe and Happy Memorial Day! -wayne chandler

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first pool card is free, followed by $25 per card for addi-tional cards, new or lost cards. Due to some disturbing things we saw last year, we will be updating our posted pool rules with new signage. Pool opening: we will have shaved ice or snow cones and hopefully all beef hot dogs as they were a big success at our April event at Kidz Village. The Board then discussed the roof colors throughout our community. Per our ACC application the two colors that are approved are Driftwood and Weatherwood (two dif-ferent manufactures). Our community has a hodgepodge of roof colors - specifically red and black - that do not follow our deed restrictions. The Board asked for our at-torney to provide input on what recourse we have to fix this issue that has spiraled out of control. The issue has developed because our neighbors did not submit an ACC prior to replacing their roofs. Fellow neighbors, please recall that any exterior renovations or improvements require approval by the Architectural Committee and the forms need to be sent in before the work commences. Most ACC applications that are put forth to the Committee are typically approved within the same day. During the executive session, we discussed deed restric-tion violations, attorney reports, architectural log and a payment plan for a home owner who has amassed a large HOA debt. The Board discussed fencing along W. Airport and what the Association Manager will enforce within the community. We are 90% collected for our 2017 Assessments leaving us a remaining uncollected balance of $46,671.53. If you wish to get email notices from the Board, please send an email to: webmaster@volhoa.com. Sincerely, VOL HOA Board

(Continued from page 1) FREE IRRIGATION SYSTEM INSPECTION OFFERED

The North Fort Bend Water Authority (NFBWA) and Fort Bend County Municipal Utility District No. 41 (MUD 41) have teamed up to offer residents a free comprehensive evaluation of their irrigation system, performed by a licensed irrigator, to identify leaks and inefficiencies, locate broken or malfunctioning equipment, and provide general maintenance and operational information.

Residents will have access to the results of the evaluation online to help learn how to use water more efficiently for their yard and landscaped areas.

While there is no obligation to make the repairs rec-ommended by the irrigator, the cost of any such re-pairs would be the responsibility of the homeowner. A $15 incentive will be provided to a resident pre-sent for the completion of the evaluation.

This is just one of several water conservation pro-grams sponsored by MUD 41 in connection with a new incentive program offered by NFBWA. In addi-tion to the environmental benefit of conserving pre-cious water, residents may benefit from lower water bills as a result of using less water for irrigation pur-poses.

Please visit http://www.nfbwa.com/conservation/wiseguys/ for more information and to schedule your evaluation. If you encounter any problems while scheduling your evaluation please contact Chiffon Walker at (713) 488-8182.

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Thanks again for the many awesome memories and I wish you the very best! I’d like to close with our famous OCE motto… “Once a Blue Jay, Always a Blue Jay”!!

School Health BY NANCY CARTIE, RN

It is with mixed emotion, bittersweet to be sure, that I take this opportunity to say goodbye and express my gratitude to you…my OCE community. I always

thought I would retire from OCE but life has an interesting way of presenting new opportunities. I feel called to leave the “Blue Jay Nest” and open up a new FBISD school! OCE has been my “baby” since opening the school in 1999. It has been fun to watch it grow into an amazing campus. It has been a rewarding, very fulfilling experience to serve this community, a rich blessing in my life. I will always hold fond memories and a special place in my heart for the students, families and staff for which I have grown to love and care for. I have treasured your kind words, notes and stories over the past 18 years! I am excited about the new nurse who has graciously ac-cepted this OCE opportunity and I know you will welcome and embrace her as she brings her love and expertise to this campus next year. I will work closely with her to pro-vide a smooth and positive transition. Feel free to contact me at 281-634-5915 or email, nancy.cartie@fortbendisd.com with any questions, or even to just say goodbye!!

May OCE Calendar

1-5 Teacher Appreciation Week 2 Chick-fil-a Spirit Night 5 Muffins for Mom 11 2nd Grade Program 15-26 Ugly Shoe Drive 16 Career Day 17 Raising Cane’s Spirit Night 18 Spring Choir Concert 19 Field Day 24 2nd and 3rd Grade Awards 25 1st Grade Awards 26 K and 4th Grade Awards 29 Holiday 31 5th Grade Awards and Safari Texas June 1 Last Student Day: Early Dismissal 12:10pm

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Most Insurance. Medicare. Auto Injuries. Workman’s Comp Accepted.

Family Practice • Internal Medicine

Industrial Medicine • Appointment or Walk-ins • Extended Hours

Electronic check in and check out

Immigration Physicals

BHARAT GANDHI, MD, MRO Board Certified in Internal Medicine

24 hour Answering Service Se Habla Espanol Urgent Care

281-564-3300

9130 Highway 6 South (Just North of Bissonnet,

across from Wendy’s)

Several Nurse Practitioners

medinetclinic.com

LONE STAR FLOORS

281-564-1345 Fax 281-564-3492

10009 Hwy 6 South @ Old Richmond Rd. Carpet • Ceramic • Hardwood • Laminate • Granite Countertops

Real Estate

Corner

by Jason Bradley

Jason is a real estate agent specializing in the Sugar Land/Richmond area. He has lived in the area for 15 years and will be a frequent con-tributor to our newsletter to provide insight and tips for buying, selling and/or leasing homes in our area!

If you’re planning to list your home this summer — and hope to sell in time for the school year — the clock is ticking! Here are 5 essential steps to take now to be sale-ready after Memorial Day, so you can capitalize on the summer selling season, when 60% of all homes are bought and sold! 1. Tackle the obvious repairs If you want to sell your home this summer, start by tackling all the necessary and obvious repairs. The idea is to prevent potential buyers from being distracted by chipping paint, scuffed-up floors, and leaking gutters as they tour your home. This allows the buyer to focus on your home’s posi-tive qualities. You’ll save time and money. Handling repairs ahead of time saves you from the often overinflated estimates for repairs the buyers claim. Your actual cost will almost always be less than a buyer’s post-inspection estimate. 2. Remove your clutter and junk now Clutter eats equity and kills deals! Evaluate each item in your house and either save, store, scrap it, or sell it. Re-member: less is more to make a home sellable. Once you’ve thrown out unused items, organize the rest. Buyers will be naturally drawn to a home that feels bigger. 3. Depersonalize your home It’s time to take down the personal collectibles, family heir-looms, and school pictures. Not that these treasures aren’t amazing, but now is not their time in the spotlight. When it comes to selling your home, a blank slate will ap-peal to potential buyers. They want to visualize themselves

in the home, and to them, your memorabilia is getting in the way of that, so put it away. 4. Pump up the curb appeal First impressions are everything, and a polished facade is sure to bring buyers in the front door. Take advantage of the spring growing season. This is the time to plant grass and flowering plants, and don’t forget to trim the trees and bushes. By sale day, your curb appeal will be in full bloom and ready for potential buyers. Remember, the first impression is vital. That’s why curb appeal is so critical. 5. Get a reality check While we all have an idea of our home’s value, these self-appraisals are rarely objective. A quick survey of the competition’s features and list price will be immensely helpful in picking the perfect list price for your home. So get a head start on the summer sale season by preparing your house (and yourself). Your agent will be thrilled you’ve done your homework, and you’ll each have a realistic view of what your house is really worth! If you have questions, need an objective opinion, or would like a market analysis of your home, please feel free to con-tact me at 832-724-3750 or jasonbradley723@att.net. Jason Bradley, Agent Patriot Realty

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A suburban mother's role is to deliver children obstetrically once, and by car forever after. - Peter DeVries All mothers are working mothers. - Author Unknown Women's Liberation is just a lot of foolishness. It's the men who are discriminated against. They can't bear children. And no one is likely to do anything about that. - Golda Meir All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his. - Oscar Wilde When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child. - Sophia Loren A man's work is from sun to sun, but a mother's work is never done. - Author Unknown A man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his mother the longest. - Irish Proverb The real religion of the world comes from women much more than from men -- from mothers most of all, who carry the key of our souls in their bosoms. - Oliver Wendell Holmes God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers. - Jewish Proverb Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother. - Oprah Winfrey There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it. - Chinese Proverb Children are a great comfort in your old age -- and they help you reach it faster. - Lionel Kauffman Each day of our lives mothers make deposits in the memory banks of our children. - Charles Swindoll

Mother’s Day Notable Quotables VOL 2017

POOL SCHEDULE

MAY Memorial Day Weekend: Saturday, May 27 10 to 8 Sunday, May 29 10 to 8 Monday, May 29 10 to 9 (Memorial Day)

JUNE Starting fulltime Friday, June 2 Mondays - Closed Tuesdays-Saturdays 10 to 9 Sundays 1 to 8

JULY Mondays - Closed Tuesdays-Saturdays 10 to 9 Sundays 1 to 8

AUGUST Open fulltime until August 20, then weekends only Mondays - Closed Tuesdays-Saturdays 10 to 9 Sundays 1 to 8

SEPTEMBER Pool closes for the season after Labor Day Saturday, Sept. 2 10 to 9 Sunday, Sept. 3 1 to 8 Monday, Sept. 4 10 to 9 (Labor Day)

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Call Us Today

It’s Easy! *

281 565 2222

www.insurancesolutions.com

Serving Fort Bend County since 1993. Thank You!

Carrie Cumming Associate Agent

HOME INSURANCE YOU CAN AFFORD!

Sugar Land

Church of Christ

Sugar Land Church of Christ

“The Church where you are never a Stranger”

Early Morning Worship 7:00 a.m. Bible Study 9:00 a.m. Morning Worship 10:00 a.m. Evening Worship 5:00 p.m. Wednesday: Mid-Week Bible Study 7:00 p.m.

Peter N. Martin, Jr. Minister

Wendell Hart Asst. Minister

281-561-0881

15590 Voss Road

Esther Andrews Independent Sr. Sales Director 281-493-3613 281-633-1219 Esther@MaryKay.com www.MaryKay.com/Esther Enriching Women’s Lives TM

Jason Bradley Realtor /Agent

832-724-3750

jasonbradley723@att.net

BEWARE THE UNMARKED 18-WHEELER

Since 1947 the U.S. Department of Energy has been transporting nuclear bombs, nuclear bomb components and other nuclear materials such as plutonium and ura-nium across this nation in unmarked 18-wheelers such as the one pictured below. Some 42 rigs, owned by the Energy Department’s Office of Secure Transportation (OST), are limited to a maxi-mum speed of 65 mph. The OST told The Los Angeles Times that “no cargo has ever been damaged in transit.” If you travel the major highways and see a big rig with non-descript markings, you might want to give it a bit more space. - wayne chandler

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TRAVEL TIME

By Vi Chandler

There’s a fascinating study about when is the best time to buy an airplane ticket. Fifty-four days in advance. That finding by CheapAir.com was based on crunching 921 million airfares! Their website found, the price on a given trip changed 71 times, and with each change the lowest price rose or fell by $33. Trying to get the best price on any airfare can be nerve-wracking. A price quote by any airline may only hold for a few hours. I’ve found that the earlier that you know exactly when you wish to fly, the better your chances of getting an acceptable price. Airlines really are in the catbird’s seat, as they’re filling up almost every flight. There’s little competition. Airlines have benefitted with lower fuel costs for the last two years, but the airfare prices haven’t come down. The airlines admit that they’re making millions.

***** A few housekeeping notes to help you - AND ME - when you’re wanting to find out the best price on any trip or cruise: Please give me all the facts possible in your first call to 281-277-5267 or email (vitravel@gmail.com), such as the date, the number of persons and ages. If any of your party has cruised before, or been in the military, there may be

some perks. If you wish to travel outside the U.S., please have your passport information. I try to get back to the caller as soon as possible, so please make sure that I have your phone number and the best time for me to reply. The more I know about your likes and dislikes on a trip or cruise, the better I can serve you.

***** And, speaking of passports, please remember that if you’re passport will expire within the next six months, the U.S. State Department warns that you may have to stand in line. It was 10 years ago that passports were first re-quired even in Mexico, Canada or the Caribbean. Some 125 million Americans now have passports and about 40%, or 50 million passports, will be expiring in the next year or so. Renewing a passport costs $110 and can be done by mail. In Fort Bend County, I think the best way is to go to the Fort Bend County Law Center in Richmond. The process takes about six weeks but can be expedited.

***** We just heard from our friends, Harry and Joan Shattuck, who know a little about cruising. Harry covered the Hous-ton Astros baseball team for The Houston Chronicle for years, before becoming its award-winning travel editor for more than 20 years. In late May, the Shattucks are booked on a cruise to Hawaii which will be their 90th cruise! They’re booked for four more through next April, and hope to make it to 100 cruises.

***** I’ll be glad to help book you any kind of trip. Call me at 281-277-5267 or email me at vitravel@gmail.com. It doesn’t cost you a penny more to book through a travel agent.

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REALTY, INC.

602 Brooks Sugar Land, TX 77478

Melvin L. Knesek Broker

Bus: (281) 491-5880 Fax: (281) 491-5723 Res.: (281) 980-1984 Email: mel@k2realty.com Website: www.k2realty.com

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Formerly

Caring Dentists · Quality Dentistry 10581 S Highway 6 South, Suite 105 @ West Bellfort

(Across From Home Depot)

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• Braces

• Oral Cancer Screening • Professional Teeth

Whitening • Digital X-Rays • Sports Mouth Guards

One Stop for all your dental care !

New Patients Welcome

Including Children , Families & Seniors

Special for Woodbridge community

Free Dental Exam

Limited slots.