Demon4x4.com

Well, it has finally happened. Got the certified letter today that we have until Sunday to get rid of the "junked" vehicles off the property. I have talked to the HOA and the county, to get a copy of the Ordinance of Abatement for public nuisances, junked vehicles, and litter. The HOA has a copy, but interestingly, the county can't seem to find one.

I tried to argue to the HOA today that they are not junked vehicles...they run and move, but she said that if they haven't been registered in 45 days or moved in more than 10 days, then they are considered junk. I mean, hell, the trucks are exactly what they are built for, however, Jeff thinks it won't do any good to try and educate these back wood hicks on what rock-crawlers really are.

I have talked to one neighbor who wants me to start a petition to get rid of the HOA. I mean, hell, we pay $135/year for what? They didn't even know the county was coming in to fix the drainage issue in our yard. I am going to go and take pics of all the neighbors trash and crap in their yard and see if the HOA goes after them or is it just us.

I can see one hell of a Demon GTG on the 28th....anyway, we are trying to work out what we can do about the trucks in the meantime. John is coming to pick up the Sexy Evil ST. Randall, I'll call you later about Muddwhore and the Saint.

My biggest concern is Succubus. I had talked to Kris earlier who stated that he could take her as long as she was in one piece, which Jeff has stated that there is no way with the condition of the yard and the short time notice. He has gotten permission to take chopped pieces of both vehicles and dump them like we did with the Demon Lincoln, but I hate to do that if we can find someway of saving the body and the truck formerly known as truckmagic.

We are emptying Big Mama tonight and putting that stuff in the attic so we can have a junkyard come pick her up....which is sad since she only needs a tranny, I think. I may have to get rid of my boat if they get too tremendously picky about it.

Sorry guys about all of this...we are extremely depressed and we haven't figured out what will happen with SVO from this point. Since most of the parts for the Mustang are here, we will put it in the garage and put Nasty Hoe facing the garage so they can't see her stickers. I am arguing that Doug is out of the country (not quite yet and hopefully not) and that his parents are in Jersey and see what they expect us to do with Tool.

This is an absolute nightmare and we are very angry, hurt, depressed, and overall pissed off right now. All we can do is apologize to ya'll for the inconvenience we are having to put ya'll through right now.

To the Board of the Circle D HOA:

My name is Lori Merkel. My husband and I live at 154 Old Firetower Rd. On 4/10/07, we received a certified letter stating that we had until 4/15/07 to remove the trucks on the side of our house because they violated Section 6 of the Deed Restrictions along with the Order of Abatement from Bastrop County, which lists Public Nuisances, Junked Vehicles, and Litter.

Section 6 of the Deed Restrictions that was enclosed with the letter does not mention anything about vehicles. It does mention the accumulation of trash, rubbish or other unsightly obstacles or anything that might hinder proper drainage, which these vehicles do not.

On Page 3, on the Order of Abatement, a junked vehicle is classified as a motor vehicle that is A. that is inoperative, and B. does not have lawfully affixed to it either an unexpired license plate, or a valid motor vehicle safety inspection certificate, that is wrecked, dismantled, partially dismantled, or discarded, or that remains inoperable for a continuous period of 45 days.

I would like to take this time to clarify a few things. The vehicles we have at this time do not follow under the definition above as a “junked vehicle”. Yes, we do have vehicles on the East side of the property that are not registered or inspected. The trucks are built and designed for off-road use. Even though they can be used for street use, that is not their function nor or are they very easy to drive on the street. These vehicles are towed to places where they were meant to be used for their proper functionality. Secondly, these trucks are very much operable. At any time, can you go over and move and drive these trucks around the property. At most, they may need to have the battery jumped. We did have a couple of trucks that are projects, along with our tow vehicle, that needs a new transmission at this time. To try and abide by the rules, we are in the process of moving these 2 vehicles to alternate locations so they can be worked on without complaint from the HOA. I have also moved our race car that we have been working on. It was only until recently that it was operable as well, however, we are in the process of putting a new engine in it and until we get the parts for that engine, we are storing our car at another place. We also have contacted friends and members of our truck club to pick up their trucks at this time so that will be 2 more leaving. That will leave our truck, along with another truck of a friend of ours that is in the military. He has returned from Afghanistan but is now in the process of getting deployed to Iraq. He is stationed out of Ft. Polk, La, but the truck is registered and insured in New Jersey, where he is from. We plan on keeping this truck as well, as long as he is overseas. This is a little contribution from us to help him out while he is fighting with the Army.

To also abide by the rules, we have purchased a storage shed (brand new) to enclose some parts that we did have lying on the side of the house. We do understand that these could be considered “junk” to some, but again, what is considered junk by some is considered treasure to others.

To now discuss the movement for 45 days, we have a serious drainage issue on our property. We have found a drainage pipe that runs under Whispering Pines, that drains into our yard. I have contacted Ms. Beckett, who has come to survey the problem, to try and rectify the situation. The county is unable to move the drainage pipe on Whispering Pines, which means, that the run-off from the property behind the subdivision, and the pond when it overflows, will continue to drain into our yard. Ms. Beckett has contacted local service providers to have their lines marked, which SBC, has already done, and waiting for Aqua Water to come out and mark their lines. From my understanding, the county is going to place a drainage pipe under the road on the East corner of our property line and going to recut the ditches to help the flow of water. Our property is the low point, along with the deepest ditches, so we hold all the water and as much rain as we have had recently, we are still under water on the East side of our property. To move our vehicles, would do extreme damage to the property which would be very costly to repair. We have already had dirt hauled in once, and with the help of some great neighbors, got it where we wanted, which proceeded to wash away a week later with the rain.

We want to keep our neighbors happy and have a great relationship with our immediate neighbors up and down the street. We have heard rumors for several months that neighbors were complaining further down the street but no one ever stopped to talk to us personally. However, I do find it curious that nothing was ever said by the HOA until a builder, not even a residence of the neighborhood, came over to complain to us. We take pride in our home and have worked hard for what we have. We will work with the HOA to remain in compliance, however, I find it unfair that we are being penalized for being “gear heads”, who like working, modifying, and driving cars and trucks, and the fact that these vehicles are not for normal street use. I find it unfair that I can drive up and down the full length of Old Firetower Rd and see vehicles that have not moved at all in the 3 years since I have moved here with no notice. I find it unfair that there are homes on Old Firetower Rd that have vehicles with broken windows, trailers full of trash, storage buildings that are collapsing, and other objects that, like my saying above, is considered trash and junk to me, but they might consider treasure, hobbies, or projects, and my husband and I are the ones that have received notice to vacate our vehicles. It’s sad to know that we are not allowed to enjoy our hobbies and “stress-relievers” at our own home that we have worked hard for because others do not take the time to ask or try to understand what our version of fun is.

Again, we are in the process of moving out the vehicles with one already gone and another leaving this weekend, at the sacrifice of our yard. No, they will not all be gone by Sunday, but with the short notice of less than a week, working around others schedules, and finding places, everything will be taken care of by May 1st. I would also like to have some type of notice when the HOA has their meetings since I have never seen nor heard of a schedule. I only find out about this one due to me calling Ms. Pickering to find out about the letter and asked her to have me added to the Agenda.

Thank You,
Lori Merkel & Jeff Harris

Well, I didn't get to finish my speech because Jeff had to explain how these trucks are used. Anyhoo, once we explained the situation, they realized that I had copies of everything (deed restrictions, Order of Abatement from Bastrop County) they decided to leave us alone since we are working on a plan, have already made a good faith effort, and are in the mix of an extreme drainage problem.

I did explain that we will have everything moved by May 1st and they seemed to be happy with that. They wanted to assure us that they were not the enemy and not to feel singled out that many notices went out, and that they are complaint driven so many did not know the condition of our property.

What was funny was when one board member asked how many vehicles do we have on any given day? I told him that we owned 7 ourselves. Thought he was going to fall out of his chair.

So, the plan.....Jeff bought a storage shed yesterday so we are goint to erect it where the truck formerly known as trckmagic is right now. The white Mustang is gone until we are ready to drop in the new engine, Johnstone is here today to pick up the ST, Kris is planning on coming this week to pick up the pieces and parts to Succubus, Randall is picking up Muddwhore the weekend of the 28th, and Big Mama and Jared's Jeep and parts/pieces will be going to our friend Danny's property until we can get everything together.

The only real problem we are seeing at this time is that Jeff will only be able to work on one project at a time and not have any sitting around waiting, but whatever. Just gives us more motivation to get our shop.

So, there's the update....it was a compromise at this point, that may have not been a bad deal. I think we were both feeling a little overwhelmed with everything. However, we now know when the meetings are and I plan on being on next month's agenda in regards to the speed issues down our street. They will get tired of seeing me. Plus as I told Jeff and JJ, we are demons and we always have plans for others that they don't expect.....

Let me know if there is anything I can do to help, as usual.

Should I Bring a Trailer for the Pieces This week or will the 28th be good. If I can Get a supention in The formerly known as trckmagic I have room for it in my garage and can work on getting it running here.

I just need it Mobile enough to get it on the Trailer then in to my garage.

Please let me know what you would like me to get taken care of first. and I will be there to get what is needed.

Kris

Good deal I guess, but still a pain that you even had to go through it.

Last night I finished making room for the truck formerly known as trckmagic...




This Use to be a Frame to a 98 Ford Explorer.. LOL