Many Hands Makes Small Work for Each: Help Needed!
The board is currently facing an extreme shortage of members (board and committee members) to keep the board viable. We currently have a 7 member board with 2 slots opening soon. We have an additional 2 slots that could be filled if we had enough interest. We also always have a need for volunteers to take on small tasks.
One thing that stops many homeowners from volunteering is the fear of too large a time commitment. The other worry is that the work will prevent travel or vacations. The good news is that neither is a significant problem any more. Over the past 2 years a huge amount of work has been done to identify, streamline, and document processes (all available on the web or in a central database accessible to board members). Board members cover for each other when one of us is out of town. Committee members take on small tasks reducing overall workload for everyone.
Please consider getting involved and helping us maintain the homeowner-managed status of this community. It is a great way to meet other homeowners and contribute to the overall community. Failure to fill key slots could result in transitioning to a management company which will cost all of us money (minimum estimate is $10 per month per home or close to $30K a year for our HOA). A management company can result in less responsive and/or less complete services than what we get with our homeowner-managed community.
Please contact Kathy Mitton ✉ Kathy Mitton, Nominations Chair Phone: or Larry Spencer ✉ Larry Spencer, Secretary Phone: if you are interested and want more information. We will be reaching out to some of you shortly!
Our immediate needs are:
- Board member: Board members typically chair a committee. Expect to spend up to 2 hours a month in a board meeting and up to 8 hours a month doing task specific work (managing a vendor, submitting and approving bills for payment if your area has a vendor, inspecting your area of responsibility for issues). Skills needed would be ability to communicate with others (other board members, vendors, homeowners), ability to use email, ability to access documents in a common file system, ability to listen to input and come to agreement with others, ability to drive to a decision.
- Board member – treasurer: Expect to spend 8-10 hours a month. This role can be done anywhere since it largely involves working with online data. This role requires approving invoices, preparing the mostly automated monthly reports and reporting status of budget at board meeting relative to plan, and driving budget for new year. The Treasurer oversees the preparation of a compiled year-end report prepared by a CPA. A person with prior CPA or finance background would be helpful but not required.
- Communications Team member: Expect to spend fewer than 5 – 8 hours a month. Any volunteer would be taught the necessary skills to complete the work. If you are familiar with a computer, are familiar with word processing (you are capable of writing a word document), and can cut and paste, you have the skill to learn the necessary software. Tasks involve posting on the web board meeting agenda, board meeting minutes, monthly financials, articles written by others, and if interested, authoring some documents.
- Reconciliations Manager: Expect to spend 2 hours a month. Tasks involve reconciling bank statements with financial statements. If you can balance your checkbook, you probably have the skill to help here. You need access to computer and the Internet to print the documents to be reconciled.
- Maintenance Committee Member:Expect to spend less than 4 hours a month. Tasks involve being Maintenance Chair’s eyes and ears in the summer months. Optionally there could be some watching over a project executed in the summer.
- Landscape committee member – water watcher: Expect to spend fewer than 4 hours a month. We’d love to see volunteers watching areas that are irrigated, and reporting leaks. While it would be ideal to check while water is on as that is the easiest way to see a leak, you could simply inspect an area and verify that dirt is damp and plants look green. We have 9 areas that are irrigated at different times and each area could have an owner. If each owner checked at least twice a month that plants are being watered and there are no obvious leaks that would be a huge help. Most areas water in the evenings (starting at 5 or 6PM) with exception of south Sempreverde which waters in the morning (starting at 5am). Areas are
- South side of Paseo Otono at Velazquez intersection
- North side of Paseo Otono at Velazquez interesection
- Gelsomino/Velazquez intersection (both the center area and mailbox area)
- Front entrance and North Sempreverde between Paseo Otono and Largo Salici
- Largo Salici and North Sempreverde mailbox area
- South Sempreverde bar bell area — north end
- South Semrpreverde bar bell area — south end
- South pool
- North Pool (waters all night long with 5 separate areas with different start times)
- Landscape committee member – tree trimming behind homeowner walls. Expect to spend fewer than 4 hours a month. Tasks involve meeting with homeowners to review and approve trees needing trimming, setting up appointments with a tree trimmer homeowner and you to communicate agreement (homeowner then schedules and pays for work).
- Assistant to secretary: Expect to spend fewer than 4 hours a month. Tasks would be to write up minutes when a special board meeting is held (once or twice a year). When possible, attend board meetings and write up highlights of board meeting. Additional tasks would be to post notices of monthly board meeting at the North pool (once a month) and ad hoc assignments for the annual homeowner meeting. Assist with annual homeowner meeting.