Chapel Lane Village

The tennis courts have existed from the beginning of Chapel Lane Homes in 1973. It is an asset of the community that has received very little maintenance 
over the years. In spite of that, the playing surface remains very straight and intact.
The playing surface was professionally restored in 2015 with new net posts and nets. The color of the playing surface .is in keeping with the "earth tone" required color scheme of the Association. It also replicates the original look.

Tennis balls and rackets are available throughout the playing season for members and their guests. In the end, the Home Owners can reasonably expect a return on their investment simply by having this highly visible property looking good and very useable. Higher selling prices of homes and a big reduction of time on the market have certainly proved that to be true.

The tennis  courts are open for use by Community Members and their guests at no charge during the playing season from late spring to early fall.

CHAPEL LANE VILLAGE TENNIS COURT RULES
1. Use Tennis Court at own risk.
2. No glass or alcoholic beverages.
3. No pets.
4. No bicycles, roller blades or skate boards.
5. Proper footwear required.
6. Children under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult.
7. Courts are for residents and their guests only.
8. Do not abuse net, fences or other equipment.
9. Community Garden is off limits - stay out unless authorized.
10. Court Hours - Day Use
11.  Keep it Clean.
12.  Courts are to be locked at night.

           These Rules have been adopted by the Chapel Lane Tennis Club on June 22, 2014. For information, call 718-0356. Please report cases of vandalism immediately to the Rapid City Police at 911.

Accessed via several easements on the east side of Chapel Lane Village Homes Association. Homeowners families and guests may hike the area. See map under "Location" Tab. Essentially urban forest area with no vehicle access (except for approved association forest maintenance). Trees detected as attacked by Pine Beetles were found and removed during 2013 and 2014. Atlas Blizzard left us with more than four hundred smaller trees that were bowed down to the ground or up-rooted and had to be removed You can see photos of these in the photo galleries on this  website. These damaged trees are perfect habitats for "Ips" Beetles and were removed early in the Spring of 2014. Plans were being made to bring in a chipper, organize volunteers with chain saws and/or four wheel ATV's and then drag these trees as well as ladder fuels to our staging area for the chipper.

UPDATE: That would have been a massive job for volunteers. Instead, we did a complete forest mitigation plan which not only removed the damaged trees but the "bugged trees as well as a total tree thinning operation for all of the Forest Commons. It was a big deal and turned out well for the long term benefit  of current and future residents within the Association. The on-going annual efforts in the Forest Commons are overseen by our Firewise Committee who came into being in May of 2014.  Chapel Lane Village Homes Association was one of only eight Firewise Communities in the state of South Dakota at that time.

This is brand new usage in 2014 of an essentially abandoned area south of the Tennis Courts. In other parts of this website, there is more detail about the progress of the Garden. Preparation work for the gardens started in the Summer of 2013. The overall Garden Area is about 8,000 square feet. There is full sun for the entire day during growing season. A 10 foot tall chain link fence now surrounds the Garden area with the 8 foot cinder block divider wall from the tennis court on the north. Twenty-two raised Garden Beds measuring 4' X 12' and 18" high will eventually be built as part of the 2022 Plan. Twenty One are actively in place now. The Chapel Lane Garden Club was formed in the Sring of 2014. This club consists of active gardeners who have helped with the overall creation of the Gardens. Master Gardeners in Rapid City and SDSU community garden specialists were involved early on as mentors for the project. Four of the raised garden boxes were constructed by Boy Scouts as Eagle Scout projects. The complete roster of Gardeners can be seen under "clubs" in the "interact" tab. Current and prospective Gardeners are urged to interact and learn more about this great community asset. Home Owners and guests from outside of the community may become members. The current fee is $20 per garden box per year. All adopted rules by the Garden Club apply. For more information, call 718-0356.

Small paved court mainly for youth. Those who use the Court must realize that houses are very nearby. In fact it is like playing in the back yards of several residences The signs "Day Use - Keep It Clean" means in terms of trash, trash talk and general behavior. No jumpnig over fences or other abuse of this facility. Home owners may challenge those who abuse privileges. 
General maintenance and clean-up is expected by those using the courts and is also provided by volunteer home owners. Any alternative uses of this area must be approved by the Board of Trustees.

The playing surface was repaired, cleaned, sealed and re-lined in 2017. Amazingly, a long lost volley ball court re-emerged and can double as a pickle ball court.

There is almost exactly one mile in total length of streets that are owned and maintained by the Association. These streets are marked with a small "p" on each of their street sign  blades. 

Here, Directors Jere Jackson and Randy Erickson install West Park Lane signs on a Association owned pole where this street intersects with itself at the northern end of the "Race Track" as it is commonly called. 

Association owned streets are including their approximate surface square footage of pavement (X1000):
 
            Bristlecone Place - 4.53                    Redwood Place - 4.35
            Kirkwood Drive - 12.96                     Sequoia Place - 4.50
            Kirkwood Place - 7.94                      Serendipity Lane - 23.48
            Lodgepole Place - 3.14                    Sierra Place - 7.92
            PInon Place - 3.90                           Sycamore Place - 4.53
            Ponderosa - 4.20                             West Park Lane - 49.92
Chapel Lane Road is a public street owned and maintained by the City of Rapid City. The Chapel Lane street sign "blades" are owned and were installed on the City's sign posts along Chapel Lane. This came after much negotiation with the City Traffic Control Sign Shop. The negotiation ended when the City allowed Chapel Lane Village to put our street signs on their poles in their right-of-way along Chapel Lane.

When Ron Bunnell  became president of the Association in 2013, he went to City Hall and did a search with kind help and accommodation from the Public Works Department. As Mr. Bunnell saw it, homes in Chapel Lane Village were valued and assessed just like all houses in Chapel Valley and yet no street work was done  by the City - NONE! No repair of streets; no repair of concrete curbs, gutters or drainage pans; no snow plowing; no salt/sand and no clean up of salt/sand. There was nothing in the "discovery" which was mainly news paper reports at the time of annex consideration.

Nothing much in writing except on the approved street drawings of the area dated January, 1973. These drawings have a note stating, "Streets shown as common area are private and are constructed, maintained and operated by the Corporation or Individual until dedicated and replatted with sufficient width of Right-Of-Way."

The mail boxes are very unique looking - charming, you might say, with their nicely repainted siding on the little shingled roofed sheds complete with gutters and down spouts. 

Unfortunately, they are not only wearing out but must be replaced. The aluminum  cluster box units were designed for use in interior vestibules of apartment buildings. It is very interesting that a number of apartment buildings built in the years following the 1972 Flood have these same exact style mail boxes built into the walls of their entry ways for their tenants.

On June 1, 1973, Knecht Industries turned over this neighborhood to the newly created Chapel Lane Village Homes Association, Inc. with the obligation to 
"..... provide for the amenities of said community and for the maintenance of said common areas and community facilities …., etc." So long story short, these mailboxes will be changing fairly soon with the new approved outdoor models as specified by the USPS.

They will be nice and we will do what we can to maintain the flavor of the 1970's, but quite honestly, the biggest challenge will be to change these out "on the fly" without interrupting the mail service while still meeting all the specifications of the United States Postal Service.

These three items serve a function but are also something that most streets in Chapel Lane Village do not have. That's true - most streets do not have curbs and gutters. Those that do have old make-shift curbs are in need of remove and replace repair work. So we treat functional curbs & gutters as an amenity and with a lot of respect.

Limestone walls can be found in the basketball court, the tennis court and the community garden. Getting these limestone rocks, sorted and mortared into a wall in the last ten years has made a terrific difference in the overall ambiance.

The old land mark green wall in the tennis court area received a new coat of paint in 2018. Major work and a complete primer coat was completed in 2014.

The wall shown here in our feature photo had a fifty foot long portion broken off at the corner. It had been elevated and turned drastically both sideways and tipped up by two large tress left to grow in back of it and beneath it for many years. It sure looks good now as it is back serving all those who live on West Park Lane well. Beautiful!

WILDFIRE COMMUNITY
Preparedness Day
Friday & Saturday
May 16 & 17
9:30 AM

“The Atlas Blizzard in October, 2013 kick started Our
Community into becoming a recognized Firewise Community/USA by the year 2014. We have proudly maintained that status. Together, we have worked on Educational Outreach & Risk Reduction ever since.”

It’s what we do as home owners and volunteers
that counts towards our Firewise status
and a safer place to live. In the words
of NFPA, during this Covid Pandemic
Crisis, “we are using this year to
really drive home the importance
of work done on the home and
0 to 5 foot space around it. Science
tells us that there are a lot of simple
tasks that make an impact of a home
surviving a wildfire.” If you are cleaning roof
gutters, removing dead trees, bushes & branches, installing fire
resistent shingles, creating safe space to store fire wood and other flamables, then you can help US maintain OUR Firewise Status BUT your efforts must be recorded. Through volunteers, like yourself, we have remained a Firewise Community for more than 5 Years. Let’s keep it going.
Meet at Tennis Courts - Consider bringing your pick-up, your gloves and your saw. No dumpster this year, but the little red truck will be there at 7:00 am to haul your tree branches and yard waste away. FOR MORE INFORATION: Contact 605-415-8239 or visit chapellanevillage.com for general information or better yet “login” if you haven’t done so. Please ask about becoming a Firewise Community Board member.

This software is specifically designed for use by Home Owner's Associations  worldwide. It is leased and paid for by home owner, Ron Bunnell at 3208 Kirkwood Drive. Semi-annual payments of $150 are paid in December and June to Software with Brains, LLC.
The new Association President established the website in December of 2013 less than two months following the Atlas Blizzard in October which made it impossible to pursue initial projects being taken on - the 2022 Plan as approved at the Special Annual Meeting in June of 2013.  
After the 1972 Flood, Chapel Lane Village had been outlined by developer, Knecht Industries, and was  later incorporated with the State of South Dakota under the name of Chapel Lane Village Homes Association, Inc. The area would be annexed by Rapid City in 1978 - annexed with no City services or repairs to streets, curb and gutter, street cleaning, snow plowing, de-icing garbage collection, street signs, repair of established amenities, etc.  All this was left to the resident and non-resident owners to work out.
The Bunnell's "all electric" home was without electrical power for 6 days in early October during the Atlas Blizzard. Power had gone out many times before. The
unreliable electrical power situation and much more needed to be fixed. Good records must be kept and made available to everyone in the association and to new leadership in years to come. The new Administrator set a long term goal, to search for a good method of retaining, sharing and transferring all information forward to others on down the line. Photos and complete documentation would be a goal for everything including all minutes of meetings, contracts, etc.
As far as the website goes, it was an obvious choice for Ron who would photograph and store virtually everything being accomplished. The rub came in not getting seven volunteers to work on the Board. At the time, the Board of Directors consisted of only two other home owners  who had limited or no home computer or e-mail. Neither member was really interested in a website or retention and transfer of corporate home owner business records. At the time, anyone wanting business records such as a copy of the Corporate Bylaws or Covenants that was readable and not degraded fifth generation was nearly impossible.  
So, the website was started. There were Website various search names that did not match who we are very well. After several years, the name chapellanevillage.com became available through a company called Dotster. This site name remains to this date and is rented from Dotster at the rate of $15.00 per year and must be updated annually in order to retain it.    
The Local Administrator has all of the following functions available:
        WEB SITE:
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                Collect Dues                      Mobile Site
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                Home                                 Setup Info
                Login                                  Theme Manager
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        PEOPLE:
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                Committees                        HOA
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        INFORMATION:
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                 Mail Members

The Chapel Lave Village Storage Lot is owned and maintained by Chapel Lane Village Homes Association, Inc. There are about 30 spaces for RV's, boats and  vehicles of 24 feet in length or under, Accommodations can sometimes be made for longer units but they may require leasing an additional space and parking at an angle.

The rate for a single space in 2019 is $100 per year for home owner members of the Association and $150 per year for non members. All vehicles stored in the lot must have current registration, no flat tires and in running condition. No junk or wrecked vehicles are allowed.

The Association reserves the right to ask that stored vehicles be moved or in some cases removed when it is in the interest of the members to do so. The entire lot has a gravel base which is replenished as needed. Weed control is taken care of as needed annually.

The little children's playground located along Chapel Lane Road in the south bend area has been a children's playground for quite some time.

Unfortunately, much of the old equipment including an old teeter-totter, a great little old merry-go-round, and old painted heavy equipment tire with sand and a stainless steel slide - all ruled as unsafe. It was just that - unsafe.

So most was cut up and removed The new blue airplane and red fire engine jumpers were installed in late October, 2018. A brand new swing set has been purchased, received and stored through the winter with installation set for the springtime of 2019.

Additional positive changes are in the planning stages for this well used little park.

Easement Pathways are rather unique to CLV. The basic reason for their existence is to provide neutral property between home sites where utilities, like  electric power, gas and cable TV companies can put their pipes and cables underground to serve the neighboring customers.

Homeowner's perspectives on the easement next to them vary. Many owners live their daily lives with the easements treated as part of their yards. They are involved with mowing, trash removal, plant care, spraying, fertilizing, watering, etc. Others may do none of the above but in either case, the HOA tries to take these wishes  into consideration.  

In some cases, the easement pathway may also serve as storm drainage with a concrete pan in the bottom. When it's not raining or draining, it works like a sidewalk and a different path for that afternoon walk.
In the case of the forest commons and the basketball courts, the easement pathway is usually the only way to get to these locations. For these reasons, the easement pathways in Chapel Lane Village we are treating amenities. Other than mowing grass in many of these, the HOA does very little.

As the 2022 Plan states, the Association will " look at improvements in all wakways with input from adjacent homeowners."

How to Join the Chapel Valley Emergency Preparedness Task Force

For residents in Chapel Valley, the geography has restricted street design to only entry and exit point over the Chapel Lane bridge. This creates problems whem trying to evacuate because of flooding, forest fires and poor air quality in the area. In this area, many lives were lost during the 1972 Rapid City Flood. In 2011, volunteers of the Emergency Preparedness Task Force started providing awareness, knowledge and training for all persons in Chapel Valley.

Since then, the Task Force has brought together experts in safety and emergency planning to provide insight into emergency preparedness and safety. A number of residents have been trained as members of a Community Emergency Response Team (C.E.R.T) for times of crisis. Other have been involved in practice emergency simulations around the city and county for training first responders.

Persons interested in learning more about the Chapel Valley Community Emergency Preparedness Task Force should contact Team Leaders Linda Sandvik or Ron Bunnell at lindasandvik53@gmail.com or ronbunnell2013@gmail.com. It’s a good opportunity to learn more about this wonderful place in the Black Hills.

*note - Chapel Lane Village Homes Assoc. from time to time may help to  purchase food or banners but at this time are not affiliated in any way. The Emergency Preparedness Task Force works with any/all groups in Chapel Valley and with Emergency First Responders throughout the region.    The website where this message resides was privately created and privately  held.   We thank CLVHA
for sharing this space!