Street Drains get a Clean Out

On Friday, 2007-12-14, Dixon Builders had a crew in the neighborhood that cleaned out the storm drains on our streets. They also made minor repairs where needed and reinstalled landscaping fabric and gravel tubes to help keep construction debris out of the storm water lines.

Update: Saturday we received a significant snow fall and it was not until a few days later that I realized that it appeared as if only Ross Estates Drive was cleaned out. I am basing these later assumptions on the dense clumps of grass that are still growing out of the grates near my house on Pond Ridge Cir. So in general, I am assuming it is still a work in progress.

Property Improvements made in 2007

With 2007 wrapping up, I just want to remind all members of our community that our HOA Covenant outlines procedures for making any changes to the exterior of your house and property.

The primary course of action is to submit an Improvement Application before any modifications are made. Some example of changes that require an improvement application are: satellite dish, expansion or addition of new flower beds, adding a deck or patio, a fence, widening the driveway, planting trees or shrubs. Some items do not require an application such as the planting of annual flowers. A general rule of thumb is that if you, not the builder of your home, will be making any changes to the exterior of your home that is permanent (for more than a season) then it may require an application. If your builder added an item, such as a fence, deck, or patio, then you do not have to submit an application since your builder would have been following the standards of the HOA.

If you made changes in 2007 to your property but did not fill out an application, then you’re in luck. Just submit an application now stating that you already made the changes that are outlined on the application and submit it. Chances are great that most changes will be approved and you will receive a letter stating that your changes have been approved.

If you are thinking about a new project for 2008, then it is not too early to fill out an application or even just inquire what details are needed for the application. Just keep in mind that the Design and Review Subcommittee and the board needs a few weeks turn around time to process the improvement application.

Download the Improvement Application here.

If you have any questions as to if something needs an application, please just ask, I would be more than happy help.

Scott Tabar
scott(dot)tabar(at)fuse(dot)net

Your eMail Address Could Save You Money!

How can your eMail address save you money? If you give David L. Mitchell your email address, he can send you electronic versions of the HOA Newletters, which in turn, helps to keep our annual dues down.

For the August 2007 newsletter, forty-eight homeowners received the newsletter via email which has almost cut the cost of the newsletter in half. This is a savings in not only postage, but printing and handling costs too.

Even if David Mitchell has your email address, he will still send important documents such as improvement application approvals via snail mail.

If you would like to get future newsletters a few days early and save money in the process, send an email to David L. Mitchell and request that he adds your email address to his list. He will respect everyone's privacy.

David's Contact Information:
Ace Community Management
530 Craig St., Covington, KY 41011
Office 859-491-3259, Fax 859-491-3236
email davidlmitchell(at)fuse(dot)net

August Newsletter Now Available Online

The August Newsletter is now available online on the resource page.

If you would like to see other resources added, please ask.

The Ross Estates Resource Page

Sewer Sucking in Ross Estates

You might have seen the sewer sucking truck that has been in our subdivision over the last few days. If not, you might have noticed that some of your toilet bowels were dry or there might have been some water on the floor.

The Butler County Department of Environmental Services has crews that clean all sewer lines every five years. For new subdivisions such as ours, they may come out as frequently as every 4 to 6 months to help keep our sewers from backing up.

Their new truck is less than a year old and it is has such a great sucking power it can empty the toilet bowels of a dozen houses with ease. They also have a high pressure line that is able to blow more than 1000 psi of pressure to dislodge clogs. It is this extreme action that causes havoc with all of your water traps.


In the next few days after they are done cleaning the line, there will be a another crew to come out to take videos of the sewers to document their conditions. These videos will be burned to DVD to be used as a reference in the future if there is ever a problem with a sewer line so they can help identify when the problem occurred.

On Pond Ridge Circle, they found a few problems. One man hole cover was below grade and another was pushed off center during the construction process. Both of these will be repaired by another crew in the coming weeks.


What did they find? On Pond Ridge Circle, in front of my house (1210 Pond Ridge Cir) is one man cover that is off center (see photo). There was a blockage of gravel in the line from that man hole cover to the next one at the intersection of Schuler Drive. From the man hole near my house, they were able to blow out the clog with their high pressure line and then back flush the gravel down to that man hole. But since the man hole is off center and they cannot get their suction hose in the hole, they are forced to suck out the gravel from the next man hole down the hill. They said it would be no problem to get that gravel since the vacuum has so much power, "it could easily pull your arm off."

What do they normally find? It is quite typical for there to be a large amount of mud, gravel, rocks and other assortment of construction materials in the sewer line of new sub divisions.

New Board Members and Subcommittee

A new section to this website has just been added recently.

It will be focusing on HOA Board members who are from our community and a new Subcommittee that has also been formed.

Please visit these new pages for additional information:
http://ross-estates-board.blogspot.com

You can always find a link to these new pages under Important Links to the right.

Newsletter - 2007 Spring

The Spring 2007 Newsletter is now available!

Follow the link: ROE April 2007 Newsletter.pdf

Tuesday Meeting Location

Here are directions to the meeting which will be held at the John Wesley United Methodist Church. It is about 11.6 miles from Ross Estates and will take about 20 minutes to drive there.

The meeting begins at 7 PM so be sure to allow plenty of time to sign in.

Google Maps directions

John Wesley United Methodist Church
1927 West Kemper Rd
Cincinnati, OH 45240

The Possible Appointment of a Homeowner to the Board of Directors

Although sales in most communities unexpectedly slumped during
the last 8 months of 2006, sales in Ross Estates maintained an
above average rate of closings.  Thirty closings were anticipated
during 2006 (based on 2005 sales) but the final figure was 32!
Four more homes closed during January and February 2007, taking
the total to 86 occupied homes.  That means there are 85 homes
left to close before Development ceases.

Homeowners at the forthcoming AGM might decide to request that
a homeowner be appointed by the Board to serve for 3 years as a
full voting member. This is typically done to transition the
community from Developer to Homeowner control.  Expect the
Developer Board members to stand down when 130 homes close.
That's just 44 closings away and the current rate, it means
that a full homeowner board could be elected by homeowners
during May 2008.

This, of course, is speculation though it's probably not
too far off the mark.

Though it is speculation, nothing should prevent homeowners
with an interest in maintaining their property values from
proposing and seconding a motion at the AGM that the Board
appoints a homeowner to the Board during April. This time
interval will allow interested members to submit their
resumes to the Board and the Board to deliberate on the
candidate they think will be most helpful to the community.

See you at the AGM!