Higley Groves Update

I know there are a few ladies in my neighborhood who read my blog. You may already know this but in case you do not, here goes. On Friday, an 11 year old boy was hit on Park Avenue just past Richard. He was riding his scooter on his driveway and went out onto the driveway skirting/street and a person hit him. The person thought he hit a trash can so didn't stop at first. The child was taken by helicopter to the hospital. Torrey and I were coming back from a run along the power lines and I just knew the helicopter had landed in the field at the end of our street based on its trajectory and proximity to the ground. That is never a good thing. The boy sustained breaks to both legs and some liver damage that they are debating doing surgery on to stop the bleeding. In any event, it brings up a few issues here.

Now, I am speaking STRICTLY as a mother and resident on my blog, not as a Board member, so my thoughts and feelings are my own and DO NOT reflect that of Higley Groves HOA.

Recently, I have seen increased negilgence on our streets, specifically Park Ave. Not only do people drive too fast but people will drive the wrong way down the one way street to get to their home 2.5 seconds faster, yet endangering people and property along the way. I had an alercation some of you may remember, I was called a B*&^% for telling someone to stop doing this. My ghetto-ness kicked in and after several choice words she promptly threw her hands up and said "OK OK I won't do it anymore". Well, as another Board member was in that area, they saw someone from that same household do it again!

We happen to live on a cul-de-sac that ends at the large park/field. During soccer season our street is FILLED with cars as parents from other parts of the neighborhood drive to practice. Our normally quiet street turns chaotic. Well, for those on Park (and some of the other streets that go all the way through) this is everyday. Our kids MUST be safe from racing cars, cars failing to stop at stop signs, and people constantly parking on the one way streets (which are not wide enough for cars to be parking on anyways, none of our streets are for that matter) which block visibility. Of course, we as parents have a responsibility to teach our children to stay out of the street but we have tons of kids in this neighborhood, many who do play on our sleepy streets with moms watching on. Little ones DO dart into the street after a ball. It just happens. So, there is already one petition going around for speed bumps.

What happens is, the town needs a petition of at least 10 homeowners. Once that happens, they will do a "study" to determine what streets need them, what the traffic is, etc. Then, if they decide they are necessary, they tell us where they need to go and bill our association for $3000, per speed bump. Now, I am all about keeping our assessments low (speaking as a homeowner here) but, is there a better use of money than keeping people to a reasonable speed and hopefully reducing the accidents like this one? I have asked for my own blank petition. My thought is, if we have more petitions than just one, maybe, just maybe the Town will listen and respond quicker. We have inquired about speed bumps before, a Board member's son was hit at that same intersection last year on his bike on the way to school. Luckily he was fine other than being shaken up. We were told there was nothing we could do, the Town owns the streets, etc. But, given the severity of this boy's injuries, they may think twice about that answer again. There was another homeowner who recently came before the Board to request them on his street too. With Highland Park being built, we DO have more traffic into and out of our community. It is a lot busier, especially down Park and really any street that does go all the way through. So, if you are a homeowner and would be interested in signing my blank petition, email or comment me. I will make sure I see you when I get it. Hopefully we can keep our streets a little safer for all of our children!