April 2025 Newsletter

Upcoming Community Updates

Join us for an important Neighborhood Watch Meeting to stay informed about crime trends in our community and learn how we can work together to keep our neighborhood safe. This is a great opportunity to hear from local law enforcement, ask questions, and gain valuable insights into crime prevention. Your participation makes a difference—let’s build a stronger, safer community together!

Please share this with family, friends, and neighbors – this meeting is for ALL residents of Aurora to attend and participate in.  

Neighborhood Watch Meeting

WHEN: Thursday, April 3, 2025
TIME: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM MT
WHERE: Online (Zoom Platform) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85869802246?pwd=rXjEAJNLq6RbTB1sa90a9tE33blQpL.1

Meeting ID: 858 6980 2246
Passcode: 979205
Dial-in Option: (346) 248-7799

Meeting Agenda

• Crime Trends in Aurora – Updates on recent patterns affecting the community
• Open Q&A – Engage with Community PAR Officers and address your concerns
• Special Guest: Officer J. Valdez – Community PAR Officer, District 2
• Understanding the call-for-service process
  • How to effectively make a call for service
  • Behind-the-scenes: What happens after a call is placed
  • Factors influencing response times
  • Actions you can take while waiting for assistance

This is a valuable opportunity to get your questions answered and gain a deeper understanding of how our local law enforcement operates. Stay informed. Stay engaged. Stay safe!

2025 Wheatlands Easter Event

Join us for the 2025 Wheatlands Easter Celebration Event!

Come relax and enjoy a delicious breakfast from the Cruz and Eats Food Truck and a free cup of coffee or hot chocolate . A very special thank you to 1320 Homes Real Estate, for sponsoring the hot beverage station at the Wheatlands Easter Event.

We will be watching Mufasa: The Lion King Movie.

Community Updates

Landscape Updates

Architerra attended our March board meeting to discuss options for the draining issues near the stairs and on the field at the park. They are going to put together a few options that we are hoping would be maintenance work to help with some of the drainage problems. We don’t want to do any major changes as that would require a full City of Aurora review so hoping it will be small fixes to correct the issue. They also put together some options for the medians around the district. The district would like to take advantage of the City of Aurora’s water wise program that gives compensation if you remove turf. We are looking at doing this for our a few medians at a time to save the mowing in the middle of the street and also to capitalize on the rebate.  Architerra will be putting together the quotes and then we will go out to bid on the landscape projects.

Pool Season Information

Pool Hours

We are excited to announce we will be opening the pool one hour earlier on the weekends!

The pool will open at 9 am on Saturday and Sunday. We hope you enjoy the extra hour of swimming.  

Pool Maintenance

The Pool Doctors are starting to prepare the pool for the summer. You may notice them up at the clubhouse draining and filling the pool. They are replacing the motor on one of the pumps that needed replacement last year as well. We look forward to having the pool up and ready to go for the summer.  

Pool Staff and Pool Rules

We are excited to announce that approximately 30 of our lifeguards from last year will be returning this upcoming summer to help keep our pools safe. Robert Baker will be returning as the aquatic coordinator, Lucy Porter and Hugh Mullen will be returning as our head lifeguards, as well as 3 of our 4 shift leads from last summer will be returning. We are looking forward to a very fun and safe summer! Please be sure to review the pool rules and regulations (PDF).

Motorized Vehicles at the Park

Please help us keep our park nice and report any motorized bikes to the police immediately if they are riding in Wheatlands Park. They are causing property damage and when we reached out to the PAR Officer they said the best way is to report them while it is happening. We appreciate the community’s help reporting this issue and helping us stop the damage to our park.

Park Restrooms

The park restroom will open in April. With the nice weather, we are seeing lots of use of the park earlier and we want the community to be able to use the facilities.

Coventant Enforcement

How to Avoid Common Violations

We strive to uphold the Covenants as a District to preserve the nature and character of the community and protect property values. To meet this goal, it is important for each homeowner to follow all the District Guidelines and Covenants. The list below highlights some of the most common District violations we typically see, and what you should know about each of them.

• Vehicles: RVs, boats, trailers and commercial vehicles can be kept on a property for up to 72 hours for loading and unloading only. Otherwise, they must be kept within the enclosed garage or an off-site storage facility outside of the community.
  
• Trash: Trash cans should not be put out too early and must be brought in by a certain time since they can attract pests and make a neighborhood look shabby. The Guidelines state, “all garbage or trash cans or receptacles shall be stored out of site (except that a container for such materials may be placed outside at such times as may be necessary to permit garbage or trash pickup.) Trash containers may be placed on the street for pickup after 5:00 p.m. in the evening prior to the day that such trash is to be picked up. Trash containers must be removed from the street properly stored by 9:00 p.m. of the day of pickup.”
  
• Exterior storage: Bicycles, lawnmowers, kayaks or other items must be stored out of view, behind a fence or within your enclosed garage or shed.
  
• Design changes:  It is important to read and recheck the Guidelines before making changes to the appearance or structure of your home. Simple things like painting your house, making changes to any landscaping or adding a patio or deck, do require written approval from the District’s Design Review Committee. You can find the current Guidelines and helps for submitting an application at https://www.wheatlandsmetro.org/covenants/.

Responding to District Rule Violation Notices

• Address it: Ignoring a violation notice won’t make it go away and can make the situation much worse, if not responded to. Once you’ve received a violation notice, take steps to understand and correct the violation, and either pay or appeal the fine if issued.
  
• Don’t take it personally: Remember that the rules were created to keep the community safe and comfortable for residents, including you. When you purchased your home, you signed an agreement to uphold the rules.
  
• Communicate: While friendly phone or email communication can address minor infractions or warnings, written communication and documentation helps create clarity for everyone involved. When you’ve been accused of violating a rule, it’s best to address it in writing. If there are extenuating circumstances—like a family emergency that causes you to fall behind on lawn care—communicate that to your Covenant enforcement manager at [email protected]. You don’t know if an exception might be made until you ask.
  
• Get involved: There is usually a correlation between the level of homeowner involvement and the success of a community. So, if you want to improve your community, attend meetings to see how you can contribute or volunteer for a board or committee position.

Landscaping Tips and Tricks

March days begin to get longer, but cold nights remain and March is often the snowiest month of the year:

• Irrigation timers should be checked to be sure they are keeping correct time and date. Watering times should comply with Aurora Water recommendations and a timer that keeps incorrect time can cause non-compliance.
• North facing lawns with heavy snow cover can remove snow mold by raking the lawn once the snow is melted.
• Get ahead by turning annual flower beds and amending the soil.
• When changing out dirt in pots, rake the old dirt into your turf grass thinly to recycle it.
• Water young trees and plants over winter once monthly on trees, every two weeks on plants if precipitation is lacking.

Winter Landscape Reminders:

• There has not been enough snow recently. Water trees & shrubs by hand on a warm day.
• Mulch any pruning debris and spread in flower beds.
• Prune fruit bearing trees and shrubs in the winter.
• Plan seasonal color palettes for spring!

YMCA Sports and Fitness

View all of the Swim, Sports, Fitness and more at your local Y!

Southlands Events

The Southlands Shopping center continues to offer events and programs. Pictures with the Easter Bunny, Summer Concerts, Farmers Market, Movie Nights, Wine Walks and more.

Visit the Southlands website for more details.

YMCA of Metropolitan Denver – | 6100 S Kewaunee Way | Aurora, CO 80016 US