4/28/2022 37 Comments Just the facts?An email was sent to all homeowners from a CDAC member, Diane McAlpine with the username of “Community Design Advisory Committee". This was actually sent with Diane’s personal email (dmmcalpine@AOL.com). Diane McAlpine, led the Landscape revitalization presentations and told us that we have only this one opportunity to revitalize our landscape due to both rising labor costs and Loan interest rates.
This plan was presented as a $5.26 million project with additional interest payments totaling $ 2.1 million. Here is what Diane is personally promising: 1. No personal Liability (no mention of Future assessments or dues increases when the Loan interest rate resets in 7.5 years) 2. Annual interest costs of $117 per year (we do not have a loan commitment the interest amount is unknown) 3. No Impact on Freddie/Fannie Mortgage loan eligibility (Have we heard from the Consultant the HOA board hired to provide recommendations to fix our loan eligibility issues?) 4. Quote for Contractor is 5.26 Million (no bids have been solicited – the quote came from O’Connell) 5. Quote for Commercial Loan = 5% (we have no Loan commitment and no guarantee of interest rate after 7.5 years) 6. Three Bids Competitive Blind Anonymous Bidding (There have been no bids to date and the scope of work has not been defined for the 7 areas that will be rejuvenated. What are the vendors bidding on?) 7. Sell anytime - you never owe more than your last dues payment (if this turns out to be a bad deal, this is your only way out) The Blog would like to know your thoughts.
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4/16/2022 63 Comments You have an opportunity to choose how your money will be spent to revitilize our landscapeAn email was sent out expressing concerns that the Board would like the the homeowners to authorize a commercial Loan that will fund a project to "revitalize" our landscape. This loan will be collateralized by the HOA's receivables. In other words, the board is asking every homeowner to be personally liable for $7.1 million to be paid back over the next 15 years . The email is shown below. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The Blog would like to know your thoughts. The HOA and Board are planning to send out a Ballot for voting on the Landscape Revitalization Project's funding. About 200 residents have seen the CDAC Landscape Revitalization presentation that is driving the request by the Board to take out a $5,260,000 loan.
The Landscape Revitalization Project is being presented as an “ALL or Nothing” Project that will be completed in 18 months. The Board will decide next Monday whether to spend the $4000-$10000 on a ballot vote to allow the HOA to take out the $5,280,000 loan. . So far, the CDAC committee has not supplied any of the homeowners with access to the Town Hall CDAC Landscape Revitalization Presentation, only the 4 year old RGA Master Plan that served as an example of plants and materials that could be used. Missing still is the actual plan for all 7 phases of the landscape revitalization plan. The CDAC FAQ’S does not address the following:
Let your voice be heard, contact your 7 board members at the following email addresses and ask for answers: 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 4/4/2022 20 Comments BOARD BALLOT ALERTOn 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:
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 4/1/2022 43 Comments IS THE PROPOSED CDAC LANDSCAPE REVITALIZATION PLAN THE MOST PRUDENT APPROACH FOR OUR COMMUNITY?Do we need to revitalize certain parts of our Desert Princess landscape?
The answer is a definite YES! The concern is, do we have enough information at this point to commit to the revitalization plan proposed by the CDAC? The CDAC is asking every homeowner to commit to 15 years of monthly payments on a loan of $5,260,000 to be used to revitalize our landscape. Based on the presentation by the CDAC at the recent Town Halls, we know the following:
Over the last few months Desert Princess has seen an increase in the number of security issues. Our Gate access operates under the premise that every guest, Vendor, visitor, etc. is properly screened at the gate and issued a pass if they qualify for entry.
Is the entry process working all the time? For example:
The Blog would like to hear your experiences. The HOA has issued proposed updated Reactive Slab Leak Protocol. If adopted, it replaces the existing 2017 Homeowner slab leak protocol. The Blog has reviewed the changes proposed in the new updated Reactive Slab Leak Protocol.
Below is listed the Key changes from the existing slab leak protocol:
This update will be approved as it is written unless you write the HOA at HOA@desertprincesscc.com and the board members before it is approved at the March Board meeting. Board members can be reached at the following emails: pfwebb@telus.net, terriswartz.dp@gmail.com, holowachukr@shaw.ca, lingold7096@sbcglobal.net, billbergstrom.dp@gmail.com, backstrom@berkeley.edu, mark@310.net The Impact of the changes are:
The Blog would like to know your thoughts. Last night a letter was sent out to homeowners. This letter made the point that once the mask mandate expires this Tuesday and in-person meeting can resume again.
The blog would like to know the following:
Homeowners will have the opportunity at today’s Chat to ask board members their personal opinions on resuming in-person meetings. The link and dial in numbers for the chat is shown below. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84974421921?pwd=U2haTlRuZDdvdUVyTFpyUGd2blZ4dz09 Meeting ID: 849 7442 1921 Passcode: 345491 Dial by your location 1 669 900 6833 US 1 408 638 0968 US 1 346 248 7799 US 1 253 215 8782 US 1 301 715 8592 US 1 312 626 6799 US 1 646 876 9923 US 1 647 374 4685 Canada 1 647 558 0588 Canada 1 778 907 2071 Canada 1 204 272 7920 Canada 1 438 809 7799 Canada 1 587 328 1099 Canada Why has the current board decided that Russ Holowachuk can run for a third term on the board even though our bylaws limit all board members to two terms? As of January 1, 2022 California State laws reinstated our HOA bylaw 2 term limit.
The board met with our HOA lawyers last year and asked if he could run. The answer was yes. The question that has not been asked of our lawyers -- “Is Russ Holowachuk eligible to hold office for a 3rd term after his second term expires and the HOA bylaw’s 2 term limit is in force again”? The following question arises from these events:
We are experiencing a dramatic increase in crime on our Desert Princess property.
Here are some examples:
This raises a number of questions:
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CharterThis 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. PLEDGE
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January 2023
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