VOL

Village of Oak Lake Homeowners Association

Newslette r September 2018 Volume 17, No. 09

Message From the Board

The HOA Board had their monthly meeting Monday, Au-gust 20

th, at the Pool House Room B. We had one home-

owner visit to discuss the possibility of communal fencing along W. Airport. The Board explained that someone would have to champion the effort to get the necessary approval from each section within our community. Commissioner James Patterson also stopped by to give us an update on drainage improvements. Hurray, thanks to the Commissioner & hard-working folks in the Drainage District, Oyster Creek has been cleared & dredged from Red Gully to SH6. The work required cooperation from the Cullinan Park Conservancy and the Sugar Land Airport & Gulf Coast Water Authority (GCWA). Through Commis-sioner Patterson’s coordination efforts, both sides of creek were cleared, removing debris, old bridge pilings, old em-bankments, non-functional water gap/mud flap & 8-ft chain link fence. All these items were a source of blockage im-pacting our community. Channel bank improvements where Red Gully intersects Oyster Creek are also done; this allows positive flow for Red Gully. Clearing Red Gully through our neighborhood is painstakingly slow because the muck must dry before it can be hauled off & part time CDL drivers are hard to find. Work done to date has been a 50-50 split between the County & GCWA. We thank them all for being committed to this challenging work. The Commissioner also showed us preliminary plans for Red Gully improvements north of our community that include 2 large detention ponds. Plans will be presented during our annual meeting, hopefully. Commissioner Patterson is up for re-election this Novem-ber & he’s encouraging us all to study the options & go cast our vote. LANDSCAPING: Thanks to our new Board Member, Carla & our homeowner, Kari, we are trying a different approach with our landscaping company to keep them accountable, all while fostering a professional relationship with us. In the newsletter & on our webpage, you will find Carla’s land-scaping article that is a recap from the drive that Carla & Kari took with the Landscaping rep. We expect that this hands-on approach will resolve our current issues with the level of service we are getting. The board reviewed the agenda, previous meeting minutes & expenses approved via email: Sugar Land Locksmith for pool house locks & door issues: $504

2018 ASSESSMENTS: if you have not paid, please con-tact us for a payment plan; do not let this go - the Board cannot waive fees associated with non-payment. We are 96% collected, leaving us a remaining balance of $20,782. If you wish to get email notices from the Board, please send an email to: webmaster@volhoa.com. Sincerely, VOL HOA Board

FINALLY, A NEW HOA DIRECTOR Meet Carla Wingerson. She’s volunteered to join the Village of Oak Lake HOA Board of Direc-tors which has had a vacant post since the annual meeting last February. Carla Wingerson wants to make a difference in the community. Carla is well-qualified to help. Before moving to VOL in 2004, she served on a Mission Bend HOA for three years. She worked at Mission Bend Christian Academy for eight years as the administrative assistant/ registrar, and also served as a member of their board of directors. She was a legal assistant/secretary for eight years before that. Carla knows the territory. Her husband Dan served as a VOL board member for three years, and she’s attended HOA meetings. She is well aware of the importance of communicating with all residents regarding maintenance of their properties in order to enhance property values and improve overall appearance and appeal of the community. Board members at the last meeting welcomed Carla with open arms!

Garage Sale September 14-16

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Neighborhood News

Jason Bradley - Publisher jason.nn@att.net

Wayne Chandler - Editor waynechandler@windstream.net

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 832-724-3750

This 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.

VOL Officers

Laura Montalvo, President lauravolhoa@gmail.com

Leo Furman, Vice President lfurman_houston1@comcast.net

JR Garcia, Treasury jgarcia@cobbfendley.com

Joe Hernandez, Secretary joehdez@hotmail.com

Carla Wingerson, Director carlasdesk@wingernet.com

For Newsletter Matters, call

832-724-3750 Or e-mail: Jason.nn@att.net

For matters regarding the Village of Oak Lake Homeowners Assn., Including Architectural 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

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

Around

the

Lake

Don’t forget the semiannual communitywide garage sale for VOL will be Friday-Sunday, September 14-16. Shop-pers, please look for surprise treasures. Rain dates would be September 21- 23.

***** In an effort to keep all Village of Oak Lake residents in-formed during any emergency situation in the neighbor-hood, Fort Bend County MUD 41 has implemented a spe-cial FREE notification system. See Page 5.

***** Yippee! Village of Oak Lake HOA finally has a fifth board member. Read about her on Page 1.

***** WANTED: A volunteer to update the entrance message board. Alan Ligh, who has served the neighborhood for a decade as the message maker, has a plateful, and is giv-ing it up. If you, your family or a couple of neighbors can work with the HOA to keep us all informed, please call the management office. …PLEASE.

***** Some 160 youngsters are experiencing a charter school for the first time in the new School for Science and Tech-nology Sugar Land on Clodine Road. This SST is a part of SST Discovery District, one of the 61 districts out of 1,200 districts, which received a distinction designation for post secondary readiness as part of their 2018 state accounta-bility rating.

***** As a special tutor in our neighborhoods, Antoine Carty, PhD, of MathChem Solutions, is concerned about public education. See his comments on Page 8.

***** The annual Neighborhood Night Out in Sugar Land this year will be from 6-9 p.m. Tuesday October 2. Individual street neighborhoods in VOL are encouraged to have block parties and invite law enforcement folks to join them. It’s a “Neighborhood Night Against Crime.” Woodbridge

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has its party at the community center. More next month.

***** Like airline prices which may change every few minutes, the Houston Astros and all major league baseball clubs now are practicing “dynamic pricing” when you go to buy a baseball ticket. Dynamic pricing means that the Astros adjust ticket prices day-to-day based on weather, pitching matchups, team performance, popularity of the visiting team, and other variables. Unless you are one of the 20,000 who bought Astros season tickets this year, the seat price is different every day. The Astros’ World Series win brought 6,000 new season tickets for 2018. Of course, there’s a wide range of seat prices, but a sur-vey shows that the average price this year for an Astros ticket is $87, up 8% over last year. There are only six clubs with a higher price average: Cleveland at $163, Chi-cago Cubs at $144, Boston at $131, New York Yankees at $121, Tampa Bay at $109 and Philadelphia at $99. The NFL Texans use dynamic pricing, too, for individual game tickets but the effect is relatively negligible since the Texans sell 67,000 season tickets. That leaves only a few thousand individual tickets for eight games a season.

***** Now that we have self-driving cars, how about self-flying vehicles. There’s one being developed now in Israel for probable use as a war vehicle in Afghanistan.

*****

Thanks to all of you who are visiting Duhascek Village Green these days, for placing all your trash in the proper receptacles. The park and sidewalks are looking great. Cooler weather soon should bring a lot more folks, particu-larly from Pheasant Creek and VOL. It’s a public park, maintained by Fort Bend County MUD 41.

***** See what may be in store for your children when they be-come adults, regarding the populations of the Greater Houston area, Fort Bend County and Texas. See the MUD PUDDLE, Page 9.

***** HAVE YOU BUSINESS PEOPLE BEEN WATCHING? If you have a product or a service to sell right now you should be telling people about it because people are buy-ing things right now. Advertising in these newsletters is effective and cheap. Just try it for a while and see. It’s amazing to me that so many new businesses lease a space, spend thousands of dollars on equipment, renovat-ing, and put up an expansive sign and think that’s all they need to do. That seldom is enough. At that point it’s time to spend a small amount of their big investment on letting people know they’re out there. ADVERTISE!

***** Have a safe and Happy Labor Day Weekend! Hopefully cooler weather will be close behind! -wayne chandler

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September 3rd: School Holiday September 5th: Student Flu Vaccine Forms Due September 21st: PTA Family Picnic September 27th: GO Gold Day- Childhood

Cancer Awareness Day

OCE Elementary July Calendar

By Jacy Walters, OCE Nurse

SCHOOL HEALTH

Back-to-School: Caring for Blue Jays

The clinic works hard to care for your children, but we want you to know that it is more than just placing a Band-Aid or taking their temperature. Here at Oyster Creek Elementary, we are teaching your students to care and be responsible for themselves every day. With each new school year, Blue Jays start with the basics.

Hand washing. Hand washing. Hand washing. Teaching young children basic hygiene is the first line of defense against spreading germs. Keeping their hands out of their mouths and reminding them to wash their hands is essential to a healthy environment for elementary school kids.

How can you help keep your kid’s and our school community stay healthy? Advice for parents is to teach good hand washing and follow the district’s sick and wellness policy. Keeping your children home when they are sick helps prevent the spread of germs and contagious viruses. Here are guidelines to help families know when they should stay home: • Vomiting and/or diarrhea within the past 24 hours • An undetermined rash • Temperature of 100.0 or greater within the past

24 hours (without the use of fever-reducing medication)

Jacy Walter, OCE Nurse - directing traffic on Meet the Teacher Night on August 13 .

Finally, help your student stay safe at school by promptly bringing in important medications to prevent asthma and allergy emergencies. All medications and appropriate forms should be brought to the clinic by a parent or guardian. Help us keep your students healthy today and every day here at OCE.

VOL 5

Lone Star Floors

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Municipal Utility District 41 Installs Digital Alert System

FB MUD 41 residents can now receive community alerts right to their email or phone for free. The Board has contracted Triton Consulting Group to manage our notification system with implemen-tation beginning immediately. In order help keep residents updated on any situa-tions, such as water outages, boil water notices, scheduled maintenance shut offs, etc., that may affect their water and wastewater services, an alert system has been set up for residents to receive text and email alerts. Should I be alarmed? No. This free notification system simply means the District wants to keep you advised and informed as quickly as possible of any situations or problems that may affect you. Residents may sign up for this service by going to http//tcg.news/signup/fbcmud41. For questions, call the district's operator, Municipal Operating & Consulting at 281-347-8686.

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Landscaping News On Friday, August 3, 2018 a board member and a commit-tee member met with a representative of EarthCare, the Village of Oak Lake landscaping company, for a drive through the neighborhood to discuss and find resolution for some ongoing problems. We will be doing quarterly drive-throughs with EarthCare to try to keep issues to a minimum. If you notice problems with landscaping or irri-gation, please contact us at servicedesk@sterlingasi.com. During the month of August, EarthCare resolved several irrigation issues, re-did the mulch around the trees along West Airport and the green spaces, fertilized the trees and shrubs, sprayed all barricades and sprinkler cages with weed killer, and offered some suggestions regarding the overall appearance of the landscaping. We are awaiting several proposals from EarthCare for re-placing the shrubs and flowers at the entrance monument where irrigation repairs were made, replacing some shrub-bery along the fence around the tennis courts, and clean-up/edging of the granite path. It is the responsibility of each homeowner to take care of his or her property. This includes the appearance of your home, lawn, curb, trees, and shrubs in order to keep our neighborhood looking nice. Please remember to remove your garbage cans and recycle bins from the curb after trash has been collected and pick up any stray pieces of trash and recycling. Below are some recommendations from EarthCare for your yard during the coming cooler months.

Fall Landscaping Recommendations

FALL COLOR – Now is the time to begin planning your next seasonal color installation. Most growers and garden centers will begin to receive many varieties of wonderful new bedding plants. Prior to installation take time to pre-pare your beds for the new installation to protect your in-vestment. Ensure that the target planting soil area is ele-vated at least 4” – 6” above the rest of the bed area, this will help with drainage and aid in root development of the tender new plants. Mixing in a slow release fertilizer, spe-cific for blooming color plants, will go a long way toward a beautiful result.

TURF WINTERIZATION – If you plan to do this use a low Nitrogen type fertilizer. Nitrogen promotes leaf growth and adds to the likelihood of brown patch. A higher potassium

and phosphorous count is what is desirable. This will pro-mote root growth adding to the turf’s density. This aids in weed control and a quicker bounce back in the spring. FALL MULCH – This may be a good time to reapply a nice 2” layer of shredded hardwood mulch. This not only adds to the curb appeal we all desire, it helps with weed control and water retention resulting in less frequent watering and nutrition value to the plants as the mulch decomposes. WATER APPLICATIONS – Another consideration is re-ducing watering run times as well as frequencies. As soil temperatures are falling that increases the chances of con-tracting fungus in the turf. Don’t water to the point of run-off, instead use a cycle and soak program to avoid over or deep watering. Allow the turf to dry out almost to the point of leaf curl then water again. TURF HERBICIDE TREATMENT – With the slightly cooler temperatures we will hopefully experience it is a good time to apply a post-emergent broadleaf weed control. A blan-ket application is good if you have active growing weeds throughout. Only spot spray to target random weeds if they are present here and there, this will save time and money. TREE MAINTENANCE - Hurricane season is still with us through November 30

th. Trees sustain the most damage

of all landscape plants in these conditions. You can reduce the “wind sail” effect with proper pruning techniques. Any deadwood and cross branching should be removed. If the entire canopy is thinned out in this way wind passes through more easily reducing chances of damage. This also improves overall tree health and allows more sunlight to understory plants.

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• Don’t nap during the day. • Use your bed for sleep, not eating, reading,

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• Don’t worry, plan, argue while in bed, Just think about sleep.

• Avoid caffeinated drinks. • Don’t drink alcohol within four hours of bed-

time. • Get outside daily for 20 minutes. • Don’t exercise close to bedtime. • Make sure your bedroom isn’t too hot or too

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VOL 8

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Putting Students First in Public Education

Access to high-quality public education may not be equita-ble across all school districts in Texas-area schools. De-pending on one’s zip code, disparities in funding result in some public schools being better equipped than others. Unfortunately, older schools in some disenfranchised neighborhoods may lack funding for state-of-the art tech-nology; while others may be structurally in need of repairs. Nevertheless, students are expected to perform optimally and compete for coveted seats in preferred colleges or technical school. Teachers are tasked with maintaining an intellectually-friendly learning environment with a growing diverse student population. Administrators are held ac-countable for students’ proficiency in Math, Reading, Writ-ing and Science on the STAAR test.

A significant Increase in funding is needed to provide equi-table, high-quality education to students in public schools in poor neighborhoods. Philanthropic donations targeted to upgrade resources and teacher salaries are effective for students’ development. In fact, reallocating government funding from voucher-based programs and investment in building additional charter and magnet schools, can signifi-cantly upgrade students’ performance in subjects like ELA, Science and Math in existing public schools. Strategic investment, that benefits both students and teachers, gen-erally produces long-term, sustainable and effective teach-ing methodologies which incorporate technology tools. Investment in STEM programs in all public high schools can certainly enhance the background for all students in-terested in Science, Technology, Engineering and math.

Generally, teachers in lucrative districts have adequate facilities and relevant degrees in their subject areas. In fact, they receive competitive salaries to support their commitment to develop, innovate and implement pedagog-ical methods and integrate technology in the curriculum. In contrast, in some underserved public high schools, one may be required to teach Chemistry, Physics and Math, as an unfortunate consequence of severely limited funds allo-cated to recruit and retain sufficiently qualified teachers. Students’ learning outcomes are impacted by a teacher’s ability to communicate their lessons plan. Therefore, it is important that teachers possess an appropriate level col-lege degree or the necessary certifications to effectively teach the range of subjects assigned to them.

Public school budgets are regulated by legislators. At times, it is not always clear whether the agendas of deci-sion-makers are wholly focused upon closing the gaps in students’ overall achievements. It is therefore incumbent

upon parents in the local community to organize and actively participate in school board meetings. Parents in the community will need to solicit additional funding via private-sector resources like philanthropic donors, successful athletes or entrepreneurs in order to supplement limited gov-ernment funding to public schools.

Adequately funded programs in un-derserved school districts are need-ed to effectively prepare students to compete globally, while upgrading the talent pool of student candidates for college or technical career development. Access to competitive athletic programs serves as a valuable path-way for public school students to obtain athletic scholar-ships to prestigious universities. However, it is critically important that students in underfunded school districts are offered STEM learning opportunities during their trans-formative years. For example, the American Chemical So-ciety Project SEED summer program affords low-income high school students interested in Chemistry an opportuni-ty to intern in Chemistry research labs at area universities. Public school students need greater access to practical Math and Science programs, talented teachers, challeng-ing curricula that emphasize innovative thinking and well-maintained buildings equipped with technology tools.

Antoine Carty, PhD MathChem Solutions, Tutoring Center 8433 FM 1464, Suite K Richmond, TX 77407

Dr. Antoine Carty

VOL 9

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

THE MUD PUDDLE

The current Greater Houston population is estimated at 5.9 million, and likely, by the 2020 census to be declared larger than Chicago, currently the third largest city in America. The Greater Houston population, by 2050, likely will be more than 14 million persons! Fort Bend County, now at about 600,000, is expected to be 2.7 million by 2050. These are the predictions of Dr. James P. Gaines, chief econ-omist at the Real Estate Center in Texas A&M University. The state of Texas is the magnet which may make all of this happen. Texas, in the 40-year period from 2010 to 2050 probably will add 22 to 30 million more persons. (Texas, in the 40-year, 1970-2010, gained almost 14 million). Texas, by 2020, (gaining about 1,000 persons per day), is expected to be at 30 million persons, and gain four more seats in Con-gress. By 2050 the Texas population could be 60 million per-sons. While these are scary figures for Houston, Harris County and Fort Bend County, the major swelling of people to Texas is expected to be along the U.S. 35 corridor – Dallas-Austin-San Antonio-Laredo—and the influx is expected both from north-ern U.S. states and from Mexico and South America. Eight of the top 15 counties gaining population in the U.S. in 2017 were from Texas, with Harris being the fourth largest, and Fort Bend, 14th. The predictor, Dr. Gaines, gave a 45-minute power point show last June to a record attendance of members of the As-sociation of Water Board Directors in the San Antonio Con-vention Center. It was a heads-up to local and state officials and water boards, alerting them to future needs for Texas: water, housing, jobs, mobility, to name a few. Gaines started off by saying that 2017, for Texas, even with Hurricane Harvey, was “A VERY GOOD YEAR.” He predict-ed that 2018 is even better. About 2019?, he’s not sure.

He noted that employment in Texas, 2017 to present, is from 1.8 % to 3%. It has been better in Austin, 3 to 3.3%. San Antonio has been from 2.1 to 2.8%, and Houston from 1 to 1.5%. Gaines noted that Hurricane Harvey affected a total of 161,617 homes in the Houston area, destroying 2,859 of them. He said that 58,670 homes had minor damage, with 35,678 having major damage. To estimate Texas’ future needs for water, Gaines said that the average Texas household uses 232 gallons of water a day, while the U.S. average is 260 gallons. He said that since 1999, that 66% of of homes built have underground sprinkler systems, 12% having pools. About half of the home water usage goes to sprinklers with the major indoor use from toi-lets, then showers, faucets, clothes washers and leaks, in that order. Gaines’ figures predict that Fort Bend County, now at 600,000, population, will have a million persons by 2025. That’s less than seven years away. - wayne chandler, Fort Bent County MUD 41

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VOL 11

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VOL 12

Patriot Realty Jason Bradley - Realtor

832-724-3750

Listing / Buying Property Management

Jason@PatriotRealtyTX.com

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