Barrington Ridge HOA

New mowers will be out today (and tomorrow if necessary) mowing our lawns. The weather has not allowed a regular schedule for our mowing and with the fertilizer that was put down last fall and earlier this spring, the grass has taken off. We have a new company in place but with the grass as high as it is, it will probably take a couple of mowings before they can get things under control. We are going to try mowing on an 'as needed' basis for the next few weeks, so the lawns may actually get mowed twice in one week but hopefully this will get the lawns back in shape and keep them looking nice. The mulch was scheduled to be put down this week but with the weather and getting the mowing caught up, they are going to wait until next week to bring the mulch in. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work to get a new company in place.

The Historic Downtown Liberty Farmer's Market re-opened this past Saturday, May 2nd. The market is open every Saturday morning at 7 AM to Noon from May through October. Stop by the market to experience the freshness of locally grown produce, flowers, plants, baked goods, eggs, cheeses, prepared food items, handmade crafts, and homemade jams and jellies. There's something for everyone! Vendors are located on all four sides of the historic Liberty, Missouri square. Support your local farmers and merchants!

Several homeowners have expressed interest in having rock installed in the shrub beds at the front of our homes instead of mulch. We have obtained pricing for this but it is not economically feasible to do at this time so mulch will be used again this year. Hunter is scheduling the mulch to go in the week of May 13th if the weather permits. Owners who wish to install rock themselves around their shrubs may do so. Any owners who do not want mulch put in their shrub bed, should contact Hunter Residential no later than Friday, May 8th.

If you have circumstances that prohibit you from making your HOA payments on time, please call Hunter Residential's office and make arrangements with them as quickly as possible. If you wait until you are 2 months behind, you will be charged the attorney's fee for sending you a payment letter in addition to the dues.

One final reminder about the homeowner's insurance. The blanket policy on the villa properties expired on April 20, 2009, so each homeowner should have their own policy in place by now.

We should have the final prices on landscaping rock this week and will determine if it will be cost effective to use instead of the mulch around the shrubs at the front of each home. The second treatment to the lawns will take place on Tuesday, April 28th but since they are calling for rain the rest of the week, they may not be able to mow this week. There are a few yards that seem to be experiencing some water drainage problems coming from their sump pump lines. This should have been an issue that each homeowner addressed with McBride while the house was under warranty. If you did contact McBride and the problem has still not been fixed, please contact them again so this can be resolved. If you did not contact McBride while your home was under warranty, it will now be your responsibility to fix. The mowers cannot mow where there is standing water without damaging the lawns so these issues need to be addressed as soon as possible. If you have any questions about your lawn, please contact Terry at Hunter.

Our mowing was scheduled to start this Thursday but since they are calling for rain again on Thursday, the mowers are going to try to mow either Tuesday or Wednesday of this week rather than put it off another whole week. Please be sure all personal belongings, (garden hoses, sprinklers, dog toys, chairs, etc.) are picked up prior to the mowing. At this time, we are not sure which day the mowers will be here. If the mowers are out on Wednesday, please try to place your garbage bags and recycle bins on the edge of your driveways so the mowers do not have to move these items to mow.

With the crazy weather we have been having all winter and so far this spring, it is really hard to get in the mood for spring cleaning but it is that time of year. To help get rid of those items around your house that you are no longer using, we have scheduled our annual community yard sale for Saturday, May 16, 2009 from 8 AM to 4 PM. We will be advertising in the local newspaper. If you wish to participate, just set your items out in your driveway or garage that day. Of course, if you don't have anything to sell, please feel free to check out the items that your neighbors have for sale!

We had planned for mowing to start this week but the weather is not cooperating with us. There are several areas where we have standing water in the lawns and that was before today's rain. The mowing should start next week and will be done on Thursdays as long as the weather permits. Terry and the mowing company were out on the properties this week surveying for property damage before the mowing gets started. There was a lot of confusion last year about what the mowers did and what damage was already there. We didn't want that to happen again this year. Please remember to be sure that all personal items are picked up from your lawns on mowing days. If you do encounter any problems, please be sure to contact Terry at Hunter (816-926-9949) as soon as possible.

The spring fertilizing for the villa homes will begin this next week on Monday and/or Tuesday (March 16th & 17th). Our complete lawn care schedule will be mailed out in our newsletter this next week. Mowing will be done this year on Thursdays if the weather is permitting. Please be sure that garden hoses and other miscellaneous items in your yards are picked up on mowing days. Thanks to everyone for helping keep our community looking great!

Thanks to everyone who came to our annual meeting last evening! We had a great turnout. For those who did not attend, a packet will be mailed out to you this next week that will include our new Indentures which will replace the old one you currently have, a budget breakdown showing where our money is being spent, and a new Architectural Modification Request form to be used if you want to make any exterior changes to your home or to your yard. Everyone will be receiving a notice with our new monthly dues that will be effective on May 1, 2009.

We also elected a new Board member to take Laura Cavazos place since she has sold her house and moved. Our new Board member is Deb Madison. Last year our board members were elected with staggered terms but from now on at each annual meeting, the newly elected board member will serve a three year term. This will prevent the Board from ever having all new members at one time. We are sorry to lose Laura and wish her the very best and are excited to have Deb on the Board.

Everyone who came to the meeting got to meet Terry Langford with Hunter Residential, our new property management company. They are doing a super job for us thus far and we are looking forward to working with them. Please remember that if you have any questions, suggestions or concerns, please contact Terry. If he is unable to handle the matter for you, he will contact the Board to get the matter resolved but we would like to have everything go through his office if at all possible. His phone number is 816-926-9949 or you can email him at Terry@HunterResidential.com.

There seems to be a little confusion about our monthly and annual dues. We have a number of people who are behind in getting dues into Terry's office and some people are not sending in the correct amount. The villa homes pay a monthly fee of $100 and everyone pays the annual fee of $160. The annual fee for this year was due on January 1st and is now past due. The monthly fees are $100 and are due on the first of each month and late if not paid by the 15th of each month. We have not charged a late fee if the dues were not paid on time but we are starting a new process. If your payment is not received by the 15th of that month, a reminder letter/postcard will be sent to you. If the payment is not received by the 15th of the second month, your account will be turned over to our attorney who will begin the process of filing a lien on your property. At that time, there will be a $100 attorney's fee that the homeowner will be responsible to pay in addition to the outstanding fees that are owed. The attorney will send a letter out to the owner giving them 30 days to respond, at which time a lien will be placed on the property if fees are not brought current. The owner will then be responsible for paying all lien filing fees as well as the attorney's fees. This can get quite expensive and we certainly hope it will not be necessary to do. If you have situations arise that will delay your dues being paid on time, please contact Terry and let him know when he can expect your payments so we can avoid having to contact attorneys and file liens.

With Terry handling our management, it is no longer necessary for the Board to meet monthly so we will be holding quarterly meetings now. We will also be sending out a quarterly newsletter to homeowners. If you have an email address and would prefer to receive your newsletter via email, please let Terry know this or click on the 'contact' at the top of this site and let us know what email address you want us to use. Most if not all items in the newsletter will also be posted here on the website.

We appreciate everyone's patience and understanding this past year as we worked to get our association organized and accounted for. We are looking forward to a great year and everyone's continued cooperation to make this a great community to live in.

Just a few reminders for everyone. Our annual meeting is coming up on February 26th at 6:30 PM at the Liberty Community Center. The main item on the agenda is the election of a new officer to the Board of Directors. Laura Cavazos is moving from the development so will not be running for re-election to the Board. We need to vote on a replacement for her. The term for this position will be three years. If you are interested in having your name put on the ballot, please contact Terry Langsford at Hunter Residential. If you will not be able to attend the meeting, please fill out your proxy with the name of a friend or neighbor who will be able to attend the meeting to vote for you. You may also assign your proxy to one of the Board members. Please note that proxies must be received by February 24th to be valid. They can be mailed to Hunter Residential or given to one of the Board members. An additional note, anyone who is behind on their dues cannot hold an office or vote on any items at our annual meeting. Please be sure all dues and fees are current before the meeting.

We have received phone calls about trash in our area. The weather has been rather windy on our trash days the past couple of weeks. All trash is supposed to be in closed plastic bags before put at the curb and is not supposed to be put out before 6 PM the evening before our trash day but since we have wild animals in the area, we are recommending that trash not go out until the day of collection. These animals are breaking open the plastic bags looking for food and the trash is being spread throughout the neighborhood. Also, if you put a recycle bin out, please be sure that the items are weighted down so they won't blow out of the bins before the collection trucks arrive. A special thanks goes out to Rose Daughtery's son for going through the neighborhood picking up trash and recycle materials that had blown out. We certainly appreciate him taking the time to do this. One last reminder...if a holiday falls on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, our trash will not be picked up on Wednesday that week but rather on Thursday. A lot of people have still been putting their trash out and it sits on the street a whole extra day. Please help us keep our neighborhood clean!