Thanks to everyone who came out to the meeting. Click here to view the meeting minutes.

Click here to download the Newsletter

If you have ever lost your pet you undoubtedly know how hard it is to find it. If you have ever found a pet sometimes it is even harder to find its home. Recently, a friend of mine who lives in Heritage Hills called and asked whether Mesta Park had a pet registry. She had found a dog and was looking for its owner. She told me about the pet registry which had been formed in Heritage Hills — one person to call to help this pet find its owner. What a great idea!

I remember a couple of years ago when my 18 1/2 year old, half blind Shih Tzu found his way out of my yard. I searched frantically for hours, put up over 50 posters, and luckily he was returned 36 hours later. But if I'd had a place to call, to get the word out by email to other pet owners, and if the person who had found him had been able to call a pet registry to find me, 36 hours of worry could have been avoided.

If you lose your pet or if you have found one, I will work in cooperation with the Heritage Hills Pet Registry representative through our combined databases to help reunite pets with their owners.

Thanks to the great group who came out for our first meeting for the fall. Click here to view the minutes from the meeting. Please join us for our next meeting in October.

Click here to download the newsletter.

So when folks around Mesta Park decide to ignore the Historic Preservation guidelines and ordinance, removing windows or building new features without a C.A., it's no surprise that tongues start to wag.  Someone will call me up to ask if I've noticed what's going on over at so-and-so's address.  "Do they have permission to do that?", the caller will ask: or, "I can't believe they got approval for THAT!", they'll exclaim.  Then I have to call the City inspector to determine whether so-and-so has permission to do THAT, and when I determine that they don't have a C.A., the trouble begins:  The inspector has to go out and issue a citation, the home-owner has to complete a C.A. application after the project is underway or complete, and at least half the time the application eventually gets denied.  Of course, the homeowners can appeal the decision to the Board of Adjustment (for a $500 fee), but more often than not, their application is denied again.  If that happens, there's still the potential for an appeal to District Court (fee unknown, but it ain't cheap), which is a lengthy process and involves untold legal fees.  If the homeowners lose the case, they have to return the property to its previous condition.  This scenario isn't pretty.

I have to ask myself why so many people are choosing to ignore the HP Guidelines.  Yes, the Guidelines can be a bit inconvenient; and yes, the C.A. process does add a bit of time to the project.  But more often than not the folks who are violating the Guidelines are doing so because they think they won't get approval for their projects.  They just decide to go forward and hope they're not caught.  The problem (as I've pointed out) is that it's hard to keep a secret around here.  Eventually--and it doesn't have to be this year, or  even next year--people are going to talk, and tongues are going to wag, and the person without a C.A. is going to pay the piper.  This is miserable for everyone:  the homeowner, the neighborhood association, the neighbors, the HP Commissioners, and certainly ME.

My advice is:  don't keep secrets.  Go through the C.A. process (I'll guide you if you need my help!) and get approval BEFORE you begin working on your project.  This is really a promise we should make to one another--to honor the Guidelines and Ordinance as best we can--so that we can keep Mesta Park a true Historic Preservation District.  It's no secret that this is what makes our neighborhood unique and important.  [Contact me with questions regarding Historic Preservation issues at hp@mestapark.org ]

Oh yea. . . could you do this before it rains again?  My garage is leaking.

• 1001 NW 16th, Lam Nguyen and Sara Murphy
• 900 NW 18th, Steve and Jennifer Ryan
• 916 NW 18th, Lori Wrotenbery
• 930 NW 19th, Don Hawkins and Mick Shirron

Also, thank you to Jim Pickens, 801 NW 17th, who will host the refreshment stop for tour-goers.

Many thanks to those neighbors who have volunteered to serve on this year’s committee. We will have our first official committee meeting on Tuesday, August 19th. Please watch the website for location and time as we get closer to the meeting date. If you are interested in learning more about this year’s tour or would like to volunteer, please let us know by e-mailing us at hometour@mestpark.org.

Even if you've never been to a neighborhood meeting before, you'll want to come to this one. We'll lay out our four initiatives and also show you all of the leadership and volunteer needs we have that are currently unfilled. If you're new to the neighborhood or if you are not currently involved in a volunteer role, this is your chance to find the perfect place to get involved. Please join us and get involved in all that happening at Mesta Park!