HOME SALES CONTINUE TO IMPROVE IN WOODBURY. Average days on market 108; down 23.5%

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1 Fall/Winter EVERGREEN TO D AY It s a beautiful day in Evergreen! HOME SALES CONTINUE TO IMPROVE IN WOODBURY The first 9 months of 2012 for home sales in Woodbury as compared to the same period in 2011 shows continued improvement in many categories: 2012 Closed sales up 7.4% Average sale price was $237,500; up 9.0% % list price received was 94.9%; up 2.9% Average days on market 108; down 23.5% Evergreen sales have also continued to improve. There have been 21 homes sold in Evergreen during the first 9 months of The average sale price for that period was $338,352. The average number of days on the market was 78. Both of these numbers reflect the appeal and value of our homes in Evergreen as seen by home buyers. The care and maintenance we all put into our homes continues to be a good investment and keeps our neighborhood competitive even with the newer neighborhoods.

2 Fall/Winter 2012 MAILBOx RENEWAL PROGRESS We are making great progress with updating and improving the mailboxes throughout Evergreen. At the time the last newsletter was published in June, 90 mailbox assemblies (box and post) had been repainted or replaced to meet the new, revised specifications. A drive by count in early October found 213 mailboxes (52%) have been repainted or replaced and several more were in progress. That s a nice increase of 123 mailboxes in only 3 months or about 40 per month! Please keep it going! The drive by survey also revealed a few other things though. A number of the mailboxes have been repainted to meet the new color standards, but they have not been raised to meet the height and setback measurements as specified by the City and the U.S. Post Office regulations (see more information on our ECA website). While it is much appreciated that homeowners have repainted the mailboxes, please finish the job by having your mailbox re-set to conform to those height and setback requirements as well. This is particularly important where multiple mailboxes are set side-by-side. Having 3 or 4 mailboxes in a row with one or two of them at the correct height and the others are not is especially unsightly. If a mailbox post is in good shape, it can be raised and reset for a minimal cost of about $75 to $100 assuming it is not set in concrete or some other unusual condition exists. (see mailbox FAQ on our website at Finally, the survey also found at least 30 existing mailboxes in extremely bad shape. Some are severely cracked or broken and are in dire need of a fresh paint job. Some are actually held in place with bungee cords or wire and some posts are kept standing with various methods and devices propping them up. We ask those homeowners who have these mailboxes to repair, repaint and reset them to meet the new standards as soon as possible. With a little luck and warm weather, there may still be time to get started on fixing them up this year. If not, please put it high on your to do list for early next year and bring your mailboxes into full compliance. Thank you.

3 Fall/Winter 2012 As required by our Association Bylaws, the ECA Board of Directors holds an annual meeting, which is the best opportunity for residents to hear Evergreen s news for the year. Your Board has regularly scheduled monthly meetings to work on current issues and ways to maintain our community, but the annual meeting gives all Evergreen households a chance to be involved in our neighborhood and hear firsthand about what is happening. There will be refreshments to enjoy and you will have another opportunity to meet your neighbors. ANNUAL MEETING This year s annual meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 19th at 7:00 pm - Oak Marsh Golf Course 526 Inwood Avenue North Oakdale, MN Typically, some of the topics discussed at the meeting are Evergreen s financials (review of the year s income, expenses and budget), accomplishments for the past year, goals for the upcoming year, nomination & election of new Board members, as well as a chance to meet the existing members of the Board. We will be mailing out a reminder as we get closer to the date with information about the meeting and will also include a voting ballot for the new Board members. You can bring that ballot to the meeting to cast your vote. However, if you are not able to attend, you will also be given Proxy directions. It is very important that we have a quorum at the meeting we need to have at least 15% of the households represented, which works out to approximately 60 households. This quorum can be met either by your attendance at the meeting or by sending in your proxy prior to the meeting. Your participation in this process is appreciated. We look forward to seeing you there.

4 Fall/Winter 2012 WATCH YOUR SPEED PLEASE The wide long streets of Evergreen can deceive us into driving faster than we intend. Because of our neighborhood s active small children, dog walkers, joggers and casual walkers, we need to be especially careful to follow the city speed requirements. According to the Woodbury city police, the speed limit in Evergreen is 30 miles an hour, unless posted otherwise. That s the top speed limit -- but we encourage you to always drive slowly and carefully whenever there are neighbors in or by the road. And, please, be extra careful during the winter months when snow and ice can interfere with stopping or swerving. The snow at the side of the streets can make it almost impossible for anyone in the roads to get out of the way quickly. Thanks for your help in keeping our neighborhood safe for everyone. NEW BOARD MEMBERS NEEDED Are you interested in being involved with your community and the decisions that go into maintaining and improving Evergreen? Each year we need 3 new members for the Board of Directors, neighbors who bring new and fresh ideas and enjoy the fun of serving others. We make decisions in regards to the maintenance and upkeep of the common areas in our community, plan the very popular Evergreen Night Out every summer, and many other important matters of our community. If you would be interested in becoming a board member, please contact Roger Smith at

5 Fall/Winter 2012 RADIO DRIVE LANDSCAPING You may have noticed some nice changes over the past couple of years to the east entrance of Evergreen. Our landscaping work has been done in several phases. The original work phase occurred at the North and South sides of Pinehurst as you drove up the hill. The current work phase is happening now along Radio Drive and the Evergreen retaining wall. After meeting with Horticultural Services to discuss our options for improving the appearance of Evergreen from Radio Drive, we came up with a two-step project. The first step has been completed and included the removal of unwanted plants and trees. One of our goals was to clean up the overgrown plants that looked unsightly. Another goal was to trim and remove trees that were dying or had too many broken branches to be aesthetically pleasing. Other trees needed to be removed because they were preventing more desirable trees from thriving. Because of the power lines that run along Radio Drive, certain trees that were either already into the lines or would be soon needed to be removed as well. Many of those trees were birch planted years ago. The next step of the project is to fill in some of the areas left by the removals. We are looking carefully to see where we want to add trees in these open areas. We have had a lot of positive feedback since the retaining wall was installed in regards to its appearance, so we want to do what we can to not only maintain, but also enhance the look of the wall. Although we want to add some trees, we also want to leave some room between the existing trees to allow for growth and a view of the wall now and for years to come. At the time this article is being written, the final decision on the number of trees to plant has not been finalized. However, we will be planting various types of evergreens (spruce, pines, etc.) that will create a more natural look and allow the new trees to blend in beautifully to their surroundings as they grow.

6 2012 EVERGREEN NIGHT OUT The very successful Evergreen Night Out (ENO) event was held at Evergreen West Park, August 7, The weather was marvelous and there were activities for everyone. What a great way to celebrate our neighborhood, meet new residents, and visit with friends! It was a spectacular evening with over 260 attendees representing 86 families, a nice increase over 2011 when about 230 people attended from 75 families. Every year our Evergreen Night Out has gotten bigger and better and the more that attend, the more fun everyone has. This year, kids enjoyed inflatable slides and jumpers, face painting, sidewalk games, a balloon artist, a neighborhood band and of course, food and ice cream. In addition to those activities, Woodbury Police and the Woodbury Fire Department arrived and tours of the fire truck and interaction of residents and the officers and firemen was very enjoyable. A special appearance was also made by the Washington County Hands Only CPR training group. Well over 50 people of all ages received CPR training using the new Hands Only method. We also had several Issues tables that were well attended, involving people in timely topics and encouraging more interaction. The trash haulers Troje and Tennis provided special offers for service and explained how their recycling programs work; Washington County Master Gardeners provided images and demonstrations on buckthorn identification and removal, diseases of evergreens, as well as control of Japanese beetles and the Emerald Ash borer. Updated FAQ sheets for replacing/renewing mailboxes were also made available. New information on how to have gas/electric lines marked before digging holes to set a mailbox was added and spacing between multiple mailboxes was clarified. In addition to all these activities, attendees were able to update their contact information as we prepare for more electronic communications in the future. The positive feedback from many of you regarding ENO is much appreciated and has been passed on to the ECA board and all the volunteers. Speaking of volunteers, heart-felt thanks goes to all the Board members, their families and all the other volunteers who made it such a success. Special thanks also go to the local band, CURB APPEAL, and their families for the entertainment. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the music and it helped make the evening extra special. It is much appreciated and we hope that they will come again. (NOTE: We welcome other musician neighbors to also share their music next year.) Our event was also well supported by local businesses which provided a number of terrific door prizes. Residents were given a numbered ticket at registration and numbers were randomly drawn at the close of the evening.

7 This year s door prizes were: - Jordan Meats and Deli - $20 certificate - Sunsets - $25 certificate - Lakes Tavern and Grill - $20 gift card - Tavern Grill - $25 gift card - Carmines $10 certificates - Famous Dave s - 4 bottles of BBQ sauce in a gift package We hope that our neighbors who missed this fun, annual event, will plan to attend next year!

8 WINTER IN THE TAMARACk SWAMP Fall/Winter 2012 Although most plants in the Tamarack Swamp are, or soon will be, asleep under winter s blanket of cold and snow, wild life in the swamp remains as active as ever. With less plant coverage, you can spot swamp wildlife more easily and identify our swamp friends by tracks in the snow. White tail deer are a regular winter sighting in Evergreen. Their summer reddish brown coats are more grayish in the winter months. Antlers, which began growing in March or April (often at a rate of ½ inch a day!) are fully grown by September for the mating season in November. Males and females travel in separate small herds. You may see groups of females taking the same path through your yard, and you may even see males challenging one another for mating dominance with head butting and noisy clicking of their antlers. Watch for deer tracks in your yard. The broken heart shape with a dew claw in the back is unmistakable. Many of our summer bird friends have migrated for the season, but there are still ample feathered friends in the swamp. Everyone can identify woodpeckers, chickadees and cardinals, but can you identify the call of a great horned owl late in the night? The swamp is home to various owls, but you can identify the great horned owl by his hoo hoo hoooooo hoo hoo call. If you were really close, you could also identify this owl by his very long eye lashes! This owl s haunting call reminds us that the swamp is always awake with life. You ll see wild turkeys and their distinctive three toes forward, one toe back tracks under bird feeders and through your yards. Corn is a winter favorite of these birds and may be necessary when snow is deep or crusts over. If you are feeding the birds during the winter months, here are some tips from National Audubon Society; Provide both food and water (heated birdbaths are perfect for winter water) Keep all feeders clean to avoid disease and wet, rotten seed Black oil sunflower seed is the best for attracting many species Suet is an important energy source and you can even make it at home Make sure your feeders are safe from predators and predator perches The Tamarack Swamp makes our neighborhood unique in Woodbury. We are fortunate to have the open space and all the wildlife that lives there. Just keep your eyes and ears open to enjoy the swamp all winter long! Evergreen Community Association P.O. Box Woodbury, MN A publication for the 408 homes of the Evergreen Community Association in Woodbury, Minnesota