Chester Pleasant of Cinco Ranch Residential Association II
by Kimberly Cowart

Chester Pleasant has been a member of Cinco Ranch Residential Association II since 2008. Since moving into the community, Mr. Pleasant has been a very active volunteer holding several positions within the Association. He started out as a Neighborhood Voting Delegate for two years and then was elected as the first resident board member in 2010. Mr. Pleasant remained on the Board of Directors and was appointed as the President in 2016 through December of 2017. As the Board President, Chester aspired to ensure that as a board, they managed the budget. Mr. Pleasant has continued to volunteer as a director and was recenlty appointed to again serve as the President through 2019.

Chester has also served as a board member for Cinco Ranch Southwest MUD 2. During his time with there, he has worked to ensure tax dollars are returned through funding of capital projects. Mr. Pleasant was fundamental in working with the MUD to secure funding for two additional Sheriff patrols in Cinco Ranch II, which allowed the HOA board to spend funds on other items that sustain the property value. This measure was achieved without increases in taxes or HOA fees.

Mr. Pleasant currently serves on the Cinco Ranch Southwest Master MUD, where he continues to present projects to the MUD and the Cinco Ranch II board members that assist the Association with their goal to keep costs down. Chester has been instrumental in joint meetings with the Cinco Ranch Southwest MUDs to approve funding of a 25-million dollar fence replacement project along the Association’s common areas.

C.I.A. Services, Inc. would like to thank Chester Pleasant for his time and dedication to the community through the years. We are truly honored to work with volunteers such as him.

Extreme Weather Ready Expo

With all the severe weather happening in and around Houston, the Extreme Weather Ready Expo is sure to provide an excellent resource when planning for unexpected weather events.  

The annual Houston/Galveston Extreme Weather Ready Expo is set for Saturday, June 8, 2019 from 10am to 3pm at the George R. Brown Convention Center, Hall A.  The Expo aims to prepare residents for extreme weather situations through presentations, interactive exhibits, weather forecasting and more.

This free event is family-friendly and open to the public. The expo is the largest of its kind in the nation with more than 2,500 attendees each year.

For more information visit www.weatherreadyexpo.com. 

Association Manager Specialist (AMS)

We are proud to announce that Kaila Gattis, of our Humble Office, has earned her AMS designation. The AMS (Association Management Specialist) designation is the second level in the career track for community association managers developed by Community Associations Institute.

The AMS designation demonstrates a higher level of commitment to the community association industry and requires two years of experience in multiple aspects of association management. In order to qualify for an AMS, managers are required to earn the CMCA designation, and take at least two (2) approved continuing education classes on various association related topics.

Join us in congratulating Kaila on achieving her latest professional goal!

Kim Terry

We are excited to bring to you another real-life example of how we live our core values. As you may know, we refer to our core values as "SPECIAL" as each letter of that word represents a particular core value. S = Stewardship, P = Passion, E = Empathy, C = Community, I = Integrity, A = Awesomeness, and L = Loyalty.

This month, we introduce you to Kim Terry, Check Disbursement Team Leader of our Bandera Office.  Kim is incredibly active in her local community. She demonstrates Community, Passion, and of course, Awesomeness through her many volunteer efforts.

One of Kim’s passions is volunteering for the American Legion Auxiliary (ALA).  Kim is currently serving as the Vice President of ALA District 21 and as Treasurer for ALA Unit 410. The ALA is the world’s largest women’s patriotic service organization. For nearly a century, the ALA has been serving, helping, and meeting the needs of our nation’s veterans, military, and their families – both here and abroad.  Membership in the American Legion Auxiliary is limited to the grandmothers, mothers, sisters, wives, and direct and adopted female descendants of members of The American Legion, and to the grandmothers, mothers, sisters, wives, and direct and adopted female descendants of all men and women who were in the Armed Forces of the United States during specific war periods and died in the line of duty during such service, or who, having received an Honorable Discharge, died after service.

The ALA hosts several volunteer activities such as quarterly visits to veterans at the Kerrville VA Hospital, Memorial Day Service at the Post, 4th of July Raffle & BBQ, Trick or Treating at Lakehills Library and the Bandera Veterans Day Parade, just to name a few.  

Kim also serves on the Board of Directors for the Medina Lake Betterment Association(MLBA).  The Lakehills Civic Center is operated and managed by the MLBA. Built in 1969, the center is for charitable and educational purposes and serves the community of Lakehills.  In addition to being on the board of the MLBA, Kim is also on the Board of Directors for the Cajun Festival event, which is the primary fundraiser for the MLBA.  The Lakehills Civic Center is the only civic organization in her community that holds events for children as well as seniors.

Ms. Terry is also a member of her local Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).   The CERT program educates volunteers about disaster preparedness for the hazards that might impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills such as fire safety, light search & rescue, and disaster medical operations. Through CERT, the capabilities to prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters is built and enhanced.  

During times of disaster, the CERT works with FEMA with recovery efforts.  During calmer times, CERT members help in other ways, such as directing traffic during city parades.  Kim is currently a CERT volunteer for both Bandera and Medina Counties. 

Giving back and showing patriotism is important to Kim and she proves it every day! Many thanks to her for demonstrating our company’s core values in her daily life!

Stay Plugged in with Webcasts

We now offer each of our seminars in the form of a recorded webcast on demand for you to watch at any time! If you have missed a seminar, our seminars are available on our YouTube channel. The following seminars are now available:

• Board Member Orientation
• Practical Deed Restriction Management
• Understanding Collections and Financial Reports
• Meetings and Records - The Legal Requirements
• The Essentials of Architectural Control
• The Super-Budgeting Process
• Advanced Topics for Board Members

Just go to our website, www.ciaservices.com, and click on the Resources tab. From there, select our Library and you will see the links to each webcast and other training materials or you can simply click on the links above.

Associations in Practice Series

Cinco Ranch Southwest Community Council

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:

• May - Cinco Ranch Southwest Community Council - Humble Office - Kimberly Cowart
• April - Lake McQueeney Las Brisas Homeowners Association - San Antonio Office - Summer Smith
• March - Pine Forest Village Community Association - Humble Office - Angela Douglas
• February - Bowling Green Garden Homes Association - Humble Office - Valerie Lehr
• January - Artesian Lakes Community Association - Humble Office - Jennifer Northington
• December - Kendall Pointe Homeowners Association - San Antonio Office - Brittany Ashe
• November - Treasure Island Homes Association - San Antonio Office - Brandi Brack

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.

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

• Bay Pointe Community Association — 20 years
• Crystal Lake Property Owners Association — 19 years
• Cinco Ranch Residential Association II — 11 years
• Cinco Ranch Commercial Association II — 11 years
• Cinco Ranch Southwest Community Council — 11 years
• Cypresswood Green Property Owners Association — 10 years
• Atascocita Timbers Homeowners Association — 7 years
• Bandera Falls Property Owners Association — 7 years
• CrossRoads at Benders Landing Estates Homeowners Association — 5 years
• Oak Hill Estates Homeowners Association — 4 years
• Mathom Landing Homeowners Association — 3 years
• Rancho Verde Residential Community, Inc. — 3 years
• The Community Association at Cielo Rio, Inc. — 3 years

We are very pleased to announce the newest communities joining us!

ARTAVIA Master Maintenance Association, ARTAVIA North Village Homeowners Association, and ARTAVIA  Community Council joined our Humble Office.  ARTAVIA is a new development in Montgomery County that is projected to have 5,000 homes when completed.  

The Lake House Community Association joined our Humble Office in January.  Lake House is a new development in Katy set to have about 350 homes.

Remington Ranch Community Association also joined our Humble Office.  Remington Ranch is home to more than 2300 families. 

Southwinds Commercial Association joined our Humble Office in April.  Southwinds Commerial is a new development in Baytown that will bring over 40 acres of commercial development to the area. 

We are excited to work with each of them!

Stockholder Anniversaries

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.