Before the meeting started, we were treated to a Happy Birthday wishes and cake for Mr. Joe Martinez, resident extraordinaire, and former board director. For all the time he has spent serving the community, he looks pretty good for an 80 year old.
Just kidding.
Anywho, on with the report: The board heard from the various departments, starting off with DRACO.
- Jose tells us that the GNW Architecture Control Committee lost a member and the board moved and approved Ms. Andrea Hall to fill the vacancy. Good choice.
- We also learned that the 20 acre Tezel Family Farm located behind a portion of the GNW is being rezoned from R5 to HE, which basically gives it an historic designation. This is good news; you won't be getting a strip mall in the middle of your neighborhood.
- Finally, Jose pointed out that the number of Section 8 houses in the entire GNW has doubled. This brought on some questioning from the board. Section 8 rentals are a very touchy subject, and please, don't get me started on how the San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA) is totally abusing/ruining this very beneficial and needed program by saturating good neighborhoods with Section 8's, defeating the whole process of "lifting-up" families in need.
- Turns out our swim teams did well this year. They are planning a Labor Day Social from 5-7 on 1 September, then a community carnival on 6 September - this is open to the public, not just residents - and on the same day, there will be a Luau for residents only. See Passages for more information.
- The bad news is that the Silver Creek pool has a huge leak - to the tune of about 12,000 gallons of water a day. Get your check books out.
Fred from maintenance reported that the wiring for new security systems is right on schedule.
Chief Burton gave us the security low-down: Bad news; burglaries are up. Folks, lock your doors, don't leave your laptops and iPods sitting in the car seat, and good grief, watch out for your potted plants in the front yard. Yes, the folks in the white van are still driving around stealing them. Don't be afraid to contact security or SAPD if you see something that needs to be reported. And please, watch out for your neighbors.
The board made some appointments to the various liaison committees, and they are:
- ACC: Janet
- GNWatch: Ida
- Scholarship: SK
- Community Enhancements: Ida
- Community Leisure: Janet
- Government Relations: Richard
Two items were brought up for unfinished business:
- TOPS is some software that is supposed to be used for HOAs and Condo management etc. This software has been purchased etc but hasn't been implemented. We have news that by 1 September, the staff should have the conversion to this software and we should be going on it.
- Tennis Court Repair has been put off until fall. We have actually experienced an increase of tennis players and people have actually been waiting in line to get on the courts, so the staff hasn't wanted to start the installation of the new surface until summer is over.
And in New Business, Guy had some question regarding Passages and letters to the editor and such.
There you have it, and you didn't even have to attend, but it sure would be nice if we could get a good crowd of folks to come out, if only to show this board how much they are appreciated.
Finally, if you are feeling a little civic minded this weekend, our beloved A-Team will have an opportunity to volunteer an hour or two of your time out in the green belt. A group of us were out there last weekend helping with some minor clean-up and it was pretty fun and productive.
Even if you can only join us for an hour, we're going to be picking up light trash - cans and cups and plastic bags and such - so you can come and meet some neighbors and get a little exercise. The time is from 9am till noon, but as always, come and go as you please. We'll have water and bags for collecting trash. If you have gloves, bring them, but if not we'll probably have some spares for you to use. Meet the group behind the soccer fields located behind the Silver Creek Lodge and pool complex. I hope to see you there.
Thank you A-Team folks for cleaning the plastic stuff and other flotsam out of the creek bottom and off of it’s banks. (Isn’t it French Creek by name?) But, as you may one day notice, with every big rain we get, where a gusher comes down the creek, more, new stuff clutters the creek and the old floats away. By and large, the trash stuff isn’t from our neighborhood, but from the bridge area and from the other side of the bridge from all those home-folks, construction workers, and from dim-witted “citizens” upstream and passing by on Tezel Road. Also, the wind brings in those infernal plastic sacks. It is a good thing you help clean the trash out, but, sadly, it is an ongoing battle. Note that I didn’t say your effort is a losing battle. I used to clean the creek myself and even paid neighborhood kids to help. I finally figured out that a gully washer not only changed the overall appearance of the creek, its shape, and the course of future water flow, but the flow replaced the old trash with new. You would probably be surprised at how much the location of big boulders, the appearance and disappearance of huge tree stumps, the uprooting of large trees, and the increase in creek bed depth has occurred in thirty years. And, as I have said before, “growth” and “improvement” have caused much of the wildlife to disappear from the “green belt.” Did I say green?
ReplyDeleteRegarding your last month post about trapping the wild white-winged dove "The Cage is Gone: Bird Flew the Coop..."
ReplyDeletePARKS AND WILDLIFE CODE
CHAPTER 64. BIRDS
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 64.001. GAME BIRDS. Wild turkey, wild ducks of all varieties, wild geese of all varieties, wild brant, wild grouse, wild prairie chickens, wild pheasants of all varieties, wild partridge, wild bobwhite quail, wild scaled quail, wild Mearn's quail, wild Gambel's quail, wild red-billed pigeons, wild band-tailed pigeons, wild mourning doves, wild white-winged doves, wild white-fronted doves, wild snipe of all varieties, wild shore birds of all varieties, chachalacas, wild plover of all varieties, and wild sandhill cranes are game birds.
Sec. 64.004. TRAPPING GAME BIRDS. No person may set a trap, net, or other device for taking game birds or take or snare a game bird by a device without obtaining a permit from the department.
Acts 1975, 64th Leg., p. 1405, ch. 545, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1975. Amended by Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 267, art. 3, Sec. 54, eff. Sept. 1, 1985.
Sec. 64.005. PENALTY. A person who violates a provision of this subchapter commits an offense that is a Class C Parks and Wildlife Code misdemeanor.
Added by Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 267, art. 3, Sec. 55, eff. Sept. 1, 1985.
No person may set a trap, net, or other device for taking game birds or take or snare a game bird by a device without obtaining a permit from the department.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a lawyer but I think the key here is intent. The intent was to capture a possum. If a dove is too stupid to stay out of the trap, that's his fault. Secondly, you might recall that the bird in question was set free rather than grilled and eaten.
I think you have a little too much time on your hands, but appreciate the fact that you spend it reviewing my Blog for possible Code violations. ;)