The Ice Cream Social and Annual Meeting was held on Sunday, July 14, 2024, 2-4pm at the Cul de Sac of 345 Brae Burn Drive. Below is the update that was given by Therese Bauer, the HOA President.
It’s great to see you here at the Ice Cream Social and Annual Meeting! Thank you for coming.
Today serves as our Annual Meeting and the Board will share updates, accomplishments, future projects and hold elections.
Our HOA is made up of neighbors, that’s all of us. We all manage the trails, host events, and maintain our bylaws.
September 2023: Ice Cream Social; 60 people attending.
October 2023: Trail Work Party; 22 members coming out to clear the trail of downed debris. These trail events are crucial, as we have an annual trail maintenance budget, and with dues being only $96 a year, per household, we will never have enough to address all the work we need annually.
November 2023: Sperry Tree Care, Certified Arborist, was retained to walk the trails and give an assessment of the state of trees along the trails and common areas.
December 2023: A third party tree care service was retained to address the trees of concern, per Sperry, including load reduction, dead, dying, leaning, and hazardous trees.
January 2024: Google form for logging your Volunteer hours created by our web support volunteer; this information may be used future forward for grant applications. Since January 1, 2024, 68 hours have been logged (this number is low, as not everyone logs their time). These hours are mostly from our spectacular members that have been on the trails working to clear downed debris and fire fuel, as well as working on blackberry and ivy control, website development, management, Welcome Wagon, etc. The hours do not include normal board member meeting obligations.
February 2024: Post Storm Trail Work Party to cleanup downed debris; 10 members participating.
Spring/Summer 2024: New metal trailhead signs were purchased and installed. These replaced the aged and decaying wood signs we had, and the new ones will last for many years. There are a few more signs to install, as some have wooden posts that have disintegrated or need a post all together. We are looking for a member volunteer to dig a few holes, pour concrete and erect a few remaining signs. **After the meeting, member Eldon Fox volunteered to complete this project! Thanks, Eldon!
Summer 2024: The EWPA Welcome Wagon has reformed! It is being spearheaded by board member Shannon Van Cleave. She has recruited a committee and is always looking for people interested in helping out.
We have increased communications with and between members via in-person contact, informational postcards, website awareness and trailwork events. The very best way to contact the board is through the website using the Contact Us link. If you ever hear of a neighbor that has a question, please direct them to the website.
Minor bridge repairs from the December/January storms. A few handrails were damaged and will be repaired.
The two boardwalk bridges up at the end of the Brae Burn Loop trail will be removed and replaced with new bridges. The loop up above those is made of concrete and it also will be removed, to be resurfaced to be consistent with the rest of our trails, using hard packed gravel with round wood edging. This project was identified 10 years ago by the Board that was in place as being needed for replacement. The funds have been earmarked for this project over the past 10 years.
A short segment of trail (127’ worth,) in between 4207 and 4235 Brae Burn will be replaced, removing older concrete and again, be resurfaced using the gravel and round log edging.
Our ongoing efforts in building community and neighborhood involvement with trail upkeep will continue.
First let me say, Thank You to all the volunteers present here today that have already devoted time to maintaining the trails here in our little forested, Slice of Paradise! You are so appreciated and our trails look more amazing all the time and your commitment to keep them safe for all shows!
First, the biggest thing needed is that we ALL need to walk the trails! This has to be year round. Feet on the trails are necessary so concerns, ideas and basic maintenance can be addressed.
Please share with the neighbors around you that when they walk the trails and see dead debris (i.e. limbs, branches, encroaching blackberry brambles, ivy around trees, and any dry dead grasses), we encourage them to haul out what they are able to. If you find your gray yard debris bin is empty, pick up a pile of debris from the trail and put it in your bin.
If you cannot physically haul debris out to a trailhead, leave it in a nice pile and let the Board know (through the Contact Us form.)
If we all pitch in just a few extra minutes per walk, we are contributing greatly to the big picture. This aids in keeping our costs down when we hire our maintenance crew to come out for basic maintenance needs.
Reminder, our bylaws state members may not build fences or structures that encroach on common areas. Please contact us if you need help with identifying the boundary between your property and a common area.
It is fire season! Even here in the EWPA HOA, we are not exempt from wildfire. The above call for your trail assistance is for 365 days a year!!!!! In addition to the common areas, it is important that all of our homes are safe.
Covid has changed a lot for all of us and you will notice that around our neighborhood there has been an increase of roofs and gutters covered and full of dead pine needles and leaves. We see an increase in dry, dead, tall grasses and weeds covering the yards of homes and growing on curbs and sidewalks. A fire safety handout was given to everyone here today with six bullet points of what you can do now to increase your defensible space and keep your neighbors safe. A spark is all we need to have a major disaster.
Click here to see the handout taken from the City of Eugene’s Wildland-Urban Interface webpage.
Per the city of Eugene it is the homeowners responsibility to keep the sidewalks clear of tripping hazards and any debris. It is not the responsibility of the City.
Elections happen annually at the Annual Meeting. As you all know from the email you received a few weeks ago, the Board asked for nominees to fill two open Board positions. We received two nominations prior to the deadline: Sarah Fox and Cooper Harless, both of whom live on Brae Burn Drive.
The Fall Trail Party is scheduled for Saturday, October 19!
Well, that’s the recap! We look forward to a great year ahead!
Sincerely,
Therese Bauer
EWPA President, edgewoodwestparkassociation@gmail.com