President’s Report – Steve Patton

March 2026

Greetings Homeowners,

Thank you for expressing your confidence in me by re-electing me to the board last month.  In the organization meeting held after the annual meeting, the board voted unanimously to confirm the board of directors to the same positions as this past year.  Jeff Coughlin will continue as Vice President, Sheryl Brown will serve as Treasurer, Jean Mills will continue in her role as secretary, Gail Smith will be a Director and I will serve as Board President for another term.  As President, I plan on continuing these monthly updates as I’ve received positive feedback on them so here goes:

 

New Owners:

• Please welcome Erik Schafer and Marilyn Mayo who purchased unit 1023 from Jim and Shriley A’Bear in February. The new owners reportedly plan to move in sometime in April.

 

Finances:

• Our maintenance costs continue to run under budget helping us stay within $20 of our total budget after the first two months of 2026.
• Our capital reserves reached a new record high with a balance of $547,209. As discussed at the Annual meeting, we’re in a great position for the next 15 years but will need to look at increasing the HOA dues in the future to deal with an estimated $500,000 price tag to repave our roads around 2041.
• We’ve spent $26,056.36 so far this year on Capital expenses.This includes $12,860 for pool covers, $10,021 on pressure relief valves, and $3,175 on trees and shrubs. Our original projected capital spending for 2026 was just over $100,000 but we will be pushing the pool resurfacing project to 2027 to make room for replacing our railings (see the first bullet under Buildings and Maintenance).
• We had another half-dozen homeowners switch from PayHOA to Zelle for their monthly payments. Not every bank supports this payment system, but we save about $30/year for each homeowner that switches.
• Some good news hot off the press.We just received our 2026 HOA insurance renewal, and the cost is slightly lower than last year.We had budgeted for a 5% increase but instead it decreased by about 7% due to slightly lower valuations on our buildings. Our total insurance cost will be $98,792 down from $105,927 last year.This total includes both condominium insurance (on the buildings) and liability insurance (on the officers and our employee).

Buildings and Maintenance:

• As I mentioned last month, we received a letter from our insurance company which listed some things that our HOA needed to do to stay insured.The last of these improvements is modifying our railings in the two- and three-story buildings to have gaps of 4” or less.Our current railings were built long before the building code changed (around 2000), but we are being forced to make this change anyway.We have looked at several options and believe that we have decided on the best choice from a financial and aesthetic perspective.We will gradually be replacing all of the common element railings with new ones that meet this requirement. These railings come with a black powder-coating instead of the current color and will be professionally installed. Painting the railings any other color would almost double the cost of the project which is already expected to be in the neighborhood of $50,000.One example railing has been installed just SW of the big pool in front of unit 1044. This was done to get an idea of the expected total cost and effort required.Feel free to stop over to building 3 to see what the new railings will look like.
• We are still pursuing a solution for having individual water shut off valves for every unit.Many of you have been involved in similar attempts in the past so I’m sure you are aware of how challenging this goal is to achieve.
• As it was getting increasingly frustrating attempting to get hot water in the Clubhouse kitchen, we purchased and installed a new water heater and hot water pump for the clubhouse.We spent just over $1000 on this project.
• The DirecTV receiver in the work-out room died. The board voted to table replacing the receiver which would have cost the HOA $400. The TV can get over-the-air channels and any streaming service so we didn’t see a need for the expense at this time.
• Painting of the “A” and “B” buildings has started.In the past, phases were painted as needed and as money was available.We are now planning to repaint each building, once every 8 years on a regular schedule.
  • Phase 1: Last time: 2020 Next: 2026 (along with the paintable carports).
  • Phase 2: Last time: 2021 Next: 2028 (includes the Clubhouse)
  • Phase 3: Last time:2022 Next: 2030
  • Phase 4: Last time: 2025 Next: 2032
• Just a reminder, almost any change to your unit requires approval from the board or the building committee (Jeff Coughlin). If you are replacing your windows, HVAC, awning, pergola, patio, balcony tile, etc, please submit a building change request. Most of them will be approved in a few minutes or days but we need to have a record of the change and formal approval.

Pools:

• The required changes to the pool gates have been completed and the mandatory signs have been re-installed.

Landscaping:

• A few years ago, we switched to a more natural approach to landscaping.This means that instead of constant pruning and shaping of shrubs, they are allowed to grow more naturally and cut back severely every few years. This is not an “easier” approach, but does result in healthier growth, more flowers, and less demand for irrigation as the plants grow.Because of our unusually warm winter, our landscaping contractors started this rejuvenation pruning a month earlier than expected. We’ve asked them to hold off further rejuvenation pruning for a few weeks so everyone can enjoy the beautiful colors for a bit longer.
• As I’ve mentioned in the past, we are enrolled in a service provided by the City of Mesa which monitors our irrigation use and compares it to an “ideal” number for the community.Thanks to the continued work by the landscaping team, we hit the number on the button for January and February this year.

Stuff that didn’t fit anywhere above:

• We recently discovered that standing committees are not allowed to have their own checking accounts. We were surprised to learn that it doesn’t matter if the money was raised by donations or events. Any money collected from homeowners in the name of the HOA must be subject to our annual financial audit. We will be transitioning the Social Committee’s bank account and the Landscaping Committee’s account to sub-accounts under the HOA’s general account.
• Our current rules and regulations prohibit guests over 18 from staying with homeowners for more than 30 days in a calendar year without prior approval.This has been a rule in the Village for almost 25 years, but it has rarely been enforced.We need to either enforce the rule or change it.The board will be considering this issue at our next board meeting.One possible option is to have an “extended stay” charge for guests who exceed the 30 days. Please feel free to share your opinion on this topic with any board member.

Board of Directors Meeting:

• One of the items discussed at our February Board of Directors meeting was a modification to our CC&Rs to limit the percentage of rental units in the Village. This would be a multi-year project which would ultimately require a vote by homeowners to ratify this change.The problem is that absentee investors are buying units in the Valley strictly to be used as rental units. Although we’ve had some great long-term renters in the Village, it’s the homeowner residents who really make our community what it is.If you have a strong opinion on the subject, don’t worry, we’ll have plenty of opportunities for everyone to voice their opinions on the subject before we bring the amendment to a vote.
• Speaking of rental units, if you are renting your unit, you are required 1) have your renters register in the office, 2) provide them with the CC&Rs and the Rules and Regulations, and 3) provide them with any keys that they need. We’ve had a few situations where renters showed up in the office asking for keys and completely unaware of our HOA rules.
• A recording of this month’s Board of Directors meeting is available here. If you want to watch it and are asked for a passcode, it is: 1O2zHH8+ (I don’t make up these silly passcodes, Zoom automatically assigns them).

Annual Meeting:

• Thank you to the homeowners representing 62 units who attended the VAW Annual Meeting in person. Unfortunately, the Zoom meeting was inadvertently set up with an unmonitored waiting room, so no one was able to join remotely.We apologize for this mistake and will make sure that this doesn’t happen next year.

Steve Patton and your Village at Apache Wells Board of Directors