Presidents Letter

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.

I am 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 dogs poop.

On a happier note CRCA will be having its annual Easter Egg hunt the Saturday before Easter- April 7^th. There were over 350 kids last year and we are anticipating a larger turn out this year. We are still in need of volunteers to assist the day of the egg hunt. If you could find a few hours to spend helping there you will be rewarded with a lot of smiles from the children participating. Call Jocelyn at the office if you are interested in helping out.

I presented the Pool committee with some figures on how many homeowners use the Windmill Pool during the winter months- November, December, January and February. I was shocked by the low number of homeowners who use the pool or spa and asked the committee for some input before presenting the information to the BOD and community. Apparently it went beyond the committee to the small number of people using the pool or spa and resulted in a barrage of phone calls to the office as well as a few users coming to the BOD meeting to protest something that was never discussed outside of the pool committee. The Keri card system, to access the pool, tracks each pool card that is used for entrance to the pools. I had management put together the usage of the Windmill pool for January, February, November and December of 2011. There were 319 households that used the pool or spa (7% of the 3450 households in CRCA) – 249 of those households used the pool less than 5 times in those 4 months. The remaining 70 households (2% of the households in CRCA) used the pool from 6 to 55 times during those 121 days. I have included a more thorough breakdown of that information below and wanted to share that information with the whole community. I understand that it is nice to have a heated pool to enjoy in the winter but much like my choice to not heat my pool because of the cost as a BOD member I have to look at the cost versus benefit of expenditures to the whole community when budgeting. There has been no need to increase dues for a number of years because of fiscal responsibility of the BOD’s. The Association is no different than a homeowner in that there are increasing costs associated with services we require. There is no move afoot to close Windmill pool in the winter but there is a need to closely look at the cost of heating the pool against the benefit to the whole community. That is what I asked the Pool committee to look at- nothing more. This will be presented to the whole community so that all homeowners will have say in this before any action is taken.

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10 homeowners (0.35% of all homeowners) used their cards between 27 and 36 times in 120 days.                               

6 homeowners (0.17% of all homeowners) used the pool area between 37 and 55 times in 120 days.

TOTAL USERS OF WINDMILL POOL AND/OR SPA FOR WINTER MONTHS (Nov., Dec., Jan. and Feb.) WERE 319- OF WHICH 249 (78% OF THOSE 321) USED THE POOL 5 DAYS OR LESS. A total of 32 homeowners (0.9% of all homeowners) used the pool and/or spa more than 10 days out of 121.  10 of those 32 homeowners used the pool more than 30 days out of 120 days.                                                                                       

Hopefully you all had a wonderful holiday and 2012 will bring everything you hope for.  I know that the two families that CRCA adopted for Christmas had a good Christmas because of the generosity of a large number of homeowners who donated items that the children of those families wished for. Thanks to all of you- it was greatly appreciated by all.

I would like to thank the Boy Scouts of Troop #219  And Girl Scouts of Troop #320/1499 for their taking the time and effort to make the flag raising at the Community Center on December 10^th a special event. They approached the flag-raising with respect for what the flag represents and took their duty very seriously. When you drive or walk by the Community Center take the time to look at the flag and reflect on what it means to each and everyone one of us.

The BOD has survived another year of challenges and obstacles and I am sure we will face more of them in the year ahead. Every member of the BOD puts a lot of time and effort into the making CRCA a better place to live. I feel we have been successful and look forward to another year serving all you homeowners.

The Activities Committee accomplished a lot of things in 2010 and 2011. There was no Halloween Party in 2011 and Santa was not available at the Community Center for pictures benefitting the Community Food Bank. This is because there are only two members on the committee at this point- and attendance has been dismal at best. The BOD will attempt to put on the Easter Egg Hunt in 2012 but we need volunteers to make this as good an event as last years. Even if you do not have the time to serve on a committee please consider volunteering to help this Easter. The kids really enjoyed it and the BOD does not want to see this disappear because of lack of people to help out during the event.

Hopefully everyone had an enjoyable and festive Thanksgiving. With the Christmas season upon us we sometimes get caught up in just the commercial side of the holiday. With an Activities committee that has lost enough members to put into question the viability of supporting

community activities the BOD committed to personal support of the Christmas Light Contest and the Adopt a Family for this month. Given that there was no planning done for the Adopt a Family from CRCA by the committee we cannot put a wish list for donations to a family struggling at this time in this newsletter. A giving tree will be in the lobby of the office

with “wishes” on the tree from the family or families we are trying to help at this sometimes not so joyous time of year for some. Please, try to find the time to try to help someone not sharing the blessings some of us have and make a wish come true for a neighbor by stopping by the office and picking up a wish. It is with regret that we had to accept the resignation of Rob Palfreyman from the BOD. Rob just has too much going on with his work and family to devote the time required to be on the BOD. Thank you for all the time and effort you put in Rob- CRCA is a better place because of you. Rob will still remain as a member of the landscape committee and is a valued asset with his extensive landscape and plant knowledge. The BOD would like to welcome Roxanne Ziegler to the BOD. Roxanne was unanimously appointed to replace Rob at the November 17th meeting. She brings new perspectives and a definite interest in the community as evidenced by her time and efforts on the Marana Town council. The new flag pole is up and we just received the flag that was flown over the capitol in Washington DC. The

girl scouts and boy scouts will be raising the flag on December 10th at 10am. Please plan on attending and show your support to what the flag represents. I would personally like to thank all those involved in the association and wish all of you and all my neighbors here in CRCA a Merry Christmas.

Having received your property tax assessments from Pima County there is an assessment that most of us pay little attention to. That assessment is listed as CMID (Cortaro Marana Irrigation District) and is being levied on a large majority of CRCA homeowners. CMID has been in existence since 1919 and serves approximately 70 irrigation customers (farmers) and also wholesales water to the Town of Marana for its potable water distribution system. Before CRCA was built for home development a large portion of it was used for lettuce farming and irrigation was needed by the farmers. After the development of CRCA no change was made to the taxing abilities of CMID and all homeowners within the district are taxed at a rate of $66 an acre. While most properties are far less than an acre you are still taxed at the percentage of an acre you have. While most homeowners only see a $20 to $30 dollar a year tax obligation it does make a difference in today’s world of tight budgets. It makes one wonder why CMID is able to receive taxes from property owners who receive no irrigation water from the District but still get taxed? The BOD is currently investigating options for the affected homeowners.

By now everyone has received their ballot for the election of BOD members. While there are only four candidates for the four BOD positions please return your ballots so we may attain a quorum to certify the results. BOD members receive no compensation for their time in trying to make the Association and CRCA a great place to live.

Something I addressed in my September 2009 report is still an ongoing problem for some homeowners. There have been numerous homes flooded by burst water pipes. This is a costly and very disruptive event to happen in your home. A number of these have occurred because of a defective pressure regulating valve that regulates the pressure of the water delivered to your home. Tucson water delivers the water to your home  between 76 and 83 psi from its main lines. This pressure is too high for home plumbing (50 to 60 psi is recommended). Two things can happen to the valve- it can fail completely which will result in excessive pressure in the plumbing lines in your home. This can result in extensive water damage to the home as the connections in the lines are not able to handle the added pressure and rupture. The other thing that can happen is low water pressure to your home- shower heads with low pressure, sprinklers not popping up, etc. This can also result in high spikes in pressure when the defective valve is not replaced. Tucson Water recommends that it is a good idea to check those valves as they seem to fail usually after 10 years- sometimes less.

I would like to thanks all our “neighbors” who respect this community and show it by the little things they do. Keeping their yards neatly pruned and weed free, keeping their dogs on leash at Windmill Park so as to not infringe on others enjoyment of the park, following the pool rules while using the pools and just being a good neighbor. Too often I mention the issues of vandalism and infractions of the rules and would like to thank those of you who are good neighbors.

 While I love dogs there are people who do not like dogs or are afraid of them. Please remember that Pima County has a leash law and that CRCA has a rule that all dogs must be on a leash when on CRCA common areas. Windmill Park is a great place to take your dog- but not off a leash! There have been numerous problems with unleashed dogs and owners not picking up after their dogs. There are signs at Windmill Park that some homeowners either choose to ignore or feel the rules do not apply to them. Any homeowner with an unleashed dog is subject to a $100 fine for each occurrence as well as losing use of common areas (pools included) for 30 days for each occurrence. Please be a considerate dog owner and think of others who might not have the same love of your canine companion.