The Springs HOA Annual Reports - For the Year 2007

The role of a HOA Board member is to follow the guidelines of our CC&Rs and By-Laws with no personal agenda. 

When I was chosen to be President of this Board I vowed that we would do everything in our power to abide by the CC&Rs and By-Laws, and, to enhance, protect and increase the values of our properties. I believe that we were successful. 

Some of our accomplishments through the year include giving residents the right to appeal ARC and Grounds decisions. We’ve created position descriptions for all Board members which are constantly updated. On our web site we’ve created a source for plumbers, electricians, etc, for residents to refer to if needed. These service people have experience in our area and have been successfully used by fellow residents. Through the advice of a fellow resident we have located a source for security boxes to be placed outside of your residence for access only by emergency and fire department personnel. And, through the use of Pima County records, we are able to provide aerial views of all Springs properties to resolve boundary issues. 

Much more has been accomplished which you will hear when the rest of the Board present their reports.

Green Valley Community Coordinating Council

Last year we became members of the GVCCC.  Their membership includes 69 other HOA’s plus institutional and business groups. They are a powerful influence in county and state affairs.  We anticipate many benefits from this affiliation.

Social Committee
Special thanks to Bill and Kay Perry for their continued efforts to organize our Pot Lucks, Meet & Greet, Picnic in the Park and Garage Sales! They keep us busy cooking, eating, de-cluttering and enjoying ourselves!

Insurance
Our insurance contracts were reviewed and found to be in accord with our CC&R requirements. They include the most current forms of coverage at competitive prices.  We also instituted a program that requires all contractors who perform work for the HOA to provide evidence of Liability, Automobile and Worker’s Compensation Insurance before they are awarded a contract.

Revised CC&R’s and By-Laws
We intended to complete these revisions and have the finished products ready for membership voting at the Annual Meeting.  Unfortunately, two of the three members of the committee were incapacitated due to unexpected illness and were unable to finish this task.  Much has been done and will be completed in 2008 for presentation at the Annual Meeting in 2009. Please note that any amendments to the laws governing HOA’s passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor automatically take precedent – existing language of CC&R’s notwithstanding.

We have completed revising our handbook which is being distributed.

The Board of Directors has received three applications from members of the community to run for the 2008-2010 Board. The following neighbors have volunteered their services, Amelia Anderson, Kaye Gray, and Richard Wolf.

Very special thanks to the members of the ARC Committee:  Larry Urbine, Steve Hasegawa, Aubert Young, Marie Urbine, Joe Barton, Deby Cox, Barb Wolf and Mary Yager. We handled 40 some requests for additions or changes to homeowner's property.  We sent around 150 homeowners letters in answer to their questions or concerns as well as requests for them to comply with various rules and regulations of The Springs.  Many of the letters were for those old favorites -- weeds and sidewalk overhangs.  A couple new and unique situations came up this year and have been handled with help from the Board and its lawyer.  Everything turned out better than expected at first.  We brought the light bulb replacement activity along with the weed and sidewalk overhangs checking activity under the ARC jurisdiction this year.  New bulletin boards were built by Lance Johnson and installed with help from several local residents.  The new boards are getting a lot of use and are really a great addition to The Springs.  While things look pretty good now it was a real struggle to keep up with the weeds this summer.  I am making a special request to all the homeowners who are not here during the summer and the Monsoon season to arrange for someone here to not only look after their homes but also the weeds and bushes when required.  It was our pleasure working to help maintain the great appearance of The Springs this past year.

The grounds committee has been busy this past year. To date we have refurbished 6 parks of which the funds came from the reserve money (Comica, Cefiro, Crystal, Florida, Berm, and Squirrel Park) and Wolf Run which was financed from the operating budget this year and then put in the reserve account for maintaining it in the years to come. A new lawn mover was purchased to be used on the newly re-seeded grass park on Cefiro. Two new tires were purchased for the ATV. Following the monsoon the weed issue consumed a lot of time and some of the trees in the rock parks were pruned for the first time in two years.

We are currently working on replacing the drip lines behind Viva and Nardos. Last year the dead brush was removed to cut down on the chances of fire and to aid in the monsoon season to allow water to flow away from lots helping to eliminate flooding. Also the rough area near the walking path (snake pit) has been weed wacked and the exercise area along the walking path has had some attention.   

The washes were cleaned of the larger brush and weeds. During a summer storm we lost about a dozen trees or cacti. Several of the cacti we were able to save and replant. 

The area seems to be in good condition leaving only one park to be refurbished for 2008.

I have enjoyed my time on the board and count it as a learning experience.

Street Maintenance
All of the streets were crack sealed in February ‘07. This project was in accordance with the long range street maintenance plan developed in 2006. Sunland Asphalt completed the work in an efficient manner.

It is currently planned to have all streets seal coated in May 2008. These two processes will then be repeated every four years, i.e., crack sealing in 2011 and seal coating in 2012.

Miscellaneous Actions

• Sign Maintenance - New signs concerning the Anza Trail were posted.

• Weed Control - Thanks to the efforts of Larry Irvine, weeds growing along the streets weresprayed.

• Budget Considerations - No action was taken to add a gate to the south end of the property at the end of the Frontage Road. Dollars set aside for that project were again included in the 2008 budget. $1000 was added to the ‘08 budget to fund supplies to paint the brick wall at the south boarder by the Frontage Road.

• Entrance Gate - Periodic problems encountered at the front gate were resolved in a timely manner by our maintenance contractor - Signal Gates.

• Street Lights - Numerous requests were made to TEP to replace lights. For the most part TEP provided timely service.

Thanks You
As I end my two year term on the board, I would like to thank the many folks who have pitched in to help with the various projects. You know who you are and I thank you. I would also like to thank my fellow Board members for their service to the HOA. Theirs is a thankless job. I would also like to thank two ex Board members for their help, Suzy Baker and Henny Armenta. Both served the community with total dedication.

Apology
Personally I want to apologize to all the homeowners in The Springs. Unfortunately, my last six plus months on the Board have been consumed by a needless yet necessary issue with one home owner. Quite frankly this issue “sucked” the life out of the current board and in my case caused me to defer projects which could have and should have been accomplished. Hopefully that matter can be resolved and the new Board will be free to fully work to the benefit of all homeowners.