Presidents Message-- Tom Honmyhr

2004 has been an event- filled year. The last of the new homes was built and all the homes have been sold. The Springs continues to be a very desirable community in which to live as evidenced by the fact that we had in excess of 65 resales. 

The year began with 5 new Board Members and a full list of activities, some of which are mentioned in the individual reports. We had a very successful cleanup in the Nature Park and walkway followed by a painting campaign which converted those ugly green cable and electric boxes into a desert hedgehog color which blended into the natural hues of the community. The fire hydrants were the next target and now sport a new coat of bright silver. The roads in the entire community were seal coated.

Early in the year I told the Board that one of my main goals was to take all steps necessary to get a Reserve Study project completed. I have kept you up-to-date on the progress of this project during the year. I am very proud of the fact that we were able to get this project completed in one short year. This entailed the selection of a company to perform the study, make a complete inventory of our community, assign the appropriate dollar values, useful life, and remaining life to each asset and project out a 30 year maintenance and replacement schedule.

This was not done without sacrifice. Most projects scheduled by the Grounds Committee were put on hold. This was done in order to preserve as much of our capital as possible until we could more accurately predict our future needs. I would like to recognize our Treasurer, Paul Walter for all the time he put into this process. He was instrumental in working with Associates Reserve. Once the report was completed he spent many hours converting that information and transferring it into our own financial package. The end result is that we have a workable reserve study product that will meet our needs for the foreseeable future.  A major result of the study has shown that we were extremely short in our reserve funding. The board has passed a dues increase of $32 which will start to reduce our shortfall.

Future boards will have to closely monitor the reserve fund balance to determine if, when, and how much dues will need to be increased to meet the projected maintenance and replacement schedules.

As is always the case, we lost board members during the year, but remained lucky in that we were able to find excellent replacements and continue to be pleased with the response to our calls for volunteers.

As a young community we will continue to have major issues to handle which would include:  tree growth in the common grounds; the problem of not being able to procure reliable contractors to perform the maintenance work that needs to be done; continue to monitor the financial security of our community; and the care of our common grounds.

We have many owners who are new to the HOA regimen and we need to tactfully educate them on the need to adhere to the CC&R’s, By-Laws, and Rules & Regulations.

I would like to thank you for the trust you placed in me by electing me to the Board a year ago.  I am very proud to have worked with the fine people that are seated with me today and have enjoyed working to make The Springs a better community in which to live. Thank you for all your support and kindness.

Architectural Review Committee -- Ron Shaffer

ARC MEMBERS: Bob Braswell, Marge Hurst, Richard Olsen, Mary Yeager, and Ron Shaffer, Chairperson

NEW ARC ACTIVITIES: 

A.  The ARC has instituted a policy of tracking:  (1) all homeowner requests for modifications of property, (2) complaints from homeowners and (3) letters to homeowners citing CC & R non-compliance issues.  Marge has organized the tracking via an Excel spreadsheet. 

B.  All letters to homeowners are forwarded to Ms. Hurst (and to ARC members) for editing, tracking and mailing to homeowners.

C.  All letters to and from homeowners are kept in alphabetical order in a separate binder and brought to Board meeting for reference.

COMMON BUISNESS:  The first half of the year the ARC dealt with homeowners request, complaints and several apparent CC&R violations. Mid year the developer, Mr. Steindorff asked the chairperson to look at a number of CC&R non-compliance issues. Those were recorded and subsequently verified (others added) with the assistance of the HOA Vice President Mike Kearns. Additionally, the ARC committee inspected properties in violation in a subsequent “ride through”. 

The result of the above cited “ride through” was that letters were sent to 54 homeowners.  The subsequent monthly board meeting was attended by some 75 residents, many of whom spoke at the meeting regarding the ARC letters.  The Chairman of the ARC spoke at length about the need to address a number of non-compliance issues and the duty of the Board to maintain the designed appearance of The Springs at Santa Rita.  Most of the letters were addressed to correct wood and house colors.  It became obvious that homeowners were not meeting the painting requirements of the Springs resulting in wood colors ranging from almost Black to a variety of Desert Bark colors, some Yellow, and some Pink.  There were a number of houses that did not comply with the “Frazee Hedgehog” color scheme, some purplish, some peach, some gray and one with a greenish cast.  In discussing these color issues with homeowners it became apparent that some of the problems stemmed from not having adequate information as to what was allowed.  The ARC subsequently developed a listing of suppliers and formulas and published these on the HOA web page: http://www.thespringshoa.org/board/arc_paint.htm

This action has helped the situation somewhat; however, homeowners continue to choose other suppliers, resulting in color variations not authorized by the ARC.

Following is a listing of where we are to date in regard to the 54 letters:
Letters sent out citing violations to CC&R's - 54
Resolved violations - 44
Unresolved violations -10

We have had a response from all the letters sent and believe the remaining 10 plan to come into compliance by the end of January '05.

ARC REQUEST AND COMPLAINTS
ARC requests received - 50
Approved - 47
Disapproved - 1
Withdrawn - 2
Complaints - 42

Letters plus personal contact have resolved these with the various people involved.  There are 2 pending at this time. We have kept track and responded to each issue received.

SUMMARY:  As you can see from the data above the ARC has been very busy this past year.  We will have a new look in 2005. Bob Braswell will be relocating to another Green Valley community. We thank Bob for his knowledgeable contributions to the ARC.  Marge Hurst has moved to the position of Secretary to the Board.  We will miss Marge but thank her immensely for her setting up the ARC tracking system and keeping track of a thousand details during the year. We will continue to be very diligent in our efforts to ensure that the Rules & Regulations are applied equally throughout the Springs.

Submitted by Ernie Cox, Jr. Chairperson

2004 was the first full year of employment for the groundskeeper, Dennis Coker. He has done a fine job of caring for The Springs' common ground. However, much of his time continues to be spent doing repair and upkeep on the irrigation systems, sometimes to the detriment of keeping up the parks. The dumpster also seems to be working out, although we had to put a lock on it as too many residents were using the dumpster.

The Grounds Committee continued to work on a plan to convert three of the grass parks to desert landscaping. Estimates were requested from several landscaping companies. The plan has been put on hold until the Board completes the reserve study and can determine budget needs for the upcoming years. Another item put on hold is the purchase of a used golf cart for use by the groundskeeper while working in the Springs.

Several people volunteered this year to assist with various projects on the Grounds Committee, such as the weed patrol and attending committee meetings to determine committee priorities. The weed group patrolled four times during the year and about 75 letters were sent out. Most residents cooperated and responded quickly to remedy the problems noted by the weed patrol. Once again, early in the year we held a neighborhood park clean-up. Almost 30 residents pulled weeds, raked and swept around the walking path.

Some accomplishments in 2004 were re-graveling two common areas at each end of Golden Lynx. River rock was placed at the edge of the sidewalks to keep the gravel from washing away. We also used a gravel of larger size to see if this would further reduce the problem of erosion. These areas can be monitored to observe if this plan will produce the desired results. In addition, a new walkway at the south end of Wolf Run was added to provide access to the walking path.

Submitted by Wally Cookson, Chairperson

I became Chairperson of the Grounds Committee in October of this year. I am very lucky in that I have been able to assemble a committee of eight volunteers from our community.  Since that time, we have held several meetings and conducted numerous tours of the entire community which has enabled us to familiarize ourselves with the various Common areas and the Community as a whole.

It is clear that we have a rather large task ahead of us. We plan on dividing into seven areas of responsibility. These would include Inventory, Records, Community Wide Cleanup, Irrigation and Horticulture, Labor & Safety, Resources, and Environmental.  Each of the volunteers has accepted responsibility for one of these functions. We are going to look at all aspects of our community.

For example, can we purchase supplies such as gravel, in bulk, that would allow us to upgrade larger areas at one time and result in cost savings?  Would it be cost effective to transform grassy areas which require extensive watering into areas with desert-like landscaping? Will the cost of weed control provide savings over watering and mowing? What is it going to cost to repair and maintain the irrigation system? This system is starting to require almost daily attention. Ernie Cox had begun a test program of replacing the small size gravel with a type that is a little larger. The result has been that there appears to be less erosion caused by the gravel washing away during “monsoons”. We hope that this can be used in the remainder of our gravel areas. It is evident that the fountain at the entry way is also in need of attention. This is just a glimpse of the number of repair, and more importantly, number of projects that require on-going maintenance.

The very good news is that we have a committee of energetic and enthusiastic people who are going to work very hard to continue the work that Ernie Cox had begun. We will work to improve the whole community. One of our greatest assets, next to the breathtaking views, is our abundance of common grounds, walking paths, which provides an opportunity to landscape and beautify our “little piece of the valley”.

The Common Grounds are going to be an on-going evolving undertaking. Each year, plants and shrubs will die and new varieties will replace them. It is a very exciting adventure that lies ahead for all of us. We will keep you posted on our progress throughout the year. Also, keep in mind that you can never have too many volunteers to help out. We have many areas that could use a helping hand.

Our streets are in generally pretty good condition and look good as a result of the new protective coating.

We signed a contract with TEP to assume responsibility for the cost of operating our street lights. This was effective in February 2004. The cost will be about $17,000 per year.

A contract has been signed to have the mud hole in our back entrance road repaired. The actual work will be accomplished next January.

The excessive gaps between some of our sidewalks and curbs have been filled with fine gravel. This seems to be an effective and inexpensive solution and was accomplished with volunteer labor.

Several wind-damaged stop sign poles have been replaced using more sturdy poles. Three new stop signs are being added as a safety precaution and should be in place before this year-ends.

Our tool house is in reasonably good condition. The paint and roof have been inspected and found OK for another year. The wood beam was restained by volunteer labor (thanks Ron Spriegel).

We are currently seeking bids for painting our gate house and repairing the deteriorating rafter ends. Actual painting work should be early next year.

It has been my pleasure to serve on this committee and the board. 2005 will see Mike Kearns assume the Streets and Buildings committee chairmanship.