IMPORTANT POINTS FROM THE 9/15/20 IPCCA BOARD MEETINGS 

(Executive and Regular Sessions) 
First – for the health and safety of all of us, please wear face coverings when out and about in our HOA. 
Getting COVID-19 under control is the best way to get our lives back to normal. 
The meeting minutes will be posted on the website, but here are some things I wanted to mention separately….. 

Rules Issues and Developments 

The Rules Committee is taking a needed break while we review our current rules and enforcement policies. With the limited number of people on the Rules Committee, it is nearly impossible for them to adequately patrol the whole of IPCCA. The goal is to provide a safe and enjoyable community while ensuring the practice of uniform rules enforcement throughout the HOA. I urge all residents to assist with this – please email Caren Oliva at PPM (caren@ppminternet.com) if you have any rules violations you wish to report. Caren handles these cases very professionally and does not have to reveal the name of the person reporting the violation. She is skilled at de-escalating conflict and resolving these problems. 

We are looking into using roving professional security services to assist in rules enforcement and to provide our community with extra general security (see below). Our efforts to control street parking have worked well and we believe we can now move some of the parking patrol resources to these other areas of concern. 

The rules for satellite pools and the Lifestyle Center (LSC) pool are not the same. 

LSC Rules are handled by The Board, our Community Manager and the LSC Director and staff. There are complex membership and guest rules that vary depending on your LSC membership type (deeded or fee). Some members are from other HOAs and Hotel guests can use certain parts of the LSC per the original operating agreement with the developers. There is no overall rule that renters cannot use the LSC or that different types of people (i.e., homeowners vs. tenants) have priority privileges. If you have questions on this, check with Shelly at PPM or with the Director of the LSC. Social media information is not always accurate. The LSC Committee assists in reviewing these rules and making recommendations on changes. 

HOA Rules are handled by the Board and the management company, with the assistance of the Rules Committee. Changes to HOA Rules require a lengthy process that includes checking with Legal to ensure the proposed rules are consistent with the CC&Rs and comply with the law. The changes must then be distributed to the community for a 28-day comment period. During a regular meeting, the Board considers these comments in deciding whether to adopt new rules. Owners do not have priority over tenants to use IPCCA satellite pools (or other HOA common areas) under the current CC&Rs and Rules. 

Short-Term Rentals (STRs) 

STRs have become more of an issue everywhere. Indio has requirements for STRs – registering with the City, paying certain fees, noise restrictions, maximum allowable renters, etc. Please call Indio Police Code Enforcement (760-391-4057) if you are having STR problems – it is best to do this directly and right away instead of calling the HOA. Code Enforcement can investigate, issue fines and revoke STR licenses; they can tell if a STR residence has a valid license to operate in the City. If they do not, they face hefty fines from the City. We have limited enforcement authority and by the time we can do anything the horse has left the barn with no evidence of what happened. Our present CC&Rs do not have any rental restrictions. We are looking into whether we can levy Special Assessments against certain homeowners to reimburse the HOA for costs associated with repeated rules violations. 

Security and Crime 

This is an area of increasing concern to our residents. The roving security patrol mentioned above is part of our attempt to improve things in this area. Mike Botta is working with IPCA’s Security Committee and Desert Management on various security issues, including a phone app that has been successfully used elsewhere. Look for his emails and posts for details. Meanwhile, please be sure to call the police if needed and be careful to take prudent security measures (lock doors/windows, keep garage door closed, lock your car if it is left out, and so on). 

New App and Website Improvements 

Please check out our new and improved website at ipcca-hoa.com and our new phone app. We are also making improvements to the LSC website, ipcca-lsc.com. These two sites may be combined, with the HOA and LSC having different sections on the main sight, so you will only have one web address to remember. There is a link to download the phone app on the website or you can download it from your app store. I think it works best to find the phone app by using the full name of the HOA – Indian Palms Country Club Association. All sorts of information can be accessed through these vehicles – minutes, emergency alerts, rules, CC&Rs, By-Laws, meeting schedules, info on utilities serving the HOA, and so on. 

Thanks to Lynn Bremner, Joanie Thomson and Shelly Ruegsegger for their hard work on these projects. The app is in the initial roll-out stage and we are still making some improvements. Activate your automatic app update setting on your phone to avoid having to reinstall the app when changes are made. 

LSC Projects and News 

This year we have completed or are underway on over 20 projects at the LSC – everything from restriping Court 1 for pickleball only to installing new smart TVs and a Peloton subscription to enable on-demand virtual training sessions when the gym reopens. Several other projects have been reviewed or proposed for further action. A list of these projects will be available on the HOA website shortly. 

We recently had to close and drain/refill the LSC pool because of problems resulting from the excessive heat, especially water clarity and tile cleaning. The pool has now been reopened. Information on closures of LSC and HOA satellite pools and other common areas are on the website and on the phone app. It is not always possible to give advance warning about closures, but we do so if we can. We are hoping to shortly be able to send out Blast Alerts from the new app to notify you in real time of urgent issues, closures etc. 

We are going to carefully review budget needs for 2021 and hope to not have to raise IPCCA or LSC dues next year. Many expenses have increased, especially with the continuing increases in California’s minimum wage. The new budgets will be mailed out to you not later than November 30, 2020, so look for that. We recently mailed out the civil code required 4041 form to you to verify the contact information PPM has on file for you. Be sure to return that form if there are changes so we know how to reach you. 

I WANT TO THANK EVERYONE FOR THEIR HELP AND COOPERATION IN DEALING WITH THE RESTRICTIONS AND CLOSURES RELATED TO THE PANDEMIC. WE KNOW IT IS VERY FRUSTRATING FOR ALL AND I CAN’T TELL YOU HOW MUCH GOOD SPIRITS, GOOD MANNERS, AND UNDERSTANDING OF OTHERS’ NEEDS ARE APPRECIATED IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES. BE KIND TO EACH OTHER AND STAY SAFE!! 

Maggie Stern – President 

Indian Palms Country Club Association 

9.18.20