Peak's Addition Homeowners' Association

Second Peak’s Pick-Up

Thu, 13 May 2010 22:32:30 -0600

The first one was so successful, let’s do it again.
Help clean up the neighborhood. Pick up litter, eradicate graffiti,
show the city how proud we are of our neighborhood.
May 15, 9 a.m. to noon 4315 Bryan St.
Meet at East Dallas Christian Church, corner of Worth and Peak

DPD Central Division's Quarterly Crime Summit - May 5th

Sat, 01 May 2010 10:53:07 -0600

The Central Division’s Quarterly Crime Summit is this coming Wednesday, May 5th, at 6:30pm, St. Matthews Cathedral, located at 5100 Ross Avenue. The public is invited.

Chief David Brown will be the guest of honor at this event.

For more information: http://www.cepatrolcrimewatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=235

Kelly Qualls, #7666
Crime Analyst
Central Patrol Division
Dallas Police Department
214-671-1358 (Direct)
214-670-4031 (Fax)
clarence.qualls@dpd.ci.dallas.tx.us
http://www.cepatrolcrimewatch.org
Twitter: DallasPDCentral

May 2010 Newsletter

Sat, 01 May 2010 10:50:59 -0600

The May 2010 newsletter is hot of the presses! The articles have been posted online and paper copies have been delivered.

Click here to download a PDF version of the newsletter.

Wine Porch Party

Sat, 01 May 2010 10:44:55 -0600

All are invited!
Mark and Janet’s
4711 Swiss
May 7, 6-9 p.m

Come out and join your neighbors for a Peaks Addition wine porch party at the home of Mark and Janet Staring. Wine, beer, and soft drinks will be provided.

Please bring your favorite appetizer.

See you on the 7th!

May General Meeting

Sat, 01 May 2010 10:42:53 -0600

General Meeting
Tuesday, May 4, 7:00 p.m.
The Dallasite
4822 Bryan St.

Sit outside on the patio at the Dallasite for our next PAHA general meeting. Bryce Greene,representing Reconciliaton Outreach, will be there to discuss development plans for the Bryan/Peak intersection. As usual, officers from the Dallas Police Dept. will be there to update on crime stats. See you Tuesday!

Letter from the President

Sat, 01 May 2010 10:41:16 -0600

Recently, we had a carjacking in the neighborhood during the early morning hours. This incident is a painful reminder that, while living in the urban setting brings many wonderful benefits, we also must occasionally deal with a few bad apples. No neighborhood in America is immune to criminal activity. Fortunately, the great majority of crimes, particularly property crimes, can be prevented. Keep in mind that most property crimes are crimes of opportunity. If you leave a laptop or iPod on your front car seat, then you run a risk of having it taken. Don’t create the opportunity for this crime by leaving your valuables in plain sight in your vehicle. Prevent the crime by eliminating the opportunity altogether. Similarly, don’t alert every person who walks by your trash can that you just got a new 60 inch plasma TV and surround sound system—cut the boxes up, put them at the bottom of the can, or throw them away in a dumpster. Commonsense is the first line of defense against becoming a victim.
The second line of defense is many, many pairs of watchful eyes all across the neighborhood. You, the residents of Peak’s Addition, know what goes on in the neighborhood better than anyone. Take note of suspicious activities and don’t hesitate to phone them in to 911. Law enforcement can’t be all places at all times,
but we, the residents of Peak’s Addition, can be. Finally, be extra vigilant as the weather warms up. Summertime has traditionally brought with it an increase in the activities of ne’er-dowells. Fortunately, the longer days also give us an opportunity to spend more time outside working the yard, chatting with neighbors, and just
enjoying a cold drink on the porch. Keep an eye out for your neighbors and we’ll keep Peak’s Addition a safe place.
-- Walker M. Duke

Looking for Home Tour Homes!

Sat, 01 May 2010 10:37:41 -0600

We still do not have enough houses confirmed to be on the tour! If you have a home, you could help! Yes, it is a lot to ask of you, but homes are the one thing we can’t do without for our home tour. Your house does not have to be perfect. If there are some renovations half-finished or yet to be started, our guests will enjoy learning about what we go through to get these houses in shape. Contact Evelyn Montgomery.

Home Tour Countdown by Evelyn Montgomery

Sat, 01 May 2010 10:33:58 -0600

Fall will be here before you know it-and so will our fall home tour. It is time to get down to the business of marketing our tour so we have lots of visitors and sponsors. Remember, the profits go to improving Buckner Park, a project that will help the whole neighborhood, so we all want the home tour to be successful. There are many volunteer slots to be filled, large and small. We have a place for you, whatever time and talents you have to offer. We are looking for:

Home tour committee members. Help plan the event and lend a hand with the many details along the way.
Marketing/sales people who can go out and get sponsorship money and in-kind donations from local businesses.
I know we have some great salespeople in our neighborhood.

House Captains, one for each house. Sometimes the owner of the show house is the captain, sometimes they want someone else to help. House captains plan the route people will follow through the house, placement of docents and what they will say. Captains line up docent volunteers and help the homeowner get ready.

Silent Auction, a big money maker in the past. We need a committee member to coordinate getting the donated auction items and to arrange the sale.

Event workers. Docents for the houses, help to set up the party and clean up afterwords, take tickets, auction
volunteers, put up signs.

Kids can help as well. We need adorable tykes to
staff lemonade stands. Do you know a cute kid?

Please contact me at drevelynmontgomery@sbcglobal.net with any and all offers of home-tour help.

On the Home Tour by Evelyn Montgomery

Sat, 01 May 2010 10:31:00 -0600

This month we meet the owner of a special home tour house, one that is not a home but a place of business. Lisa McKnight and her law partner Keith Becker have transformed a house on Gaston into a comfortable and welcoming office for their family law clients. The lawyers had been searching the city for an old house to
serve that purpose when they lost a bid to buy the blue house on the corner of Columbia and Munger. Fate lead them to Gaston Avenue. Not only was that stretch of Gaston one of the few places in East Dallas where residential homes had been approved for commercial use, the house fit exactly what they wanted it to do. It
already had big rooms where they could hold client meetings. And although the upstairs had been cut up into individual rooms decades earlier, it worked well for attorney offices. The upstairs rooms are small, but filled with light, and an amazing amount of paperwork.
The Neo-Classical house with a prominent porch was originally built in 1909 and was owned by a man specializing in fabricating metal tiles. That may explain the intricate metal work underneath the eaves of the house. The house morphed into a boarding house, probably during the Depression or World War II, which would explain the reconfiguration upstairs. The Lisa and Keith have not altered any of the existing structure of the house, instead focusing on painting, structural and plumbing repair etc. “We pay all upgrades in cash and are taking our time; our plan is to upgrade the kitchen and baths and reconfigure the upstairs, ”said Lisa. They have decorated the interior with cheerful colors and white surfaces, and several architectural fragments
like columns. It is exciting to include an office like this on the home tour. Many historic districts are like ours in that they include a wide, busy street with extra traffic and often with larger homes. Between the size of the houses, the frequency with which they were made into multi-family housing and the noisy cars going by, they may not be very attractive as residences. Professional offices for lawyers, doctors, real estate agents and accountants often find that these houses suit their needs. The offices help the neighborhood as well. They stabilize the neighborhood and give it a good image. The business owners have every reason to maintain their properties
so that they are clean and attractive. We could do a lot worse than to have more professionals like Lisa and Keith take over the houses on Gaston Avenue for offices. Perhaps a visitor to our home tour will be inspired by how well this house serves its new purpose, and want to join us here in Peak’s Addition.

The Green Line by Sharon Mielke

Sat, 01 May 2010 10:28:25 -0600

A REALLY GREEN LAWN

It's lawn time!! US homeowners apply some 78 million pounds of insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides to their lawns annually. The Audubon Society estimates that 7 million birds die each year because of exposure to lawn pesticides. Children and pets who play on the lawns and ingest these products are even more vulnerable. A new organization called Green Carpet Dallas (info@greencarpetdallas.org) is working to help us with non-chemical lawn and tree care. Check it out!

Big Benefit Garage Sale this Weekend!

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 21:36:00 -0600

Location: 4603 Swiss (Evelyn Montgomery’s house)
Time: Friday, 4/23, 8:00 to 6:00, Saturday, 4/24, 8:00 to 4:00
All proceeds will go to Dallas Heritage Village at Old City Park

Crime Alert - Carjacking

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 21:52:17 -0600

Car-Jacking this morning at approx 5:45 am in the 4500 blk. of Sycamore

Complainant was shot during the offense.

Taken was a red Chevy Tahoe lic. 07DHJ4....has a State Farm Insurance
sticker on rear window.

If you have any info on the suspect or the location of the vehicle
please call 911.

April General Meeting

Sun, 04 Apr 2010 22:01:46 -0600

General Meeting
Tuesday, April 6, 7:00 p.m.
Bangkok City Restaurant
4301 Bryan Street at Peak

Dallas Time-of-Day Watering Restrictions Resume

Sun, 04 Apr 2010 21:58:26 -0600

City of Dallas Water Utilities (DWU) is reminding customers that time-of-day watering restrictions resume April 1. Following the conservation ordinance guidelines will avoid possible fines of $250 to $2,000 per incident. These mandatory time-of-day restrictions prohibit watering landscaping between the hours of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. from April 1 through October 31 every year.

Dallas’ watering restrictions do not mean your landscaping has to suffer. Most homeowners water their landscaping too much and too often – unknowingly producing shallow root systems that struggle to survive freezing temperatures, heat and drought. By watering deeply (four to six inches) and infrequently (only when landscaping begins to show signs of stress, such as discoloration, wilting, or when footprints remain visible after begin walked on), homeowners encourage their landscapes to develop deep, healthy roots that can endure Dallas summers, winter freezes, pests and disease.

“Given our climate and Dallas’ growth, water conservation is a significant issue for our city,” said Carole Davis, DWU conservation program manager. “The time-of-day watering restrictions demonstrate Dallas’ commitment to conserving water and how seriously the City takes ensuring we have enough of this precious and vital natural resource for future generations.”

To avoid warnings, fines and a possible visit from a code inspector, DWU customers are reminded to adhere to the following guidelines:

DO NOT water your yard between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. between April 1 and October 31. However, hand watering or the use of soaker hoses is permitted at any time.

DO NOT water during any form of precipitation.

DO NOT allow your sprinkler system to water driveways, sidewalks or streets.

DO remember that automatic sprinkler system owners are required to have rain and freeze sensors installed.

DO maintain your sprinkler system. Repair any broken, missing or misdirected sprinkler heads.

For additional information on time-of-day watering restrictions, Water-Wise tips and links to reporting water waste, visit www.savedallaswater.com.

Note About Holiday Garbage & Recycling Collections

Sun, 04 Apr 2010 21:54:16 -0600

The only holidays in 2010 on which Dallas Sanitation crews will not pick up recycling and garbage are Friday, November 26 and Friday, December 31. During those weeks recycling and garbage should be placed out for collection on Wednesday, November 24 and Wednesday, December 29.