Mark Howell 10/3/24 Mark Howell 10/3/24

Candidate Meetings, Trash Cans, Upcoming Chilli Cookoff

Hey Neighbors:

We had a good turnout for the meeting with the Candidates on Monday night. Maureen Fraser, a candidate for Mayor, and 4 of the Alderman candidates were there for the Q&A that lasted 2 hours. I hope we turned those residents who attended into informed voters.

The daughter of Pat Powell, Lisa Brown, is having an estate sale at Pat’s home at 1857 Laurel Lane on Oct 18, 19 and 20.Pat passed away earlier this year and she is trying to sell a lot of the furnishings. You can expect more traffic than usual around the big circle, so be careful.

I don’t think many people are aware that Collierville trash says there should be about 5’ separation between your trash cans when you put them out on the street for pickup. They need space to get their “claws” out to grab the trash bin to lift up into the truck. I notice a lot of people sit them right next to each other. While you may not have 5’, you can at least give them a little spacing to make their job easier.

Rosalie Johnson is looking for contestants for the chili contest at the Oct 20 gathering for our Fall Fling Party. Step up if you have a good recipe, or just want to experiment on other people. Come and do the chili tasting and enjoy the gathering with your neighbors and friends.

We are in the process of updating our entryway Christmas decorations. The current ones are about 7 years old and the bows and some decorations need to be updated. If you are interested in helping or have a knack for this sort of thing, please contact Kaaren Stettler, 849-3271, to volunteer to contribute to the effort.

We will probably put the decorations up at the entrance the weekend of Thanksgiving (another chance to lend a hand!).

Enjoy the cooler weather and get ready for the holidays!

Jim Stettler

Mark Howell 9/26/24 Mark Howell 9/26/24

Busy Fall Calendar

Dear Neighbors:

I just want to remind everyone that now that Fall is here and things are getting busy once again. There is a lot going on and the holidays will be upon us before we know it.

We will start planning on our annual Homeowner’s Meeting for January very soon. We will be looking for volunteers to replace 3 of our current Board members, whose terms are ending. If you are interested in working for the neighborhood on the HOA Board, please let me or any one of the current Board members know. Terms are for 2 years and the work is really not that hard, but can be very rewarding.

We have a lot of events on our calendar coming up and want to remind all of you what is planned so far:

Sunday, Sep 29 Bourbon Tasting @ Big Circle 6 PM Bring a chair, a glass and a bottle of bourbon to share

Monday, Sep 30 Candidate Meeting @ The Farms 7 PM Hear from other Mayoral and Alderman candidates for C-Ville

Monday, Oct 7 HOA Board Mtg @ Stettlers 7 PM

Oct 16 - 31 Early Voting 9 - 7 Vote at any Shelby County voting station. VOTE!

Sunday, Oct 20 Chili Contest @ Laurel Knoll Circ 5 PM Laurel’s Fall Fling party

Tuesday, Nov 5 Election Day @ Compassion Church Located on Houston Levee Rd, just before Huey’s. VOTE!

The MahJong lessons are going well, I hear. Check with Pam Evans if you are interested. The other clubs are all active and will be planning special events for the next few months also.

We have not had a date set yet for the Christmas Progressive party, so watch for information to sign up and volunteer. This is always a fun part of our neighborhood and we hope more people will get involved.

Enjoy the great Fall weather. Keep in touch with your neighbors and take part in the activities of the season.

Jim Stettler

Mark Howell 9/21/24 Mark Howell 9/21/24

Political Signage

Dear Neighbors,

Several people have asked about putting political signs in their yards. According to the Tennessee Freedom of Speech Act, we should not restrict the rights of people to place such signs, within certain limits, such as their size or location. This Act overrides our HOA covenants. The signs may only be displayed 60 days prior to Election Day and removed within one day after. You may only display one sign per candidate.

This being said, I don’t think our neighborhood wants our tiny front yards covered in political signs. All signs should be 16 sq ft or less and located in your flower bed. No signs at all between the sidewalk and the street.

Please be considerate of your neighbor’s choices if they happen to disagree with yours. Any signs up 2 days after the election will be removed.

Thank you.
Jim Stettler

Mark Howell 8/12/24 Mark Howell 8/12/24

Local Election, Misc Updates

Dear Neighbors:

The HOA is sponsoring a meeting with one of the candidates for Mayor of Collierville, Mr. Billy Patton, on Aug 27. This will be held at The Farms, on Houston Levee Road, from 7 to 9 PM. There are a lot of areas which concern all of us, and not just for the Chick-fil-A issue. Collierville has some growing problems and it is important we all understand and become informed as to what these are and who may be best fitted to solving them. Mr. John Stamps, who is an Alderman running for re-election, will be there also. We need a lot of people to come and listen to these gentlemen and decide if they can earn your vote in the November election coming up. Please plan to come on Tuesday night, August 27th.

On some more local notes:

Mark Howell is working on redesigning our HOA webpage to make it more useable for all of us in The Laurels. He has done a lot of work on this but would like to have an assistant to help carry it on in the future or if he is unavailable. If you have experience with web sites and would like to help, please contact me or Mark.

As you all know, we have several traffic circles in The Laurels. They are quite common in Europe, but not so much here in America. The vehicle in the circle has the right of way and traffic outside of the circle should yield to them. However, this is Memphis and you are all licensed Memphis drivers, so you should know better than to trust the other guy! The one circle which is most difficult is at Laurel Lane and Laurel Hollow Lane, East and West, intersection. Traffic on Laurel Lane feels they have a straight shot and do not tend to yield to the circle traffic. Please be aware and be careful using this traffic circle.

You should know that the new macadam (asphalt) in our alleys will get quite warm in the hot summer sun and it turns soft. If you pull out into the alley and stop and turn your tires while stationary, you may dig a rut in the surface. Please just be aware and start moving the vehicle before turning your wheels if possible.

There have been some questions about being able to have a house for rent in The Laurels. We have many more homes for sale now than ever and they do not seem to be moving as fast as they usually do. Just so you are aware, the only restriction to renting your home is that you may not post any signage that can be seen from the street. We have had people renting houses in our neighborhood before and it has not been a problem. However, we do not really want short term leases or an Airbnb. We will need to discuss this at the annual meeting in January if we wish to amend our Covenants and Restrictions. Even if we do, we can probably not prevent anyone currently on the market from renting, as they would be grandfathered in under our current rules. By the same token, if you are sitting on a home that is not selling, you may wish to rent it to try and recover some of the expenses of maintaining the house. Its open for discussion!

Thanks:
Jim Stettler

Mark Howell 5/30/24 Mark Howell 5/30/24

New Streetlight Bulbs, Alley Paving

If you had not noticed yet, MLGW has replaced all of our street lights with new ones. They are supposedly more efficient and better lighting, and, hopefully, their sensors work correctly. A good excuse to take a walk on these fine evenings around the neighborhood.

We are hoping the alley paving work will begin on or around June 11. This date is dependent on possible weather delays on their other jobs. We will let you know if there are any drastic changes. For those who access the alleys for parking, you may have to plan on parking on the street for a week or so until your section is completed. Your trash may need to be taken to the front of the house instead of along the alley during this time also. We will coordinate with Collierville if it comes to this. It may take up to 2 weeks for them to complete the whole job.

I hope you are enjoying these fine late Spring days. All the rain has really helped the flowers and shrubs to grow.

If you are planning on being gone for any length of time on a vacation, be sure to let your neighbors know so they can keep a lookout on your home and property while you are gone. You can use the Collierville Police to run some inspections around your home at no charge. Just sign up on line.

I want to thank Dick Daniels for helping to set the flags out for Memorial Day. We will be putting some decorations out for the 4th of July around the end of May. If you want to help, please let me know.

Have a great summer and be safe!

Jim Stettler

Mark Howell 5/21/24 Mark Howell 5/21/24

Alley Paving

I am pleased to announce that we have contracted with Pollen Construction to pave our alleys. They hope to start work in mid-June and hope to finish within 2 weeks. Thanks to Bert Simms for all his work getting to this point.

As we get closer to time for the start, we will remind everyone. It may have to be delayed due to weather or other circumstances. We will need to consider car parking and trash pickup once they start working the alleys. The rear west entrance will probably be closed for some time.

We are hoping this work will make our alleys good for another 20 years. We have that long to build our maintenance reserve account back up.

Jim Stettler

Mark Howell 4/5/24 Mark Howell 4/5/24

Mailbox Painting

In my last letter I offered a guy who will do our mailbox painting service for the neighborhood. The cost is $50 for painting of the pole, the mailbox and flag and renumbering on the box. He will probably start painting next week. I have 4 folks who have told me they wanted to take advantage of this, If you are interested in this also, please let me know ASAP. You can pay me the $50 or I will cover it until you can pay me, and I know where you live! You can also call Mr. Brock Shaffer at 238-7974 yourself.

Please check your mailbox and see if it needs to be repainted. A lot of them are looking faded and some have paint peeling off the poles.

Jim Stettler

Mark Howell 3/29/24 Mark Howell 3/29/24

Alley Paving, Funding, New Website

We held a meeting of your HOA Board and have planned on some areas we need to move on to keep The Laurels the premier neighborhood that it has become.  I wanted to share these with you and seek any input you might have.

We are looking at paving the alleys in The Laurels.  They have been patched many times, once professionally and many times by some of your fellow neighbors.  They have not been totally done since the neighborhood was completed, almost 20 years ago, and they are showing signs of degradation, pot holes and cracks.  This is not an inexpensive program, but needs to be done.  We realize a little less than half of you do not live on an alley (about 44%) and may be upset at the expense for this, but we do feel it is important to keep all of our property values high.

In order to meet the payment for this job, it will take almost all of our Maintenance Reserve Fund.  We hope to try and do half the alleys this year and the other half next year, 2025.  The need for this getting done has been voiced for the last several years.
We are going to have the street and stop sign poles repainted.  These have not been done in 20 years either.  This painter does mailboxes also and he can do some of these while he is in the neighborhood.  You will have to let us know if you wish to have your mailbox repainted and renumbered and we will get the painter to schedule it to get done.  The cost will be $ 50 if you are interested (includes painting mailbox and flag plus new numbers).  You can send me your interest, and your $50, and I will compile a list for him.  Or you can contact him directly, Brock Shaffer, 238-7974.

Mark Howell, our new Webmaster, has been looking at upgrading our website,thelaurelshoa.com.  We hope to be able to add more neighborhood details as to activities and schedules and make it easier to use.  He has already made some changes, if you have not been on the site in a while.

The Board is considering having to raise our HOA dues starting next year.  We need to replenish our Maintenance Reserve funds and the costs of many of our commitments are going up.  After the fence replacement and the alley repaving, it will have used up almost all of the Reserve we have building for the past 16 years or so. We will remind you as we get closer to the end of the year about this.
The Laurels Care Committee asked us to send a memorial to the Trinity Cemetery in Brownsville, Tn, in accordance with the wishes of Patsy Powell’s family.  We sent $75 to the cemetery in her name in lieu of flowers.

Everyone should have received the new directories by now.  Please be aware that these are strictly for use by the residents of The Laurels and not to be used for commercial use at all.  Please do not share your directory with anyone outside of the neighborhood!

If anyone has a friend looking to move into The Laurels, the Carsons, at 9830 W. Laurel Hollow and the Byrams, at 1903 E. Laurel Hollow, are moving and have not listed with a realtor yet.  Bring some more great people into The Laurels.

Jim Stettler

Mark Howell 3/12/24 Mark Howell 3/12/24

House Fire, Byram Move, Funco

Mark Howell 3/2/24 Mark Howell 3/2/24

House Fire, Please Vote

If any of you are unawares, we had quite some excitement in The Laurels early this morning. Dr. Cap & Betty Herrington, on West Laurel Hollow, woke up to a house rapidly filling up with smoke. They were able to get out safely and the fire department responded very quickly. First reports are that it was some wiring in the ceiling that may be the culprit. Final details won’t be available until they complete their investigation. Cap said they may be out of their house for 6 months or more until repairs are completed. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

If you have not voted in the Presidential Primary election yet, your last chance will be this Tuesday, also known as Super Tuesday! Our voting station is at the Compassion Church, on Houston Levee, just before you get to Huey’s on Poplar. It is our privilege as an American to be able to select our candidates and vote for them, so please take it seriously and remember to vote!
It looks like Spring is springing around us. Enjoy the great weather and be careful out there.

Jim Stettler

Mark Howell 2/11/24 Mark Howell 2/11/24

Jim Paulsen Honored

I hope everyone is doing well and ready for a happy Valentines Day. It looks like the groundhog was right and we may be heading for an early Spring.
A reminder that early voting for the primary elections will open on Valentines Day, until Feb 27. The primary election will be on Super Tuesday, Mar 5. Please get out to support your candidate of choice!
Everyone should be receiving their new Laurels Directory in the next few days, if the rain ever stops. Please remember to thank Jim Paulsen for printing these for us.
Speaking of Jim Paulsen, he was recently recognized for his long time support of the University of Memphis.
Jim Paulsen
Ralph Hatley Silver M Award
Presented to a dedicated supporter who has given multiple years of exceptional service to Memphis Athletics.
Jim Paulsen is a Memphian through and through. Paulsen graduated from then Memphis State University in 1968 with a Bachelor of Science degree in physical science. As a student, he was president of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He served the United States Military from 1966-72 in the Army Reserve.
Prior to founding Paulsen Printing, he served as the District Sales Manager for American Express Company. In 1978, Paulsen and his wife, Judy, founded Paulsen Printing Company, a full-service printing company in Memphis, Tenn. Today, they have 37 employees. During the past 45 years and with the help of their employees, Paulsen Printing has become one of the largest printing companies in the Mid-South, focusing on customer service and quality printing. Clients include businesses, schools, churches and many non-profit organizations.

In the 1980's, Memphis Athletics and the University of Memphis became one of Paulsen Printing's biggest clients. They have printed media guides, game programs, schedules cards, posters, and many other items. In the past ten years, they began helping the Memphis Athletics Fund (formerly the Tiger Scholarship Fund) with renewal letters, brochures, invoices and many other items. Recently, they helped the Memphis Athletics Development team with a rebrand to the Memphis Athletics Fund by printing the first all-inclusive giving guide.

Paulsen is a lifelong, avid supporter of Memphis Athletics for over 50 years. He attended his first Memphis Tiger football game at Crump Stadium at the age of nine and has fond memories of attending Memphis State basketball games at the field house. Some of his best Tiger memories include the first win over Ole Miss in football in 1963, going to the NCAA Final Four in San Antonio, and the 2019 Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Paulsen and his wife, Judy, have three children and six grandchildren.

Jim Stettler