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COmmunIty news | sun lakes lIfestyles | OCtOBeR 2014 | 3 By George Moyer, SLCC HOA President FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK I am writing this message late, because I am surprised and disappointed that recent events make it necessary for me to address the matter. In the 12 years I have lived here I never thought that a resident's race, color, or creed would or could be an issue. However, as much as I hate to admit it, I was apparently wrong. One of the things I always say about Sun Lakes is how great the people are that live here. We are a microcosm of society representing every race, color, and creed, and we all work together to make Sun Lakes our little bit of heaven on earth. However, over the past several months there have been a number of incidents that offer up a different picture. Derogatory racial and ethnic comments have been made against residents and confrontations have resulted. Just last weekend there were two separate incidents in the Main Clubhouse Pool and another in the Billiard Room. Verbal abuse or bashing and physical confrontations are unacceptable and the board will take any and all actions necessary to stop them from happening. Rule #21 under Community states "Disorderly conduct, the use of abusive or profane language or behavior infringing upon the rights or privileges of other residents, guests, or staff will not be tolerated." Abusive and profane language includes derogatory racial and ethnic remarks. In dealing with these matters the board must adhere to due process requirements stated in Civil Code and the Davis-Sterling Act. Victims of abuse often feel the process is too slow and does not have enough teeth to be affective. The abusers often fail to recognize the problem and the negative impact their actions have on the community. They do not understand why they are being called to a disciplinary hearing. In many of these cases alcohol is blamed for the poor behavior. The board never considers this as a viable defense for abusing anyone. In all cases, however, it is important to know that our board always follows the rules of due process before taking action. That action can be anything from sending a letter of reprimand, a monetary fine, or suspension of privileges, depending on the severity and number of incidents. In the case of a non-resident Rule #22 says, "The Association reserves the right to request any person to leave the community facilities if they violate any of the foregoing rules and regulations." This is why it is a resident's responsibility to escort their guests to facilities and inform them of our rules, particularly those pertaining to proper behavior. Due process may be slow and cumbersome, but it works. The board has no tolerance for abusive or combative behavior. We will use every tool available to us to deter it, and if it happens make sure it does not happen again. Sun LakeS Country CLub From the Golf Course By Mark Burchfield, Golf Course Superintendent For my first article in the Lifestyles Magazine, one topic comes to mind: WATER. So I thought about sharing some key aspects about golf course irrigation and how it relates to Sun Lakes. For me to fully cover all of the aspects of our irrigation program, I would have to break it out into many segments and could get rather technical and boring. So for now, I want to share some basic information and go from there. When calculating how much to water each day we utilize a weather station which is connected to our Main System. The key component is E-T. (Evapotranspiration; Google it because it will take me a half a page to explain it). This calculation gives us a scientific approach to the amount of water to throw out each day. We here at Sun Lakes do not set this on automatic — ever. Each day, we have an irrigation meeting with the irrigation technicians from both courses and go over the specific challenges the courses are having that day. Single sprinkler adjustments to complete program changes are addressed. Because our water is so precious to us here at Sun Lakes the setting is very rarely set to 100 percent of what the weather station is telling us to water. This is one way to keep the course from getting too wet in some areas. We would rather syringe the remaining 15 - 20 percent during the day so we are able to cool greens and water small dry spots individually. This saves us water and money while keeping the majority of the course on the dry side. Responsible watering practices are being performed even if the perception might be different. This is just a start… more to come next month. Verbal abuse or bashing and physical confrontations are unacceptable and the board will take any and all actions necessary to stop them from happening.

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