News

Pile Driving to Begin April 21 at Jefferson Interchange

The I-10 / Jefferson Street Interchange Project contractor will begin pile driving operations on Tuesday, April 21 in the I-10 median at the Jefferson St. interchange. Pile driving will occur Monday through Friday from 7:00 AM to 3:30 PM. 

The purpose of pile driving is to continue building the support system for the new bridge.

Pile driving operations will continue in various locations throughout the construction area through early July 2015.

Noise impacts to residents are expected to be minimal due to the distance of residential areas from the construction zone.

The contractor's operations have been planned to minimize impacts to motorists traveling to and from the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Stagecoach.

Day of Remembrance for Abraham Lincoln

Presidential Proclamation

DAY OF REMEMBRANCE FOR PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN
 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION 

President Abraham Lincoln believed that we are, at heart, one Nation and one people. At a time when America was torn apart and our very future was in doubt, he knew our country was more than a collection of States, and that we shared a bond that would not break. One hundred fifty years after President Lincoln's death, Americans join together across the Union he saved to honor his memory and celebrate the freedom for which he gave his last full measure of devotion.

A self-taught man, rugged rail-splitter, and humble lawyer from Springfield, Illinois, President Lincoln believed in the fierce independence that lies at the heart of the American experience. But he also knew that together, we can do great things -- that it is through the accumulated toil and sacrifice of ordinary women and men that our country is perfected and our liberty preserved.

President Lincoln understood the immense sacrifices required to give meaning to our founding principles. With enduring faith and steady resolve, he led our Nation through Civil War, knowing the blood shed was in painful service to those same ideals. He sought to reunite our people not only in Government, but also in a freedom that knew no bounds of color or creed. It was in this spirit that he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, forever joining the cause of our Union with the advancement of liberty. As our Nation gave birth to a new era of freedom, President Lincoln charted a course that would help bind the wounds of a divided country and bring healing to a people who desperately needed it.

Even while his Presidency was characterized by war, his ambition was a just and lasting peace. Amid the discord of great conflict, President Lincoln demonstrated the wisdom to look forward. He knew a united America could serve the hopes of all its people if they seized the opportunity of their time. He established land-grant colleges and committed to a railroad connecting East to West, even as he fought to hold together North and South. He fueled new enterprises with a national currency, spurred innovation, and ignited America's imagination with a National Academy of Sciences.

As we reflect on the Great Emancipator, we are reminded that we will be remembered for what we choose to make of the moment we are given. President Lincoln has passed on a tremendous legacy to us, and we too are called to do great things. His example gives us confidence that whatever trials await us, this Nation and the freedom we cherish can, and will, prevail. Today, we reflect on the extraordinary progress he made possible, and with one voice, we rededicate ourselves to the work of ensuring a Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 15, 2015, as a Day of Remembrance for President Abraham Lincoln. I call upon all Americans to honor his life and legacy with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities. I also call upon the Governors of the United States and its Territories, and appropriate officials of all units of government, to direct that the flag be flown at half-staff on the Day of Remembrance for President Abraham Lincoln. I further encourage all Americans to display the flag at half-staff from their homes and businesses on that day.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fourteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand fifteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-ninth.

BARACK OBAMA

 

Club Presidents — Reminder to File Mandatory Financial Reports by this Friday

In order to allow our clubs to continue to use the HOA EIN Number, our outside independent auditor is requiring that our community clubs change how they report to the HOA.  The auditor is requiring that our clubs report on finances for the calendar year -- January through December. This new reporting requirement is effective now and clubs will need to get the new financial reports in by April 24.

If you don't submit this new calendar year financial report by April 24, 2015 -- unfortunately, your club will have to get their own EIN number or face being shut down. As of Tuesday, April 21 -- 18 clubs have not yet turned in the required forms.

Your club will derive your new report from the following:

  1. Your financials for July 1st  2014 through December 31st 2014
  2. Your financials from Jan 1st 2014 through June 30th  2014

As you can see -- combined -- this report will provide us with your club financials for the calendar year for 2014.

You will need to use the new form (click on the link below to obtain the new form) for the new calendar year report.

Click Here to Download the Club Financial Reporting Form

This is the only way the HOA can allow clubs to use the associations EIN number. If you do not use the Association's EIN number, your club will have to get one of its own or face being shut down.

Your Associations auditor needs to report the clubs income for 2014 -- so we need to have this new calendar year financial reports in the HOA office by no later than April 24.

Thanks for your understanding and efforts on getting this accomplished.

Do You Have A Background in Finance?

The Information Advisory Committee is seeking an individual with a background as either a CPA,  CFO or Corporate Financial Analyst to join our committee. Our community depends on owners with strong business backgrounds to volunteer their time. Being on this committee requires a time commitment of approximately 4-5 hours each month.

If you have this kind of background, are an owner in SCSH, and have a desire to help our community, please download the PDF form below, fill it out and submit to the HOA Office:

[gview file="http://www.scshca.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Advisory-Committee-Interest-Form-3-24-15.pdf"]

Thank you for your interest.

Find Out What You Can Do To Save Water

As many of you know, California is experiencing its worst drought on record. The snow pack is at just 5% of its normal average.

To find out what you can do to help save water, click here

Notice of Work – April 7, 2015

I-10 / Jefferson Street Interchange Project

The I-10 / Jefferson Street Interchange Project contractor will perform lane closures on I-10 at Jefferson Street the night of Tuesday, April 7th between 10:00 pm and 6:00 am

The alternating closures will take place on the number 1 and number 2 lanes on EB and WB I-10. The purpose of these lane closures is to allow the contractor to:

  • Install k-rail in the median
  • Install storm water pollution preventention measures
  • Install fencing to identify environmentally sensitive areas
  • Begin excavating, install shoring and drive piles within the median

The contractor's operations have been planned to minimize impacts to motorists traveling to and from the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Stagecoach. K-rail will be installed in order to provide a safety barrier for workers and the traveling motorists. All existing lanes along I-10 in the construction area will be available to motorists after the k-rail has been installed.
Click here to view the Notice of Work

www.i10cvcprojects.com

Questions? Please call Dennis Green at (909) 800-0451.

Indio Water Authority Board Meeting April 7

With the drought becoming increasingly serious  in California, the issue of water is becoming increasingly critical.

The Indio Water Authority Board will meet April 7 at 4PM in the City of Indio Council Chambers.

For more information, click here.

Big Changes in GAC Membership!

GAC is our community Golf Advisory Committee. All our committees are made up of resident volunteers. A representative of Western Golf Properties attends the meetings as does General Management and a liaison from our HOA Board.

GAC considers all issues concerning our golf operations and makes recommendations to the Board.

This month,  GAC has  new Chair and a number of new Committee members. The new members will be David Bakshy (Chairman), and Pete Anderson both from the Men's Club,  Joyce Johnson and Don Hauser from Couples Golf, and Sue Hendrickson from Women's Golf.

Residents can ask questions about our Golf Club to hot-topics@scshca.com or at "Ask A Question." 

Transparency? It’s right here

Do you believe we should have transparency in our community?  So does your HOA Board.   To achieve that, your Board authorized this online community newspaper (scshca.com) for residents of Sun City Shadow Hills.

Each day we publish articles and notices about everything and anything going on in our community  -- such as if there's been a change in the location or time of a Board meeting, information on the new DwellingLive system, the refurbish for the Ballroom, the new contract with UPS, developments in the new community strategic plan, news from the clubs, how our Advisory Committees work and much, much more. We let you know all the news!

Each day we also add new information to the Residents Only area -- committee meeting agendas and notes that let you know what the advisory committees are discussing, the monthly income statements for the community that tell you where we stand financially, the contracts the Board has entered into, the community budget that the Board creates each year, the mission statements of each of our advisory committees, the Board Agenda that tells you what our Board will be discussing at the next meeting and the Board Notes and Board Motions Passed that tell you what was discussed and what decisions were made and much more.

We also have a "Recent Questions and Answers" area where you can find what other residents are asking. Here you can find out what we pay our contractors, what's the latest in Security, various rules and regulations that affect our community and more.

If that's not enough -- we also have an "Ask A Question" feature where residents are encouraged to ask  questions about our community, our financials, our internal accounting controls, our policies -- and get correct answers.

If you'd like to learn more about how to navigate your website, the Computer Club will be holding free classes for residents during April and May. For more information, click here.

Be in the know! Check your online SCSH Community Newspaper at www.scshca.com daily. That's why we are here!

Montecito Ballroom to be refurbished

Your HOA BOARD voted in March to accept a proposal from Tuscan Designs to refurbish our Montecito Clubhouse ballroom. Keeping our community in great condition is the reason we have a "Reserve Fund " that is 97% funded.

Work included will be:

Replacement of the ballroom carpet
Replacement of sheer drapes along the south windows
Repaint interior walls and ceiling
Replace damaged planks and refinish
Touch up all wood on baseboard, stage and sound booth
Replace covering on partition walls and service rollers and seals
Replace the carpet in the library

The color scheme will be blue and gold.

To learn more about Reserve Funds, click here

March Update from Joan Dzuro

What an exciting time! Our community is going on 11 years old and, if all goes as planned, Pulte will sell the last of its homes by the end of this year. This means that we, as residents, will finally be able to determine the future of our community completely on our own. Toward this end, your HOA Board members have undertaken the task of putting together a comprehensive strategic plan for our community that sets benchmark goals for 3, 5, and 10 years out. This plan will encompass many facets, and it will more than likely take 12 months to formulate.
 

The intent is to have a road map that each subsequent board will be able to review and help the community to follow, making adjustments as necessary in the future.
  

The Board held its first meeting about this project on February 17, 2015, in the Montecito ballroom. Joan Dzuro was selected as chair, and the Board agreed on an outline for the effort plus assignments for other Board members. The plan is:
 

 
1. Get feedback throughout this year from residents about what they want their community to look like in 2020 to 2025. Residents can send emails with their input to [email]strategicplan@scshca.com [/email] or to Board members emails directly. Click here to find Board member email addresses.
  

2. Research each goal to determine feasibility, costs, etc., and bring that information back to the Board for review, discussion, and decision.
  

3. Find residents who would be interested in helping with the research and analysis of the various ideas that are brought forward.
  

When all is finally done, we hope to have a vision that articulates resident wishes, specifies the costs and what has to be done to pay for each goal, and helps us move forward with implementation.
 

 
If you have ideas about how to make our community better, please email them to
[email]strategicplan@scshca.com[/email].
  

If you would like to serve on a sub-committee to help us do research, please email your name, background and area of expertise to the same email address.
 

 
Our next meeting is scheduled for Friday, April 24, at 1 pm in the Montecito Clubhouse. Please come join us and make your voice heard!
  

Board Works on SCSH’s Strategic Plan
  

by Joan Dzuro, Vice President HOA Board and Chair, Strategic Planning Committee

President’s Report: April 2015

Please keep in mind I am not an accountant or a tax specialist. That is why your Association hires  a professional. We have retained as our new auditor the firm of Brabo and Carlsen. Wayne Carlsen, who is a skilled professional, will be working with us. The tax deadline for HOAs is March 15 instead of what we as residents are used to with our personal income tax deadline of April 15 in the United States.

Will we file an extension? Yes, we will. Is that uncommon? No, it is not. With a new auditor it only makes sense to give our new firm more time to do a complete and thorough audit. Do we pay our taxes on time? Yes, we do, every year. Will we be filing the same way we have done in the past? No, we will not. We file based on the recommendations of the professionals we retain. If we retain a different professional, that person may feel we are better off filing another way. That is the case this year.

We have a lot of talented members in our community. I know of one situation where I retained the services of several of our resident attorneys to rewrite a contract. I took their input, but I still sent the draft to your Association’s attorney for final say. They are our hired professionals.
We are strong again this year and will carry over approximately $450,000. It is the Board’s intent to roll that into our reserve account. We are not quite at 100%. I would like to see our Association’s reserves fully funded this year so we will not be tagged with assessment increases in the near future. In addition there are new technologies available to us now that may cost more than what our current reserve funds allocate. These technologies could save us hundreds of thousands of dollars in the future. One such item we are looking at is a new form of coating for our streets. It’s not an oil-based product like most cities use now but a synthetic coating. One of the two major issues with slurry coating is its life and its loss of color, turning grey. We re-coat Sun City Blvd every four years. After about two, it starts to go from black to grey. The new product stays black for its life, and it carries a five-year guarantee. In order for it to have a five-year guarantee, it must have a life span of 10 years. You can see the savings and the esthetic advantage.
Another item we may look at is the cost of maintaining the ponds with the reeds. We spend tens of thousands of dollars annually to keep them in check. The ponds with cement rims require no labor costs to maintain. It’s the old adage that sometimes you have to spend some money now to save money in the future. I doubt that we will have any excess funds next year, but it is my goal to make sure we are still as financially strong as we are today

How to Get Your On-line Guest Registration Code

If you were unable to attend the drop-in session for the new on-line guest registration system on Saturday, March 7 -- please email our head of security, Dave Archer to get your new registration code:

darcher@pcminternet.com

It may take a few days for Dave to get back to you.

Thank you for your patience.

January Safety Report is posted

The January Safety Report is up.

Click on the green "Recent Questions and Answers" button on the lower right of this page to be taken to this resident restricted area.  It is under the "Community Safety Information" category.

(Remember -- you must be logged in to view this information that is restricted to residents only for obvious reasons)

Do You Have A Question?

Do you have a question about something that is going on in our community?

Did you do a "search" but still can't find what you're looking for on the website?

Jut click on the green "Ask A Question" button on the right hand of your SCSHCA.com website. Ask us what you want to know.

We are here to listen and answer!

Have You Submitted Your View Survey?

The March issue of the View has a tear-out survey on page 13. Let us know how we are doing by tearing it out, completing the survey, and dropping it off at either the Montecito or Santa Rosa Clubhouse.

Solar for Golf Course Restrooms

Solar for Golf Course Bathrooms

Your HOA Board has approved solar ventilation for the two bathrooms on the South Course. Since the two bathrooms currently have no ventilation, this is a major health upgrade without having to run any electrical lines.

Executive Sessions by Stu Stryker, HOA President

Just what does go on in these closed sessions? The following is not meant to be a legal document, rather, just a lay person’s description of what the Board does in those sessions.

As I have mentioned in my previous reports, California requires that all common interest developments follow the laws governed by the Davis Sterling Act. These Civil Codes allow an HOA’s Board of Directors to discuss four areas in a closed session: personnel matters, member discipline, formation of contracts, and litigation.

The Board of Directors would be subject to legal action if we were to discuss personnel issues in public. Here are some examples of questions that may arise: complaints about a vendor’s staff member, or conflict between the employees of two vendors which falls under the code of conduct that is included in some of our contracts. On member discipline, we occasionally have members who simply do not feel it’s necessary to conform to our Rules and Regulations. Perhaps they do not go through the proper design review process and choose to paint their home purple;
or maybe a member acts in an uncivil manner toward a neighbor or staff member. These would be discussed during the Board’s closed sessions. For the most part, our members honor these simple rules; but issues do pop up.
Third party contracts are confidential, so these are discussed in closed session to ensure our bidding process is fair so that we obtain the best vendor for our community. If one vendor were to know in advance what another was offering,
that would not be fair. Litigation issues, such as filing a lien or foreclosing on a property, also need to be discussed in closed session to assure privacy for all parties. We have had small claims actions, cases that have ended up in Superior Court, and issues that required our Association counsel’s advice and action. It’s sufficient to say the outcome was successful for our members. Your community is represented by the firm of Epsten, Grinnell & Howell, which specializes in community association law. Attorney Mary Howell usually attends our executive sessions.
My first executive session extended beyond the normal morning session and well into an evening session that followed our General Meeting. Your Board has been successful in shortening these meetings dramatically; and it appears that we are having fewer problems, which is good for the community.

View Survey of Readers

View-Logo

HOW ARE WE DOING?

To help us improve the View magazine, please take a few moments to complete the Survey linked below.

This survey can also be found as a tear-out page in March's issue of the View. Please only submit the survey once.

[gss-button url="https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PZ9HC6H" color="green"]Click Here to Open Survey[/gss-button]

Dwelling Live Guest Management Registration

For those Homeowners who are computer savvy and desire to be able to manage their guest and vendor list personally, as well as other personal information particular to their residence, the HOA is hosting a 4 hour drop-in session -- in which you will be given instructions as to how to access the new software, along with a needed Registration Number.

DATE: March 7th
TIME: Last name begins with A-L 8:00AM to 10AM
              Last name begins with M-Z 10AM to 12PM
PLACE: Montecito Ballroom

Please note, the HOA office will be closed during this time.

DWELLING-LIVE-FLYER

Residents: Note Change to Single Vendor Access Accountability

At the board meeting on February 23, 2015 the HOA Board of Directors voted to hold single vendors, who are not in the Vendor Access Program, accountable for their own tickets.  
 
Currently if a vendor comes in to do a bid or one day job they do not qualify for the vendor access program so the resident is responsible for the actions of that vendor.   The Safety Committee looked at this issue and came up with a process where single vendors can be held responsible for their own fines of speeding or running stop signs.  If the one time vendor fails to pay the fine they will be barred from coming into the community until the fine is paid. 
 
Residents are still responsible for the actions of family and guests that visit them, per the CC&Rs and Rules and Regulations.  But this does remove the responsibility from our residents for vendors.  If the vendor is not in the vendor access program you still need to let the gate know they are coming in to see you.

SunLine Survey for Shadow Hills in the Montecito Clubhouse

SunLine Survey for Shadow Hills

The SunLine Transit Agency is interested in obtaining input from Shadow Hills residents on what our interest and needs are for their support. They have prepared a survey which is now available in the “turnstiles” at the Lifestyle desk at the Montecito Clubhouse. They request that you take one, fill it out, and mail it to them at the address on the form.