Presidents Letter

I would like to congratulate the new members elected to the BOD- Peggy Bracken, Gus Lipins and Terry Paschen; as well as the returning member Marilyn Stimpson. I would also like to thank the other candidates for participating and wish them well. I was re elected as president  with Chuck Stead- 1^st Vice, Marilyn Stimpson- 2^nd Vice, Peggy Bracken- Secretary and Connie DeLarge- Treasurer. With another election behind us and the holidays around the corner it is a busy time for all of us, but the BOD is still faced with a number of challenges.

We are still working on resolving the Waste Management issue- with no response from them since May 2009 to our proposal. Our attorney is negotiating with our past collections companies attorney and we will hopefully see this come to a conclusion shortly. The newly hired management company has VMS up and running with data entry being done to update all of our records. When complete you will be given an ID number and will be able access your records online.

What makes a community great? I’ve asked myself that and have come to the realization that it is neighbors that make a community a place others want to live. All too often, in today’s world, we do not find the time or desire to get to know our neighbors. What is a neighbor?  They respect each others’ boundaries but are quick to assist in a crisis. Great neighbors make for great neighborhoods, and it is well worth the effort. There are a million ways you can be a good neighbor, starting with something as simple as sitting on the front porch and saying hello. We are not all into block parties and socializing with our neighbors but maybe take the time to wish them happy holidays this season and get to know them. We are all in this together so why not make the best of it.

If you and yours are blessed this season please remember the Adopt a Family program the Association donates to. There are others less fortunate that can use a little help, especially in this economy. Any donation would be greatly appreciated. Don’t forget to visit the Walgreen’s at Twin Peaks and Coachline on Dec. 12^th and 13^th and get a free photo with Santa with your donation to the Marana community food bank. Have a safe and wonderful holiday season.

Writing the Presidents message for the newsletter can be a very daunting task. Not wanting to write a message full of fru fru nor remind homeowners what they cannot do is not something I will do. With the deadline for the message well before the study session or Board meeting it is next to impossible to report to you homeowners anything that is short of conjecture on my part. With that said, let me say your BOD has been very busy trying to make CRCA the place we all promised when running for election to the BOD. It is nice to hear from homeowners that they feel we are making a difference in CRCA becoming more “homeowner friendly”.
I hope that the new Design Guidelines have been passed at the April 29th BOD meeting- there was a lot of time, energy and thought put into these by the ARC; and they are to be thanked for presenting such a document. I would like to pass on one of the comments from a homeowner after he read them at the office:
“I can’t tell you how pleased I was after reading the new design guidelines.  Even the way it was written is friendly.  It contains common sense, puts many decisions back into the hands of the homeowners, and shows a real desire to work with the homeowner on items not spelled out in the document.”
I know that a number of you were confused when you received yet another letter about opting out of the Waste Management contract. I apologize if it seemed redundant but our attorney advised us to proceed in this manner so that we can put this divisive issue behind us. While we did not achieve what we set out to do I feel the resultant negotiated compromise is in the best interests of all homeowners in CRCA. We are hoping to finalize this with Waste Management by the end of May.
Let me just close by saying that there are still a large number of issues confronting this Board and we will address each one of them in a fair and legal manner. We are homeowners also and have a vested interest in seeing that Association business is done to benefit all homeowners in CRCA and not just a vocal few.

 The current economic situation facing the residents of CRCA is of definite concern to your Board. However, residents are still required to pay their homeowners dues, which is what the HOA uses to pay for things like landscape maintenance and community improvements. For residents who are having trouble paying the dues, please talk to the management company about relief measures. You still have to pay the bills, but this Board might be  willing to work with residents on payment plans and other reasonable strategies to help residents pay the bills without incurring delinquent charges and, potentially, legal fees. We are Board members with a “fiduciary duty” to the association but we are also your neighbors and fellow homeowners. Please, do not just ignore your dues payments. We have seen delinquencies in dues payments increase 25% from Nov. 2007 to Nov. 2008.
While CRCA is in good financial shape I have requested all committees to put on hold any expenditures that are not absolutely necessary; until we see how the May dues received compare to those anticipated when the budget was approved in October. I am not saying we will not continue with budgeted expenditures but instead believe it to be financially prudent for this Board to act very cautiously in the area of spending association monies- your monies- given the current economic situation facing the homeowners of CRCA.
I’d like to take this time to personally thank Jim Susa- the Finance Committee Chair- for helping to put CRCA on a strong financial footing. Jim has resigned from the committee after seeing through on his goal of putting CRCA in good financial shape. The time and effort Jim put into this are very much appreciated and have not gone unnoticed. While I hate to see Jim leave I hope he takes advantage of his extra time to enjoy it with his family. Good luck in all you do Jim, and again Thanks!
CRCA is a great community because it’s full of great people. Your HOA Board looks forward to improving our community, but we need your help. We work for YOU!

Make a commitment this year to invest in your most valuable asset – your home – by getting involved in your CRCA HOA. We’re looking for volunteers to organize community events, help us communicate,  serve on  committees. Everyone’s busy. You don’t need to do it all. You’ll be surprised how a small contribution of time makes a big difference when we work together!