January 2009 Newsletter

UPDATE ON LAWSUIT AGAINST LAKE JAMES

In May of 2008, the Lake James Recreational Facilities Inc. (LJRFI) was sued by Mirta Zorilla, a homeowner in the neighboring Plazas del Lago Subdivision (Cause No. C-3065-05-C,139th District Court, Hidalgo County).  It is our understanding that Dr. Zorilla wanted to build a fence on the sides of her property all the way down to Lake James.  Her neighborhood HOA, Plazas del Lago, apparently notified her that such a fence was against the Plazas del Lago’s covenants and conditions.  Dr. Zorilla then filed a lawsuit against the Plazas del Lago HOA seeking to declare those covenants and conditions void.  That suit has been pending for three years. 

Recently, Dr. Zorilla joined LJRFI as a Defendant, apparently because LJRFI owns the 25 foot strip of land surrounding the lake on which she wishes to build a fence.  We sent the lawsuit to our liability insurance carrier, which has hired a lawyer to represent us. There was a hearing before the judge on January 8th and a motion for summary judgment was filed.  If the judge grants this motion then Lake James will be dropped from the lawsuit.  As of today the judge has not made his decision.  Unfortunately, the association has had to pay our $5,000.00 deductible per the guidelines of our insurance policy for attorney’s fees.  We will attempt to get LJRFI dismissed as soon as possible and to recover our attorney’s fees if feasible.  It is important to mention that part of Ms. Zorilla’s argument has been that the neighbors of Lake James have abandoned the lake so she should be allowed to block our access to it.  Many of our neighbors took the time to call and attend the hearing on January 8th and the board would like to thank them for their efforts.  It takes all of us working together to make a difference and to protect the unique neighborhood we live in. 
If anyone would like a copy of the suit or wants more information, please do not hesitate to call or e-mail me.  --Sheila Dunagan

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
December 19, 2008 one of our neighbors had their home broken into and had several items stolen while they were attending a Christmas party.  The Tisdales were kind enough to immediately send an email to the board asking that all neighbors be notified just hours after the incident.  The local police have not been much help.  The Tisdale’s advice—use your alarm system, leave lights on when you leave, double check your doors & windows and be a good neighbor and be aware if something doesn’t look quite right.  THANK YOU Johnny & Pam for thinking of us.

ASSOCIATION DUES—VERY Important!!

There’s no such thing as a free lunch.  All homes in the Lake James Subdivision are bound by the LJRFI Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions and each homeowner is obligated to pay an annual assessment for insurance, maintenance, purchasing water for Lake James and for those items as determined by the Board to be for the general good of the Community.  By owning a home in Lake James, you are required to pay these dues.
The things that LJRFI needs to run come with a price.  It would be great if the copy places gave us paper and allowed us to use their copiers for free but they don’t.  It would be even better if the USPS would allow us to send out these newsletters for free, but they don’t.  We would jump for joy if our insurance company allowed us coverage for free, but they don’t.  The Hidalgo County Irrigation District won’t fill the lake for free.  The City of Edinburg and the County continue to send us tax statements.  Hall rental, reproduction costs etc. for our Annual Meeting coming up February 10th all comes with a price tag.  LJRFI mails out 106 dues statements each year and history shows that only about 70% of our neighbors pay their dues.  Your treasurer has made a promise that if every homeowner paid his or her dues in full by April 1, 2009, you would all be invited to her house to watch her do a back flip.
We have tried to make it as easy as possible for you to send in your dues by providing a self-addressed envelope and if you provide an e-mail address, you’ll even get an e-mail confirmation that your payment was received.  We bet that you don’t get that service from any of your other creditors!  Remember it’s OUR neighborhood; please help support it by sending in your dues if you haven’t done so already.  For the homeowners that continue to ignore the repeated requests to pay what is owed to the association you will leave us with no other option but to place liens on your home.  We do not want to do this, but we are aggressively working to collect the dues that are severely delinquent.  Please contact your treasurer if you need to make payment arrangements, otherwise you can send your check to:  LJRFI, c/o Holly Mickelson, Treasurer, 4111 Lebanon Lane, Edinburg, TX 78539-7718.


RICHARD GARCIA IS RUNNING FOR MAYOR

Your neighbor is running for Mayor!!  Richard and his family have lived in Lake James for over 20 years and he is well qualified for the job.  Here are the highlights:
He has two daughters, Gina Garcia & Mrs. Daniel (Katherine) Perez
Two grandsons, Richard Xavier Perez & William Alexander Perez
Life resident of Edinburg, graduate of Edinburg High and a 34 year practicing attorney
Richard is a former Edinburg Municipal Court Judge, Hidalgo County Court at Law Judge, Hidalgo County Judge, Commissioner with the Texas Adult Probation Commission, former Mayor of Edinburg & Chair of the Texas Border Coalition
He is currently serving as the President of the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation and on the board of directors.
GOOD LUCK RICHARD FROM YOUR NEIGHBORS!!

DATES TO REMEMBER

February 10, 2009
Annual Meeting
7 p.m. at Abundant Grace on McColl

Other reminders:

We now have a website that is up and running!!! 
Our web address is http://www.lakejamesedinburgtexas.com

If you have questions or concerns about any issue please send an e-mail to:

Send in any news that you would like to see in The Review to the email above.  That way we can get the facts straight.  Please let us know what you want to hear about.  We are hoping to utilize the our website for Lake James so we can email the review.  That will enable us to answer your questions and let you know about information that is important.

We would also like to create a Lake James Directory for those who would like to participate.  If you don’t want your information included, you must call & tell us.  Directories will be going out in the Spring of 2009.

LET’S WALK THE LAKE DATE:

Saturday January 31st at 10:00 am (weather permitting) anyone who would like to walk the lake is invited to meet at the lake entrance on the curve at Lakeshore Drive.  It takes about 30 minutes to walk the entire lake and it is a great time to see the ducks, geese, herons, turtles & enjoy the beauty of the lake. There is a walking path around the entire lake and it’s a great time to enjoy the outdoors with family & friends.

ANNUAL MEETING DATE

Our annual meeting has traditionally been held in June.  Since we have changed the fiscal year for the association to a calendar year it seemed only logical to change the annual meeting to coincide with our fiscal year.  We will hold our annual meeting on FEBRUARY 10TH at 7:00 p.m. at Abundant Grace Community Church (north side building in the back) on McColl.  Every resident of Lake James is invited to come.  This meeting is a time to vote in or vote out board members, for people to join the board and seek or resign their office.  We will also give a full financial accounting, discuss new business, old business and do our best to answer your questions and take on any new issues you feel are important.  This is an important meeting and we would love to see as many residents of Lake James attend that can make it.

CHRISTMAS PARTY WAS A SUCCESS
The party this year was a big success!!  It couldn’t have happened without several who volunteered their time.  A special thank you to the owners of the lot Felipe Rubio, to Bambi Cardenas and Elma & Raul Ayala for all of their assistance and patience with us, Sherri Dillard for taking on the majority of the work, Hollie Bishop for being in charge of the invitations and to several others for pulling all of the last minute things together.  We collected several can goods that were donated to the food bank and they were very appreciative.  We live in a GREAT neighborhood!!

CLASSIFIED ADS

Do you travel and get tired of having to board your cat or dog?  Do you wish you had someone that could come by a couple of times a week and walk your dog?  Do you need someone to check on your bird while you are out of town? Then it sounds like you need to call AARON WOOD.  He lives on Karen (son of Jim & Beth Wood) and has quite a wonderful reputation of taking care of his neighbor’s animals while they are out of town.  He is very reasonable, is homeschooled so he is available during the day, has great references from your local neighbors AND he is very responsible.  Give him a call if you need some pet assistance at 316-3505. 

FREE BBQ GRILL We have a gas grill that needs some TLC but all of the components are working.  If you are interested, please give me a call and we will GIVE it to you.  Sheila Dunagan 457-5297

DO YOU HAVE A CLASSIFIED AD YOU’D LIKE TO PLACE?  EMAIL THE ASSOCIATION & WE WILL INCLUDE IN IN THE NEXT NEWSLETTER FOR FREE!!

HAPPENINGS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD


Walk the Lake date is Saturday January 31st at 10:00 a.m. weather permitting.

LAKE JAMES LADIES LUNCH BUNCH is the first Thursday of the month.  Sometimes it is at someone’s home other times we meet at a local restaurant.  Laurie Lozano hosted the white elephant exchange luncheon in January (thanks Laurie!!).  February 5th we plan to meet at the home of Jackie Billings, 4114 Marc Avenue.  You may reach her at 383-7125 and let her know if you plan to attend. 

The Lake James Annual Meeting is Tuesday February 10th at 7:00 p.m. at Abundant Grace Community Church on McColl (just north of the Lake James entrance on the right hand side of the road)

Lake James is a BEAUTIFUL lake area.  While the lake is absolutely gorgeous, it is also in need of some TLC and debris removal.  We are discussing the best and most feasible way to approach this issue.  If you have any suggestions or ideas we would love to hear them.  If you would be interested in being part of a committee that works on this project PLEASE let us know.  We’d love to have you! 

Your board meets the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at 4118 Michael Blvd in Edinburg.  If you have any issues you would like the board to discuss, please email them to and we will do our best to place these items on the agenda and discuss them.

Part of the goal as an association is to help all of us get to know each other better.  In 2009 we hope to have a few more social events along with our annual Christmas party.  We were thinking about an ice cream social block party, a once a month Friday night adult beverage get together, possibly a Monday morning walking group.  All of these are just ideas, so if you have something you’d like to see please let us know.  We all live next door to each other so we might as well get to know one another.

HELP WANTED
Your board is currently accepting nominations for the office of Vice President.  The board meets once a month on the second Tuesday of the month for no more than 1 hour.  Please give this opportunity some serious consideration.  You may contact Sheila Dunagan if you are interested or have any questions.  Thank you!!!

KUDOS KORNER


Leanne Richards has been so kind as to produce our yearly calendars again this year.  They are always the hit of the neighborhood so we want to give a great big KUDOS to Leanne.  We appreciate it SO much.

Thank you again to all the neighbors who took the time to make phone calls and attend the court hearing regarding the Lake James lawsuit.  Your interest and support were wonderful.

THANK YOU to all the residents who have heard our requests and have been following the brush schedule.  We appreciate how many of you have been waiting until our scheduled week before bringing your brush to the curb.  Thank you for improving the look of our neighborhood!!

I don’t know how many of you realize how many hours Holly Mickelson spends each week working on association business.  Let’s just say we have a part time secretary/treasurer working for us FOR FREE.  Please take the time to thank her for a traditionally thankless job.  THANK YOU HOLLY!!

SYMPATHY

Our deepest sympathy is extended to the family of Hashim Mahdi who passed away unexpectedly at his home on Lakeshore January 6th.  Our hearts go out to his wife, children and extended family for their loss.


If you have news, information or happenings you would like placed in the newsletter please let us know by emailing the association or giving Sheila a call at 457-5297.  The board is working very diligently to do a better job of informing the neighborhood of what is going on, helping all us get to know each other better and to make the improvements YOU would like to see made.  We can only do this with your feedback.  The next opportunity to be informed and to inform us will be at the annual meeting February 10th at 7:00 p.m. at Abundant Grace Community Church on McColl.  We would love to you there.