BIGHORN HOA - cdn.ymaws.com · The Monarch Management Group Mike Mastropietro Orange Coast Building Services Nena Rutherford, CCAM Desert Resort Management Pat Smith, PCAM, CCAM Veneto

The mission of CAI is to provide the leadership for successful development and operation of Community Associations through information, research and education.

Inside This Issue:

BIGHORN HOA Green ShoppingEarthquake InsurancePublishing the Quorum Desert Friendly Landscaping

April 2010

Photo by David Blank

2 QUORUM APRIL 2010 APRIL 2010 QUORUM 3

thePresident’s message

from yourEditor

Oh my, its April, spring is in the air and what happened to the fi rst quarter of the year? March fl ew by, much

like February, and I am proud to say that the Coachella Valley Chapter of CAI is living up to its goal of providing educational, informative and interesting breakfast programs, even with this fast pace. At the March breakfast meet-ing we learned about what is going on in the insurance industry regarding earthquake cov-

erage for homeowners associations, as well as our individual hom-eowners, and what earthquake loss assessment provides.

The April breakfast program will be a panel presentation from a board member, manager and attorney on the dreaded “Collections” for Associations. Be sure to ask your board members and fi nance committee members to attend.

Our “Mardi Gras” Annual Business Education & Expo at the end of March once again provided a fun-fi lled opportunity for manag-ers and board members to get to know our business partners and yet provide the many tools and resources available to educate our-selves and obtain assistance from qualifi ed professionals. Thank you, Cyndi Koester, Committee Chair, and her Co-Chair, Gary Wolfe, for putting it all together. Everyone seemed to enjoy the added “Scavenger Hunt” for an afternoon.

The Spring Golf Tournament has a new location this year: Heritage Palms Country Club. What a perfect way to get away from our day-to-day routines and take a break, and a great opportunity to thank our business partner sponsors. Mark your calendars for Friday, April 23rd and join in for a round of golf with fellow colleagues, board members and business partners. A day of fun in the sun!

The Mission of CAI is "to provide the leadership for successful development and operation of Community Associations through informative, research and education."

As our industry grows, we see more and more individuals looking to build a career that is both challenging and stimulating. Continued education is a necessity and provides diversity and the opportunity to achieve higher goals. The Education Committee’s purpose is also to promote education and to raise scholarship funds to assist those individuals seeking the PCAM designation. Please join us on May 14, 2010, for the Education Committee Fundraiser Luau, which will be held poolside at Palm Valley Country Club. Never a dull mo-ment; good food, great refreshments, and the exuberance starts at 5:30 p.m.

Not only do we have manager education: Attention board members and homeowners, we have the upcoming Essentials of Community Association Volunteer Leadership Course scheduled on Friday, May 21st. Look for the advertisement in this issue.

Happy Easter!

Gloria Kirkwood, Coachella Valley CAI Chapter President

APRIL - is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian calendar, and one of four months with a length of 30 days. The traditional etymology is from the Latin aperire, "to open," in allusion to its being the season when trees and flowers begin to "open," which is supported by comparison with the modern Greek use of (opening) for spring. April starts on the same day of the week as July in all years, and January in leap years. April's birthstone is diamond, which symbolizes innocence and its birth flower is the Daisy and the Sweet Pea.

Spring in the Coachella valley is famous for its snow-capped mountains, plenty of nice sunshine and beautiful wild fl ow-ers. With more and more of the desert being developed,

wildfl owers are becoming a rare treasure. Enjoy them while you still can.

In this month’s issue, we look at something everyone has to deal with, whether now or later: preventative maintenance. We only put it off at our own peril. And speaking of maintenance, our legal case of the month tackles that very issue as it pertains to the community association’s responsibilities.

Part III in our exclusive End of Stress series by Patrice Drew, touch-es on the importance of connecting with others and maintaining a wide perspective. There’s some really good stuff here.

And make sure to check out the article from Jen Smith, designer of the Quorum magazine, where she outlines all that it takes to cre-ate the magazine that you are holding in your hand. If you didn’t

already appreciate the Quorum and all that goes into it, you should after reading her step-by-step guide.

Who doesn’t love the desert in the spring…OK; those who suffer with allergies may have a different opinion, but take heart. With all of the development in our desert over the past 100 years, wild fl ower pollen has prob-ably dropped to the lowest levels ever. Sure, we’ll sure miss those fl owers when the weather heats back up this summer, but most will not miss the accompanying pollen. We’ll just have the heat to complain about then.

Tim BloomEditor


BOARD OF DIRECTORSCoachella Valley Chapter 2010

Gloria Kirkwood, CCAM, PresidentPalm Valley Homeowners Association

Cyndi Koester, Past PresidentMutual of Omaha

Chris Baine Dejardin, Esq.Peters & Freedman, LLP

Kristin Berryhill-Hood, CCAMThe Prescott Companies

Art CoulterPalm Valley Homeowners Association

Zoe Lombard, CCAMThe Monarch Management Group

Mike MastropietroOrange Coast Building Services

Nena Rutherford, CCAMDesert Resort Management

Pat Smith, PCAM, CCAMVeneto HOA

Louise StettlerEpsten, Grinnell & Howell APC

Rob WinkleWestern Pacifi c Roofi ng

Cardinal AmbroseCAI Executive Director

41-905 Boardwalk Suite A-2Palm Desert, CA 92211

Tel: 760-341-0559 Fax: 760-341-8443

E-mail: [email protected]: www.cai-cv.org

CORPORATE SPONSORS

PLATINUMAMS PavingAsphalt MDs

Del Mar Pacifi cEpsten Grinnell & Howell

Fiore Racovs & PowersPacifi c Western BankPeters & Freedman

Universal Protection Service

GOLDFlood Response

LaBarre/Oksnee InsuranceMutual of Omaha

Patrol MastersSign-a-rama

Western Pacifi c Roofi ng

SILVERAnimal Pest Management

Empire Community PaintingJen Smith Design & Graphics

Sky SecuritySunshine Landscape

BRONZEAdvanced Painting & Construction

Artistic MainenanceBower Security

O'Connell Landscape MaintenancePrendiville Insurance Agency

The Gateworks GroupThree Phase Electric

COMMUNITYASSOCIATIONS

INSTITUTE

COMMUNITYASSOCIATIONS

INSTITUTE

EDITORIAL BOARD

EditorTim Bloom

Brite & Clean, Inc. (760) 346-9274

Assistant EditorMargaret “Gen” Wangler, Esq.

Fiore Racobs & Powers (760) 776-6511

Managing EditorJL "Jodi" Brewster

CAI (760) 341-0559

PHOTOGRAPHERS

EDITORIAL ADVISOR

PUBLISHER

Tony BrunnerSelect Realty Services

Patrice DrewAlbert Association Management

Kay Ladner, AMS, CCAM, MCMDesert Resort Management

Matthew Lawton, CIC, CIRMS Prendiville Insurance

Stephen J. RocciaQuickPass

Brian RouleyRouzell Enterprises, Inc.

Steven Shuey, PCAM, CCAMPersonalized Property Management

Paula TapiaPacific Western Bank

Kelly TaylorEasyTurf

Gary WolfeUniversal Protection Service

Bill Richardson (760) 328-8999Patio Furniture Doctors

Cardinal Ambrose (760) 341-0559CAI Executive Director

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

GRAPHIC DESIGNERJenny Smith (760) 219-4005

Jen Smith Design and Graphics

Jen Smith Design and Graphics (760) 219-4005Printer of the Quorum

BIGHORN HOA, Palm Desert .......................................................7By: Sue Wiskow

Gothic Grounds Management, Inc. ...............................................8By: Brian Rouley

Shattered! Earthquake Insurance for Community Associations ............ 10By: Matthew Lawton, CIC, CIRMS

What Goes Into Producing the Quorum ........................................ 13By: Jenny Smith

Going Green with Solar Roof Tiles .............................................. 16By: Mimi Jones

Brite & Clean, Inc. ................................................................. 22By: Brian Rouley

The End of Stress - Part III ....................................................... 24By: Patrice Drew, CCAM

Green Shopping .................................................................... 26By: Valerie Ward

CLAC Moment ...................................................................... 28By: Skip Daum

Association Legal Brief ........................................................... 30By: Gen Wangler, Esq.

Instituting a Home Preventative Maintenance Program .................... 32By: Leslie Spoor

Incentives Abound to Convert Turf to Desert-Friendly Landscaping ....... 35By: Dave Koller

The Admitted Carrier versus Non-Admitted Debate .......................... 37By: Enid Turner, CIC

PatriceDrew

KayLadner

MatthewLawton

StephenRoccia

StevenShuey

PaulaTapia

KellyTaylor

Margaret "Gen"

Wangler

GaryWolfe

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

TimBloom

Tony Brunner

The materials contained in this publication are designed to provide our members with accurate, timely and authoritative informa-tion with regard to the subject covered. However, CAI Coachella Valley

Chapter is not engaging in the rendering of legal, accounting or other professional types of services. CV Chapter has not verified the contents of these articles or advertising, nor do we have the facili-ties or the personnel to do so. Readers should not act on the infor-

mation contained herein without seeking more specific professional advice from legal, accounting or other experts as required.

The Coachella Valley Quorum Newsmagazine is a publication expressly prepared for our Association leaders,

managers and other related professionals of the Community Associations Institute. Authors are encouraged to submit

articles for publishing consideration. All articles accepted for publication in the Quorum are subject to editing and rewriting

by the Publications Committee.Community Associations InstituteCOACHELLA VALLEY CHAPTER

41-905 Boardwalk, Suite A-2, Palm Desert, California 92211

BrianRouley

Photo by Ethan Kaminsky


BIGHORN HOAPalm Desert

By: Sue Wiskow

BIGHORN is an exclusive, 1150-acre, residential community and private golf club located on Highway 74 at the southern boundary of Palm Desert. It is nestled at the base of the Santa Rosa Mountains which provides the community with spectacular views of the Coachella Valley and surrounding mountains. BIGHORN’S continuing philosophy of excellence in development is based on its design intention to integrate all improvements with the natural desert environment, to achieve “harmony with nature.”

Development of BIGHORN began in 1990, but constant im-provement and revitalization continues even today with new phases of residential development, infrastructure, common areas as well as new amenities to the Club (including a new spa, marketplace, restaurant, pool/event area). BIGHORN Development, LLC, the developer, has never stopped its quest to make BIGHORN one of the premier residential, golf communities in the world.

The Canyons and Mountains golf courses, which are known to viewers worldwide because of the many televised golfi ng events hosted at BIGHORN over the years, have about half of the turf typically used for an average course. The limited turf and all landscaping being on drip irrigation, assists in water conservation, and helps to retain native habitat. The land-scape materials and plant species in all common areas and along the courses at BIGHORN are natural and indigenous to the area, with the exception of the several hundred Saguaro cacti, which were carefully transplanted from Arizona. BIG-HORN, from its inception, has always sought to bring to the forefront the beauty of its natural surroundings while conserv-ing water and energy by using a naturally drought tolerant plant pallet.

In addition to extensive areas of natural habitat within the community, BIGHORN has dedicated approximately 400 acres to the city and state as preserved, natural lands. Most of the acreage of these dedications was contiguous to National Monument lands and include hiking trails for members and the public.

Homes are all single family and free standing and range in

size from 2,300 square feet to 30,000 square feet. Remaining available home sites average $2.5 million and homes current-ly range from $1.6 million to $13.5 million, although many of the homes that haven’t come on the market are valued at signifi cantly more. To date, 421 homes have been built on 535 developed home sites. The Architectural and Landscape Control Committee of the Association continues to be very active, with fi ve homes under construction and 21 homes in various phases of review. Homeowner assessments are $670 per month.

Less than 5% of the Association Members are full-time resi-dents. While the Club is separate from the Association, the vast majority of Association Members are also Club Mem-bers.

The Association’s assets include onsite offi ces for the As-sociation’s administrative and management staff, 40-person grounds maintenance department, 40-person Privacy Depart-ment, 24/7 manned Central Monitoring Station, two roving patrol vehicles, four manned entry gatehouses, state-of-the-art privacy system, beautifully maintained natural common areas and brick-paver streets. The Club amenities include the two golf courses mentioned above, Clubhouse, award win-ning pro shop, seven restaurant venues, including the Can-yons Steakhouse, Golf House, Pour House, and Marketplace (with Starbucks coffee bar), European Spa and Wellness Cen-ter, tennis courts, dog park and more.

The BIGHORN Homeowners Association management is onsite and shared, and consists of a fi ve-member Board of Directors, Privacy Director, HOA and ALCC Coordinators and Golf Course Manager. These individuals along with their staffs make BIGHORN the uniquely beautiful, service orient-ed retreat our Association Members enjoy. We believe the individual attention paid to our homeowners and the care and effort expended to maintain the community’s amenities and natural environment are the elements that bring our ho-meowners back year after year.

Like all associations, BIGHORN is addressing energy issues. We feel we have been a little ahead of the curve on this,


Gothic Grounds Management, Inc.By: Brian Rouley

Rouzell Enterprises, Inc.

Gothic Grounds Management, Inc., is a Riv-erside based company providing land-scape maintenance and specializing in

the care and upkeep of association common areas, homebuilder model parks and commercial develop-ments. The company began its business life as a divi-sion of Gothic Landscape, now the largest privatelyheld, family-owned landscape company in the United States.

Founded by the late Louis and Judy Georgio in 1984 in their small residential garage, the Gothic culture was developed and nurtured into the multi-state, full-service landscape conglom-erate that it is today. Gothic Grounds Management was in-corporated as a business entity in its own right in January 2006 and is exceedingly proud of the meticulous work done to enhance and maintain the environment.

Michael Georgio serves as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Offi cer for Gothic Landscape, and Jon Georgio serves as Gothic Landscape's President. Since Gothic Grounds Management inception in 1996, the maintenance operation has been led by Ron Georgio, who serves as President, Gothic Grounds Management. The vision at Gothic Grounds Management’s corporate level is to provide day-to-day support to its geographically separated branches while giving these same branches the freedom to be creative and fully expose “The Gothic Ex-perience.” Gothic currently employs 400 people in its service covering three states. It has been a member of CAI in the Coachella Valley and Los Angeles areas for over six years and currently have nine members in the two associations.

With a long list of services, Gothic Grounds Management can provide for every need. Beyond the obvious main-tenance, tree trimming and irrigation services, it also of-fers water management, weed abatement, soil testing and

plant diagnosis. Gothic's partnerships include most of the major homebuilders doing business in the southwest and it maintains model parks for many of the most prominent homebuilders in the United States.

Jonathan Merry states: “We joined CAI because we knew it would be a great networking opportunity. The past

chapters have been a huge suc-cess and we know that Coachel-la will also bring great results.” Gothic's members are active in the golf and events committees in Coachella and LA Chapters, respectively.

If there is a single mantra that drives the Gothic Grounds Man-agement's corporate mission, it would be to “work diligently and incessantly to ensure that every

single Gothic employee strives to ‘proudly create an un-paralleled client experience’ for all our customers.”

You can contact Gothic Grounds Management, Inc. in Riverside at 6848 Magnolia Avenue, Suite 100 Riv-erside, CA 92506 – by phone at: (951) 212-2048, or [email protected]. Or vist Gothic's website, www.gothiclandscape.com.

although we continue to evaluate new ways to save energy while not compromising on the delivery of services and ame-nities to our homeowners. We have upgraded air condition-ing units, electrical and irrigation facilities, including effi cient pumps and motors. We have a very sophisticated computer-ized irrigation system and we own our own irrigation wells (which are monitored regularly and serviced on a regular periodic basis). Landscaping and interior offi ce lights have been switched out for more effi cient fi xtures and bulbs. Of-fi ce equipment is evaluated annually and new purchases are always evaluated for energy effi ciencies. Passive energy ef-fi cient practices are utilized – tree plantings for shade, over-hangs, building and window orientations for the purposes of mitigating high temperatures that are prevalent in the sum-mer.

We have one committee, the Architectural and Landscape Review Committee, whose responsibility is the design review of improvements proposed by property owners to maintain consistency with the design parameters and goals set forth in the CC&R’s and Design Guidelines. The committee continues to be active; typically it meets every other week to review formal submittals by property owners or their contractors or design professionals. Reviews range from new residences to remodels to landscape or exterior changes to existing proper-

ties. The committee members often meet three or four times between meetings to review in-fi eld conditions in response to requests from Association Members or their consultants

The Association’s business partners include Burrtec Waste Management and Time Warner. Fiore Racobs & Powers serves as legal counsel to the Association. All other mainte-nance and services are performed by the Association’s onsite staff.

An Association Board member states: “A testament to the satisfaction of Association members is the lack of attendance at every annual meeting of the Association. I think the highest number of members attending was 11, and that was several years ago. Also, the support for the board’s slate of candi-dates has never been challenged and has made for continuity of direction for the Association.”

Manager Sue Wiskow states that her role at BIGHORN is unique: “An onsite offi ce is always at the beck and call of members. Although this can be challenging it also allows me to get to know the Association members on a more per-sonal basis and more casual basis. It isn’t always to solve problems, sometimes it’s just to say 'Hi' and see how things are going.”


It seems that everywhere you go these days, people are talking about the next big earthquake, and rightly so. The last signifi cant

earthquake on the Southern California stretch of the San Andreas Fault was in 1857, and there has not been a rupture of the fault along its southern end from San Ber-nardino to the Salton Sea since 1690.Earthquakes in California are caused by the movement of huge blocks of the earth’s crust—the Pacifi c and North American plates. The Pacifi c plate is moving northwest, scraping horizontally past North America at a rate of about

two inches per year. Depending on where you’re standing in the Coachella Valley, you can either be on the enormous

Pacifi c plate (which goes all the way out to Hawaii and down by Australia), or the gi-gantic North American plate (which pretty much covers the entire northern region). You can actually “see” this fault line running through our mountain ranges and visit it at places such as the Thou-sand Palms Oasis. There you can walk along the trails and observe the massive forces of the San Andreas Fault at work grinding up a unique,

fl our-like soil; a simple reminder of what may come.

So, let’s assume a major earthquake will likely happen in our lifetimes, in and around the Coachella Valley. We’ve all seen the recent destruction of Haiti and Chile and can only imagine the sorts of damage that may occur here. With that in mind, are you prepared? Do you have a family emergency plan? Now is the time to take advantage of “time” and prepare as best you can. Think of what you need to do before the earth-quake, during the actual earthquake, and immediately following the earthquake.

Obviously the most impor-tant considerations are safety, family and then possessions. With the latter in mind, if you live in a homeowners asso-ciation, do you have personal earthquake insurance to cov-er your valuables, relocation expenses and interior upgrades? Does your association have a master earthquake insurance policy in place? Now is the time to get things in order, before a disaster occurs.

Insurance for a homeowners association is a little different then your auto, home or even commercial business insurance. Generally speaking, if you live in a condominium project, and there’s a fi re, your association’s insurance will cover the struc-tures and common areas, while your own personal condo-

minium insurance will cover your interior belongings. The same general concept works for earthquake insurance. Your association needs to have an earthquake insur-ance policy for the structures and common areas, while your own personal condo-minium earthquake insurance policy covers your interior belongings. In this scenario, the unit owner can not pur-chase earthquake insurance to cover the entire buildings

or structures—only the association can.

When it comes to getting earthquake insurance for a commu-nity association, it doesn’t actually help to have two or three different insurance agents working on the earthquake quote.

Shattered!Earthquake Insurance For Community Associations

By: Matthew Lawton, CIC, CIRMSPrendiville Insurance Agency

Generally speaking, your asso-ciation needs to have an earth-quake insurance policy for the structures and common areas, while your own personal condo-minium earthquake insurance policy covers your interior be-longings.

continued on next page


Earthquake insurance companies will usually only deal with one qualifi ed agent for your association. If that company were to notice different quotes for one association being submitted by different insurance agents, it appears that the association is simply shopping different rates and is not genuinely interested in getting a policy in place.

An association should look for a qualifi ed insurance agent who specializes in community associations and has access to the California Earthquake Authority. This same agent could then help your members get their own personal earthquake cover-age. Check the agent’s references, and once you make your decision, give him or her as much advance time as possible to get your earthquake policy together.

Next, make sure you get the proper amount of coverage. Almost all earthquake policies will refer to the association’s CC&Rs by stating that the policy will provide coverage for items the asso-ciation is responsible for insuring. Now that you’re ready to get your quote, don’t be scared off by the deductibles—a smaller deductible may make more sense, but will increase the cost, while a higher deductible will help control the premium. Your association’s earthquake deductible may be as high as 20% of your association’s total insured value. This will lower the policy premium dramatically, but could easily turn into a $50,000 per-

unit deductible, depending on the size of your association. But now you ask, “Who the heck is going to pay the $50,000 per-unit deductible? Most unit owners don’t have that kind of mon-ey lying around.” So what are you supposed to do now? You inform your membership of the association’s earthquake policy’s deductible and you suggest that each unit owner purchase their own California Earthquake Authority policy with Loss Assess-ment coverage of $75,000. Now if the individual unit owner is assessed $50,000 by the association to cover earthquake dam-age, this CEA policy will take care of it.

Earthquake insurance may seem excessive and costly, but it will certainly be helpful. To paraphrase the Rolling Stones, “time is on our side,” at least for now it is. Do what you can now to prepare for the next big one. It may be here sooner than we think!

Matthew Lawton has earned both the Community Insurance and Risk Management (CIRMS) designation as well as the Certifi ed Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation. Lawton can be reached at Prendiville Insurance Agency at 760-770-5868 or via [email protected].

Production of the Quorum magazine goes through a long process every month. It begins with the all-volunteer Quorum Committee meeting to discuss

the upcoming articles and decide on any changes to the magazine. The Committee makes decisions on the next two or three issues: what articles will be written and by whom, what design changes might be made and what up-coming events need to be featured. On the fi rst of the month the articles are submitted to our editor, Tim Bloom. He reviews them for content and formatting specifi cations, within the writing guidelines set forth by the Committee. Cardinal Ambrose, the Executive Director, is in charge of making a list of all of the advertisers and promo ads that are to run in the current issue, called a “run list,” and sub-mits those to Jenny Smith, the designer. Tim submits the edited articles to Jenny as well. All members adhere to a strick production schedule to keep the Quorum moving on time.

The designer begins by checking all of the paid advertis-ers on the list and adding in any new ones and pulling any

that are no longer running or are only running in certain months. Then she designs and places the promotional ads. Then begins the tedious work of placing all of the articles around the ads, fi tting the text into the spaces available and moving articles to different pages that might fi t better. Some articles come with photos and pull quotes that are placed within the article, but most of the shadow prints in the corner and many of the photos within the articles are purchased from stock photography websites. They are purchased rather than taken off the web to avoid copyright issues.

Once everything is in place, two copies are printed and bound. One copy goes to the Editor and one copy goes to Gen Wangler, the Assistant Editor. The Editor looks for obvious errors and design elements and the Assistant Edi-tor looks for spelling and grammar. Those proofs go back to the designer who makes the changes according to the revision notes written on both copies. Two more copies are made and one goes to Cardinal and one goes to Jodi Brewster, the Managing Editor. Cardinal checks all of the

What Goes Into the Publishing the QuorumBy: Jenny Smith

Jen Smith Design & Graphics


sponsors and ads including the promo ads. Jodi checks for any other spelling and grammar errors and checks all of the previous changes to the two proofs that were submitted with her working copy. At this point, the rest of the changes are completed via email. It’s down to the nitty gritty now and just a matter of commas, periods and colons. There are a few word changes and a few spelling cor-rections and perhaps a ques-tion or two that needs to be an-swered but the changes at this point are minor.

Now that all of the changes have been made, it is time to take it to the printer. The graph-ic designer goes through several complete checks to make sure every ad is lined up, every article has the little CAI house logo at the end, no sentences have been dropped, every picture is in place and the magazine looks perfect. She then creates a PDF document that is ready for press and submits it to the printer.

The printer orders the ink and paper and issues prepress in-structions and a work order. Then the fi le goes to the pre-press unit for “prefl ight." During the prefl ight, they check

for errors in color and missing fonts. If it all checks out they do what is called “ripping” the fi le. That is putting the fi le into a language that the other equipment can understand so they can continue the process. They send a proof back to Jen-ny so she can check for any changes or errors that have oc-curred in the process of ripping and if everything looks good, she gives her approval.

From that point, the printer makes a hard copy proof for the plate maker, pressman and

bindery department to construct the fi nal piece. Color la-ser proofs are made to check the color correctness of the hard copy. Upon confi rmation of the color, the job goes to the plate maker. A coated sheet of metal is burned with lasers and the image is etched into the plate. A processor

removes all unnecessary parts and leaves what is needed for the image. The printing is called “four color process.” It takes four different colors to create the illusion of full color so each plate has to be repeated four times, one for each color. The colors are put down in a “rosette pattern” that is invisible to the naked eye and blends togeth-er visually. The inks are vegetable based inks used for environmental reasons and eco-friendly disposal. The plates are not reusable but are recyclable.

The job is run on an eight color press that prints both sides in a single pass in about half the time of a traditional press. This process is called “perfecting” and the press is called a Komori Lithron 8 Color 40 Inch Perfector. This press was the fi rst of its kind in California at the time it was purchased and was a model piece of equip-ment for the Western United States. The press has a tunnel underneath to maintain the lower parts.

After the printing is done, the ink has to dry for about eight hours before it is cut. Then it goes to bindery where it is sorted into books, stapled and trimmed. All of this is done in one process on one machine. All the scrap paper and

materials are recycled. The fi nal step is boxing and they are ready to ship.

Most of the magazines are delivered to the mailing house to be sent to CAI members and the remainder go to the CAI offi ce for hand distri-bution. For each issue, the whole process takes about three weeks to complete. It all comes together at the end of the month with the Quo-rum magazine landing on members' desks around the beginning of the following month.

Jenny Smith is the designer and pub-lisher for the Quorum magazine and a full-service graphic designer. She can be reached at 760-219-4005 [email protected]: www.jensmithdesign.com.

Rosette Pattern


One Green WorldGoing Green with Solar Roof Tiles

By: Mimi JonesEmerald Roofing, Inc.

Our desert community is the perfect place to provide solar products, as we have sunshine all year round. The technology and the beauty of

these products have come a long way in the last decade. A solar tile has been created to integrate into the roofi ng system. Not only is this prod-uct energy effi cient, it has an appeal to the builder and the homeowner.

This solar tile integrates seamlessly with the existing concrete tile, retaining the aesthetics of the roof. The fi t also helps maintain the integrity of the roofi ng system

by preventing leaks and protecting the home or building it covers. The roofi ng contractor can replace four roof tiles with one solar tile. A hole is drilled underneath

the panel to run the wiring to the garage. The roof is then sealed tight to prevent pene-tration. The electrician runs the wires to an inverter in the garage, which converts DC energy into AC power. It is wired to the meter panel to run kilowatt hours off the meter.

Reroofi ng your building can be a time consuming task. The installation of your roof is the responsibility of your

roofi ng contractor. It is important to ensure that the attic is properly ventilated and that the valleys, eaves and roof-to-wall intersections are properly fl ashed to help prevent water in-trusion. It is important to choose a contrac-tor that is licensed and insured. From there, you should get bids from three contrac-tors for your project. Choose a contractor with whom you feel comfortable, that un-derstands your project and whose bid is clear and understandable.

Find a solar tile roofi ng company that will han-dle everything from the engineering to the permitting to the rebate process. When considering your roofi ng material options, look into the durability, warranty, energy-effi ciency and avail-

able styles of various materials. It is best to make your roofi ng material decision after viewing samples of your

options. Your roofer or local roofi ng sup-ply distributor will also have samples on hand.

The potential of feder-al tax credits, state re-bates and the knowl-edge that solar homes and building appraise for signifi cantly more than the cost of invest-ing in the technology, means that the solar choice makes sense fi nancially as well.

Mimi Jones is the Owner, Secretary and

Treasurer for Emerald Roofi ng, Inc. and can be contacted at mimi@emeraldroofi ng.com or 760-347-9869.

This solar tile integrates seamlessly with the exist-ing concrete tile, retaining the aesthetics of the roof. Solar panels shaped like clay tiles


HAVE YOU HEARD?

Granite Construction Company, Southern Cali-fornia Region, has been notifi ed that the Design Build, Construction of Monument 250 Roadway

and Primary Border Barrier Fence has been selected as a fi nalist in the Meeting the Challenge of the Diffi cult Job – Heavy Engineering Classifi cation category for the 2010 AGC California Constructor Awards.

Pat Smith, CCAM, PCAM, has joined Securitas Security Services, USA, Inc., as a part-time Business Development Associate. Pat can be reached at (760) 275-6557 or via [email protected]. Pat continues her work as association manager at Veneto Homeowners Association.

The Chapter's Board of Directors has changed its meet-ing times. The Board will continue to meet on the fourth Monday of the month; however, the meetings will be held at 8:30 a.m., at the CAI offi ce.

Please note that there has been a change of date to three

of our social events this year. The Education Committee "Hawaiian Luau" Fundraiser is now being held on Friday, May 14, 2010 at Palm Valley Country Club. Casino Night has been moved to Friday, June 18, 2010 and the Fiesta Bowl’s new date is Friday, July 23, 2010. Event locations and details will be available and shared with the member-ship in the near future.

Congratulations to Vanessa Robertson of Desert Resort Management on her successful completion of the M-100 class. Great job, Vanessa. Keep up the good work.

There was so much fun going on at the Coachella Valley Chapter’s Country Western Roundup event that it was hard to fi t all the happenings into one article. Dionne Pe-tipas of Three Phase Electric and Chair of the committee would like to dole out a few more well deserved “thank yous” to show her heart felt appreciation and gratitude. Sun City Nursery did an outstanding job decorating the

warehouse with beautiful donated plants and trees that transformed Sunshine Landscape’s warehouse into genu-ine “OK Corral.” Cyndi Koester of Mutual of Omaha Bank brought the ‘photo fun’ with the Sweethearts Photo Booth that offered everyone the opportunity to have his photo taken, plus a complimentary copy to take home. Hats off and special thanks to all the committee volunteers as well. It is their very hard work and devotion to creating a truly fun event for all that made this fi rst ever event so success-ful. It wouldn’t have happened without co-Chair Wendy Van Messel, Chapter President Gloria Kirkwood, and Vanessa Robertson, all of Desert Resort Management, Kristin Berryhilll-Hood of The Prescott Companies, Cyndi Koester of Mutual of Omaha Bank, Carlos Contreras and Jesse Contreras of Sunshine Landscape, Zoe Lombard of Monarch Management, Ernie Casto of MC Builder Corp., Larry Hooper of Popular Association Banking, Brent Sher-man of Animal Pest Management and our very own “su-perwoman” Cardinal Ambrose, Executive Director of the CV Chapter. Thank you and WELL DONE!!

The Quorum Committee is always looking for articles to run in the magazine. Writing Guidelines are available and can be sent to you via email if you are interested in sub-mitting an article or know a member that would like to contribute.

If you have any changes in your contact information or business, please submit them to Cardinal Ambrose at [email protected]. This way there is no lapse in receiving local Chapter and National material and information and helps keep our database current and up to date.

The Have You Heard column is here for you to help us get out your information. Send in your items of interest to Cardinal Ambrose at [email protected] to get your news out to the membership.

Thanks to our March Sponsors:

Asphalt MDs

Del Mar Pacifi c General Contractors, Inc.

Empire Community Painting

LaBarre/Oksnee Insurance

MC Builder Corp Painting & Construction

Prendiville Inurance Agency

Suntrek Solar

Three Phase Electric

Timothy Cline Insurance Agency, Inc.


Time Honored MemberBrite & Clean, Inc.

By: Brian RouleyRouzell Enterprises, Inc.

Window cleaning has been a family trade for Brite & Clean

Windows for 40 years. Tim Bloom, the owner, was taught the basics of the trade by his fa-ther, who incidentally, had paid his way through medical school in St. Louis, Missouri performing window cleaning for storefronts and businesses.

Here in the Coachella Valley, res-idential window cleaning is the single largest segment served by the company, followed by com-

mercial window cleaning of club-houses, guard houses and com-mercial buildings. Brite & Clean Windows performs monthly win-dow cleaning contracts covering from Riverside to Indio, and all points in between.

Hard water stain removal is a persistent problem in Southern California in general, and more specifi cally here in the Coachel-la Valley. The groundwater in the Valley is rich in minerals. Now that’s good for your body to drink, but it’s bad if you spray

it on your windows and shower doors. Fortunately, Tim’s family has developed a product to safely and effectively re-move water-stain build up. In ad-dition to offering a water-stain re-moval service, they also sell their product, the Simple Solution, at local hardware stores like Ace Hardware, True Value and Do-It-Best stores, and around the US.

Eleven years ago, Tim invented a device for the company called Di-amon-Fusion that transforms glass and shower doors into a non-stick surface, much like how Tefl on® creates a non stick surface on pots and pans. This Diamon-Fusion® technology is patented and used around the world by the United States military, manufactures like DuPont, as well as building and home maintenance companies to protect surfaces, making them more durable, staying looking like new and easier to keep clean.

High-pressure washing and steam cleaning is another sought after service provided by Brite & Clean Windows. Whether

removing spider webs from walls, dirt and dust from sand storms or patios, sidewalks and driveways, nearly every hard surface out-doors can also be made to look “brite & clean” with the pressure washing services provided by Brite & Clean Windows. Improve the look of the driveway at your entry gates or just improve the look of your home. Either way, trust Brite & Clean, Inc. with the tasks and chores that no one re-ally wants to do … windows.

Find out why 85% of the com-pany's jobs are repeat or referral customers. These guys really love what they do.

Tim Bloom is the owner of Brite & Clean Windows and can be

reached at 760-346-9274 or [email protected]. His website is www.briteandclean.com.


"Hawaiian Luau"Friday, May 14th

Palm Valley Country ClubPalm Desert, CA

Tickets: $25$1,000 Grand Prize Raffl e

Tickets $20

Sponsorship Opportunites:

Support Education Scholarships for our Manager Members

seeking to obtain the PCAM designation.

From an interview with Don Joseph Goewe, author of “Mystic Cool”, published by Simon & Schuster

This is the third of four articles on stress manage-ment, based on Don Goewey’s book “Mystic Cool.” The goal is to develop a brain that sustains

peak performance, and each individual part contributes to this goal.

The fi rst two articles of the series fo-cused on being “in the moment” to help stop incessant thinking. Think-ing that overtakes and clouds accurate evaluation of work situations, thinking that promotes fear and contributes to unfavorable outcomes. The second is achieving a stance in life that encour-ages a strong and healthy attitude, an attitude that isn’t threatened by outside events, faces challenges confi dently, and helps fi nd possible solutions.

The third point in Mr. Goewey’s process concerns connec-tion with others. We all know people that reach out and are open to fellow workers, both in the offi ce and community. These people are often those who have a fundamentally positive attitude. Mr. Goewey says that “creating a sense

of connection…helps us to listen better, judge less and forgive more.” Some of these qualities may not feel much like the professional work arena, but getting away from power positioning, it is there for all of us.

The fourth quality in Mr. Goewey’s process is the importance of gaining a wider perspective and seeing a larger picture over the pieces of daily life. Pieces of our daily life could be our board, our homeowners, our company, and our daily workload. It requires a shift in attitude that will actually change

how your brain functions.To attain that shift in attitude and to stop stress, Mr. Goewey gives the fol-lowing advice

Stop thought attacks. He says the mind makes up emergencies that the brain believes are real, and launches the “fi ght or fl ight” reaction, upset-ting brain chemistry. The vast major-ity of panic thoughts are false alarms. We can’t always stop stressful, anxious thoughts from occurring, but we can defuse them by not believing them. Be-lieving they are true lights the fuse. We can have a thousand stressful thoughts in a day, and if we don’t believe any of them, we have a great day. Believ-ing just one of them can ruin the whole day. Distract the mind. Count to three slowly, turning off the thought. This simple exercise transfers control of the brain from primitive to higher brain circuits, where you can excel.

Ask yourself the question: “What am I afraid of?" Write down the answer. Then ask yourself, “If this is true, what am I afraid of?” Each time you ask that question and write

down an answer, notice the mounting catastrophe in your answers. How likely is any of this to happen? At the conclu-sion, ask yourself “Who would I be with-out these fears?” Be that person.

Start the day in quiet refl ection. Set your intention to have a great day, fi lled with achievement, and sustained with a peaceful attitude. Every few hours in the day, connect with life. Look at the sunshine, rain fall or wind blow. Once a week, count three things that happened for which you are grateful, and three things that you found positive events.Take a walk. Walking is not strenuous and your leg muscles don’t gobble up the extra oxygen and glucose as during

aerobic exercise. Walking actually increases the amount of oxygen and glucose that reach your brain.

Next month will be the fourth and fi nal part of this series on stress management and will focus on the brain and Mr. Goewey’s methods that help management teams become higher performers that sustain peak brain performance.

The End of Stress IIIBy: Patrice Drew, CCAM

Albert Association Management

Caesars Palace Resort & Casino3570 Las Vegas Blvd., South • Las Vegas, NV 89109

Call reservations directly (702) 731-7222 and tell them you are with CAI.

www.caionline.orgNetworking and social functions enhance your learning

experience and give you an opportunity to make personal and professional contacts.

Your registration fee gives you access to:• Renowned speakers who will share practical, useful

strategies and tactics—not just theories • Interactive sessions and advanced-level topics

• Several tracks of education sessions • Networking opportunities at morning coffee breaks

and evening receptions • An exhibit hall where you can learn from leading

suppliers of products and services for communities • A chance to win cash and prizes in the exhibit hall

• Earn CEUs toward your recertifi cation or redesignation

CAI National ConferenceApril 28 - May 1, 2010


Recycling Tip of the Month

Green ShoppingBy: Valerie Ward

Burrtec Waste & Recycling

Living green is much broader than simply disposing of products responsibly. Monitoring what items come into your home and how they arrive is just

as important as how they leave. Smart shopping habits are key to decreasing your carbon footprint and are often more gentle on the wallet.

Before You Go

1. Make a Shopping List and Stick to It. Dare to reject the carefully constructed displays and sales that beg you to buy unnecessary items. Be sure to go on a full stomach, so your brain does the shopping instead of your belly. A list also helps prevent an emergency trip for a forgotten item later in the week. A good way to make the list is to plan a weekly menu and purchase accordingly.

2. Take Reusable Shopping Bags. This is often a fi rst step for those seeking to go green. It’s easy, in-expensive and makes a real differ-ence. The truth is that both plastic and paper bags can be bad for the environment.

Reusables often hold more and are sturdier, putting an end to the days of heavy items bursting through the bag and onto the as-phalt. The trend is spreading, and bags are becoming a fashion as well as an eco-friendly statement.

Sometimes the toughest part is remembering to take the bags into the store. Keep them in the car rather than the house. Get the kids involved. The assignment to remember the reusable bags will help them feel important and teach lasting environmental principles.

3. Carefully Plan Your Trip. Shop during low-traffi c times of the day to decrease fuel consumption. Be sure to combine the trip with any other errands, saving grocery shopping

for last if you plan to purchase items that need to be re-frigerated or frozen. If you are only picking up a few items, consider walking or riding your bike.

4. Carpool. Take roommates, friends and family to the store with you. You will use less fuel, and you may not have to carry in as many groceries by yourself.

At The Store

1. Buy Products in the Largest Size You Can Use. A family of four can save $2,000 a year at the supermarket by choos-

ing large sizes instead of individ-ual serving sizes. About ten cents of every shopping dollar is used to pay for packaging, and small sizes use more packaging per ounce than larger sizes. Buying in bulk will help save money and the environment.

Try to avoid single-serving pack-ages such as juice boxes and small cookie packs. These are especially convenient for out-of-home lunches, but use much more packaging than their larger-sized counterparts. Try buying bigger and separating the desired portions into reusable containers. Here are a few examples:

• Buy juice concentrate and put the desired amount into a reusable water bottle.

• Buy chips and cookies in bulk and put a handful in a reusable container.

Making a shopping list will make those last-minute items less tempting.

This rule not only applies to food items, but also to clean-ing and personal hygiene products. Buy items such as liq-uid soap in large amounts to refi ll your smaller dispensers.

2. Patrol the Packaging. When possible, compare products and opt for the item with less packaging or packaging that is more easily recycled.

Glass can be a better choice than plastic, for example, be-cause it does not downgrade when recycled and thus is more valuable.

Learn what is accepted at your local recycling center and makes choices based on that information. Get in the habit of checking all plastic containers to see if they are recy-clable. A number surrounded by arrows should be printed somewhere on the item, often the bottom, which denotes the type of plastic and how it is recycled. Plastics #1 and #2 are the most commonly welcomed of the plastic family, but some centers accept all seven types.

3. Buy Reusable and Long-lasting Items. Save money, en-ergy and the need for raw goods by making choices such as:

• Rechargeable batteries instead of one-time use batteries.

• A long-term camera instead of a disposable. (Also, a digital camera cuts down on the printing of un-wanted pictures.)

• Cloth instead of paper towels and napkins. (Many families spend more than $260 each year on such items.)

• Washable plates, cups and silverware instead of disposable products.

• Electric or hand razors with replaceable blades instead of disposable razors.

4. Buy Local. Buying products made or grown locally re-duces the transportation associated with shipping items nationwide for resale. Also, the food is fresher, and it feels good to support your community’s economy.

Online Shopping

More and more people are choosing to shop online. Stay green at your computer screen with these tips:

• If buying a gift for someone who lives far away, ship the item directly to the recipient’s home rath-er than your home fi rst.

• Order multiple items that can be shipped together in one purchase to decrease packaging material and transportation costs. To have ten pounds of packages shipped by overnight air uses 40 per-cent less fuel than driving yourself round-trip to the mall, according to the Center for Energy and Climate Solutions.

• Ship products through the U.S. Postal Service be-cause it is most likely coming to your neighbor-hood to deliver mail anyway.

• Recycle or reuse all shipping material.

Label Watch

Not all products claiming to be green live up to their prom-ises. The Natural Products Association, which represents more than 10,000 natural product companies and retail-ers, reports that Americans spent $7.5 billion in 2006 on personal care products that claimed to be all-natural but often were not.

You can feel safe with the term “organic,” which is moni-tored by state and federal agencies. Look for other trust-worthy labels such as ENERGY STAR, Forest Stewardship Council, Good Housekeeping Green Seal and GREEN-GUARD Indoor Air Quality.

Information in the article is brought to you by earth911.org.

Valerie Ward is the Director of Community Affairs for Bur-rtec Waste & Recycling Services. Valerie can be reached via email at [email protected].


Attention Managers!!!

Want to earn the PCAM designation?

Scholarships available to CAI manager members.

Contact Cardinal Ambrose at the CAI offi ce for more details.

CLAC Moment

By: Skip Daum, CLAC, Administrator/AdvocateCommunity Associations Institute - California Legislative Action Committee

An astonishing 5,116 bills, resolutions and bud-get bills have been introduced in the sausage making machine in Sacramento. Figuring

that each may be amended several times…well, you do the math. It’s a good thing we love screening the bills every morning.

CLAC proposals to make the associa-tion board election process more ef-fi cient and less costly, and to clean up the county recordation process when units go into foreclosure are now in the hopper.

AB 1726 is our “Good Government” bill that reduces quorums for board elections if the initial election must be adjourned for lack of a quorum. CLAC's bill reduces that quorum threshold to one third (1/3) on subse-quent attempted elections.

AB 2016, CLAC's second bill, allows associations to record a single (“blanket”) document with all as-sociation properties identifi ed. This entitles HOAs to receive the identity and billing address of the owner of newly foreclosed properties so HOAs

can immediately start billing for assessments instead of waiting for several months to learn

who and where to bill. This is a clean up measure which follows CLAC's suc-cessful SB 1511 Association Solvency Act from last session. It’s needed be-cause several county recorders offi ces balked at a single blanket document and demanded one document for ev-ery property.

Our Chapter leaders, and CLAC Dele-gates and Liaisons will be in the Capitol on Monday, April 12 when we conduct our 17th Legislative Day, a day when we brief attendees on the current bills

and then meet with our respective Senate and Assembly mem-bers to lobby them. Be sure to write that date down and plan to join other homeowners, board members, managers and at-torneys. And, look for our new web site with all the informa-tion and registration forms for this day as well as the education seminars to be conducted on Sunday, April 11.

Finally, if you wish to receive email alerts from CLAC, please go to the web site and sign up. Your email address will remain completely confi dential and our alerts will keep you and your boards informed. Simply go to: www.CAIcalif.org.

ons and bud-the sausage

o. Figuring …well, youeening

AB 2016, Crecord a sociationto receivowner o

can ins


Association Legal BriefsCase of the Month

Starlight Ridge South Homeowners Association v. Hunter-Bloor (2009) 177 Cal.App.4th 440.

By: Gen Wangler, Esq. Fiore Racobs & Powers

Spring GolfSpring GolfNEW LOCATIONNEW LOCATION

Heritage Palms Country ClubHeritage Palms Country Club44-291 Heritage Palms Drive South, Indio, CA 44-291 Heritage Palms Drive South, Indio, CA

April 23rdApril 23rd

CAI Film FestivalCAI Film FestivalTee booth decorating contestTee booth decorating contest

Dress your booth as "Your Favorite Movie"Dress your booth as "Your Favorite Movie"Sign-in 7:00 a.m. - Continental BreakfastSign-in 7:00 a.m. - Continental Breakfast

Shotgun Start 7:45 a.m.Shotgun Start 7:45 a.m.

Special Raffl e Grand Prize 42" Flat Screen HDTVSpecial Raffl e Grand Prize 42" Flat Screen HDTVHole in One contest - golf cart or $10,000Hole in One contest - golf cart or $10,000

In this case, the Court of Appeal addressed a mainte-nance dispute between the plaintiff Association and the defendant, homeowner Stephanie K. Hunter-Bloor.

The case highlights the importance of carefully reviewing the association’s maintenance provisions, and of keeping accurate records of the association’s maintenance history.

After 20 years, an elaborate V-ditch drainage system in Star-light Ridge South required substantial repair in several loca-tions. The Association had never reserved for or maintained the ditches, which were located at the rear of a number of residential lots in the Association.

The Association’s CC&Rs created certain association main-tenance easement areas over specifi c lots, including the de-fendant homeowner’s lot. The CC&R created maintenance easements for the Association to maintain “all plantings,

planted trees, shrubs, irrigation systems, walls, sidewalks and other landscaping improvements.” The defendant ho-meowner claimed that this language put the maintenance burden for the V-Ditch on her lot on the Association be-cause the V-Ditch was located entirely in the Association’s maintenance easement area.

The Association sued for declaratory relief, seeking the court’s determination as to who was responsible to maintain the V-Ditch, and for an injunction ordering the defendant to maintain the V-Ditch.

The trial court ruled in favor of the homeowner, fi nding that the V-Ditch was part of the “irrigation systems,” and was fully contained within the maintenance area, which the As-sociation was responsible to maintain under the CC&Rs. The Association appealed, arguing that the trial court did

not properly apply the rules governing the interpretation of documents. In particular, the Association argued that, while the general provisions in the CC&Rs gave the Associa-tion the obligation to maintain the maintenance easement area, the more specifi c language in the CC&Rs obligated the defendant homeowner to main-tain the V-ditch. The CC&Rs specifi cally stat-ed that “[e]ach Owner shall maintain, repair, and replace and keep free from debris or ob-structions the drainage system and devices, if any, located on his Lot.” The Association also pointed to the fact that the Association had never maintained the V-ditches and had never budgeted for or set aside reserves for their maintenance.

The Court of Appeal agreed with the Association and re-versed the trial court’s decision. The Court held that the

more specifi c language regarding the maintenance of the V-ditches controlled over the general language in the CC&Rs.

The Court also reviewed the Association’s maintenance history, and noted that the owners had always maintained the V-ditches on their lots. Further, many of the V-ditches were not in landscape mainte-nance areas; it was only by mere chance that the V-ditch on the defendant’s lot was situated in a landscape maintenance area.

Gen Wangler is a se-nior shareholder with Fiore Racobs & Pow-ers, A Professional Law Corporation, which

represented the plaintiff Association in the above case. She can be reached at 760-776-6511, or at gwangler@fi orelaw.com.


When it comes to home preventative mainte-nance, there is oftentimes a tug of war be-tween the

association and the ho-meowners, with the in-visible mud pit in the middle being, “who is responsible for what?”

All associations experi-ence a sizeable number of nuisance complaints for home maintenance problems the homeown-ers themselves should be addressing. These com-plaints not only consume valuable manager and staff time, but also may adversely (and unfairly) affect the homeowners’ perception of value for the Association as a whole.

These complaints stem from confusion related to the di-vision of responsibility between common and non-com-mon areas. Rules, regulations and structures vary from community to community so there is no single home pre-ventative maintenance standard among associations. And while responsibilities are defi ned in the CC&R’s for each community, not only are they laborious to read, rarely do they contain concise recommendations for home preven-tative maintenance.

Seasonal homeowners in particular may not fully appreci-ate the differences between their primary climate zone and the harsh desert climate as it applies to the wear and tear on their property. Associations do understand and genuinely want their homeowners, seasonal or not, to perform regularly scheduled preventative maintenance, yet persuading homeowners to do so is sometimes more diffi cult than it might seem.

Finally and probably most importantly, is the damage that often results from improperly maintained residences. Leaky roofs, clogged condensate lines, broken water lines, com-promised skylights, pest infestations, improperly serviced pools, excessive plant overgrowth, mold – all of these can be costly to the homeowner and may even affect neigh-boring homes. Worse, if theirs is a seasonal home and if

the homeowner doesn’t utilize an absentee home check service, problems can go undetected for weeks or even

months at a time, which can drive up repair costs and could even render the home a total loss.

Home preventative maintenance needs to be acknowledged as a priority and should be championed by the as-sociation board of direc-tors (BOD) in the same way as safety or disaster preparedness programs.

Launching a home pre-ventative maintenance program needn’t be complicated. Follow these six simple suggestions to encourage your ho-meowners to care for their homes:

Institute a Home Preventative Maintenance policy or charter that includes a provision for the board to encour-age homeowners to proactively maintain their homes

Review your CC&R’s for common and non-common ar-eas and create a simple, comprehensive list of features the homeowner is responsible to maintain. Be clear in your requirements. Some communities have rain gutters that the association maintains; others require the homeowners to do it; still others have none at all. Some communities have common and homeowner-owned skylights in close proximity, causing the homeowner to expect the associa-tion to maintain both unless it is specifi cally defi ned. In some communities, roof maintenance is the responsibility of the association, in others only a portion is considered ‘common’. Keeping up with the rules can be quite frus-trating for homeowners so a short, simple list is best.

Draft a guideline of Home Preventative Maintenance rec-ommendations - this guideline will vary by community based on features and may or may not include frequen-cies, but should contain, at a minimum and as appropri-ate, those items that could lead to hazardous conditions if left unmonitored:

• Bi-annual AC/Heating service calls and fi lter

changes.• Drainage assessments.• Roof inspections (non-common portions).• Skylight inspections.• Rain gutter cleanings.• Garage door maintenance.• Fireplace chimney cleaning.• Water feature equipment inspections (pools, spas,

fountains).• Sprinkler maintenance (non-common areas).• Plumbing inspections (plastic nuts, rubber hoses,

etc.).• Electrical panel inspections (arc wear, grounding,

unsafe conditions, etc.).• Absentee Home Checks – preferably weekly to

ensure problems are identifi ed at the earliest op-portunity.

Distribute the list of homeowner responsibility features and home preventative maintenance guidelines on a pre-determined frequency, perhaps yearly and as a compo-nent of new homeowner welcome packages

Include home preventative maintenance as a standing

committee agenda item to monitor the effectiveness of the program

Regularly promote the need for preventative home main-tenance via the website, newsletter, town hall meetings, annual meeting and community events

Homeowners respond better when there are clear guide-lines and expectations. Promoting home preventative maintenance conveys to your homeowners that you care about the community as a whole, not just the common areas. Ongoing education and enhanced communication may be all that is necessary to put everyone on the same team – no tug of war, no rope burns, nobody lands in the mud. The more you champion home preventative main-tenance, the healthier and safer all of our communities will be.

Leslie Spoor is the founder and president of Executive Er-rands, a locally owned and operated Personal Concierge company. For more information about Executive Errands, please contact Leslie at 760.469.2487 or www.executive-errands.com.

Instituting a Home Preventative Maintenance ProgramBy: Leslie Spoor

Executive Errands

Home preventative maintenance needs to be acknowledged as a priority and should be champi-oned by the Association Board of Directors (BOD) in the same way as safety or disaster preparedness programs.


Welcome New & Renewing CAI CV Chapter Members

Is your association ready to take a big step in a cost-saving direction by converting part of that green, water-thirsty turf to colorful, water-effi cient desert-

friendly landscaping? The Coachella Valley Water District can help your association make the conversion to drip-irri-gated, desert-friendly landscaping with Water Wise Land-scape Rebates & Discounts sponsored by the district and partnering desert cities.

This new conservation program is designed to assist ho-meowners associations, businesses and residents ready to take the signifi cant step of removing all or part of grassy areas. When large landscape users like HOAs install desert landscaping near city streets, it helps tremendously to re-duce street run-off and water waste.

HOAs and businesses may qualify for a rebate up to $5,000 for converting grass to desert-friendly landscaping on park-

Incentives Abound to Convert Turf to Desert-Friendly Landscaping

By: Dave KollerCoachella Valley Water District

ways adjacent to city streets or up to $10,000 for full con-versions adjacent to perimeter walls, up to 5,000 square feet. Residents may be eligible for a rebate up to $2,000. Desert-friendly landscaping is a colorful alternative to green lawns. It will reduce water use and save on maintenance bills. Thunderbird Country Club learned this fi rst-hand when it began converting grassy areas to desert landscap-ing in 2004. It has since installed drip irrigation systems and weather-based irrigation clocks. This summer, Thun-derbird undertook a 10,890 square foot desert landscaping project in front of the clubhouse restaurant, next to the fi rst tee. Thunderbird Country Club’s Golf Course Superinten-dent Roger Compton explains, “There is a lot of interest in desert landscaping. The residents love the desert look. To them, it is exotic.”

If you are not ready to replace turf with desert-friendly landscaping, you still may be eligible for a rebate when

Alarm Monitoring Services, Inc. Gina Morrelli

Armstrong Garden Centers, Inc. Tracy Densmore

Associations Insurance Agency, Inc. Terri Guest

Association Lien Services Aram Homampour

Desert Falls Property Management Martha C. Fogg

Door Pros Garage & Sliding Door Service Mark Higbie

Asphalt MD'sElmer Merkovsky

Fiore, Racobs & Powers Gen Wangler, Esq.

First California Bank Senaida Ellis

Indian Hills HOA Sandy Daba

Tom MirasolaBill Roe

Kirkpatrick Landscaping Services Steven J. Kirkpatrick

Main Stream AquaticsTammy King

Monarch Management Deborah Griffi ths, CMCA, AMS

Oasis Palm Desert HOA Judy Grum

Roy McGowen Carol Preece

Eve Weber

O’Connell Landscape Maintenance Janalee Arthur

Outdoor Lighting Perspectives Jane Walker

Outdoor Resort/Palm Springs OA Carolyn Dailey, CMCA, AMS

Paradise Springs, Inc. Judy Bishop

Charlie Brogdan

Personalized Property Mgmt Co. Shelly Ruegsegger Richard Warfi eld

PWLC II, Inc. Jay Powell

Richard G. Osborne, CPA, Inc. Richard Osborne

Roseman & Associates, APC Steven A. Roseman, Esq.

Sky Security Services Marissa Newcomb

Servpro of Palm DesertMr. Neal Tauferner

Time Warner Cable Scott Koehler

Timothy Cline Ins. Agency, Inc. Timothy Cline, CIRMS

Helen Work

Thanks to our Business & Education

Expo Sponsors:

Platinum Sponsors:Universal Protection Service

Flood ResponseEpsten, Grinnell & Howell

Pacifi c Western BankAMS Paving

Allied Barton SecurityTime Warner

Food Sponsor:Patrol Masters


you replace ineffi cient spray nozzles. New-generation sprinkler nozzles distrib-ute water slower and over a longer period of time, thus increasing irrigation effi ciency and reducing water run-off. Rebates up to $1,000 are available for eligible HOAs.

Homeowners associations and businesses in participating cities can apply for a rebate on a fi rst-come, fi rst-served basis. The City of Palm Desert has begun ac-cepting applications for partial and full HOA lawn conversions; Cathedral City, Indian Wells, La Quinta and Rancho Mirage are expected to join the program this spring. Program requirements vary by city. Applications are available in per-son at a CVWD offi ce or online at www.cvwd.org. All Water Wise Landscape

Rebates & Discounts require pre-approval. Complete details can be found at the CVWD website or by calling (888) 388-3255.

Three ways to save your association water and money this month:

• Schedule a water management presentation with your landscaping and fi nance committees. A CVWD expert will talk to committee members about the district’s conservation programs. With a little help from the dis-trict, you can transform grass into a colorful, desert-friendly landscape.

• Visit the David Harbison Lush & Effi cient Demonstration Garden at CVWD’s Coachella offi ce (85995 Avenue 52). Open weekdays during regular business hours, the garden is a terrifi c place to gather ideas on incorporating hardscape with a variety of desert-friendly plants, some not-so-common but all lush and effi cient. We are in full bloom this month!

• Apply for Water Wise Landscape Rebates from CVWD and desert cities to receive pre-approval to begin your lawn conversion. HOAs and busi-nesses may qualify for a rebate up to $5,000 for converting grass to desert landscaping on parkways adjacent to city streets or up to $10,000 for full conversions adjacent to perimeter walls.

For more information on all of these programs call CVWD at (888)388-3255 or visit www.cvwd.org.

May 21, 2010If you are like most insureds, you would prefer to pur-

chase coverage from an admitted carrier. And in many cases, that would be a smart choice. However, there

are some instances in which you would be better off purchas-ing coverage from a non-admitted carrier. To help you make the proper decision, let’s review the pros and cons of using an admitted carrier versus a non-admitted carrier.

When using an admitted carrier, keep in mind that the follow-ing items generally apply:

• Admitted carriers will be using rates and forms on fi le with the department of insurance in the state in which they are offering the admitted coverage. This has the result of limiting their fl exibility on both, as they can-not deviate from those fi led rates or forms.

• There are no surplus lines taxes or fees. There may be an inspection fee or a policy fee but those are usually under $250.

• For commercial lines policies, you have the protection of the CA Insurance Guarantee Association (CIGA) which comes with $500,000 of replacement coverage in the event that the carrier becomes insolvent.

• The policies are usually “exposure” rated, which means that a rate is applied to the exposure, which can be anything from sales to payroll to property val-ues. For example, a general liability policy is typically rated “per $1000 of sales." So the underwriter would take their fi led rate of $1.50 and apply it to sales of $5M and come up with a premium of $7,500 ($5M divided by $1000 multiplied by $1.50).

When using a non-admitted carrier, keep in mind that the fol-lowing items generally apply:

• Non-admitted carriers do not have to use fi led rates or forms, which means they have more fl exibility than admitted carriers on both.

• Surplus lines taxes/fees would apply unless the insured is exempt (i.e. Native American tribe). The highest surplus lines tax rates in the nation are in Alabama, Kansas and Oklahoma (6%). However they are typi-cally 5% or less in most states.

• The policy can be either exposure rated or judgment rated, which allows the underwriter to offset the man-ual’s rate with their own underwriting experience and/or judgment for that class of business. Consider the following (which, for the purposes of illustration, has been exaggerated a bit). Let’s say that the underwriter is quoting a fi reworks manufacturer and the manual rate is $5.00 per $1000 of sales. However, the under-writer knows this insured has an exceptional operation and that all its products come with a hands-on train-

ing class conducted by pyrotechnic experts. He may want to discount the rate by 50% because it would be considered “the best of class." An admitted carrier would not be able to do this.

• Policy holders do not have any CIGA protection.

So now that you know the pros and cons of admitted and non-admitted carriers, let’s assume that price is no issue. Which would you choose? Most insureds would go with the admitted carrier because of their belief that the CIGA protec-tion trumps all other advantages of a non-admitted carrier. And while it certainly doesn’t hurt, the more important issue is policy holder surplus, which is the bag of money a carrier has available to pay losses. If you are deciding about your fi re policy, this is not as important because fi res don’t typically strike multiple insureds at the same time.

But if you are deciding about your quake policy, this issue takes on much more signifi cance. In some instances, your values may actually exceed the admitted carrier’s policy holder surplus. If so, you should think twice before binding with that carrier. The reason is because if there is a quake that affects your property, it may also affect others in your area. And if that admitted carrier writes any of your neigh-bor’s risks, they may run out of policy holder surplus before you would like them to.

So before you send in that order to bind for the admitted policy, ask your agent to give you the Best Rating of the ad-mitted and non-admitted carriers. The Best Rating provides you with two indicators, one alpha and one numeric. The letter refers to the carrier’s ability to meet ongoing obligations. The number refers to their adjusted policy holder surplus (the bag of money available to pay losses). Here’s what it might look like:

• Insurance Company A – admitted A VI $25-50M in Policy Holder Surplus • Insurance Company B – non-admitted A+ XV $2B+ in Policy Holder Surplus

The question to ask yourself is this: Are my values equal to or greater than the carrier’s policy holder surplus? If so, think twice before purchasing quake coverage from that carrier un-less that is the only place you can get it. The last thing you want is for your carrier to run out of money paying other insureds’ claims before they get to yours. When it comes to quake coverage, you might not be able control whether you are the fi rst in line for payment, but you can at least buy coverage from a carrier who has more money to pay claims, should you end up at the back of the line.

The Admitted Carrier versus Non-Admitted DebateBy: Enid Turner, CIC

AmWINS Insurance Brokerage of CA, LLC

Call the CAI Offi ce at760-341-0559 or email [email protected]

38 QUORUM APRIL 2010

Schedule of EventsAPRIL 9

Monthly Breakfast"Collections, Small Claimsand Collection Agencies"Palm Valley Country Club

Palm Desert 7:30 am

APRIL 23Spring Golf TournamentCAI Film Festival Theme

NEW LOCATIONHeritage Palms Country Club

IndioSign in 7:00 am

Shot Gun Start 7:45 am

MAY 14Monthly Lunch

"Electronic Delivery OptionsPart 2"

Palm Valley Country ClubPalm Desert11:30 am

MAY 14Hawaiian Luau

Scholarship FundraiserPalm Valley Country Club

Pool AreaPalm Desert

5:30 pm

MAY 21The Essentials Class

JUNE 18Casino Night

JUNE 11Monthly Lunch

"Jeopardy (Painting and Maintenance)"


JUNE 29Business Partner Quarterly Mixer

JULY 9Monthly Lunch

and Mini Trade Show"Emergency Peparedness

with RCSA"Palm Valley Country Club

Palm Desert11:30 am

JULY 23Bowling Event

AUGUST 13Monthly Lunch"Green Asphalt"

Palm Valley Country ClubPalm Desert 11:30 am

SEPTEMBER 9Business Partner Quarterly Mixer

SEPTEMBER 10Monthly Breakfast

TBDPalm Valley Country Club

Palm Desert7:30 am

SEPTEMBERDate TBD

Fall Golf Tournament

OCTOBER 8Monthly Breakfast

"Breakfast with a Burglar"Palm Valley Country Club

Palm Desert7:30 am

NOVEMBER 5Awards Evening

NOVEMBER 12Legislative Update

"Hollywood Esquires"Palm Valley Country Club

Palm Desert11:30 am

DECEMBER 7Business Partner Holiday Social

DECEMBER 10Monthly Breakfast"State of the State"

Palm Valley Country ClubPalm Desert

7:30 am

ACCOUNTANTS & BOOKKEEPERS

ALLEN & ASSOCIATES ..............................................................................35

BRABO, CARLSEN & O'BRIEN, LLP ........................................................... 9

RICHARD OSBORNE, CPA ......................................................................... 6

SCOTT CORPORATION .............................................................................. 2

ASPHALT

AMS PAVING ................................................................................................ 8

ATTORNEYS

EPSTEN, GRINNELL & HOWELL ..............................................................33

FIORE RACOBS & POWERS ..................................................................... 13

GREEN BRYANT & FRENCH, LLP ............................................................ 28

GURALNICK & GILLILAND ........................................................................ 15

LAW OFFICE OF PEGGY REDMON .......................................................... 23

PETERS & FREEDMAN ............................................................................... 2

BANKS

MUTUAL OF OMAHA .................................................................................22

PACIFIC WESTERN BANK ......................................................................... 17

SUNRISE COMMUNITY BANK .................................................................. 14

UNION BANK .............................................................................................. 31

CONCRETE

GRANITE CONSTRUCTION ......................................................................29

ELECTRIC & WATER

COACHELLA VALLEY WATER DISTRICT .................................................25

WATER RITE ...............................................................................................29

FENCE

A & A FENCE COMPANY ........................................................................... 19

GENERAL CONTRACTOR

DEL MAR PACIFIC ..................................................................................... 23

GRAPHIC DESIGN

JEN SMITH DESIGN AND GRAPHICS.........................................................11

INSURANCE

LABARRE/OKSNEE INSURANCE ............................................................. 17

TIMOTHY CLINE INSURANCE ....................................................................... 33

LAKE MANAGEMENT

DIVERSIFIED WATERSCAPES .................................................................. 16

LANDSCAPING

HIGH TECH IRRIGATION ...........................................................................34

KIRKPATRICK LANDSCAPING .................................................................. 19

PWLC II ......................................................................................................... 2

SIERRA LANDSCAPE ................................................................................ 12

MANAGEMENT COMPANIES

DESERT MANAGEMENT ...........................................................................29

DESERT RESORT MANAGEMENT ............................................................. 6

MONARCH MANAGEMENT GROUP ........................................................ 27

THE PRESCOTT COMPANIES .................................................................. 18

OUTDOOR FURNITURE

PATIO FURNITURE DOCTORS .................................................................34

POOL PLASTERING

KENT WESTFALL PLASTER SERVICES ..................................................34

THE LEAK DETECTORS .............................................................................. 6

POOL DECK RESURFACING

CTI OF THE DESERT .................................................................................30

ROOFING

RELIABLE ROOFING .................................................................................23

WESTERN PACIFIC ROOFING ................................................................... 2

SECURITY

ALLIED BARTON ........................................................................................ 10

UNIVERSAL PROTECTION SERVICES ...................................................... 6

ADVERTISER INDEX

APRIL 2010 QUORUM 39

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS

APRIL MAY

For Additional InformationPlease Call Cardinal

(760) 341-0559

APRIL 9Monthly Breakfast

"Collections, Small Claimsand Collection Agencies"Palm Valley Country Club

Palm Desert 7:30 am

APRIL 23Spring Golf Tournament

NEW LOCATIONHeritage Palms Country Club

IndioSign in 7:00 am

Shotgun Start 7:45 am

MAY 14Monthly Lunch

"Electronic Delivery OptionsPart 2"


MAY 14Hawaiian Luau

Scholarship FundraiserPalm Valley Country Club

Pool AreaPalm Desert

5:30 pm

MAY 21The Essentials Class

Documents

BIGHORN HOA - cdn.ymaws.com · The Monarch Management Group Mike Mastropietro Orange Coast Building Services Nena Rutherford, CCAM Desert Resort Management Pat Smith, PCAM, CCAM Veneto