HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

WISHING YOU AND YOURS A VERY
HAPPY & HEALTHY NEW YEAR!!!

Coyote Sighting

There have been two coyote sightings in the Fairfax Meadows neighborhood in the last two days - one on Sun Meadows and another on the walking trail at the west end of our neighborhood. We don't feel there is any need for alarm but would like to caution you to be aware of your surroundings. Below is an article from the City of Plano website which offers advice on how to handle this situation:

If you have a coyote sighting in your neighborhood:

Do's

• Do keep small dogs and cats inside at night.
• Do keep the covers secured on your trash receptacles.
• Do keep your dog and cat on a leash (as required by city ordinance).
• Do contact Animal Services if you spot a coyote in your neighborhood.
• Do try to consider that they were here first.

Don’ts

• Do not feed your pets on the back porch.
• Do not walk your small dog in wooded areas.
• Do not approach, chase, make noises at, chunk rocks or otherwise taunt a wandering coyote.
• Do not approach a coyote if it appears trapped, injured, or sick. Contact Animal Services.
• Do not ever try to touch a coyote.

Written by Jim Dunlap & Tammy Welch, Living Material Center

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Wishing you joy and peace
this holiday season!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Fairfax Meadows Homeowners Association

wishes you and yours a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

FMHOA ANNUAL DUES REMINDER

Homeowners:

FMHOA Annual Homeowner Association Dues are due on the following schedule:

If paid by:

November 31, 2010 -- $100.00
December 31, 2010 -- $125.00

Make checks payable to: "FMHOA"

Dues will continue to be assessed a $25 per month late charge in accordance with the HOA Covenants.

Please drop off or mail checks to:

Raul Mercado - Treasurer
4101 Staten Island
Plano, TX 75024

Please indicate your address with payment.

Thank you!

CRIME WATCH BULLETIN

CRIME WATCH BULLETIN

PLANO POLICE DEPARTMENT

The following event was reported to the Plano Police Department.

OFFENSE NUMBER: Various

OFFENSE TYPE: Theft - $1,500 to $20,000 (tires & wheels)

LOCATION/STREET: Various locations throughout the City

DATE: Since the beginning of October 2010

DESCRIPTION: Since the beginning of October 2010 several tire and wheel theft offenses have been reported. Tires and wheels have been taken from newer model GM SUV’s and the vehicles left on landscaping blocks.

SUSPECT INFORMATION: None

VEHICLE INFORMATION: Possible a small tan vehicle.

If you have any information regarding suspicious persons or activity in your area, please call the Plano Police Department at (972) 424-5678.

REMINDER: FMHOA ANNUAL MEETING

Just a quick reminder that our Annual FMHOA Meeting is this Thursday, October 21, 2010 at 7:30 PM. Please join us at the Carpenter Park Recreation Center at 6701 Coit Rd. Plano, TX 75024.

If you are unable to join us please remember to drop your proxy vote off at 4120 Sun Meadows St. by 6PM on Thursday, October 21, 2010.

Hope to see you there!

Fairfax Meadows HOA Annual Meeting

FAIRFAX MEADOWS
HOMEOWNER'S ASSOCIATION
ANNUAL MEETING

OCTOBER 21, 2010 at 7:30PM

Carpenter Park Recreation Center
6701 Coit Rd.
Plano, TX 75024

At this meeting we will go over the budget for 2011 and select the new HOA board. As always, participation is very important. We need homeowners to volunteer for the board if at all possible. Without enough participation there is the possibility that management of the FMHOA would need to be turned over to a third-party management company which would then alleviate the need for volunteers but would increase our yearly HOA dues dramatically.

Information and proxies have been placed in all homeowner's mailboxes with this information. If you are unable to attend please designate someone from the board on your proxy to place your vote for FMHOA business and place in the basket or mailbox at 4120 Sun Meadows St. by 6:00PM, October 21st.

We look forward to seeing all of you at the meeting!

CRIME WATCH BULLETIN

CRIME WATCH BULLETIN

PLANO POLICE DEPARTMENT

The following event was reported to the Plano Police Department.

OFFENSE NUMBER: 2010-180532

OFFENSE TYPE: Robbery

LOCATION/STREET: Preston Road (Preston Rd/McDermott Rd, Map 556F)

BLOCK NUMBER: 8700

DATE: 9/3/10 (Friday) TIME: 5:55pm

DESCRIPTION: The female victim had just left a retail business establishment and was getting into her vehicle when the suspect approached her from behind and took her purse. The suspect then ran to the white vehicle and sped off northbound on Hwy. 121 service road.

SUSPECT INFORMATION: White male, 20-30 years of age, 5’8”-5’10”, 150-160lbs, medium build, last seen wearing a red and black striped shirt and black shorts.

VEHICLE INFORMATION: White Nissan Altima with Texas plates.

If you have any information regarding suspicious persons or activity in your area, please call the Plano Police Department at (972) 424-5678.

UPDATE: ONCOR Meeting - August 18th, 2010

Another ONCOR Meeting about the new substation has been scheduled for Wednesday, August 18, 2010 at the Carpenter Park Recreation Center (Preschool Room) from 6:30PM to 8:00PM.

The discussion will focus on the walls and landscaping surrounding the substation. Concerned homeowners are encouraged to attend.

ASPCA Hot Weather Tips For Your Furry Friends

We all love spending the long, sunny days of summer outdoors with our furry companions, but being overeager in hot weather can spell danger, warn ASPCA experts.

"Even the healthiest pets can suffer from dehydration, heat stroke and sunburn if overexposed to the heat," says Dr. Lila Miller, ASPCA Vice President of Veterinary Outreach, "and heat stroke can be fatal if not treated promptly."

Take these simple precautions, provided by ASPCA experts, to help prevent your pet from overheating. And if you suspect your pet is suffering from heat stroke, get help from your veterinarian immediately.

Visit the Vet

A visit to the veterinarian for a spring or early summer check-up is a must. Make sure your pets get tested for heartworm if they aren't on year-round preventive medication. Do parasites bug your animal companions? Ask your doctor to recommend a safe flea and tick control program.

Made in the Shade

Pets can get dehydrated quickly, so give them plenty of fresh, clean water when it's hot outdoors. Make sure your pets have a shady place to get out of the sun, be careful to not over-exercise them, and keep them indoors when it's extremely hot.

Know the Warning Signs

According to Dr. Lila Miller, ASPCA Vice President of Veterinary Outreach, "symptoms of overheating in pets include excessive panting or difficulty breathing, increased heart and respiratory rate, drooling, mild weakness, stupor or even collapse. They can also include seizures, bloody diarrhea and vomit along with an elevated body temperature of over 104 degrees." Animals with flat faces, like Pugs and Persian cats, are more susceptible to heat stroke since they cannot pant as effectively. These pets, along with the elderly, the overweight, and those with heart or lung diseases, should be kept cool in air-conditioned rooms as much as possible.

No Parking!

Never leave your animals alone in a parked vehicle. "On a hot day, a parked car can become a furnace in no time—even with the windows open—which could lead to fatal heat stroke," says Dr. Louise Murray, Director of Medicine at ASPCA Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital. Also, leaving pets unattended in cars in extreme weather is illegal in several states.

Make a Safe Splash

Do not leave pets unsupervised around a pool—not all dogs are good swimmers. Introduce your pets to water gradually and make sure they wear flotation devices when on boats. Rinse your dog off after swimming to remove chlorine or salt from his fur, and try to keep your dog from drinking pool water, which contains chlorine and other chemicals that could cause stomach upset.

Screen Test

"During warmer months, the ASPCA sees an increase in injured animals as a result of High-Rise Syndrome, which occurs when pets—mostly cats—fall out of windows or doors and are seriously or fatally injured," says Dr. Murray. "Pet owners need to know that this is completely preventable if they take simple precautions." Keep all unscreened windows or doors in your home closed and make sure adjustable screens are tightly secured.

Summer Style

Giving your dog a lightweight summer haircut helps prevent overheating. Shave down to a one-inch length, never to the skin, so your dog still has some protection from the sun. Brushing cats more often than usual can prevent problems caused by excessive heat. As far as skin care, be sure that any sunscreen or insect repellent product you use on your pets is labeled specifically for use on animals.

Street Smarts

When the temperature is very high, don't let your dog linger on hot asphalt. Being so close the ground, your pooch's body can heat up quickly, and sensitive paw pads can burn. Keep walks during these times to a minimum.

Avoid Chemicals

Commonly used flea and tick products, rodenticides (mouse and rat baits), and lawn and garden insecticides can be harmful to cats and dogs if ingested, so keep them out of reach. When walking your dog, steer clear of areas that you suspect have been sprayed with insecticides or other chemicals. Keep citronella candles, oil products and insect coils out of pets' reach as well. Call your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 if you suspect your animal has ingested a poisonous substance.

Party Animals

Taking Fido to a backyard barbeque or party? Remember that the food and drink offered to guests may be poisonous to pets. "Keep alcoholic beverages away from pets, as they can cause intoxication, depression and comas," says Dr. Steven Hansen, ASPCA Senior Vice President of Animal Health Services. "Similarly, remember that the snacks enjoyed by your human friends should not be a treat for your pet; any change of diet, even for one meal, may give your dog or cat severe digestive ailments. Avoid raisins, grapes, onions, chocolate and products with the sweetener xylitol."

Wishing you and your furry friends a safe and happy summer!!!

Photo by: Federico Stevanin

ONCOR Substation Meeting Notes

Meeting held August 3, 2010

The meeting itself was not a public hearing. Rather, it was a question and answer format, whereas there were several “stations” where you could walk up and ask questions. At each “station,” there was a subject matter expert assigned to answer any questions related to the project, i.e. the landscaping/design, the engineering work, maps of other substations and how the current requirements are being met, etc.

Additionally, the general feeling was that this plan has been put in place since 1986, and it is not going to change. The meeting was for the community to come out and see what is going to be built, but the plan itself if moving forward. The substation needs to be built because Oncor is required by regulation to provide a certain level of service, and they anticipate they will not be able to meet demand by mid to late 2012.

Construction will begin around May 2011 and will complete around Nov/Dec 2011.

Studies have shown that there is no reduction on property values related to building an electrical substation. There may be some softness during construction, but history will show that property values will stay the same when compared before construction to after completion.

The substation that is being built is the smallest version available, so it will not be as big as some of the others, i.e. Communications Parkway.

At this point, the only real impact we can have is on the aesthetics, i.e. the color of the brick to match other surrounding brick colors, the type and size (25 gallon) of shrubbery or trees we would like to see, etc.

Your questions and concerns can be addressed to:

Mark Isrealson
Assistant City Manager
Marki@plano.gov

or

Michael Baldwin
Area Manager - ONCOR
Michael.baldwin@oncor.com

CRIME WATCH BULLETIN

CRIME WATCH BULLETIN

PLANO POLICE DEPARTMENT

The following event was reported to the Plano Police Department.

OFFENSE NUMBER: 2010-139316
OFFENSE TYPE: Suspicious Vehicle
LOCATION/STREET: Sicilian Circle (Spring Creek/Preston Meadow, Mapsco 656D)
BLOCK NUMBER: 5900
DATE: 7/30/10 TIME: 3:30pm


DESCRIPTION: The homeowner was returning to his house in the 5900 block of Sicilian Circle when he noticed a dark colored minivan parked in his driveway. The vehicle did not belong to the homeowner. Sitting in the van was the below mentioned suspect who quickly drove away upon being discovered by the homeowner.

SUSPECT INFORMATION: White male, 30-40 years of age, short hair.

VEHICLE INFORMATION: Dodge Caravan; dark colored, partial Texas license plate #441-YX?

If you have any information regarding suspicious persons or activity in your area, please call the Plano Police Department at (972) 424-5678.

Oncor Announces Intent To Build a Substation - A Meeting For The Community

The FMHOA Board was recently informed by another homeowner's association, PMNHOA, that ONCOR is planning to build a substation (SUP-128) near our neighborhood. The substation will be built in the fall of 2010 in the empty lot between Hobby Lobby and the Atonement Lutheran church.

The FMHOA board recommends that you attend the meeting and get the information first hand.

This is the information provided by PMNHOA:

The lot for the substation is approximately 320' wide frontage on Legacy, by approximately 200-240' deep with varying distances to the easement. The closest point on the NW corner would stand an 8' masonry wall and would sit about 30' from the edge of Legacy Drive. Some of the electrical equipment will be in the 35-40' height range.

ONCOR owns the land. The SUP permit was issued over 18 years ago when the west side of Plano was still being developed. The substation will be a large view when driving on Legacy. It is also designed specifically to supply electricity for future needs to the surrounding area in Plano. It would seem to make more sense to build this station in that area, where the availability of vacant land will not cause hardship on homeowners adjacent to the substation.

The City asked ONCOR to make sure the surrounding communities are aware of the substation building and find out if we are "OK" with the site plan. WE ARE NOT OKAY WITH THE SITE PLAN.

A general meeting has been scheduled with ONCOR's contractor, MASTERPLAN Consultants. The format of the meeting will be "come and go" where residents can approach ONCOR representatives, view the site plan of the substation and landscape, gain knowledge of the project, and express any questions or concerns. The City of Plano will be represented by Councilman Ben Harris. The other Homeowner Associations in the area (Deerfield, Fairfax Meadows), the Atonement Church and Kindercare have also been invited. The more concerned citizens we have in attendance and/or contacting City officials, the better our chances of re-zoning that land.

This meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 3rd at 7:00 in the upstairs meeting room at Carpenter Park Recreation Center. Please make every effort to attend this very important meeting.

If you have questions, please feel free to reply to this email or directly to PMNHOA President, Cheri Locke (cl@ncasweb.com).

Best Regards,
PMNHOA Board

Happy 4th of July!!!

If you and the family are looking for a place to celebrate July 4th you can do it right here in Plano!!!

Start the Independence Day celebration on Saturday, July 3 with a parade and patriotic concert. On Sunday, July 4, enjoy another concert and close the evening with the annual All-American Fourth community fireworks display. The professional firework display lights up the Plano sky at 9:30 p.m. Share a blanket and picnic basket with the ones you love at Oak Point Park and Nature Preserve, east of U.S. 75 on Spring Creek Parkway. Parking is available at Plano Centre, Collin College and First United Methodist Church Plano. Listen to the fireworks simulcast music on KLAK 97.5 FM from home or in the park.

It’s sure to be a weekend of family, freedom and fun!

For inclement weather announcements regarding the fireworks display call 972-941-PARK or tune to KLAK 97.5 FM.

Have a safe and happy 4th of July!!!

GO FLY A KITE!

What could be more fun than flying a kite on a windy day! Below you will find some great tips and how to information that could make flying a kite a great idea this summer. Take a look and go grab your family and friends and enjoy this great summertime activity!

1. Find a buddy to help you get the kite into the air.

2. You should hold the ball of string and have your buddy hold the kite or vice versa. The kite should be facing you and the wind.

3. Unwind about 30 yards (23 meters) of string.

4. Signal to your buddy to release the kite. You should pull on the string to launch your kite into the air.

5. Pay attention to the wind direction, here is a diagram:

- Suppose that "I" is you and "U" is the other person holding the kite
- Wind is blowing this direction: I ------------------------------------> U
- "I" stands on one end (with the string) ----> "U" stands other end (with the kite)

6. Make sure the wind is going in a straight line from you to the other person.

7. To allow the kite to go higher, release length of string.

8. To lower the kite, simply pull in the string.

TIPS:

It is best to fly a kite in an open field, such as a soccer field or a grassy field since it is wide open.

The best place to do this is on the beach/standing near a lake. Since out on the ocean there is nothing to block or divert the wind, it would make a better kite flying area.

To prevent a kite from crashing:

If there is very little wind, run (careful, watch where you are going), remove kite tails and anything that cause additional drag on the kite and try to make your kite as light as possible.

Also, if your kite is going downwards, make the kite's point in up direction(by releasing the string slowly) and pull the string as fast as you can.

If there is plenty of wind the try the following: tug the line(string) with a pumping motion, let out more line...this works great if you are in a "dive bomb" and can help to recover from that, and if you already crashed consider putting a tail, frayed trailing edge or something to create drag on the kite. This will add stability especially in high wind.

WARNINGS:

Avoid flying a kite on a road or anywhere near an electrical wire pole or trees, as a kite needs lots of space and moves around a lot on its way up and down.

Do not fly kites during lightning storms.

Wildflower! Arts & Music Festival

Looking for something fun to do with the family this weekend? Check out Wildflower! Richardson's Arts & Music Festival May 14-16, 2010.

Wildflower! is an award-winning, multi-day eclectic arts and music festival that draws over 70,000 attendees each year. They are celebrating their 18th anniversary this year!

For more information visit their website here:

http://www.wildflowerfestival.com/Homepage.html

Spring 2010

Welcome to the new Fairfax Meadows Homeowner's Association website.

We hope this website will provide you with valuable information as well as a forum for discussions on ways to improve our neighborhood and bring us together as a community.

We plan to post often with information regarding our neighborhood such as Yard of the Month winners, HOA meetings, helpful homeowner articles as well as community happenings. Please feel free to send an email to fairfaxmeadowshoa@gmail.com with any ideas or information you would like to see here on the website. This could include anything from a lost pet or a wild animal sighting (coyote, fox) to your teens babysitting or lawn mowing services.

Have a great spring everyone and let's keep our neighborhood looking GREAT! Let's keep our lawns mowed and watered on a regular basis and our flowerbeds clean of any overgrowth etc. Please remember to always clean up your grass and shrub clippings. Let's also make a concerted effort to pick up any garbage that may find its way into our yards and/or neighborhood. Keeping our neighborhood looking its best benefits us all when it comes to property values!

Remember to check back often for news and announcements!


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Lawn Watering Tips from The Lawn Doctor



Look for early signs of wilt and dehydration to determine when your lawn needs water. Common indicators include a bluish-green color, curling grass blades and footprints that remain on the lawn.

Most lawns require about an inch of water per week. If you’re unsure of how long to water, put a mark one inch from the bottom of several plastic containers and spread them around the watering zone. Clock the time it takes to reach the one-inch mark and water for that length of time in the future.

Water may be applied any time of day, but morning is usually the most efficient time for watering your lawn because that is when the least amount of water is lost to evaporation and wind drift.

Always follow any lawn watering restrictions in your area during a drought. A drought can be tough on your landscape as well as the environment, causing extensive damage to land and livelihoods. Since droughts affect everyone equally, it is crucial that we respect our environment by making an effort to conserve water.

Prevent runoff and waste by closely monitoring your lawn watering and direct sprinklers away from sidewalks and streets.

During short droughts, if the grass is still growing, mow on the high side to help shade the roots and water less frequently, but long enough to encourage a strong, deep root system.

Watering your lawn just a little bit can cause grassy weeds to grow.

Reconsider your landscape by grouping plants and shrubs with similar water requirements to prevent wasting water and also by planting drought-tolerant and pest-resistant species of grass, trees and shrubs.

If you’re having drainage problems, fill in any low spots or depressions in your lawn and grade slopes so water drains away from the house and its foundation. If you’re still having drainage problems, consider installing a drain tile.

Lots of wet weather often causes the growth of mushrooms, which work to break down old organic matter in the soil. Mushrooms are not harmful, so you can mow them down if you like.

However, if mushrooms grow in a circle, with a center of dark green grass, it is called a Fairy Ring. This can be harmful to your lawn, as the grass within the Fairy Ring may die as they both compete for water.

Moss and algae are caused by poor drainage or too much shade. Moss may be controlled by raking, but your local lawn professional can help you treat these two conditions as well. Ultimately, these problems will continue until the drainage or shade issues are addressed.