Miscellaneous news and information. Do not use this if a post belongs in another category. This category is for “announcements” that do not fit into other categories well.
Join us 11:30 – 2:30 this Sunday, June 5 at the clubhouse. We will have music, burgers, hot dogs, drinks, sno cones, etc. A lifeguard will keep watch over the pool for those that want to swim. This event is free and open to all. Please come by, even if just for a while, to say hi to your neighbors.
In response to learning Heathlake was not operating under an approved federal non-profit exemption in 2021 and 8 homes HOA rights being challenged by a board member in the January 2022 meeting, we have been working diligently to improve Heathlakes legal and operating status and to clarify our community members rights.
In the past quarter the board submitted a 1024-A recognition for tax exemption and in the process approved a new ACC Appointment Policy, Board Member Conflict of Interest Policy, and Additional Legislative Polices. The actual policies are below for reference and are available on our governing documents web page.
While researching the challenge to a board member’s eligibility to serve and the associated rights of 8 homes in our community, the Heathlake Community Association’s Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions was found. The document states the 8 homes of which were being challenged ARE part of the Heathlake Community Association and the members have a right to vote, serve and be a part of our community. The document is attached below and has been added to the Heathlake’s governing documents web page.
Governance Improvements:
On June 1 Heathlake community will begin security patrol and services with State Patrol Services.
State Patrol will provide armed patrols, vacation watch, safety escorts, and Flock camera monitoring. Should anyone need any of these services, call the below number, and save it in your phone contacts:
State Patrol Hotline: 346-441-1989
Should anyone also witness a suspicious person, action or anything else that may seem suspicious, please call the police and also report to the State Patrol Hotline.
Numbers to remember:
All Emergencies and to file a police report – 911 or 281-463-6666
Constable: 281-463-6666
Houston Police: non-emergency – 713-884-3131
State Patrol: Report suspicious vehicles, request vacation watch or escort: 346-441-1989
PLEASE report suspicious vehicles in the community. With the Flock cameras now in place, we have the ability to track and monitor suspicious vehicles and put a tag on these vehicles should they enter the community again or often. Call 911 or the non-emergency line for HPD (713-884-3131), or email VicePresident@Heathlake.org.
In the event there is a crime or suspected crime which may involve a vehicle, please CALL THE POLICE and file a police report and email VicePresident@Heathlake.org or call the State Patrol hotline to report, so we can assist in providing camera evidence for investigations.
ALARMS: Homeowners with a home security system can KEEP Precinct 5 as their alarm response. The Constables will still respond to true emergencies, our community is still a part of the Precinct 5 coverage area, general patrol services. For more info on the Constable’s response time please see the data below from Precinct 5. Alarm calls are considered priority 2 and have averaged under 4 minutes according to this report. You may also list State Patrol or HPD as a contact for alarms, however, response time will likely be slower. There is no additional fee to homeowners to list State Patrol as a contact and should State Patrol respond to an alarm call there is currently no out of pocket fee for homeowners (the call does cost the HOA an hourly rate). Should you choose to change your alarm response, please wait to change until the end of the month, as our new contract term with State Patrol is effective June 1.
More info below graphic…
If you have an alarm system you can obtain a permit from the city of Houston Burglar Alarm Administration here.
With the upcoming change, the CEO of State Patrol, Mr. Sirwan H. Muhammad sent our community the following letter:
5/10/2022 Re: New Courtesy Patrol Company for Heathlake Community Association
Dear Residents of Heathlake Community Association,
In the next few weeks, State Patrol Services will be providing courtesy patrol services to
the community of Heathlake Community Association. We will be patrolling the property 20
hours a week. Therefore, we would like to partner with the community to fight crime together.
Please be on the lookout for any suspicious vehicles, suspicious people, and suspicious activity.
We ask that you be always aware of your surroundings and never open your door to strangers.
Never leave valuables in plain sight in your car; hide them in the trunk or glove compartment. If
you need a safety escort, vacation watch, or need to report a suspicious event, we urge you to
call our patrol hotline at 346-441-1989. Please take note of important numbers below:
Emergency- 911
Houston Police non-emergency-713-884-3131
Courtesy Patrol Hotline- 346-441-1989
We look forward to working with you!
Sincerely,
Sirwan H Muhammed
CEO
The following is the proposal for tree trimming developed by Carlton Jons and various contractors. Shown here is the proposal from Kennedy, who were armed the work.
The following was presented by Bryant Banes at the May2, 2022 Board Meeting of the HOA.
The following table, prepared by John Trahan, shows how the budget will be impacted, assuming that we use 20 hours per week of private security service and the two potential option of the Cul de Sac renovations. A similar table was shown at the board meeting of May 2, 2022.
The following is the presentation made by Bryant Banes at the board meeting held on May 2, 2022.
The following is the Landscaping renovation proposal from Zodega. It describes the proposed renovation of 7 Cul de Sacs and some minor repairs. The repairs and three of the Cul de Sacs are the first phase and are approved. The approval of the last four Cul de Sacs will follow the completion of the first three if we like the results of the first phase and all the conditions are still deemed favorable.
The following is a summary of HOA Income, Expenses and Capital Reserves from 2015, forward.
Gentlemen, May is here and that means another chance for us to get together, have some fun, and give back to our community. The awesome men of Heathlake showed up last month and took on some repairs of our own playground equipment (thanks to Sarah Read’s coordination). This Thursday we will continue that work as we replace the base of the children’s slide. Whether you are super handy or just want to come cheer us on with a cold drink, come out and join your neighbors! We have snacks. Come and go as needed and bring your favorite beverage.
Thursday May 5, 2022
6pm – Volunteer work starts at the playground
7pm – Happy hour at the clubhouse
Neighbors,
The community now has Flock cameras installed at two of our community entrances, Heathwood/Carriage Hill and Crystal Hills/Briar Forest. A third camera, at Kirkwood/Carriage Hill, will be installed upon road construction completion and traffic begins to flow through that entrance again.
Some highlights of Flock:
Opportunities for our HOA:
By having these cameras we can also utilize them for several other things besides being a deterrent to crime and assisting our police organizations in investigations.
Cost:
The cost of the cameras comes out to $7,725/year for two year contract total of $15,450. The HOA has the ability to cancel the contract at any time and will be prorated for the amount remaining on the contract. The per monthly cost per home is $2.06 over the 24 month period.
The board believes these cameras will bring great value to our community, not only as a deterrent to criminals, but also gives us the ability to understand how heavily utilized our community is.
If anyone has any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Sara Mammadova at VicePresident@Heathlake.org.
Neighbors,
The results of the security survey are below. You have confirmed we should continue to investigate other options that provide the deterrence and flexibility we need, while being both verifiable and cost effective. As you know, the status quo was the Constable contract alone, and with the reimbursement we received from River Forest, we now have an additional $12K in our budget. We very much appreciate your participation, and were excited to see so many of you respond. Please make a placeholder in your calendar for our next community meeting on April 20th, 7:00 PM, at the clubhouse to hear the Board’s security plan going forward and provide a decision briefing on the various options, with our formal announcement to follow. One immediate aspect in which there was broad community support and we believe we receive the most value is the the added deterrence and verifiability that is achieved through video surveillance, specifically Flock cameras. Consequently, in the coming weeks, the Board approved for these to be installed at the three entrances of our community, along with signage to emphasize to those who enter our neighborhood that they are being watched. An additional post with more detail about these cameras is forthcoming.
Survey Results Summary:
120+ votes per survey
We (Heathlake) are in favor of searching for better and more cost effective security.
We are concerned there are nearly no night patrols.
We do not want to raise dues to have both the Constable and an additional crime deterrent.
We support security cameras.
We would support private patrols.
Residents, I get numerous emails regarding requesting pool keys and unfortunately often do not respond as quick as I like.
If you need a pool card, please fill out the form available on the Healthlake HOA website, print out, then text me at 256-457-4528 to schedule a time to pick up the key card. I will need a physically printed copy of your filled out form for pick up, as I have to place the card number and you have to sign the form.
Hopefully this will make getting pool keys to everyone smoother.
Thanks!
Chelsea Murfree Ewton
The next meeting of the Heathlake Book Club will be Tuesday, April 12 at the home of Shana Halvorsen (shanaparver@hotmail.com), 1203 Brecon Hall Dr., at 7 pm. We will be discussing the book, The Maid, by Nita Prose. We welcome new members.
The first Thursday of every month marks the monthly gathering of the Heathlake men. This coming Thursday (4/7/22) (POSTPONED UNTIL 4/14/22) we will meet at the clubhouse at 6pm for light volunteer work/repairs on the childrens’ playground equipment followed by a happy hour. We will have some smoked pulled pork and maybe some cornhole in the parking lot if the weather is nice. Come out and join us! There is no cost. Come and go as needed. Consider bringing a lawn chair and your favorite beverage.
As many of you may know, Fred Rummell, one of our longtime residents and an overall good guy, passed away last Wednesday, March 23.
Fred leaves behind his wife of 56 years, Elvi; their son, Mark; Mark’s wife, Jennifer; his beloved grandson, Charlie; brother George Rummell and wife Dorothy; and his sister-in-law, Lillie Rummell.
Fred was preceded in death by his parents Robert and Elizabeth Rummell and brothers Regis, Bob, and Ray.
Fred was born in Pittsburgh, PA and grew up in southwestern Pennsylvania in and around California, PA. He graduated from California (PA) Community High School in 1957. He served in the US Army from 1960-1962 in the 4th Armored Division, spending most of his enlistment in Germany.
Fred moved to New Mexico, where he met his future wife, Elvi, who was then a foreign exchange student from Paraguay at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. Fred and Elvi were married in September (civil in the USA) and October (church in Paraguay) of 1965. They both graduated from UNM, Fred in Civil Engineering and Elvi in Education.
After graduation, Fred joined Bechtel in 1970. Their first assignment was in Ponce, Puerto Rico, where their son Mark was born. 36 years with Bechtel resulted in 30 moves for Fred and Elvi. They lived in Puerto Rico, Indonesia, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Trinidad & Tobago, and eleven US states. Fred retired in 2006.
After retirement, they split most of their time between their homes in Houston and Paraguay.
Fred was an enthusiastic traveler and has been to around 50 countries on 6 continents, and almost all US states. He was an avid tennis player since playing on the tennis team in high school and was playing until shortly before his death.
Fred was involved in his community all his adult life. Wherever he was, he was doing things to help others. He was a generous and humble man, and much of his good works are known to few. He has worked at schools, at churches, with immigrants, with the blind, the illiterate, the elderly, and the needy of all kinds.
More than anything, Fred’s time was focused on his family. He was utterly devoted to Elvi, and an attentive and loving father to Mark. Fred never accepted single status work assignments that would have separated him from his family. His grandson, Charlie, was the delight of his later years.
Funeral Arrangements for Fred are as follows.
Monday, April 4, 2022
10:30 AM – Funeral Mass
St. John Vianney Catholic Church
625 Nottingham Oaks Trail, Houston, TX 77079
11:40 – Burial followed by reception
Memorial Oaks Funeral Home & Cemetery
13001 Katy Fwy, Houston, TX 77079
In lieu of flowers please consider donations to these causes long supported by Fred and Elvi.
He is survived by:
Wife: Elvira Rummell
Son & Spouse: Mark Rummell & Jennifer Rummell
Grandson: Charlie Rummell
Texas Pride will be delivering the new, bigger, covered recycling bins next Thursday, April 7th. They will be picking up the old containers as well. They will pick up the old containers any time they come to pick up the recycling. So, If you don’t leave them out next week, just do it at a later date.
April Ladies Night – 4/16/24April 10, 2024 - 3:27 pm
March Ladies Night – 3/21/24March 14, 2024 - 8:01 am