David's Anthem Journal

The October 22 Board of Directors Town Hall Forum in Freedom Hall, attended by about 175 residents, was, for the most part, a respectful affair with really just one glaring exception that will be mentioned later. Henderson City Councilor Andy Hafen, whose district includes Sun City Anthem, was an invited guest at the meeting, sitting with the Board members at the front of the hall.

In reporting on audience questions and comments, I will give the names of the residents who spoke for those who said who they were or who I recognized. But a number of speakers did not give their names, or when they did I could not make them out, so in those cases they will be referred to as "a resident."

Many of the questions and comments concerned the pending application of a local church to lease Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land immediately to the west of Sun City Anthem's Westridge Village. A Board-led emergency meeting had been held earlier in the day, one result of which is that a volunteer group of residents who attended that meeting spent some time preparing comments on the subject for the Town Hall Forum in an effort to assure that the comments of one speaker would not be repeated by another.

Kay Frank was the first resident to comment. Referring to the fact that our CC&Rs require a vote of 90% of all SCA households to overturn an annual-budget recommendation, she said she wants to see the CC&Rs changed to make it easier to reject the proposed budget. She specifically asked if any Board members would support it.

Kay Frank's  husband, Board member Bob Frank, said that we should make the effort, as difficult as it would be. Board member Kay Dwyer responded by pointing out how difficult it is to make such changes. Board member and Secretary Elaine Berg noted that no one likes to have their dues raised, but some increases after five years without raises are inevitable.

Responding to a resident's comment about the church's BLM application, Andy Hafen said he wasn't fully aware of what was happening until recently. "It starts with the federal government," he said, adding that the original proposal was for the Calvary Church to lease 15 acres and the LDS Church to lease 5 acres, but the LDS petition was withdrawn and Calvary raised its request to 20 acres. Hafen said the church is aware of public opposition. He said it was important for resident who object to the proposal to send letters to the BLM within the time frame which is now underway. He said the BLM does have the option to deny the request, so public opposition in substantial numbers could be effective. And because the church application is not just for a sanctuary but also for such things as a school day-care center, athletic fields, etc., public hearings could be scheduled on each component of the application, and residents could appear to oppose any or all aspects of the plan.

Suggesting that the land in question is on a flood plain, Bob Frank asked if the City of Henderson could pursue acquiring the land itself, using the flood-plan issue as the reason. But Hafen replied that the land is not currently deemed to be in a flood plain.

A resident disputed what Hafen said, stating that there are signs on the land that say it is part of a flood zone. "Why are we talking about building in a flood zone," he asked. Hafen replied that he will look into this situation.

Resident Jack Herlihy addressed the question of the land's location. "This is poorly located relative to some residential communities," he said, adding that the added traffic will greatly magnify safety issues. Finding land for the applicant along St. Rose Parkway would be a better solution, he said.

Bob Frank added that the queuing of mothers' vehicles along Volunteer when they are picking up their children from a church-run school would add to the problems the proposed development would create.

Resident Linda Krivec, who said she does not live in the affected area, said that she supports the objections of those who do. She said she would rather see the land dedicated to open space that would allow for non-active sports such as walking. She also asked if there have been recent meetings with representatives of Focus Property Group, developers of Inspirada, to discuss common issues. Board member Bob Berman said Focus Property Group had recently acknowledged that it had been a while since they visited SCA to address our residents, and he said they recognized that they should plan to make another presentation to us in the near future.

Resident Rana Goodman said, "We want an active lifestyle. We love our children and grandchildren, but that is not why we moved here." She said that in addition to the advice to write to the BLM, we should also go to the City with our concerns. "We have about 11,000 votes up here," she said, which drew an understanding nod from Councilor Hafen. And Hafen suggested that when resident write to the BLM, they should also send copies of their letters to the members of our Congressional delegation.

Reminding the audience of SCA's success with the heliport issue, Bob Berman said we can succeed if we stay focused.

Resident Bob Brill asked for a response to a rumor he heard that Trumpets restaurant had sustained $200,000 in damage. Board President Mike Dixon said there was some damage, but we don't yet know how much.

Resident Norman McCullough commented on the Board-meeting agendas. He asked why comments he has submitted and asked to be included with the minutes are not actually attached to them as requested. Board member and Treasurer Roz Berman said the attached comments are in the official Board Books. She said she will investigate and ask management to take steps to include the attachments with the minutes on the community website.

A resident of Highlands Village, who had been away for an extended period, described how his home was broken into, along with other homes in the neighborhood, and said his car was also stolen. He asked what is being done about this. Mike Dixon asked Security Patrol Chief Dave Servello to comment. Servello said investigations are being conducted. He said a vehicle used by suspected thieves was traced to a woman who said she "thought" her car had been stolen. Servello also put in a plug for a petition he has been circulating to drop the speed limits on our loop roads back down to 35 MPH from the current 45 MPH.

Bob Berman said statistics show that we are still in a low-crime area, acknowledging that this is irrelevant to those who have been victims of crime. He said much of the crime is related to construction in the area, as construction sites and nearby homes make tempting targets. "We must be ever alert and watch out for each other," he said. A resident added that he has been taking pictures of suspicious vehicles and people. Bob Frank urged residents to become involved with the Neighborhood Watch program. If they know a call is coming in from a Neighborhood Watch person, he said, the police will respond.

Big Sky Village resident Joan Fassaro(?), said some residents have observed a person or persons driving by homes and using a clicker device  to open residents' garage doors.

Resident Marcia Kosterka described an incident in which some men found at the back of a home said they were painters, but it was clear that they were casing the home for possible robbery.

A resident said she lives in an area where a lot of traffic passes by on an adjacent road, creating a great deal of road noise. She said that while traveling in Utah, something mixed into the road-surfacing material seemed to make for quieter traffic. She asked why we can't do something like this here. Andy Hafen said he was not aware of such a technique, but that he would look into it.

Resident Tony Brunetta said that he has noticed what seems to be an unusual number of under-age people using the Fitness Center, and he asked if we can do something about it. Kay Dwyer replied that we have many younger persons living with age-qualified residents under permissible conditions, suggesting that the number of actual violations is small. Mike Dixon echoed Dwyer's comment, saying that our Enforcement Department monitors such situations, and the number of actual violations is minimal.

Suggesting that the concept of "democracy" is applied unevenly in SCA, resident Camille Brunetta expressed objection to being prevented from bringing anyone with her to examine documents that she had legally requested be provided to her for review. She cited a Nevada Revised Statutes section that permits the requester to bring other to the examination. Mike Dixon replied that the statute Mrs. Brunetta cited, NRS 116.3118, applies specifically to document reviews related to the purchase or sale of a home. Bob Frank said that he questioned this, and stated that an attorney should be consulted to interpret and explain the statutory language. Bob Frank said that he plans to have an item on the October 25 Board-meeting agenda regarding this subject.

Resident Ken Weiss advocated dropping the previously mentioned speed limits back to 35 MPH. He also said that while he expected dues to eventually increase, he was questioning why we need the pending third recreation center. "Can we back out of this deal?" he asked, a question that was met with some negative responses from the audience.

Bob Berman replied that the resident survey regarding Rec 3, the results of which showed a small majority preferring to cancel the project, was only one element of the process. "A critical issue for us," he said, "was when we confirmed that the developer's sales department had induced people to buy homes because of the promise that the third center would be built." Bob Frank added that former Board President Favil West and the Board never had the authority to cancel the project. He then got into a disagreement with Bob Berman when he said that lots in the general area of Rec 3 were smaller so as to have land available for the recreation center, an assertion that Bob Berman disputed.

Referring back to changes that had been made to the original SCA master plan, which included cancellation of a planned third golf course, a resident said the City should build trails for us in areas that had been intended for other purposes. Bob Berman said that the people involved with building Inspirada have said our residents will be permitted to utilize the extensive trail system being planned for that community.

Referring to a highly infectious and dangerous virus called MRSA (pronounced MER-suh) that has been of growing concern recently, Marcia Kosterka asked what we are doing to prevent infections arising out of activities in our Fitness Center. She said she had heard that we will no longer be providing sanitary wipes for residents to use on fitness equipment before beginning their workouts. Kay Dwyer replied that many people refused to use the wipes, and she said that while the wipes are being eliminated to save money, an equally effective but less expensive spray is being provided. Reporter's note: If you'd like to learn about MRSA, click here to visit an informative site.

A resident asked what happened to the commitment to provide SCA with a cogeneration plant. Bob Berman summarized the commitment that had been made. When the cost of gas made it financially impractical to have a cogen plant, he said, the developer, instead of giving us the $1.375 million for Association reserves, offered to spend part of that money to "green" the third recreation center in order to save us on future operating costs. Whatever is left over will be paid over for our reserves which will help mitigate dues increases.

A resident expressed the belief that real-estate brokers had purchased many SCA homes for investment purposes and that dues are not being paid on those homes, and he wanted to know what we are doing about it. This led to a discussion of of the difficulties of collecting monies due when a home is in foreclosure. As she did at several other points during the Forum, Kay Frank interrupted the discussion with shouted comments from the audience and expressions of disagreement with what was being said, relating mainly to the question of our ability to collect six months of unpaid assessments after a foreclosure.

A resident asked for information on the status of the Trumpets liquor license. He asked if a restaurant operator taking over Trumpets would have to apply for his own license. Mike Dixon said that Del Webb had originally purchased the license, then transferred it to S&D Cafe V when that corporation signed its lease to run Trumpets. It appears that S&D did not have the right to take the license with them because it was specific to the premises. Dixon said he believes we have four months to acquire a new Trumpets operator and transfer the license to that operator without paying a fee of $30,000. But Andy Hafen said he believes there is a statutory provision that would allow us up to a year to acquire a new operator without losing the license, so Mike Dixon said he would look into this immediately. Rana Goodman said she checked with the City and was told that we could get a new license for a fee of $30,000. Elaine Berg replied that Board members don't want to do this in the name of the Association, in part because the application is personally invasive of their individual privacy.

Resident Bob Sulliman said he is pleased by the set-up at the Fitness Center and believes there is only small risk of contracting an infection or virus. He also urged residents to turn out in greater number for upcoming elections so that our voices can be heard.

Resident Joan Patrick, who has had some participation with the Oversight Committee in the past, asked Andy Hafen who actually originated the Oversight Committee. Hafen said he was not sure, but that the City is always looking for a voice when there are important issues emanating from a community. Bob Berman, an original leader of the Oversight Committee, said that the City Council had commended our residents and the developer for working together to resolve disputes over proposed changes to the Anthem Master Plan. After this success, Berman said, Henderson Mayor Gibson thought it would be a good idea for a group of residents to continue as an oversight group that could interface with developers and the City. Reporter's Note: The creation of the Oversight Committee may have been at least partly justified at the time by the fact that the Board was controlled by the developer. But this changed when a resident-controlled Board took office in May, 2005.

Resident Sonny Sonnenfeld said that he believed our water quality is very poor, and he asked why we can't have better treatment of our water. Andy Hafen replied that our water is treated at a very high level, among the best-rated in the nation. He said that this is not the same as the problems caused by damage to fittings leading to the Kitec and Rehau problems, but he also acknowledged that he drinks only bottled water at home. Bob Frank added that issues such as this are why he continues to advocate Board approval of a defects advisory group.

Resident Donna Dickey asked if approved consultants are being used for the third recreation center. She asked how residents can get involved, and she asked what level of "greening" would be incorporated in the facility. Bob Berman replied that it would be a high level of greening but not the very highest due to prohibitive costs. A "specialty architect" has been working on green aspects of the building, he said. Final grading is being done and the current completion target is late July or early August. He said he hopes to learn what the cost of the greening will be within a week or so, after which we may know what amount, if any, will be available to go into our reserves.

Linda Krivec said that the four ACE-endorsed Board candidates committed to work to abolish the Oversight Committee, citing the exact words in a campaign brochure for which she and this reporter were the primary authors. She then specifically asked if Favil West was still in charge of the Oversight Committee. Bob Berman seemed to avoid answering the question, but Krivec continue to repeat it until Berman answered with a simple "yes." Andy Hafen then said that if the Board of Directors and the Oversight Committee made recommendation to the City on a subject, the City would listen more to the Board as the elected representatives of our residents.

A resident asked for clarification of the process used to collect arrearages on residential properties. "What are we doing about it," he asked. He added that he drew an inference from earlier comments that we would not issue and record default notices.

When Kay Dwyer began to reply that the Association tries to collect on defaults prior to a foreclosure, Kay Frank grabbed the microphone away from someone who was holding it and yelled out in disagreement, cutting Dwyer off. Bob Frank then cut his wife off, saying, "I can handle this."

Mike Dixon explained the lien and foreclosure process, distinguishing between delinquencies related to unpaid dues and those related to unpaid fines/penalties, each category being treated differently.

Residents Ken Andersen and Bob Tank, who are involved with efforts to obtain official approval for a technology and defects advisory group, then spoke on that subject. Tank asked why the Board hasn't taken the lead to sort out the plumbing issues for the benefit of homeowners. Bob Frank responded that he believes the Board has this obligation.

Andersen stated his belief that the homes with Rehau are being replumbed incorrectly, as are new homes that are still being built. He said that the previously planned approach of obtaining insurance coverage for his group through the Association is now deemed inappropriate. Rather, he advocated bringing in expert outside consultants at a total cost of about $10,000. He asked Mike Dixon if he would endorse the suggestion, and Dixon replied that he couldn't endorse it on the spot because Andersen had just "hit me with it."

Resident Nancy Schnair said she was appalled to learn from reading Ron Johnson's online publication that the current Rehau fixes would not do the job in the long run. She asked why she had to read this information "on a blog" instead of receiving it directly from Pulte. In addition, she complained about finding a brochure for a religious event in a lobby kiosk, and said she couldn't understand why a spa tub was on display in the Independence Center lobby with an advertisement from a spa company on it. The answer from a Board member: The spa was on display because it was the grand prize in the Fitness Journey promotion sponsored by the Fitness Department.

And so ended another interesting and informative Town Hall Forum.