Greetings, all,
We hope everyone has started off to a great new year. Since our annual meeting back in September, the HOA Board has been hard at work. We have two new officers: myself, Patrick Trant, as the new President, and Jolene Kaufman as our new Secretary. In addition, last month, Travis Rakestraw decided to step down as the Zone 5 Representative and Keith Stutzman was appointed as his replacement.
One of the things we immediately wanted to implement was a website to host information about the HOA. This is now up and running at http://www.rainbowlakes3.com/. We’re very excited about this, as it has a lot of useful information, such as our Bylaws and Covenants. In addition, we’ll be posting our monthly Meeting Minutes and any other important announcements on the website going forward. For the latter, those will also be sent out to this distribution list. Lastly, the website also has a contact form so any HOA member can send questions or concerns to the HOA Board for review.
As noted in the email everyone should have received when I added each member to this distribution list, we’ve switched to using Google Groups as our method of contact for the HOA. We were previously using Constant Contact, and while it served its purpose well, we were also having to pay $15 a month for it while Google Groups works just as well and is free. There is also a page on our website about this so that members can manually sign up as needed.
Lastly, and most importantly, we’re also looking at a major maintenance project for our lake (Reserve A). As noted now if you look at it, the water level is already very low and during a summer drought, this can be a huge concern. We’re evaluating our options for getting a well setup to regulate the water level. Steve Cooper has been in talks with Harp Well & Pump Service and Ground Water Associates regarding this project and both companies are highly experienced in this type of project. The process is quite involved and requires applying for a permit, which is reviewed by the state to ensure there is a negligible impact on the surrounding water tables. It typically takes several months before the permit is approved. Based upon our initial discussions with Ground Water Associates, who reviewed the metrics in our area, there should be ample water, especially for the amount we would need. Specifically, we only need about 12 acre feet to maintain the lake and there is about 443 available in the water table, so this would have a minimal, if any, impact on individual members’ wells. At our January board meeting, the HOA Board voted to hire Ground Water Associates to assist us in completing the application for the permit, which can cost up to $1250. If the permit is approved by the state and we decide to proceed with the well and pump, we would be hiring Harp to do the work, which would cost around $10,000. The HOA has enough funds on hand to pay for this without needing a special assessment. This maintenance project is important and maintains the lake, not only as a vista, but also for the wildlife it supports. Specifically, if the water level gets too low, it can result in a fish kill, which can be costly to clean up. Overall, we feel this preventive measure will pay for itself in the long run and many other HOAs in our area have already done this, such as Fontana, Reflection Ridge, and the Thickets. If anyone has any questions or concerns regarding this project, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
We’re continuing to work on other projects for the HOA as well, but wanted to send out this update. We highly recommend everyone visit the website and to reach out to us with any other feedback they may have.
Patrick Trant, President
Rainbow Lakes West Third Addition HOA Board
I agree that $11,250 is acceptable to preserve the area wildlife and protect the investment of fish in the lake that was recently made. That being stated, it would be equally necessary to extend the concrete barricade along 135th St W in order to insure the safety of the Rainbow Lakes’ families left unprotected at this time. Logically, there would be no reason to address this matter until the road remodeling that is currently active along 135th St is complete. However, for those who do not directly benefit from a view of the lake, an obstructed view of 135th St would provide not only an asset for the Rainbow Lakes community, but would also reveal a committed resolve by the Board to ensure that all Rainbow Lakes’ members and their properties are equally valued.
Thank you for taking the time to bring this to our attention. I can bring up the issue to the board, but will note that such a project like this would require HOA approval and potentially a special assessment to cover the costs. The HOA board is only authorized to act independently on maintenance projects and anything past that we have to bring before the entire HOA to vote on.