September 28th, 2022

Happy Wednesday Hackberry Creek Residents! Fall is in the air and hopefully cooler weather soon! Thank you to all who participated in the Garage Sale Saturday and special thanks to Becca Piriano for coordinating it. Thank you Becca!

Be sure to see below for information on...

• Office Closing Early Friday at 2pm
• National Night Out - October 4th - Volunteers Needed!
• How Votes Are Counted For Election
• Resident Decal Distribution - Must have $0 Balance to Receive
• Scarecrow Festival - Register Now!
• Halloween Party - October 30th - Volunteers Needed!
• Women's Club - Shopper's Night
• Volunteering Info - Turkey Trot Chair and Volunteers Needed!
• Little Lending Libraries Now In All 3 Parks
• Final Chance - Resident Poll - Gate 1 Fountain Remodel 
• Village Rules Installment #14 - Mailboxes, Walls, Hedges, Garage Doors, Mechanical Equipment, Antennas
• October Board Meeting - One Week Early - Oct. 12th

Have a great week and as always, if you have any questions, please call the Hackberry Creek office at 972-401-4946.

The office will be closing Friday, September 30th at 2pm in order that all staff may attend an offsite meeting with CCMC Leadership.

As of 4:15pm yesterday the Association has received 388 absentee ballots. We have received 2,347,398 votes towards quorum. This is 31.14% of the neighborhood total. We need at least 50.1% of the votes turned in to meet quorum and to conduct the election. You can vote online by clicking below if you have not yet cast your vote!

Tuesday, October 4^th 

5:00 PM to 7:00 PM

Bradford Pear Drive (inside Gate 4)

Sugar Maple to Boxwood (Note: new venue)

Due to overwhelming enthusiasm for Hackberry Creek’s National Night Out, we have moved to a new, larger location, allowing for more participants, more representatives from the Community, more entertainment, and MORE FUN!

You already know the best way to keep your neighborhood

strong is to KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS!

This is THE social event with a purpose: make some new friends and reconnect with old ones. Let’s build more Community Spirit together!

Our invited guests include those groups below and will offer ideas about how we can work together to become a more cohesive community.

City of Irving Police and their K-9 Unit

City of Irving Fire Department

Irving Animal Control Services

Texas A&M Transportation Institute

Canine Companions

PLUS MORE!

Raffles – two bicycles; one child’s and one adult’s

T-Shirt giveaways

LED Flashlights for night walking and Halloween

Disco and Music

Corn Maze

Bounce House

 Food Trucks – Welcome back to Hackberry:

OH Balls!

Righteous BBQ

Mr. SugarRush

Come out and join the fun!

When you get involved, you build spirit and a stronger neighborhood!

WANT TO VOLUNTEER? Contact Joan Davis joandavisproperties@gmail.com or Meryl Kearns merylkearns@yahoo.com  

In order to clear up any possible confusion on how votes for Candidates, the proposed Special Assessment, and approval of Annual Meeting Minutes are counted please read below carefully. Feel free to cut and paste the information below and distribute on your social media networks!

• Votes are received at the office by mail or by hand delivery. They are also received online through the online ballot submission form on the website.
• No one outside of the office staff sees the ballots, has access to them or counts them.
• Online ballot submission is simply an electronic ballot submission and not electronic voting per se. Votes are not tabulated electronically from this form. Every single online ballot form submitted is printed out with a date and time stamp. These printed forms are placed with the other paper ballots received by mail or in person at the office.
• Before any ballot is tallied it is checked for signature, errors, and the name/address is cross-checked with our homeowner account management software. If there is a discrepancy of any sort it is placed in a file for review and the homeowner is contacted to correct. 
• All valid ballots are tallied only by the Village Manager.
• A large, master Excel spreadsheet is used to tally votes that lists name, address, vote allotment per DCAD value and has columns for each candidate and ballot item. There is one line per address. When a vote is tallied an "x" is placed in the appropriate column. Locked formulas and cells automatically pull the DCAD-based vote allotment and tally results for each candidate and ballot item.
• This spreadsheet is saved daily with a new file name each day and located on a remote server behind a firewall in another state. Each day's spreadsheet is archived. No one other than the Village Manager has access to this spreadsheet.
• It is impossible for a resident to have multiple votes from the same lot counted more than once. If a resident submits multiple votes by accident or on purpose - either online or paper ballot or any combination of both - only the last submitted ballot is counted. Every time a ballot is tallied, the property address line is reviewed and if blank, the ballot votes are added to the spreadsheet on that address line. If there are already existing votes on that address line then it means that address has already voted. In that instance, we physically pull the previous ballot (every ballot is filed), staple the newest ballot on top of it, clear the original votes on that line, type in the new votes, and re-file both ballots. There is a paper trail for every single ballot.

It is important to note that a few residents (approximately 20-25) have attempted to vote multiple times. Regardless, whether this was by accident or on purpose it does not affect the vote totals in any way because our tallying process will catch it every single time. Rest assured that whatever the vote totals are - they are accurate and correct.

BRING IN YOUR PAPERWORK RECEIVED BY MAIL FOR FASTEST SERVICE.

PROOF OF INSURANCE / OWNERSHIP ALSO REQUIRED!

NO DECALS WILL BE ISSUED IF YOU HAVE ANY OUTSTANDING BALANCE ON YOUR ACCOUNT

The new 2023 decals are now being issued. Decals can be picked up between the hours of 8:30am and 4:30pm Monday through Friday. Decals cannot be issued to homeowners or their renters if there is a balance due on the account.

Registrations Accepted September 14th through October 14th

The temperatures have fallen indicating that autumn is on the way which means everyone’s favorite fall tradition, the annual Hackberry Creek Scarecrow Contest, is just around the corner!

Families, kids of all ages, groups of friends, school and church groups, and Scout troops are all invited to build a scarecrow to display in their yards during the month of October.  It was a HUGE success last year with a record number of entries, and we are excited to see the creativity of our residents again this year.  

As we do annually, the scarecrows will be judged by an independent group of judges and the winners in each category will receive a ribbon and will be displayed at the annual HACKBERRY CREEK HALLOWEEN FESTIVAL and will be featured in the Hackberry Creek Living Magazine as well on our social media pages. We will have some new categories and a new method for online entry. 

Your scarecrow should be put on display in your yard beginning on October 1st, but no later than October 24th.  Scarecrows will be on display through Monday, November 7, 2022.

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Judges will select the most outstanding scarecrows in each category week of October 24th thru October 26th. 

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For full details about the Scarecrow Festival come to the September Board Meeting and to read more and register, follow the link below!

This past weekend, the lending libraries were installed, one in each Hackberry park: Southern Oak, McKee and Village Greens. The actual library structures are made from recycled milk jugs and designed by the Amish.

There are a variety of children's titles and adult books available. Please feel free to grab a book and have a read while enjoying the shade of the park or take one home.  These libraries are meant to encourage reading but also to promote a sense of community and encourage involvement.  

If you would like to volunteer to help manage the libraires or have suitable books in good condition that you would like to donate, either place them directly in one of the libraries or contact Meryl Kearns (merylkearns@gmail.com) for pick-up.

Thanks to Meryl Kearns for founding the libraries and Mark Kearns for building the libraries and installing them.

Join all the ghosts and goblins at our annual Hackberry Creek Halloween Festival on Sunday, October 30th from 4:30-6:30pm at Southern Oak Park. For a ghoulishly good time the festival will offer music, entertainment, bounce houses, food and drink.

Please join your neighbors in helping before, during or after the event! Use this link to volunteer: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E054BADA7292-2019

If you would like to advertise your business at the event, please contact Jackie Garner via email (superotee@hotmail.com).

*** Trick or Treating will take place on Halloween, October 31st. ***

A Chairperson and Volunteers are needed for this year's Turkey Trot

Please contact the office if you would like to Chair or volunteer this year's Turkey Trot event!

Women’s Club of Hackberry Creek

Shoppers Night 2022

November 15, 2022

6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.

To be a Vendor, please email us at:

hackberrycreekwomensclub@gmail.com

Deadline For Applications Is October 21st

The entry fountain and equipment at Gate 1 by the office is in need of extensive repairs and a comprehensive remodel. We are getting bids for new brick around the fountain, new pebble finish inside, new lights, nozzles and mortar-work. The old equipment is set on dirt behind the sign, leaking and in disrepair. Lines from the pump to the fountain needs replaced, all equipment removed, a concrete pad poured with drains, new equipment installed and a weatherproof housing created. We expect an overhaul to cost in the order of $50,000 plus as a capital / reserve expense.  

Installment 14 - Mailboxes, Walls, Hedges, Garage Doors, Mechanical Equipment, Antennas

Each week we will be highlighting a portion of the recorded village rules for Hackberry Creek.

The Village Rules were last updated on 12/15/2021.

VILLAGE RULES REGARDING ALTERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE OF STRUCTURES AND LANDSCAPING

Mailboxes:

Mailbox stanchions shall be either brick, stone, stucco or cast metal. The mailbox stanchion shall be approved by the VACC/MACC. Mailboxes shall be curb mounted and located as required by the U.S. Postal Service.

Leaning Mailboxes. Mailboxes showing signs of sinkage or dropping will need to be repaired or replaced. Any mailbox that is leaning 3 degrees in any direction will need to be repaired or replaced to meet community standards. Any damage to the exterior or interior of the mailbox will need to be repaired or replaced.

Walls; Hedges

No wall or hedge (which serves as a barrier) shall be erected, placed or altered on any Lot or Parcel nearer to any street than the minimum building setback line as established by the Design Guidelines or the Architectural Control Committee (VACC/MACC).

No fence, wall or hedge shall be erected, placed or altered on any Lot or Parcel without the approval of the VACC/MACC.

Garage Doors:

Garage doors visible from the street shall have masonry, stone or stucco over the garage door up to the soffit. Garage doors constructed of materials that are see through, such as glass, must be opaque enough to screen the garage items from public view.

Mechanical Equipment

All exterior mechanical or service equipment must be enclosed within fences, walls or landscaping so as not to be visible from the immediate residential street and/or golf course.

Antennas

All antennas that are more than one meter in diameter or designed to transmit signals and programming must be pre-approved by the Architectural Control Committee and, if approved, be installed so that they are not visible from any street or golf course. Any antennas which are one meter or less in diameter should be installed so that they are not visible from any street or golf course, but in the event that such placement does not permit reception of an acceptable quality signal, then such antenna may be otherwise located provided that it is reasonably painted in a fashion so that it blends into the background against which it is mounted.

To read all of the Village Rules, click the button below to go to the website page where the document is located!

LETTER FROM CLUBCORP TO THE HOA

On September 21st, the Senior Vice President of Club Corp presented a letter to Raveen Arora concerning recent discussions between the Club and HOA. Residents can read the full text of the letter by clicking below.  

OCTOBER BOARD MEETING - OCT. 12TH

ONE WEEK EARLIER THAN USUAL DUE TO ANNUAL MEETING

October's Hackberry Creek HOA Board Meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 12th, 2022 at the Hackberry Creek Country Club, 1901 W Royal Ln, Irving, TX 75063. The Open Session begins at 7:00pm and homeowners are welcome to attend and comment. The Board will be conducting Executive Session from 6:30pm to 7:00pm and the Executive Session is closed to homeowners.