What s Going on in Camelot The Spring Edition

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1 A Camelot Citizens Association May 2017 Published for the residents of the Camelot Subdivision, Baton Rouge, Louisiana May Yard of the Month, on Excalibur What s Going on in Camelot The Spring Edition The world s favorite season is the spring. All things seem possible in May. EDWIN WAY TEALE In this issue, you ll read the highlights from our 2017 annual homeowners meeting, with a list of approved volunteer board members. There is also a new committee which was organized to facilitate timely and productive communications with our residents. Please read about this committee s initiative and complete their first ask as soon as possible. Our resident published author and longtime board member Ray Totty shares his thoughts on a latest board gathering in his article A Refreshing Meeting Our Spring Social will be held Saturday May 20 th from 11 am 1pm in the Park. Please be sure to come out and bring the entire family to Camelot Park as we ll be serving up delicious New Orleans Style Snow Cones, and Grilled Hot Dogs! We will also have a children s bounce house and face painting. It will be a wonderful event and a great way to meet more of our neighbors. Congratulations to our Yard of the Month winners for March, April and May, whose homes will be displayed throughout the newsletter. We would like to extend a warm welcome to our new residents. We are excited that you chose Camelot to live. We are a friendly group of residents who look out for each other. Feel free to contact the Association with any questions or comments. Be sure to us any pictures of the neighborhood you would like to share. Please send us any creative kid s artwork or poems for publishing consideration in the next newsletter. If you have an article or suggestion for the next issue, please the editor at admin@camelotbr.com. Also let us know if you would like to place an ad or have the newsletter sent to your .

2 2017 Annual Homeowners Meeting Recap The Camelot Citizens Association Annual Meeting was held on March 14, The following officers listed were elected and board approved. Several of the accomplishments and other events which were highlighted included: Ray Totty and Monika Luna work together choosing the Yard of the Month and the Christmas yard contest each year. They were complimented for doing an excellent job this year. Seeing the Yard of the Month signs encourages people to join in the efforts to make our neighborhood beautiful. Monika and Ray will continue in this effort for John Kojis heads up grounds keeping, which includes the front of the Subdivision, seasonal plantings and decorating for Christmas, all enhancing the beauty of our neighborhood. Pat Mauras maintains and designs the entrance sign to Camelot with fun monthly and seasonal news. Randy Ortego makes sure that street signs and lighting is consistently maintained. If necessary he contacts DEMCO and DPW when repairs are needed. Dolly Williams heads up the Care Committee. She keeps in contact when family members are sick or shut-in or have lost a loved one by sending cards and notes. It means a lot to a neighbor to know they are not alone and Dolly knows how to help in those times of need. Kathleen Fletcher has been our Welcome Committee Chair for several years as she visits new neighbors and brings a basket of goodies to say Welcome. As new neighbors come in, her efforts also aid Tim in keeping the Database current. Perry Musgrow covers the Civic Association of Baton Rouge, attending meetings once a month. What he shares from these meetings prove that they are good for the city and good for us. Mike Barbier heads up the Security Chair scheduling neighborhood volunteers and patrolmen. Camelot has been patrolled thanks to Mike s efforts for over ten years with Camelot being the only subdivision in the city doing this. Vicki Rogers has been the secretary for five years, keeping a permanent record of monthly, special meetings and annual meetings. John Kojis and Randy Ortego head up the architectural committee evaluating any requests for changes to homes keeping the appearance of Camelot consistent throughout. Vicki Rogers headed up Compliance in She had been doing this with help from Ray Totty and then on her own to give him a badly needed break. Tim Piper oversees our website. The website is a user-friendly way for neighbors to see what Camelot is all about and news of events, etc Along with the website, Tim publishes the newsletter which is three pages and in color, ed to most of the residents with some being hard-copied and mailed. Vicki Rogers and Pat Mauras head up the Social Committee, hosting two events in the Fall and in the Spring. These are held in the BREC Park at the back of the subdivision. They are family fun events with a bounce house, food, face painting and games. We then moved on to discuss a major agenda matter that we faced this year: that of increasing the dues which are mandatory. Prior to this, the yearly dues were $ A subdivision-wide meeting in November won an increase to $ a year. This increase enables us to increase security in volunteer patrols as well as pay for increased patrolling by our Baton Rouge police officer. The increase will benefit the Compliance Counsel by allowing us to move forward regarding legal issues when violations become untenable. Compliance is an important to maintain the integrity of Camelot which affects home values. 2

3 Communications Committee A needed committee was recently formed to better serve and interact with the residents of Camelot. The new Communications Committee, headed by Pat Mauras, recently met and discussed ways to improve communication between the association and our residents. One idea is to bring the automated voice message and call system back. These recorded calls are made and sent out to the neighborhood for special announcements, including reminders for our yearly annual meeting every March, as well as reminders for our Spring and Fall Socials and other community wide activities. These calls are also used to alert Camelot citizens of urgent security matters including recent home break ins and present threats in the subdivision. One problem that we face is the lack of updated information in our database. Many of our residents now use their cell phones and as their primary communication, which our system does not contain. We are asking every resident to do the following: us your updated information. Please send the to Admin@CamelotBR.org with ( Update My Info - Lot #) in the subject line. Include the following in your Name of Owners, Address, Primary Cell Phone Numbers, and Addresses. Please indicate your preferred form of communication, and if you would like this information reflected in the annual directory. This data will not be shared with anyone outside of the Association. The updated information will be used to alert you of important Association communications. We will be releasing more details regarding our improving communication initiative soon. Everyone s cooperation is greatly appreciated. Spring is the Season for New Beginnings. Join our friends at Redeemer Baptist Church for their spiritual programs and Sunday Church Service S. Harrell s Ferry Rd Visit today at RedeemerBaptistBR.org 3

4 Camelot News Spring Edition May 2017 April Yard of the Month, on Gawain Don t Delay! Send in your 2017 Camelot Dues. Invoices were mailed out for the 2017 annual dues earlier in the year. The current annual assessment of $120 was established by a subdivision-wide election on November 15, Association dues are used to defray expenses such as those for grounds upkeep, printing and distribution of newsletters, enforcement of subdivision restrictions, seasonal socials and our well-regarded off-duty-police and volunteer patrols that contribute to the safety of the neighborhood. If you need to make an alternative payment arrangement, please contact us immediately. You can also log onto to to pay your dues online via PayPal. 4

5 A Refreshing Meeting by Ray Totty Citizens of Camelot that missed the last month s CCA Board meeting missed participating in a refreshing episode of Camelot spirit! Meeting attendance was more than double usual attendance. We all came with our pent-up emotions because most of us were not happy with all that was going on. During the session, we expressed our views and let each other know our concerns with the hope of better understanding Camelot problems. We observed firsthand, the Board in action listening to reports, passing desired motions and rejecting undesired motions. Even witnessed resignation and a quick refill of the void, thereby keeping services to Camelot moving. As citizens in attendance verbalized concerns, a Board member discerned and verbalized a main problem: communication. Neighbors did not feel the Board was communicating with them. With the problem clearly defined a temporary committee was established to solve the problem. Now that the Board knows of this problem, we are optimistic this first step will begin to improve neighborhood communication in Camelot. Perhaps we have learned that when a problem is defined a dedicated committee can work for a solution to be presented for Board approval or disapproval. Just maybe last night put behind us the days of long drawn out meetings with participants hip shooting at a problem they have not had time to think about. We only ran about 30 minutes over the hour to which we try to limit our meetings. We have a wonderful tool available to everyone called . When we have concerns, this vehicle can be used by any citizen to let Board members and each other know in advance about our concern with suggestions and recommendations for a course of action. Then when we meet the Board can make an informed decision and take necessary action. We are proud to live near our wonderful neighbors even if sometimes they disagree with our views and we disagree with them. We re still all Camelot and welcome to Board meetings, but only Board members have voting privileges. The Board will listen to all concerns and decide what action to take toward resolving the concern. If you are not participating you are missing part of the fun of living in Camelot. Ray Totty March Yard of the Month, on Lancelot 5

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