ChollaHOADocs

ASOCIACION DE REGULARIZACION DE VECINOS DE LA CHOLLA, A.C.

A regular Board Meeting was held on Sunday, June 13, 2010 at the Cholla Community Center.
The meeting was called to order at 9:00 AM by Vice President Pat Sledge with the following members present: Helen Dahlstrom, Shirley McDonald, Lew Felton, Bella Howard, Steve Lee, Laurie Webber, and Jerry Ketelhut, Jr.

Absent: Mike Dugan, Gene Court, Ken Goodin, Pete Pisciotta, Don Schmidli, Delegate of Vigilance and Valente Cornejo, Mexican Representative.

MINUTES:

The Board had previously received minutes of the May 9, 2010 meeting. Mr. Sledge asked if there were any corrections or additions. There being none, motion was made, seconded and minutes approved.

TREASURER’S REPORT/FINANCE:

Treasurer Helen Dahlstrom passed out the report showing income and expenditures through May 31, 2010. Mr. Sledge asked if there were any corrections or additions. In answer to a question asked by Ms. Weber regarding the reason the Vecinos are paying maintenance for the garbage truck, Mr. Ketelhut told her that the Vecinos own the truck that has a dump attachment on it. Mr. Felton again asked what the charges were to the OBSC. Ms. Dahlstrom told him it was the new cabinet and work done to the dump tank. There will also be a charge for glass installed in the cabinet for both the CBSC and OBSC. Mr. Felton asked if the Water Concession is a piece of paper and Ms. Dahlstrom said it is a piece of paper. Ms. McDonald asked if that had anything to do with money collected for water over what is paid by the trucks. Ms. Dahlstrom said what is left after paying the water bill is the utility reserve. She also said everyone is pretty much on their budgets according to what was set aside for the year. There being no other questions, Mr. Sledge then asked for a motion to approve. Motion made, seconded and report approved.

MEMBERSHIP:

Ms. Dahlstrom said there are 708 members paid in full, l39 not current, 8 Mexican Members who are not required to pay but did for a total membership of 855. There were two properties previously listed as “not current” but were listed in error. There are currently 85 memberships whose status is unclear.

Ms. Weber said she has been working on delinquent accounts and needs a newer map. She did a spread sheet of manzanas and lot numbers. She drafted a letter to go out to the delinquent members but has some questions she needs help with. She has been working with ways to get them to bring their account up-to-date such as no electricity, water, etc. and how they could be implemented to collect back fees. She did get the Realtor Association updated with Monica’s help so they know to contact her before a house closes in Cholla. They recently had one that was closing and money wasn’t collected but Monica managed to get $l,400 after the fact.
(1)
Ms. Weber said she needed some help because she doesn’t have the whole membership list. She also felt the board should have access to the entire membership. Ms. Dahlstrom said that issue had been faced before and we have to be careful because of the real estate people who want to use it and our members expect us to protect their privacy. There was a discussion about the homeowner list that got out several years ago and many of the people in Cholla got mail that caused a problem.

Mr. Felton said he feels on individual cases where a telephone number or email is needed to contact someone is okay and someone on the board who is working to collect past dues would be alright but just leery of our membership list getting into hands of people looking for contacts to make money.

Since Ms. Weber is working on delinquent memberships not current ones, she would only need a list of those that are currently delinquent. She said she is asked questions on why am I having to pay this and others are paying that, and wants to be able to work with Monica to get the problems solved on invididual situations.

Mr. Ketelhut asked what contact is made with new people in the community if they are not told about the HOA? Ms. Dahlstrom said the Vecinos have an Enrollment document for new members. He was told that Monica is the go-between with realtors and purchasers but there are problems with some realtors not giving out the information. There was a discussion about other ways to handle the problem such as sending a notice to realtors who have properties listed in Cholla and including an application to the Vecinos to be a part of any sale and to become a part of escrow. There was also discussion regarding the possibility of getting information from Bengie Brown since he has to sign off on properties sold in Cholla.

There was a discussion of what is stated in the Constitution regarding voluntary membership and the possibility that homeowners could opt out of paying dues. The Board was reminded that in order to get a Bank Trust and get power when it was brought to Cholla, membership of the Association was mandated by the State of Sonora.

Mr. Felton said his neighbor came over and told him he has one house on two lots. CFE let him have two meters so he has half the house running off one meter and another meter for the other part of the house. He did it to save power when the whole house is not used. He was wondering if he would have to pay two memberships. Mr. Felton said he told him he personally didn’t think he should but brought it up because that would be an exception. Mr. Felton will get the owner’s name to Ms. Weber and she will take it from there.

There was a discussion about some inquiries regarding rebates on some dues that were paid during the year 2009-2010.

ARCHITECTURAL:

Mr. Lee reported he had talked to Mr. Dugan and he is trying to set up a meeting with the Mayor and talked to Ernesto Monroe about helping with the CC&R’s getting on track again. Mr. Sledge
(2)

asked who was on that committee and Mr. Lee he is it right now. Mr. Sledge said if things start to move, he thinks the committee should be enlarged. It was discussed that someone from the community should be on the committee but at the moment it is a waiting game.

CLUBHOUSE:

As Chairman, Mr. Sledge reported that Doug Gallagher has been installing speakers in the Clubhouse and left a voice mail about something to do with an amp that isn’t working properly replacing it would be $600. He was supposed to be in Cholla over the weekend but did not show up.

Mr. Dahlstrom took the locks out of the new cabinets. Mr. Sledge keyed the cabinets so each entity needs a different key. He reported the Clubhouse was rented on Saturday for very large party.

Ms. Dahlstrom presented a Rental Agreement at the last meeting and members were to look it over and see if they thought changes should be made to the document. She asked the board to send their suggestions for changes to her prior to this meeting.

She reported changes were made as follows:

Rent - wording was added to reflect a day or evening event and gave a time slot since apparently the alcohol permit also required a time slot. The amount of the rental fee in paragraph 2 is what was originally being charged, and in Paragraph 8
Paragraph 3 was left alone. Paragraph 4 was something about an additional tank of water. Paragraph 8 has to do with the kitchen. If using the kitchen, there was an additional deposit of $200 with $100 being available for refund. She said that is what needs to be discussed. Getting a refund is based on how the kitchen is left as well as the condition of all the property. One other thing added to the agreement was non use of any paper products, etc. because it doesn’t belong to the Vecinos but the clubs.

There was a discussion that if the building is okay, a renter gets all the money back but $50 and some of the board felt that was much too cheap and doesn’t take into consideration that there will be repairs eventually and there should be a fund to take care of that. Funds accumulated from dues of those not using the clubhouse should not be used for upkeep that is caused by renting the building. There was a discussion about retaining some of the deposit to take care of any repairs caused by a renter. Ms. Webber felt when deciding on costs to rent that more should be charged for large groups than smaller ones. The Executive Committee is to meet and discuss costs as well as any changes to the document.

Ms. Dahlstrom feels something should be posted on the sign in front that a private party is being held so people in Cholla won’t just figure it is a regular party and join in. It will also advertise the fact that they too could rent the building.
(3)
Mr. Ketelhut brought up the renters for June 19 and said they have kegs coming in. There was a discussion that they would buy kegs already in the clubhouse but wanted Tecate to bring out tents and Mr. Felton said they were going to have to buy some beer from Tecate to get the other stuff they want. Ramon is their contact and he is working on it. Mr. Felton said they did not want several kegs of beer sitting in the Clubhouse all summer. Mr. Sledge said there are 3 kegs, two of which are on tap and only one function on the 4th of July. They can buy the beer but it is the property of OBSC, not the Vecinos. They could possibly sell the kegs to the renter and have them buy some quarts of beer which would keep all summer. They will continue working on the problem.

There was also conversation about having a key for a renters which is picked up when deposit is paid and returned when partial deposits are returned to the renter after the event.

Ms. Howard asked if the building would be available for rent to a business on a regular basis?
She mentioned the possibility of a jazzersize program. Ms. Dahlstrom said they would have to be a member to take advantage of the building. If Ms. Howard, as a homeowner, wanted to do jazzersize in the building, it was felt that would be okay but if it is a money making business, it would not fit the criteria.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:

Mr. Dugan had given Mr. Sledge some notes regarding what is going on. The first thing is that the hordes are coming into Cholla and the beaches are being bombarded. Mr. Dugan had been talking to Rosario Villa about charging the locals to launch in Cholla to help pay for the clean-up on the beaches. Mr. Ketelhut said the boaters are being charged in Rocky Point now so they are all coming to Cholla.

GARBAGE:

Chairman Jerry Ketelhut, Jr. reported the next bulk trash pick up will be July 1-7 and they will start picking garbage up on July 8. He will make sure Mr. McCulley gets it on the website.
He is going to try and get with Margaret at Patty’s Store to see if the Vecinos can assist in cleaning that area up.

He also said they cleaned up Pinto Point on the rock side that had tons of trash left by someone.

Ms. Weber asked about the possibility of getting trash cans for the members and was told the suggestion has been put out before and it fell by the wayside. The cans were $17 a year or so ago and Mr. Sledge said it wouldn’t hurt to put it in the Newsletter again. The can in question was a 30 gallon not the much larger one. Purchase of the can would be the responsibility of the homeowner, not the Vecinos. Mr. Ketelhut said Arturo Arvizu can make the stand that keeps the can from being turned over and the stands can be installed for $40. Mr. Ketelhut will get with Mr. Arvizu and see if the cans are available and if he has material to make the stands. He will report back next month and the board can proceed from there.
(4)

Mr. Felton said he had some flyers to put on property where garbage is put out on Sunday when they leave and the dogs get into it before garbage collectors get there on Monday or Friday. Mr. Ketelhut asked that anyone seeing this done, call him and he will go talk to them.

ROADS:

Chairman Pete Pisciotta has left for the summer and Ms. Howard asked that people contact her if there are roads that need care. Even though the roads were graded in the past weeks their condition was not very good due to an influx of visitor from Rocky Point and others for events in the area The wind blowing every day didn’t help their condition either. Ms. Howard asked if there are any problems pertaining to roads, if she is notified she will look into the problem.

She had hoped to catch up with the grader to see where and when the grading was done, but never managed to get with him. She went through the grading schedule for the main road and also the interior roads which are to be graded every week. If anyone knows roads that are not being graded, let her know and she will get in touch with Mr. Brown and let him know that certain areas have not been graded.

There was some work done on Tiburon due to trucks and launchers causing damage. Ms. Howard asked for any maps with road names so she would be better able to recognize the spots people are talking about. Ms. Dahlstrom suggested getting in touch with Mr. Brown for an up-to-date map.

PARKS:

In the absence of Chairman Gene Court there was no formal report. However, Ms. Dahlstrom reported that Mr. Dahlstrom got a price from Miguel Sauza to reinstall the bollards that have been knocked over and to re-paint all of them. Cost would be $285.00 plus paint, two 5 gallons would be needed along with cement there is enough cable left to use for the bollards.

Secretary asked how many of the bollards around the Clubhouse perimeter had been sold and Ms. Dahlstrom said a lot of people had committed, but only the Secretary has paid. Mr. Felton said it had been a couple of years since anything has been mentioned about the bollards and he will advertise them again.

Mr. Felton said he was on Tucson Beach a couple of weeks ago and the palapas are in terrible condition. There was a discussion about whether or not to refurbish them or tear them down and there was also concern that they were on the Federal Zone and Rocky Point built them about fifteen years ago but they have been repaired by the Vecinos. Mr. Sledge said he wasn’t up for putting much money into them and would suggest tearing them down.

Ms. Weber said maybe the timing was good and they could be taken down and picked up during the bulk trash drive. The discussion was tabled until some things could be checked and then the Executive Board has a chance to discuss the problem.
(5)

SECURITY:

Mr. Sledge asked who was chairing Security and Mr. Felton said no one is heading it as of now.

Ms. Weber said they have some real security issues in the Borracho Flat area. There were 10 people caught in a house a week ago at 3 AM in the morning. The alarm went off for 10 minutes before the police showed up. People had used the skylight for entry to the house. The police arrested 10 people. Several people said they called the police and they did not show up until later.

She walked the area with Mr. Dugan trying to figure out where additional boulders could be placed to stop traffic driving to that part of the beach. They would be able to park and walk to the beach but not drive. There are tents on the beach down by the concession which has been moved west closer to homes. She feels something needs to be done now to stop the people from driving on the beach front. It is like an open field that needs some kind of barricade.

Ms. Weber made a proposal to repair the fence, put up a chain if needed and purchase boulders. There was a discussion about all the traffic in Borracho and the washes make it easy for people to use them for access to the beach. Ms. Weber said she had several tents in front of her one Easter. Since the chain went up, people are still camping on the beach but parking on the roads and walking down there. If there is a barrier to everyone driving on the beach, they really don’t have a problem. Mr. Lee suggested putting boulders down by the Green’s house and that would stop beach traffic. Mr. Sledge said if the $500 wasn’t enough the Executive Committee would look into how much more is needed to complete the project.

The motion was seconded and approved to provide $500 to close off the northeast end of the beach and Ms. Weber and others were to work with Mr. Arvizu to get the project completed.

Mr. Lee wanted $500 allotted for the Tucson Beach area that allows people to drive into and park in front of his house. Mr. Sledge told him that $500 had already been alloted and Mr. Arvizu needs to be approached about replacing the boulders to stop traffic going that far but would still allow parking on that area of the beach.

Mr. Ketelhut said the board was looking at cameras at the Police Station. Mr. Dahlstrom is putting together a package which would include an arch out of steel and putting some cameras there. A suggestion was made that the arch be made of cement to avoid rusting and maintenance of the steel. Ms. Dahlstrom said the proposal should be put together by the July meeting.

Mr. Felton brought up that there is still no one in charge of Security.

CONSTITUTION/BY-LAWS:

Nothing to report.

(6)

 

WATER AND SEWER:

Mr. Dugan looked a water tank system that would be about $15,000. He also talked with Bengie Brown about the maintenance of the pump. There were some emails between Mr. Dugan and Gerry Nelson discussing the water situation in general and Mr. Nelson has a good point in that there is a lot of liability involved in the storage and distribution of water as far as cleanliness is concerned. Mr. Sledge, Mr. Felton and Mr. Nelson sat down and discussed forming a Water and Sewer Committee. Mr. Sledge said he felt the Architectural Committee should take on that work at some point as part of the utilities rather than form another committee. The point Mr. Nelson made was to have a plan, look at the liability of the project. who is responsibility for the liability of it if something should happen and the container turned into a frog pond instead of a water tank with fresh water and 60% of the community got sick. Where is the liability for that?

Mr. Sledge feels the subject is a bigger conversation than just getting a water tank, setting it up and saying here we go. He feels Mr. Nelson has a good point.

Mr. Sledge said since the Vecinos have a water concession, what are the rights and what is the responsibility of the utility company that owns the water. He was not suggesting the Vecinos get a grandioso plan together but thinks they should find out what our rights and liabilities are before we go any further. He had not talked to Mr. Dugan since he had the meeting with Mr. Felton and Mr. Nelson but he will discuss it with him when he gets back and just run that by him and make sure there is a plan before proceeding anywhere. Mr. Sledge said he wasn’t sure there was a water problem and wasn’t sure there was a need for a water tank.

Mr. Felton said if there is a problem with water. Mr. Dugan calls Mr. Brown and things proceed from there. He thinks there should be an easier way such as telling the water trucks there is less pressure in the morning so make plans for the afternoon. He also thinks there might some way to re-tool the line so Cholla is not literally left holding an empty bag. Mr. Dugan talked about looking into changing the valves out but there are 6 or 8 that need to be replaced and of course the Company doesn’t have any money and they are very expensive. Mr. Dahlstrom said she suggested to Mr. Dugan that the Vecinos change those out and in turn take a piece of property
as payment so there would be a place to store water if the Vecinos decided to do that. Mr. Sledge feels the Vecinos should out what rights they have and what is their liability in doing something like that. He is concerned if the Vecinos could be sued as is done in the states in case there is a problem. If we could invest $15,000 into a water system and not have to worry about it that is the thing to do.

Mr. Sledge said with all the points brought up by Nelson, he feels we should proceed slowly in forming a plan for water.

Someone asked what the plan is and Mr. Sledge said there had been several discussion about a water tank but nothing decided other than investigations. He thinks once the investigation is
(7)

complete and a direction is chosen, it will fall under the Architectural Committee. Mr. Sledge
thinks there is more to look at than what has been suggested. He wants to get with Mr. Dugan and see where the Vecinos go from here.

OLD BUSINESS:

Mr. Dahlstrom said she didn’t get a chance to email the Auditor before she left Tucson but she would call and tell her we really need to have the audit by next meeting. Mr. Ketelhut suggested that it had been such a long time since the audit was started, maybe it be scrapped and a new one started. Ms. Dahlstrom disagreed since they had done so much work and charged us $200 so she would like to continue and get it done.

Mr. Ketelhut brought up the proposed memorial for Pete Peterson. The committee is doing a bronze plaque and the presentation will be done in October.

Mr. Ketelhut also brought up what we decided to do about the two candidates that had been discussed to take over vacancies on the Board due to a death and resignation. The two people in question were Blaine Fletcher and Steve Willis and both had been approached as to their willingness to serve on the board should they be asked. Ms. Weber spoke to Mr. Willis and Ms. McDonald talked with Mr. Fletcher. Both people agreed they would accept the position if offered. Motion was made, seconded and approved, with one nay, to add both Mr. Fletcher and Mr. Willis to the Board.

NEW BUSINESS:

Secretary wanted to remind all the Board Members that the July Meeting is on Sunday the 11th and not the 4th as Mr. Felton had been putting in the Newsletter. He changed the OBSC meeting to the 4th and also changed the Vecinos, too. It has long been a rule that once the Vecinos meetings are set, they are not changed due to people making other appointments around those dates.

Mr. Felton brought up getting some more refrigerator magnets with emergency numbers and sending them to members. Ms. Weber suggestged that the Rocky Point Police number be added to the list. Mr. Felton will check if numbers have changed. In answer to Ms. Dahlstrom’s question about the cost of magnets, Mr. Felton said he thought they were about $1 each.

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION:

Someone asked who had keys and they were told all the board members have them.

Gerry Nelson congratulated the Board for voting Blaine Fletcher and Steve Willis to the Board.

Monica said she got information about a private sale. She had no contact from the seller and accidently found out from the buyer. The seller had two adjacent lots, one of which was sold to
(8)
the buyer. Both the lots had been delinquent since 2004. Whe wanted to know who was responsible for back dues. She was told the seller should pay back dues on the lot sold as well as bring the other one up to date.

There being no further business to discuss, Mr. Sledge asked for a motion to adjourn. Motion made, seconded and approved. Meeting adjourned at 10:38 AM.

Respectfully submitted,

 

Shirley McDonald, Secretary

FUTURE MEETINGS:

Sunday, July 11, 2010 9:00 AM
Sunday, October 10, 2010 9:00 AM
Sunday, November, 14, 2010 9:00 AM
Sunday, December 12, 2010 9:00 AM

 

TOPICS TO BE DISCUSSED:

1. Audit

2. Tucson Beach Palapas

3. Clubhouse Rental Agreement

4. Police/security for Borracho Flats

5. Water tank/system

6. Date of General Meeting - 2011

ASOCIACION DE REGULARIZACION DE VECINOS DE LAS CHOLLA, A.C.

 

A regular Board Meeting was held on Sunday, May 9, 2010 at the Cholla Community Center. The meeting was called to order at 9:00 AM by President Michael Dugan with the following members present: Helen Dahlstrom, Lew Felton, Ken Goodin, Pete Pisciotta, Tom Clark, Bella Howard, Laurie Weber, Jerry Ketelhut, Jr., Pat Sledge, Shirley McDonald and Delegate of Vigilance Don Schmidli.

Absent: Steve Lee and Mexican Representative, Valente Cornejo.

MINUTES:

The Board had previously received minutes of the April 25, 2010 meeting. Mr. Dugan asked if there were corrections or additions. Ms. Weber wanted to correct a statement regarding what committees she and and Ms. Howard would like to work on. Ms. Howard would like to work on roads and Ms. Weber wanted to work on membership. There being no other corrections, motion was made, seconded and minutes approved.

TREASURER’S REPORT/FINANCE:

Treasurer Helen Dahlstrom passed out the report showing income and expenditures through April 30, 2010. Mr. Dugan asked if there were any corrections or additions. There being none, he then asked for a motion to approve. Motion made, seconded and report approved.

Mr. Felton asked what the OBSC was charged for other than the cabinet and Ms. Dahlstrom said it was work on the dunk tank.

MEMBERSHIP:

Ms. Dahlstrom said there are 702 members paid in full, 147 not current, 8 Mexican members not required to pay, but did for a total of 857. There are currently 92 memberships whose status is unclear.

Mr. Sledge asked if someone was purchasing a lot that was delinquent on dues for the past five years would they be prorated even though there is two months left before the start of a fiscal year. Ms. Dahlstrom said they should already be paid. Ms. Weber said the realtors, if they know a person is delinquent, will collect all back dues prior to completion of a sale. She did say that all the delinquents are not on the list that is shown on the website. Monica said they are working with some people to get dues brought up to date and their names probably were not on that list. Ms. Dahlstrom said their names were on the list posted. Mr. Dugan said the realtors can be really helpful in collecting back dues and Benjie Brown has been working close with the Vecinos as far as lots, surveys, etc. He said he would not give any surveys, power or whatever they need unless dues are current.
(1)

Mr. Weber said they just had a case where the seller was delinquent but it wasn’t known and it caused a real problem. She said there is an HOA sheet that goes with the sale documents and it should catch any problems.

Mr. Dugan said the HOA tries to work with buyers and realtors in the case of delinquencies. He said the Vecinos doesn’t want to forgive dues but will work with people on late fees, etc. There was one case where the owner became current on that year and made payments on the back dues.

Ms. Dahlstrom said she would get copies of updated maps to track delinquencies. Someone asked if there was anyone in the office during the week if they needed information and was told no one manned the office.

ARCHITECTURAL:

Mr. Lee was not at the meeting so nothing to report.

Mr. Sledge asked what was happening with the CC&R’s and was told the City is reviewing them and Mr. Dugan said he thought the City was using the Cholla building guidelines to update their own. Mr. Sledge was concerned that there was so much being done until people caused all the problems and it seems things are now at a dead end.

Mr. Ketelhut suggested asking a councilman to come to a HOA meeting. Mr. Dugan said the person who would get to people at the city would be the one who helped get the new regime in power.

CLUBHOUSE:

Chairman Pat Sledge said Mr. Dahlstrom is ordering glass for the new cabinets and should be in next week. Doug Gallagher was supposed to meet with Mr. Sledge and give him an invoice for material but he hasn’t received it. It is about $2,600 for speakers and everything that is needed for the sound equipment. Nothing has been done about the DVD but he will make sure he accommodates that, too.

Mr. Dugan asked if a computer could be plugged into the large television and show pictures on it. Mr. Sledge said he was told that could be done. There is a USB port for that use. In fact, pictures have already been shown on the large television.

Mr. Sledge said $5,000 was allotted for the sound system. Doug was going to do the labor for free but Mr. Sledge said that was what he does for a living and asked him to let him know what the labor would cost. The new speakers will be installed so when and if the ceiling is drywalled, it will be a flush mount speaker. The building now has about 8 zones and when completed there will be only 3 or 4.

Mr. Sledge met with Sal Otanez of the CBSC and they are in agreement how the kitchen should
(2)

be changed. Mr. Sledge wants to utilize the hood without having to make too many
changes and another hood will be needed over the stoves. One of the old propane burners needs to be replaced.

There was a short discussion about who pays what and Mr. Sledge said all equipment that would be replaced or updated would be the clubs responsibility and any structural changes would be at the cost of the Vecinos.

Ms. Dahlstrom felt that before any equipment is added to the building, it should be presented to the Vecinos for their approval because it is their building.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:

Nothing to report.

GARBAGE:

Chairman Jerry Ketelhut, Jr., said there was nothing to report. Mr. Dugan brought up that even though there are less people in Cholla, the garbage cost keeps going up and he attributes that to the influx of people from Rocky Point leaving large amounts of garbage to be picked up. The more cans put out, the more garbage to collect. After a discussion of the extra cost and the fact that the Vecinos pay for their garbage, it was hoped that an agreement could be reached where the cost of dumping could be lowered to help cover the cost of garbage left by the visitors.

ROADS:

Chairman Pete Pisciotta said he drove over the roads in Cholla and found places that need attention. He gave a list to Mr. Brown and asked for fill and water. There is a continual problem from the police station through the curve going out of town as well as roads around the clubhouse. Mr. Brown said he would start working on the areas on Tuesday.

Mr. Dugan said the holes that continually appear on the hill from the launch area to the four way stop is due to boats that are pulled up that hill when the launchers shift and the large tires dig into the soil for traction.

Ms. Weber asked if caleche could be placed on the residential roads working on one area per month. Mr. Pisciotta said they would have to be accessible for the equipment and that is one of the problems in those areas. He said the drag would help the side roads more than trying to use the big heavy equipment. Mr. Dugan said one of the problems with using caleche on side roads is that it needs to be watered constantly and the main factor in making that work is constant traffic which does not happen on the side roads.

(3)

PARKS:

Chairman Gene Court reported on his continual work in trying to treat the salt problem. He said there is a tree in Egypt that might work but doesn’t know how he would get them to Cholla. Several people were willing to go over and check them out. There was also discussion about Chileans (?) that need water to get started but do not need much after they have adapted to the area. Mr. Court said he had been thinking of changing out some of the trees in the next year.

SECURITY:

Mr. Dugan said there were a couple of issues down along the beach where Ms. Howard and Ms. Weber live but they both thanked Mr. Dugan for his help in getting a chain installed that would keep people from driving close enough to use their cars to get up on their porches. Ms. Weber had someone take things from her house while she was upstairs and Mr. Dugan said there was also a quad stolen since the last meeting. Bengie Brown has a camera system on his building and the police tried to determine who took the quad. There was a picture of someone going down the beach on a quad and thought that might be the thief, but when checking the time, it turned out to be Arturo Arvizu patrolling that area of the beach sometime during the night.

Mr. Dugan said he had some boulders installed so visitors to the area can’t drive from the east down the beach. Ms. Weber said Mexicans drive into their area and park in front of their gates and go clamming, leaving them unable to get out of their yard. Mr. Dugan plans to put larger boulders near some pipe to deter entry to the area.

CONSTITUTION/BY-LAWS:

Nothing to report.

WATER AND SEWER:

Mr. Dugan reported that he and Mr. Arvizu drove to Caborca looking into water tanks. They stopped at a winery that was under new ownership and they had the tank Cholla needs. They came in 352,000 liters or they had 32,500 made out of stainless steel. They heard he was scrapping them and going to a larger production. They got the name and number and wrote the owner an email and then last Monday he called him but was told that at this time he was not interested in selling the tanks. He is still looking for tanks but the tanks they saw were the type needed in Cholla. We do need something large enough to hold water for several days in case of a problem. Cholla is still having the problem of being last on the water line and when the valves are opened for the hotels, Cholla gets nothing. The valves get turned on without the Company knowing about it until they are notified by Mr. Dugan or someone else in Cholla. A suggestion was made that the Vecinos look on line for others wineries that might have stainless steel tanks for sale.

Mr. Clark suggested looking into plastic containers and he knew they came in 10,000 gallon size.
(4)

Mr. Dugan said that was 40 meters of water and would only fill 4 trucks. He will be looking into multiple tanks if nothing else works out. Water usage in Cholla runs between 1,000 to 1,200 meters per month.

OLD BUSINESS:

Ms. Dahlstrom said the auditor has everything she needs but doesn’t have it done yet.

Mr. Schmidli brought up that the board was to discuss something to commemorate Pete Peterson at this meeting.

Mr. Sledge thought we should get a brass or bronze plaque to be installed outside the door listing Mr. Peterson’s accomplishments and put a sign on the building calling it “Pete’s Place”.
Some of the members didn’t think it should be called Pete’s Place but something like the Alan Peterson Building. Mr. Dugan asked who would like to be on a committee to work on the project and he suggested that Don Schmidli and Ken Goodin be a part of the group to come up with something appropriate. He also asked Bob Damman to join that committee.

NEW BUSINESS:

The subject was brought up about filling the seat vacated by the death of Alan Peterson. According to the Constitution, it could be temporarily filled by the sitting Board until there is a General Meeting or the Board could elect to leaved it vacant until such time the assembly meets again and place that open seat on the ballot. The Board could also elect not to fill the seat and leave it vacant.

Secretary suggested that the seat be left vacant and Ms. Dahlstrom disagreed because she felt someone was needed to fill the chair for Security. There was a lot of discussions about changing people who are on one committee to another and she suggested that Blaine Fletcher who ran for the board be seated and allow him, if interested, take over Security. Mr. Clark said with 14 people on the board there could be problems with voting and an uneven number could eliminate ties. Mr. Sledge didn’t feel an even number of board members was an issue. He understood what Mr. Clark was saying but the whole board is seldom, if ever, in attendance.

Mr. Dugan said one of the conversations while Mr. Pisciotta was stranded in another country was a suggestion was that he take over Security and Ms. Howard work on Roads. The thinking was that she would be working with Bengie Brown and not with the Police since Mexican men are not used to working with females and Mr. Brown has worked with both. Mr. Pisciotta brought up that he is gone for the summer. Mr. Dugan said that is why he started the back-up system and his Spanish is not very good. He said if he could get Mr. Felton to co-chair the committee, he is in Cholla during the summer and speaks very good Spanish and he feels the two of them would make a good team.

Ms. Weber said she was going to throw the name of Steve Willis into the conversation because he lost by one vote and she feels that is due to Ray Flinn saying he was backing Mr. Willis. Ms
(5)

Dahlstrom suggested that the Board find out if Blaine Fletcher and Steve Willis would be willing
to work on a committee if the Board elects to fill the vacancy. Mr. Sledge asked if the Board needed to fill the vacancy on the board. Mr. Pisciotta made a motion to fill the vacant seat and it was seconded by Ms. Dahlstrom. The motion passed but there were two nays.

Mr. Dugan said the Board needed to talk to the two people in question and see if they are still interested in filling a position on the board. Secretary is to contact Blaine Fletcher and Ms. Dahlstrom is to contact Steve Willis and have their answers at the next meeting.

Mr. Sledge said a woman who wanted to rent the Clubhouse for a retirement party for her husband and they are not homeowners. The lady told him they were in the process of closing on some property and he told her she could not rent the property unless they were members paid in full. They want it on the weekend of June 12th which is the date of Roger Clyne’s concert and he didn’t see any issue if she became a paid member. What was brought up in this situation is that it is the first time someone has wanted to rent the whole complex. They wanted to have an outdoor party with band and other outside entertainment. Now it is down to a DJ and they are going to the Clune concert instead of having a band.

The fees have been $250 with use of the kitchen and if that is not used the fee is $200 with $150 of that amount refundable. This is the first time the Vecinos have faced an event this large and not sure how it should be handled. He wanted to know how the board felt and if the fees should be changed. Mr. Dahlstrom said she and Mr. Dugan met Saturday morning and she presented a rental proposal for the board to look over and come to the next meeting with their additions or changes.

Mr. Sledge said the use on June 12 and June 19 does not fall under the proposed Rental Agreement which is a work in progress and needs to be looked at before anything is done with it.
Ms. Dahlstrom said she would email the proposed agreement to board members and they could make their suggested changes or additions and send them back to her. She will accumulate the suggestions and have them available at the next meeting. There was also discussion about people renting a house and using the Clubhouse and the board felt anyone using the facilities needed to be a member.

Ms. Howard said she would work with the person chairing roads but would also like to do some work with the police, too. Mr. Sledge said if the open board position is filled, it could change whether or not she worked on roads.

Ms. Weber brought up manning the office at the last meeting and she wanted to know if there would be more talk about the issue. She feels someone should be available a couple of days a week to work with the membership on problems that arise. Mr. Dugan asked her who she would suggest be there two days a week. She suggested Monica and was told that she would not do it. Ms. Weber thought someone was needed and she was told that would be discussed by the Executive Committee.
(6)

She also brought up the magnets that were sent to members and said it was very useful when she had to call the police after a robbery. She thought they should be sent out with renewals every year. Mr. Felton said he would check and see what they cost but he thought they were less than $1.00. Ms. Dahlstrom said the same information is on the website

There being no further business to discuss, Mr. Dugan asked for a motion to adjourn. Motion made, seconded and approved. Meeting adjourned 11:22 AM.

Respectfully submitted:

Shirley McDonald, Secretary

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION:

Library Chairman Barbara Damman asked to have some more keys made for the Library and Ms. Dahlstrom gave her the funds.

A very nice lady in the audience wanted to thank everyone on the Board for all the work they put in for the people of Cholla. There was a big thanks to the lady for her comment.

FUTURE MEETIINGS:

Sunday, June 13, 2010 9:00 AM
Sunday, July 11, 2010 9:00 AM
Sunday, October 10, 2010 9:00 AM
Sunday, November

 

TOPICS TO BE DISCUSSED:

1. Audit

2. Pete Peterson

3. Rental Agreement

4. Update on water container

THE HOMEOWNERS JULY 2010 MEETING WILL BE ON JULY 11TH  AT 9:00 AM.  THIS IS A CORRECTION FROM WHAT IS PRINTED IN THE CURRENT NEWSLETTER.  PLEASE MAKE A NOTE IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND.

ASOCIACION DE REGULARIZACION DE VECINOS DE LA CHOLLA, A.C.
P. O. Box 620
Lukeville, Arizona 85341

 

A General meeting was held on Saturday, April 24, 2010 at the Cholla Community Center. President Michael Dugan called the meeting to order at 9:00 AM. There not being a quorum present, motion was made, seconded and approved by the membership to adjourn. The meeting was then reconvened at 9:05 AM.

MINUTES:

A motion was made, seconded and approved to dispense with reading the minutes of the General Meeting held on Saturday, April 25, 2009.

FINANCE:

The Operating Budget for the year 2010 – 2011 was sent to the membership in the Newsletter prior to the meeting. The board asked the membership to approve the suggested budget maintaining the yearly dues at $200.

MEMBERSHIP:

There were 14 new members since the last meeting. Mr. Dugan asked for a motion to approve the memberships. Motion made, seconded and all new members accepted.

ELECTIONS:

The general assembly was asked to vote for President, Vice President and Treasurer. Current President, Michael Dugan was running again and Ray Flinn also ran for President. Vice President Pat Sledge and Treasurer Helen Dahlstrom were unopposed. There were 3 – 3 year terms and 1 – 1 year term to be filled on the board. Seeking those seats were incumbents Pete Pisciotta and Tom Clark as well as Gretchen Ellinger, Blaine Fletcher, Bella Howard, Steve Willis and Laurie Weber. Valente Cornejo was unopposed for Mexican Representative.

Mr. Dugan had all candidates stand and be introduced to the audience.

REPORT TO THE MEMBERSHIP:

Prior to giving a report of the Board’s actions during the year 2009 – 2010, he praised Barbara Damman for the great job she does every year in maintaining a wonderful library that is available to everyone in Cholla. He also gave thanks to the volunteers manning the Membership tables helping hand out ballots and proxies.
(1)

CLUBHOUSE:

In the absence of Chairman Pat Sledge, Mr. Dugan reported work that is ongoing at the Clubhouse. Everyone had seen the Palapa and the work done on the southeast corner of the clubhouse and Mr. Dugan said there would be some more work done, possibly during the summer. He reported on the new cabinets to house the media equipment and the two cabinets to be used by OBSC and CBSC. He explained that anything done structurally or for the benefit of the Vecinos would be paid by them and the two cabinets for the clubs would be paid by them.
He reported that the speakers were being updated in such a way that if drywall or some other type of material were used to hide the bare beams, nothing would have to be changed to do that work. He also told the audience of plans to upgrade the kitchen in the future not only for convenience but safety.

Mr. Dugan also reported on the roof which at some point in time will need to have major work done to it. Termites are continually working on the wood even though it has been sprayed.

He also brought up the fact that members can rent the building .He mentioned the Busfields who were at the meeting and said they had rented the facility to celebrate their 50th anniversary. People were told to make sure it was available for their event, rent it, get a permit and they will be given the necessary information needed to use the building.

PARKS/ENVIRONMENT:

Chairman Gene Court reported that the old playground equipment has been replaced by steel equipment brought to Cholla by two kind gentlemen. He also got a call from someone shopping at Home Depot to tell Mr. Court they had Polyurethane at $5.00 for 2 ½ gallon. Mrs. Court did more painting, everything looks good and the park is being used almost every day.

ROADS:

Chairman Pete Pisciotta was absent due to being stuck in Europe after a Volcano eruption grounded planes so Mr. Dugan brought everyone up-to-date on the contract to grade roads, main and internally as well as the one that goes out of Cholla to Rocky Point. Grading is usually done during the week but as the weekend hits with traffic from the States and Rocky Point, they do get worse. Due to some heavy rains, a lot of caleche was brought in to correct the damage.

SECURITY:

Chairman Jim Niblack reported several years ago the Police Station was dark a lot of time at night due to no police force being here full time. Now he hears that there are a lot of police out here all the time. The Vecinos hired security people and there was a drop in burglaries. The security people live in Cholla and have an interest in what happens here and make quite an impact.

(2)

He suggested that members check the HOA website because there is a lot of information available from people who have had a problem as well as how houses might be secured and opinions of what people think should be done in securing Cholla.

There was a long discussion about calling the Cholla police and no one is there, which emergency phone number to use when trying to get in touch with the Rocky Point police.
Mr. Niblack said there is a number that rings into the Sonoran Dispatch Center for the State of Sonora and they will dispatch someone to Cholla. There is the 060 emergency number that can be called and 066 is the highway emergency number. There was a long discussion about other emergency numbers that could be used and the possibility of a language barrier. There was a suggestion that emergency numbers be printed in the next Newsletter and Mr. Dugan said that would be done, but it has been done before. Gretchen Ellinger said Toto is very generous in giving out his cell phone number as are some of the other policemen in Cholla.

It was suggested that a policeman be at the Vecinos meetings every month to tell what has gone on in Cholla. Mr. Niblack told the person that a written report is given to Mr. Dugan regarding burglaries and other problems. People were reminded that the Vecinos do not pay the police. They are Penasco Police and are paid by them since Cholla is a part of their territory. We can’t tell them what to do but the Security force is contracted by the Homeowners through the Police.
The two security people are Memo Green and Arturo Arvizu who both live in Cholla and the reason they were hired is because they have lived in Cholla a long time and they know everyone and if someone should or should not be at the houses in Cholla.

Everyone was urged to have a neighborhood watch in their area and take care of each other.

GARBAGE:

In the absence of Chairman Jerry Ketelhut, Jr., Mr. Dugan reported that during the past year Mr. Ketelhut went to the City and a private garbage company and got numbers to find out what they would charge versus what the Vecinos are doing now. There was a difference in costs but there was also a difference in what they would be doing compared to what Mr. Arvizu and his crew do. After a lot of discussion it was decided that the for each member’s $50 that goes toward the garbage pickup, we were better served as a community to continue using a member of our community who is also a member of our association.

WATER AND SEWER:

Mr. Dugan reported that the Vecinos brought water to the community but occasionally there are problems with the flow due to broken lines, and the condos being filled and using more water. He suggested to people who are in Cholla during the week to take advantage of filling their tanks prior to the weekend.

He reported that the Vecinos are starting to look at getting a water tank down by the stand pipe that would give our community a reserve of a certain amount of days in case something happens.
(3)
There is now a water reserve that has accumulated due to everyone taking water out of the stand pipe paying when they fill up, so the Vecinos will have money to build a tank without using reserves.

Mr. Dugan said the only thing left was unfinished business or new business and there was nothing to discuss.

Since there was no more business to report, the President asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting and open it up to the floor for questions and answers. Motion made, seconded and meeting adjourned at 9:45 AM.

Respectfully submitted,

 

Shirley McDonald, Secretary

 

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION:

Gretchen Ellinger told of a new school in RP and there is no tuition for children and young people attending. There is a horse show beginning at 6 PM and the cost of admission is 200 pesos for adults. They will have entertainment and food and tickets are available at the door. She also gave directions to get to the horse facility which is located on the road to Caborca.
Proceeds from the show will benefit the school.

Ron Stimpson was in attendance at the meeting and he spoke on behalf of the earthquake victims in Mexico where so many people had lost everything. He was asking for help on their behalf and would take whatever was donated back to the area..

Someone asked if CFE had accepted the electrical system in Cholla. Mr. Dugan said it was his understanding that they had with the exception of certain areas but he will check on it by the Sunday meeting.

Barbara Damman wanted everyone to know there is a Library that the Vecinos provide for the members. She told everyone where it was located and said she would have it open after the meeting for those who wanted to check it out.

There was a question as to how people would find out the election results. Mr. Dugan said they would be available at the Regular Meeting on Sunday at 9:00 AM.

 

(4)

ELECTION RESULTS:

President: Mike Dugan

Vice President: Pat Sledge

Treasurer: Helen Dahlstrom

Board Members:

3 year terms: Pete Pisciotta
Bella Howard
Laurie Weber

1 year term: Tom Clark

Mexican Representative: Valente Cornejo

2010 – 2011 Budget: Approved – Will remain at $200.00