Solivita HOA President’s Report

BY LARRY ANSON PRESIDENT, SOLIVITA HOA

This is my first report as President of your Solivita HOA Board in Reflections. As you know, our Board is comprised of three new members and two continuing members. We have many tasks before us, and we want to keep you up to date on what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.

One of our first priorities is to improve communication between the Board and the residents of Solivita. We want to stress that what we desire is both communication from you to us, as well as from us to you. This column is but a first effort to establish lines of communication. We are here to give residents a voice in managing the affairs of our beautiful community. This is our first step at establishing the means for us to hear from you and respond. As soon as we can, we mean to establish as many additional communication tools as possible.

As an example of how we want things to work, we’d like to cite the efforts of our Communications/IT Committee – all volunteer Solivita residents. The issue seemed straightforward – we have an existing agreement with Spectrum to provide basic cable TV services for all Solivita residents. So, the answer seemed simple - renegotiate the contract to try to obtain improvements and a lower cost.

However, our committee members did their research. They found that 87 percent of Solivita residents were paying more to Spectrum each month for such things as internet access, landline telephone service and recording shows for playback. What the HOA is paying for from Spectrum each month is not enough for the vast majority of residents. Most of us are paying for additional resources, and probably paying too much.

Then the committee discovered that Spectrum and Frontier are retail companies, meant largely to serve individuals rather than communities and priced accordingly. Other media companies are designed to serve large groups of subscribers. Their bulk services are designed to be attractive to large communities like ours. A community of 9,000 residents has a lot more bargaining power than a single customer.

Our folks felt they needed advice from somebody who knows and understands the bulk technology industry. So, they searched for and found a consultant with that knowledge. The previous Board hired him, he issued a Request for Proposal and five companies responded. Their goal is to get the most modern fiber optic internet technology and all the extras that Solivitans want and need for less than the total cost they’re paying now.

Currently, the chair of that committee, Bob Monica, is the head communicator for the group. He made a presentation outlining their efforts at an HOA Board meeting, which is quite comprehensive. A video of that presentation is available through SolivitaHOA.com. Bob is taking his presentation to every Solivita club or organization that wants to hear his message. He will also take and answer questions.

This is the kind of effort we would like to see around all the projects undertaken by the Board. A committee of Solivita residents with knowledge and experience in the area takes the lead. Every step is communicated to all residents and their input is sought. Your Board has the responsibility to oversee the process and make the final decision, but residents’ participation and input will be a vital factor.

To sum up, we are a Board made up of residents and we have the best interests of the residents at heart. We’re trying to open lines of communication with you. We’d love to hear from you. Please see page 10 for contact information.

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