Greetings Homeowners,

Happy Holidays to everyone in the Village.  For those traveling over the next few weeks, we hope you have safe travels and a merry Christmas wherever you are.   Here is the monthly update for December:

New Homeowners:

Please join me in welcoming:

• Alma Samuels who purchased unit B003 in November.
• Susan Heroux bought unit 2011 in December.

Finances:

• December was a big month for VAW finances as we finalized our 2026 budget.This year we included a “town hall” style budget review meeting with homeowners prior to formally approving the budget on 12/9/25.After considerable discussion and input from homeowners we decided to put most of what we anticipate being left at the end of 2025 into our savings account and raise dues $5 to $275 beginning February 1, 2026 to balance the 2026 budget.For those of you using the PayHOA autopay feature, you can change your maximum payment any time before 2/1 as PayHOA will never take out more than you owe.Please refer to the dues increase e-bulletin sent on Dec 11^th for more details.
• We’d also like to announce that the Village is now able to accept payments via Zelle.As many of you know, Zelle is a payment system like PayPal and Venmo offered by US Banks such as Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citibank and others.It may now be used to make monthly payments if your bank offers Zelle payments. In the Chase bank app, for example, it takes about 5 keystrokes to set up a free monthly payment to the Village.To identify the VAW HOA, you can use the email address (vawhoa@gmail.com) or the phone number (480 -830-2180) or the Village tag (“thevillagehoa”) to set up the payment.   Please make sure that you include your unit number in the “Message to Recipient” field

The advantage to the homeowner and to the HOA is that there is no physical check generated that must be mailed, endorsed, and deposited.   It also is free compared to the $1.95 we are charged per PayHOA payment.

Buildings and Maintenance: 

• The flat roof sections on buildings 1 and B 9-12 should have been resealed by the time this bulletin goes out. This means ALL of our roofs are now in great condition.
• Over the years, the Village has tried to maintain a cohesive look to the buildings.One issue that was noted recently was the high number of missing porch light globes in phase 3.As a general rule, if a homeowner controls the on/off switch for a light, they are responsible for maintaining the bulb and globe in working order. If the light is controlled by the HOA and goes on automatically at dusk, then it is the HOA’s responsibility.As phase 3 has a combination of these, we decided as a board to just replace as many as we could at the VAW’s expense to restore the common look. Kelly Urban is in charge of this project and may be going door-to-door soon to hand out globes. These 6” plastic globes cost the VAW about $9 each.
• As you may know, we have been working on an electrical issue affecting the lamp posts in the cul-de-sac. We will continue to have the electrical professionals address the issue until it is resolved.
• At our last board meeting, we agreed in principle to buy an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) for the clubhouse. Donna Patton has volunteered to present a proposal to the board for purchase and training of the device.  Donna was a firefighter/EMT prior to retirement.
• If you need to dispose of a large appliance or mattress, you are responsible to hire a junk hauling service to dispose of it. If you are doing remodeling, make sure you include construction material removal in your project.There has been some confusion on this, so here are a couple clarifications:
  • If you have a pick-up scheduled, you may place the item near a dumpster with a note on it with the pick-up date and time.If we see an old refrigerator sitting out there without a note, we may call the police to report illegal dumping.When people from outside the Village leave things by our dumpsters, we have to schedule and pay for those pick-ups.
  • If you have something that will easily fit in the dumpster and you are physically able to put it in there, we have been told by the City of Mesa, that we can put almost anything in the dumpster. For example, if you have a large wooden chair and it can be broken down into smaller pieces, you are welcome to dispose of it in a dumpster.

Pools: 

• In December we made a down-payment on new pool covers.The 50% deposit was $6430 in order to get on the vendor’s schedule.The pool covers are scheduled to be replaced on January 21^st and 22^nd.
• We had a contractor scheduled to bring our pool gates up to the latest Maricopa County regulations and unfortunately, he has been unable to start due to medical issues.We are currently looking for other options but the project is on hold for now.
• The unexplained high chlorine readings from the North Spa continue.Based on the readings from our chlorine monitoring system, it’s happening fairly regularly every Sunday evening/Monday morning. We are continuing to investigate the issue.

 
Landscaping:  

• Thank you to those of you who have been reporting landscaping irrigation leaks.Please continue to report leaks when you see them via PayHOA or to the office.Ideally, pick up a white flag from the office and place it in the spot of the leak.Here are approximate irrigations times for Monday and Thursdays:

 

6:00am                  56th St

7:00am                  “A” Buildings - South side & units #63-70

8:00am                  “A” Buildings - North side & units #33-49

9:00am                  “B” Buildings & units #57-62

10:00am               Building 1 & 2 & units #50-56

11:00am               Clubhouse, Pool Area & units #25-32

12:00pm               Buildings 3 & 4

1:00pm                 Buildings 5 & 6

2:00pm                 Building 9

3:00pm                 Buildings 7 & 8

Board of Directors Meeting:

• There was a suggestion made to the board regarding holding periodic safety & security workshops for homeowners.The board agreed in principle with the suggestion and would welcome a volunteer who would like to head up the activity.
• A recording of this month’s Board of Directors meeting is available here.  Unfortunately, we attempted to use a new microphone and apparently left the mute button on for the whole meeting. Sorry, I screwed up. If you still want to watch it and are asked for a passcode, it is:  jW$p!i8!

 

General Reminders:

• Our homeowners’ annual meeting is at 6pm on February 17^th. Please put the meeting on your calendar.There is one position up for election (mine).I’ve been on the board for 6 years and am willing to serve another 3-year sentence, but if you want someone else, please encourage them to run for the board.Jeff Coughlin is in charge of putting together a nominate committee/election judges.

 

Stuff that didn’t really fit in anywhere else:

• Security Cameras: As security cameras get cheaper, more and more homeowners are looking at installing personal cameras (like Google Nest cameras and Ring doorbells).   The question usually accompanying the purchase is “where can I use the camera?” The answer is from a combination of city, county and state laws and regulations along with our Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs).  The answer is:
  • You may have cameras pointed almost anywhere you want inside your own unit. Obviously you are never allowed to put a camera in a bathroom.Typically, people have will aim cameras at their entrances to record any unauthorized access.
  • You can aim cameras outside of your unit at your limited common elements like patios, entrances, and driveways.
  • You may not aim a camera anywhere where a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy.We’ve discussed that guideline with Mesa PD and an attorney.In our case, it means that you cannot point a camera directly at a neighbor’s windows or private spaces.However, it’s permissible to have a camera that incidentally includes common areas.For example, a doorbell camera that points at your front entrance but also catches the pool area and possibly pool-side balconies on the other side of the pool is permissible. Patios and balconies that are easily visible from common areas (like the pool or a roadway) do not have an inherent expectation of privacy.
  • Water Shut off valves: Many homeowners have water shut off valves outside of their units.  Most of us shut off these valves when the unit is not occupied. We had an incident in the Village earlier this year where a shut off valve was accidentally turned on while the unit was unoccupied and a leak developed inside the unit. Obviously, this was a real problem.  I’ve been asked about locking these shut off valves and found a solution for less than $20 on Amazon (search for “Ball Valve Lockout”).  If you are interested in putting a lock on your valve for the summer, take a look at the one that I installed on unit #39.  It’s bright red and to the left of the driveway.  Please do not lock the valve on any valve that services multiple units (like in building 2).  The village does have a long-term goal to convert our VAW plumbing to provide separate shutoffs for each unit. Ideally these shut off valves would be mounted inside, but it’s not something that is going to be resolved for everyone quickly.  

 

Steve Patton and your Village at Apache Wells Board of Directors