SANTA IN THE PARK DEC 15

The Santa in the Park party will be held Sunday, Dec 15 from 12:30 to 3:30PM at Kay Redden Park. Last year’s party was a big event, don’t miss it! More here.

Assessment increase for 2025

Annual Assessment due Jan 1 2025 will increases $20 to $380. This reflects a 5.5% increase, and only the second increase in 20 years. We have been doing well managing finances, but have not been consistently setting aside funds — the recommendation from the new Reserve Study (on TownSq) we are following will set aside the increase ($35K) to meet vendor cost increases and unplanned expenses (e.g. ice storm cleanup and repair) as well as major reserve maintenance like the Lakeline Pool replastering this year.

If you had setup automatic payments, please change the amount to reflect the increase. Look out for the invoice in your mail later in the year.

UPDATE ON LAKELINE LANDSCAPING

We are working with the City of Cedar Park to upgrade irrigation on Lakeline between Buttercup Creek and Zach Russell. We hope to start planting trees on that section of the road before the end of the year as part of a multi-year master plan for replanting along Lakeline.

NEW LEASING RULE

The Board has approved a new Leasing Rule to restrict short term rentals. The document has been officially recorded with Williamson County as of Sept 10 2024. In general, the rule states a minimum lease term of 30 days, and requires lease documentation to be submitted to the Association. The Board will be pursuing an amendment to the CCRs in 2025 for a minimum 12-month lease term, and welcomes your support to help gather signatures.

NATIONAL NIGHT OUT

There was a good show of support from our Cedar Park government, police, animal control, firefighters, and others at the October National Night Out event at Kay Redden Park. Plenty of pizza, drinks, face painting, and snow cones! It was a good time to talk with our mayor and mayor pro tem, the chief of police and others in the department, finishing the night with a light show and demonstration by Quint 2!

Homeowner 101 - KNOW YOUR SHUTOFFS

Introducing a new series of tips for the homeowner. Our first installment is on how to locate and shut off water, gas, and electric to your home in case of emergency. Good idea to look around your property to locate these before there is a crisis!

Water

Locate your water meter, which is likely toward the front of your property in the utility easement. Note the meter box is City use only. The cutoff valve is located near it, conveniently labeled ‘Property Owner Cutoff’. Note your meter may be next to your neighbor’s, but should be closer to your house. Other items you may notice nearby are irrigation valve boxes (green cover in the photo above) and sewer cleanouts (the white PVC cap you have likely run over with the mower).

To shut off water, reach in and turn ‘righty tighty’. If you cannot locate the valve, or find it doesn’t move, contact Cedar Park. When you turn it back on, open one faucet in the highest floor of the house to bleed the air—start slowly (quarter turn) to avoid overpressure.

Electric

GAS

Note you should never need to shut off your gas, and if you do, you will need to contact Atmos to turn it back on as there are safety steps to follow to prevent problems. And if you are having work done, your plumber will know the proper procedures and permits.

If you smell gas (the ‘rotten egg’ smell of mercaptan added to odorless natural gas) leave the property immediately and call 911 from a safe distance. Don’t try to diagnose it yourself.

However, in the case of emergency—earthquakes (not common here, for now), wildfire, tornado, poor judgement DIYs—it is good to be familiar with the equipment. There are 2 valves circled on the photo, one from the ground before the regulator, and one after the meter to the house. You need a crescent wrench to turn one of these perpendicular to the line—so the holes line up (this is where the gas co. would put a padlock when service is discontinued). Note there may be other levers on the lines that turn off gas to different appliances or parts of the house.

If you have other suggestions or questions about your house, please contact us.