News

You should have received your ballots for the upcoming election of Board members. Even though there are only three people running for the three open positions we are required by Arizona law to hold an election. Please return your ballots so we are able to achieve the required number of votes to establish a quorum. I have been approached by numerous homeowners as to why the BOD replaced the Groundskeeper as the landscaping company taking care of CRCA’s common areas. The BOD requested responses to a Request for Proposals from numerous companies. After reviewing proposals and touring properties maintained by the proposing companies the BOD decided unanimously to retain DLC Resources. Since DLC has taken over maintenance they have encountered numerous issues and concerns. One of these was the Rain Master Irrigation system. After bringing those concerns to me; I requested a meeting with the District Manager for John Deere Green Tech (distributor and supplier of the Rain Master system). As a result of this meeting and the District Managers inspections he wrote us:“As a result of some poor installations, several wall mount enclosures are not water tight. Some disc antennas need to be repaired or replaced. Repair all antennas that are not securely fastened to the enclosure.”During our discussions, he said that the wall mount enclosures were not stainless steel as required for outdoor installation but were instead intended for covered use. Also, the antennas should have been mounted inside the enclosures- and the hole for the antenna sealed with silicone (so as to not allow water in or tampering with the antennas). Most of the antennas were outside the boxes with the wire to them exposed to possible vandalism.The last BOD meeting resulted in an action by the BOD in approving a fine for any homeowners not having their dogs on leash in CRCA common areas and or not picking up their dogs feces. An announcement of this is elsewhere in the Windmill.I wish to thank all the members of CRCA who donate their time and services to make Continental Ranch a wonderful place to live. As we close our annual/fiscal year I can look back on several accomplishments:Hiring a new management companyHiring a new auditorInstalling a new accounting systemResearching and reducing DelinquencyHiring a new Landscape ContractorLighting the MonumentsResurfacing the Community Center PoolRedoing the entry to the Windmill officeUpdating the Reserve StudyPromoting the Town of Marana Concert SeriesNot raising the assessments for 2010-2011.Thank you, everyone, for a successful 2009-2010 year.

The BOD approved the proposed budget at the August BOD meeting which means homeowner dues will remain the same for 2011. The BOD would like to thank the Finance Committee for all the hard work to come up with a budget for next year that does not require an increase in dues; while maintaining the common areas and facilities to the high standard we should expect as homeowners. If you are having trouble meeting the obligation of paying your dues, please contact management so that a payment plan can be arranged and we do not have to turn it over to collections.

In past years the BOD relied on CC&R violations as a source of income to the Association. The fiscal year 2007-2008 saw $66,230.00 in fines collected from homeowners. The Finance committee and BOD agreed that this should not be considered as income in making the budget for 2010-2011. We have budgeted zero dollars from fines under income. This does not mean that the CC&R’s are not being enforced- fines are still a method to achieve compliance with the documents we all signed. The management company attempts to resolve violations by communicating with the homeowners before sending violation notices- which in most cases has been quite successful. Fines levied by the Board are available if cooperation with owner is not achieved and the violation continues to occur.

With school back in session we are starting to see more vandalism (kicking over and destroying)  common area plants next to school bus stops. We will be asking the school district that bus stops be moved if this continues. Please, tell your children to not destroy these plants as it costs all homeowners paying dues to replace them and they might be moving their current bus stop. If you do see destruction of plants or any other Association property please report it to the management company. We are still offering a $500.00 reward for this information.

While I keep reporting about vandalism it is nice to be able to report a good deed by a group of young people from CRCA. Boy Scout Troop #259 and the LDS youth group spent a couple of hours sifting the sand at the Windmill Park play structure on August 18^th. There was a large amount of foreign debris in the sand and we greatly appreciate the great job they did. Thanks girls and guys!

Serving on a committee or on the Board of Directors for CRCA requires a commitment of time and energy. None of these positions are paid positions and we sometimes struggle to get homeowner involvement. I would like to thank Chuck Stead for the time and commitment he made while serving on the BOD for the last two years. Chuck was an asset to the CRCA BOD; his new position at work does not allow him the time needed to commit to CRCA and has required him to resign from the BOD. We wish him all the best and thank him for what he contributed to CRCA. The BOD appointed Larry Lemieux to replace Chuck at the July 14^th BOD meeting. Larry has been very active in the ARC and is running for the BOD in the next election. Welcome onboard Larry.

The Finance Committee has been working hard on the budget for 2011 and will be finalizing it at their next meeting on August 12^th. They have worked diligently to present a budget that meets the needs of CRCA while not raising dues. There are a lot of projects that we would all like to see done but the Finance Committee has been able to prioritize the wish lists presented by the various committees to a realistic budget. While it is not easy to deny requests for improvements to CRCA the committee has done a very good job and they should be congratulated on the proposed budget.

You might have noticed the mounds of dirt along Silverbell Road at numerous entryways- not the prairie dog mounds. These mounds are the result of new solar lighting for the unlighted entryways and upgraded lighting at the existing lighted ones. This project includes all entryways that are signed and hopefully will be completed shortly. Once the temperatures drop lower we should see the entryway landscaping project start. The Landscape committee is working to enhance the entryways at all parcels to make them more inviting.

The management company walked Coachline Blvd from Silverbell Road to the wash near Windmill Park and counted 97 drips going to nothing. DLC the new landscape company for CRCA has capped over 450 drips since taking on the maintenance of our common areas. These drips went to plants at one time that were removed and were never replaced. The BOD has directed the Landscape committee to replace any plants removed with like kind plantings. We will paying particular attention to ALL common area landscaping in an effort to enhance these to the high standard required by the CC&R’s.

We are three fourths of the way through our 2009/2010 fiscal year being completed. This BOD has worked diligently to not only satisfy the regulations imposed on it by the Arizona Corporations Commission and AZ law but also to enhance the common areas within CRCA.

We have completed the audit required and have an updated Reserve Study with which to plan future replacement and/or refurbishment of our CRCA assets.

A lot has happened over the last nine months. A new management company was hired and seems to have us headed in the right direction- finally. They have updated the software to a system called VMS, at no added expense I might add. One of the benefits you might have noticed is account access and payment options available online.

An RFP (request for proposal) was put out for the landscape contract for our common areas and after much scrutiny DLC Resources was chosen as our new landscape contractor. They are currently working on a proposal to enhance the entryway landscaping at all monument entries, as well as the Twin Peaks entry from the new roadway. An ad hoc committee is working on proposals for the entryway monument there as well as landscape enhancements. Pima Wastewater has a re-pumping station there behind a cyclone fence. Thanks to John Warner from Pima Wastewater for working hard to help have a brick wall built to enclose this.

The Community Center Pool was resealed at a substantial savings over the planned cost ($15,000 spent, versus $70,000 budgeted) and the concrete that needed repair in front of the Windmill office was replaced with brick pavers at another substantial savings over budget requests ($15,000 spent, versus $23,000 budgeted). A regular seasonal Air Conditioning maintenance service program has been established for our two buildings, instead of neglecting the units and until they break down and need full replacement – preventative maintenance a new idea here in CRCA now.

New lighting is being added to the entryways with monuments as we speak. Decorative rock replenishment is being planned along with covering bare dirt areas currently owned by CRCA as budget allows. The Community Center parking lot should be resealed this summer and we are working on bids to repave the Windmill Park parking lot. Other items being looked at are pool area lighting upgrades as well as pool area fencing upgrades. All of the items I mentioned are budgeted for and I see no need at this time to seek a dues increase. Thanks to Jim Susa, past chair of the finance committee, and Debbie Budd, current chair, we are in sound financial shape. As our auditor told us- we are in better shape financially than any other association he has dealt with currently.

Hopefully you enjoy the summer and the monsoon does form. Never thought I would say this, after growing up in Seattle, we need the rain!

Time flies or so they say! It is time again to prepare for electing three new directors to the BOD whose terms expire in October. The directors whose terms expire are Connie DeLarge, Chuck Stead and John Lambert. The BOD selected a nominating committee at the May meeting and applications are being accepted for these three positions.

The new paving on Silverbell and Twin Peaks is completed and I’d like to commend all involved in that project for the expeditious way that it was done. Having been involved in the asphalt paving industry for 40+ years I know what it takes to coordinate such a project. While we experienced single lane closures and some backups of traffic for a few days it could have been much worse. The contractor, AZ DOT and town of Marana committed to a 24 hour a day construction schedule and it allowed the project to be completed with minimal traffic problems in a short time. I, for one, greatly appreciate how fast they were able to finish up the repaving. Great job guys!

Vandalism of CRCA property and grounds continues- the latest being $1239.12 to replace the oval tube at the Windmill Park play system because a few teens decided to jump up and down on it. Marana police have been given the surveillance video and are investigating. The BOD elected to offer a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone caught in the act or vandalizing or destroying CRCA property and will prosecute to the full extent of the law. This BOD is serious about stopping these acts of senseless destruction of CRCA’s assets. We were forced to hire pool monitors in April- before the planned date of May- to stop the actions of a small group of people at the pools. Just to put it into perspective- the pool committee budgets $60,000.00 for pool monitors (from May to September) because a few cannot abide by the rules at the pools. This equates to $12.00 a year in everyone’s dues because of a few individuals. We have better ways to spend our dues than replacing vandalized property! Please, report any suspicious activity to the office during business hours or to the Marana police after hours. We need to stop this before it gets worse.

Continental Ranch

The Windmill office entry has been a mess but should be completed by the time this newsletter is received in the mail. It was budgeted to stain the concrete this year but we discovered serious issues with cracking and settlement of the slabs themselves. The staining would have to be done every five years and would not have addressed the settlements and trip hazards we saw. We asked management to get bids for replacement of the bad slabs of concrete (approx. 1/3 of the total concrete) and to ask for bids to replace all of the walkway with brick pavers. After receiving the bids the BOD decided to replace all of the concrete with brick pavers and it was well under the budget to stain the concrete. The concrete removal took more time than expected because there were sections where the concrete was over 13” deep- why? No one can answer that question.

I’d like to thank the Groundskeeper for the time they were our landscape contractor and for the professional turnover of the property to DLC Resources Inc. – our new contractor. Glen Kilmer worked very hard to clean up any areas of concern and worked with management to see it was a seamless transition. Thanks to Glen and his staff. With that said, I’d like to welcome DLC as our new landscape contractor and we look forward to making CRCA a place people want to make their home.

We still have a large number of issues facing us your BOD but are working to try to resolve them. Rest assured that each and every member of this BOD is working hard on your behalf. The office fields numerous questions about the Grassmeyer lawsuit and other issues and cannot provide answers to your questions at this time. Our attorney is still in negotiations and until we resolve those issues we are not at liberty to discuss them. When we are able, we will hold an open forum to answer your questions.

It seems like vandalism continues in CRCA. The Windmill pool has been vandalized numerous times and we have had issues with people jumping the fence to get into the pool. Pool furniture has been thrown in the pool, groups of teens have been verbally abusive to residents and numerous other conduct problems have arisen. The BOD has hired pool monitors earlier than budgeted to stop this behavior. This is a waste of all homeowners dues as well as behavior we cannot allow. I will be proposing that anyone caught performing actions not allowed in the pool areas or vandalizing association property in the pools will have their pool privileges revoked. This has to stop and we will do everything necessary to see that it does. We as BOD members are committed to making CRCA a place we all are proud of.

Continental Ranch

After receiving responses to the Request for Proposals (RFP) in December of 2009, the Landscape Committee and BOD spent a lot of time reviewing each proposal and narrowing the field to the four companies they felt were up to doing common area landscape maintenance for CRCA. There were onsite tours made of the four selected bidders’ reference properties and all four companies were invited to do a 15 minute presentation at the March 10^th study session. The BOD unanimously selected DLC Resources to take over the maintenance contract on April 18, 2010. We would like to thank The Groundskeeper for their past service to CRCA and welcome DLC as our new landscaper.

The office, as well as myself, have fielded numerous complaints about the weeds and rodent holes along Silverbell road. CRCA does not own the property behind the sidewalk to the wall along Silverbell Road- this is public right of way owned by the Town of Marana and as such is their responsibility.

The Northwest YMCA approached me about providing programs within CRCA for our residents. We are partnering with the YMCA in an attempt to bring more activities to our members. There will be an Open House at the Community Center on Sunday, April 24^th from 1PM to 4PM with staff from the YMCA present to provide information on possible programs that will be available to CRCA if enough people are interested. They are currently working with the Senior Citizens of CRCA to bring in their Silver Sneakers program into our community. They offer everything from day camps to youth sports programs to Itty Bitty sports for 3-4 year olds. Please plan to attend as we are only limited by the interest you show. With the Town of Marana experiencing budget cuts who knows what activities might be cut as a result.

Your next semiannual billing for dues will arrive shortly and will be different than in the past. In the mailing will be a letter explaining the six alternate ways to pay. You will be able to access your account online.  This is a result of converting over to the VMS system and will be more efficient and provide more options to residents. If you have questions, after receiving your billing, staff will be more than willing to answer your questions.

I have been your BOD President for the past 17 months. The majority of issues that this BOD has faced are a result of actions by the Association in the past and not your current BOD. Through policies and actions adopted and enacted by past BOD’s and management companies we have had to readdress a large number of issues, both legally and financially. I apologize for any inconveniences you are or will experience in using our facilities as we bring them up to the standards required under the CC&R’s. The entry way to the offices will be undergoing removal and replacement because of liability issues with the current condition of the concrete walkway. The Windmill pool fence will require unplanned replacement because of rust issues not properly addressed in the past. This BOD inherited a mess and has diligently worked to make CRCA a better community while meeting our “fiduciary duty” to the Corporation. I appreciate the commitment of the current Board and Committee members and the time they give to our Association. Rest assured we will diligently follow through on our promises to the community.