Dear Neighbor,

The Safety & Security Committee of the Forest of Friendswood Homeowners’ Association was revitalized eighteen months ago and has made progress in enhancing our community.  The mission of our committee is to recommend cost-effective polices and specific actions to the FoF HOA board that will ensure the safest and most secure environment for all residents.  This five member committee has accomplished the following:

• Determined the major problems impacting our community
  
  The top safety issues include motor vehicle violations especially speeding, not yielding at “Stop” and “Yield to Pedestrian” signs, children driving golf carts (only licensed drives can drive these on city streets), emergency vehicles getting lost (this has been resolved), joggers and walkers not wearing brightly colored clothes/reflective belts at night/dusk, and the need for all of us to plan adequately for hurricanes and floods.
  
  The top security issues include vehicle burglaries (lock your cars), vandalism (we successfully ended a rash of vandalism by teenagers in the spring by working with the Friendswood Police Department (FPD)), and a Neighborhood Watch Program (NWP) that covers only part of the Forest.
  
• Developed a strategic plan with key tasks to address the problems listed above.
• Established regular dialogue with the FPD, Volunteer Fire Department, Fire Marshall, Life Flight, and City Public Works Department.
• Implemented the Specialized Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP) with the FPD.
• Created an informative section on the FoF HOA website (www.fofhoa.com).
• Revitalized the NWP by training volunteers and installing new NWP signs.

Additional actions the Safety & Security Committee is taking include:

• Significantly expanding our NWP (but we need more volunteers).
• Finalizing and implementing association safety and security checklists.
• Researching with the FPD the feasibility of installing a web-based video surveillance system at the four entrances to our neighborhood.
  
  At the June HOA meeting we will make a recommendation to the board on a cost-effective system that is compatible with the FPD system.

Crime is expected to rise this year due to the deepening recession, the closure of NASA Road One over I-45 which is diverting traffic through Friendswood, and anti-crime efforts in Houston which is pushing crime into the suburbs.  Crime is already up in the City of Friendswood, and we need your help to further protect our neighborhood. Specifically, we need more residents to volunteer to be NWP block captains.  Only twenty percent of the Forest is covered by block captains.  This program has proven to decrease crime by up to 80% and is one of the most cost-effective ways to protect our families and property.

An incident occurred in February which proved the effectiveness of this program.  Three burglars who attempted to steal property from a home in the Piney Point section were arrested on the spot because a vigilant neighbor called the police after spotting suspicious activity.  This neighbor provided the license plate number of the vehicle.  Within sixty seconds the FPD identified this car as stolen, and within four minutes had blocked all four entrances to the Forest.  The three perpetrators were arrested without incident.

A block captain needs to spend a small mount of time doing the following:

• Exchanging contact information with neighbors and providing them NWP info.
• Identifying a visible location for a NWP sign along with additional “20 MPH” and “Children Playing” signs.
• Requesting STEP implementation.
• Attending periodic meetings of the FoF Safety & Security Committee.

We conduct training sessions for new block captains during our Safety & Security Committee meetings and will host a short one immediately after the April 20th annual Homeowners’ Association Meeting.

We encourage you to get involved and volunteer to be a NWP block captain.  To volunteer please e-mail your name, address, and telephone number to the association manager, Mrs. Liz McNutt, at lizm@houcomm.com or volunteer at the April 20th meeting.

Thank you for your support, and we look forward to seeing you at our Safety & Security meetings.

Sincerely,

Phil Bossert
Chair, Safety & Security Committee
Forest of Friendswood HOA