CALLAWAY WOODS & LAKESIDE HOA
Volume 1 Issue 3
© Callaway Woods and Lakeside HOA
IN THIS ISSUE Message from President
Meet your CWHOA Leadership … 3 Year-end Report … 4,5 Meet Your Neighbors … 6,7 Financial Report … 8,9 “Abner’s Legacy”...11 Committee Reports ...13 Lake Dredge Completed … 15-17
WINTER 2023/2024
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Happy New Year! I hope your holiday season was filled with family, friends, presents and lots of love. Looking back, 2023 was both a challenging and amazing year for our Callaway Woods family. The first challenge was how to renew our HOA covenants that were set to expire in the first quarter of 2023. Second, how to complete our lake dredge project after our first contractor defaulted. Third was how to get high speed fiber optic internet cable in our neighborhood. The fourth challenge was to overcome communication issues, which we believe we accomplished with the development and distribution of this quarterly report/newsletter, The CW Eagle. No matter what the challenges were or how impossible some appeared to be, we came together and were able to meet and overcome each one, allowing us to accomplish all our goals. WOW, what a year 2023 turned out to be! I am praying that in 2024, we will continue to accomplish our goals with the power of love and unity.
alfredrbarber@gmail.com (706) 442- 8100 482 Dakota Trail
Officers: Al Barber — President, alfredrbarber@gmail.com Randy Burt — V. President, r.burt@mchsi.com Burton Keller — Treasurer burton@deltadatasoft.com Carol Hiler — Secretary, carolh1219@aol.com
Directors: Al Barber — Chairman Randy Burt — Vice Chairman Dale Askins — Director Burton Keller — Director Renee Esten — Director Carol Hiler — Director
Pat Diaz-Verson — Director John Cunningham — Director Dr. Mark Oliver— Director
Legal and Governmental Affairs Committee — John Cunningham, jec1945@gmail.com Education Committee — Dr. Sandi McCann, sandi.mccann31820@gmail.com Building and Grounds Committee — Open. Al Barber (acting)—alfredrbarber@gmail.com Quarterly Newsletter Manager — Open Communication Committee — Dr. Mark Oliver, markolivermd@gmail.com Finance Committee — Dale Askins, askd57@gmail.com Social Committee — Lindsay Norton, Lindsay.w.norton22@gmail.com Compliance Committee — Renee Esten, Reneebeenee@aol.com Architectural Review Committee — Jay Stelzenmuller, captainjgsiii@gmail.com
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Never quit or lose faith in worthy goals; be patient, kind, long suffering and understanding with those who will oppose you along the way. This is your greatest challenge of all, but in doing so you will make it across the goal line! HOA covenant renewal: At first this task seemed impossible, considering our covenants could only be renewed if 100% of the residents agreed to renew them. As you know, it is almost impossible today to get 100% of people to agree on anything. Nevertheless, we valiantly forged ahead, determined to find a way. We contacted our corporate attorney, Bill Pound, who said he would research the issue. Several weeks later, he called with a possible solution. He explained we could simply amend the required percentage to renew from 100% to 66 2/3% and renew with one document at once. However, this solution meant we needed to speak with at least 80 homeowners, get their signatures to amend, and renew the existing covenants - which were originally written 20 years ago. With the help of many of our residents who were willing to assist, we were able to get across the finish line with 90 signatures. When we don’t give up and work together, we can accomplish what may appear to be the impossible. The renewal of our covenants means order in our community, joint assets will be maintained, and most of all, your property values will stay strong, which in fact they have based on recent sales in Callaway Woods.
Lake dredge completed: For more than 25 years, silt had been building up in our Mobley Lake, which is a natural occurrence in the south. Because our creek bottoms are dirt, every time we get a heavy downpour, the pure velocity of the rain pushes the sediment from the bottom of the creek forward into our lake. Standing Boy Creek, which is the main contributory to our lake, is the depository for runoff rain from thousands of acres of land up stream. For this reason, our lake can be nearly empty one day, and after a couple of days of rain, be overflowing. Mobley Lake is only one of several lakes being fed by Standing Boy Creek on its way to the Chattahoochee River. In addition to the rainwater runoff from land, Mobley Lake also serves as the depository for curbside openings that collects rainwater from streets in Callaway Woods-Lakeside subdivision. Consequently, both our first contractor and second contractor were challenged with, first, not enough water in the lake - and then, too much water in the lake. After 6 years of talking with government agencies, attorneys, and contractors researching: (1) why the problem had occurred, (2) who may have caused the problem and (3) how to fix the problem, we discovered challenge after challenge each step of the way. This project truly seemed to be an impossible task with so many issues, I do not believe I could record the history of the project without using all of the pages of this publication and more. Nevertheless, I want to mention a few that seemed to be the most important, making this project seem to be impossible: Less than half of our homeowners, at best, would agree to any kind of financial assessment to fund such a project. Even with the assessment, we knew we would not be able to get the multi-million dollars that we truly needed to dredge and remove all the silt in the lake. The question of: “Can the silt be removed from the lake, considering no clear path to truck it out and the thousands of dump truck loads it would take to remove all the silt?” seemed to be a non-starter. Finding a contractor to work within our budget to do a potentially multi-million-dollar job for less than a fraction of that cost was difficult. Obtaining a fixed estimate from any contractor was daunting. Without draining the lake, no contractor could physically see the amount of silt in the lake. Of course, we could not drain the lake because the 50+ year old gates on our dam would not open because of age, rust and corrosion. Furthermore, the gates had been dented and damaged over time. The gates have been subject to massive flooding in the past, being barraged by logs, boats, and even pieces of broken docks and other debris that wash down the lake into the gates.
Despite these and many more obstacles, we stayed the course and crossed the goal line! Callaway Woods and Lakeside HOA
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AT&T Fiber Optic cable in our neighborhood: For an entire year, neighbors have complained about slow and interrupted cable service with current providers. Several neighbors have suggested that the board get involved to help solve the internet problem. The board decided to survey the community to find out how many residents wanted to change to another provider, namely AT&T, and take advantage of fiber-optic cable. I believe we had over 80 responses all wanting to change. I took the survey results to AT&T. They were impressed, and conveyed that, finally, we should be what they call “green” by mid to late January, 2024. Again, another example of the community working together, using its combined purchasing power to get in front of many communities who are trying to get fiber-optic cable.
The CW Eagle was created: We believe this publication is an amazing asset for the community, as well as being unmatched by similar size communities. The best part, besides the publication itself, is it is fully paid for by advertisers, costing the CWHOA zero. Please support the advertisers who support The CW Eagle.
Winter Advertisers (in Alphabetical Order) AT&T Barber’s Driving School, Inc. Bottles & Barrels Energy Savers Old Timers Landscape Ron’s Tree Service, LLC Vikki Traywick -Your Neighborhood Realtor Warr Grading Contractor
Advertising Rates (Cutoff last week of ea. QTR) Full Page …………………. $ 250.00 Half Page…………………. $ 125.00 Quarter Page…………… $ 75.00 Eighth of page…………. $ 50.00 Preparing Camera-Ready ad.. $ 30.00
To place an ad - call (706) 442-8100
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The Sands Family
Sands Family
Hal and Robin Sands have lived in Callaway Woods for almost five years. They actually looked at the property several years ago, so when their son found the house for sale, they knew it was meant to be. Hal was born, and raised in Columbus, Georgia. Robin was born in Roswell, Georgia and moved to Columbus when she was twelve years old. Hal graduated from Columbus High and went to Columbus State. Hal started a paint business, Sands Paint Company in 1985. Robin is a graduate of Kendrick High School with a degree in Graphic Arts from Columbus Tech. They are enjoying their retirement days spending time traveling, going to the beach, enjoying time with family, playing tennis and following UGA football. One of the many reasons they chose Callaway Woods for their home is the lake. Hal is an avid fisherman and loves living on the lake, and catching a wide variety of fish. He has caught many largemouth bass, brim, catfish, and the largest crappie he has ever caught, 3 1/2 lbs. Another is the community, it is beautiful, peaceful and very well kept. The multitude of wildlife is fun to watch, and the neighbors are wonderful.
The Harlan Family We are the Harlan family! My husband Kenny (which we call Harlan) is a former law enforcement officer and now currently is working as an Administrative Officer for Ambulatory Care for the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System in Columbus over all three clinics. Kenny is from West Virginia and enjoys sports. Janet works for TSYS and is currently accepting a new role in their accounting department. She was born in Chicago, IL, has lived in various places but has resided in Georgia since 1999. She loves to cook, is a big animal lover and enjoys spending as much time as possible with her grandchildren. Our children are grown, married and have families of their own. Our daughter Krystal is a RN, BSN and her title is a Hospital Educator/ Infection Preventionist/Employee Health for Encompass Health in Columbus. Her Husband, Luis, is a Business System Applications Analyst III for a Bank. Their beautiful daughter, Scarlett (6 years old), loves soccer. We spend most of our time on the soccer fields. Our son, Daniel, is a Real Estate agent for Keller Williams in Columbus. His wife, Harley, is a stay-at-home mom and enjoys homeschooling their children. Daniel and Harley have three children Hudson (6), Nolan (3), and Bailey (2). They are expecting their fourth child in June. We moved to Callaway Woods in June 2023 and enjoyed the tranquility of the area and hope to make new friends.
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The Manning Family We are the Mannings - Craig, Leslie, Cole and Nate! Craig and I moved to Callaway Woods in 2001 from the Stone Mountain area. Craig and I met and graduated from Parkview High School in Atlanta and have been married for 27 years. Craig grew up in Columbus so we made our way back to the area to be near his family. Craig is a pilot for Delta Airlines. Leslie was a Human Resources manager prior to raising our family. We enjoy being together with our family and friends, traveling, boating, and walking daily in the neighborhood. We have two children, Cole Manning (25) and Nate Manning (21). Cole is a filmmaker/videographer for Fort Moore and runs Colmanation Media. Nate just graduated from Georgia Tech and is starting his new job in Calhoun, Georgia in January.
Manning Family
Over the last 23 years, we have enjoyed the peacefulness of our neighborhood and our kind neighbors. We hope to see you out walking!
The Faison Family Stacy & Tracie Faison on Kodiak Trail have been married for 23 years and give God the glory for orchestrating their paths from high school sweethearts to become a fulfilled Christian family who prays together and supports each other and their community in every aspect of life. They are the blessed parents of a 15-year-old daughter, Lindsey. The Faison’s cherish their 15-year Lakeside neighborhood and were drawn to the very quiet and serene feel brought by the beautiful homes that are nestled among the hilly terrain, trees, and lake. Stacy is a graduate of Troy University, UGA and the Alabama Bankers Association Executive Leadership Program. With 20 years of banking expertise, he is currently the Bank of America Sr. VP of Global Commercial Banking for the southern Georgia market. Tracie is a graduate of Troy University with a Bachelors in Social Work, and her passion is serving others, especially in the areas of adoption and foster care. Tracie launched a non-profit organization to help fill in gaps that she discerned from close connections with children and families. The Faison’s are a family that believes in staying steadfast in prayer and use Psalm 23 as one of their family foundational scriptures.
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Financial Statements Notes: We are showing a loss of $110,393.47 for the year. If you back out the one-time charge for the lake dredge of 121,836.65 then that would leave a profit of $11,442.65.
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AT&T
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When I was about 8 years old in West Alabama, my parents took me to see a delightful movie entitled, Callaway Went Thataway, which starred Howard Keel in dual roles. As the movie plot unfolded, I learned that "Smoky" Callaway had once been a popular Hollywood cowboy star, and his old films were being recycled for a new television series for kids, though nobody was initially able to find Callaway so he could help promote the series. When he was eventually located someplace in South America, he unfortunately turned out to be a mean drunk who hated kids, so he would have made a terrible role model. Meanwhile, somebody found a real cowboy named "Stretch" Barnes on a ranch somewhere, and he not only looked exactly like Callaway, but he was a real nice guy who actually loved kids. Well, you know where this is going. "Stretch" Barnes agreed to be Callaway and made live appearances to crowds of kids all across the country. Everything seemed to be going well until the real Callaway found out that he was missing out on the money, and there's a good old fashioned western showdown between the good guy and the bad guy. Stretch, the real cowboy, wins both the fight and the pretty girl and permanently assumes the role of the TV hero, while the Hollywood-type simply goes Thataway. Until I moved to Georgia in 1981, that movie character was the only Callaway with whom I was familiar. However, after arriving here, I quickly learned that the Callaway name was much more than a fictitious cowboy. The name is synonymous with tremendous entrepreneurial prosperity, outstanding public service, extremely generous philanthropy, and a great love of nature. I also discovered that all the Callaway success seems to have started with a fellow named Abner. Though I never learned the details about all of his children, it seems that two of them, Fuller Earle Callaway, Sr. (1870-1928) and his much younger half-brother, Ely Reeves Callaway, Sr. (1880-1956), and their descendants are responsible for most of the family's influence on Georgia and on our nation. The early economic success of those two half-brothers was realized in LaGrange, where they successfully ran a bank and a large textile mill.
Cason Jewell Callaway (1894-1961), Fuller Earle Callaway, Jr. (1907-1992) and Ely Reeves Callaway, Jr. (1919-2001) inherited their fathers' entrepreneurial spirit and wisely carried the family's business interests forward, expanding when appropriate, and influencing the folks in our world even more. They were all involved in the operation of Callaway Mills, which survived the Great Depression and kept Georgia families working when others were out of work.
The Callaway of Blue Springs Farm had two sons, Cason Jewell Callaway, Jr. (1924-2011) and Howard Hollis "Bo" Callaway (1927-2014), whose lives continued the Callaway family's positive effect on Georgia and on our nation. Cason, Jr. founded and ran Callaway Chemicals, Inc. in Columbus for many years and was also a big financial supporter of the Boy Scouts. He helped purchase Mobley Lake and the land around it so it could become Camp Callaway, a part of the 600 acre Chattahoochee Scout Reservation that operated on both sides of Whitesville Road for over 70 years. Cason, Jr. later purchased all of the Boy Scout camp land so that he could develop it into Callaway Woods, a beautiful upscale residential neighborhood. Before his death, he also founded Callaway Blue Spring Water, a premium bottled water business operating here in Harris County.
Brother Cason, who became a close friend of Franklin D. Roosevelt when the future President came to Warm Springs to treat his polio, built his own country estate, Blue Springs Farm, near Hamilton, and dreamed of creating a garden out of the overworked Georgia farmland here in Harris County. He spent most of his later life making his garden dream come true, and it became what is now the worldrenowned Callaway Resort and Gardens in Pine Mountain.
Brother Fuller inherited his father's beautiful estate, Hills and Dales in LaGrange, took over operation of Callaway Mills, ultimately selling the mill to Milliken, which operates it today. He generously gave Camp Clifford Smith to the Boy Scouts in LaGrange, and it served Boy Scouts from 1938 to 1965. For a while, Fuller was also tied to Hollywood, for Fuller's son was married to the daughter of Academy Award winning actress Ingrid Bergman for a while.
Cousin Ely remained in the textile business, after leaving Callaway Mills to become President of Burlington Industries. He later started the Callaway Winery and Vineyard as well as Callaway Three individuals from the next generation, Golf in California, both of which are still Callaway Woods and Lakeside HOA
highly successful businesses. Though not a golfer, I have enjoyed the Cabernet from Callaway's Cellar Selection. Speaking of golf, it is also interesting to note that the Callaway family is genealogically related to Robert Tyre “Bobby” Jones, the famous golfer who founded the Augusta National Golf Club, where The Masters tournament is played annually.
"Bo" Callaway operated Callaway Gardens until his death but is also quite well-known for his surprising 1964 election to Congress. He was the first Republican to be elected to any office in Georgia since the Reconstruction period that followed the Civil War, and Bo's political success was just the beginning of what would found a viable Republican Party here in Georgia. Bo served as Secretary of the Army under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford and as such was instrumental, along with support from his mother, Virginia, in getting over 200 orphan, immigrant children flown from Vietnam to Fort Benning and freedom during the closing days of that war in 1975. He also served as the campaign manager for President Gerald Ford in 1976 and commercially developed and owned the popular Crested Butte Mountain (ski) Resort in Colorado for many years. The current Callaway generations seem to be carrying on their ancestors' spirit to continue leading Georgia and America into the twenty-first century, and this Callaway thing seems to have only gone THATAWAY because of a Baptist preacher named Abner Reeves Callaway, Sr. (1832-1898). What an Amazing legacy, and we in Callaway Woods are not only part of that legacy, but we are truly living it!
- Carl “Bud” Paepcke
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Compliance: Late HOA Fee Payments:
The Lake Dredge Committee Final Report: We
Unfortunately, we have 13 homeowners who have not paid their 2023 HOA fees in full. AJK, LLC, our accounting firm, has sent many notices bringing attention to their continued delinquency, to no avail. This multiple invoicing cost the HOA additional accounting and postage fees and is unfair to those who pay on time when due. This situation is one reason the BOD voted to change the frequency of payment to once per year, due each January beginning 2025. I would encourage you to plan for this change now, having an entire year to do so. It would be a good idea, for those of you who are able, to pay the $600.00 in full this month of January 2024 to go ahead and make the payment
completed the lake dredging project on November 4th, eight weeks after work began. We worked closely with the operators from Warr Grading and Contracting, often on a daily basis, to ensure we utilized the maximum benefit for our funds.
Trailers, Boats, RVs, Campers and Certain types of other Recreational Vehicles, may not be parked in your driveway, in your yard or on the street, so that they are visible from the street.
Amount paid by Al Barber (12%)……………… $25,737.50
In accordance with ARTICLE VIII ENFORCEMENT Section 8.01 RIGHT OF ENFORCEMENT and 8.02 RIGHT OF ABATEMENT and 8:04 Collection of Assessments and Enforcement of Lien. The compliance committee will use the rights given to the HOA to help solve the above-mentioned problems and others that may arise.
Burton Keller-Treasurer
Total project cost and funding details Amount paid by the HOA (55%)……………
Amount paid by Jay Stelzenmuller (33%)……. $73,065.38 (plus $1,200.00 Regular Assessment)
Total Project cost …………………………….. $220,639.00
Building and Grounds: Recent upgrade: a new pump for the pool, for a cost of $2,238.86.
Future upgrade: a new roof for the pavilion estimated between $6,000-$6,500. The roof is scheduled to be installed within the first quarter of 2025.
R.S. Esten-Compliance Chair & CWHOA Board Member
Finance: Notice of Change for 2025
2024 & 2025 HOA Dues and Late Fees - HOA dues for 2024 are $600 for each household, as well as for each vacant lot. These dues are billed twice a year, with $300 billed January 1 and $300 billed July 1. Note the following penalties for late payments: If the $300 is not paid within 60 days of the billing date, then a $50 late fee will be imposed. If the $300 + $50 late fee is not paid in full within 30 days of the next $300 billing, then an additional $50 late fee will be imposed. If the $700 ($350 + $350) is not paid within 60 days of when the 2nd $50 late fee was imposed, then a lien will be filed on your property. In addition to our filing of the lien, you will also be responsible for legal and publishing fees of up to $500. HOA dues for 2025 are $600.00 for each household, as well as for each vacant lot. Beginning January 2025, HOA fees will be paid in a single payment of $600.00 due January 1 . Note the following penalties for late payments: st
If the $600 is not paid in full within 60 days, (February 28th of the same year due) then a $100.00 late fee will be imposed. If the $600 +$100 late fee ($700,00) is not paid in full by April 30th of the same year due a lien may be filed on your property. In addition to our filing of the lien, you will also be responsible for legal and publishing fees of up to $500.
$121,836.12
(amount budgeted $123,200; under budget by $1,363.88)
To reserve the pavilion and pool area, please contact Celia Brooks at (706) 3293496 or brooks210@gmail.com. The pool is available for party reservations! Neighbors have enjoyed celebrations of birthdays, graduations, and marriage engagements. Congratulations to those celebrating!
New Pool Pump
Al Barber -Building & Grounds Acting Committee Chairman
Architectural Review: All new building plans will need to be submitted to the Architectural Review Committee (ARC) before work begins. This includes, docks, sheds, fences, additions to your home, pools, pool houses pavilions, and all other construction. In addition, certain tree removal must be approved by the ARC. Submit all proposed plans to: Jay Stelzenmuller — captainjgsiii@gmail.com
If for ANY reason you are unable to pay your HOA dues at the time of billing, please contact Al Barber, Burton Keller, or any board member. Do not wait until we must file a lien. We will find a way to work with you as long as you communicate with us.
Al Barber- Finance Committee Member-President CWHOA
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17171 US Highway 280 E Smiths,AL 36877
Callaway Woods and Lakeside HOA
(334) 297-8414 warrgrading.com
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West Side of Lake, closest to Dam, Pool and Pavilion
Dredged- Channel connecting East and West Side of Lake
Dredged- East side of Lake, including all coves
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Low area at the end of Dakota Trail Before
After
Before
Before
After
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Ask your Doctor for a Physician’s Order CODE-CCDE
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CODE-CCDE
For More Program Information go to CODE-CCDE. org
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