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The Park is OPEN!

Time for making memories!

Our HOA has cleared a portion of the wooded area adjacent to Chocolate Bayou for our BT Neighborhood Park. It’s hidden from sight of our cul-de-sac but open to the water, the breezes, and shaded by the trees. Please see the circled area of the picture. Tom Theising, our HOA President, and his crew cleared some of our land and add a couple picnic tables and a BBQ grill. If we find ourselves enjoying the area regularly we will add more tables, and maybe some trails and swings or other attractions for our children… and the rest of us.

The Park Entrances

Bayou Timbers residents are free to explore our Neighborhood Park. The Park is on the left side as you enter the cul-de-sac. You can enter the park by going around the cleared area of the retaining pond, or by the dirt road. The adjoining dirt road is part of the park area and is available for any resident of Bayou Timber subdivision. The gate is there solely to discourage non-resident use. If you open it, please be sure to close it behind you when you enter or leave. There is a private driveway to the right side as you pass through the gate, but the park road continues to the bayou. 

Park Wildlife

If you or your family chooses to explore the park, please take caution. There may be animals hanging around, briers or other overgrowth, and uneven ground or other possible hazards. The park contains a large detention pond to serve our community, with a path down to the bayou. Explore this "wilderness" at your own risk, as the community will not bear the responsibility for accidents of any kind.

Each of us has experienced the adventure and unexpected happenings of living here, such as bobcats walking down the street, deer in our yards, raccoon and possum visitations, wild pigs, loose dogs and cats from ours and other neighborhoods... even sightings of a puma a few years ago. As our neighborhood matures, this may become less and less frequent. As the park is currently less traveled, critters may find a temporary haven there. Be careful - but have fun!

For those who love to fish… or just enjoy time in a canoe!

Here is a great little article on fishing in Chocolate Bayou! If you love to canoe or kayak, you’ll love the hints he writes about for enjoying your time on the water. There is a boat ramp just over the bridge to the other side of the bayou from Bayou Timbers. Did you know that Chocolate Bayou goes all the way to Galveston Bay?

Resident Input

Our HOA has currently allocated $2000 for the development of the park, mostly for the dirt work, picnic tables and grill. As we make plans to do more our HOA would be happy for our BT neighbor-members to submit suggestions for making this space what we want it to be.

One step we may want to consider is fund-raising. Various suggestions have been made over the past few years, so we might begin a capital campaign with these suggestions:

  1. We have a "Services We Recommend" page available on the public side of our website. Perhaps we can solicit some advertising or "community grants" from these and other vendors. They could also be advertised in our monthly newsletter.

  2. Here's a great link for HOA fundraising ideas: http://www.rneighbors.org/?page_id=2185 Here are a few of the 25 suggestions from that webpage:

    1. Solicit donations from small businesses, churches, synagogues or service clubs. If you are active in a church, business organization or service clubs, this can be very effective.

    2. Ask a local business or organization to sponsor a neighborhood event.

    3. Sell advertising in your neighborhood newsletter to local businesses or individuals in the neighborhood who have service or product to sell.

    4. Have several people teach seminars about topics they know: knitting, organic gardening, organizing, cooking, dog grooming, web design, car maintenance. Charge a fee to attend.

    5. Organize a neighborhood book sale. Collect books from everyone in the neighborhood (children’s books too) and then advertise the book sale. Take any unsold books and sell for cash at a used book sale.

    6. Create a neighborhood cookbook. Collect favorite recipes from everyone in the neighborhood. Sell the cookbook back to everyone in the neighborhood or at other neighborhood events.