Your HOA
President’s Message By Matt Metz SRCA Board President
Happy spring, Ranchers! The Board of Scottsdale Ranch hopes you are SAFELY taking advantage of our wonderful spring weather and the beauty of our common areas. Since it’s spring, it’s time again for our annual ballot. As usual, you will be voting for Board candidates. The good news is that there are many qualified candidates (including several former board members who wish to serve again). This year, we have more candidates than open slots, so not all of them can be elected to the Board. But the good news is, this means we can be assured we’ll have excellent folks representing you. We bid a fond farewell to departing Board members Alex Darroodi, Joe Dawson, Barbara Sarwar, and Mark Shimelonis and thank them for their service. This year, we also have several amendments on our ballot. The Board unanimously endorses all these changes, and we encourage you to vote in favor of them all. Here is a brief explanation of what we are trying to accomplish with each one. Six amendments to our by-laws, which regulate how we conduct our business: • Amendments 1 and 2 were brought about by COVID-19, which forced us to hold our annual meetings and board meetings electronically. We want to ensure our documents fully allow these “virtual” meetings. To ensure you, our Members, can participate, we require that all participants must be able to hear whoever is speaking. We will of course continue to hold all our meetings in compliance with Arizona’s Open Meeting Laws and operate in an open and transparent way. • Amendments 3, 4, and 6 clarify that the Board may (but is not required to) delegate many responsibilities to our Executive Director or others. Delegating does not absolve the Board of responsibility. And note that the Board may NOT delegate setting annual assessment or approving any foreclosures. • Amendment 5 was required to update the Association’s policies regarding document recording to stay consistent with Arizona law. Six amendments to our CC&Rs: • Amendments 1 and 4 are direct responses to what we’ve experienced with the pandemic (just as amendments 1 and 2 above). o Amendment 1 allows the Board to temporarily close or restrict access to common areas if needed to protect the health and safety of our Members and residents. o Amendment 4 prevents demands for refunds if the Association has to temporarily restrict access to common areas or if income is greater than expenses in any one year. • Amendment 2 simply corrects a wording error that inadvertently set a minimum time – instead of a maximum time - that construction dumpsters are allowed. • Amendment 3 only allows lots to be combined that face the same street. We do have a few of these already in Scottsdale Ranch. But without this change, it would be possible for you to end up with your front yard abutting your neighbor’s rear yard. • Amendment 5 corrects the old definition of parcel left over from the original declaration, and ensures that all property within SRCA is under the jurisdiction of the master association. • Finally, Amendment 6 gives the Association another option to help ensure that fines are paid and violations are corrected. This would ensure that any potential buyer of a lot would know of outstanding violations, thus helping buyers ensure sellers correct these before title is transferred. When you receive and review your voting materials, if you have questions about any of these proposed changes, please call or email our able staff at the Community Center for clarification. Again, the Board unanimously encourages you to vote FOR all these amendments. They will keep our documents current and consistent with state law. They will also help ensure that Scottsdale Ranch is able to live up to its commitment to protect our property values, improve our quality of life, and remain the best place in the Valley to live! 4
April/May 2021
Board Briefs January 26, 2021 - Board of Directors Meeting • Accepted five (5) of the six (6) proposed amendments to the Bylaws provided by the association counsel to be added to the annual election ballot for a vote of the membership. It was requested one amendment be rewritten and reproposed to the Board. • Accepted five (5) proposed amendments to the CC&Rs provided by the association counsel to be added to the annual election ballot for a vote of the membership. • SRCA will not be implementing any procedural changes at this time for staff or association amenities as the state Covid -19 cases remain high. Reopening will continue to be re-evaluated each month. • Staff to review gang mailboxes throughout SR and report back to board at a future meeting. February 23, 2021 - Board of Directors Meeting • Accepted the unqualified 2020 Annual Financial Audit performed by Butler Hansen, PLC. • Adopted modified language for the lighting section of the Admin Rules and Architectural Guidelines that changed the language with the use of the term lumens instead of watts and brightness in place of wattage. • Approved the addition of Dunn Edwards DEA002 Black and Sherwin Williams SW6258 Tricorn Black to the list of approved front door only colors. • Approved the SRCA Social Committee to move forward with a socially distanced spring event at the Community Center parking lot following CDC guidelines. • Accepted the revised language for the proposed Bylaw amendment #4 and a new proposed #5 amendment to the CC&Rs regarding the definition of the term “Parcel”. • The board concurred that the City of Scottsdale has adequate ordinances in place at this time that address the parameters of use for recreational marijuana. • The Board reviewed new designs for the monument signs. They discussed the pros and cons of the design, potential impact on residents and the rough cost. It was determined the Board would like to see some minor modifications to the design for the next meeting. THE SRCA OFFICE WILL BE CLOSED FRIDAY, APRIL 2ND FOR GOOD FRIDAY. THE SRCA OFFICE WILL BE CLOSED MONDAY, MAY 31ST IN OBSERVANCE OF MEMORIAL DAY.
