Board of Directors President C RAIG W IRCH Vice President
MESSAGE FROM YOUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS
It is hard to imagine that the end of this year’s season at our beautiful home-away-from- home is drawing near. All owners are encouraged to attend the Annual Meeting on Friday, March 8 at La Palma. The official agenda begins at 1PM. Committees will make their final reports of the season, and the election results for the two open seats on the Board of Directors will be announced. The Board had a full agenda at its February meeting and addressed several controversial issues. The Board approved a request of the Pickleball Committee to conduct a two-hour test of a regulation-approved quiet pickleball on February 20, from 9-11AM. Our rules specify that only the quiet ball, or equivalent, will be allowed at ORPS. It is incumbent on the Pickleball Committee and the Board, to determine the equivalency of new equipment being manufactured utilizing new quieter technology. No decisions will be made based on this test except to judge whether additional testing by a professional firm is warranted. The Board also appointed an Ethics Committee to investigate issues related to owner manipulation of the new online golf tee time reservation system to enable them to lock up their desirable tee times before the authorized 7AM opening of the reservation line. A glitch in the software was used by some to their own advantage and to the detriment of the entire golfing community. Our management is also working closely with the software developer to find a fix to the problem. Participate in the governance of your association; be informed; attend meetings of your Board and its Advisory Committees.
As we roll into March, we come out of one of the wettest and coldest February’s in history. In fact, on Valentine’s Day, Palm Springs had 3.69 inches of rain — which is the third most ever recorded in a single day here! We survived the rain and it should bring some beautiful spring blooms (and accompanying allergies) to the valley. Like Mother Nature, staff has been working hard. The preliminary budget was put together for review of the Board and Finance Committee for their joint meeting in late February. In addition, the Board reviewed recommendations for the General Manager and Facilities Planning regarding summer projects. This list and associated budget costs are being finalized to be presented and approved by the Board in March. As we move out of February and into March, the budget will get approved for Operating, Reserve and Capital expenses. This also lays the groundwork of what maintenance and improvements will be done over the summer. It may appear early to have a preliminary decision of summer projects done in February for official approval in March, but it is actually a pretty tight timeframe and there is much to do in terms of gathering costs and bids prior to getting the projects started. Management, along with the Facilities Planning Committee are already working on potential projects for summer of 2021 and will be looking to get preliminary Board approval in December of 2019 to ensure plenty of time for revisions and budget to make sure projects are properly vetted and bid before getting to them in March of 2020 to be included in the budget.
T ED W ILSON Secretary D EDE L OOP CFO J IM W ALLER Members B OB M OORE J OHN B OUDIN G REG F ARMER
General Manager C LINT A THERTON
Oracle Staff Editor E VA N ORCROSS Production Staff L OUISE K NOBF S USAN M ATTHEW K AREN P ETERSON Proof Readers J OANNE N YQUIST T OM O’F LAHERTY Photography S HAREN W OODGRIFT
T HANK YOU T O ALL R ESIDENTS W HO S ENT P HOTOS !
(see Page 3 for this month’s meeting schedule).
C RAIG W IRCH , Board President
CFO Report The Budget process for 2019-2020 is nearly completed following review of management’s preliminary draft budget with the Board and the Finance Committee at a Special Meeting on February 27. Major areas of increase in the 2019-2020 Operating Budget were reviewed. A rise in employee costs due to the mandated California minimum wage increase, a rise in our Utility costs, increased costs associated with bringing Security in-house, along with a general increase in the cost of doing business, will all necessitate an increase in HOA FEES. As of the printing of this article, the recommended fee increase has not been determined. Final numbers will be shared with owners prior to the adoption of the 2019-2020 Budget, scheduled for the March 18, 2019 Board meeting. J IM W ALLER , CFO
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