Letter From The President

2004 Board Members President Tim O’Brien Vice President Mark Baron Treasurer Steve Betts Secretary Kathy Swartzentrover Directors Tori Burns Joe DeRose Cheri Hansen Kuashlendra Singh Dan Smith

For 2004, the Cobblestone Ridge Homeowners Association has started the year with some new board members and committee volunteers. It’s great to see neighbors excited about keeping our subdivision a better place to live. I’d also like to take a moment to thank the outgoing board members for a great job of educating the rest of us remaining on the board, and insuring the transition has been smooth and uneventful. This year, we will continue to oversee the services we all rely on to help increase the attractiveness of the neighborhood and the associated values of our homes, including snow removal and salting through the remainder of the winter, and landscaping and maintaining our common grounds through the spring and summer months. In addition, we’ll continue to make great efforts to ensure we are spending the association’s funds wisely, as we recognize we all benefit from every dollar the association saves. As the year progresses, I encourage you to take part in our activities as we often find it much easier to accomplish tasks by relying on help from a number of homeowners rather than just a few neighbors. I’m happy to report we’ve already had a few volunteers agree to help to draft a Request for Proposal for several area landscaping firms. I’m also hoping we soon hear from some of you who might be willing to volunteer to plan some social events as the weather becomes warmer, so we can continue to welcome new neighbors to the subdivision and learn more about each other. I’m happy to report we received the vast majority of our annual dues payments from our neighbors on time this year. This is a tremendous help in allowing us to budget and plan more effectively for expenses that may occur throughout the year, so “Thank you” for being so considerate. As a homeowner, you can also help your neighbors by continuing to maintain your property, including replacing any trees that have died and performing your own “Spring Cleanup” on your yard. In closing, thank you all for your support throughout 2003 and the early months of 2004, and with your help and encouragement, the members of the board hope to see even more involvement from you, our neighbors, as we move forward through the year. If you have any suggestions, questions, or comments, please let us know, as the more feedback we receive from you, the better we can help to improve and maintain our neighborhood. Here’s looking forward to a great 2004! Tim O’Brien President, Cobblestone Homeowners Association

Sub News

Ricky Smith a WDIV finalist!

If you were at the block party you may remember the tunes of fellow neighbor, Ricky Smith. Ricky has been chosen as one of 30 finalists to appear on WDIV’s “Gimme The Mike! Detroit”!

“Gimme The Mike! Detroit” is a six week series premiering in mid-March on Local 4. Each week, six contestants will perform before an audience and a panel of judges. In the live finale, the five winners chosen by the judges each week will perform, in addition to one wildcard contestant picked by WDIV viewers. Only one will be named champion and walk away with the grand prize. – WDIV web site

Ricky was one of 30 selected out of approximately 1100 applicants. The show is scheduled to air during prime time starting the middle of March. Tune in and cheer on a fellow cobblestone ridge neighbor!

For more information about Gimme the Mike check out WDIV’s web site at : http://www.clickondetroit.com/station/2828218/detail.html

Good Luck Ricky!

Construction Update

The 18 home development by Livonia Builders will begin this year. The development is located behind the homes on the north side of Hendrie in Phase III & IV. So far, the area has been cleared of trees and brush, and the builder reports that he has received deposits on ten homes. There will be a construction entrance off of Beck to support the development. No construction traffic will be allowed through our neighborhood until the last home is being built. Also, a “No Construction Vehicles” sign will soon be posted at the Beck Road entrance to our subdivision to minimize traffic during building.

From the township website

The planning commission is currently considering a request for special land use for a religious institution (Friendship Church). The property is located behind the homes on Hendrie (Phase III & Phase IV) on the south side.

Canton Township in conjunction with MDOT has begun a traffic study of the access and traffic flow along Ford Road from Lotz to Napier. The study is scheduled to take 9 months with the following objectives (taken from the canton township website):

1) Reduce congestion/delay along the Ford Road corridor;

2) Maintain the traffic carrying capacity of the roadway and delay costly capacity improvements where possible;

3) Reduce the number of traffic crashes;

4) Identify acceleration/deceleration lanes to reduce delay;

5) Improve ingress and egress to businesses;

6) Coordinate land use decisions; and,

7) Improve the aesthetic appeal of the Ford Road corridor.

Additional information about the study can be found on the township website at www.canton-mi.org

Landscape Committee Update
Stone Placement / Mulch Replacement As discussed in the Fall 2003 Subdivision Meeting, we may be replacing mulch with stone. The plan is to start the stone placement at the Ford Road Entrance. The process will save the subdivision money in mulch cost in the years to come. We are looking for volunteers to place the stone. The project will involve the removal of mulch on the first weekend and the placement of stone on the second weekend. Please send an email to Dennis O’Flynn at doflynn@umich.edu RFQ for Common Area Lawn Maintenance We are preparing the document to send out to several lawn maintenance companies. We will be measuring the common areas in the next few weeks to assure that the responses to the RFQ are easily reviewed. If you have a contractor you would like to recommend please feel free to email the board using the subdivisions web site - www.cobblestoneridge.org. Saltz Road Lighting The lights at the Saltz Road entrance are going to be addressed this spring as part of our maintenance program.	Speed Limit As spring approaches please take note that the speed limit in the subdivision is 25 miles per hour. The children will be out soon and Canton’s finest will be in the neighborhood as they were last year. Common Area Concerns As spring approaches please take note of the “Common Areas” for example – sprinklers, lighting, lawn maintenance, or landscaping. If you have any concerns regarding the “Common Areas” please address them via the subdivision web site. Bats Several homeowners have noticed that bats have been making a home for themselves between the brick and the flashing on their chimneys. Homeowners may want to check the flashing on their chimneys to see if there is a place where bats can nest and if so, have it fixed if bats are a concern to them. Bats do eat lots of mosquitoes and are not aggressive to humans. As we lose more and more trees, the bats need a place to breed. If you like bats, consider a bat house. If you don’t, you may want to make sure you are not a hospitable environment for them. Also, bat habitats can only be removed by critter control during the spring and summer. Once the fall comes and they are breeding, the nests are protected.
Subdivision Directory The board is currently working on a new subdivision directory. The form sent in with the annual dues payment did not include a line for phone number. If you would like your phone number included in this directory please e-mail the board at board@cobblestoneridge.org by March 31^st!	Newsletter By E-mail? If you would like to receive this newsletter by e-mail please send your request board@cobblestoneridge.org

Social Events Calendar
Year at a Glance	Upcoming Event Details
April 3^rd Annual Spring Egg Hunt June 3^rd – 6^th Bi-Annual Sub-Wide Garage Sale October 30^th Annual Masquerade Costume Parade	Annual Easter Egg Hunt The annual Cobblestone Ridge Easter Egg Hunt will be held on Saturday, April 3^rd at 1:00 PM in the tot lot. To participate, please fill 1 dozen plastic eggs per participating child and deliver to Jeanne DeRose (1263 Hendrie, phase III) by March 29^th. Please also include the ages of all participating children. The event will be broken up into different age categories and each child is limited to finding 12 eggs. If you have any questions, please contact Jeanne at 844-3465. Bi-Annual Sub-Wide Garage Sale: Each participating household is asked to deliver $5.00 to the social committee prior to the three-day sale. The fee is applied toward the newspaper advertisements, the signage at each entrance, balloons, etc. Annual Masquerade Costume Parade Further details will be available closer to the event. Do you have an idea for an event? Contact Jeanne at jeanne@derosefamily.com The Web Site has a new look! Check it out. Thanks Dennis for all of your hard work on it!