News

How quickly things change, and we all begin to forget the past. It seems like just yesterday that driving eastbound on Twin Peaks Road was a dusty dead end. Thanks to the Town of Marana, connection to the interstate was finally completed last year and is a great time and distance saver for many of us- not to mention no longer having to deal with the Cortaro Road interchange traffic by AZ Pavilions. The landscaping changes on Twin Peaks Road have made it a real gateway to our community that welcomes visitors and homeowners alike to a community with high standards of care. The landscape committee did a great job on this project and deserves a thank you from all of us.  Something else that comes to mind is when we used to walk our dogs down Coachline Blvd to Windmill Park- I got so tired of ducking down to get under the trees over hanging the sidewalk and even took to carrying my own pruners to trim the trees overhanging the sidewalks. Since changing the landscape company to DLC Resources, those problems are no more and our common areas have never looked so good. All entryway lights have been restored at the 25 monuments and the landscaping at the monuments has been updated to reflect the high standards of care that your BOD has come to expect for this community.

Four years ago I stated that I was working with the Town of Marana to try to improve the landscaping along Silverbell Road. This has been a long and involved project. The areas along Silverbell are owned by the Town. When associations such as CRCA are formed nowadays, the Town requires that the developer provide landscaping in areas like along Silverbell Road and the association is required to maintain it thereafter. For whatever reason, this was not the case with CRCA and Siverbell.

This Board decided that this project came with too high of a cost for the Association to assume responsibility over, which would undoubtedly force dues to go up.  Nonetheless, Silverbell Road is not the “landscaped parkway” described in the Town’s strategic plan for this corridor in CRCA.

Over the last few years while working closely with Gilbert Davidson, town manager, it became apparent that the downturn in the economy restricted the Town’s abilities to tackle such a project. Gilbert had his staff looking into grant monies and other possible ways to improve the landscaping on Silverbell Road. I am very happy to report that I met with the town on July 17^th and that the town council has approved $100,000 to start improvements along the Silverbell Road corridor. The existing trees are slowly dying because of no irrigation and the dust blowing from the unrocked areas are real concerns. What has been decided is to start at the south end of CRCA on Silverbell Road (by Fry’s) and get irrigation, some landscaping, and rock added; hopefully from River’s Edge up to Wade Road or as far as the budget will allow. We are hoping to be able to get the town to continue funding this project every year so that Silverbell becomes a real asset to both the Town and CRCA. No homeowners assessment dues will be used to fund any aspect of this beautification project; the Town is backing this effort. I would like to thank Roxanne Ziegler, town council member and a member of your BOD, for helping to champion this project with the council. Without her and Gilbert’s help on this we would not be where we are with improving the landscaping along Silverbell Road. The spirit of partnering between the Town and the CRCA Board of Directors can only make Marana and CRCA the type of community we all want.

On a side note, please remember school will be starting again shortly so please watch out for the kids along our streets. The elementary age children are out really early so be extra careful as they can be preoccupied and not paying attention to cars.

I reported in last month’s newsletter that the shade structure at the community center pool was never designed for usage in a pool area, that corrosion had occurred because of exposure to water resulting in it being unsafe and that the BOD made it a priority item to replace it ASAP. Management went right to work on investigating the replacement and I am sorry to say that this project will take longer to complete than we had hoped. Between engineers designing it, permitting required by the Town of Marana, and the 6 to 8 weeks to build it, we were informed that the replacement of the shade would take until at least October. The BOD decided to wait until the pool is closed and to perform the work then. The BOD did approve relocating the existing shade structure to the Mountain Sky pocket park.

We were able to move forward with a few other projects that have been under consideration for some time. The security lights as well as the parking lot lights at the community center will be replaced with low energy usage LED bulbs. We are anticipating our electric bill for just replacing the parking lot lights with LED’s will be reduced from a monthly cost of $440.43 to $37.36 a month. It is safely projected that we will receive back our full investment in this project in 5 years with energy savings. If TEP reinstates their utility rebate program we will be eligible for a rebate of $3670.00 as well.

Access to the Windmill Park Ramada’s and the park itself will be enhanced for the handicapped as well as all residents by the continuation of the brick walkway from the office to the ramadas.  A culvert will be installed with a raised walkway over the drainage swale in the grass making this fully accessible to all residents and the area between and around the ramadas will be bricked. It should be a great improvement to our community.

As most of you are aware CRCA has had numerous incidences of vandalism and trespass after hours. A number of monument lights were destroyed with rocks smashing the cages and lights recently. The BOD approved replacing the lights with a different fixture in hopes of stopping this type of vandalism. The BOD also approved upgrading of the security cameras at the community center as well.

All of these projects are within budget and will add great benefit to this community as well as future cost savings. This BOD has been able to complete a large number of projects that have enhanced CRCA with no dues increase required. The finance committee will be preparing next year’s budget to present to the BOD- hopefully they will present a proposed budget that sees no increase in dues or cuts to existing goals.

CRCA entered into an “exclusive” contract in 2007 with Waste Management to provide garbage collection services. It was a five year contract and by signing it CRCA residents were to receive lower rates because Waste Management would be the exclusive provider of services. We have all seen our rates increase in each of the years this contract has been in force. Your current BOD has added resolutions in the last few years that say there are no exclusive contracts allowed in CRCA as well as that ALL contracts will have a 30 day cancellation clause. Waste Management has received notice that CRCA will not be renewing the exclusive contract. There will be a homeowner forum on Saturday, June 23^rd at 3:00PM at Twin Peaks Elementary School at which we have asked a number of trash collection companies to attend. We have asked them to provide us with their best proposals for a contract as a “preferred provider” and not exclusive. The BOD will assess the proposals along with homeowner input and make a decision at a later date as to who CRCA will accept a “preferred provider” contract with. Please plan on attending this forum so you can be informed on what will be offered.

As some of you who use the Community Center kiddie pool are aware, there is no longer a sun shade covering the pool. The sun shade that was previously installed was not designed for a pool area. Because of this there was excessive corrosion of the framework holding the shade. It was unsafe to leave the shade in place and it had to be removed or else we would have to close the pool for safety reasons. The pool committee was going to address it in next year’s budget. At the last BOD meeting management was instructed by the BOD to expedite replacing the sun shade as soon as possible. The small children using the pool are greatly affected by the sun rays and the BOD felt it in the best interests of these children to get it done and not wait. Bear with us as there will need to be an engineer to provide us with the needed plans before we proceed. This is a priority item for the BOD.

A number of BOD members volunteered to help at the Easter egg hunt in April. It was observed by them that some of the handicapped people had trouble navigating the Windmill Park area in their wheel chairs. One of the plans that was on hold was to continue the brick work from the office entry to include a bricked walkway to the Ramada’s (with a culvert over the drainage swale so the walkway would stay accessible) and to brick in the areas around the Ramada’s to provide more picnic area. The Windmill Park area and the Ramada’s have been seeing a lot of use on weekends and we need to make it more accessible to those with special needs. Management is to bring bids for this project to the next BOD meeting.

Hopefully you all have a great summer- remember to enjoy the pools and common areas that are available to use as homeowner’s by your dues.

I would like to take the time to thank Jocelyn with our management company for all the hard work she put into the Easter egg hunt at Windmill Park. This event was not something put on by the Activities Committee as when it was needed to be organized there were no members on the committee. The BOD told Jocelyn to take the ball and run with it and from what I was told she scored a touchdown. Good job Jocelyn- the BOD and all the children who participated thank you.

Five years ago this October there was an “exclusive contract” signed with Waste Management to provide garbage collection services to CRCA. This was supposed to provide lower rates to the homeowners than could be negotiated individually- such has not been the case. This action was “the straw that broke the camel’s back” to the homeowners of CRCA and resulted in the BOD that signed the contract to be presented with a recall petition. All but two of the BOD members resigned and led this community to court to settle differences. There are no more “exclusive contracts” allowed in CRCA by a resolution of this BOD- all contracts must be cancellable with 30 days notice. The Waste Management contract will expire in October of 2012. In an effort to gather homeowner input we have invited those waste collection companies interested in providing garbage collection services to the homeowners of CRCA at  a public forum on June 23, 2012. We have asked them to bring their best proposals forward so that all can see what is being offered. The BOD will evaluate the proposals and gather input from homeowners before deciding on a course of action. An exclusive contract would eliminate home owner’s choices as to who they want to provide garbage collection- with the current resolution in place this will not and cannot happen. A preferred provider contract would seem to be the wise choice- this would give us all the ability to seek lower rates by having a larger number of customers. This would in no way take away an individual’s right to choose who they prefer. Please plan on attending to have your questions answered.

With the warm weather upon us it is nice to see the new plantings blooming along Twin Peaks Road and in the entryways to parcels. Windmill Park has never looked as good as it does now in the 9 years I have lived here. Thanks to the landscape committee for the great job they have done.