BOARD BALLOT ALERT

4/4/2022 20 Comments

BOARD BALLOT ALERT

On April 11th at 1:00pm the Board is planning to vote on sending out a Ballot to gain approval for the CDAC Landscape Revitalization Plan.

The Board is asking our community to rely on information in their presentation that was gathered from 2018 to 2020. The information presented to the community was delayed for 2 years due to the pandemic. The CDAC Presentation, to date, has been seen/heard by less than 250 homeowners.

This raises the following questions:

Why has the Board scheduled a special meeting on April 11th to authorize a ballot for this project? Why can’t the ballot be addressed at the next regular meeting on April 29th when the community has had time to review and absorb the information supplied by the Board?

Where was the two way dialog to discuss the CDAC Landscape plan as promised previously by the HOA board?

How can homeowners make an intelligent decision to support a $5.26 million assessment when there are no concrete plans?

Is the Board rushing a ballot through without giving the homeowners reasonable time to determine if this CDAC approach is the best solution for our community to update our landscape?
Why was the landscape revitalization project, created by the CDAC committee, positioned as an all or nothing project without asking the community what their needs, wants and expectations are?
Is our community ready to make this decision or should the ballot be delayed?

Let your voice be heard, contact your 7 board members at the following email addresses ASAP:

Peter Webb pfwebb@telus.net
Terri Swartz terriswartz.dp@gmail.com
Russ Holowachuk holowachukr@shaw.ca
Bob Mangold lingold7096@sbcglobal.net
Bill Bergstrom billbergstrom.dp@gmail.com
Martin Backstrom backstrom@berkeley.edu
Mark Brown mark@310.net

We welcome your comments on the Blog

20 Comments

Sheri Weinberg

4/4/2022 01:45:55 pm

I agree this should be delayed and not hurried through. I am not impressed by what the board has tried to slide through in a haphazard way. And, what is this supposed landscape bill going to cost us homeowners when the guard readdressed HOA fees at years end.

Dave Grant

4/4/2022 02:33:27 pm

Has someone seen the agenda for that April 11 2022 meeting that confirms that they plan to vote on having a vote on the subject spending?

What does it cost to hold a vote of all members at The Desert Princess?

Dave Grant

Michelle

4/4/2022 03:43:36 pm

The original agenda for the meeting on the 11th did not include the CDHC voting item. An amended agenda circulated later did include this issue.

I would encourage all owners to attend thisl meeting to ensure decisions taken with regards to this critical multimillion dollar CDHC project, using borrowed money is truly in our best interests.

Trusting but not Naive

4/4/2022 03:01:20 pm

To be honest, I trust and believe in the integrity and intelligence of our board of directors. I don't share the suspicious views you have of them. I believe they do their best to represent the communities best interests. That is what they promised to do. They too pay hoa fees. I doubt they want spend more of ours and their money that necessary. To assume anything different is ridiculous. My vote will go with what they advise is in our best interests.

Naive

4/5/2022 03:52:48 pm

Dear trusting but not naïve, Trusting with out asking questions is Naive, its not wrong to ask question when my physics professor gave us a problem to solve we would ask question on how he came to that conclusion. So by asking for a loan that will exceed well over 6 million dollars you better have your ducks in a row and show plan A,B and C not just take it or leave it....

P.S If you think im wrong then can I ask you for a loan I could really use the money :)

karen sugg

4/8/2022 09:46:04 am

why are you not giving your name is you so believe in the process? I myself am suspicious of anything that is crammed in a unreasonable time frame without proper vetting, unnecessary expense and how can anyone make a decision based on conjecture.
I also have a hard time figuring out the savings on new landscape that is maintenance heavy, The grass and water is an expense yes, but how much does it cost to have to do weeding by hand each month, original purchase of plants/bushes etc that will need to be replaced periodically and the high maintenance of drip irrigation that has huge upkeep. Lines get damaged, lines plugged (and the only reason its noticed is because the plant dies). Already the maintenance on the existing new dessertscape is falling behind and it takes weeding, blowing or raking each month instead of riding a lawn mover with the
rest of it. Do we have an accounting of the cost vs water savings vs maintenance time of ??
why are we sending out for votes on a expense we do not know the cost of??
also how do we know these board members are not planning on taking advantage of the "new and improved" landscaping for a better investment of their property and planning on selling in two years? Then everyone else is left holding the expense.
Lets be real, how can we allow a vote on something so huge without proper estimates for upgrades?
Call me suspicious, I am
I do not like anyone telling me how to spend our hard earned money without earning that trust, I am underwhelmed by what we have been shown as to why this is a great idea for any of us.

Ellen

4/4/2022 04:28:54 pm

I wonder, what is the difference in cost between the original estimate for new landscaping (2018) and todays costs? Are the plants selected the best, most water-wise choices? What kind of water system will be used? Why can't this plan be implemented slowly? Is the board going out-to-bid on implementation of the project or is O'Connell going to be in charge? Speaking of O'Connell, when was the last time this community went out-to-bid for landscape maintenance? How many bids were sought for tree removals? So, what is the rush? And please don't use home values because, at least in the short term, landscaping doesn't seem to have inhibited prices at all.

Terry

4/4/2022 06:22:39 pm

Does anybody really believe that a quorum that requires less than 210 affirmative votes to committ DP to the five million dollar landscape plan is in the best interests of approximately 1206 homeowners at Desert Princess?

Does anyone understand why individual homeowners are prohibited from paying this proposed 180 month debt in one up front payment in cash? Answer: Because one up front payment on this debt would mean that what we are dealing with is a "special assessment" and as such would require a quorum of 50% or more of our homeowners in order for the ballot to be legal. Does anyone smell something fishy?

Ducky

4/4/2022 06:52:34 pm

This IS a special assessment, period.
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck….

Anne Lippert

4/4/2022 09:53:35 pm

I would like to see a cost / benefit analysis on this project. All the costs are allocated to to the home owners. Where do the cost savings of less maintenance, seeds ect ect.go?

Kim

4/5/2022 12:45:04 pm

Very good financial questions, but it would be a leap of faith to believe any undocumented answers provided by the Board.

For owners that were here 5-6 years ago, you may recall owners were told the $1.5M invested in our irrigation system would result in a 20% annual water savings for the golf course. Despite being asked ad nauseum year after year for an account of those savings, owners were systematically prevented in obtaining documents to support the savings. Those savings we were told, would be deposited to our reserve fund to offset the substantial withdrawal for the system's installation. The owners were stonewalled because surprise, THERE WAS NO SAVINGS. I believe it's referred to as a zero return on investment in the corporate world. And we are a corporation.

This project , as presented, is so flawed it defies logic. Using 2018-2020 pricing for a proposal that can't possibly get underway in a definitive way until 2023, is akin to committing financial suicide.

PMP

4/5/2022 10:29:10 am

No matter how you look at this, IT'S A SPECIAL ASSESSMENT. Again, not all of the questions about this project have been answered, It appears that the BOD wants to get this out for a vote before DP residents see the real facts. Do you think they will give us a break down of the costs, terms of loan, and exactly what this scope of work will entail, on the ballot? We as homeowners need to VOTE NO until all the facts have been presented with the most updated information. I would also recommend that we as homeowners VOTE NO until all questions have been answered. here are just a few questions: Why do they need to do this all at once? Why can't some of our current HOA funds or reserves help with this project? If a yes vote is received by the homeowners be prepared to be disappointed with the new look as they can't even show us overlays in a town hall meeting. Lastly don't be surprised when this project comes in over budget, due to not having current information.
I for one think that it's a few of the current board members that want to spend this money and raise our current HOA dues.

Logic and Facts

4/5/2022 03:33:52 pm

We can all agree Deseret Princess is in need of repair and it didn't happen overnight, poor maintenance , lack of planning an foresight, miss management of funds and a 2yr pandemic that shut a lot of things down have gotten us to this point.
I do not believe taking out a 5 million dollar loan pulse interest to remove a few trees, get some new landscaping, street signs and some new address markers is going to be money well spent. lets use a commonsense approach and get our house in order 1st.

1) Identify the most hazardous trees and make a plan to remove them over the next couple years and continue as funds are available by working within a planed budget.

2) Adding new signage is of no use when driving to the club house you have to have 4 wheel drive or call a tow truck because the cracks are so big they'll swallow a small child.

3) we can all agree we need to take steps to save water but we cant even fix or current water issue due to poor maintenance (take a drive at night when the sprinklers are on)

4) We need to get control of the sinking ship that is the country club / mountain view grill anyone with a business 101 or has ran a subway can turn that around in a hart beat. We could take the profits from that to put into the general fund to help support future projects.

TO THE BOARD: 16% is not 50% You are setting a dangerous precedence when you want to change the rules for your own agenda. we are a community we are a family. A good leader seeks to unit NOT dived. Tyranny is not the answer.

Terry

4/5/2022 08:27:43 pm

Dear Logic and Facts

Regardless if the financials of the restaurant can be turned around DP homeowners are still in the chain of title and therefore subject to commercial risks thrown off by a commercial use.. That means we will not EVER have residential loans available to access our equities nor could a buyer obtain a mortgage to purchase our property. The BOD is aware of this and seems to be signaling that they prefer total control of the club house even if homeowners lose access to their private equities as a result. The BOD appear to have made no move towards a solution to the no lend situation as evidence. The ability of homeowners to have access to their equity is the whole ball game and will greatly determine the future success or failure of Desert Princess. The restaurant will only be an afterthought. These ARE the stakes we must deal with for all 1206 homeowners.

Terry

4/5/2022 07:36:48 pm

Absent a detailed plan that outlines how much money is to be spent for WHAT, WHERE, and WHEN pretty much guarantees that the money borrowed for this SPECIAL ACCESSMENT will end up being a slush fund spent for the BOD's amusement and whatever they can dream up. There will be plenty of dreams.

Pamela crawshaw

4/7/2022 02:18:58 pm

I totally agree with “Logic and Facts” and everyone else that feel that this over 5million loan to redo the landscaping, water system, street signs, tree removal etc. Should be put on hold and certainly get a NO vote. 2 years later, absolutely sure those numbers given to us couldn’t cover this work as we all everything from Gas, Electricty, contracting work has all gone up from January 2022!
This is definitely a SPECIAL ASSESSMENT and therefore 50% is needed. The Board deciding on just saying 210 YES is enough to pass this project is not correct and WHY did they decide to go this way. This is not in the interest of owners and again seeing homes being sold with an increase of over 20-30% shows that the landscaping is NOT the issue to improve the value of our properties.
The Board should be looking at areas that need to be taken care of now - Queen Palms removal can be put onto the tree removal from O’Connell should there be any that is urgently needing removal due to causing damage. If the water project that was implemented 5-6 years didn’t show any savings then definitely should be on hold! Signage can be done again which area is important and need immediate attention.
All of this could be way cheaper and not put our homeowners against the wall and making us vote in the next few months.
We should be looking at ways to save, maintain and keep DP in good condition without having to spend ridiculous amounts that a few people can decide this together.

Vivian

4/8/2022 08:19:53 am

We sent the BOD the following email and we strongly urge others to voice their concerns to the BOD as well, BEFORE their meeting on April 11th.

To the BOD,

We are very concerned and really quite surprised that the Board would even consider this type of undertaking right now. The Landscape Project was likely a good idea in 2019, but we are in a vastly different place in 2022, with so much economic uncertainty; rising interest rates; significant staffing and supply chain issues; and an unresolved investigation into the FM/FM lending position that Desert Princess currently finds itself in.

In addition to the timing of this initiative going forward to a vote, we have a number of concerns specific to this project, such as:

1. What is the impact of a 15y mortgage and $5M+ debt on our property values or ability to sell, particularly while on the FM/FM no lend list?
2. Is there a scaled down option of the Landscape Project that would meet the original goals of project? What other options have been considered? The details of the loan and the scope of landscape work are still very vague.
3. Quite seriously, this entire project seems like a “nice to have” and not a “must have” right now. We were told that prior DPCC investments to improve our irrigation system and add solar power would both yield savings but we have never seen documentation of those savings to date. Now we are to believe that this Landscape Project is another necessary expense that would yield savings or preserve our property values?

It is hard to imagine how taking out such a sizeable mortgage would help our situation with the No Lend list, or how this is more of a priority right now than tackling the alarming rise in crime in our gated community. Would it not be more prudent to address those issues and concerns currently looming heavily over us, before looking for more ways to spend money we don’t have, increase our dues and put us into debt?

We are also vehemently opposed to the quorum needed to approve this project. It is absurd that less than 20% of DPCC homeowners can make a decision that impacts all of us, especially one that could have such devastating financial consequences for both the DPCC and homeowners.

The Board and its subcommittee has clearly done a lot of great work on this project. Strong effort and solid ideas create momentum on any large project, we have to look at what is happening in the environment around us right now. The Board should not be looking at HOW to carry the project momentum [of 2019] forward but SHOULD we be taking on this risk in 2022? I think it is clear that we should be putting the brakes on this project until there is some more certainty in our lending situation with FM/FM, with the workforce and ability to execute on this project, with interest rates and with the impact of a 15y debt on property values. Instead of pushing through an owner vote, the Board and the subcommittee should be looking at smaller options that do not involve all owners committing to a 15y mortgage. There are just too many uncertainties.

Dave Grant

4/8/2022 10:59:59 am

Is it acceptable to all homeowners to allow the Board to change and set voting rules whereby less than 20% of homeowners get to dictate to all homeowners how any issue is decided and how their money is spent?

1206 homeowners x 20% = 241 votes which leaves 965 votes meaning nothing.

We must not allow this wrong headed thinking and situation to continue.

In any voting situation the majority must carry the day

Under their concocted rule change The Board is saying that as long as there are 241 votes in favor, then an affirmative vote would carry the motion.
Regardless of the fact that there be more votes in the negative and against the motion.

This must not be allowed to stand!

Clarification and correction

4/8/2022 04:55:48 pm

To correct my previous post and mistakes.
The Board did not change the voting rules and my numbers were wrong.

Providing there are more NO votes than yes votes, the plan will not pass.

So this plan can be defeated if you and all your friends, neighbours, and acquaintances VOTE NO. if and when it comes up for a vote.

Dave Grant

Lindsay

5/7/2022 01:29:11 pm

Do the Indians know about the proposed plan?

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.

Charter

This blog is designed as a means to provide transparency and informative access to the policies and protocols of the Desert Princess Palm Springs Homeowners Association, the governance of the HOA Board of Directors and the management of the community’s assets by The Management Trust. The expressed intent is to establish a neighborhood hub for trusted connections and the exchange of helpful information, goods, and services; it is hoped that homeowners will use it to build a stronger and safer Desert Princess Palm Springs.

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