If this is your first visit, you may find the Getting Started page helpful in describing how the website is organized.
Please read the Terms of Use. Your use of this website constitutes acceptance of the Terms of Use.
Feb 222015
Feb 012015
Loading Quotes...
Dec 092018
A group of SMVE men play on Thursday mornings at alternating golf courses in the area. The courses played are: 49ers, Quarry Pines, El Conquistador and Del Lago. The group has a great time laughing, talking and getting to know each other. If you would like to play regularly on Thursdays or would like to find out more please contact Jerry Foval or Jerry.
Dec 082018
You are invited to this year’s Holly Jolly Holiday Party!
When: Friday, December 14th
Time: 5 PM on…
Where: SMVE Clubhouse
Come dressed in your best and join your neighbors at the festively decorated SMVE Clubhouse. Carole Stephan will provide live holiday music. Please bring an appetizer or dessert and a beverage of your choice. Hot spiced cider will be provided.
To honor the holiday spirit, a sock, toothbrush and underwear tree will be erected. Please bring any of these NEW, UNWRAPPED items for children ages 3 to 16. All items collected will be donated to the non-profit, Haven Totes.*
If you have any questions — or would like a ride to the party — please contact Social Committee member, Sonja Harris.
Her email address is allensonja1@gmail.com
Merry! Merry!
* The President of the Board of Haven Totes, Karen Stewart, sent a thank you note to our HOA for our generous donation of food items for its Thanksgiving drive. (See below)
Dec 052018
At the November 19, 2018 board meeting updated Rules and Regulations were approved. These are now posted on the Documents and Policies tab of the website and you can also view them by clicking here. The Rules and Regulations and Fine Schedule were updated to ensure compliance with current Arizona law.
While most of the rules remain similar to prior versions, you will notice that the fine schedule and in some case the amounts have changed to be more straightforward. For example a fine for weedy lawns was formerly up to 250$ and/or 10$ a day and this has now changed to $100 initial fine with an additional fine every 30 days that the yard isn’t brought into compliance. A few rules were dropped as they were already adequately covered in the CC&Rs and therefore did not need repeating in this document or were deemed outside the scope of the HOA.
Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the fine schedule so you aren’t caught by surprise with a violation.
If you have any questions about the updated rules, please contact ✉ Kathy Mitton, President, SMVE HOA Phone: .
Nov 232018
The Minutes from the October 15, 2018 Board Meeting are now available on the Board Meetings page.
Nov 232018
The Board meets on the third Monday of every month at 3:30 PM in the clubhouse, and all homeowners are welcome to attend. Below are some highlights from the November Board meeting:
Mark Your Calendars!
The annual homeowner meeting will be held Tuesday, February 26th at 7 PM (check in starts at 6:30). This meeting is normally held on the third Monday of February but because President’s Day falls on that day this year we will hold the meeting the following week to accommodate travel schedules.
Reminder of Pool Closure Dates
The North pool, restrooms, and clubhouse will be closed Wednesday, November 21 through Monday, December 10 for pool deck work, tile cleaning, and emptying/refilling of the pool. Absolutely NO entry other than vendors will be allowed. The South pool will remain open until the North pool work is complete and will then close for the season. It will reopen on March 1.
Money
Treasurer, Tom Kelley, reports we continue to spend about 20k per month of operating expenses. If that trend continues for the remaining months of the year we would end up spending about 250k versus the budget 275k. The 2019 operational budget was approved — it will be approximately 260k. This includes 5k that could be spent on a management company taking over some aspects of day to day management in 2019.
The Board approved increasing the funds allocated for the projector and sound system to $2,500. We have rented a projector for the last couple of years at $200 for the annual homeowner meeting and the quality was inadequate. The sound system is failing and needs to be replaced.
An update was provided on offloading more work to a management company due to lack of volunteers. The list of all tasks currently being handled by the few volunteers has been completed and have been prioritized according to which ones should be handed off first. The committee will meet again in December and formalize a statement of work and then start soliciting bids in early 2019. As noted before this will not alleviate the need for volunteers but it will change the types of activities volunteers engage in.
Notices for the first half of 2019 dues will be mailed early next week. Payments are due January 1, 2019.
Home Sales
1 home is in escrow and 15 homes have been sold this year.
Committee Updates
Architecture Committee
Bill Coan (Architecture Chair) noted that there have been few requests for architectural changes; only one lighting request was processed.
Recreation Committee
Larry Spencer (temporary acting Pool Manager) briefly reviewed the work that will be done on the pools. One item of note is that the bio shield system being installed should drop our chlorine use significantly (perhaps up to 30%).
Larry also asked for approval to establish a contract with a new pool vendor, Blue Knight. This was approved and will result in some cost savings, as well as extending the warranty on some of the new pool equipment from 3 years to 4 years. Blue Knight will be our pool vendor effective immediately.
Larry noted that we did receive the rebate from TEP for our new pool pumps so we realized a $1,200 savings from that. Larry thanked Rick Levy for his help addressing the locks for the upcoming pool closures and Rick Van Hesselt for his help with pool lighting. Larry also praised the beautiful pictorial document created by Bill Coan that explains the complicated lighting situation at the South Pool. This will be a great asset to future volunteers trying to figure out problems!
Finally, Larry noted the huge amount of work Susan Peterson provided to help him with the upcoming pool changes. Kudos are due to both Susan and Larry as selecting vendors, scheduling the work, and negotiating the best deals has required a great deal of work and the results reflect their tremendous effort.
Maintenance Committee
Steve Struck (Maintenance Chair) reviewed several maintenance items that are in the queue (a vent in the south pool room, electrical outlets, etc.) and noted that the south pool ramada will be painted soon. Steve thanked Rick Levy for all the work he has done this year covering maintenance related issues.
Landscape Committee
Kathy Mitton (Landscape Chair) reminded everyone that packrat control by the HOA will cease as of 2019. Kathy also noted that some of the large boulders which were discarded on lower Frassino years ago will be relocated and/or hauled off in stage one of cleaning up that area.
Miscellaneous
Bill Coan reported that Comcast to the South pool for security cameras is moving slowly. Comcast indicated it could take up to 3 months for the service to get to the pool.
Pam Negri has been working on getting the County to address potholes on Territory east of Velazquez. She has also brought to its attention the road work sign that was left on Velazquez. Thanks to Pam for helping keep the County focused on our feeder roads!
The Rules and Regs were reviewed by our legal team and brought into compliance with state law. The new Regs will be posted to the website (and the old Regs removed) in about two weeks.
While most items remain unchanged there are a few important changes to be aware of:
- Some fines have been structured differently. For example, landscape (weedy lawns) or architectural maintenance issues (garage door needs painting) used to incur a fine of up to $250 and/or $10 a day until the problem was resolved. The new practice will issue a $100 fine upon receipt of the violation. If the violation is not corrected by the date given, then that $100 will be reassessed every 30 days until the problem is corrected.
- Some fines, such as the $250 a day for each day the violation occurs, have changed to $500 upon occurrence. Violations such as a dumpster on the property overnight or an unauthorized estate sale fall into this category.
- A few rules were struck, such as a prohibition of discharging weapons and driving unlicensed vehicles on our roads, as these were deemed outside the realm of our ability to regulate.
We will send an email blast when the fines and rules are placed on the web. Homeowners are responsible for being aware of the CC&Rs, along with the Rules and Regs of the community and are subject to fines when violations occur.
The next Board meeting will be on Monday, December 17.
Nov 212018
Nov 192018
Volunteers Needed
When you notice an irrigation leak in a neighbor’s yard, do you let your neighbor know? When you’re out for a walk and notice a piece of litter, do you pick it up and dispose of it properly?
If your answer to questions like these tends to be “Yes,” then you’re one of the reasons that SMVE is such a great place to live.
The SMVE Board of Directors is currently seeking people like you to help with specific tasks to keep the neighborhood running smoothly.
The board needs help in the following areas:
- Communications: The board needs someone who is willing to help assemble the twice yearly newsletter and post occasional articles. Skills needed are comfort in working on a computer and willingness to learn a little bit about the software we use (we’ll teach you). If you are comfortable with word processing and you use a computer, you have what it takes. If you already know a lot about putting articles on the web using Word Press even better! Contact Kiki Cheney if you can help. ✉ Kiki Cheney .
- South Pool Gate closers: The board needs people shutting the south pool gate in late afternoon or early evening. Contact Susan Peterson.✉ Susan Peterson, Pool Co-Chair1 .
- Maintenance: The board is looking to expand the maintenance committee and would like additional people to keep an eye on a few specific items and call an appropriate vendor when a repair is needed. Contact Steve Struck ✉ Steve Struck, Maintenance Chair Phone: .
- Random Task Handlers: The board needs volunteers to handle small random tasks. Examples of past things would be tracking down firm responsible for the road work sign that was left on Velazquez or arranging for something that was dumped on a common area to be removed. If you would be willing to be part of a round robin group of folks to handle these odd one-off tasks, we’d love to hear from you. If you are someone who has reported one of these random items, consider reporting AND volunteering to resolve at the same time! You’d set a great example for others! ✉ Kathy Mitton, President, SMVE HOA Phone: .
- Board Members: The board needs one or two additional homeowners to become future board members. A board member attends monthly meetings September – May and works as a team to make decisions for the HOA. ✉ Kathy Mitton, President, SMVE HOA Phone: .
Nov 192018
Phone:
Welcome back to everyone who was gone for the summer! Those of us who remained in town enjoyed more rain than normal and it didn’t feel as hot this year. That might not be quite accurate but I feel better remembering it that way!
Real Estate
This year to date, 15 homes have sold with an additional 1 in escrow. Sales have been relatively steady and most homes have turned over quickly.
Why Volunteers Matter
It has been a struggle to get volunteers to join the Board or to take on committee work. This has resulted in the few volunteers we do have (Board and committee members) often feeling stressed and overloaded. Too few people are doing a lot of work and the situation is not a sustainable one.
Because too few people have offered to volunteer, the Board will investigate having a management company take on additional tasks (such as accounting and general management) in early 2019. This will increase our operating budget and could result in a dues increase but is a necessary next step to keep the time commitment for volunteers manageable.
Volunteers Needed
While a management company can take on some of our work, there are some tasks that can’t be handed off. Volunteers are still needed for committees: Roads, Architecture, Landscape, and Maintenance. For example, volunteers are in a position to monitor areas for problems and can better spend their time doing that than engaging in day-to-day management.
Our annual membership meeting and election of Directors will be in February. If you are interested in joining the Board or volunteering on a committee, please contact the Nominating Committee before December 1st. We would love to hear from you!
THANK YOU to those who do volunteer!
I am grateful for all our homeowner volunteers and thank you for the work you do. You make a real difference to our HOA. All of the work to prepare the roads for paving was handled by volunteers. All of the social events are driven by volunteers. Most of the leaks were identified and reported by volunteers. Our weekly trash gets put out by a volunteer. Everyone one of you fills a critical role and you and your work are much appreciated!
“I just wish the Board would do____”
If you attend Board meetings you sometimes hear homeowners make requests. Some examples include a salt water pool, a pickle ball court, benches, a little library, and a community garden. Many of these ideas are good ones but each one requires significant time and effort to flesh out, cost out, identify pros and cons, get buy-in, and implement. And some proposals, such as permanently shutting down a pool or limiting rentals to a particular percent, require approval by 51% of homeowners and, consequently, require even more time and attention. So while the Board might endorse an idea, it depends on volunteers to turn the idea into reality. If there is something you feel passionate about and would like to work to make happen (with other volunteers), please come forward!
South Pool Security
The south pool has been plagued with late night visitors who vandalize the property. Various attempts to prevent this problem have proved fruitless. So far we’ve made changes to the locking mechanism of the gate, posted additional signage at areas of entry, added fake cameras, asked the Sheriff to drive by more frequently as their schedule permits. None of these have been effective. Switching out the pool gate locks to allow exit without a key was also a boon to unwanted visitors (one person scales a wall and is able to let others in).
This summer a committee of Board members (Bill Coan, Larry Spencer, Kathy Mitton) did an exhaustive investigation into additional security options. Many vendors were consulted and different options were considered (increased physical security, security patrols, cameras). Security patrol companies told us that the only thing that prevents regular off-hour intrusions is consistently interrupting the visitor – – and that is too costly for any length of time. A company that specializes in security fencing told the Board that its fencing would have the pool area resemble a prison and that, ultimately, any fence is penetrable.
After careful consideration the Board took the committee’s recommendation to install security cameras at the south pool. This will be done in the next few months. And know that cameras will be focused on the walls and not in the shower area.
Don’t Wait!
Finally, the Board always appreciates hearing comments and questions and you don’t have to wait for the annual meeting to ask questions or discuss an issue. The monthly Board meetings are open to all homeowners and are held at the clubhouse on the third Monday of the month at 3:30 PM September through May. And know that homeowner issues are addressed at the beginning of the meeting so you needn’t wait long before you can ask your question or discuss an issue.
I look forward to seeing you all around the neighborhood!
Nov 192018
Phone:
by Jane Spalding
The intention of your Social Committee is to provide opportunities for our community to get together, to get to know each other in a casual setting and enhance our shared neighborhood. ‘=
For 2018, the Committee supported 10 events: a Saturday brunch in January, support for the annual meeting in February and a second event at Three Canyon, a speaker on Landscaping for birds in March along with support for the annual Neighborhood Watch meeting, and a demonstration and discussion of landscape painting by local resident Fred Wackerle in April. The committee also supported a CPR class taught by Rural Metro Firefighter.
No events were planned April through September because so many residents are away from Tucson, including most of our Committee. If any summer residents want to work with us to plan social event, we would certainly try to make that happen.
This fall we’ve already sponsored two events: In October the “Welcome Home” Fall Open House was held. In November we held a “Friendgiving Potluck Feast” at the clubhouse. The committee provided ham, and many people brought wonderful side dishes, salads, or desserts. This year we had 35 attending. A new feature was collection of non-perishible food items, to be donated to the pantry of the non-profit, “Haven Totes”.
Looking forward in we’ve planned an event for Friday, December 14. Join us for a “HOLLY JOLLY HOLIDAY PARTY” 5-7pm at the clubhouse! You can count on festive decorations, tasty food & drink. Maybe bring out your dress up outfit and sing along with live music? Watch for the event notice, coming soon, on the new message kiosks near your mailbox plus on the web site. Included will be information about another donation collection for the Haven Totes charity.
FYI: This Fall, the Hospitality Committee members updated our committee name to the Social Committee… reflecting the joyful spirit among the team while working together. We try each year to plan events for different days of the week and variety of times – some centered around food, some not – with the goal of meeting everyone’s needs as much as possible at least once each year. We always welcome your comments/ideas/offers to help. Currently, we are a committee of nine. For each event, one of us volunteers to be the event leader (see the name at the bottom of each event poster, also in the Homeowner Directory on the web site) with complete confidence that the whole team is right there to help. We hope you will come join your neighbors, pop in a few minutes or stay the whole time. If you need a ride, just contact the event leader and we will make it happen.
Social Committee: Jane Spalding (Chairman), Sonja Allen, Judi Fisher, Pat Larson, Margie McCoy, Diane Meuser, Joyce Steiner, Carole Stephan, Susie Struck.
Nov 182018
Phone:
Landscaping has been relatively uneventful in 2018. We are on target to complete the year under budget (approximately 80% of budget), primarily due to under running in miscellaneous landscape expenses, packrat control, and tree trimming. For 2019 we will reduce the budget in all 3 of these areas.
We’ve spent most of our irrigation budget this year. This was in large part due to finally working to find lines that ran down south Velazquez. After 3 significant leaks in lines that were supposed to be dead, we decided it was time to find out where they branched and cut the line at the proper head point. You may have noticed a major dig that went under the sidewalk at the Gelsomino/Velazquez intersection. It turns out that the branch occurred under the sidewalk! All of the water watchers have assisted in noticing and reporting leaks in a timely fashion so kudos to all of you. Our water watcher/leak reporters are: Lois Coan, Ardith Grady, Cathy Grant, Jim Macinko, Susan Peterson, Cynthia Schneider, and Toz and Jane Spaulding. We always need homeowners to be eagle-eyed when it comes to water leaks so please report problems to me as soon as you spot something.
We did remove 30 Packrat nests this year — down significantly from prior years. In part the reduction is due to removing some plants from maintained common areas that tend to be habitat for them and also we are lifting more cactus on maintained common areas as these often become nesting areas. Going forward in 2019 the HOA will no longer invest in packrat control. As a homeowner you can still remove packrat nests around your home. If you have a nest on common area behind your wall for example, you may remove it if you follow certain guidelines (NO poison ever on common property, an insured and approved vendor such as Mr. PackRat must be used). Contact the landscape chair to get approval for removal of any nest on unmaintained common property. You can discourage packrats in your yard by ensuring that you keep packrat friendly hiding places removed. This includes stacked bricks and wood, low hanging thick plants such as rosemary. If you leave fruit on the ground from a fruit tree or leave birdseed on the ground, this will attract packrats as well so ensure you discard any fruit that falls from your trees and keep birdseed in a bird feeder unaccessible to rodents. Remember you are allowed to keep the area behind your wall weed free if it is flat (up to 12′). Keeping that area clear also discourages packrats as generally they don’t like to cross open areas. Finally if you have a problem, once the packrat has been removed wash the area with 50% PinSol and 50% water. NEVER trap for packrats more than 2-3 nights in a row. If a packrat is caught and removed, wash the hardscape with the PinSol mixture and put the trap away until you find additional indications of packrat visitation. Repeatedly trapping night after night will draw packrats to your yard as they are laying a scent trail and following it.
Our heavy summer and fall rains also contributed to active weed growth. I am happy to report that fewer homeowners (15) than in years past received notes asking them to attend to their yards and all homeowners addressed the problem (thank you!). We all benefit from the tidy appearance of our HOA so keep up the good work. Don’t forget that even if you are away, you are responsible for ensuring weeds in your yard are removed in a timely fashion.
Thanks to all of you who help us keep our community looking terrific. If you have any questions about your yard, contact me or consult Yard Rules and Regulations. Also as a reminder you may not trim any trees behind your homes in common area. Because this is considered destruction of someone else’s property, you can face criminal charges, a large fine, and/or required to replant. Please ensure you are working with the landscape chair if you need to trim trees for view.