ASOCIACION DE REGULARIZATION DE VECINOS DE LA CHOLLA A.C
Regular Meeting – Community Center
Sunday, February 14th, 2016
CALL TO ORDER:
A regular meeting of the Board was held Sunday February 14th. President Michael Dugan called the meeting to order at 9:00 AM. Mr. Dugan wished everyone in attendance a Happy Valentine’s Day.
Those members in attendance were: Michael Dugan, Kelly Ross, Kathy Barnard, Pat Champion, Lew Felton, Ken Goodin, Darrell Smith, and Don Schmidli. Helen Dahlstrom was the only member not present.
MINUTES:
Mr. Dugan asked if there were any corrections to the meeting from last month. There being none, a motion to approve the minutes was made, seconded and approved.
TREASURER’S REPORT/FINANCIAL:
Treasurer Helen Dahlstrom was not in attendance, due to illness, therefore there was no report. Mr. Dugan stated that he would have Ms. Dahlstrom email the report to all Board members.
MEMBERSHIP:
Monica Koerner presented Mr. Dugan her report. Mr. Dugan then reported that there are 572 members paid in full; 275 members not current; 6 Mexican members not required but paid; with a total membership of 853. There are 12 members whose status is unclear.
OLD BUSINESS:
There was no old business to report
CLUBHOUSE:
1. Mr. Dugan reported that the clubhouse is in pretty good shape; however there are approximately 6 to 8 beams that are invested with termites. Mr. Dugan also stated that the last time the clubhouse was sprayed for termites was about three years agoand that he didn’t know how long the effect of the spraying would last. Mr. Dugan suggestedthat we investigate the possibility of adding support beams (4 foot on centers) as was done in the kitchen to help carry the load. Mr. Dugan also wondered what it would take to encapsulate the area from the beam on and around the kitchen, which would help clean it up and perhaps get rid of the beam look as well as the termites. Mr. Dugan asked Rick Dahlstrom to get someone to submit a bid on insulating and encapsulating this area.
2. Mr. Dugan reported that the floor in the library has been primed and tomorrow they will go in and put the epoxy flooring in, which is similar to what is in the kitchen. The flooring would be walkable in about 24 – 48 hours depending on the weather, but would wait the 48 hours just to be sure the floor is walkable.
3. Mr. Dugan reported that we have a new flagpole for the clubhouse. It is retractable which can be extended 20 feet high and retracted to 6 feet and it will carry two flags. He explained that the CBSC has a 4 by 6 logo flag to fly when they have their parties. He suggested that event flags could be flown to promote various parties throughout the year i.e. Thanksgiving or the Children’s Christmas parties, or Horseshoe or Golf Tournaments.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:
Mr. Dugan reported that the Committee did not have need to meet.
GARBAGE:
1. Mr. Dugan stated that payment for garbage collection is made when people pay their taxes. The city is picking up the garbage on Mondays and Fridays.
2. Mr. Dugan recognized the Garbage Clean up Committee and asked Ms. Champion to introduced “Cholla Charli” who reported that there are 10 people acting as the clean-up crew, some working as teams and some working individually. The teams report, at the end of each month, how much trash they pick up. Since they started in November of 2015, the Committee has picked up 203, 13 gallon bags of trash. Charli, reported that she purchased 4 barrels for recycling and chains and bolts to keep them in place. Charli asked about putting signage out front as you come into the community, to raise awareness for keeping Cholla clean. She wants to add the line to the bottom of the sign that will read “working to make Cholla the cleanest city in Mexico”. Mr. Dugan reported that it is under construction and that Angel was given the money for the materials to start the signage.
3. Charli announced awards for collecting bags of trash in the months of December and January. Buttons reading “Number One Litter Getters” were given to BK Arnold, Marlene Blair, Barb Baird and Rosa Villa. They collected a total of 56 bags of trash during the two months.
ROADS:
Mr. Dugan reported that the roads are in much better shape. He stated that after an initial run through the community; Juan gave us a map of areas of concern that needed to be addressed and was done this month.
Mr. Dugan and Mr. Ross asked Juan to present a plan for bringing all the roads up to par, which would include the main roads and some of ancillary roads in the community. This would be an additional cost to what he is paid monthly. The cost is anticipated due to the change in garbage collection. Mr. Dugan stated that the funds could be used to address two major issues: one, a dip in the curve down by the police station that fills with water when it rains. By filling in the dip the water would drain off quickly; two, the curve down by the maintenance yard. Because it is so deep, you cannot see people on quads or low riding vehicles coming around the curve. Mr. Dugan suggested that the road be relocated until the area of the curve could be raised back up.
Street signs and stop signs have been improved and are being set in concrete.
PARKS/ENVIORNMENTS:
Mr. Smith reported that the woodwork on the ramadas oiled, the park cleaned up, the pillars on the concrete northern frontage of the roadway, the cables run through and painted white to match the steel bolts, the west volleyball post was replaced, and ties attached to the poles so nets could be put up.
Mr. Smith also reported the pickle ball courts had been laid out and marked and waiting to be painted once the special concrete paint comes in. Mr. Smith has ordered an additional bench and umbrella stand to be placed on the southwest corner of the horseshoe pits.
Mr. Dugan asked about nets for the soccer goals. Mr. Smith said that we have one soccer net and he is hopeful to find an additional net by the end of the season.
SECURITY:
Mr. Dugan reported that there were a couple of break-ins lately. The issues and solutions being the same as have been talked about for quite some time, the absence of police.
He stated the dilemma that we have is we (the HOA), pay for the Internet and telephone for the police department even when they are not there, however if we stop paying for the service then the police will not come out to Cholla. Mr. Dugan stated that he would like to have a meeting with the Commandant and Gustavo to offer to fix up the police station if the police would come out and be a permanent attachment to our area. Mr. Dugan emphasized the need for police presence especially during Semana Santa, and he would ask the police department what we could do to entice them to come out and help our community.
WATER/SEWER:
Mr. Dugan reported that there are no current problems.
NEW BUSINESS:
Mr. Dugan stated that the HOA elections are coming up in April, usually the 3rd week of the month. Mr. Felton mentioned that the Bash is on April 23rd and the elections and General Meeting will be on the same day. The regular meeting of the new Board will be on the following day, the 24th of April.
Mr. Dugan stated that there will be a meeting on March 20th to present the Fall financial statement and budget and for people to submit their bios. andintentions to run for the open positions on the Board. This must be done as the deadline for the HOA Newsletter is the 23rd of March. The positon of President and one Board member will be open for election this April 23rd, 2016.
Mr. Dugan stated that the Email notifications have been very helpful in getting information out to the homeowners and notifications have been reduced to a manageable amount. Mr. Felton stated that a hard copy notification has been sent to homeowners who had the option of receiving information/notifications via Email or hardcopy.
Mr. Dugan addressed the cleanup of the clubhouse when used by clubs or individuals hosting events. The Homeowner’s Association would arrange to have the facilities cleaned up and the clubs and individuals would pay the Association $100.00 per event/party for the service. This is done to insure constancy in the cleanup by using one entity versus several.
Ms. Champion asked about the legality to burn brush and debris in Cholla. Mr. Dugan suggested contacting Oomsilim to come out and remove the debris.
Mr. Felton addressed the issue of accessing the HOA website and making it more user friendly and perhaps redesign it. Mr. Dugan said that Ms. Dahlstrom was talking with a group that designs websites and obtained a proposal from them that was more than expected. Mr. Dugan said he would talk to this group to find out why it was so high or look for someone else that offers a more reasonable price for our needs.
ADJOUNMENT:
A motion was made and seconded to adjourn and the motion was passed.
AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION:
Homeowner Cholla Charli mentioned that she is designing a website for her daughter using a group called Square Space. Square Space designs are ‘drag and drop’ formats and are simple to use. They offer support 24/7 and charge $18 month for their service. “1 and One” is another service for building a website that is very simple to use. This is something for the HOA to consider when redesigning their website.
Mr. Felton asked if there is any regulation regarding hazardous buildings in Cholla and if there is any kind of condemnation allowing the demolition of these buildings. Mr. Dugan suggested that there would too much “redtape” involved in getting one.
A homeowner asked further about cleanup for the clubhouse after a private event i.e. awedding, birthday party, retirement party etc. Mr. Dugan stated that they are charged a cleanup fee and is dependent of size of the party and whether or not the kitchen is used.
Ms. Shirley McDonald complimented Oomsilim on their pick-up of the garbage.
Another homeowner complimented Oomsilim on their pick-up of the garbage and the cuttings from his tree. He said that every time the crew saw debris outside the trash barrels, they would take a picture of it.
Mr. Dugan reported that CFE was out fixing the power lines. He spoke to a serviceman and mentioned the osprey nest platforms that were installed by CFE a few years ago. He told the serviceman about the power pole that stops at the end of his road and the osprey that land on this it. Mr. Dugan asked if another nest box could be installed and the serviceman asked if Mr. Dugan had a pallet, he did, and the next day CFE came out and install it. Since this is the time of year that ospreys are nesting, Mr. Dugan is in hopes that it’s not too late for them to use the new platform.
A homeowner asked about putting a sign up notifying the dates of HOA meetings. Mr. Felton stated that there will be two structures made for the posting of the dates and HOA news. The structures will be 8’ X 8’; the top half (4’ X 8’) will be for HOA news and meeting dates, the bottom half (4’ X 8’) will be for club news. One structure will be placed at the clubhouse and the second one will be placed at the police station.
Mrs. Dammon gave warning about the osprey platforms, stating that a friend in Los Conchas was charged a $150 after CFE installed a platform on their empty lot. She stated that her friends were asked permission by CFE to do so.
The next meeting of the HOA Board will be March 20th 2016.