Spring Newsletter

New decorative fencing at Lakeline and Buttercup

Pool Opening Date

At the March meeting, the board approved an April 19th opening date for the pools. Swimming is at your own risk, lifeguards will be staffing later in the year around school year ending. The Lakeline pool has been newly re-plastered, and improvements have been made to both pools. If you do not have keytag access, please contact Goodwin Management and review the rules on the pool page.

Lakeline pool replastering in progress

Neighborhood Yard Sale March 23

This Saturday we are planning for neighborhood-wide yard sales — you may have seen the signs around the neighborhood. You are on your own to sell your own items in your yard, with the increased interest and traffic from buyers. Feel free to announce on your social media; NextDoor, Reddit, Facebook, etc.

Speaking of Yards…

It is spring time, likely no late freeze, so time to get outside and enjoy it before the oppressive heat comes (pools are open soon!)… and time to pay some attention to your landscape. I just did my first mow/leaf bag/fertilize of the year last weekend. If your trees and shrubs haven’t come back from the 2023 ice storm by now, they are gone…time to replace. If you are doing major changes to your landscape, please complete the modification form, now online.

We ask y’all to keep your yard neat and tidy. We have some tips and expectations in this article, which will help avoid violations: https://www.westsidehoa.org/2024/3/19/landscape-tips-for-spring

2-3 volunteers needed for Modifications Committee

Speaking of modifications, if you have submitted one recently and are waiting for a reply, you know first hand that we need support for our current hard working volunteer modifications committee. We are looking for 2-3 volunteers who can serve on the committee for 4-6 months to help our homeowners get a quick turnaround on their requests.

The time commitment is perhaps an hour a week, to review requests as they come in and vote to approve or deny based on the community standards and CCRs. We will provide support and training on the Smartwebs system that tracks requests.

Board members are prevented from serving on the modifications committee by Texas law. If we cannot get volunteers to serve—which is our main goal of having our community maintain community standards—we do have the option of appointing Goodwin Management to manage modification requests for a fee of around $65 per request.

Please contact the board and/or Jim Smitherman if you can help out!

If you are interested in being a board member we are also looking for volunteers.

Your social Calendar 2024

Our social committee is planning on four events this year. More details will come, but here is an outline:

  • Adult night with music trivia - May

  • Pool party and swim-in movie night - July

  • Neighborhood Night Out - October

  • Winter Festival & Santa in the Park - December (yes to the snow machines and cocoa!)

Reserve study and master landscape plan

The Association has received two major plans regarding upkeep of our common areas. The first is a Reserve Study, which looks at our cash in the bank and lists what we will expect to fix in the next 30 years, recommending both how much we should be setting aside and when to repair association assets such as pools, pool houses, playgrounds, parking lots, and fencing.

The second document is a master landscape plan from our landscape vendor Sunscapes. We asked Sunscapes for a phased proposal for replanting trees along Lakeline, many of which died from the years of drought (especially the cypress) and freeze. The planting will rely a lot on the weather, and lake levels, as watering restrictions will halt any progress. We will start to test and improve the irrigation lines to prepare for the first phase of tree planting in the fall if all goes well. We are also working on a cost sharing with the City of Cedar Park for part of the plan, the section of Lakeline north of Buttercup Creek which they maintain.

These documents show that although our association is in good financial condition now with $1.5M in the bank, we need to grow our reserve fund to meet these contingencies. Case in point, last year we spent $40K on tree cleanup after the ice storm, and $75K on replastering the Lakeline pool. The board will likely increase 2025 assessments 6% to $382 to build the reserve and make planned improvements. Budgeting will start in September, please contact the board if you have questions.

The Reserve Study can be found on TownSq.

The Landscape Master Plan can be found on TownSq.

Landscape Tips for Spring

Some basic tips for lawn maintenance, now that spring has begun:

Perform routine lawn maintenance, as needed. Proper lawn maintenance includes:

  • Mowing, trimming, edging along all hard surfaces & removing weeds from the lawn. The frequency of lawn mowing will vary depending on how often it is watered or rains, how many weeds are in the lawn, etc. Some lawns may require lawn maintenance as often as once a week to stay in compliance.

  • Remove grass and weeds from all flower/landscape/rock beds.

  • Remove all dead branches from trees and shrubs. Prune shrubs.

  • Replace the sod in all bare or dead grass areas of your front yard.

  • Remove and replace dead shrubs and trees.

  • Trim up tree canopies over the sidewalk to a minimum of 8’ and over the street to a minimum of 14’. Note: City of Cedar Park may do this for you if they see an issue, and it might not be aesthetically pleasing as you’d like.

  • Trim shrubs so the address sign is visible from the street. This is especially critical in the event of an emergency. The Police/EMS or the Fire Department may not be able to find your home, so trimming your overgrown shrubs could save a life!

It is also time to reposition potted plants from your driveway staging area to their locations in your landscape.

Cedar Park Parks Master Plan - Info Sessions 3/21 & 4/24

The Cedar Park Parks and Recreation Department is currently developing a new 2024 Parks and Recreation Master Plan. This plan will be the guiding document and help determine future priorities for parks, facilities and programs for the next 5-10 years. As a part of this plan, they invite you to attend the drop-in, come-and-go public meetings to provide your input. No RSVP is necessary.

 

Parks and Recreation Master Plan Information Session #1

Thursday, March 21, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

Cedar Park Recreation Center: Community Rooms 1435 Main St

Parks and Recreation Master Plan Information Session #2

Wednesday, April 24, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

City Hall: Multi-Purpose Rooms 450 Cypress Creek Road, Building 3

Spring Neighborhood Yard Sale - Saturday 3/23

Save the Date!

Westside Preserve Neighborhood Yard Sale

Saturday, March 23, 7am-1pm

Time to get things organized, make sure items are clean, working condition, manuals.  Check on prices, by going on line.  Do you have tables or tarps, etc, for display?  Get small bills and quarters to make change.  If you live on a side street-make directing SIGNS- LARGE, DARK, BOLD letters easily seen from moving vehicles, to direct buyers to your site.  The additional signs will go up soon.  If you have access to Twitter, Facebook, or such sites, please put this information out there.  The more advertising the better the buyer turnout.  Fingers crossed for good weather.