Greetings from the Board – March 2023

Greetings from the Board
This month’s article is written by Dan Sturmon & Randy Kohout.  Dan is the Vistoso Community Association (VCA) Secretary, Architectural Landscape Review Committee (ALRC) and Nomination and Elections Committee Chair.  Randy is a member of the Nomination and Elections Committee. 

The Process for VCA Board of Director Elections

Phase I: Appointment of Nominating and Election Committee

The Vistoso Community Association (VCA) has Board of Director elections annually to fill Board seats being vacated by members completing their term limit. The first step each year is Board appointing a minimum of three VCA member volunteers to the Nominating and Election Committee, including the chairperson, for the next year’s Board election.  This appointment immediately follows the Annual meeting.  These Board appointed committee members oversee the coming year nominating and election processes in accordance with the Association Governing Documents.  The Committee works closely with First Service Residential staff, the VCA property management firm, to ensure completion of all necessary tasks leading up to and including the next year’s Annual Meeting.

Phase II: Call for Candidates

As members of the VCA, residents and commercial entities are encouraged to participate in serving on the Board of Directors. Association members are notified of the upcoming Board election with a “Call for Candidates’ post card mailed in the fourth quarter of the current year.   The “Call for Candidates” is also published in the December VCA Newsletter.  Candidates are solicited for open positions from three categories of membership: Single Family, Other Than Single Family, and Commercial. 

Once the “Call for Candidate” period has closed, the Nominating and Election Committee conducts an orientation for all interested candidates.  The orientation includes an overview of pertinent Association documents, the responsibilities and accountabilities of directors, and the anticipated time commitments for members of the Board.  The Committee also coordinates and facilitates a “Meet and Greet” where association members are encouraged get to know each of the candidate’s background and interest is serving on the Board of Directors.

Phase III: Community Voting

The Committee utilizes emails and the VCA website to encourage all Vistoso Community Association members to vote in the annual Board of Director elections.   Resident and commercial members are sent on-line electronic voting and mail-in paper ballot information approximately four weeks prior to the Annual meeting. The voting period lasts approximately three weeks.  The First Service Residential Staff receives and counts these ballots.  An independent audit of the ballot process is conducted after the close of the on-line and mail-in voting period and prior to the Annual meeting.  Statute requires that members are also provided the opportunity to cast their ballots the day of the annual meeting. Staff collects those ballots and adds those votes to the electronic and mailed ballots.  The final vote total is provided during the Annual meeting and the new Board of Directors is seated.  One of the first duties of this new Board is to appoint the Nominating and Election Committee members for the upcoming year.

Timeline for the 2023 Board of Director Election Process:

• March 24, 2022 – Board of Directors Appoints Volunteers to the Nominating and Election Committee.
• December 14, 2022 – Call for Candidates for 2023 open Board seats.
• January 13, 2023 – Call for BOD Candidate period closes.
• January 24, 2023 – BOD Candidate Orientation facilitated by the Committee.
• February 21, 2023 – BOD Meet & Greet facilitated by the Committee.
• March 1, 2023 – Election Packets mailed to Association Members. On-line voting opens.
• March 24, 2023 – Paper Ballots must be postmarked no later than March 24, 2023.  On-line voting closes at 7:00 PM MT. 
• March 28, 2023 – Independent Audit of On-line and Paper Ballots conducted.
• March 30, 2023 – In-person Voting may be done at the VCA office up to 6:00 PM.  Annual Meeting, new Board of Directors announced, and new Board appoints Nominating and Election Committee members for 2024.

Please Vote!

Snapshot – March 2023

In case you missed the February 23, 2023 Board of Directors meeting, below is a “snapshot” of the General Manager’s report to the community.  The entire report begins on page 11 in the Meeting Resident Info Packet. – Click Here to download the PDF.

RVB Street Lights

• The final details on replacing twelve street fixtures are being addressed by the association’s lighting engineer, Chris Monrad with Mountain Power Electrical Contractors.
• Waiting on an installation date for the new light fixtures along RVB (starting at Safeway).

Park Furniture Replacement

• Park furniture installation for Big Wash, Sunset Ridge, and Lost Coyote Trail is completed.
• Wildlife Ridge Parks and Woodshade Trails missing bench slates have been ordered and will be installed on arrival.

Wildlife Fencing Project

• Update from the Town of Oro Valley: The subcontractor, Seller and Sons has reported delays with the fabrication of the gates for this project.
• The anticipated completion date for this project is March 2023.
• The Town will be covering the cost of the fencing for temporary nursey that AAA Landscape established due to this project.
•  Some common area shrubs needed to be moved in the Scenic Overlook Pl and Big Wash Overlook PL entrance areas.

Capital Projects

• Irrigation – This project entails the replacement of the irrigation system for common areas along Innovation Drive and Desert Fairways Dr. Bids are currently being solicited for this project.
• Painting – The project includes reserve components #510- Common area metal fence in Vistoso Heights, #710 retention basin perimeter fence in Overlook, #2014 – Siena entry walls and gates and #1320 – Metal rails along Vistoso Highlands Dr. The RFP is being developed and bids will be solicited shortly for these projects. 
• Asphalt – Reserve components #150 – parking lots at Wildlife Ridge and Hohokam parks & #152B – parking lots/common area at Big Wash Park, Woodshade Trailhead & Eagle Summit path are scheduled for April 2023 to be repair/seal.

For the Month of January 2023 
ARC Submittals: 33
Denied: 2
Approved: 27
Pending Information/Review: 4

Resale Inspections: 36

Total Open Work Orders: 51
New Work Orders: 8
Closed/Completed: 4

Tennis Cards Processed
New: 1

Walk-ins: 13

Calls Received: 121 
Call Center: 339

Violations- New: 36
Parking is the top compliance issue this past month. 
Total Open Violations: 386

Did You Know – March 2023

How well do you know where you live? 

1) When can you vote for the 2023 VCA election for directors?

A. March 1 – March 31.
B. On-line Ballots March 1 – March 24 at 7:00 PM MT. Paper Ballots March 1 – post marked March 24.  In-person at the VCA office until 6:00 PM MT on March 30.
C. Both on-line and paper ballots must be submitted by March 24 at 7:00pm MT.
D. Both on-line and paper ballots must be submitted by March 30 at 5:30pm MT.
E. None of the above.

Answer – B – is true.

2) How many people attended the VCA Open House on February 28? 

A. Approximately 60 people from 20 neighborhoods
B. Approximately 50 people from 15 neighborhoods
C. Approximately 40 people from 10 neighborhoods
D. Approximately 75 people from 25 neighborhoods
E. There was no VCA Open House on February 28

Answer – B – is true.

3) Which of the following are true about the VCA Photo Contest?

A. Gift Cards were sponsored by AAA Landscaping.
B. Over 100 photos were entered in the contest.
C. The first-place winner was Scott Peterson, of the Cove at Center Pointe, with his photo of Screech Owls.
D. There were 12 photos that received an Honorable Mention.
E. All of the above

Answer – E – is true.

4) How many street lights will be installed along Rancho Vistoso Blvd as part of a pilot study to evaluate options for replacing non-function street lights?

A. 226
B. 50
C. 24
D. 84
E. 12

Answer – E – is true.  The VCA is responsible for maintaining 226 street light along Rancho Vistoso Blvd.  They are failing and cannot be repaired.  We need to evaluate replacement options.

5) What’s going on around Rancho Vistoso in March? 

A. The Tucson Gem Show
B. Jazz Under the Stars at Tohono Chul
C. The Tucson Rodeo
D. Friday Night Concerts at Steam Pump Ranch
E. All of the above

Answer – B & D – are true.  The Tucson Gem Show and Rodeo will return in February 2024.

Meet Your Neighbor – Gordon Parkhill

Meet your neighbor Gordon Parkhill

The wildlife photos taken by Rancho Vistoso resident Gordon Parkhill, this month’s Meet Your Neighbor, perfectly emulate the adage, “a picture is worth a thousand words” by beautifully telling the story of where we live.

Gordon and his wife Anita’s location in Center Pointe, adjacent to the Vistoso Nature Trails Preserve, provides the perfect backdrop for capturing birds and wildlife activities happening right in Rancho Vistoso. Many of his photos have been used by the Preserve Vistoso organization in order to communicate the natural beauty and abundance of wildlife in our neighborhood. During negotiations with the abandoned golf course owners, Gordon sent his wildlife photos to the Oro Valley Mayor and City Council to demonstrate the incredible wildlife corridor that exists in the preserve. But most of his photos, which he captures primarily while having coffee in his backyard using a fairly modest Nikon Coolpix camera, are used just for pleasure and sent to family and friends.

Gordon and Anita moved to Centerpointe in 2017, after living in Anacortes, Washington for thirteen years. Although they miss their views of Puget Sound and watching the ferries go back and forth, they revel in the Sonoran Desert with its majestic mountain views.

The Vietnam draft altered Gordon’s original life plans and instead of a career in the banking industry and settling in the Pacific Northwest where both he and Anita were raised, Gordon spent a 37-year working career starting with the Air Force (Virginia, Germany and the Pentagon). After the Air Force, while raising their two children, Gordon worked for the Boeing Company (Seattle) and finally with NATO (Belgium) in the military command and control and interoperability field. It was with NATO that he and Anita were able to travel to all the NATO nations. They continued to travel after retiring from NATO and have visited every continent except Antarctica. 

These days Gordon and Anita spend time visiting their summer place in Show Low, hiking the White Mountains and traveling a bit more locally. The one constant in Gordon’s life, besides his charming wife Anita, has been his camera. But Gordon will be the first to tell you that what makes his photos so special is not his camera or his photography skills, it’s the wildlife.

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Do you have a neighbor we should meet? Please tell us at [email protected] why you think they would be good to meet and supply the neighbor’s phone number and email address. Also, be sure to let your neighbor know that you referred them to us.

What’s Happening in March Around Rancho Vistoso?