Resident Questions - Nicole Careaga

by Nicole Careaga

This month I felt it was best to provide all of you with the answers to a few of the questions brought up during some recent zoom meetings. If, after reading through these questions and answers, you have anything you need clarified, or think of any further questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.

The Luxe Clarifications – The Luxe is a benefitted parcel. This means that they will enjoy benefits allotted to only them as owners within The Luxe. Residents of The Luxe will pay a benefitted HOA assessment, along with the Toscana assessment. The Luxe assessment will cover their amenity area maintenance, private landscaping, and necessary reserves. The Toscana Assessment they will pay benefits all of Toscana. The funds will be part of the operating budget and will include building maintenance, elevator service and the management team. Which brings me to another question we have received quite a bit. As The Luxe is part of Toscana, the team that you all have come to know and love, will be the same team managing The Luxe. As everyone is paying Toscana assessments, they will have equal access to staff. Should it be deemed necessary that The Luxe requires additional independent staff, they will then be accounted for within The Luxe operating budget.

Board Composition – As a benefitted parcel, The Luxe will not have a separate Board of Directors, or governing docs. In order to ensure that The Luxe is maintained and well looked after, the Toscana Board of Directors will guarantee that three of the seven positions on the Board will be owners within The Luxe. The seven member Board will be responsible for all decision making in regards to the expenses, projects and goals for the community as a whole. We always recommend that residents be involved by attending these open session meetings to understand the importance and responsibility held by your neighbors.

Board Election – In the late fall, you will see the call for candidates arrive in your email. Should you be interested in running for the Board, there is an application that should be completed and turned in by the deadline. Once all of the candidates have been determined, we will schedule a meet the candidates event. This will allow you, to ask questions of your potential Board Members, highlighting their plans for the community, ideas for reserve funding, community enhancement plans, and their long term outlook. Soon after the meet the candidate event, the electronic ballot will be open for residents to cast their votes. This year we will be electing four individuals to join your three current members. As I stated above, three of those members will be required to be owners within The Luxe, while the remaining fourth member, will be a resident from Toscana. The election process is a very important step, as these individuals are responsible for all decision making for the community. The Annual election is also one of the very few times the residents are able to assist in the decision making process.

Communicating with Board Members – Board Members are doing an amazing thing by volunteering for the betterment of the community. We ask that you respect your Board Members and their time. Once the full resident Board is in the place, they will be advised that creating a new email is best for them, as it limits exposure in the event of litigation. However, the management team will never provide an email for a Board Member without permission. See, Board Members are really only Board Members during meetings. The rest of the time they are residents just like you. They should not be relied on to provide answers to questions, or try to handle situation or requests on their own. This could open up them, as well as the association, to liability. The management team is required to present any question for the Board to the entire Board. We communicate with your Board Members at least weekly and include any community questions or concerns to them. Also, there is an open forum section of each meeting to allow you to address the Board. However, when presented a question at the meeting, the members of the Board are not required to provide an answer. In some instances, further research may be needed to provide accurate information. For this reason, we will always ask residents to submit questions in advance of the meeting. This allows your management team and Board to have the necessary information to provide an accurate answer.

Transition – All transition means is that the developer, Statesman, will no longer control the Board of Directors. The Board will be comprised 100% of current Toscana owners in “ good standing ” . This is really the only change that occurs at transition. Statesman will still continue the remaining buildings at The Luxe, and because of this, will also be responsible for the assessments to both Toscana and The Luxe for each unit until it is sold. Also, none of your services will change due to transition. The Board will be responsible for reviewing all services, contracts and financials. As an example, should the Board decide it is imperative to look at possible changes to the landscape vendor, the management team would be responsible for creating a Request For Proposal. Once multiple bids have been obtained, the Board will review the options in an Open Session meeting, and make the decision on which vendor they will enter a contract with.