The schedule for our fourth year of the popular C.I.A. Services Seminar Series has been set. The complete list of seminars and descriptions are on the Library page of our web site or you can just click here to view the information. All Board members will also be receiving an announcement in early August.

The new schedule begins with four sessions of the important Super-Budgeting seminars that help get all Board members ready for their 2007 budgeting and business planning. Each seminar begins at 6:30 p.m. and runs 2-1/2 hours. Since we always provide deli sandwiches, you won't have to rush to eat dinner beforehand. You’ll leave with knowledge you can use immediately and a great notebook with the seminar slides, samples and other reference materials.

“Super-Budgeting” is our term for preparing a comprehensive long term budget and business plan. We’ll break the process down into understandable components and show you how assets and reserves fit in the picture. We’ll start with a simple question that very few people can answer correctly: “How much money should our Association have in the bank?” By the end of the seminar, you’ll know the correct answer for your Association. This is a critical seminar to take before you start looking at budgets.

• August 17, 2006 (Thursday), 6:30 p.m. — Southwest Office
• August 22, 2006 (Tuesday), 6:30 p.m. — North Office
• September 13, 2006 (Wednesday), 6:30 p.m. — Southwest Office
• September 19, 2006 (Tuesday), 6:30 p.m. — North Office

Please call our Southwest Office at 713-981-9000 or email us at seminars@ciaservices.com to register for any of the seminars.

The "Freedom to Fly the American Flag Act of 2005" was signed into law by President Bush on 7/24/06 and is now the law of the land.  The wording of HR42 is simple: no community association may adopt or enforce a policy that would restrict or prevent an owner from displaying a flag on their own property.  The full text of the bill is available on the Library page of our web site or by clicking here.

There are a few uncertainties in the law.  In what may be an oversight, the law only protects an owner's right to fly the flag and not a tenant or other non-owner living at the property.  The law does not override rules that protect a "substantial interest" of an association - this most likely would cover safety issues but not aesthetic ones.  Finally, it appears that the "American Flag" covers a lot of territory.  The definition in the law includes "... any flag, standard, colors, ensign, or any picture or representation of either, or of any part or parts of either, made of any substance or represented on any substance, of any size evidently purporting to be either of said flag, standard, colors, or ensign of the United States of America or a picture or a representation of either, upon which shall be shown the colors, the stars and the stripes, in any number of either thereof, or of any part or parts of either, by which the average person seeing the same without deliberation may believe the same to represent the flag, colors, standard, or ensign of the United States of America." 

At this point our recommendation is to be cautious regarding any deed restriction or architectural control issues associated with the American flag and consult the Association's attorney before taking any action or sending any letters.

The Board of Directors of the Clear Lake City Boulevard Association (CLCBA) recently agreed to conduct a two year test using organic, environmentally friendly fertilizers.  The organic approach will help re-establish the healthy soil biology necessary for all landscaping to thrive. The organic fertilizers are biodegradable, don’t pollute waterways when there is run-off and don’t leave behind salts and inert fillers. Soil with active micro-organisms is self-aerating and doesn't become compacted over time.

In the two year test, the center esplanades along a 4 mile stretch of Clear Lake City Boulevard will have the organic approach and the setbacks will continue to use the conventional chemical approach.  If the organic approach is more effective, then we expect to see improved appearance of the turf, heathier trees and shrubbery, less irrigation water runoff, less chinch bugs, less brown patch and, eventually, fewer fertilizer applications.

In the short term, organic fertilizer is significantly more expensive than chemical fertilizers.  However, in the long term, it is expected to be less expensive when landscpe replacements, irrigation requirements and pest/fungus control is considered.

In April, all C.I.A. Services community managers and maintenance coordinators heard presentations on the CLCBA project and the unique approaches taking place in this test.  Guest speakers included Mike Serant from San Jacinto Environmental - a local leader in production of organic fertilizers and the supplier in the CLCBA test - and Frank Follina from TruGreen LandCare - the grounds maintenance contractor for CLCBA implementing the test.

In addition, to the organic fertilizer test, the CLCBA is installing advanced irrigation controllers using ET technology. The is a great story, too, and we'll cover it in next month's eNews Monthly. If you can't wait, read about it on the CLCBA home page of our web site.

Mike Serant San Jacinto Environmental		Frank Follina TruGreen LandCare

We are proud of every one of our communities so it is always hard to find just one to highlight. We start by having each of our 20 Community Managers write a nomination for one of their communities. We then read them all take a vote. Here are our most recent selections:

• August — Summerwood Community Association
  North Office — Brandy Berry, Community Manager
• July — Kings Lake Forest Homeowners Association
  North Office — Brenda Alvarez, Community Manager
• June — Sonoma Ranch Homeowners Association
  North Office — Diane Piper, Community Manager

To see the full story on these communities and to see the past winners, visit the Community of the Month page on our web site.

C.I.A Services continues to grow as more communities hear about our unique approach to community association management. We would like to welcome our newest clients that have come onboard in the last three months.

• Brazoria Cold River Ranch Association — Southwest Office — Olga Martinez, Community Manager
• Briargate Community Improvement Association — Southwest Office — Linda Enoch, Community Manager
• Bridgewater Community Association — Southwest Office — Libby Hodges, Community Manager
• Eagle Point Estates Homeowners Association — North Office — Evelyn Abram, Community Manager
• Silvercreek Community Association — Southwest Office — Linda Enoch, Community Manager

Every month we appreciate the communities that are celebrating their anniversaries with us. Here are our clients that started with us in August.

• Covington Bridge Community Association — 3 years
• Country Colony Community Improvement Association — 11 years
• Glen Park Homeowners Association — 2 years
• Hunters Glen Section V Homeowners Association — 2 years
• Kingsway Community Improvement Association — 2 years

Our goal has always been to create a positive, long term relationship with all of our client communities. We are very proud to be managing all of these communities.

Thousands of citizens across the greater Houston area are celebrating National Night Out with their neighbors and law enforcement authorities on August 1st. It's our chance to take a bite out of crime by getting to know your neighbors and keeping an eye out for suspiciopus activity around the neighborhood. If you took photos of your NNO event and would like them posted on our web site, please email them to eNewsMonthly@ciaservices.com.

Our eNews Monthly has a new look beginning this month. We'll continue to bring you short articles of interest each month with links to further information. We hope you like the change. If you would like to give us your feedback or if you have suggestions for improvements, please send us an email.

The first thirty editions of eNews Monthly were produced using Microsoft Publisher and then saved as a web page. That worked well in most cases but, depending on your computer settings and browser, the alignment of graphics and text could be different than we intended. Now eNews Monthly is being generated directly from an HTML editor. Text and graphics will flow properly and respond to your personal browser settings. And because the files are more compact, the page will load and display quicker.

Old editions are stored on the Library page of our web site. To see our very first edition from January 2004, click here.

• Congratulations to our North Office Branch Manager and Executive Vice President Renea Miksch on her 21 year anniversary with C.I.A. Services in May.
• And also congratulations to our North Office Vice President Laura Tate on her 13th anniversary with C.I.A. Services in May.
• Three of our indispensable staff support specialists recently celebrated anniversaries: Gloria Bell with 17 years at our North office, Angie Thomas with 8 years at our North Office and Margie De La Cruz with 6 years at our Southwest office.
• Two of North Office Community Managers recently celebrated anniversaries: Kim Easterling with 8 years and Evelyn Abram with 6 years.
• We are pleased to welcome several new employees since May. At our North Office, Michael Berry, Penny Hill and Erica Ramirez. At our Southwest Office, Ashley Bruines, Candace DeRousselle, Melissa Ieans, Gabby Kalil, Shadala Jackson and Yolanda Wiggins.