Photo Below: Homeplace III Trail
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In This Issue Find:
Meet Your Neighbor, HOA 2021 Dues, HP3 Survey Results, A Monster, Shout Out to Our Neighbors, A Murder, Poetry, Carolina Tiger Rescue, Watercolor
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Meet Your Neighbor: Tia Hassell
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What do you like about living in HP3? I love how friendly the neighbors are as well as the huge dog community. As a lifelong dog lover I am happy that Yams has so many friends to interact with. The location is also very convenient to my everyday life as well as work life, and the scenery in the fall is priceless.
What is your passion/work? My passion is helping others, specifically at risk youth. My goal is to start my own nonprofit within the next year focusing on at risk youth and showing them how they can turn any passion of theirs into a business.
What is one of your favorite things to do or special interests you have? I enjoy journaling. I love to write about my thoughts and how I am coping through these current times. It helps relieve stress and also relaxes me while expressing my current feelings. I also enjoy bonding with my puppy Yams.
Tell us something interesting about your life. I work for a nonprofit organization called National Bail Out . We work with groups across the country to support ongoing bail reform efforts and create resources for organizers and advocates.
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Tell us about your pet. Yams is a beautiful girl with long legs, she’s tall and shaped like a little deer. Yams is very sweet, especially to children, she loves them. She does well will other dogs big or small, cats too. She likes to play with her toys. She is fearless and very curious about everything around her. She enjoys going to the dog park, barking at squirrels and belly rubs. She isn't your average Chihuahua, and she's no lap dog.
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From Our HOA President & Neighbor
Dear Neighbors.
I’m pleased to report that the HP III HOA board meeting on Thursday, Nov. 19th had the highest attendance we have seen since COVIDovid-19 forced us to move from in-person to online meetings. In addition to our nine board members, more than 15 owners and residents attended.
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The subject was the next year's assessment. Because I suspected that we have been chronically underfunded to maintain a community of our type, size, and age, I decided to gather some data before the Nov. 19th meeting. I used a major realty website to determine the annual HOA dues of comparable townhome communities. Specifically, I looked for communities with 2 and 3 bedroom units that were on the market or had sold for the past year for $150,000 to $250,000, and limited the search to Woodcroft, Woodlake, and Hope Valley Farms.
My research showed that not only are we on the low end of the spectrum for HOA dues, we are actually the lowest! It explains a lot about why we feel like we are always two steps behind where we should be in terms of the next project or maintenance task.
This chronic under funding has leads to the unfinished projects, unmet needs, unexpected costs and SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS which we currently experience. Unless we invest the money we need we will have to contend with the cost of an under maintained community. It is obvious to me, as I see work orders come in, that most of us DON'T want to live in poorly maintained buildings and grounds.
2021 HOA DUES will rise by $11 per month from $160 to $171. Annual: $1920 to $2052
In addition, after the first quarter payment on April 1, the HOA will stop paying your Woodcroft Community Association dues out of your HP3 dues. This is a service we have provided but can no longer afford. Your WCA dues are $235 annually. After we pay the first quarter of your 2021 dues the remainder will be around $157. WCA will be in touch with you.
In 2021, we will continue to waive late fees, and strongly encourage anyone who is having COVID related financial difficulties to contact Grandchester Meadows (manager@grandchestermeadows.com). We will try to work with people as much as we can.
Please email me if you have questions or concerns. I LOVE to talk about our neighborhood and would be happy to talk to you: kat.mh.moran@gmail.com
Sincerely Your Neighbor, Kat Moran
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HP3 2020 Community Survey Results
Thanks to all HP3 community members who responded to our 2020 community survey! We received 82 responses for many of the questions which we see as a success!! To review the survey results, visit, https://tinyurl.com/y24mp7gc.
Also, please remember that we, members of the HOA Board, are your neighbors and the quality of our community depends not only on those of us currently serving on our Board but ALL of us! Thus, we invite you to get involved by joining a committee, writing an article for the HP3 Neighborhood Newsletter, scheduling a pick up for a piece of furniture that's been on our grounds for weeks, participating in Community Care Days, or running for a Board seat come spring 2021. If you would like to explore any of these options or others, please contact our current president, Kat Moran, kat.mh.moran@gmail.com.
(Committees are: Landscaping, Finance and Community Engagement)
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Hedrick was out and about the neighborhood on Halloween. If you didn't get to see him make sure to walk around more next year! You can find videos and build pics, from when our neighbor Paul made Hendrick, on Instagram at #hedrickthemonster and for other projects you can follow Paul on
Instagram at @pauljdaniel
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A Shout Out to our Neighbors Bev Wedda
& Denise Frizzell
We would like to extend our deep appreciation for the ongoing hard work Bev and Denise are doing to mulch all our parking lot beds, trees, mailbox areas and etc. Not only does their work make our neighborhood look better it also protects our soil from erosion. The mulch is free for anyone who would like to use it in their garden bed or other areas in the neighborhood where it is needed.
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A Murder at Homeplace III
by Ann Colosia
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A few weeks ago, I witnessed a murder outside my window. A spider was suspended in its web on the window near where I work, noticeably in my peripheral vision. Each time the spider moved, it startled me a little. My rule is bugs inside my house die, but outside I should let them be. I debated for hours whether to knock down its web, unkindly forcing it to build another one. Then in the afternoon, a small flying thing zoomed into the spider fast and hard like a bullet, causing the spider to bump the window and me to jump. Assassin and victim both fell to the ground and rolled under a leaf. I went outside to move the leaf for a closer look, and this tiny flying thing took off, leaving its victim withering on the ground, too small even for a chalk outline.
A quick Google search revealed that the tiny flying thing is called a bone-house wasp. It stings the spider to kill it, then feeds the spider’s body to its larvae back in the nest. This wasp also kills ants and stacks them up at its nest entrance. The species name for the bone-house wasp is Deuteragenia ossarium; ossarium means “receptacle for the bones or ashes of the dead.” Creepy.
So the moral of this story seems to be that being unkind to a spider might just save its life. So now you know.
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Breath of Air
by Mary Newman
Breath of air, breath of air,
Golden glow of aspen snow,
Glancing on my cheeks and hair.
Breath of life, breath of air,
Golden carpet on tree root stair.
Breath of cold, breath of air,
Mountain rescue from a world of care.
Woods walk,
No talk,
Gasping gone,
Breath of air
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Lions, Tigers, and Tours
at the Carolina Tiger Rescue!
by Christa Evans
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In my article about cat behaviors in a previous HP3 newsletter, I mentioned the Carolina Tiger Rescue in Pittsboro and what a great experience it is to visit there. At the end of October, my husband and I went on one of the CTR’s last Twilight Tours of 2020 season (Twilight Tours run from spring to fall, and are held later in the day to capitalize on the big cats’ most active time) and I wanted to share some photos with you!
No matter how many times we’ve visited CTR, that first time I see a tiger in person is truly breathtaking, and this time was no exception. Pictured here (on right, top, middle, and bottom) is Rajah, a 600-lb male tiger who ambled over to see us, then settled down in the grass in front of our tour group and washed his face with his massive paws like a house cat.
While it may be called the Carolina Tiger Rescue, it’s definitely not limited to tigers only; CTR is home to jaguars, cheetahs, and even kinkajous (you can check the animals living at CTR here). Not all of them are on the tour path, but you get a good sampling: that day, we saw cougars, a jaguar, servals, caracals, bobcats, and other tigers, including a white tiger. We also had the amazing luck to see lion pair Reina and Roman in a rare playful moment, which the tour guide said she’d never witnessed before: Roman stalked Reina by hiding behind their den box, leaped out at her, then the two tussled lazily on the ground before settling down (see photos on left, top, middle and bottom). So cool!
Tours are now held entirely outside, are socially distanced, and as you can tell from the photos, you can get fairly close to the cats and see them well, but are safely separated from them by a fence several feet from their enclosures. You also learn all kinds of interesting facts from the knowledgeable guides (for instance, did you know that tigers make a sound called “chuffling” in greeting? And that it’s legal in North Carolina to have a tiger in your backyard as a “pet”—but not a squirrel or a raccoon? Crazy—and unfortunate—but true.) Additionally, CTR is a great place to support because it’s a sanctuary, so they don’t breed these gorgeous animals, just take them from undesirable circumstances or places that have cramped cages—like roadside zoos—and give them a comfortable, peaceful place to live out their days.
You can book tours here and get more general information here. I hope you join me in supporting the big cats at this fantastic place!
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Watercolor by Mary Newman |
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