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News from your Sandstone Villas Community March 2010 A Report from our President Charlie Corrado Hello owners! Happy Spring! Our election and annual meeting are behind us and many thanks to the 81 owners who sent in their ballots and helped us achieve quorum. Bob Cienkus has been appointed to fill the open spot on our board and joins Steve, Paul, Kay and me as our newest director. Finally, we are truly a five-member board again! Bob, owner of three units at Sandstone, brings to the board his past experience and knowledge as a former Sandstone Director. We welcome him! The board has recently voted to terminate our contract with Desert Resort Management effective in 60 days. We are in the process of researching, investigating, and interviewing management companies in the Valley to take us forward. We are especially interested in hiring a company that employs highly trained association managers (CCAM’s) to help guide us, as well as a company that offers an “inclusive” contract covering most expenses. Please bear with us during this transition. We will attempt to make it as seamless as possible, but bear in mind that there may be a few glitches along the way. Hopefully, these will be minimal. Most of you have heard that we continue to have some security issues. We have recently experienced another break-in accomplished by an intruder who entered through the bathroom window. Please secure all windows and sliders with dowels or clips and keep gates on private back yards locked at all times (but making sure your upstairs neighbor has a key for access to AC and water valves). Neighborhood Watch continues, we have added motion sensor lights, and are in process of receiving three bids for security cameras. We are also closing in the opening in the wall on the South end of complex facing South Palm Canyon. Our first solar project to heat the two large pools is complete and we are happy to announce that already our gas bill is reduced! Due to the economy, foreclosures, and for a variety of other reasons, there are eight or nine one and two bedroom units for sale at Sandstone. If you have friends or relatives who might want to own here, the prices are very reasonable right now (varying depending on what has been done to the interior); we all know that this is a great place to own and live so be sure to help spread the word. The board would like to thank Alan Reeder profusely who purchased and planted the flowers on both sides of our car gate. He also added a touch of color with a flower here and there throughout the complex. We appreciate Alan’s effort and generosity. It was necessary for us to remove flowers from our 2010 budget, so please let Alan know when you see him how much we all appreciate his donation to brighten up our community. In Memory… We lost two residents in the month of January. Dan Sitco, a long time owner, was tragically killed on January 23. We extend our heart-felt sympathy to Dan’s wife, Mary, and all their family. Services were held in Jackson, Michigan, recently. Dan was active in our community for many years on the landscape, architectural, and Neighborhood Watch Committees. |
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Also, Robert Melevin who rented here for years and was well known to many of us, passed away on January 15 of complications from chemotherapy for lymphoma. His family donated many of his books to our Sandstone Library. We also send our condolences to Robert’s siblings. Emergency Contact Numbers For all owners, but especially for those who live alone, our secretary, Kay, at the request of several owners has agreed to keep a file here at Sandstone for those wishing to have contact numbers on hand in case of medical emergency. Kay will hand these off to Steve for the summer months when she is in WA. If you are interested in filing emergency contact numbers to reach your family or a close friend in case of emergency, please email or call those in to Kay. Our Sandstone Library Our library in laundry room one is over-flowing and shelves had to be recently added so be sure and stop by and choose a book or two to enjoy. If you have boxes of books to donate, please take them to Revivals or Angel View as our space is quite limited and we are better served by donations of just a few books at a time! Committees If you would like to serve on a committee for this next year, please let a board member know. We can use and welcome additional volunteers on all committees: architectural, landscape, pools, preservation, neighborhood watch and social. Please be involved in your community! Social Scene Many thanks to Dolores Skehan and her committee, Joan Corrado and Pat Cienkus, for planning gala and well attended monthly events for our residents. Mark your calendar for our next social, a St. Patrick’s Day Potluck on Sunday, March 21, at 5 p.m. We hope you will join us! Recreation Room Equipment The Association has purchased billiard balls and ping-pong paddles and balls for those who enjoy the recreation room. These may be checked out from Handyman Mike in unit 108. Email addresses requested We are trying very hard to collect as many email addresses as possible so that eventually we may send this newsletter out electronically to all who have computers and save postage (those without computers will still receive one in the mail). So far we only have 51 out of 148 email addresses so we have a ways to go. If you are willing to share your email address with the association for HOA business only, please send it in to our website. Go to http://sandstonevillashoa.net and click on the email box on the right hand side. Tell us your name and unit number and that is all there is to it! We hope to hear from many of you! Drains on Privacy Balconies Upstairs owners, please clean out your drains on your private balconies periodically but especially in late fall. If they become clogged with leaves and debris, they will flood and go into the wall in the unit below. Those repairs would then be your responsibility so please be proactive on this. |
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Friendly Reminders—respect and responsibility (landlords, please advise renters) Please remember that dogs must be kept on leashes at all times and dog-owners are responsible for picking up their droppings. There have been many complaints about this recently and violation letters have been sent. Dogs who are allowed to run loose and leave their calling card on our grass will not be tolerated. Also, all garbage MUST go inside of dumpsters and not be left on ground. Never leave large items loose in the enclosures as the sanitation company will not haul them away and this becomes a real expense and hassle for the association. We are tracking this closely and have begun to bill owners whose renters move out and leave their unwanted items like mattresses and old furniture in the dumpster enclosures. Landlords, please help us: when you know your renter is moving out, please advise them if an item does not fit in the dumpster, they can not leave it and it is their responsibility to haul it away. In addition, a reminder to all owners that remodeling and replacement debris is not to go in dumpsters and must be hauled away appropriately. In addition, according to owner complaints, common courtesy and respect is needed from all residents in the laundry rooms. Please remember to remove lint from the dryer filters and to clean up your soap spills. Not doing so causes resentment and frustration from your neighbors. Lastly, Rules and Regulations must be posted in all rentals in a prominent place especially for seasonal guests. We recommend the inside of front door or on the fridge, etc. Landlords, if you need another copy, they are posted on website or you may notify any board member. Please note the date of our next meeting: Monday, March 22nd at 10:30 a.m. (note time change). From your board: Charlie Corrado, President, (310) 753-1392 corrado10@verizon.net Steve Costlow, Vice President, (760) 902-7564 spydersteve50@aol.com Kay Chabot, secretary, (760) 416-6458 jkchabot@pacifier.com Paul Schrier, Treasurer, (951) 201-0517 pscal2000@earthlink.net Bob Cienkus, Director, (760) 324-7857 rcienk1@yahoo.com |