Board Message

Seeking good leadership

Sit down in a room of smart people and you often find synergistic effects, which in turn spark the best from you. You learn from the group while participating in new ideas as you become an integral part of a collaborative effort. Many brains are better than one. Don’t be surprised if you leave with a sharper mind. In the past three years, I’ve seen this firsthand, and I am grateful to be a part of the dynamic and capable team that leads Somersett. That team includes not only the Board, but the Committees, Management, and engaged homeowners themselves. We have experts in many fields, and our capabilities as a group are varied and comprehensive. What a privilege to be a part of this!

Please consider serving on the SOA Board of Directors (A not-for-profit Nevada Corporation.) This offers the opportunity to guide and serve this community in important ways which benefit over eight thousand people. This is a practical nonpartisan form of service that will return as much to you as you give to it because there is nothing more rewarding than helping to ensure success and improvement for the benefit of so many. You will also earn the gratitude and respect of the people who live here. As you provide governance and oversight, you will be fully supported by management and staff, and in many ways, they will do the heavy lifting.

The position requires kindness, patience, common sense, and perseverance - but not necessarily a college degree. It requires 8-12 hours a month of your time - but not all at once. It requires a sense of fairness and ideas that benefit homeowners uniformly - but not a degree in ethics or management. One needs to have respect for the rules - but not with a heavy hand. It benefits from a sense of humor and a desire for excellencebut isn’t more than you can handle.

This position will immerse you in a social situation and will sharpen your social skills. It will allow you to apply your best judgment and common sense. You will become adept at finding resolutions. Then together with your four colleagues, you will guide this community toward an even better future.

If that sounds lofty, let’s bring this back to earth with some specifics. This requires attendance of one or two committee meetings and two regular Board meetings each month, collectively amounting to about 8 hours a month. Beyond this, you can choose to get as involved as you wish. When it becomes fun and rewarding, it is no longer work.

This year there are two Board seats up for election. If you are considering this, perhaps sit down with a current Board Member, we’d love to describe this in more detail. If you decide to run, please submit your application to run for the Board, those are available at the front desk. Forms are due by October 6th, with an election occurring in November, and a new term beginning in December. Join us! Your other Board members and I would love to be able to work by your side to continue the success that Somersett deserves.

An inventory of accomplishments in 2023

We are entering the final quarter of the current Board of Director term and nearing the second anniversary of internal management. And what a year 2023 has been! The current management model has resulted in countless improvements and has become a positive disruption in an industry otherwise dominated by multinational corporate management companies. We welcome the Village into this same management structure, with strong indications that the Vue will follow. Congratulations to those Associations!

What’s worth noting this year:

• Following a comprehensive grant proposal written by our GM, Somersett became the only entity in Nevada and the only HOA in the nation, to be awarded a U.S. Forest Service Grant for fire control education, and fuels reduction. This unprecedented grant will soon provide up to $2.3 million dollars of Federal assistance under the terms of the grant, combined with nearly $1M in matching funds from the SOA and Sierra Canyon who partnered for this grant. As part of the grant, funds were included to hire a professional administrator and we’re pleased to announce that after a highly competitive recruitment, the recently retired Reno Fire Marshal, Tray Palmer, was selected to manage the grant. We’re thrilled Mr. Palmer, who also happens to be a Somersett resident, will be the on-site Program Administrator and work with Team SOA to ensure the goals and outcomes of the grant will be achieved. Watch for more information and regular updates about this exciting opportunity to reduce fire fuels in Somersett.

• A new CPA firm was brought in to manage the accounting. Our home sale packages were also brought in-house and serve as an additional source of revenue that formally went to outside management companies. We also re-established the Capital Improvement Fund which collects the contributions from home sales. This fund has more than $600K and which will increase by about $200K a year (depending on home sales) and can be used to fund capital improvements in Somersett outside the normal operating budget.

• Access controls on many of our amenities have reduced crowding at our pool and clubhouse and reserved these valuable amenities for this who pay for them. The Social Bar is opening on certain days in the Great Room of the Club to encourage residents to meet and gather in the late afternoon. A robust schedule of community events continues throughout the year, and we hope to see you at one of these fun social gatherings.

• We also upgraded the controls on all gates to bring them into the 21st century. It is still a learning experience for some, but most homeowners enjoy the extra flexibility of opening the gate via cellular signal using their phones. There have been a few bugs to work out, but this system should carry us into past this decade and the next.

• The landscaping is finally enjoying the benefits of a fully automated control system using the Weather Trak software system for irrigation along the Parkway. That has resulted in lush growth with less water. While this will always be an ongoing improvement effort there have been substantial improvements in the last year, and it shows.

• Finally, as of this writing we are closing the final details of defending the one remaining lawsuit, and current indications are that there will not be paying any settlement or award. Our legal expenses have not been this low in years.

There is much to be grateful for in our Association this year, just as there is much still left to do. Congratulations Somersett, your hard work has paid off. Somersett is now arguably one of the best Associations to live in Northern Nevada and a prized and desirable place to live. At Somersett, it’s “Good to be

Home.”

Support local Somersett business

Even though the Bunker has closed we are fortunate to still have four eating establishments in Somersett right in our backyard and minutes from your door. Peavine Taphouse, Gambi’s, and Sakana in the Town Square, and the Grill at Somersett at the Country Club. “Once a month is all we ask” because when we support these restaurants, we help make sure they remain vibrant. That’s a benefit to us all because it adds value to Somersett as a whole.

Presenting the 2024 Budget

The Budget and Finance team, together with management and involved homeowners have been hard at work developing the 2024 Budget by carefully balancing our revenue with rising expenses. The conclusion of this effort will produce a proposed balanced budget which will be presented to Homeowners tentatively on September 7th. Watch for the announcement and plan to attend either in person at the Town Center or via Zoom.

Onward!