IF YOU GO:

What: Sun City Home Owners Association board meeting

When: 9 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28

Where: Meeting room at SCHOA office, 10401 W. Coggins Drive

IF YOU GO:

What: Recreation Centers of Sun City board meeting

When: 9 a.m. Monday, Jan. 13

Where: Auditorium at Sundial Recreation Center, 14801 N. 103rd Ave.

IF YOU GO:

What: Condo Owners Association of Sun City board meeting

When: 1 p.m. Monday, Feb. 3

Where: COA of Sun City office, 11132 W. California Ave., Youngtown

IF YOU GO:

What: Sun City Posse general membership meeting

When: 9 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 4

Where: Posse headquarters, 10861 W. Sunland Drive

Sun City Home Owners Association office

10401 W. Coggins Drive
Sun City, AZ

Sundial Recreation Center

14801 N. 103rd Ave.
Sun City, AZ

Condo Owners Association of Sun City

11132 W. California Ave.
Youngtown, AZ

Sun City Posse headquarters

10861 W. Sunland Drive
Sun City, AZ

Construction, renovation and strengthening internal operations top the list of new year priorities for Sun City’s four main governing and service organizations.

Recreation Centers of Sun City officials have major capital improvement projects to concentrate on, but they are also looking at improving resident involvement.

Officials at the Sun City Home Owners Association and Condo Owners Association of Sun City will concentrate on increasing membership. But they will also focus on improving services to members.

The Sun City Posse will be under new leadership this year, but the focus is much the same — serve community residents by helping keep Sun City safe. Posse officials will also turn their attention toward planning for the organization’s future.

SCHOA

Among their plans to increase membership and improve services, Sun City Home Owners Association officials have a major project on their hands in 2020 — gaining approval for amendments to the covenants, conditions and restrictions.

“The highest priority goal for 2020 is to move forward with the CC&R amendments approved by the board in 2019,” Jim Hunter, SCHOA board president, stated in an email. “These amendments will make fair and consistent enforcement of our community standards possible, protecting our property values and way of life in Sun City.”

The proposed changes are designed to clean up language and eliminate contradictions in the existing document, according to Mr. Hunter.

Approval of the amended CC&Rs will be logistically challenging, according to Mr. Hunter.

“Our community is divided into ‘units,’ which were established during original construction, and each ‘unit’ of stand-alone homes therefore has its own set of CC&Rs,” Mr. Hunter explained. “These CC&Rs are the same with the exception of geographic description, i.e. unit and lot numbers. CC&R amendments must be approved by a majority of each units’ homeowners.”

SCHOA officials will address that challenge by adding staff dedicated to the CC&R amendment effort, continuing open workshops with homeowners and with some volunteer help, according to Mr. Hunter.

“Adequate funds have been designated for this effort,” he stated. 

SCHOA officials also want to improve their Business Partner program by making it easier for vendors and residents to use, according to Mr. Hunter. Officials will also continue the focus on the value of membership in SCHOA and growing membership, promoting the SCHOA Foundation as a tax-deductible vehicle funding the Resident Assistance and Maintenance Program as well as common wall painting, continuing advocacy efforts with government affairs and utility rates and continuing advocacy efforts in the areas of roads and safety.

“We are also establishing a Strategic Planning Committee to regularly review longer-term needs,” Mr. Hunter stated.

Membership revenues for 2019 were very close to budget and greater than 2018, but SCHOA officials will continue efforts to demonstrate the value of membership, according to Mr. Hunter.

With about 10% of Sun City homes changing hands each year, SCHOA officials have a continuing education challenge making new owners aware of the role of SCHOA and the value of being a member, according to Mr. Hunter.

RCSC

Recreation Centers of Sun City officials have a busy construction and renovation schedule to focus on in 2020 and beyond.

Their top goal is to complete phase one and two of the Grand Recreation Center, 10415 W. Grand Ave., project within the year, according to Joelyn Higgins, RCSC communications and marketing coordinator. RCSC officials purchased the property, including an existing building that once was home to a Furr’s Restaurant, to provide for additional club space. The existing building is being remodeled and a new building will be constructed on the site.

“We also have the replacement of Lakes East/West Golf Course and grounds maintenance building,” she stated in an email.

RCSC officials are also working to develop a site plan for the Mountain View Recreation Center, 9749 N. 107th Ave., renovation project. RCSC staff will also this year develop space allocation criteria for allocating club space, complete WiFi upgrade implementation, and roll out automated golf lottery draw function and online booking and ticketing for entertainment, according to Ms. Higgins.

A challenge RCSC officials will face is succession as they will face

The retirement this year of several long-term staff members will present a challenge to RCSC officials, said Ms. Higgins. She did not share which positions would see change.

She did indicate RCSC officials continue to encourage residents to participate in the process of operating the corporation.

“It’s the same as always — attend and participate in meetings, serve on committees, run for the board,” she stated.

COA of Sun City

Like nearly all organizations in the community, one of the main goals for COA officials is to increase membership.

At the same time, they want to continue and improve upon the services offered to residents. The COA is an advisory agency to the 386 associations that govern town home, patio home and multiple unit groups, commonly called condominiums. Last year the organization’s board instituted an assistance program designed to help smaller HOA boards govern their communities.

“We want to grow our membership and the new, very successful assistance program,” Jerry Walczak, COA board president, stated in an email. “We also want to improve the overall performance of the COA through our increased issues of our newsletter — from six per year to 12.”

COA officials also plan to improve and increase their use of the COA Facebook page. Workshops will be increased from 10 per year to more than 50 that are scheduled for 2020, according to Mr. Walczak. They also hope to increase the board of directors to help with the increases in services available to the 300-plus associations in Sun City.

“One of the challenges will be finding board members who are knowledgeable and willing to educate boards and associations,” Mr. Walczak stated.

The COA must acquire funding to perform the agency’s mission of assisting associations and their members, he added.

“We need to update membership with the new rules and regulations for the coming year,” Mr. Walczak stated. 

COA officials want to find ways to increase member attendance at workshops and listening post meetings in order to educate them to operate more efficiently and possess the knowledge necessary to be able to assist their members properly, according to Mr. Walczak.

“We will expand our very  well received roundtable discussions that began in 2019,” he stated.

In addition to Mr. Walczak, the COA board consists of Sam Estok, vice president; Kay Artibee, treasurer; Sue Clark, secretary; and new members Caddie Barnes and Russ Ruck.

Sun City Posse

Since severing its ties with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office in 2017, Sun City Posse officials have seen the recruitment of new members take a turn for the better.

New members are completing training regularly and the number available for patrol in the community continues to rise. But that alone does not ensure the organization’s survival or vitality. Richard Nonini was elected commander for 2020 and has plans to develop a long-range plan for the agency that will ensure continued support to Sun City.

“We will be looking for ways to expand our community service activities and patrols,” he stated in an email.

That will put the focus back on recruiting, he added.

“As we expand our efforts, people are needed to fill in new roles and assignments,” Mr. Nonini stated.

Sun City residents can get involved in two ways — donations and volunteering.

“The donations fund our activities and volunteers give us the human resources to meet new goals,” Mr. Nonini stated.