Master Board Meeting Wednesday, Jan. 13

The quarterly meeting of Victor Gardens Community Association's Board of Directors will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 13.  All master association residents and owners are welcome to attend.  A portion of this and every meeting will be available to residents to speak to board members and our new Community Manager, Colleen Brown about any concerns or questions.

VG Master Association Board Meeting

January 13, 6:00pm

Victor Gardens Neighborhood Activity Center

Welcome Colleen Brown, our new Community Manager

Colleen Brown has been on Victor Gardens' Community Development/Associa team for quite a while.  She knows our neighborhood well as she's worked very closely with Jennifer Campbell, our former Community Manager.  Ms. Campbell is moving into a more supervisory role within the company, and we're very fortunate to welcome Ms. Brown as Victor Gardens' new Community Manager.

As you probably know, Community Development Inc. is now Associa Minnesota.  Associa's new centralized customer service system has reduced response times for routine homeowner and association-related questions.  Please reach out to Ms. Brown and the Associa team if you have any questions.

Colleen Brown
Community Manager
Associa Minnesota

7100 Northland Circle N. Suite 300, Brooklyn Park, MN 55428

763-746-1188 

AtYourService@Associa.Us

www.associaminnesota.com

Note from Gene's Disposal

Dear Residents,

If you have too much cardboard to fit in your recycle can, it should be cut to a size that would fit in your recycle can and bundled.

Reminder: Garbage cans should not be overfilled. The lid of the can should be able to close, when cans are overfilled the excess trash falls out of the can when the truck lifts it.

Thank You,
Gene’s Disposal Service

Your home will be visited this Saturday morning, November 21 by a small group of Hugo's Scouts. They'll be part of a city-wide effort known as "Hugo's Scouting for Food & Feeding the Need".  Scouts all across Hugo will collect non-perishable food and personal item donations for our Hugo On Saturday morning, Scouts will ring your doorbell seeking donations.  If you're not available (or would rather not answer your door in your pajamas) you're welcome to leave a bag at your front door before 10am or drop off at Viker's front porch at 4545 Garden Way N. These will all be collected by Scouts. Thanks in advance for your generosity and the community spirit that Victor Gardens residents are known for.

Thanks again and see you Saturday morning!

Sprinkler Winterization Schedule

Please see below for notes about sprinkler winterization tips for keeping Shawn on schedule.

Saturday is completely full.  Sunday has a little more wiggle room,  but not much.

It sounds like Saturday morning may be a little cool so I hope that does not slow down the process.

The times on the list are a window of when I hope to be in your area.  If you need updates on the progress you can call or text but my response time back may not be immediate since I will be concentrating my efforts on moving through the list or you could take a drive through the neighborhood to see how things are progressing as per the list.

If anyone has a conflict with the schedule on Saturday they can be moved to Sunday late afternoon/early evening as there is some limited availability.

Things to remember to make everything go smoothly:

1. Turn your water supply line to the irrigation system off. it is usually in the basement, the night before the service.

2. Make sure there is easy access to the controller (usually in the garage) or if arrangements have been made to use the valve boxes, that all valve boxes are uncovered, marked and soil/debris removed from around the valve inside the box so that they can be found and opened quickly.

3. If zones do not work from the controller I can still winterize the zone if the valve boxes are located, but I will not be able to spend a lot of time locating and fixing issues with systems and still keep on schedule.  This would need to be rescheduled.    

4. $50 Cash or Check to Shawn Herman.

Thanks to everyone in advance and I am looking forward to a very busy weekend.

Shawn Herman

Classic Lawnscape Inc.

763-780-7231

shawn@classiclawnscape.com

Saturday, Oct. 17th

8:00 AM - Poets Green

Heckman, Primeau, J. Johnson

9:00 AM – 11:30AM - Garden Way South to Jardin

Pinault, Sears, Schwab, Schleiss, S. Anderson, Bridgeman, Stanko, Sears

11:30 – 12:30 - Jardin

LaNasa, Privette/Norr, Hermann, Phillipson

12:30 – 2:30 - Arbre

White, Roberts, D. Mader, Gloege, J. Mader, Crep 

2:30 – 3:30 - Garden Way North from Arbre to Victor Hugo Blvd.

S. Carlson, C. Carlson, Warner

3:30 – 4:30 - Cosette Way

Kubow, Coleman, Berger

4:30 – 5:15 - Garden Way

Weaver, Viker

5:15 – 7:15 - Cosette Lane

Kluska, McGlone, Rogers, Weir, Bixby                        

The following will be late on Saturday.  Probably around 7:00 pm or later.  You can be moved to later afternoon on Sunday if that works better so you would have a more definite time.

Wannerstrum (Cossette), Powers (Victor Hugo Blvd), Bosch (VH Blvd), G. Olson (Valjean)

Sunday Oct. 18th

11:00 AM - Val Jean

Setter, Beriou 

12:00 PM – 1:00 - Everton Ave

Sanders, Savard, Not Confirmed - Starr , George

1:00 – 3:00 - Provence Way

Buetow, Nelson, Farrell, Hageman, Urban, Halverson-Boyd

3:00 - Everton Ave

Wright

3:30 - Val Jean Blvd.

Houchins

4:00 - Grantaire

Ferderer

Sprinkler Winterization

It's that time of year again - irrigation winterization! Shawn Herman with Classic Landscape has been doing winterizations in the neighborhood for several years.  He is planning on the weekend of October 17 and 18.  The price will remain the same as last year which was $50.00 cash or check payable to Shawn Herman.

THIS PRICE IS ONLY GOOD ON THIS WEEKEND.

Other times can be scheduled if this does not work for you but regular season rates will apply.

This is the tentative route I would use for the weekend based on last year numbers to help give residents a rough estimate of where they would be on the schedule.

On Sat. the 17th the route starts at about 8 AM on Poets Green then to Garden Way West side of street heading south.  Around Jardin to Garden Way (usually mid morning), up Arbre, and around to catch the east side of Garden Way (usually early afternoon).  Then head east around to Cosette Way and take Victor Hugo down to Garden Way.  Go around the Park and back up the east side of Cosette Lane (mid to late afternoon) around to Victor Hugo.  From there I will head east down Val Jean to the Bridge.  Depending on response I will probably stop here due to darkness.

On the 18th start time will depend on number of participants.  It probably would not be before 11 am.  I would begin again on Val Jean from the bridge heading east to Everton.  North on Everton, east side of street, to Provence.  Around Provence back down west side of Everton to Val Jean.  Then west down Val Jean to the Bridge.

As usual timing/scheduling will be totally dependent on the number participating and if there are any unforeseen problems encountered during the day.

If you have any questions please let me know.

Everyone can sign up by contacting me directly as per the contact information below.

Thanks.

Shawn Herman
Classic Lawnscape Inc.
763-780-7231
shawn@classiclawnscape.com
Cell/text – 612-366-6088.

Pool closed for the season

Victor Gardens' pool is now closed for the season. It will re-open Memorial Day weekend.

Lawn Care - $40 Core Aeration Service

Jeff Ambrose has offered his lawn aeration services to Victor Gardens residents for a number of years and does a very professional job. He's offering a Victor Gardens discount rate of $40/per lawn (slightly higher for larger lawns). That's less than what most others charge for this service. For do-it-yourselfers, this is a pretty good deal considering the cost of renting the machine, time and effort involved, plus the cost of gas. Jeff did a great job on our lawn over the last seven years, and I would recommend his service.

Core Aeration Promotes Healthy Grass

Call Jeff Ambrose directly at (651) 274-1535. He's currently coordinating a schedule of Victor Gardens appointments.

If you're unfamiliar with core aeration, the U of M Extension Service describes it pretty well, "Core aeration is the best method of dealing with the problem of compaction in the lawn. Aeration promotes moisture and air penetration into soils, resulting in deeper and healthier root systems on the grass plants. ... The best time of year to aerate the lawn is late August to early October. Aeration can be done in the spring but will lead to additional weed seeds being brought to the surface where they may germinate. In fall, weed seeds will also be brought to the surface, but they will not sprout."

* Disclosure

SFV Board Meeting set for September 23

Here's a reminder for Single Family Village residents. The next Victor Gardens Single Family Village Homeowners Association's board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 7pm. The meeting location has been changed to Hugo City Hall.

In addition to it's regular duties, the SFV Board will discuss stepped-up enforcement of applicable Rules, Covenants, Conditions, Restrictions and Easements. The Board will also discuss options for a new, professionally managed community website and other communication tools.

Any SFV owner wishing to speak to the Board will be welcomed and encouraged to participate.

Digital copies of the Master Association and the SFV Rules, and CC&R's are available at victorgardensnews.org

Update 9/9/15 & 9/22/15: Location changed to Hugo City Hall. Added agenda item.

National Night Out

National Night Out is Tuesday, Aug 4th!  It is a national event designed to help people meet their neighbors and make communities safer.  The Victor Gardens event will be held at Arbre Park from 6-8pm. 

Highlights for 2015
Food:
- Fiesta Cancun will be serving dinner.  $5 for 2 tacos served with chips and salsa.  $1 for drinks.  Cash only!!
- Cake, snacks and lemonade... free!  Generously sponsored by KinderGardens childcare (http://www.kindergardenskids.com/)
- Free bottled water.  Generously provided by members of Living Waters Lutheran Church.

Entertainment - all free!
- Performance by Lorenz Dance Studio at 6:30 pm.  Music Provided by Birch Landscape
- Performance by Ultimate Martial Arts at 7:15pm
- Crazy Hair
- Face painting
- Glitter Tatoos
- Bounce houses
- Police and Fire visits throughout the evening
- Giant twister, checkers, tick- tack- toe and more

In order to make this event a success we need YOUR help!  Volunteer shifts are only 30 minutes long so you can spend most of the evening with your family and neighbors.  Please give up a half hour of your time to make this event a success.  Kids are welcome to help alongside an adult.  Please see www.SignUpGenius.com/go/10C0544A5AF2FA5FC1-victor/2970203 to sign-up for a shift.  Sign-up early to get your first choice!

Please contact Lisa at john3995@umn.edu or 651-353-2619 or Kasey at kasey.birch@me.com or 763-300-5683 with questions or suggestions.

Clearwater Cove - City Planning Commission Meeting Tonight

Tonight, the City of Hugo's Planning Commission will meet to discuss the proposed DR Horton neighborhood east of Victor Gardens (and south of Frenchman Road).  The development area, known as "Clearwater Cove", is adjacent to Victor Gardens Creek Side Villas sub association.

Clearwater Cove is also described in this The Citizen news article: National home builder looking at LaValle property

The agenda's numerous pages describe the Clearwater Cove project in great detail. This includes its relationship to Victor Gardens, Everton Ave., trail connections, etc.  

Also on the agenda is discussion of a new Park Dental commercial building to be built next to Kwik Trip.  The details of that proposal were discussed at this month's Victor Gardens Architectural Review Committee meeting.  The ARC approved two phases of the design.

The agenda for the meeting has been published and a copy of it may be found here: http://www.victorgardensnews.org/files/clearwatercove/hugoplanningagenda7-23-15.pdf

The public is welcome to attend this Hugo Planning Commission Meeting, Thursday July 23, 2015 7:00pm at Hugo City Hall.

Fire safety issue with grills on decks

Residents: 

The City of Hugo has been notified of concerns with grills on decks of multi-family buildings. After discussions with the City, Fire Chief, and Fire Marshal and review of the Minnesota State Fire Code, the City would like to clarify its position on such matter:

The City of Hugo recognizes that during the warmer months of the year, residents enjoy spending time outside, grilling. The City Council did not believe in prohibiting such activity and believes residents of Hugo can use sound judgment when using this summertime luxury.

Appendix H in the State Fire Code relates to regulating fires or barbecues on balconies or patios. However, the rules in Appendix H are optional rules and are only enforceable if the appendix is specifically adopted by a local ordinance. The Hugo City Council considered adopting such an ordinance in 2009, but after significant discussion at several public meetings, the Council decided to prohibit turkey fryers and fire pits, but they did not prohibit grills.

The City of Hugo would like to remind residents to take precautions while grilling to reduce the likelihood of starting a fire.

If residents should have any questions or concerns on this matter, please feel free to contact the Hugo Fire Marshal.

Thank you for your interest in this matter and have a wonderful summer.

Colin Emans
Hugo Fire Marshal CEmans@ci.hugo.mn.us 612-384-0583