warren county fun

Looking for stuff to do in December. Here is the calendar of events for Warren County.

HOA Meeting Notes

Mason Fields Annual Meeting
Wednesday 12 November 2008

• The following items were covered and discussed at the annual meeting:
  Reviewed initial questions which included a request of the status of the amendments which had been routed for approval. It was shared that all amendments had passed, and in case it had already not been shared widely, that the HOA would try to include confirmation in one of the next letters to the neighborhood of the status of all passed and that they have also been filed with the city.
• As the amendments were discussed, a key focus area was the amendment which discussed general external home / lawn care, and it was confirmed that there is a standard for how outages should be managed.
• A power point presentation was reviewed which summarized the current financial status and budget of the neighborhood. It was shared that HOA due for 2009 would be increasing from ~$481 to ~$607 due to balancing the budget and no longer planning to use reserve funds. Based on this budget, future years should increase at a standard inflation rate.
• Some savings opportunities that were discussed as a group were:
• Merger with Village Lakes – previous HOA members shared that this had been evaluated and that Village Lakes did not benefit from a merger.
• Irrigation savings – through proper timing programming
• Irrigation – share with the waterworks that we should not be charged for sewage
• Electric – potential to winterize the pump on fountain vs. paying electric. Dale Rook shared that it would be better to just leave the fountain running.
• Evaluate what TR Gear is actually maintaining for neighborhood and determine what can be reduced / eliminated (ie. mowing strip behind path in back of homes if not required).

• Front of the neighborhood “beautification” was discussed. There are ~$10M reserve funds remaining to support improvements from city money. A decision was made to wait until all construction was complete before any additional money would be spent. In addition, the group leaned toward providing trees to people’s yards vs. the brim in the front since there is not an irrigation system. In addition, any trees planted on the brim are under the power lines and will be cut accordingly by Duke Energy as they grow closer to the lines.
• A group of individuals volunteered to investigate opportunities for the neighborhood to get together to do work vs. hiring it out (ie. laying bark, planting flowers, etc). This will be worked through the blog to get people to volunteer and communicate.

living wage calculator

How much does it cost to live here? The Living Wage Calculator has the answers. Here are the results for Mason.

Typical Expenses



Wages Needed



Typical Actual Wages

Tonight 7pm

Tonight is the HOA meeting. Let's put our heads together and have the heart of service to each other. There is a lot we can do, but we have to do it as a group. No "us against them" attitudes. "Us" IS "Them"! Gosh that was brilliant. Time for more coffee.
From the earlier post:
This is to invite you to the Mason Fields Home Owner Association Meeting on 12 November from 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM. The meeting will be in room 2029 of the Mason Municipal Center, 6000 Mason-Montgomery Road.

The annual meeting was formerly held in February but due to continued increases in HOA dues the board determined it best to review the annual budget prior to announcing next year’s fees.

We also moved this forward in hopes that one or more of you would volunteer to use 2009 to identify money saving options to apply to 2010. We will not use the meeting to develop solutions but to agree if someone(s) of you wants to drive out options to present in time for the 2010 budget process.

I look forward to your active participation in this.

reasons to vote

The real reason to vote ...

• Ben & Jerry's: Free scoop of ice cream between 5-8pm. Originally, materials stated you'd need some form of proof you voted (like an "I voted" sticker), but current materials just spell out "Free scoops!" (locate)
• Books-A-Million: Free cup of coffee after showing your "I voted" sticker. (locate)
• California Tortilla: Free taco for showing "I voted" sticker. (locate)
• Chick-fil-A: "Several hundred" of 1,400 Chick-fil-A restaurants are handing out chicken sandwiches (the kind normally $2.70) to adults with proof of voting. (locate)
• Krispy Kreme: Free star-shaped doughnut with "patriotic sprinkles" (i.e. red, white, and blue) for "all retail customers with an 'I Voted' sticker." USA Today reports that 85 of 231 Krispy Kreme locations will participate. (locate)
• Shane's Rib Shack: A free "Celebrate America Meal"—3-piece chicken tenders, fries, and 20-ounce drink—to the first 300 customers at participating locations, according to their press release. (locate)
• Starbucks: Free tall coffee at "any Starbucks." "Tell us you voted" seems to be the bargaining chip, according to their recent TV ads. (locate)
• Vote & Vax: National project by non-profits to offer free flu vaccinations on election day. (locate)