History
Santiago Hills Landscape Maintenance Assessment District Community Liaison Committee
A Santiago Hills Liaison Committee was formed to review the District’s annual budget and provide input on the priorities for landscape renovations. Eight residents reflecting the various types of properties and geographic locations within the Santiago Hills Assessment District (SHAD) served on the committee, which met twice a year from 2015 through early 2017. City staff posted the meeting minutes on the City’s website and provided additional updates on the status of the landscaping projects on an on-going basis on the City website and Nextdoor. After the first landscape renovation project on Trails End was completed, City staff began to receive feedback from others in the community expressing concern about the project and requesting more information and involvement in the process of establishing the direction of the renovation projects and the use of SHAD funds.
Minutes from the Santiago Hills Landscape Maintenance Assessment District Liaison Committee meetings are available for review here:
April 2017 Meeting Minutes
October 2016 Meeting Minutes
April 2016 Meeting Minutes
October 2015 Meeting Minutes
October 2015 Meeting Handouts
Homeowners have let us know that the SHAD Liaison Committee was not working well for the community as a whole. In August 2017, City staff held an open community meeting with SHAD property owners to discuss the Trails End and proposed Skylark Renovation project and receive input on the City’s approach to future landscape projects, including the planned renovation of Skylark Place landscaping. At the meeting and over the past several months we have had many conversations with SHAD residents about landscape maintenance and future direction for renovation projects. The input we have received indicated that the SHAD Liaison Committee model was not effectively representative of the desires of the SHAD community as a whole. As a result of this input, the SHAD Liaison Committee model is being replaced with a more comprehensive community outreach effort.
Santiago Hills Assessment District Property Owners Community Meeting
Beginning in 2018, community wide meetings will be held twice a year in April and October, open to all SHAD property owners. At the meetings, staff will present the proposed SHAD annual budget and receive input regarding budget priorities and landscape renovations and landscape maintenance matters. The information presented at the meetings will include the following:
• SHAD Annual Budget including operating and capital expenditures
• Timeline and information on the annual Public Hearing for Adoption of the Engineer’s Report and Annual
Assessment (scheduled in May and June of each year)
• Proposed Landscape Renovation Projects
• Maintenance Matters
These topics are the same as those that have been historically presented to the previous Liaison Committee. All SHAD property owners are invited to attend the meetings which will be advertised via direct mail notices, Nextdoor.com, and on the City website. Property owners interested in on-going updates in addition to the meetings, are asked to provide their email contact information to be added to the outreach list. This method of open community meetings and ongoing communication by email allows for regular input from all interested parties with specific input at key times during the year.
The first meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 11, 2018 at Chapman Hills Elementary School from 6:30-8:30pm. The meeting format will include distribution of financial documents, a short presentation by staff on completed and proposed projects, followed by a staff moderator reading questions or comments submitted by participants. Those wishing to speak at the meeting will be given an opportunity at the end of the moderated question and answer period. Out of respect for everyone’s time, comments will be limited to three minutes, similar to the practice utilized at City Council meetings. Staff will be available after the meeting for individual discussions.