President’s Report – Steve Patton

April 2026

Greetings Homeowners,

One of the signs of spring in the Village is the departure of the seasonal residents.  As sad as it is to see so many friends and neighbors leaving, we know that the village will be in good hands over the summer and that we’ll see most everyone back in the fall.

 

The first thing that I’d like to mention this month is the loss of two cherished members of the Village at Apache Wells community.  Mark Gaiffe (1033) passed away in mid-March and Ed Heimiler (B012) passed away in early April.  Both of these homeowners were important members of the community and will be missed by their families, neighbors, and friends.

 

New Owners:

• Please welcome Les & Patty Olson who purchased unit A008 from Cathy Haukedahl this month. There are a few other units that are reportedly closing soon, so it appears that condo sales in Mesa are picking up again.

 

Finances:

• Thanks to our ongoing preventative maintenance plan, our cost of repairs continues to run under budget, helping our total expenses to be $200 less than we expected at this point in the year.
• As I have mentioned in the past, please consider switching from PayHOA to Zelle for your monthly dues payments. We know that not all banks support this payment method, but we save about $30/year for each homeowner that switches. Also, a special thank you to those of you who pay by check annually or semi-annually.This saves the office considerable time and effort.
• We reinvested accrued savings again in another Certificate of Deposit.The various CDs that we have will earn the HOA about $10,000 in interest this year.
• Beginning this week, the monthly HOA statements from the Village will be sent out near the middle of the month instead of on the first.Currently, the invoices and payments pass each other in the mail and often lead to confused homeowners.Going forward, everyone should receive these state-required monthly statements and ideally, the balance shown will always be zero.

 

 

Buildings and Maintenance:

• The previously described project to replace the railings in the Village is scheduled to start in the next few weeks and run through the entire summer. Hopefully, by the time our seasonal residents return in the fall, the work will be completed.
• Well, many of you said it would be impossible to separate the plumbing in the three-story buildings in order to install shut-off valves. Turns out you were right. The original crews that plumbed the three-story buildings apparently started at each end and just tapped into the closest water source possible.This means that a line to a bathroom on the second floor could run to a unit behind, beside, above or below the unit. So, the water shut-off project will be continuing with the two-story buildings and the garden level of three-story units. As previously reported, the cost will be split between split between the HOA and the homeowner for those that choose to have the valves installed.
• The last carport is being painted next week so the crew can start on the warranty work in phase 4.Anna and Jeff have compiled a list of all the reported issues with last year’s painting.For future reference, the next phase to be repainted will be Phase 2 in 2028.
• There has been an increased interest in pest prevention lately in the Village.We have a contract with Ky-Ko Pest Prevention to treat units in the Village.The first 10 appointments each month are at no-cost to homeowners. Once 10 appointments are set for a month, any additional homeowners wishing to get their units treated can either pay a nominal $10 fee or wait until the following month.
• Carpets in the clubhouse will get their annual cleaning next month.Hopefully, they can get that big stain by the TV out during their cleaning.
• The City of Mesa showed up unannounced a few times in the last 10 days to upgrade our residential water meters and covers.We apologize for the inconvenience that some homeowners experienced as water was off sporadically over the time they were on site.

Pools:

• The pools and spas will be drained and refilled during the week of April 26^th.Pools in Arizona develop a build-up of total dissolved solids (TDS) which cannot be removed from the water with pool filters. These solids are the result of dust, sunscreen, sweat, oils, cosmetics, and leaves accumulating in the pools.Over time, the water in the pools evaporates which results in higher and higher concentration of these solids.The plan is to drain the pools overnight and fill them in the morning.Our hope is to do the two pool areas sequentially so that one of the pools and spas will be open and available throughout the process. You should receive an e-bulletin on Monday (4/20) with the specific dates and times for each pool.

 

 

Landscaping:

• Our tree-trimming contractor, ArborCraft pruned 51 trees and removed 7 trees that were dead or in serious decline.The pruning included a few of the larger ash trees as we are trying to delay their replacements as long as possible.  The removals included two bottle trees, a Sissoo tree, an Ash tree, a pineapple palm, and two citrus trees from private patios. Three of the five community trees that were removed will not be replaced, due to original inappropriate placement.  The landscaping committee has a long-term goal to remove all of the Sissoo trees in the Village as their root system is terribly invasive and can affect foundations and underground utilities.
• We had 13 new trees planted in the Village this season.Most were replacements from trees lost due to monsoon storms or decline.
• Volunteers planted 36 new/replacement shrubs and succulents.
• The colorful pots with flowers that were added to the south pool were very well received by the residents. Gloria Howells and Jim Nielson may add a third, larger pot next season with the proceeds from the St Patrick’s Day fundraiser.
• Twice a year, all of the rock-covered common areas will be sprayed with a pre-emergent herbicide.This is critical to keep weeds and invasive plants from sprouting up around the Village.

Village Communications:

• Here in the Village, there are many ways that information is made available to homeowners.Sometimes it’s confusing as to how the various forms are used.Here’s a quick primer:
  • PayHOA – This website manages our service requests.  Homeowners can submit official HOA requests online or if necessary, on paper forms available in the office.  The requests on paper are transcribed by Anna into PayHOA so that we can manage and track the requests.  This is also the system by which all official VAW HOA e-bulletins are sent to homeowners.  This system has the flexibility to select individual buildings or phases for communications instead of just emailing everyone.  
  • Vawhoa.net – This is a community website that has been around for years.  It is used to post meeting minutes, association documents, president’s reports, condolences, financial information, and a community calendar.  
  • Facebook – The “Village at Apache Wells” Facebook group is a homeowner managed group for posting whatever homeowners’ want to post. It is not owned, managed, or monitored by the VAW.  You can connect to the group by clicking  on this link: www.facebook.com/groups/vawhoa/.
  • E-mail – The vawhoa.gmail e-mail address is one of the easiest ways to communicate with Anna in the office. She monitors her inbox even when she’s not in the office.   E-mails to this address are not distributed to the Board of Directors.
  • Monthly Board of Directors Meeting – The only way to get an issue in front of the Board of Directors, is to request time on the next BOD meeting agenda and send a summary of the issue to Anna at least three business days before the meeting.  This may sound like the board is being arbitrary, but according to Arizona law, the Board of Directors are not allowed (as a group) to discuss homeowner issues outside of open meetings.  For example, if one or more people wanted to come to the meeting and express their concern regarding an event or action, the topic has to be posted to allow people with dissenting opinions to attend the meeting and provide input.

Social Event Calendar:

• The Board of Directors has approved the following calendar of community social events for next season.All homeowners are invited and encouraged to attend these social functions.Put them on your calendar now so you don’t miss out.
  • 11/26/26 - Thanksgiving potluck
  • 12/07/26 - Christmas Tea
  • 12/25/26 - Christmas Potluck
  • 01/23/27 - Spuds and Splits
  • 02/21/27 - Champagne Brunch (Theme: Mexican Fiesta)
  • 02/16/27 - VAW Annual Meeting
  • 03/05/27 - Usery Picnic and Hike
  • 03/17/27 - St. Patrick’s Day Parade
  • 03/20/27 - End of Season Party (Theme: A Night in Tuscany)
  • 03/28/27 - Easter Potluck     

 

Board of Directors Meeting:

• A recording of this month’s Board of Directors meeting is available here.

 

Steve Patton and your Village at Apache Wells Board of Directors