Greetings Homeowners,

Donna and I returned to the Village this month and were greeted with fantastic weather with moderate highs these last couple weeks.  It sounds like we’re done with the triple-digit temps for the season. 

Community Association Manager:

• Anna Earls started her position as the new VAW Community Association Manager (CAM) on October 9th.  Cheri will be working alongside her for a couple weeks to ensure a smooth transition. Please join us in welcoming her to the Village.  
• As mentioned last month, we will plan some sort of recognition for Cheri in November or December when more homeowners are back in residence. 

Finances:

• Our annual budget meeting will be held November 25th.   The output from that board meeting will be a proposed 2026 budget that will be available for review by homeowners on December 2nd.  We plan to hold a public forum on that date for homeowners to comment on the plan.  The resulting budget will then be approved at our regularly scheduled December board meeting on the 9th. 

Buildings and Maintenance: 

• On October 16th, we have finally reached a settlement with the insurance company regarding the damaged common elements of the B building.  Repairs to the exterior will begin as soon as we get on the contractors’ schedules. 
• As I’m sure you all know, GigaPower is the company that has proposed installing high-speed fiber-optic lines around the Village.  In September, they changed their plan from horizontal-boring to micro-trenching. The board asked for an updated drawing that reflected the new pathways for the lines so we could evaluate the impact on our landscaping and utilities.  As of the time of our October board meeting, they had not sent us a new drawing, so the project remains in suspended mode. Our plan now is to hold a town hall-style meeting with homeowners and GigaPower to determine what to do regarding this potential project. 
• All the lights around the Village have been inspected and new bulbs installed where needed.  If you notice a light out, please submit a PayHOA request indicating the exact location of the burned out bulb. 

Pools: 

• A recently purchased part for our North spa failed and was covered by warranty.  It took a while to get the replacement part installed but it’s back up and working now. 
• Due to the age of our pool gates and the ever-changing Maricopa County rules, we may need to replace or rebuild all seven of our pool gates at a cost of $250 - $800 each.  
• Please remember that we have new locks on all the pool gates so you will need to stop into the office to pick up (and sign for) a new key.  Whether you live in or rent out your unit, you will only receive 1 key and will have to pay for a replacement key if it gets lost.  Just so there is no confusion, you will still need your old pool key for the clubhouse doors. 
• The pool chairs had another rough summer and their discoloration has continued. We will be re-strapping 17 more chaise loungers in the next 30 days. We will be using the new material we used to re-strap some of the chairs in 2023 as it seems to be holding up much better.

 
Landscaping:  

• Seven new trees that were part of the 2025 landscaping plan will be planted this month.  We are now leaning towards doing more of the tree planting in the fall instead of the spring to help the trees get established before the heat of summer.  
• The “Skinning” of palm trees was halted at about 60% during the recent rains and will continue when we get on the schedule again.
• Over the summer we lost about 30 plants due to the heat.  Considering how many total plants we have in the Village, this is in line with other properties in the Valley.  
• We will be switching back over to daytime watering this week. This means that the irrigation will run sequentially in 9 zones starting at units 37-49 at 7am. When the first zone stops, the second zone should start and so on.  We will publish the zone schedule once we have had a chance to verify the times. Please note: We expect to find cracked irrigation lines and missing emitters.  If you see water squirting from one of the black spaghetti lines, please submit a PayHOA landscaping request (or send an email to vawhoa@gmail.com) describing the location as well as possible.  A volunteer will repair the leak as soon as possible. 

Registration Reminder:

• If you are renting out your unit, please make sure your renters understand that they are required to register in the office.  Renters who are not registered will not be allowed to use the pool or other Village amenities.  Having contact information for renters allows us to inform them of utility outages and contact them in emergencies. 

Board of Directors Meeting:

• A recording of this month’s Board of Directors meeting is available here.  Just a reminder that any homeowner may observe any board meeting. However, if there is a specific topic that you would like to address at a meeting, you must notify the office 3 working days prior to the meeting. This lead time allows board members the opportunity to research the topic so they are prepared to act on the issue during the meeting. 
• As previously discussed, we’ve had to hold a brief executive session after each open board meeting to discuss the CAM hiring and an on-going legal matter. 

We hope you all enjoy the fall season wherever you are and we look forward to seeing you again soon!

Steve Patton and your Village at Apache Wells Board of Directors