January 2009

Best wishes for the New Year to you and your families, all 2500 of us.  Your HOA continues to look for ways of improving our beautiful neighborhood. Construction on the new HOA office building has begun.  Street repairs are about to start. After fire destroyed a home on January 1, we have met repeatedly and at length with the San Antonio Fire Department. TXDoT promises our underpass will be completed in early March and the new westbound Dominion Drive exit should be ready by June this year. All builders have to be credentialed effective March 1, 2009.

January 2009 Newsletter - Topics
- New HOA Office
- Construction on IH-10
- Fire on Tuscany Court
- External Affairs
- Credentialing Process for Builders
- HOA Board Elections in April

In addition to the newsletter you can always get information at our regularly updated website:
http://www.dominionhoa.com

New HOA Office
Construction on the new HOA office building has begun. Billie-Kite Howlett and her committee worked tirelessly to design a good-looking yet economical and functional building. Now they will help oversee construction. We hope you will be proud and happy when we move into the new building later this year. This is how it will look:

Construction on IH-10
After a hiatus due to faulty materials, construction has continued apace. TXDoT announced the Dominion Drive underpass will be completed in early March.  At first there will be only 4-way stop signs at “our” intersection, no traffic lights. Ultimately the access roads on both sides between Camp Bullis Road and Dominion Drive will be one-way. Both access roads from Dominion Drive on outward will continue to carry two-way traffic for the foreseeable future.

Stonewall Ranch, the development across the highway from us, has expressed their intent to build a new road that will intersect the access road directly across from Dominion Drive.  When that happens, our intersection will suddenly become much busier. TXDoT promised to monitor traffic density at regular intervals and install traffic lights when warranted.

The Camp Bullis Road project includes all the work around re-configuring that intersection, the bridges, and new entrances and exits to be built between Dominion Drive and Camp Bullis Road.  The good news is that TXDoT promised us a brand-new westbound exit for Dominion Drive ready for use by June 2009. That means no more waiting at the Camp Bullis Traffic light on the way home from the city. The bad news is that the east-bound entrance to IH-10 will not be ready till late 2010.

Fire on Tuscany Court
On the evening of January 1, the Russell family on Tuscany Court discovered that their attic was on fire and called 911. The first fire fighters arrived 13 minutes after the 911 call, followed by a second unit 1 1/2 minutes later, and a third one another minute after that. “Our” fire fighters from across IH-10 had been called out to a traffic accident on the highway and were the 5th unit to come to the rescue, 20 minutes after the 911 call. The fire was combated immediately, using pressurized water carried directly on the trucks.  Hoses were subsequently connected to all hydrants within reach.

The first five companies drove directly to the residence; they knew the neighborhood and were aware of the closure of the access road. Other fire units from as far away as Sonterra came to help; some of those did not know the access road was closed; others had a hard time identifying our streets.  Although most units carry navigation systems similar to GPS, and have home locations identified by latest land telephone connections, there are no voice commands for turning, due to constant audio connection to the dispatcher, and it is easy to overshoot a street in the dark.

The fire ultimately developed into a 2-Alarm fire, with 15 engine companies, 5 ladder truck companies, 2 EMS units, 1 heavy rescue unit, and a total of 99 SAFD personnel assigned to the site.  Still they could not save the family’s home.

Since the fire, we have met at length with SAFD personnel. A week after the fire SAFD Chief Hood and Councilwoman Diane Cibrian met with about 100 residents at a Town Hall Meeting; they reported on fire response times and on the new fire station on Vance Jackson between DeZevala and 1604. Since then we have toured the entire Dominion with SAFD Chief Hood and his Regional Commanders, to evaluate what we can do to prevent another catastrophic fire.

Here are some preliminary findings:
1 - If you smell smoke in your home, immediately call 911, and then investigate.  It is better to have a false alarm than a burned-out home.
2 - Fire/Heat detectors in your garage and in your attic can alert you early to an emergency, thus preventing a fire from spreading. Talk to your alarm company about monitoring these detectors.
3 - We will continue to invite SAFD personnel from surrounding fire stations to drive through our neighborhoods, so they can be familiar with roads and home locations.
4 - Street names and house numbers need to be more visible in the dark, so please make sure your house number is visible and lighted at night. The ACC will adapt relevant specifications for new homes.
5 - Fire hydrants must be clear of vegetation and readily accessible at all times by your fire fighters.

The HOA Disaster Committee under the leadership of Dr.  Bob Lee has started working on:
1 - A specific set of recommendations for Dominion homeowners, to lessen the risk of a disastrous fire in a home.
2 - A specific set of recommendations for Dominion homeowners about what to do in case of a disaster within the home.
3 - A specific set of recommendations for improving the visibility of house numbers and street signs in established and in new Dominion neighborhoods.

External Affairs
As part of the concerted effort to get better services in our part of San Antonio, our HOA has joined NNOD, the Northside Neighborhoods for Organized Development.  NNOD represents about 8,000 homeowners in Northwest San Antonio and sends observers to every city council meeting. We have a seat on the organization’s board.

The City Manager’s Office continues to work on the Rim Hike and Bike Trail which should be approved by the city later this year.

Credentialing for Builders
Our original Master Covenants specified credentialing for all builders; regrettably this became defunct some time ago.  The ACC has re-instituted this process, based on decades of experience with builders and homeowners.  Any builder who wishes to build in The Dominion needs to be credentialed.  Documents can be obtained from the HOA Office; the Credentialing Sub-Committee of the ACC will administer the process.

HOA Board Elections in April
This is just a reminder: Monday, April 20 is the Annual HOA Meeting where we elect three directors for terms of three years each. At that time the Board will also present its annual report on finance and operations. We look forward to seeing you then.

Sincerely,

Brigitte B.  Saidi, Chairman
The Dominion Homeowners Association, Inc.

Page 1 of 22 pages  1 2 3 >  Last »