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10 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | APRIL 2016 Wayne Staples, continued from page 7 against." Payment plans are nothing new, he said. Seven or eight residents entered such plans after the Great Recession began in 2008. "And most of those came out OK," he said. The Board wants to help residents, not get them into trouble, he said. Staples has eight years' experience on the Board and wrote its investment policy. "None of our investments are in instruments that can lose value – in other words, they have to be insured by the federal government in some manner." Presently all investments are in short-term certificates of deposit. Because they earn such low interest, Staples said he will probably recommend a somewhat longer term to increase income. The Finance Committee makes the final decision, he said. The HOA has around $4 million in reserves and $2 million in "excess funds" in the operating budget. The excess is what is used for capital improvements, like the conversion of Rec Center North last year, he said. "We're a non-profit organization; we're supposed to spend what we take in." If we don't the money is taxable, he said. That's why it's so important to approve the tax measure on the Board ballot, which "allows us to roll the money over to the next year," with no tax. He said there are three upcoming projects that he would like to see through as a Board member. • Rec Center Three. "It looks like that's going to be done by the end of the year. I'd like to see that finished," he said. • The completion of Four Seasons Circle. A bridge from Crooked Creek — at the traffic circle at the back entrance — will be constructed soon to the complete loop circling the community. "That has to be done before Phase E (the last construction phase) can be built," he said. • The renovations of the Lodge and Spa Buildings. "We should have plans to show to the residents by the end of this month," he said. They will include more storage, expansion of the Bistro, the Craft Room and the Aerobics Room, among other changes. Staples has a wide background in finance, accounting and community management. He has been the president and treasurer of one HOA and the finance chair of another. He was the controller of a $3 billion bank and a federal bank examiner. He has served on both Four Seasons' Finance and Architectural Review Committees. He said Four Seasons is the only HOA in the K. Hovnanian group that has homeowners in all officers' posts. The others have at least one appointee from K. Hovnanian to watch over things. "They must think we're doing something right," said Staples. He said the change when FirstService Residential bought out Euclid Management went seamlessly. "From our point of view there was almost no change at all — and it improved the staff benefits quite a bit." He complimented the FirstService staff. General Manager Jeri Mupo is "fantastic," he said, as well as the rest of the staff. He said he had heard complaints about communication between the Board and residents, and he thinks they are over blown. He urged homeowners to contact Board members with their concerns. "We're in the directory — but we don't get calls." He said the HOA opened a Facebook page a month or so ago, "And I just checked and only 13 people have 'friended' that page. We have 1,300 homes or some 2,600 people – call us, we talk to people." In summary, he said, "I am very proud of the association and what we've accomplished in the eight years I've been on the Board."

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