Desert Hills IV

Minutes:


GREEN VALLEY DESERT HILLS NO. 4, INC.
ANNUAL BOARD MEETING
February 15, 2008

Meeting held in the Desert Hills Social Center and called to order by President Phyllis Buchanan at 9:07 A.M. Other Board members present were: Dorothy Sturz, Jerry Froderman, Larry Gass, Doris Austin and Ila DeLuca. Also in attendance were 21 homeowners.

Phyllis thanked all Committee members for their work during the past year, and gave special kudos to Bob White, members of his Beautification Committee, and others who have done such an outstanding job of improving the medians on Camino Kino. She also reported on other activities during the past year, including two social functions, an association-wide garage sale, and contracts entered into for trash removal and repairs and chip-sealing on our streets.

Minutes of our last meeting were approved and accepted, as was the
Agenda for today’s meeting.

Dorothy presented the Treasurer’s Report which was approved and accepted.

In the absence of Board member Sue Beltz, there was no report from the Architecture Committee.

A discussion of trees in the common areas prompted a report from the Maintenance Committee. Doris reported that a homeowner complained about a tree in the common area that was obstructing their view of the mountains. Phyllis reported that according the CC& R’s that if someone makes a complaint about a tree in the common ground the cost of trimming or removing by our landscapers is more than our rules allow, any such extra cost will be passed on to the homeowner. Phyllis explained that there is a need to look at removing certain trees in common areas where they threaten damage to private property and could mean liability issues for the association.

Bob White reported for the Beautification Committee. He and his group have been working on the final (fourth) median section of Kino. They work on Tuesday mornings from 9 A.M. to noon, need help, and would welcome anyone who would like to join them. Bob asked that homeowners report any trees in common areas that are encroaching on their properties, and which may cause damage to walls or buildings.

Ila reported on the GVCCC, and the role that group plays in concert with Pima County to help manage the affairs of Green Valley. Although it is made up of representatives from each of our associations, anyone can attend. The Council meets on the third Thursday of each month in the Desert Hills Social Center, at 9:00 A.M.

Doris reported that the Social Committee had hosted a Potluck Dinner with only 50 people attending. A Happy Hour is planned for March 4th. She mentioned several jobs that need to be done to keep our association looking cared for, and asked for volunteers to help with them, thus avoiding the cost of having to hire people and increasing our association fees.

Phyllis reported that distribution for the Newsletter is planned for early March, so anyone who has information or articles to be included in this issue should have that in her hands by February 22nd.

Jerry reported on work in progress for our streets. Asphalt problems have been repaired and sealing of the cracks should be completed shortly. Complete sealing of the streets will be done when the weather warms up. This work will be done one side of the streets at a time, so that access to all homes at all times will not be affected. The project is planned for completion by mid-May. Jerry reported that there had been four bids for this work, and that the bid which was awarded will have saved us between $4,000 and $5,000. With just sealing the roads now, and with a moderate increase in dues to be held in reserve for street work, there should be money enough for required maintenance after several more years. This approach prevented the Board from having to declare a special assessment for road maintenance. Homeowner Bernie Drazkowski commented on our past history of road maintenance and what he feels may be needed in the future to keep our roads in good condition.

Our new contract with Waste Management for trash removal includes a cost to homeowners of $12 a month, with a guaranteed increase of not more than $5 a month after 12 months.

A homeowner, Marge Holstrom, rose to announce a meeting of the Friends of Madera Canyon to be held on March 1st at the Green Valley Community Church at 10:00 A.M. Issues such as the West Desert Preserve, the proposed Rosemont Mine, and other issues of community concern will be discussed.

Ila reported on our Election of Board Members. 117 ballots were cast. Phyllis Buchanan, and Dorothy Sturz each received 117 votes for re-election, and Carleton Town received 116 votes as a new Board member.

There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 9:55 A.M.

Respectfully Submitted,
Ila DeLuca, Secretary



GREEN VALLEY DESERT HILLS NO. 4
REGULAR BOARD MEETING
February 15, 2008

Meeting held in the Desert Hills Social Center and called to order by President Phyllis Buchanan at 10:05 A.M. immediately following the Annual Board Meeting. In addition to the President, those Board members in attendance were Dorothy Sturz, Jerry Froderman, Doris Austin, Larry Gass and Carleton Town. Four homeowners also attended.

Jerry moved and Carleton seconded that Minutes from our last meeting be approved. Motion carried.

Dorothy presented the Treasurer’s Report which Phyllis moved and Doris seconded be approved. Motion carried.

An Election of Officers was held with the following results:
President – Phyllis Buchanan
Vice President – Jerry Froderman
Treasurer – Dorothy Sturz
Secretary – Carleton Town
Recording Secretary – Alice Town

Appointed Committee Chairs were:
Maintenance – Doris Austin, Larry Gass, Marilyn Rett
Beautification – Bob White
Architectural – Carleton Town, Phyllis Buchanan, Francis Austin
GVCCC – Ila DeLuca (Jerry Froderman, Alternate)
Neighborhood Watch – Doris Austin
Social – Doris Austin
Budget – Dorothy Sturz, Phyllis Buchanan, Jerry Froderman, and
Larry Gass
Audit – Jerry Froderman, Larry Gass, Eugene Smith
Nomination – Phyllis Buchanan, Ila DeLuca, Carleton Town
Newsletter – Phyllis Buchanan, Dorothy Sturz, Alice Town
CC&Rs – Phyllis Buchanan, Bob White, Marilyn Rett
Paving – Phyllis Buchanan, Jerry Froderman, Bernie Drazkowski
Website – Phyllis Buchanan
Trash Removal – Phyllis Buchanan, Jerry Froderman, Doris Austin

Meeting dates for 2008 and 2009 were set as follows:

2008
March 14
April 18
October 17
November 21

2009
February 20 (following Annual Meeting)
March 20
April 24
October 16
November 20

2010
February 19 (following Annual Meeting)

All above meetings to be held in Desert Hills Social Center,
3:00 P.M. March 14,’08 meeting to be held in Room C.
April 18, October 17, and November 21 ’08 meetings all to be held in Room B.

Committee meeting dates will be established at the March 14, ’08 meeting.

A discussion was held regarding the replacement of burned-out light bulbs at carport/garage entries. Although the Board had established a $100 fund for this purpose, the matter of our legal right to enter private properties for this purpose came under consideration. Phyllis agreed to contact the GVCCC to see if they had regulations covering this matter. She has lists of all Block Captains, including all homeowner information, so they could be called upon to do bulb replacement, depending on what Phyllis finds out. She will report on this matter at our March 14, ’08 meeting.

Bob White reported on the matter of the memorial bench for Joe Pata. The bench has been ordered (at a cost of $191 plus cost of the plaque). He will also see to getting the plaque and having it engraved. The memorial/dedication ceremony will be held on Thursday, April 10, ’08, at 9:00 A.M., at a location on a Kino median.

Our next Regular Board Meeting will be held on Friday, March 14, 3:00 P.M., in Room C at the Desert Hills Social Center.

There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 11:06 A.M.

Ila DeLuca, Secretary Pro-Tem



GREEN VALLEY DESERT HILLS NO. 4
REGULAR BOARD MEETING
March 14, 2008

Meeting held in the Desert Hills Social Center and called to order by President Phyllis Buchanan at 3:00 PM. In addition to the President, those Board members in attendance were Dorothy Sturz, Jerry Froderman, Doris Austin, Carl Town and Recording Secretary, Alice Town. Three homeowners also attended.

Jerry moved and Carl seconded that the agenda for the meeting be approved. Motion carried.

There were no Community Comments made.

Dorothy moved and Jerry seconded that the Minutes from our last meeting be approved. Motion carried.

Dorothy presented the Treasurer’s Report which Doris moved and Carl seconded be approved. Motion carried.

Committee Reports:

Maintenance: Doris had met with Val to review the map of Desert Hills 4 by areas to determine the time work is scheduled for each area. In addition to the normal work, Val’s crew will dig out about every fifth clump of the fountain grass which is quite prevalent in some areas and also dig out any buffel grass they find. Val’s crew will also continue to finish trimming and/or cutting down the trees that Bob White and his volunteers are working on and then cart away the wood. Right now there are two or three homes where tree roots are causing problems and those trees will be taken care of. With the Board’s approval, Jerry will remove the fountain or buffel grass growing in the common area near his home.

Beautification: Reporting for Bob White, Phyllis said that since the Beautification Committee has so few volunteers working each week, they will probably only be able to finish about one-fourth of the remaining section of median on Camino Kino this year.

Architectural: Carl reported that nobody had submitted any problems or projects. Franc Austin reported that one home had been inspected because it was for sale.

GVCC: Reporting for Ila DeLuca, Phyllis said that the Fire Department is encouraging homeowners to install a lock box at the front of their homes for easy access in an emergency. The boxes cost $70.00 plus $20.00 to install. A discussion followed as to the security of these boxes.

Phyllis also reported that Southwest Ambulance has a plan that costs $59.78 a year per household. They bill the homeowner’s insurance company in the event of an ambulance ride and there is no further cost to the homeowner.
Call 1-800-645-9413.

Phyllis also described the services of TelCare, where somebody calls a homeowner every morning between 7:30 AM and 8:45 AM to check on their wellbeing. There is no charge for the service. Call 625-1636.

In addition to the new fire station which will be built at Quail Creek and scheduled for completion by fall 2009, a new fire station will be built just north of the Santa Rita Nursing Home, to be completed by July 2009. This will replace the station now located just north of the Santa Rita site.

Neighborhood Watch: Doris reported that the Block Captains have done an excellent job of delivering several things recently.

Social: Doris reported that attendance was down at the January gathering from previous years. This year’s event was a potluck. Attendance at the March cocktail hour was also down compared to previous years.

Newsletter: Phyllis reported that the March Newsletter had been delivered to homeowners, with seventy (70) being mailed. Three (3) were mailed to Canada at a cost of sixty-nine cents (69¢) each. The next Newsletter will go out in December.

CC&Rs: Nothing to report.

Street Paving: Phyllis reported that the seal coating of our streets is scheduled for May 5 and 7. Bates Paving and Sealing, Inc. will send a letter that can be sent to each homeowner telling about the work to be done and the dates for work on each street.

Trash: Phyllis said that May will be the end of the first year of our three-year contract with Waste Management. There might be up to a five percent (5%) increase on the May bills; however, there is not a charge of $65.00 for restarting service, as some homeowners have mentioned.

Under Old Business, several Committee Meeting Dates were set.

Architectural and Maintenance: Wednesday, April 9, 10:30 AM at Phyllis’s house. Need to discuss the various rules and regulations that pertain to both areas and present the results at the October 17 Board meeting. Follow-up discussion can be done by e-mail between April and October. All Board members are welcome to attend this meeting. Research of back meeting minutes, by-laws, etc. and discussion with other homeowners will be done prior to April 9 to clarify rules for lighting (yellow lights and wattage).

Nominating Committee: Wednesday, November 5, 10:00 AM at Phyllis’s house.

Budget Committee: Wednesday, November 5, 2:00 PM at Dorothy’s house.

Auditing: Look at dates in November for results in January 2009.

CC&Rs: Wednesday, April 16, 1:00 PM at Doris’ house. (A meeting with Val regarding landscaping will follow at 3:00 PM.)

Light Bulbs: Phyllis had met with Russ Symes of the GVCCC as to the legality of Block Captains or other homeowners taking the responsibility of replacing light bulbs at homes where owners are not present. He said that we might be liable if we go on others’ property, there is nothing mentioned in our CC&R’s that permits us to do so. It was suggested that a letter could be written to explain the situation and to ask the homeowner to sign the letter giving permission to change the bulbs. Phyllis said she could include this with the street paving letter. Permission letters could be kept with caretaker forms already on file with the Architectural Committee Chairman. Phyllis feels we should still charge the $5.00 fee for replacing a bulb, as decided upon at a previous meeting.

Under other Old Business, Phyllis said that we need to come up with a plan to trim or take down trees between houses that are causing problems with foundations or even sewer lines. Bob White said that he had shown some of the areas to Val and will give Val an official list of trees to be removed. We will need to talk with those people to let them know why we want the tree removed. If the homeowner tells us he does not want the tree removed, then the homeowner will have to take full responsibility for any damage that occurs. Phyllis will draft a letter before the next meeting. There was also discussion regarding the property line of each homeowner and it was stated that the line goes just beyond the sidewalk (if applicable) in front of the house, and up to the top of the “curbing” there. That brought up the question of who would be responsible in the case of somebody tripping and falling due to a raised section of sidewalk. Somebody will check with our insurance provider regarding this situation. This person will be selected at our April Meeting.

New Business:

There will be a Solar Forum meeting at 9:00 AM on Saturday, March 15 at the Canoa Hills Recreation Center. Recent Arizona legislation requires HOAs to permit solar panels. Phyllis will attend this meeting to see what kind of limitations can be placed on homeowners regarding size and designs of solar panels.

A meeting will be held from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM on Wednesday, March 19 at the Canoa Hills Recreation Center regarding the proposed Rosemont Mine.

The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) is scheduled to close the Peck Canyon Road Bridge on I-19, at 7 a.m., on Monday for maintenance work. The bridge will reopen at 4 p.m. on Monday, March 24. Drivers are asked to ust the Rio Rico and Palo Pardo Road bridges and the west Frontage Road as alternate routes. Signs for the closure have been posted.

Since so few homeowners are attending Board meetings, it was suggested that signs could be placed near the three large Desert Hills IV signs to remind people of the meetings and to encourage them to attend. Carl will talk with Rudy Sweisfurth about the cost of three signs. He will report to Phyllis so that further discussion can be held at the April 18 meeting.

Bob White and Phyllis Buchanan have agreed to speak at the dedication of the bench and plaque honoring Joe Pata which will take place at 9:00 AM on Thursday, April 10 at the Camino Kino Median (between Helada & Tirol).

It was announced that Ruth Havins, an original Desert Hills 4 homeowner living on Via del Jarrito, had passed away.

The next Board meeting will be held at 3:00 PM on April 18, 2008 in Room B at Desert Hills Recreation Center.

There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 4:05 PM.


Respectfully submitted,
Alice Town, Recording Secretary