C.I.A. Services is very pleased to announce our Electricity Savings Program (ESP) with Tara Energy. ESP allows each of our community associations to lock-in their electricity rates with significant monthly savings without compromising the stability of electricity supply.

Tara Energy, a Houston-based Retail Electricity Provider (REP), is one of the largest independently-owned REP's in Texas. Since its inception four years ago, Tara Energy has pioneered and perfected its group business model to foster long-term relationships with several associations and non-profit organizations. Tara's financial stability is evidenced by the fact that it was selected over several other large and small competitors to serve many of its customers, especially in its relationships with the Department of Defense, the Texas Hotel & Lodging Association, Texas Medical Association, and AAA Texas.

For electricity used on the common areas of the community, the Board will be able to select from terms of 1, 2, 3 or 4 years with associated electricity rates of 7.5, 7.4, 7.3 or 7.2 cents per kwh (rates available through 12/31/06). In addition, the monthly service fee on each of these business accounts will be waived. The fee from Reliant varies but is generally between $15 and $18 per month. On each account converted under this program, the community will get a $25 credit on their first month's bill.

Community residents are also eligible to sign up with Tara Energy at a current rate of 11.45 cents per kwh. That compares to the current Reliant Energy price-to-beat of 16.3 per kwh. As an incentive to change, residents will also receive a $25 credit on their first bill.

As part of this program, each C.I.A. Services community will receive a quarterly "royalty" of 0.5% of the cost of electricity used on all common areas and by all residents in the community in ESP. The quarterly payment can be used for various improvements and community programs. For our part in developing ESP and overseeing the program, C.I.A. Services will receive an equal royalty.

More details on the program will be reviewed at Board meetings in November and December. For the electricity used on the common areas, Tara has estimated the cost savings on a meter-by-meter basis so you will be able to see the savings impact of ESP in your community.

So what are you waiting for? Think ESP and save!

We are pleased to highlight a very special occasion for one of our Board members in Community Association of the Highlands. On Saturday, October 28, 2006, Board member Frank Hicks and his wife Lenora celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary in the new Highlands clubhouse in Sugar Land. These native Houstonians were married on October 19, 1951 in Houston. Frank, a World War II Navy veteran, met Len after he returned home from the war. Their two sons are both married and they have 3 grandchildren.

The party was a very special event as they were joined by friends and family that share many wonderful memories of their lifetime together. They had Buckaroo, a five piece Country/Western band, play and everyone enjoyed the meal.

This photo was taken at the party with a cardboard image of Mr. & Mrs. Frank Hicks taken at their wedding 55 years ago. Congratulations on such a wonderful milestone. May you enjoy many more happy years of marriage!

You may have recently seen one of our communities on the news relating to Halloween decorations. Many times homeowners associations are portrayed in a negative light but this story of Halloween Capers was different. The cast included reasonable neighbors, a reasonable homeowner and reasonable actions by the homeowners association.

In case you missed the story, a family in Eagle Springs wanted to really decorate their home for Halloween this year. They put a lot of effort into the decorations but leaned a little towards death, blood and gore. Some parents of young neighborhood children found the display, which is on the walk to the elementary school, extra frightening. The homeowners association board of directors agreed so we asked the owners to relocate the objectionable items to their back yard. They did. The End.

Nobody objected to curtailing of free speech. Nobody vandalized the decorations. A reasonable concern was raised and the homeowner promptly addressed it. Our compliments to everyone involved. To view the story from the Houston Chronicle, click here.

As the end of the year approaches, thoughts turn to fall festivals and the holidays. So we just have one more set of seminars this year in our popular C.I.A. Services Seminar Series. Each seminar begins at 6:30 p.m. and runs 2-1/2 hours. Since we always provide deli sandwiches, you won't have to rush to eat dinner beforehand. You will leave with knowledge you can use immediately and a great notebook with the seminar slides, samples and other reference materials.

If you don't know the difference between a vacuum breaker and a vacuum head and you're not comfortable wandering around a swimming pool pump room, then this seminar is for you. We'll review your major facilities and equipment including irrigation systems, pool mechanical equipment, gate operators and explain how they work (and fail). We'll move onto the essentials of bidding major contracts. After that we'll move to ongoing maintenance of landscaping, pools, tennis courts, buildings, fences and other common assets. When we're finished, you'll be talking like a contractor!

• November 8, 2006 (Wednesday), 6:30 p.m. — Southwest Office
• November 14, 2006 (Tuesday), 6:30 p.m. — North Office

Please call our Southwest Office at 713-981-9000 or email us at seminars@ciaservices.com to register for any of the seminars. The complete list of seminars and descriptions are on the Library page of our web site or you can just click here to view the information.

The Houston Aeros started off the season a little rough but is now riding a winning streak - the Aeros are back! Last season, Houston had three of the league's top scorers but they have all moved on to other teams. So this year we have several exciting rookies and a few popular veterans lighting up the scoreboard.

Our 9th annual C.I.A. Services Hockey Night with the Houston Aeros is set for Saturday, March 10th. Each year we invite all of our community board members and their families to join us to cheer on the Aeros. Many join us for a dinner before the game. We have lots of nice door prizes. The Aeros will take on their Western Conference rival the Peoria Rivermen. We'll mail out an official invitation in January. However, if you can't wait, feel free to reserve your tickets now by sending an email HockeyNight@ciaservices.com.

Hockey Night 2003		Hockey Night 2004
Hockey Night 2005		Hockey Night 2006

We are proud of every one of our communities so it is always hard to find just one to highlight. We start by having each of our 20 Community Managers write a nomination for one of their communities. We then read them all take a vote. Here are our most recent selections:

• November — Settlers Park Homeowners Association
  Southwest Office — Martha Marsters, Community Manager
• October — Hunters Glen III Community Association
  Southwest Office — Myron Bruines, Community Manager
• September — Southdown Community Association
  Southwest Office — Libby Hodges, Community Manager

To see the full story on these communities and to see the past winners, visit the Community of the Month page on our web site.

C.I.A Services continues to grow as more communities hear about our unique approach to community association management. We would like to welcome our newest clients that have come onboard in the last three months.

• Fairway Pointe Community Association — Southwest Office — Libby Hodges, Community Manager
• Homeowners Association of Eagle Point Estates — North Office — Evelyn Abram, Community Manager
• Telfair Community Council — Southwest Office — Ralph Troiano, Community Manager

Every month we appreciate the communities that are celebrating their anniversaries with us. Here are our clients that started with us in November.

• Heather Ridge Homeowners Association — 15 years
• Lochshire Maintenance Fund Inc — 13 years
• Atascocita West Community Improvement Association — 9 years
• Community Association of the Highlands — 9 years
• Southdown Community Association — 8 years
• Pine Brook Community Association — 6 years
• Plantation at Woodforest Community Association — 6 years
• Greatwood Commercial Owners Association — 5 years
• Lake Shore Harbour Community Association — 3 years
• Legends Run Homeowners Association — 3 years
• Oak Park Ridge Homeowners Association — 3 years
• Silver Ridge Homeowners Association — 3 years
• The Stable Gate Homeowners' Association — 2 years

Our goal has always been to create a positive, long term relationship with all of our client communities. We are very proud to be managing all of these communities.