Amber Meadows Residents,
Thanks for another great year in Amber Meadows! Our residents are what makes our community as great as it is year after year.
As we look ahead to 2026, we want to invite you to get involved in the HOA. Our board members are entirely volunteers and you too can join us in keeping our neighborhood maintained, entertained, and thriving.
If you are looking for ways to get involved, here are some specific opportunities that we are always looking for:
Welcome Wagon: We want to ensure new residents in Amber Meadows are greeted warmly and directed where they can best plug in to the goings-on in the neighborhood.
Social Committee: We love to do several special neighborhood events each year. We are able to foster quite a bit of connection on a pretty small budget. Folks volunteering on the social committee will help plan, organize, and budget our yearly events like the Easter egg hunt, Fourth of July bike parade and cookout, and fall festival. This is a particular area of need for the HOA as a lack of manpower has seen us scale back some of the social events long-time residents will remember as mainstays.
Beautification: If you have a green thumb, we want you to help keeping our monument areas at neighborhood entrances looking their best. Residents frequently ask if we are going to plant anything to pretty them up, but we need those same residents to volunteer to do the work.
To get involved, reach out to anyone on the board. All board email addresses can be found on our website: https://www.myambermeadows.com/about/contact-us/
If you are interested in a more formal position on the board, a list and description of the main roles can be found on our website: https://www.myambermeadows.com/about/boards-roles-and-responsibilities/
Board Members are elected at the Annual Meeting. Roles and Responsibilities are then assigned among the board members.
Our 2026 Annual meeting will be held at the Bentwood Elementary gymnasium, on January 31st at 10am. We’d love to see you there to hear a recap of 2025 including our 2025 financial results, 2026 budget, and participate in 2026 board member elections.
There are two key governing documents for the HOA. One is the Bylaws that govern how the HOA itself works, and the other is the Declarations of Restrictions that govern our property use. One of the biggest items on the HOA’s docket in 2026 will be to update the Declarations of Restrictions. This document is extremely tough to update. It states that it can only be updated once every ten years, and even then it has to achieve a majority of lots voting for the changes. Further, changes must be voted on 2 years prior to the end of the ten year period. This is a lot of hoops to jump through to get the rules updated.
The last time the document was touched was in 2007 and that ten year period ended December 31, 2018. No changes or updates were accomplished in 2016, so the document automatically renewed January 1, 2019 and will expire December 31, 2028. If we are able to make changes this year, those changes will take effect January 1, 2029.
That’s a lot of dates. The upshot is this year we need to compile a list of changes we want to see made to the Declarations of Restrictions, canvas the neighborhood to vote on the changes, and hold a special meeting on the topic. If we can do that, we might just be able to make some lasting positive change for the neighborhood.
We need your input on changes you would like to see. In the new year, be on the lookout for a survey from us to get your feedback. We will have links on the Facebook page, the website, and in an email. To get the gears turning for what types of things the board is looking to modify in that document here is a list of things we have identified based on resident feedback and board preference:
Fencing Materials: The Declarations very specifically only allow wood fencing. The board recognizes that nobody wants a proliferation of chain-link or similar fencing in the neighborhood, but fencing material has come a long way since this rule was written. We know there are a number of high quality, long lasting, and good looking fencing materials on the market.
Rooftop Solar: The board has taken a measured approach to allowing rooftop solar in the community, allowing panels on rear and side facing roof slopes with the authority granted in the Declarations to govern roof coverings and structures. In a letter and survey to the community last year support for solar was strong, but there was no clear mandate on if we should unilaterally allow rooftop solar. Several survey respondents noted the lack of explicit support in the Declarations.
Sheds: The Declarations specifically disallow sheds. Many residents in the community have strong feelings about this particular rule. Those with 2-car garages and no opportunity for under-deck storage tend to support allowing sheds, and other residents fear sheds could become a neighborhood-wide eyesore.
HOA Ownership of Common Fences: The HOA owns and is responsible for the fencing along both 127th Street and Quivira. However, the HOA does not own the fencing along Neiman. In the last few years, the HOA has replaced all of the fencing from 127th and Bond through the neighborhood boundary on Quivira. A number of years before that, the HOA replaced the fencing from Neiman to Bond on 127th Street. This represents a huge periodic cost for the neighborhood. The fencing in the last few years alone has been around $80,000. Updating the ownership of the common fence to the homeowners who own the property is a move that can grant us a lot more freedom with the funds you all entrust to us.
The Rules to Update the Rules: As outlined above, the rules to update the Declarations are extremely complex and tough to change to keep up with shifting landscapes. We would propose a simplified and quicker process to update the Declarations document.
As we wrap up 2025, the board would like to extend a special thank you to the community for handling the special assessment this summer. The jump in fees from 2024 to 2025 from Waste Management was unexpected and we needed to deal with it quickly to protect the HOA financial position and out of the red. Your understanding and distinct lack of disunity made a potentially contentious situation smooth and relatively easy.
We look forward to continuing to serve you in 2026,
Amber Meadows HOA Board