"I have read all the replies so far, and as I expected there are many ideas and opinions. Many people included their street, which will help the Security Committee and the Board make a decision.

One comment that has occurred several times “What are we really saving here?” What is the cost of the extra patrol and the cost to make the guard house safe from burglars if it is not occupied during the middle of the night in an isolated area. The Security Committee is getting that information. We expect to give the HOA and the Board those numbers before the Board makes a final decision.

There were some comments about why we would consider this. Closing the guard house during off-hours is not going to reduce anybody’s dues. Although we made provisions in this year’s budget for a higher number of owners not paying their dues, that number is increasing. That leaves the rest of us to pay all the bills. Closing the Meadows guardhouse during off-hours is just one way we can close the dues vs. expenses gap that the current recession is causing your association.

We are looking at many ways to save money, but the biggest areas of the budget are related to landscaping, water, and security. We want to keep the community green and safe while saving what we can. We know that the drought will cause a reduction in watering, but an increase in the water bill for example. We are going to have to learn how to better conserve water.

If we choose to reduce the number of hours that the Meadows gate is manned, that proposal will not save nearly enough money to meet our responsibility to properly fund the Reserves as our Treasurer, Greg Norris has explained.

We are not proposing to close the Torino gate. I got many, many e-mails from agitated residents when we closed the Torino gates due to high winds. When the Torino gate is closed residents have to go back onto Rinaldi and then enter via a left turn onto Sorrento Lane. The Sorrento gate backs up very quickly at peak hours when the Torino gate is closed. We will continue to close the Torino gate when the wind is too high for the gates and motors to handle, but too many residents would inconvenienced if that gate is closed full time. We worked very closely with S&S to insure that the Torino gate would stay open, but not be an open invitation to outsiders to come in to our community without passing through security.

The main reason I posted this question was because I don’t live near the Meadows gate, and I wanted to find out how closing it to visitors during off-hours would impact the people that use that gate most of the time. Most residents don’t have visitors that late at night. Some of you have said you like the idea of more patrol time during those hours. Please feel free to make more comments; the whole Board of Directors will be watching the blog.

Again, I assure you we won’t do this to save a hundred dollars a month. You will hear the bottom line dollars before a decision is made by the Board. I know this is not just a dollars and cents issue. If we think the community and our assets will be less safe, I will recommend against it. If it looks like the added patrol will enhance our security and we can save money I will promote the idea to the rest of the Board.

Clearly, there is no solution that will make everyone happy. I’m sure most of the homeowners that aren’t paying their dues would like to be able to. So ultimately the Board will have to decide how to lower our expenses while keeping our quality of life as high as possible.

We are really trying to gauge how the whole community feels. It is difficult when the post is anonymous and you don’t indicate which street you live on. I really do appreciate those comments that indicate where in our community you live.

Thanks,

Pat Pope
President"