Presidents Letter

With summer winding down we should start seeing cooler temperatures which will be a relief to our power bills as well as being outside. With summer coming to an end it also means that there will be an election for four BOD members. Ballots will be going out near the middle to end of September; so look for yours and make sure to return it. There are only four people running for four positions but we need to have a quorum vote to make it official. If not the BOD would appoint people to fill the vacancies. They are all qualified candidates with the intention of making CRCA better. Please return your ballots.

The BOD approved the budget for next year and has not had to raise dues again. We have some of the lowest dues of any HOA here in Tucson with more amenities than other HOA’s. The BOD has been very diligent in how and where monies are spent and has been successful in not having to raise dues and still maintain our amenities to a high standard. While some homeowners have not agreed with some of the cost saving items the BOD has undertaken, it has allowed us to not have to raise dues. With Reserve contributions increasing $10,000 to $15,000 a year, utility costs increasing 6% to 10% a year and vendors requesting increases, there will come a point when dues will have to be raised to cover these increases. The BOD is investigating a few options to possibly increase our revenue stream without increasing dues. We will keep you posted.

Have a safe fall season and we hope to see you at the annual meeting.

It was only a matter of time, but the triple digit temperatures are back. The 100’s in Arizona are like death and taxes- pretty much a sure thing. Try to keep hydrated and cool. It seems like a larger number of homeowners and their families are doing just that at the Windmill pool and splash pad. I don’t think I have ever seen it as busy as it has been lately. Please remember there are pool rules that are enforced so that everyone can enjoy the pool and splash pad. I just returned from a trip to Anchorage Alaska for my grandson’s wedding- what a difference! Highs were in the low 70’s and the sun didn’t set until midnight and was right back up at 4:00AM and the mosquitoes were out all hours.

The finance committee will be finalizing next year’s budget at their next meeting with the goal of not raising dues but still keeping things up to a high standard. The landscape committee is looking at replacing the irrigation at Windmill Park and the baseball diamond. It was installed over 20 years ago with some of the valves five to six feet deep along with serious flaws in the water distribution from the sprinklers. Some areas are receiving too much water and others not enough. The new plan should drop water usage 40 to 50% and give us even distribution.

The Fourth of July is coming, let’s celebrate this great nation’s independence and values that so many have sacrificed for over the many years this great county has been in existence. Have a safe and happy fourth.

The Easter egg hunt was a big success again! We had over 600 kids participate, and a crowd of over 1500 enjoying all the attractions we were able to put together at Windmill Park. We are seeing the demographics here in CRCA changing- with more families moving in and participating in the community. I have really enjoyed seeing the number of families enjoying the pool at Windmill Park the past couple of weekends. I’m sure the recent addition of the splash pad has something to do with the added people. I’m sorry to say our contractor neglected to apply for a permit with the Pima County Health Department and the splash pad has been shut down by Pima County until a permit is issued. The BOD is probably even more unhappy with this situation than the children who have been enjoying the splash pad, and we are working every avenue to get it reopened ASAP.

With the first of May comes one of the duties the BOD does not enjoy at all. That duty is sending homeowners in arrears of their assessments to collections. Anyone who has not paid for one year is sent to collections as it is our fiduciary duty to see that all homeowners are current on their dues. We send delinquency notices out, but a number of homeowners fail to respond at all. This really leaves us with no option but to send it to collections. If you are having financial issues please contact the office so some sort of arrangement can be made.  That way, we are not forced into having to send you to collections. Ignoring it will not make it go away and sending it to collections just adds attorney’s fees to the bill. The initial contact by the attorney cost an extra $150.00 and is added to the assessment due. Please contact the office so we do not have to send a past due account to collections.

Have a safe and happy May.

The annual CRCA Easter egg hunt will be held on April 4^th at Windmill Park for CRCA residents. If the past attendance is any indication we can look forward to a large number of children enjoying all the activities the Association puts on for this event. Make sure to get your wristbands before the day of the egg hunt so your children don’t miss their time for their age group at the egg hunt. We invariably have a large number of residents who show up the day the event and it takes time to make sure they are CRCA homeowners. This event is sponsored by the Association and is only for residents. If you don’t have children maybe you could consider volunteering to help for a few hours. It is very rewarding to see all the happy and excited children enjoying themselves.

The splash pad contractor failed to have it up and running by the March 1^st target – and failed again in not having it ready in time for spring break. We have been assured it will be ready for use by April 1^st. The office has received numerous calls from young children wanting to know if it was open yet. Trust me when I say that the BOD is just as anxious as they are to get it open and running for the kids.

In the first two weeks of Windmill pool reopening there were 7 pool key suspensions for rule violations. This is not something any of us like to do but there are rules that need to be followed. These rules have been the culmination of years of collaboration of the various pool committees. There is a reason behind every rule and they are not just arbitrary decisions. Pima County has a law prohibiting children under 14 in a hot tub- children’s bodies cannot dissipate the heat in a hot tub like an adult. Showering is required before entering the pool to get rid of soaps on swim suits and bodies- soaps destroy the chemicals in the pool required for sanitation. The list goes on and on. Please follow the rules while at the pool- we do not like turning off pool keys but have no choice so everyone can enjoy the pools.

Have a happy Easter and enjoy the facilities CRCA has to offer.

While it was nice to see the rains come in December and January they have an adverse side effect as well.  WEEDS!  Looking around our common areas we took the landscape crew to task for the large number of weeds growing around our community and they went on a weed control mission to eliminate them.  While we use pre-emergent on all of our common areas, the rains allowed the seeds to germinate that had blown in from other areas anyway.  There are a large number of covenants letters going out to homeowners who have not taken care of the weeds on their property.  Please take control of the weeds if you receive a letter so CRCA can appear well-maintained.

We were hoping to have the new splash pad ready to go by March 1^st but our contractor failed to meet the schedule we gave them.  They will be installing the equipment and testing it the first week of March and hopefully we can have it up and running no later than the 15^th of March.  Watch the reader board at the Community Center when we have a firm opening date and make sure you leave your e-mail address at the office so we can send out an e-mail blast.  It should be a great addition to our community and should be enjoyed by the children living here.  Windmill pool will still reopen on March 1^st even though the splash pad is not completed.

I have written about his issue before but I am still continually surprised by the large number of children using the play structure at the Windmill Park playground area.  I am also surprised at how many children and families enjoy the turf area that is really looking nice.  It is too bad that there are a few individuals who believe there is a Poop Fairy who will wave their magic wand and the piles left by their dogs will magically disappear.  There is no Poop Fairy and the piles left are being picked up on kid’s shoes.  Not only that, but there are very real health issues with dog feces as well as it being against the law to not scoop your poop. It is not limited to just Windmill Park but throughout CRCA. Please be considerate of your neighbors and don’t wait for the Poop Fairy to appear – scoop your dog’s poop.

At the January BOD meeting the directors adopted a Resolution prohibiting certain activities in an effort to prevent criminal activity in our community. Also known as a Crime Free Program, it deals with certain criminal behaviors in an attempt to make our community safer for everyone. A copy of this resolution is in this newsletter and I urge everyone to please read it.

The BOD had approved a bid to completely refurbish the Windmill Park pool bath rooms. The Reserve study had allocated $16,000 to perform the work with the bid coming in over $62,000.00. We were able to get it down to roughly $50,000.00 and were going to proceed by making up the difference with other monies. After approving it the contractor came back with his “real” bid which drove the cost up another 25%. We chose to postpone the work on this project and will be seeking other bids but will be moving forward with redoing the showers at Windmill and the Community Center pools. There have been mold issues brought to our attention as well as the unsightly calcium build up on the existing tiles.

A number of residents have been curious about all the digging and construction going on the south side of the office and pool. The BOD has approved putting in a splash pad for the kids to enjoy this summer. It will include a number of water features for the children to cool off with this summer- it should be a great addition to our Association and provide the children here in CRCA hours of fun. There is a mock up in the office if you are curious. We are hoping that the contractor meets our schedule of having it done by March 1st when Windmill Pool reopens.           

As I look forward to another Thanksgiving feast I am very grateful for the blessings we have as a family. While the majority of us have a lot to be thankful for some of our neighbors have been less fortunate and could use a helping hand during this holiday season. CRCA will again “adopt” some
families that could use a little extra help this holiday season, as we have done in the past. It has always amazed me how giving this community is during this season. There is a giving tree at the office for the families less fortunate the association “adopted” for Christmas. Help make their “wishes” come
true by picking up a wish and supplying what they have wished for this Christmas. Santa will be available for free pictures with a canned food donation on December 6th at the community center with the donations going to the food bank- there are also bins at the office to bring donations for the food bank all month. The monthly food truck block party was very well attended with new food trucks supplying a lot of different choices. I made the mistake of bypassing the Twisted Tandoor because I figured the Indian food they were serving was a lot of curry- was I ever wrong. After eating we stopped by as they were giving samples of their chicken dish- was I surprised how well it was spiced and will make sure I stop there next time. There will be no BOD meeting in December as it gets too busy that time of year for all the BOD members. The January meeting will start another year of challenges for the newly elected BOD to deal with.

I wanted to mention that there is a “Santa’s Workshop” presented by the Arizona Rose Theatre Company taking place at the Community Center on Sunday December 21st. This charity event collects “gently pre-loved (used)” toys throughout southern Arizona for the “Santa Recycles” program, where toys are cleaned and repaired for redistribution. Sunday December 21st from 1pm-3pm is the last minute collection for this Christmas. So if your household has those toys laying around that no longer
get used but are in decent condition, why not find them a new home where they’ll be loved? Please contact the management office if you have any questions.
Have a very Merry Christmas and safe and Happy New Year!

You should have all received your ballots for the BOD election by now. If you have not voted please take a few minutes to fill it out and mail it in. How this association moves forward and interacts with homeowners depends on homeowners casting their vote on how this will be done. There are four qualified candidates for three positions so please vote.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Connie DeLarge for serving on the BOD for the past six years. She has chosen not to run this time and the community owes her a big thank you for the time and effort she has put forth being a BOD member for six years. Thank you Connie.

Fall is here and the dogs and homeowners are enjoying the lower temperatures for their walks. Hopefully this will also bring out more people to the monthly Block Party/Food Truck Roundup at Windmill Park. There has been a consistently good turnout of people in attendance and the climbing wall at last month’s was a great success. Hopefully we will see you there in October.

The Thanksgiving and Christmas food drives to help those less fortunate are still planned, as is the holiday lighting contest and caroling at Windmill Park . A Santa food drive is being organized with free pictures with Santa for a food donation with times announced next month.

Enjoy the cooler weather and consider attending a committee or BOD meeting. This community is only as good as those willing to donate their time to make it better that way.

The new cool decking at Windmill pool has been completed along with the repainting of the Windmill office and ramada’s. The fencing at both the community center pool and Windmill pool have also been repainted. The repainting of the fences is required to be done every three years by the Reserve Study due to the oxidation (rust) of the metal from the chlorine in the pool. The study is a valuable tool for long range planning to meet the financial requirements to keep our assets in top condition and not have surprise expenses from lack of maintenance. There were some questions raised as to why the Windmill pool had to be closed in July for the work and the reason being that the work needed to be done with higher temperatures than those we have later in the year.

A number of rumors have been floating around about the survey sent out to all homeowners on closing the pool for the winter months. The only votes counted in the tally were homeowner votes – period. No commercial votes were counted toward the total count with 71% of homeowners voting to close it. If you have questions please feel free to ask management for the answers rather than listening to the “rumor mill”.

With sunset earlier and temperatures more comfortable after the sun sets the monthly food truck rally might be a good choice for something different for the family. It is nice to see the families coming down and enjoying the grass at Windmill park and there will be a few more reasons to bring the family starting this month. There will be a rock climbing wall for the kids to try (no charge) and a balloon artist will be there also. We are hoping to add a movie in the park in the future. So come down and enjoy the beautiful park we have and meet your neighbors along with having a great variety of food.

To the people writing anonymous letters to the association- if you have a valid concern please present it at the BOD meeting or with a name so that we can address those concerns directly with you instead of just filing them in the round file can. 

Another school year starts on August 5^th so watch out for the children going to and from school. They’ve been on summer vacation and may not be as attentive to traffic around them. Speaking of school, the Marana High School marching band will be holding a rummage sale fundraiser at the Community Center on August 9th to help purchase accessories like hat boxes, suit bags, gloves, etc. for their NEW uniforms.The band participates in the Rodeo Days Parade, the Marana Founders’ Day Parade, as well as dedicating every Friday night during football season to play at the games. This is a great opportunity to pick up used treasures and school clothes as well as support the local high school band. Last year they were able to acquire a director’s observation tower with proceeds from their sale.

The Windmill pool deck repairs should be complete as well as the repainting of the office building, ramadas, and pool fencing as required by the Reserve study. Keeping our assets up to a high standard is the goal of the BOD and through careful budgeting and contributions to the Reserve funding we have been able to do this while not having to increase assessments. With the required increases to the Reserve contributions each year there will be some choices to be made in the next few years.

The survey sent out to the homeowners concerning keeping Windmill pool open in the winter months has been tallied. There were 620 homeowner surveys returned. 442 homeowners (71%)  wanted the pool closed in the winter and 178 homeowners (29%) wanted it open. The BOD will follow the majority opinion in this matter.

Hopefully the monsoons will kick in this month as we can surely use the rain.