Hello Neighbors,

We hope everyone is getting ready for the Holidays and will get to spend some time with family and friends.  We have had a great and productive year trying to ensure the community stays vibrant and our home values increase.  As always, there is no substitute for pride of ownership and knowing your neighbors.  I hope you all take the time to get to know your neighbors and use the team approach to making our community the best it can be!  Happy Holidays to everyone!

Tempe City Neighborhood Grant

The city of Tempe proposal annual grants for improvements of the Tempe neighborhoods.  There is a request process where we submit a proposal of community improvements that we feel would make the neighborhood more improved as well as the city.  The grant is up to $10,000 and it matches $1 for $1 of the community money being put into the project.  The Board has some ideas to make use of this money if we can obtain it but we are looking to the community for any ideas or areas of improvement that would be most suited for this proposal.  If you could reply to this post below or send an e-mail to info@oasisatanozira.org with your thoughts we would greatly appreciate it.

Mailbox Theft

We had a bank of mailboxes in the neighborhood that was broken into and the USPS has since replaced the box with the more secure boxes of today.  Just a reminder to be aware of sending valuables and/or personal information in the mail.  Safeguard yourself at the very least by checking and bringing your mail in daily.

Lake Reports

For the majority of this calendar year we have used a new water management company called Aquatic Consulting and along with the water management they issue us a monthly report about the lake.  I have uploaded those along with the 2015 Lake Reserve Study onto the Info Center > Archive > Oasis Lake Reports page so the Homeowners can see more detailed information about the lake if that is of any interest.  This company has done a nice job with the lake and informing us about the ecosystem that allows this lake to continue to thrive/evolve.  We have excellent oxygen concentration levels which help keep a healthy lake with healthy plant/wildlife.

Pump House

Recently our Liaisons’ noticed a decrease in pressure on our main pump that feeds the irrigation for the neighborhood.  After some digging/diving into the wet vault underneath the Pump House it was discovered that some tree roots and a catfish had been sucked up into the intake of the pump causing a jam.  Thank you to these guys for catching and rectifying this issues as it saved a potential overheating/breakdown of our pump which is a costly replacement.  As more maintenance items come to light we continue to make sure we have the right process in place to address these areas on a monthly/quarterly/ or annual basis to stay proactive in using our resources effectively.

Tree Trimming

The board has approved Tree Doctors bid for Priority 1 (trees that need it most) trimming throughout the neighborhood.  As we have many mature trees and many other trees that are going to start needing routine annual maintenance we are putting systems in place to protect the liability of the community as well as keep things efficient.  Tree Doctors does a full map layout of the trees in the community and tracks changes/trimmings for future use.  This is expected to happen in January.

Stoplight on Elliot/Shutterfly Way

As many of you signed the petition I wanted to share the back and forth conversation between the City of Tempe and I about the petition.  This is copied from an e-mail so excuse the format…

“Hi Jake,

I apologize for the delayed response.  Please see my comments below in red.

Thanks,

Julian <— (City of Tempe Traffic Area)

From: Jake Ulrich
Sent: Monday, December 07, 2015 1:44 PM
To: Dresang, Julian
Cc: Seyler, Shelly;
Subject: Re: The Oasis at Anozira – Shutterfly Way Stoplight

Julian,

Thank you for your response.  I am interpreting your response as saying that the federal government is requiring that a stoplight be put in that location due to statistics that you have gathered that meet certain criteria. The federal government is not requiring that a signal be installed, it has specific warrants (traffic volumes, crashes, etc.) that must be analyzed when determining whether or not a signal should be installed. Is Wentworth Properties proposing to pay the cost of the stoplight?  If so, is that having any influence on the decision or is it strictly safety and gathered statistics of that location?  Yes, the developer is paying for the cost of the signal, but that is not a reason to install a signal.  The need for the signal is based on safety (crashes) and analysis of projected traffic volumes when the property is at full build-out (2020).  We have been having internal staff discussions about what options (funding logistics) might be available if we were to delay construction of the signal.

Also, would you please share what the statistics are that drive a stoplight to be put in?  Please reference the MUTCD section on Traffic Signals (http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/pdfs/2009r1r2/part4.pdf).  It goes into great depth regarding the type of analysis that is considered.When were the traffic flows measured at that intersection and is it possible to see the results of the study?  As noted earlier, the values used were projections of traffic based on build out (2020).  I would be happy to meet with you and discuss the study.

Some other concerns:

1.  Shutterfly has seasonal employees.  Q4 is their busiest time of year where they triple their workforce and then scale back in Q1 for the remainder of the year.
2.  Freescale is leaving the property and consolidating to their Chandler campus which will reduce employee traffic
3.  State Farm is leaving and consolidating to their Tempe-ASU campus which will reduce employee traffic
4.  The new commercial building housing Northern Trust already has a stoplight at the Discovery Park entrance and an alternate on Price Rd so this entrance has no bearing on those employees.
5.  Having a stoplight does not explicitly create safety.  Educating and teaching the legal drivers is what creates safety.  A stoplight at that small of an intersection when other options are available just gives the driving population and excuse to NOT pay attention unfortunately.

Thank you for sharing these additional concerns, we will definitely take these into consideration as we move forward.

With that said we don’t feel this is necessary but if you are saying we have no choice the request is to delay the light for at least another 6-12 months as the commercial property has very low occupancy right now as construction is commencing.

As noted earlier, we are in the proses of determining what options might be available to delay installation without compromising safety and/or funding associated with the signal.

Thank you for your consideration and I am looking forward to your response.

Jake Ulrich

Oasis HOA President

480.818.8300

On Dec 7, 2015, at 11:23 AM, Dresang, Julian <Julian_Dresang@tempe.gov> wrote:

Hi Jake,

Thank you for providing this feedback from your neighborhood.  While I understand that you and your neighbors have concerns, it is my professional responsibility to provide a safe and efficient transportation systems to all users.  The Federal government requires that the decision on whether or not to install a traffic signal be based on engineering analysis, as outlined in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).

Please understand that NOT putting in a signal where one is needed can lead to serious injuries (even fatalities) and open the door for costly litigation to the City.

The purpose of this response is not to downplay the quality-of-life issues that you have concerns about, only to properly manage expectations and educate you on the decision process that we must adhere to.

As I have told Lisa, we will continue to keep you and your neighborhood informed of any changes as the Discovery Campus continues to evolve.

Thanks,

Julian”

Final Thoughts

Thank you all for a great year and please leave your comments below or submit to info@oasisatanozira.org for suggestions on the City of Tempe Grant Proposal.

-Jake Ulrich

HOA Presdient