President’s Report for 2/25/20 Annual Meeting
I want to begin by thanking all the people who volunteer for the various HOA committees and the election inspectors and the district/cost center representatives helping with today’s election. (We have committees for rules, architectural and landscape, the LSC, lakes, maintenance, and communications.) The Board also wants to thank Helen McCornock and the LSC staff for their work and Shelly, Caren and the staff at PPM for all they do for IPCCA.
I thought I would repeat my comments from the January 2020 Board Meeting President’s Report on the dues increase we had for this year. The reasons for this are of concern to many:
Unfortunately, HOA dues rose this year because of increased expenses. The major reason for this is the increase in the minimum wage, which went from $12 to $13/hour. This affected landscape costs dramatically and landscape costs are about 80% of our expenses. Further increases will continue as California has mandated a $15/hour minimum wage by 2023. We also approved a 2-week trim rotation for shrubs year-round. We tried a 3-week rotation for several months last year and there were a lot of problems. There were other expense increases as well: We had to raise our budget for utility costs $9000/year. Last year’s reserve budget was only $1000/month because we were able to transfer $300,000 in excess operating funds to reserves. This year we must go back to funding the reserve account from current revenue – an increase of about $19,000/month. Our goal is to keep the dues as low as possible while funding services we must have to maintain property values and ensure a safe and pleasant community. We also want to avoid unexpected and dramatic monthly increases and/or emergency assessments. HOA dues actually decreased by about $5/month last year, but LSC dues rose about that same amount, so they netted out for the majority of our homeowners who pay for LSC membership through their HOA dues. LSC dues remain the same this year. Sadly, inflation and the consequent increase in expenses cannot be avoided.
A somber note – as many of you know, Rick Diaz, the long-time president of the IPCA Board, recently passed away. We send our sincere condolences to Rick’s family and friends.
2019-2020 Projects and Accomplishments:
The initial steps for the lakes project are underway. We plan a “town hall” meeting soon (hopefully in March) on the Fields 3 lake repair/rebuild. I urge everyone to come, not just the people whose homes are adjacent to that lake. It will be an opportunity to talk to the experts and get an idea on how the other
lake projects will be handled. We want and need your input. Our goals for the lakes project include reducing water consumption, repairing leaks, reducing electricity consumption with more efficient pumps, improving aesthetics, reducing maintenance, and making these common areas as welcoming as they can be for all our residents. More information on this meeting will be distributed shortly.
- A Communications Committee has been established to help improve communication with our residents and the community as a whole. We are working on using electronic communication so seasonal residents can be on the board because they will be able to “attend” meetings from afar as needed. We are also looking at developing a phone app and upgrading our website so that it is easier for residents to get needed information about IPCCA and the Indian Palms community. Special thanks to Lynn Bremner and Joanie Thomson for helping with this. PPM is also implementing their own phone app that can be used by our owners for certain HOA matters. Information on this will be mailed soon with your dues statement – keep your eye out.
- Projects continue at the LifeStyle Center (LSC):
o There were two major emergency repairs this year: Replacing the 20-
year old gas line to the pool heater because of gas leaks and replacing the
pool heater.
o Planned improvements included pool deck repair, acid washing pool, new
wrought iron fencing/gate, adding a baby changing station, resurfacing the courts, replacing the aerobics room floor, adding some storage space, a new drywell in the pool equipment area, and continuing with the preliminary planning for the new pool area restrooms. Among other things, we (along with the LSC Committee, LSC Director, and PPM) will be reviewing the gym equipment in 2020 and determining a plan for needed upgrades and replacements.
- The satellite pools and spas were replastered and other major repairs were made (decking touch up, painting, new shower drains, tile repair and acid wash, etc.). One major accomplishment – the Indio Water Authority meter for the Cochran pool intake line was badly rusted, causing discoloration of the pool and spa water and plaster. IWA replaced the meter and parts of the water line to the main; webelieve the new plaster will not “brown up” as happened in the past. A new drinking fountain was installed at the Delano pool. Repairs were made to the patio cover at the Cochran pool.
- We are almost complete on our exterior landscape upgrade project, including conversion to desert scape on the outside 50th gate entrance area and irrigation system repair and rebuild. We are in discussions with IPCA to consolidate maintenance responsibility for the exterior areas presently handled by IPCA and IPCCA once the upgrade is complete. IPCCA area is from the beginning of LSC property on Monroe to 50th, along 50th and up Jackson to where the RV garage homes end about a mile past the Jackson gate. IPCA handles from there along Jackson and all of 48th. The Resort is responsible for the corner at 48th and
Monroe, then south on Monroe to Country Club, along with the beds on Country Club from the main gate to the Resort area and the area around the Palm Terrace Room and other Resort properties on Eisenhower and Odlum. The area on Monroe from Country Club south to the beginning of the LSC property is the responsibility of HOA 1. We have no ability to maintain areas not owned by our HOA. Please contact the responsible parties with questions or comments, or call the Indio Police Code Enforcement Department if you have concerns that rise to that level. Also, you can ask Shelly about responsibility for particular areas in the IP Community as a whole.
- Three backflows were replaced in response to the routine IWA inspection of these valves.
- We experimented with a 3-week rotation (instead of our usual 2-week rotation) for landscape trimming in 2019 in an effort to control rising landscape costs because of the increased minimum wage. After many complaints and issues, we have decided to return to the 2-week rotation in 2020. At PPM’s and Vintage’s recommendation, we had many shrubs pruned severely this fall to encourage new growth and get the plants down to appropriate size levels for the location and the cultivar involved. (Note: This type of pruning must be done in the fall – the summer heat makes it unwise to prune later in the year.)
- Our security record remains good (probably the best in all of Indian Palms) with the presence of Patrol Masters from 1-6 am daily, patrolling the streets, satellite pools and LSC property. We are pleased that Patrol Masters has not reported any tows in a while as people have become used to the overnight street parking rules. We also have occasional increased security presence at the LSC (during festivals, if there are serious problems with unauthorized use, etc.). We urge residents to call 911 or appropriate utility if there is a true emergency or ongoing criminal activity – that is the best thing to do in these situations versus calling the front gate. Check the website soon for parking changes during the 2020 festivals.
- Our community has grown this year – we are close to 1150 homes with the new building going on.Thanks to all our residents, new and established. The Board looks forward to a productive and positive 2020.
Remember, we have two websites that have a lot of information for you – ipcca- hoa.com for the HOA and ipcca-lsc.com for the LifeStyle Center. They are both updated frequently.
Our next regular board meeting is on March 17, 2020, 5:00 pm, Palm Terrace Room.