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Archived Newsletters

Every month, we issue an electronic newsletter, eNews Monthly, to keep clients informed about Association items, spotlight clients, answer frequently asked questions, and let you know what is happening with the company. Old issues of eNews Monthly are available on our Library page.

June 2017
eNews Monthly
Community Highlight
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River Park on the Brazos Makes a Splash With a New Pool Complex
by Kim Moore

The Board of Directors of River Park on the Brazos in Sugar Land works tirelessly to find interesting and unique ways to make their community a desirable place to call home.  Last year they completed a brand new dog park and multi-purpose sport court.  But that’s not all. The biggest improvement was yet to come.  

As part of the community’s long term “Parks and Open Space Master Plan”, the River Park Board of Directors began the task of remodeling their swimming pool complex at the end of Summer 2016.  This past weekend marked the grand opening of their new state of the art pool facility.  The pool features a double water slide, a lily pad/alligator water walk obstacle course, interchangeable water volleyball and water basketball, remodeled baby pool with a slide and dump buckets, 2 Funbrellas, completely resurfaced pools, four cabanas and many landscaping enhancements inside and outside of the pool enclosure. 

The pool is also wired with over 30 speakers to provide state of the art resort quality music for patrons.  Throughout the summer the community will show dive-in movies with a portable 25 foot movie screen and projector. 

The improvements were well received by over 500 residents who attended last weekend’s grand opening event.  River Park looks forward to a fun filled summer at the new facility. 

Great job Board Members Rodney Vannerson, Lance Samuels, Ravi Arora, Jimmie Wilson, and Atousa Nezamabadi for the hard work you put into making this project a success for your community.  We are proud to be your managing partner.

Legislative Update
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The 85th session of the Texas Legislature just wrapped up and it turned out to be an uneventful year for property owners associations.  

As you may know, the first chapter of the Texas Property Code under Restrictive Covenants was passed in 1985. In each of the legislative sessions since then, there have been changes or additions to the property code.  The code that began with 1 chapter has grown to 14 chapters!

The 85th legislative session is the first where no changes have been made to the property code affecting associations.  This is mostly because the priorities of the House and Senate did not reach down to the more mundane tasks of property owners associations and condominium associations. 

More than 30 bills were filed this session that would have affected associations.  Some were good; some were not; none reached the governor’s desk.

In January 2019 we’ll see some of these bills rise again in the 86th legislative session.  Until then, we will continue working under the Texas Property Code as we have known it for the last two years.

Accomplishments
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Better Business Bureau Awards of Excellence

C.I.A. Services was one of 292 companies recognized at the annual Better Business Bureau Awards of Excellence event this month.  

This year, C.I.A. Services was recognized as a 2017 Winner of Distinction.  We are very pleased to add this award to our collection from previous years.  In 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2016 we were Distinction winners and in 2014 we were a Pinnacle winner. This is the sixth consecutive year for us to be recognized by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) for service excellence.              

Companies are required to answer a series of questions about their company.  The questions range from describing their company in detail to sharing activities and programs the company is involved in that result in the betterment of the industry, community or a charity.  The questionaire along with the company’s performance over the last year are used in the selection of award winners.

We are very proud of our A+ rating with the BBB and pleased to once again be among the companies honored. 

Seminar Series
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We always enjoy presenting the C.I.A. Services Seminar Series. Each seminar concentrates on the practical aspects of the topic and provides board members with background knowledge to help them in their decision making. We consistently receive positive feedback on the content and presentation.

This year, we introduced new and exciting features by offering our first seminar via webcast. The result was the same successful seminar with more advanced topics and audience participation.

We are continuing with our webcast format.  We will come to your computer screen rather than you needing to travel to us!  Each event will be broadcast live so anyone anywhere can join in.  We believe this is the most convenient way for community volunteers to be able to participate. 

Because the seminars are broadcast live, we have the added bonus of the presenter being Ralph Troiano, our company president.  If you have never had the pleasure of attending a presentation by Ralph, you are in for a treat!  Ralph is a dynamic speaker with a true passion for what we do.

We’ll still ask participants to register in advance so that we can get the sign in information to you in advance. To register, please send an email to seminars@ciaservices.com.

You can view the full schedule of all of this year’s webcast seminars here.

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Essentials of Architectural Control

Your governing documents provide authority to regulate design and appearance of any construction, improvements or alterations within the community. This is a powerful authority with an obligation that it be used sensibly. This seminar will explain the range and limits of this authority, demonstrate the role of architectural guidelines, describe the interplay between deed restrictions issues and architectural issues, and touch on handling the tough problems.

07/18/17 – Tuesday

6 – 8 pm

Webcast

 

Community Spotlight
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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 Community Managers write a nomination for one of their communities. We then read them and take a vote. Here are our most recent selections:

  • June - Telfair Commercial Association - Southwest Houston office - Libby Hodges
  • May - The Woods at Fair OaksSan Antonio office - Tina Jameson
  • April - Cross Creek Ranch Community Association - Humble office - Renea Miksch and Kristen Craig
  • March - Aliana Homeowners Association - Southwest Houston office - Deniece Reyes
  • February - Steeple Chase Terrace Townhouse Association - Humble office - Valerie Lehr
  • January - Plantation at Woodforest Community Association - Humble office - Brenda Ellington

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

New Communities
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We are pleased to announce another outstanding community that has joined C.I.A. Services.

The Park at Hollister Homeowners Association is a cozy neighborhood of 45 homes. Park at Hollister is a gated community located in Spring Branch, an area in northwest Harris County.

Welcome to the family! We look forward to our new partnership.

Community Anniversaries
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Every month we appreciate the communities that are celebrating their anniversaries with us. Here are the clients that started with us in June.

  • Oak Cliff Place Homeowners Association — 25 years
  • Highland Meadows Homeowners Association — 23 years
  • Copper Creek Civic Improvement Association — 20 years
  • Kenswick Trace Homeowners Association — 9 years
  • Woodbend Pines Homeowners Association — 4 years
  • RiverWalk Property Owners Association —  3 years
  • CrossCreek Commercial Association — 3 years
  • Cambridge (San Antonio) Homeowners Association — 1 year
  • The Bridges Condominium Owners Association — 1 year

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.

Employee Corner
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Employee Anniversaries

We love to celebrate special milestones with our employees. In the Employee Corner of each eNews issue, we will list all employees that have reached their 1 year anniversary with our company.  Additionally, once employees reach five years, we recognize them each year on their anniversary month.

  • Congratulations to Gloria Bell on her 28th anniversary with C.I.A. Services. Gloria is a stockholder and provides a variety of staff support. Very few employees have worked with our company longer than Gloria, and most that have were founders! She’s simply awesome!

  • Congratulations to Patrick Sheffield on his 9th anniversary with the company. Patrick is a stockholder at our Southwest Houston office where he is a Maintenance Coordinator.  Not only is Patrick a maintenance guru, he is always the life of the party!

  • Annette McConnell is celebrating her 9th anniversary with C.I.A. Services.  Annette is a stockholder and the Office Manager at our Bandera office.  Annette is always on hand to check those numbers! 

  • Also, congratulations to Roseann Ashe on her 9th anniversary with the company. Roseanne is a stockholder and the Office Manager at our San Antonio office. We can always count on her to begin our day with a smile.

  • Congratulations to Dwayne Ring on his 7th anniversary with the company. Dwayne is a Maintenance Coordinator from our Humble office and a Stockholder!  Dwayne works on a master planned community and brings a wealth of knowledge to the table.

  • Valerie Lehr, celebrates 5 years with the company this month!  Valerie is a Community Manager at our Humble office. Congratulations to her on her anniversary and becoming our newest stockholder! 

  • Congratulations also go to Brittany Polasek and Kassye Deggs.  Both ladies are Community Specialists from our Humble office celebrating their 1st anniversary with the company.  As members of our Customer Service Department, Brittany and Kassye are one of the happy voices that you hear when you call our office.
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Celebrating 2017 Graduates - Congratulations to Employee Morgan Miksch!

Morgan Miksch has been an employee with C.I.A. Services, Inc. since April of 2016 while also going to high school. She is a member of the staff support team at our Humble office. 

We are pleased to announce that Morgan graduated from Humble Christian School (HCS) with nine college credits.  She plans to attend Lone Star College and then transfer to a four year university to pursue a career in nursing.

While attending HCS, Morgan was involved in basketball, volleyball, and the Christian Service Union.  She was also engaged in various missions, including Bearing Gifts, Cupcakes for Champs, and Crime Victims Memorial Remembrance. During Morgan’s senior year she was a mentor to three kindergarten students entering HCS.  

Morgan attends First Baptist Church of Dayton and her favorite Bible verse is Psalms 16:8 “I have set the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand and I will not be shaken.” We are very proud of Morgan and her accomplishments and wish her all the best in fulfilling her future goals.  

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Congratulations to Employee Dana Lohrke

Dana Lohrke worked for C.I.A. Services during the summer of 2016 and since then, during school breaks.  Dana works at our Bandera office in the Accounting Department.  She is continuing to work for the company this summer.

We are pleased to announce that Dana graduated from Midland College with an Associate’s Degree in Science!

As a Midland College student, Dana played volleyball for the school.  She has been recruited to play for Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth where Sally plans to continue her studies to obtain a Bachelor’s in Science.   

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Our Extended Family Graduates

Brittany Rodriguez, daughter of Ana Rodriguez, San Antonio Community Manager.  Brittany Rodriguez graduated from Taft High School (Go Raiders!) located in San Antonio, Texas.  Brittany is a great artist and excelled in her art projects which motivated her to pursue a degree in gaming/computer graphics and computer programming. She also worked part time at Fiesta Texas during her senior year.  She has decided that she will continue working at Fiesta Texas while furthering her education at Northwest Vista Community College.  

Taylor Craig, Son of Kristen Craig, Houston Community Manager.  Taylor graduated from Dayton High School (Go Broncos!) located in Dayton, Texas.  Taylor is excited to move on from high school and will be taking a short break; his plans are to work for a year and then enroll in a trade school to start his career. His parents, friends and family are very proud of him!

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Shelby LouAnne Terry, daughter of Kimberly Terry, Check Distribution Team Leader in our Bandera Office.  Shelby is graduating from Bandera High School (Go Bulldogs!).  Shelby’s hobby is photography and she was instrumental in taking over 90% of the photos for the school yearbook for the past 2 years. Shelby has a love of animals and will be attending Palo Alto College in San Antonio pursuing her LVT (Licensed Veterinary Technician) degree. Kimberly is so proud of her and thanks the “village” that has helped her get this far!!

Shayla Duval, daughter of Sherridda Williams.  Sherridda is a Community Manager out of our Southwest office.  Shayla graduated from Houston Baptist University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration (Accounting) while on the Dean’s List!  Shayla presented the closing benediction prayer at her graduation ceremony. She is excited to start her professional life and has a full time employment offer with Grant Thornton CPA firm in Houston.

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Taeden Fields, Godson of Kim Moore. Kim Moore is Vice President of C.I.A. Services and Branch Manager of our Southwest Houston office.   Taeden graduated Kindergarten at McNabb Elementary School in Spring, Texas.  Taeden wants to be a cashier at HEB when he grows up.

Jayla Rae Smith, daughter of Brandi Brack, Community Manager at our San Antonio office. Jayla graduated Kindergarten at Hill Country Elementary (Go Bulldogs!) in Pipe Creek, Texas. Jayla wants to be a Police Officer and “make the world a better place” (Zootopia reference) when she grows up.  

Izabella (Bella) Marie Short and Serenity Renea Short, identical twin daughters of Dannielle Short, Publications Coordinator. These ladies just graduated the 5 year old Headstart Program (Pre-K) at Choctaw Nation Headstart of Idabel, Oklahoma. When she grows up, Bella wants to work on computers like her mommy and daddy. Serenity wants to be a dance teacher that teaches all kinds of dance when she grows up.

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Welcome Baby Abigail Elizabeth Ramona Palomo

Congratulations to Koryssa Palomo, a Community Specialist in our North Office, on the birth of her baby girl. 

Abigail Elizabeth Ramona Palomo was born March 27, 2017 weighing 7lbs 3oz and measuring 19 1/2" long.  She was welcomed by mom, dad Jeremy, and big brothers Andrew and Liam.

 

Read Past Issues of eNews Monthly

Every month, we issue an electronic newsletter, eNews Monthly, to keep clients informed about Association items, spotlight clients, answer frequently asked questions, and let you know what is happening with the company. Old issues of eNews Monthly are available on our Library page.