Sidewalks and Aprons: We would like you to take a look at the driveway aprons at the end of Harvard, near the bridge. They were poured about Nov. 3 and have changed color considerably, as they have aged, as expected. In the planning stages of this project, color of the sidewalks and aprons was the most discussed aspect we heard about. It has proved to be the most difficult to achieve. We have been advised that the exposed aggregate we had talked about was labor intensive and therefore, expensive and not as strong as regular concrete. We have selected a regular concrete with a color added which is brown/tan-ish. When we looked at the 942 colors which currently exist in the neighborhood, we tried to get a warm, yet non-descript color, which is not glaring like some of the concretes of recent years. We will encourage people to use this color formula, which will be available from the trustees, in future pouring, whenever homeowners have to repair damaged sidewalks for utility purposes or for construction. The new style is much lower, wider and has an edge designed to minimize damage to curb and tire when a driver does drive up on it.
Curbs and Gutters: We would like to explain to you what we are aiming for on the drainage issues.
On Harvard, Trinity, and at the junction of Cornell with Trinity (6910 Cornell) we have put in new curbs and gutters in concrete. We will be leaving the street surface concrete, as far as the new gutters extend. (See the subdivision to the west of us. They do all their gutters like this.) The engineers tell us that concrete stays firm and in place over time, whereas the asphalt bends and buckles, with packing down and heat heaving. This leads to the dips and hills which have caused the major puddling in the past. This should keep the water flowing down the incline on these streets.
On Dartmouth, we have milled out and replaced asphalt in a smoother way. We did not replace the gutters with concrete because the street has almost no slope and the expenditure of that large amount of money was not going to reliably get us results. We are still tweaking this. We hope to achieve some improvement on Dartmouth, but the flatness of the street poses long term problems.
Street Repair: On Princeton, we dug out and re-asphalted a section of the street which had deteriorated, due to a very large tree root. Concerning Lake Princeton, near #11 and #12 Princeton, the problem is the MSD drain pipe which goes from the drain at the high south side of the street, underground, to join the drain on the low north side (near #14). This drain is only 8” in diameter, which is exceptionally small for such a pipe. It gets clogged regularly. When it is clear, it works. Our plan should be for each of us to call MSD (768-6260) every time it clogs and ask for them to clear it. This is especially important for those of you who live on Princeton. The more calls, the more likely to get it cleared. Some generation, MSD should replace it with one large enough to stay open.
Lights: Did you notice that the Trinity/Cornell light is on, for the first time in probably three years? Don’t ask why it took so long. Just ask how much we love AmerenUE.
On the other hand, our construction crews have discovered that the subdivision seemed to have been wired by Beelzebub or some electrician with a wicked sense of humor. The wires were not where they were marked and were where they were not marked. To call them jerry-rigged would be several grades above their status. As a consequence, the sidewalk removal has caused some outages. Due to diligence on the part of TraMar Construction, especially Scott Wetmore, our field supervisor, AmerenUE has done much replacement work. As of this writing, all streetlights are on, as are the ornamentals except for the missing soldier at Yale/Dartmouth/Radcliffe. Wish us luck.
Work Scope:We have found that the number of driveway approaches we need to replace is up 13% and the number of sidewalk slabs is up 30% from our original calculations 22 months ago. Part of this is just due to the passage of time. We have also seen that the last summer, with 30 inches of rain, has caused our trees to grow at a phenomenal rate, which has increased their root size, and broken and lifted our sidewalks even more. Our work scope has thus increased greatly.
We have also been advised by several contractors/engineers/city employees that the micro surfacing which was planned for parts of two streets (Cornell between Yale and Radcliffe and for Radcliffe from Cornell to just past the vacant lot) is not really a pressing need and could safely be put off a couple of years. This is $18,000 in the budget.
Our evolving philosophy has been to get all the asphalt and concrete work done right now, while we have the capable crews in here. We know we will not be able to get small contractors to give us such fine service in the near future. But, the budget…
Budget: We are over budget but have a plan. We had $30,000 in savings in the Trustee’s budget from years ago and we have added another $30,000 in the last 2-3 years to this nest egg, by frugal spending. We think this is the time to spend it to complete this project with the addition concrete work necessary. We are planning to spend as much as necessary of this $60,000 to supplement the NID budget. If we delay the micro surfacing, we think we can do everything else we planned on, by using the NID budget plus our nest egg. We are hoping it will not take all of the nest egg. With what is left over, plus what we can save in the next few years, we are confident that we will be able to afford to do the micro surfacing in the next 2-3 years.
Assessment: In light of the above, we will continue the $0.25 increase per frontage foot in this year’s assessment, taking it to $3.75. Please remember that an increase of 25 cents only yields the budget $5000 (and only costs a 50 ft lot $12.50). Our total assessment this year will be $77,032. If you wish to see the budgets for the last five years which were circulated at the annual meeting, contact Judy. Most of the private subdivisions around us have assessments of $5-$6 per frontage foot.
Crime: On Tuesday, November 11 at 7:30 PM at the intersection of Trinity and Amherst, one of our newer residents was robbed at gunpoint by two young men (16-20 y.o.). The resident’s phone and money were taken and the youths ran away toward Delmar. The police stopped some suspects, but the victim could not identify anyone. We extend our sympathy to him. If anyone knows anything useful, call the police.
There have also been multiple car break-ins and thefts. We must remain careful, calm and vigilant. Lock up your doors! The University Heights Association announces the following:
While the neighborhood had plans to begin the Neighborhood Watch program well before Tuesday's incident, it is now apparent that it is a necessity. One thing we can do is to be alert and watch for suspicious activity. To help us learn to be watchful we are organizing a neighborhood watch program. Captain Carol Jackson of the U. City Police Dept. will meet with us on Wednesday, December 3, from 6 to 8 at the U. City Library large meeting room, 2nd floor. All are welcome and encouraged to come. We would like to have every street represented. Questions or comments? Call Betsy, 726-5452, evenings or betsy@wubios.wustl.edu
New gate: In addition to closing off the gravel part of the old footpath between the subdivision and Vernon, we trustees are installing a gate in the white plastic fence which goes into the shopping center at Vernon and Kingsland and putting a “Private, No Trespassing” sign on it. We will have a combination push button lock on it. We are still considering whether or not to lock it. If we lock it, to whom and how do we give the combination to our residents? Will they share the combination with their friends? Do we like their friends? We want to proceed with actions which slow the traffic of undesirable persons, but do not really like the idea of permanently locking this access. This is a very delicate balance, for which we have no hard facts, only a wide variety of perceptions. Please help us draw this line thoughtfully.
Thank you for listening to our musings. We appreciate your assistance in managing these things.
