Our Foxwood Meadows neighborhood has a retention pond near our entrance off 183rd. Many modern neighborhoods like ours have such water retention ponds. The purpose of these ponds is to help hold water runoff and release it in a more steady state to avoid localized flooding downstream. This water retention is particularly important during those days with heavy rainfall of over one inch in 24 hours and the associated heavy runoff to help avoid any flooding downstream along North Creek that drains into the Sammamish River in Bothell.
Our retention pond is not all that deep and as a result, plants and vegetation can grow and accumulate in just a few years. So it is important to clean out the pond periodically so it can perform as intended. Snohomish County cleaned our pond for no charge about five years ago. But the county indicated our neighborhood was responsible to clean it in the future. We did so again late in 2013. If you have not walked by it recently, it looks quite good!
Foxwood Meadows HOA will continue to monitor the pond. Hopefully it will not need to be cleaned again for some years to come.

As we drive in and out of our neighborhood on 183rd, the new Devon Hill development seems to be rising dramatically before our eyes. Many new homes are being framed and topped by roofs seemingly daily. A few of us recently visited the new development to get a better feel for the progress and what it means to Foxwood Meadows.

The Devon Hill community has plans for 45 new single-family homes on the 6.37 acre site. (see the attached community map) In fact, the foundations for all the homes are already laid. The lot sizes are rather small, ranging from 4000 to up 6000 square feet with most in the 4000 to 5000 ft range.

The homes are being built by two builders, Sundquist Homes and Pacific Ridge Homes (a division of D.R. Horton homes). The home sizes range from 2500 to 3200 square feet. Given the small lot sizes, the square footage has nowhere to go but up – in the air. Some of these homes are going to be three stories tall. (see the attached home description flier).

The overall home construction timeline? Sales Center Manager Maggie Rossetti indicated about a year. So we will likely be listening to construction noises through the summer at a minimum.

The model home is completed and you can view it. The new homes will all have gas appliances. The modern open kitchen, dining and living rooms on the first floor are designed for general family living and entertaining. This area dominates when you enter the home. Upstairs offers four bedrooms and two baths including a master with a walk-in closet and dual sink bath, plus the laundry room and the furnace along with a small open area. The back yard living space is quite limited. The garage is currently serving as the sales office.

This development will have a Homeowners Association. Your Foxwood Meadows HOA board plans to work with this new HOA on joint overall neighborhood issues and concerns once they are created.

Your HOA board plans to monitor the progress of this new development and try to keep you informed on its status.  If you learn of any developments in this project, please share with your Foxwood Meadows board.

To check out home listings in Devon Hill and surrounding neighborhoods, recent sales, and market trends, visit Neighborhood Sales.

The Feb 25th All-Neighborhood Meeting

“See, be seen and contact police.”  That was a key message offered by Snohomish County Sheriff’s Dept Lieutenant David Bowman to members of neighborhoods all tied to 183rd St SE. About 45 people from the Foxwood Meadows, Copper Creek, and Country Woods 1 and 2 neighborhoods met at a local pizza restaurant on February 25th to learn more about what can be done to help reduce the surge in thefts and vandalism.

Lieutenant Bowman highlighted the causes behind the surge in these property crimes happening not only in our local neighborhoods, but all through Snohomish County and much of the state and nation – homelessness and drugs. The latest drug of choice? Hallucinogens – particularly heroin. Heroin is quite addictive. Once hooked, a user needs it every day and needs money to purchase it.  Our property becomes a source for that money.

The Snohomish County Sheriff’s department is working the homelessness and drug crime issues with assigned personnel. Unfortunately, the situation is overwhelming – both in the volume of people involved and their limited resources such as jail space and medical facilities.

What can we do?  As noted up front – see, be seen and contact police. The key is deterrent. If our local neighborhoods make unwelcome visitors uncomfortable, they will tend to leave and go elsewhere.

These property crimes are usually the result of easy targets. The lieutenant suggested hardening as much of your property as possible. For instance, lock all house and vehicle doors. Consider burglar alarms and/or camera systems. Secure your loose property as much as possible.

In addition, be vigilant. If you see something that looks out of place or suspicious such as an unfamiliar person or slow moving vehicle, visually note the situation (do not confront) and call 911. The more timely and factual information that can be provided to police, the better.

There was discussion about calling 911. Use your house phone if possible since it is already within the county’s Enhanced 911 System database – they know where that call is originating. If you use a cell phone, your phone may connect with a cell tower that inadvertently contacts Bothell or other law enforcement dispatch centers and slow the response. Inform the dispatcher up front that you are in unincorporated Snohomish County and they will ensure to connect you with Snohomish County 911.

Unfortunately, any neighborhood can have unwanted burglars and vandals visit. In the past few years, Foxwood neighbors have had one side of their home tagged, another had a car parked in their driveway broken in to, and others have had delivered packages have been taken off doorsteps. In June 2012, another home used as a rental with renters that had just moved out was broken in to and used as a place for an end of the school year party with substantial interior property damage.

As Lieutenant Bowman emphasized:

• be vigilant and create a hardened neighborhood as a deterrent, one where undesired visitors wish to avoid and go elsewhere.
• if you see something suspicious, call 911 right away and offer as much accurate information as you can such as a description of the person or persons involved, a vehicle or other identifying information that will help responding police.

By working together, we can have a safe and wonderful neighborhood!

There have been a number of thefts lately in our community, as well as the neighboring communities. These thefts range from package thefts to bicycles, a trailer with 4 wheeler on it, to a car that was warming in a driveway. As a community the concern has grown to the point that many members are looking to get together to discuss possible avenues for continued vigilance. Currently there is a meeting scheduled for February 25th at Alfy’s Pizza at 9620 19th Ave SE.

Unfortunately most of these crimes so far have been crimes of opportunity. That is to say, they were easy. Follow a UPS driver and pick up a package. Jump in a running car and drive away. The point is to remember that to keep our community safe we have to lower the easy opportunity for criminals. Pay attention to your surroundings. Have packages held at the carrier location, or have them put packages in a discrete container on your porch. Warm up your car with you in it. Put away the kids toys/bicycles.

If you see someone you don’t know, stop and say hi. Introduce yourself. The mere act of talking to someone increases the odds that they won’t commit a crime since they are now “known”. They understand people are watching, and know who should be in the neighborhood. Should you see someone committing a crime call 911. Pay attention to their clothing, their vehicle color, model and license plate and when you saw the them.

Together we can and will keep our community safe and a joy to live in. Bring your ideas to the community meeting so we can work together as a team!

Our Foxwood Meadows neighborhood was developed in 2001. Our garage door openers were installed as a part of the home construction.

My garage door opener ‘died’ recently and had to be replaced. The opener was a Chamberlain, rated among the high quality openers.

During the replacement process conducted by Bothell Garage Door Repair, it was discovered that the opener was built in 1997 – four years before our neighborhood homes were built. The repairperson indicated it is not uncommon for builders to buy appliances such as garage door openers in bulk to save money per unit. My builder apparently did just that, buying hundreds of them and storing them until it was time to install in new homes.

So my and perhaps your garage door opener was on the shelf for four years before being installed and put into use in 2001. You can view the manufacture date by climbing up and looking inside the unit’s button window with a flashlight to see the model statistics if you are interested.

Chamberlain openers are warranted for 10 years. Our openers are well beyond their warranty. My opener’s hardware was also incompatible with today’s openers. So I had to have a complete replacement, costing me over $650. Perhaps it may be a good idea to determine the manufacture date of your opener and prepare for the possibility of replacing your opener sometime soon.