14 | SUNRAYS
JULY 2013
ONLINE:
SCTXCA.ORG
CA NEWS
Bits of Info from Ginny’s Desk
Submitted by Ginny Wagner, Community Standards Supervisor
Report from the Covenants
Committee: Being Good Neighbors
Submitted by Chuck Graham, Covenants Committee Chair
EXTERIOR HOUSE PAINT
SCHEMA
The exterior “color books” located in the
Community Standards Office, in the Bil-
liards Center, are also located online
for your convenience. The easiest way
to find the paint samples online is to
log onto
and choose the
Site Index. You will find the paint col-
ors under “E” > “Exterior House Paint
Schema.” Since each computer monitor
and/or printer displays colors a little
differently, and in the cases where you
require an exact match, please visit our
office in the Billiards Center to look at
the books in person.
B-2 FORM
A change in the B-2 Form no longer re-
quires filling in the current color of your
home. You still need to give the Series
number (located in a table called mod-
els), Scheme number, and name of the
paint you want to use. Another change
is that you can choose a color from the
Series 400 book even if your house is
from another series.
If you are changing colors, an approved
application is required. The B-2 Form
is located online and can be filled out
in the PDF form then printed, signed
and turned in to our office, the Monitor’s
Desk, or the Member Services Office
if you don’t want to mail the form. As
always, the B-2 Form is also located on
the back wall of the Social Center Library
and in the Community Standards Office;
we are always pleased to reply via email
with a form or a plot plan (ginny.wagner@
sctexas.org).
PLANNING
When planning the new colors for your
house, keep in mind that the garage door
and stucco should be the same color so
the garage door doesn’t stand out and
become a “feature” of your house. The
term “trim” refers to the fascia and col-
umns, and “accent” refers to the front
door, shutters, and pop-outs like the
gable vents. These colors must be used
for their designated purpose.
We have found a source for the colors
of most houses via email. If you need
the original color of your home, please
email
with
your address in the body of the email and
the words “Original Paint Color” in the
subject line. We’ll reply with your paint
colors once we receive them.
Remember, cottage and custom homes
are special situations and do not fall
within the standard guidelines. Please
check the Design Guidelines for special
situations.
Ginny Wagner can be reached at
512-948-7462 or
Since the Covenants Committee pub-
lished its latest report to the Board of
Directors in April, the majority of the
cases the Committee has addressed
have continued to be incidents between
neighbors. Typically, the opportunity for
resolution lies with the individual par-
ties themselves. Open, frank and honest
communication is helpful―respectfully
sitting down to talk with each other,
with some give-and-take. Remember,
the objective is for neighbors to live next
to each other in a civil manner, be in ac-
cordance with our governing documents,
and enjoy life in Sun City Texas! The
minor disagreements we sometimes
experience need not escalate into a ma-
jor conflict. Most of us are retired and
want to enjoy life, not battle others in
our community. Sometimes it is best to
swallow pride, rather than attempting
to prove our position. Be friendly. Com-
promise. Neighbors do not have to be
best friends, just good neighbors. Let us
all do our part, talk to each other, and
work out these little difficulties. And let
the Covenants Committee focus on the
more serious issues. What do you say?
Water Matters
Submitted by Carlton M Mathis,
Water Management
IRRIGATION SYSTEMS
From an Internet
definition: “Irriga-
tion systems are
an artificial appli-
cation of water used
to assist in mainte-
nance of landscapes
during periods of inadequate rainfall.”
That is to say, when an irrigation sys-
tem is properly designed and installed,
it is for the purpose of supplementing
regional rainfall, not replacing it. The
best executed irrigation system design
can only hope to achieve 75 percent
efficiency when compared to naturally
occurring rain.
Healthy turf requires a minimum of
three-quarters (3/4”) of an inch of wa-
ter a week to sustain it through the hot
summer months. This may not keep it
as green as the golf course, but it will
allow it to survive until cooler wetter
months return in the fall. How much
is 3/4” of water? A pop-up spray head
zone has an average precipitation rate
of approximately 1.5” per hour. To ap-
ply 3/4” of water in a week, this zone
will have to run a total of 30 minutes
during that week. If you water twice
a week, that would be 15 minutes on
each water day. For a rotor zone, in-
cluding rotary nozzles, the average
precipitation rate is .5”/hour, which
would be 90 minutes per week, and
45 minutes per water day.
Watering 15 minutes on a spray zone is
a long time, and will most likely result
in water running off into the street; it
would be best to implement a Cycle and
Soak program. More plainly, divide
the necessary watering time in half
and give the program two start times.
For example: 7 minutes for a run time,
and start times of 1 a.m. and 3 a.m.
By programming the controller this
way, we are allowing the water to pen-
etrate more deeply into the soil, utiliz-
ing more of our soil’s moisture-holding
capacity. By watering deeper and less
frequently, we are also encouraging
the roots of our turf to grow deeper.
