Message from the Board President:

Maintenance

• There were 443 light poles and they were all painted in 2018 and 2019 to a new color.
• There are 49 mailboxes, in 2019 one half have been replaced and the other half will be completed in 2020. All mailboxes need trim work around the boxes completed.  We are hoping to have this completed by April 2020.
• We will be doing some electrical updates and pump valve replacements to the fountain this year.
• All the monuments/stone walls have been assessed and will be reassessed after the winter. We will be doing some repairs this year while we are working on plans for the next 5-7 years.

Landscaping

• Some of the renovations in 2019 included:
  • Blue Spruces at the State Line entry
  • Armour Maple at State Line and 119^th
  • 6 islands
  • 5 noses of islands
• Improvements scheduled for Spring 2020:
  • 7 Islands
  • 2 Small Islands
  • Miscellaneous landscaping where plants were lost or trees have declined

DRC (Design Review Committee)

Hallbrook requires that approval of the HOA be obtained prior to commencing certain activities, changes, modifications, and construction to your home.   Please contact Claire Rainey at crainey@sentrymgt.com or 913-749-5570 ext. 57811 for a DRC request form.

The committee has not found any suitable alternative roofs that would change the current restrictions.  The Declarations state that roofs shall be cedar shake, dimensional cedar wood shingles, slate, or tile.  No asphalt shingles are allowed.  However, during the investigation, there were some attractive slate and tile roof options that do conform with our documents which are TruSlate and the Terracotta. You may also obtain the form on the website at hallbrookfarms.org under Resident Resources

Please take note that written permission is required from the DRC before removing any trees 4” or over in caliper on resident’s property.

Updates and Reminders:

• All types of political support can only be up 30 days prior to the elections and must be removed five days after the election.
• All signs in residents’ yards by a third-party vendor, such as contractors, roofers, etc. are not allowed and must be removed.
• Please have all the occupants of your residence slow down. The maximum speed limit in Hallbrook is 25 MPH.
• To access the homeowner directory, please log into Sentry Management at sentrymgt.com and click My Account then click New User Registration to set up your online access. If you need your 16-digit code, please contact Claire Rainey, the administrative assistant for Hallbrook, at 913-749-5570 ext 57811, or by email at crainey@sentrymgt.com.

Information

If you have any questions or concerns, please email Shay Smith.

MEET THE BOARD AND MANAGEMENT

The Board has elected officers and we would like to introduce the Board and Management..

Craig Hamlin, President
Chucker Luetje, Treasurer
Andy Beal, Treasurer
Linda Finkle, Secretary
Joel Feigenbaum, Director
Shawn Moore, Director
Mary Larson, Director

Sentry Management Company
3401 College Boulevard, Suite 250
Leawood, KS 66211
913-749-5570

Jim Tiehen, Vice President
Shay Smith, Property Manger

ISLANDS

The Hallbrook Landscape Committee renovated ten (10) islands this Spring, along with the Stateline entrance and the 119^th entrance.  Additionally, some minor work was also done on the College Boulevard entrance.  This Fall three (3) additional islands are being renovated with the work anticipated to be completed in mid-October.  Members of the Landscape Committee will work through the Fall and Winter months to evaluate the islands and identify the islands to be renovated for 2018.  To that end, the committee will prepare plant and tree combination with the goal of obtaining competitive bids prior to Spring 2018 so that plant material may be ordered and ready for installation in April.  There has been a lot of consolidation in the wholesale nursery industry and procuring plants and trees for the Hallbrook Community has been challenging.

The islands are prioritized based on the ones in most need of attention, health and structure of existing trees which in many cases are at the end of their useful life and the long-range plan to update all of the landscape islands within the development.  This process will continue until all of the remaining landscape islands have been updated.  An extraordinary amount of time and effort is done during this process to continue maintaining Hallbrook as a premier community and to enhance home values.  Additional items assessed include tree crowding, original over planting, root girdling, life span of the tree, aesthetics and needed updates to a twenty-five-year-old landscape.

STREET TREE PRUNING COMPLETED

During the winter months in early 2017, the street trees were pruned in Phases I, II, III, IV & V of Hallbrook (see site plan on the Hallbrook website or also available at The Tiehen offices).   884 street trees were pruned to raise their canopy and remove the sucker growth.  All of the dead wood was removed from the Pin Oak trees located near Manor south along 118^th Terrace where 32 Oaks were cleaned of all dead wood and canopies raised away from street lights, drives, and walks. These are the oldest street trees in the development and the results gave an attractive and fresh restoration to the neighborhood. In the same neighborhood, it is worth noting that one of the islands, which was in full shade due to the overplanting of trees 25 years ago, also received some much-needed attention.  The monuments were in poor condition and the grass was nonexistent.  The stonework was repaired and cleaned, and trees were removed, which had health or structural issues.  The remaining trees were thinned and shaped.  New topsoil and grass seed was planted to cover the bare areas and new landscape was installed during the Spring 2017 renovation.

In the early winter months of 2018, the street trees for Phase VI & VIII will be pruned and deadwood removed.

ASH TREES – EAB & REPLACEMENT TREES

In August 2017, Ryan Lawn completed the scheduled treatment of the ash trees.  Per the Hallbrook plan regarding the emerald ash borer (EAB) treatment, certain ash trees with health and structural issues are not treated for EAB. Replacement of those ash trees as they die due to age or damage continues.   Currently, an inventory of proposed replacements for Fall 2017 is being prepared for bid.  Additionally, the structure and health of the ash trees around the circle have deteriorated and those trees will be replaced in Spring 2018.

 BERM EROSION AND PLANTINGS

 The new trees and shrubs on the berm continue to thrive and we experienced the beautiful blossoms of the some of the trees and plantings during the Spring and Summer.  The berm is getting the ground plane reestablished with grass seed and sod, as well as groundcover plantings where there is too much shade for grass to grow.  This effort will continue for the next couple of years until the groundcover areas are established.

SEASONAL COLOR

Fall planting of the pots around the circle and the pots located at two of the entrances will occur the week of October 16^th to add interest to the common area as we move into the Fall and Winter months. The landscape committee will work through the Fall and Winter to compile the palette and plantings for the seasonal color for Spring and Summer 2018.  With the luck of the weather this last Summer and the plant selection, the color from the annuals brought a wonderful addition to the boulevards and helped make Hallbrook an exciting and special neighborhood to visit and live.

OTHER COMMON AREAS

The new landscape plantings in 2014 along Brookwood and Overbrook continued to fill in this Summer.  The structure and shape of the shrubs are starting to flourish to their full potential with a more uniform appearance and consistent massing from island to island.  The understory plantings add a variety of color and texture.     Overall maintenance is ongoing as well as an assessment for maintenance of the 34 monuments and walls, 60 stone mailboxes, 6 security cameras, 444 light poles, the guard house and the fountain. While the Japanese beetle appeared to be worse this past Summer, the common area experienced only minor damage with the exception of the Linden trees, which had noticeable late season foliage damage visible to the canopies.  Hallbrook has also been treating for the sawfly on the moneywort ground cover (aka creeping jenny).

RESIDENT LANDSCAPE OVERHANG

It would be helpful if all residents checked their trees and shrubs for overhang into the right of way and sidewalks.  If your trees or shrubs overhang or obstruct the sidewalks, please pruned back appropriately.  Your attention to this is very much appreciated.

ISLAND LANDSCAPE RENOVATION UPDATE

The Hallbrook Landscape Committee continued their work for renovation of the islands not completed in 2014 and 2015.  The Committee identified 15-17 islands for renovation and has prepared detailed designs to be completed this Spring.  As part of the process, the Committee met several times since October, 2015 and made numerous site visits to assess the issues and needs of each island and prioritized them based on need, as well as overall health and structure of existing trees and shrubs.   The Committee includes Kim Sorensen, Landscape Architect with Olsson Associates (formerly, Ochsner Hare & Hare) and Robyn Schmitz, owner and horticulturist at High Prairie Landscape Group, Carol Gurba (resident), Tina Bender (resident) and Chi Chi Puhl (Chair & resident).    This process will continue for the next 3 years until all of the remaining landscape islands have been updated.  An extraordinary amount of time and effort was put into the renovation design over the Fall and Winter months with the goal set on identifying needed landscaping in Hallbrook for it to remain a premier community and to enhance home values.  Additional items assessed include tree crowding, original over planting, root girdling, life span of tree, aesthetics and needed updates to a twenty-five-year-old landscape.

All of the proposed work for the islands to be renovated in Spring, 2016 was sent out for competitive bids, and the work will begin in the next few weeks and completed by the second or third week of June, 2016.   While too voluminous to include in this newsletter, there is a complete set of plans for the island renovations for the Spring, 2016 available in the office of The Tiehen Group if you desire to review them. The HOA continues to work diligently and prudently to bring high-quality and exciting updates to our aging community to ensure that our subdivision provides the highest standards and that necessary changes are implemented keeping the best long-term interests of the neighborhood in mind.

STREET TREES

Replacement of street trees continues as they die due to age or damage.   Currently, 29 street trees were replaced during the early Spring.  The new street trees require supplemental watering after they are planted.  If you as a homeowner received a new tree this Spring, we would ask that you water your new tree.  To promote the overall health of the tree, this needs to be done weekly with a hose at the base of the tree, set to a trickle. The stream of water should be less than the width of a pencil and should run for thirty minutes to an hour or until the ground around the tree can’t absorb the water and its run off, if you have more than one new tree, move to the next tree and repeat the process. When all the trees have been watered repeat the process again for each tree to ensure that the water penetrated deep enough.  The recommended amount of water is twenty gallons per week per tree. The water from your irrigation system will not be sufficient to promote the root growth needed for the overall health of the tree and why we are recommending the supplemental watering.

If for some reason you are not able to water the tree, please contact the Tiehen Group so that we can ensure that the trees are properly watered.  Hallbrook is diversifying the tree selections in an effort to maintain the quality of trees within the development and ensure future years of survival.  The replacement plan and tree selections may be viewed on the Hallbrook website, http://www.hallbrookfarms.org.  Additionally, please do not create a ‘Mulch Volcano’ around any of the street trees, which can severely damage or kill the tree.  Make sure there are several inches between the trunk of the tree and the beginning of the mulch circle.

BERM EROSION AND PLANTINGS

The new trees and shrubs on the berm continue to thrive and blossom and the ornamentals made an impressive show with their Spring blooms.  Currently, the berm is getting the ground plane reestablished with new areas of seed, sod and groundcover plantings which continues to be added where there is too much shade for grass to grow.  This effort is underway to help stop the erosion of soil from the berm and to decrease the areas of bare dirt.  This is a work in progress and will take a season or two to establish.  We are continuing to establish the lush areas of lawn with seed and sod and introduce groundcover as understory in areas of deep shade.

PANSIES ARE HERE AND ANNUALS WILL FOLLOW

The planting of the spring pansies is complete and the annuals will follow in mid-May.  The beautiful purple, blue and yellow pansies planted for early Spring color will be maintained until it gets too hot and then summer heat-tolerant annuals with tons of color impact will be planted for the Summer months.   The pots will continue to have a stimulating flower display to maintain excitement around the fountain area and entries.  The design team has put together an outstanding design for the subdivision and the color will be a wonderful addition to the boulevards.  We are very excited about the introduction of color to the neighborhood and anticipate another wonderful year of bright beautiful flowers for all to enjoy.

ASH TREES – EMERALD ASH BORERS

Hallbrook has treated the first half of the Ash trees for Emerald Ash Borers and the remaining Ash trees scheduled for treatment will be treated once the Ash trees have leafed out in May, 2016.    As previously reported, Hallbrook has 444 ash trees.  All of the ash trees have been analyzed by third party arborists for structure and overall health, and have been tagged to help Hallbrook manage the Ash tree inventory.  Hallbrook will not treat the poorest rated Ash trees of which there are approximately 75, leaving 369 Ash trees to treat.  The eventual replacement of the poorly rated trees will be scheduled over a three-year plan.

OTHER COMMON AREAS

The landscape planted in 2014 along Brookwood and Overbrook will continue to fill in this Summer.  The shrubs have been recently shaped to establish a more uniform appearance and consistent massing from island to island.  The understory plantings continue to add a variety of color and texture.  These new plantings will take at least one more year to establish and flourish to their full potential.  Overall maintenance is ongoing to maintain Hallbrook’s 93 islands, 34 monuments and walls, 60 stone mailboxes, 6 security cameras, 444 light poles, the guard house and the fountain.

LIGHT POLES – LED

The work to change the current lighting in the light poles to LED has begun and is due to be completed in June, 2016.  Please drive cautiously when approaching the workers and equipment performing this work.

EMAIL ADDRESSES & COMMUNICATION

A reminder that communication with residents will primarily be done by email and the Hallbrook website at http://www.hallbrookfarms.org.  If Hallbrook does not have your current email address, please contact Kristen Cheek at Kristen@tiehengroup.com or 913 648 1188, Ext 20.

SLOW DOWN/SPEED LIMIT

Please have all the occupants of your residence slow down.  The maximum speed limit in Hallbrook is 25 MPH.

Jim Tiehen
The Tiehen Group, Inc.
3401 College Boulevard #250
Leawood, KS 66211