Image Up Advertising & Design

16 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | MAY 2014 | COMMUNItY NEwS COMMUNItY NEwS | FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | MAY 2014 17 Water is a constant concern at Four Seasons. The vision for our community centered on a "lush landscape" look in the semi-arid southern California desert. While most, if not all, homeowners relate that this lush look was very instrumental in selecting Four Seasons for their new residence, it does come with an obligation and a price. The Association has an obligation to maintain this look both to support new sales and to keep faith with existing homeowners. Mother Nature did not exactly buy in to this concept and has staunchly defended her approach for vegetating the landscape. The rainfall chart for our community's five-year history explains the disconnect. Hundred year old rainfall records of the surrounding area document an average annual rainfall of 18.5". Over the last three years, rainfalls have been below 9". The Association has billing records for 29 meters that measure irrigation water in the purchased lots and common areas for which we are responsible. The Water Consumption chart illustrates a slight decrease even though our HOA year- end population increased from 809 in 2009 to 1111 in 2013. Our plant life has matured demanding more water and our irrigation system has aged causing leaks and water loss. The Association has undertaken several measures to reduce water consumption but is locked into the landscape scheme developed by the builder. Their designs place drought tolerant plants alongside water demanding plants. Sprinklers feed both types of plants must over water drought tolerant plants to sustain the other ones. In many cases we have replaced thirsty plants but many still populate our community. Turf is correctly considered a thirsty plant. However the overall cost of maintaining plant life at Four Seasons has found that in many areas this plant survives our summer and winter weather better than other ground covers while looking nice for all seasons. We do have temperatures in the twenties in some Januarys and late spring frosts have killed gazania ground cover which proved very costly to remove and replace. The cost of mulch has increased dramatically and its usage is being reduced. The most important statistic is cost. Our water bills have steadily increased each year regardless of consumption. This is solely due to five water rate increases during this period. And, whenever reclaimed water becomes available, this cost will probably not decline significantly. We will continue to pay the price of our lush landscape. ~ Leonard Tavernetti Landscape Committee At our March meeting, the Financial Statements for February were reviewed and reflected the following significant items: Net Income Year-to-Date was $74,809 and total reserves were $4,115,208. The Accounts Receivable (delinquencies) was $65,375. Our total HOA expenses for February (excluding reserve allocations) were $173,832. This was under budget by $54,970. There were three Certificates of Deposit renewals to be reviewed. The Front Yard Cost Center expenses for February 2014 were over the monthly budget by $225. The Springdale Cost Center Expenses for February 2014 were under budget by $466. There were 10 vendor proposals presented and nine were sent to the Board with recommendations for approval. The Springdale painting project was discussed and it was decided to ask Safety and Facilities Committee to conduct an on site inspection of the area and return to us their recommendation. A conference call with Mauricio from Barrera and Company took place to discuss the variances between the amounts scheduled in the reserve study for painting and the actual bids received. Mauricio was unable to offer any reason for the variances between the bids and the reserve study without further data from the vendors. Our next meeting is May 27, at 1 pm in the Lodge Conference Room. All homeowners are encouraged to attend. ~ Noel Myers Finance Committee

• Cover