The Springs HOA Annual Reports - For the Year 2006

This year has seen property values slack off and speculators are anxious about their investments.  Re-sales are slow but this community is not alone with this problem.  Many neighborhoods around the country are in the same boat.  I'm sure, with the Baby Boomers on the way, property values will pick up sooner than we think and The Springs is an attractive and prime place to live as well as invest.

We have had a great Board of Directors dedicated to the betterment of our Community and they have been very pro-active this year with many accomplishments.

• We have continued to support the "Open Board" meeting policy and have had some superb input from the membership.  These kinds of meetings keep the Board of Directors well informed and on course.

• The Reserve Fund was one of our highest priorities and is on its way to becoming solvent and dues increases are not envisioned for at least a few years.

• Early this year we refurbished our Front Fountain and turned it into a "Spring" based on a design from the Desert Diamond Casino's inner court.

• Several Common Area upgrades have been completed such as the wild area along the frontage road, front entrance parks, more improvements to the new rock parks, and the wash at the North end of Wolf Run.

• We implemented and tested one of our 2005 goals of a new "Tree Policy."  These new policies give homeowners the power to resolve view disputes between neighbors (private lots) as well as the Homeowners' Association (common area).

• The Wolf Run Commons Committee was established and the Board has approved their recommendations.  You will see activities in this area during the first few months of 2007.

• The Bylaw & CCR Committee is still active revising our Governing Documents primarily due to State law changes to Arizona's Non-Profit Corporation Act and Planned Communities and Condominiums Act.

• A Blue Fox Committee is evaluating needed changes to the common area to the South.

• An Emergency Egress Committee is actively coordinating with the Pima County Sheriff, Green Valley Fire Department, and Torres Blancas Golf Course to establish additional emergency departure routes.

• The Board has passed a resolution to join the Green Valley Community Coordination Council (GVCCC) in 2007.

As I am leaving the Presidency, several challenges for this Homeowner Association, come to mind.

• As maintenance and other services increase in cost, it will be a challenge for new Boards to hold the line on our Reserve Funds.

• The lack of volunteers that wish to commit themselves to serving this corporation may put us into the position of employing a Management Company.  A Management Company can be good and not so good but usually they require an increase in dues.

• It would be prudent to keep a close eye on our streets.  Over the past three and a half years, the streets have deteriorated much faster than I would have expected.  The pavement is shrinking and numerous cracks have developed and widened, some areas have crumbled, and others are sinking due to a poor base and ground water undermining.

• Our Nature Park is growing fast, there are scores of new tree starts, and fields of what may be considered weeds.  This will become an additional financial strain on the budget.

• Due to investment speculation, there are more vacant and rental units.  These pose a special problem not only for our Association but may affect future homebuyers. 

-        For the Association:  It increases the Board's workload requiring vigilance in reminding absentee owners of the responsibility to maintain their property.  We need a better way than walking around the streets and sending out letters.

-        For future homebuyers:  If we have a high percentage of rentals, it may be more difficult to get a loan.

Overall, The Springs is one of the best places I have lived.  The area is beautiful and the people are wonderful.  All of Green Valley seems to acknowledge the beauty of our sub-division.

Thank you for the support and opportunity to serve on the Board of Directors.  I will always value the friends I have come to know and the wonderful experience working with and for the people of The Springs at Santa Rita.  It has been fun!  Thank You.

The Springs Architectural Review Committee has kept pretty busy this year and has responded to every request as soon as possible.  We have attempted to contact every requesting property owner in person to completely discuss their project.

To date, we have approved 39 requests for improvements ranging from installing pavers to approving satellite dishes.  We have received more than 19 requests from property owners complaining about trees or other problems they had with neighborhood properties.  This is the first year of trial for the new Common Property and Private Tree Policy.  The policy seems to work, thanks to the efforts of Ron Shaffer, Mike Kearns and others from last years HOA.

Having to be the bad guys at times, the ARC has had to mail over 170 letters to residents regarding the need to restain wood, paint cables to the color of their house, repaint the house itself, etc.

Please feel free to contact your ARC with requests & complaints.

To:   The Springs Community   
From:  The Grounds Crew, Scott Vandall our Maintenance Man, Carl Sparfield my sidekick and Henny Armenta
 
We would like to wish each and everyone a blessed holiday and a wonderful New Year.
 
This year we have finished several major projects beginning with re-rocking of the front entrance and revamping the fountain with additional rock.  Major cleanup behind Nardos took several weeks and filled three roll-off dumpsters.  Many, many thanks to Russell Misiewicz who helped us a lot with his time and energy.  Russ and his neighbors also cleaned up the area around the workshop which required many dumpster loads. To all of you who helped us cleanup throughout the development many, many thanks!!
 
Irrigation repair has been a major headache but we are trying hard to stay on top of things.  Then came the monsoons and the weeds grew overnight.  For those of us who use the walking trail daily we had to cut the weeds along the path - thank goodness for the riding lawnmower. 
 
We also cleaned up the area behind Pelotita.  Growth on the berm on Golden Lynx was severely trimmed.  Park 10B is finished.  We cleaned up the drainage ditch, re-rocked the surrounding area and added several new cacti.
 
At this time I would like to ask all of you to *REFRAIN FROM PLANTING, TRIMMING OR DUMPING ON COMMON GROUNDS.  *If you have any issues you wish to address please call the Grounds Committee.  We are trying very hard to cleanup all parks and have a uniformed look throughout The Springs. 

*THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!
 
NEXT YEAR 2007
*First on the list is the Wolf Run Park.  The plan has been approved and $35,000 has been allocated for the project which includes seven raised islands, boulders and rock.  Other parks to be refurbished with new rock will include 10A, 20, 21, 6, 7 and 8.  Thanks again everyone for being patient with us.  We are running about one month behind but we will get there.
 
Next year I would like to ask for those of you who wish to help with special projects to please contact me at 399-2267 or hennygreenvalley@peoplepc.com.

Walking Trail:  The walking trail was suffering from numerous cracks needing repair for safety reasons. Bids were solicited for the repair, however, they were deemed to be too expensive. A decision was made to repair the cracks using volunteer help. After a period of trail and error, the trail was repaired during the months of March and April. Over 100 cracks were filled and seal coated at a cost to the HOA for a little over $1000 thanks to efforts of numerous homeowners. This compared to bids varying between $25,000 and $75,000. To date these repairs are holding up.

Southwest Entrance: Studies were conducted concerning the status of the southwest entrance. Options including installing various types of gates, etc., were developed and reviewed by the Board. During this effort it was determined that a permit for the entrance from the AZ DOT was required.  Thanks to assistance from the Green Valley Coordinating Council, piles of “red tape” were avoided and the permit was granted in August. The permit is for “emergency” use only and requires a gate to be installed. Action is ongoing concerning the gate.

Anza Trail:  Meetings were held with Pima County concerning how and where the Anza Trail will intersect with The Springs after crossing the Canoa Ranch. A walking bridge will be built across the wash at the far southeast corner of the walking trail near the dog walk area. To date work has not started and the situation will be monitored by the committee.

Other Actions: Actions were taken throughout the year to ensure street lights, front gate, stop signs, etc., were repaired or replaced as needed.

The press has been notified prior to each monthly HOA Board Meeting in 2006 and notification has appeared prior to each meeting in the Green Valley News inviting all residents of The Springs at Santa Rita to attend the meetings.  Minutes have been taken at each of the HOA Board Meetings.  The format has changed slightly at the request of President McGaughey.  More information has been given regarding what occurs at the monthly meetings and MOTIONS are set off by themselves and therefore much easier to find in each set of monthly minutes.  As in the past, these monthly “unapproved” minutes are posted on the HOA website, but copies are no longer placed in the 6 plastic boxes by each set of mailboxes, as they had been previously.  One copy is posted on the kiosk by the front gate.  After the minutes are approved or corrected, an “approved” copy is sent to the Office Manager and Board Members.

During the calendar year 2006 there were two Newsletters published – a Spring Newsletter which came out around the end of March and a Fall Newsletter which came out mid-October.  This year the Secretary collected articles from board members, formatted them, edited them and then sent the entire newsletter package on to Office Manager, Lucinda Walter for page layout and printing.  Each issue included articles from the President, various Committee Chairs, a Financial Report and a Calendar of Events.  In addition, any article submitted from a homeowner was included.  The Newsletters were mailed to HOA members, except for those who requested e-mail copies.  The Newsletters were also published on The Springs website:  http://www.thespringshoa.org/

The monthly pot lucks have been doing quite well, the summer turn out a little smaller then usual but those attending had a good time. We did cancel the Wednesday happy hour's for the summer months due to lack of numbers. Last winter, Bill and Kay Perry ran the pot lucks and the turn outs were outstanding especially the night Ernie Cox presented his photo show and our western theme party. Thank the Perry's.

Please note that in 2007 our pot lucks will be held on the first (1st) Monday of the month.

I want to thank all my associates who have worked to keep our house number lights lit this past year.  We will end up the year well under budget because of a new source for light bulbs.  Not only are they considerably cheaper but they are performing better than the old more expensive bulbs.  The monsoon rains knocked out well over 100 of the old more expensive bulbs in July as an example.  If your house light bulb is burned out please give me a call at 399-0513 and someone will replace it ASAP. 

The committee has been working on updating the CC&R's and By-Laws for the past 8 months. To date we have included those mandated by State law since 2004, corrected typographical errors, deleted items as no longer applicable and so forth. There is still much to do before the new version can be voted on by the membership.