Issue link: https://imageup.uberflip.com/i/565031
| sun lakes lifestyles | sePteMBeR 2015 | 3 By George Moyer, SLCC HOA President FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK Greetings from Canada. Sandy and I have been up here visiting friends for the past week. We have gone to Calgary, Banff, Lake Louise, Kamloops, and are now in Vancouver. It is a beautiful country, and we have enjoyed exploring it. However, we have been gone long enough,and Sun Lakes is calling us home. Even though I have been gone I have been in touch with staff and kept reasonably up to date on what is going on. They tell me that everything is running smoothly, which is exactly what one would expect when you have a staff as good as ours. As I wrote last month, the main topic of discussion at this time is the formation of the 2016 budget. As of this writing we have met twice with the Delegate Assembly, and held two open work shops to provide residents the opportunity to be a part of the process and offer their suggestions and opinions. The resident and Assembly input, along with the Finance Advisory Committee recommendations are being considered by the Board, and many adjustments to the initial budget projections have been made. There is still time to get involved with the process. A workshop is Aug. 28 at 9 am in the Administration Office. Another opportunity to participate will be at the Delegate Assembly meeting on September 10th in the South Clubhouse at 2 pm. The last public budget meeting will be in the Administration Building on Sept. 16 at 2 pm. The following are a few notes on good things that have happened recently, 1. The house on Wailea Beach that the Association foreclosed on five years ago has been sold, and the community received a significant, one time, profit that will be beneficial in helping to keep the assessment as low as possible. 2. The city has determined that two of the water wells near to Sun Lakes will be designated to be non-potable water. They have committed to making some plumbing distribution changes to provide the water from these wells to both of our golf courses. This will have the affect of reducing the amount of potable water being used by us to irrigate the courses, thus helping us meet the state mandated reduction in the use of potable water. This is a temporary fix. If and when recycled water is available other arrangements will be made. Looking to the future the Board still feels it is necessary to convert a significant amount of turf to drought tolerant plantings. As a result, we are moving forward with our planning to do so. However,this move by the city gives us a little more time to be sure our planning is done right, and meets the needs of community now and in the future. One bit of bad news is about the previously announced plan to allow unlicensed golf carts to use Sun Lakes Blvd. to go to Albertson's. The previous city manager made a commitment to that, saying it would become available soon. I passed that information on to the community. Unfortunately, he was wrong. Vehicle laws, insurance requirements, and liability issues make using the street impossible. We have been offered an alternative, but they want us to pay for it at a cost of $77,000, and would only be a temporary solution. In addition, the residents living on the north side would have to go to Gate #4 cross over to Gate #3, drive through the community to exit at Gate #1 to gain access to the path. They would have to return the same way they came. In my opinion, this would be very inconvenient. The Planning and Compliance Department is currently conducting the Annual Systematic Inspection and encroaching plant material is among the highest number of violations issued. We would like to extend a friendly reminder that any plant material that crosses over property lines into neighboring lots or common areas is a violation of the Associations Rules and Regulations as encroaching plant material; including tree limbs and branches. This year the Association spent $93,000 to paint and repair the common area walls that run down Country Club Dr., Highland Springs Ave., Glen Eagle Dr., Highland Homes Rd. and Sun Lakes Blvd. At this time there is a large number of homes that have plant material hanging over these walls which will cause damage to the new paint and repairs made. Protect your investment and your association dollars by trimming any plant material on your property that may be encroaching. ~ Heather Killian CCAM, Planning and Compliance Manager Trim Encroaching Plants