Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Water Main Break
Rainier View is currently working to fix a water main break. Grand Firs may experience low water pressure or sporadic outages until it is fixed. There is no estimate on when the main will b repaired.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Gate Timer Changed
As of today, the gate will be open during the following hours:
Monday-Friday: 9am-6pm (construction hours)
Saturday-Sunday: 11am-5pm (realtor hours)
Also, I've taken over the gate programming from Chris. If you have any programming questions or needs please email me (Mandy) at grandfirs@hotmail.com
Monday-Friday: 9am-6pm (construction hours)
Saturday-Sunday: 11am-5pm (realtor hours)
Also, I've taken over the gate programming from Chris. If you have any programming questions or needs please email me (Mandy) at grandfirs@hotmail.com
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Letter To Neighbors
The following is a letter written by Grand Firs resident Lisa Collier. She's asked me to publish it on the blog...
Dear Grand Firs Neighbors;
I am sending out an update to you regarding our gate situation. As most of you know by the polls that were sent out last week we are having some issues with this. Many rumors are flying and my hope is to share with you some of the things I have recently found out so we can all be on the same page and move forward.
I would not have become involved with this, at all, if I did not feel it was important. I will be the first to admit that I am coming in midstream. I did not attend the April meeting that Jim Ehnborn, Mark Jones and Michelle Spencer were present at, either by phone or in person, but have been made aware of some of the issues discussed and felt you need to know this as well. It is my understanding that this meeting did not go very well. We did not have attorney representation as we hoped to. The representative for the bank that owns the majority of the lots in here is not willing to talk to us any longer until he has spoken to their attorney. The reason I think it is important to tell you this is because it is an indicator that the bank is willing to take legal action against us and force us to keep the gate open. I don’t think any of us would care for the stress of being named in a law suit and because we are non-compliant they have the right to do this. We have been uncooperative in allowing the gates to be open during the day so workers, inspectors and potential buyers can have access to our development. The argument has been made that they can get an access code if they want it. This is an unrealistic approach in my opinion.
I also found out that the bank owning lots in phase two has hired an engineer to survey the streets in the development so they can get them converted to public streets. What this means is that we will not be able to have a gated community. No gates on public roads! Many of us bought in here liking the idea of a gated community. The upside of this happening is that we will not have to maintain the roads (less expense to us); we cannot be sued if someone gets hurt on the road and it will allow the Sheriff’s Dept. to come in here and take care of any unwanted vehicles or persons without having to get our permission.
Whether you agree or disagree with keeping the gates open, I am sad to say, is irrelevant. Before I get gobs of hate mail and you burn a cross on my lawn I will explain. Between the three lot owners in here (banks, builder and us) we have the least amount of voting power. Banks have the most. The banks and builder want the gates open during the day and if we do not show we are willing to work with them we may be really hurting ourselves in the long run. They have the legal right to request and have access to their lots. We do not have the legal right to deny them this. We have the least amount of say (voting power) in this development. I feel we need to comply now, before legal action is possibly brought against us. I don’t know if this will change their minds about converting the streets to public ones, but it does not hurt us to be more cooperative. I think the days of gates closed 24x7 worked when we were going through this rough patch, but things are changing and we are seeing some great things starting to happen. I hope we can come together as neighbors, stop the backlash that has been given to those who have tried to do what they felt was in our best interest. Again, no matter what your opinion is regarding the gates we do not have the right to keep them closed!
We finally are seeing some progression in this neighborhood and that is wonderful. With these changes I feel the time for fear and shortsightedness are over. The original idea behind the gate closure was to prevent vandalism, theft, etc., but I truly believe that will be taken care of if we fill this place up. The new builder starting in phase three is going to be putting in smaller first time homes. I will guarantee you that if one of those homes is vandalized we will see on-site security.
I know the idea of first time homes that are of a poorer quality than ours is upsetting to people, but remember the value of our homes is not going to be measured against these. We seem to have a great builder in phases one and two and by having a good working relationship with them my personal hope are that they can complete these phases with homes that are comparable to ours. Good news is that they have already raised their home prices twice and the plan is to put some beautiful “retirement” ramblers and homes with masters downstairs in here. These will be of a real benefit to this development.
Lastly, I just wanted to thank so many of you for the efforts you are making towards improving your homes by putting in fences, planting, weeding and keeping your lawns full and green. It looks so nice! I have been trying to negotiate some help with the development landscaping. The old saying is true…”You attract more flies with honey than vinegar”. Oops! Did I say flies?! Sorry, I think we all hope the days of flies are over!
I hope this has helped to keep you informed and helped you understand why we must keep the gates open during the day.
Thanks,
Lisa Collier
Dear Grand Firs Neighbors;
I am sending out an update to you regarding our gate situation. As most of you know by the polls that were sent out last week we are having some issues with this. Many rumors are flying and my hope is to share with you some of the things I have recently found out so we can all be on the same page and move forward.
I would not have become involved with this, at all, if I did not feel it was important. I will be the first to admit that I am coming in midstream. I did not attend the April meeting that Jim Ehnborn, Mark Jones and Michelle Spencer were present at, either by phone or in person, but have been made aware of some of the issues discussed and felt you need to know this as well. It is my understanding that this meeting did not go very well. We did not have attorney representation as we hoped to. The representative for the bank that owns the majority of the lots in here is not willing to talk to us any longer until he has spoken to their attorney. The reason I think it is important to tell you this is because it is an indicator that the bank is willing to take legal action against us and force us to keep the gate open. I don’t think any of us would care for the stress of being named in a law suit and because we are non-compliant they have the right to do this. We have been uncooperative in allowing the gates to be open during the day so workers, inspectors and potential buyers can have access to our development. The argument has been made that they can get an access code if they want it. This is an unrealistic approach in my opinion.
I also found out that the bank owning lots in phase two has hired an engineer to survey the streets in the development so they can get them converted to public streets. What this means is that we will not be able to have a gated community. No gates on public roads! Many of us bought in here liking the idea of a gated community. The upside of this happening is that we will not have to maintain the roads (less expense to us); we cannot be sued if someone gets hurt on the road and it will allow the Sheriff’s Dept. to come in here and take care of any unwanted vehicles or persons without having to get our permission.
Whether you agree or disagree with keeping the gates open, I am sad to say, is irrelevant. Before I get gobs of hate mail and you burn a cross on my lawn I will explain. Between the three lot owners in here (banks, builder and us) we have the least amount of voting power. Banks have the most. The banks and builder want the gates open during the day and if we do not show we are willing to work with them we may be really hurting ourselves in the long run. They have the legal right to request and have access to their lots. We do not have the legal right to deny them this. We have the least amount of say (voting power) in this development. I feel we need to comply now, before legal action is possibly brought against us. I don’t know if this will change their minds about converting the streets to public ones, but it does not hurt us to be more cooperative. I think the days of gates closed 24x7 worked when we were going through this rough patch, but things are changing and we are seeing some great things starting to happen. I hope we can come together as neighbors, stop the backlash that has been given to those who have tried to do what they felt was in our best interest. Again, no matter what your opinion is regarding the gates we do not have the right to keep them closed!
We finally are seeing some progression in this neighborhood and that is wonderful. With these changes I feel the time for fear and shortsightedness are over. The original idea behind the gate closure was to prevent vandalism, theft, etc., but I truly believe that will be taken care of if we fill this place up. The new builder starting in phase three is going to be putting in smaller first time homes. I will guarantee you that if one of those homes is vandalized we will see on-site security.
I know the idea of first time homes that are of a poorer quality than ours is upsetting to people, but remember the value of our homes is not going to be measured against these. We seem to have a great builder in phases one and two and by having a good working relationship with them my personal hope are that they can complete these phases with homes that are comparable to ours. Good news is that they have already raised their home prices twice and the plan is to put some beautiful “retirement” ramblers and homes with masters downstairs in here. These will be of a real benefit to this development.
Lastly, I just wanted to thank so many of you for the efforts you are making towards improving your homes by putting in fences, planting, weeding and keeping your lawns full and green. It looks so nice! I have been trying to negotiate some help with the development landscaping. The old saying is true…”You attract more flies with honey than vinegar”. Oops! Did I say flies?! Sorry, I think we all hope the days of flies are over!
I hope this has helped to keep you informed and helped you understand why we must keep the gates open during the day.
Thanks,
Lisa Collier
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Letter Regarding the Gate
Michelle has composed a letter and asked me to post it for the neighbors to read. It basically outlines the facts related to our gate. It will be sent to those who have a stake in Grand Firs (the banks, Mahan's team, Renaissance Homes, etc.). Jim asked to add a few comments at the end.
Hello everyone,
I am just writing to address a situation that happened in our community recently. Jim Ehnborn received a call the other day that someone was cutting the lock off the control box to our gate. By the time he got there, the lock had been cut and the control box was manipulated to have the gate open 24/7, and then a new lock was placed on the box.
For a little background on this situation...On January 11th, Jim Seldon sent me an email and agreed to let myself or Jim Ehnborn pick up the software to run the gate, with the stipulation that we kept a code for the realtors. Mandy and Chris Johnson agreed graciously to volunteer their time and effort to get our gate running again. Several homoewners came together and repaired the gate and purchased parts at their own cost to fix it. At that time, the only parties in this development were Michael Mastro, all the individual homeowners (Grand Firs Alliance), Winterwood Green and Washington Federal. We conducted several community meetings in which everyone was notified and invited to come. A vote was taken of those in attendance. We all wished to have the gates closed for our own protection. There was vandalism, car thefts, drug crimes, prostitution and drunk drivers coming through our neighborhood at all hours of the day, and we had had enough of it.
I think it is no secret that there is some disagreement within this community about when the gates should be open and who should be allowed to use them, however, this is a community wide decision. One person alone cannot make this decision, nor should anyone feel that one person has maintained control and not taken the consideration of others into mind, as everyone was given an opportunity to attend the meeting.
We will be conducting another meeting soon (notices will go out in accordance with the RCW's in place by the State of Washington). If you wish to have a say and a vote on what happens then show up, and we'll talk about it. Until that time, please leave the gates alone and know that the next time this happens authorities will be called.
This is a community full of hardworking individuals that are truly worried about their investments. We all came into Grand Firs being sold on the idea that we were going to have an upscale neighborhood and we bought into that. We are now faced with a changing neighborhood and people making decisions for us that are not in our best interest.
We need to be able to work together knowing that we need a safe place to live balanced with the need to sell and build homes. Let's not destroy our own community. Let's instead make it into a model community where people would be proud to live or purchase a home. The poor decisions made by one person have now inspired anger and hatred, and this will make this an even tougher fight to come together as a whole.
Thank you,
Michelle Spencer
Jim Ehnborn asked to add a few comments as well...
Jim Ehnborn has worked with the Tacoma Power electrical inspector over the past several months regarding the stealing of over 2 miles of the underground streetlight wiring in Phase 3. They had several on site meetings and exchanged numerous e-mails. The electrical inspector said that the thieves turn off the power at the circuit breakers before stealing the wiring and then turn the power back on. The thieves’ eventually stole the wire from the transformer to the circuit breaker box. The electrical inspector said that leaving the power on and locking the circuit breaker boxes may help control the problem. The inspector gave Jim Ehnborn the authority to lock the electrical circuit breaker boxes.
Did the man in the black Cadillac turn off the power in enable the thieves to steal more wire, rob houses on the dark streets or harm the residents?
It is a very arrogant, self centered individual that would trespass and break into a locked circuit breaker box by cutting the lock, turn off all of the power to the main gates and street lights on 231st and then install their own lock. The person did not turn on the power on the evenings for the street lights or gates on either April 19th or 20th to protect our community. The person has no concern about jeopardizing the safety and security of all of the residences of Grand Firs.
I have a zero tolerance for this type of behavior. I want the gates closed 24 x 7. I have filed a complaint with the Pierce County Sheriff.
Jim Ehnborn
Hello everyone,
I am just writing to address a situation that happened in our community recently. Jim Ehnborn received a call the other day that someone was cutting the lock off the control box to our gate. By the time he got there, the lock had been cut and the control box was manipulated to have the gate open 24/7, and then a new lock was placed on the box.
For a little background on this situation...On January 11th, Jim Seldon sent me an email and agreed to let myself or Jim Ehnborn pick up the software to run the gate, with the stipulation that we kept a code for the realtors. Mandy and Chris Johnson agreed graciously to volunteer their time and effort to get our gate running again. Several homoewners came together and repaired the gate and purchased parts at their own cost to fix it. At that time, the only parties in this development were Michael Mastro, all the individual homeowners (Grand Firs Alliance), Winterwood Green and Washington Federal. We conducted several community meetings in which everyone was notified and invited to come. A vote was taken of those in attendance. We all wished to have the gates closed for our own protection. There was vandalism, car thefts, drug crimes, prostitution and drunk drivers coming through our neighborhood at all hours of the day, and we had had enough of it.
I think it is no secret that there is some disagreement within this community about when the gates should be open and who should be allowed to use them, however, this is a community wide decision. One person alone cannot make this decision, nor should anyone feel that one person has maintained control and not taken the consideration of others into mind, as everyone was given an opportunity to attend the meeting.
We will be conducting another meeting soon (notices will go out in accordance with the RCW's in place by the State of Washington). If you wish to have a say and a vote on what happens then show up, and we'll talk about it. Until that time, please leave the gates alone and know that the next time this happens authorities will be called.
This is a community full of hardworking individuals that are truly worried about their investments. We all came into Grand Firs being sold on the idea that we were going to have an upscale neighborhood and we bought into that. We are now faced with a changing neighborhood and people making decisions for us that are not in our best interest.
We need to be able to work together knowing that we need a safe place to live balanced with the need to sell and build homes. Let's not destroy our own community. Let's instead make it into a model community where people would be proud to live or purchase a home. The poor decisions made by one person have now inspired anger and hatred, and this will make this an even tougher fight to come together as a whole.
Thank you,
Michelle Spencer
Jim Ehnborn asked to add a few comments as well...
Jim Ehnborn has worked with the Tacoma Power electrical inspector over the past several months regarding the stealing of over 2 miles of the underground streetlight wiring in Phase 3. They had several on site meetings and exchanged numerous e-mails. The electrical inspector said that the thieves turn off the power at the circuit breakers before stealing the wiring and then turn the power back on. The thieves’ eventually stole the wire from the transformer to the circuit breaker box. The electrical inspector said that leaving the power on and locking the circuit breaker boxes may help control the problem. The inspector gave Jim Ehnborn the authority to lock the electrical circuit breaker boxes.
Did the man in the black Cadillac turn off the power in enable the thieves to steal more wire, rob houses on the dark streets or harm the residents?
It is a very arrogant, self centered individual that would trespass and break into a locked circuit breaker box by cutting the lock, turn off all of the power to the main gates and street lights on 231st and then install their own lock. The person did not turn on the power on the evenings for the street lights or gates on either April 19th or 20th to protect our community. The person has no concern about jeopardizing the safety and security of all of the residences of Grand Firs.
I have a zero tolerance for this type of behavior. I want the gates closed 24 x 7. I have filed a complaint with the Pierce County Sheriff.
Jim Ehnborn
Gate Box Broken Into
On Monday, April 20 at approximately 3:45pm, a white male around age 30 was seen breaking into the electrical box at our north gate. He was driving a black Cadillac sedan with nice rims. He used a pair of bolt cutters to break the lock, shut the electricity off to the gate, and replaced the lock with one of his own. This was all witnessed by a neighbor. Our gates were open for two nights because I didn't realize the power had been shut off.
We removed that lock, turned the breakers back on, and placed a new lock on the box. (This idiot isn't the only one who knows how to use bolt cutters.)
At this time, we have no idea who is responsible. I'm sure we can all come up with our own ideas.
If this person was arrogant enough to pull this off in broad daylight, I wouldn't put it past him or one of his buddies to come back and try it again. If you see anything suspicious, please gather as much information as you can and call the police.
We removed that lock, turned the breakers back on, and placed a new lock on the box. (This idiot isn't the only one who knows how to use bolt cutters.)
At this time, we have no idea who is responsible. I'm sure we can all come up with our own ideas.
If this person was arrogant enough to pull this off in broad daylight, I wouldn't put it past him or one of his buddies to come back and try it again. If you see anything suspicious, please gather as much information as you can and call the police.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Update: Landscaping
Grand Firs owes A-Plus landscape company over $30,000. As of now, there are no plans for them to come after our neighborhood for the balance.
We plan on getting landscape bids soon. We obviously don't have money to hire anyone right now but would like to add the figures into our budget for when we are able to take the HOA over.
We plan on getting landscape bids soon. We obviously don't have money to hire anyone right now but would like to add the figures into our budget for when we are able to take the HOA over.
Update: Tacoma Power
A lot has been happening in our neighborhood lately. I apologize about being a little slow to pass this information along. Look for several new posts in the next few days.
Issues regarding Tacoma Power: They've threatened several times to shut our power off. Thankfully, Jim has been able to work with them to keep that from happening (for now at least). There has been a discrepancy in which laws are to be followed when it comes to the money they are owed. Tacoma Power believes they are to adhere to state law (which would be in their favor), but we believe they are to adhere to federal law (which would be in our favor). Jim has been in contact with their legal team and is trying to work out a solution. For now, it's looking like each homeowner may be responsible for a small portion of the outstanding bill (about $9.48 for each home), and the banks will be responsible for the rest. In all, Tacoma Power is stating that Grand Firs owes over $3600.
Issues regarding Tacoma Power: They've threatened several times to shut our power off. Thankfully, Jim has been able to work with them to keep that from happening (for now at least). There has been a discrepancy in which laws are to be followed when it comes to the money they are owed. Tacoma Power believes they are to adhere to state law (which would be in their favor), but we believe they are to adhere to federal law (which would be in our favor). Jim has been in contact with their legal team and is trying to work out a solution. For now, it's looking like each homeowner may be responsible for a small portion of the outstanding bill (about $9.48 for each home), and the banks will be responsible for the rest. In all, Tacoma Power is stating that Grand Firs owes over $3600.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Thank You
This is a couple weeks overdue, but it's better to be late than never. A handful of neighbors recently spent several hours cleaning up the common area along 231st. They cleaned up debris, mowed, etc. and it looks wonderful.
Lee and Trudy (and kids), Pat, Lisa, Mike (and son).... thank you so much for the hard work. If I'm leaving anyone out, I'm really sorry.
Luckily we've had a cold spring which has kept the grass growth slow. However, as the temperature starts to warm up, we're going to need to get a group together to handle our landscaping for this year (or until we get control of the HOA and can hire a landscape crew).
Any volunteers to help get something together?
Lee and Trudy (and kids), Pat, Lisa, Mike (and son).... thank you so much for the hard work. If I'm leaving anyone out, I'm really sorry.
Luckily we've had a cold spring which has kept the grass growth slow. However, as the temperature starts to warm up, we're going to need to get a group together to handle our landscaping for this year (or until we get control of the HOA and can hire a landscape crew).
Any volunteers to help get something together?
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Community Garage Sale - This Weekend
Just a quick reminder that this weekend several neighbors in Grand Firs will be holding garage sales (Friday-Saturday, 9am-4pm). The gates will be open both days.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Recent Central Park Damage
Well...here we go again! The park play system has been vandalised, and who ever did it was able to pull eight or so wooden planks off of one of the platforms used to climb up to the slide and monkey bars. I was able to see first hand all of the damage done, after seeing some of the kids at the park running and chasing one another with these planks. Let me just add how dangerous this is, considering each piece of wood has 4 or so screws sticking out both ends.
Just a reminder for parents whose children frequent the neighborhood parks...PLEASE inform your kids that breaking things maliciously is NEVER okay, and if they are caught doing so...parents will be notified immediately. So, a heads up to all the neighborhood parents...there is wood, and nails thrown about at the park. To avoid your children from a potentially serious injury...advise them to just leave them alone, and to avoid the kids who think it's a good idea to swing them at one another.
Some children doing the damage were caught in the act by a couple of neighbors, but I believe are just trying to figure out where they live.
Just a reminder for parents whose children frequent the neighborhood parks...PLEASE inform your kids that breaking things maliciously is NEVER okay, and if they are caught doing so...parents will be notified immediately. So, a heads up to all the neighborhood parents...there is wood, and nails thrown about at the park. To avoid your children from a potentially serious injury...advise them to just leave them alone, and to avoid the kids who think it's a good idea to swing them at one another.
Some children doing the damage were caught in the act by a couple of neighbors, but I believe are just trying to figure out where they live.
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