As published in The View, August 2023:
President
Greetings to all my fellow community members. Each month that I am on this Board brings both joy and challenge. I know there are some who wonder why anyone would volunteer to be on the Board of Directors. As a member of the Board, I have been fortunate enough to witness the dedication and hard work of our volunteers. So many of you have made the decision to give back to our community and, without your efforts, our neighborhood would not be the welcoming, and tplace it is today. I want to take a moment to express my gratitude for your participation. Now for the challenges. As you know, Pulte is going to build 1,500 homes immediately next door to us, and it does pose certain potential challenges for our community. The CDCC committee is tasked with interfacing with the City of Indio to make sure that our interests are heard before decisions are made.
As I write this, Pulte and our City Council member (Glenn Miller) have given me absolute assurance that the proposed sewer line will not be upsized through our Sun City Shadow Hills community. The assurance is not written in stone, so we will continue to focus on keeping this from happening.
As another level of protection, the Board has engaged the services of a local law firm to ensure that our rights are protected involving the Environmental Impact Report and all aspects of this new development. This law firm has defended other communities facing Pulte developments.
The next difficult challenge the Board faces is when distinct groups within our community have different views on how our amenities should be used. For instance, the Pickleball and Tennis Clubs have differing opinions about how our amenities should be allocated. Trying to find the right answer is never easy, and this Board will continue to seek solutions that are a win-win for the community. I want to thank Pickleball and Tennis for their input, which has helped the Board with the decision-making process. The other party to this decision is, of course, the community. Your contribution will be decisive, so your input will be a large part of the answer. We will be soliciting your thoughts and desires concerning this issue soon.
By now you should be able to enjoy lite bites and drinks at the Montecito Café. The Board, Lifestyle, Food & Beverage, and Troon worked very hard to open the Montecito Café this summer. The concept was to stop putting off what we hope will be a successful return to rebuilding this amenity and expand that success in the fall. Please be sure to visit and see what Chef has prepared. Although I was initially involved with this project, I especially want to thank Scott Pessin, Board Vice President, for leading the way in this endeavor to give back to our community.
Finally, I want to thank all our vendors who make living here in Sun City a pleasure. Whether it is the security team, landscaping team, facilities team, or HOA team, please give a wave or say hi to those folks who are putting in the work during this sizzling summer to make our lives just a little bit better.
Contact the author at jerry.conrad@scshca.com.