Presidents Letter

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.

As I mentioned in last month’s newsletter a number of Palo Verde trees have been infested with witches’ broom. The landscape committee toured the property recently looking at the condition of the Palo Verde trees. While the committee feels that trees add shade and are a real asset to the community it was with great reluctance that the committee has decided that removing the infested trees is in the best interests of the community. In an attempt to try and get ahead of the infestation and try to keep it from going further the committee decided to remove 24 Palo Verdes from Coachline north of Twin Peaks and replace them with 36 inch boxed trees. This was not something that was planned for but by careful management of their budget they will be able to achieve this goal while staying in budget. The committee will be looking at other infested trees when they have a new budget in November.

On a happier note the new play structure was completed at Windmill Park and if the amount of usage is any indication I would venture a guess that it is being warmly received by both the parents and the kids. It is a great addition to Windmill and continues the mission of this BOD to keeping our assets up to highest standard that we all deserve.

I find it quite interesting that the kiddie pool at the community center has far fewer problems keeping the pH level correct while the hot tub/spa at Windmill pool has constant issues in maintaining the proper pH levels due to urination. You would think that little children would be urinating in the pool while adults using the spa would not be. Apparently this is not the case and can cause very serious consequences for anyone using the spa. Chlorine interacts with ammonia from urine to form chloramines which have been associated with lung and nasal problems. It is really sad that the little children have better control of their bladders than adults in this case.

With Memorial Day behind us school is out for summer break meaning the kids have more free time. I am sure we will see more use of our community pools by these children and their families. Just a reminder, that the pool committee has established a set of rules for behavior in the pool areas so that everyone can have a safe and enjoyable time while using the pools. Management is not responsible for making the rules but they are sometimes responsible for enforcing them. That being said, it seems that a few people feel it is their right to get confrontational with management when they are approached about breaking the pool rules. Management is following the rules that the pool committee established and the BOD ratified. The BOD put in place a policy that anyone acting in an intimidating, confrontational or demeaning manner toward management or the pool monitors will have their pool key suspended for 30-days and may face up to a $100 fine. Please follow the rules and treat management and the pool monitors with respect- they are only doing what they are told.

The trees in the common areas within CRCA have a replacement value of 2.4 million dollars. They are a great asset providing shade and enhancing the environment for all. The landscape committee is tasked with overseeing the care of the trees as well as the plants and flowers. It was noticed that a number of Palo Verde trees were not appearing healthy. The arborist was consulted and he noted that a number of them are infested with witches’ broom. Witches’ broom causes a proliferation of dense twig growth and is associated with the eriophyid mite, but the cause of the problem is unclear at this time. It eventually will kill the tree and there is no cure except removal of affected areas, but removal does not prevent reoccurrence. If you prune out witches’ broom you need to sterilize your tools before using them elsewhere or you can spread it further. If you have Palo Verde trees please keep an eye on them for witches’ broom so it does not spread throughout the community. CRCA has over 170 Palo Verde trees and the landscape committee will be addressing what actions need to be taken with the affected trees so we can protect our investment.

The Association hosted the annual Easter Egg hunt at Windmill park on the Saturday before Easter. Judging from the large turnout (over 500 children) accompanied by parents, older siblings, and a few grandparents I would have to say it was a great success. Thanks to Jocelyn and all the volunteers as well as the rest of the management staff for putting so much work into making this such a great event. A special thanks to Stephen and Ryan for dressing up in the Easter bunny suit- they deserve it as you have no idea how hot that suit is. It was really nice to see the families coming together and enjoying our beautiful park and their families. There were lots of smiling children running around and enjoying the petting zoo, face painters, balloon artists and jumping castles as well as the egg hunts.

The BOD, Finance committee and management will be working on the budget for next year starting in May. We have not seen a dues increase since I have been on the BOD (6 years) but we have seen increases in the of cost services, utilities and required contributions to the reserve fund continually rise. In 2010 our reserve contribution was $90,000.00. The current contribution requirement is $170,000.00 with it rising to $216,968.00 by 2018. We have held management and other contractors to no increases for over two years and will be facing increases this coming year. Looking at a number of expenditures the cost of keeping Windmill pool open November to February has stood out as one of question. In 2006 the then BOD decided to keep Windmill open year round on a trial basis. With the associated costs and usage by a very small number or residents the BOD decided to send a survey out in May for input from all homeowners on the justification of this expenditure. Please return the survey so we can make plans while budgeting for next year and hopefully not have to raise dues.