Greetings Homeowners,

This is my favorite time of the season here in the Village as the weather becomes temperate and more and more seasonal owners and renters return to the community.  Please make an effort to say hello to your neighbors, especially the ones that you’ve never met.

Here is my monthly update for November:

Finances:

• Our reserves this month passed $500,000 for the first time ever.This is a significant milestone and a huge accomplishment by our community. According to our last reserve study, the total we need to be fully funded is about double that number.However, we won’t really know where we stand until our reserve study is updated over the next few weeks.
• Our annual Board of Directors budget meeting is a week away (November 25^th).This meeting is where we lay out HOA planned spending for the 2026 calendar year. As I mentioned last month, we will have a homeowners’ review in the clubhouse on December 2^nd.   The resulting budget will then be voted on by the board at our regularly scheduled December Board of Directors meeting on the 9th. If there is a project that you believe the Village should tackle in 2026, please discuss it with a board member prior to the November 25^th meeting.

Buildings and Maintenance: 

• At our board meeting on November 11^th, we approved a contractor’s bid to restore the common elements of the B building damaged in the fire this summer.The contractor started work on the restoration activities yesterday, November 17th.
• Our buildings need to be painted every 6-8 years.We maintain a rotation through the phases so we don’t end up with multiple phases in one year.Here are the dates of when each phase was painted last:
  • Phase 1 2020
  • Phase 2 2021
  • Phase 3 2022
  • Phase 4 2025

Pools: 

• We had our annual pool furniture cleaning event on November 3^rd.Volunteers scrubbed chairs and tables to rid them of the dust and dirt they collected over the summer.Volunteers included Sue VanLueven, Tammi and Gary Watne, Amy Jorgenson, Brad and Vickie Schultz, Sherry Coughlin, Brian Glowa along with Donna and me. Special thanks to Brian who tackled the grills.Please remember that you are responsible for cleaning a grill after you use it. As Donna is fond of saying, “Your momma doesn’t live here”.Except in a few cases, where your momma does actually live here, she isn’t cleaning the grill for you either.
• The reading on the chlorine level in the North pool spiked to about 25 times normal over a weekend earlier this month.There is no way that this could happen naturally or even as the result of an equipment failure.We are considering adding security cameras to the pool area to see if anyone is climbing the fence and tampering with the pools and spas.
• The last 17 chaise lounge pool chairs have been picked up for re-strapping. They should be back by December 1^st at the latest.
• As many of you know, we are having issues with the heater for the south pool.We are trying to use salvaged parts from the three heaters replaced at the North Pool to try to resurrect the heater and save the Village money.If it cannot be repaired, we will be purchasing a new $5000 pool heater.

 
Landscaping:  

• Seven new trees that were part of the 2025 landscaping plan were planted last week.The exciting news is that we planted three citrus trees in the greenspace that will be for the benefit of any homeowner in the Village.In a couple years, we will have lemons, limes, and oranges on smaller trees that anyone can pick from.
• Marilynn Weinreich walked around the Village with an arborist and examined the broadleaf trees in the HOA. They wrote up an assessment of the trees from which we will develop a plan for future care and treatment of these community assets. By the way, we have 104 broadleaf trees along with 106 palm trees.
• The “Skinning” of palm trees that was halted during the rain earlier this year was completed this month.
• We are now watering plants during the daylight hours on Mondays and Thursdays.If you see water squirting out of a line, please submit a PayHOA landscaping request (or send an email to vawhoa@gmail.com) describing the location in as much detail as possible. Ideally, pick up a white flag from Anna in the office to mark the exact spot of the leak. A volunteer will repair the leak as soon as possible. 
• Volunteers fixed over 80 leaking irrigation lines and leaks around the village.This number of repairs is in line with other HOAs in the Valley. The sun causes damage to the black “spaghetti” lines and leaks and “shooters” ensue.
• We had some termite activity on trees and cacti after the heavy rains. The termites were only eating dead plant material and not negatively affecting the plants. Although the termites were not near homes or buildings, we had treatments scheduled to address those specific plants.However, once the ground dried out the termite activity stopped, and the treatment was deemed no longer necessary.

Board of Directors Meeting:

• A recording of this month’s Board of Directors meeting is available here.  If you are asked for a passcode, it is: %1L=LiWH 

 

General Reminders:

• Please do not interfere with contractors (landscaping, building, pool, etc.) while they are working.If you have a specific concern or request, please discuss it with a board member and we will pass it on to the management of the contractors.
• Renters and overnight guests are required to fill out a registration form from the rack just inside of the clubhouse doors.

 

We hope you all enjoy the “winter” weather wherever you are and we look forward to seeing you again soon!

 

Steve Patton and your Village at Apache Wells Board of Directors