1st Qtr 2013

ACCCA NEWS
Anthem Country Club Community Association
YOUR COUNTRY CLUB HOMEOWNERS’ ASSOCIATION
Inside the News
Peni Long, Editor-in-Chief
1st Quarter 2013
2013 Combined Election—Cast Your Vote
This edition of the ACCCA
News includes news you can
use to help us maintain a
beautiful and safe community. Staff, Board members,
and committee volunteers
work together to help solve
and prevent problems and
perhaps open new opportunities for our homeowners.
The 2013 Election is upon us, and homeowners may cast their ballots for candidates in two elections.
For the ACCCA Board, two seats are open, and the two declared candidates are incumbents Chuck Durrant and Chris Ensign. But for the Anthem Community Council (ACC), there are two new candidates for
one open seat. Given the importance of this election, the two profiles for that one seat are included
here. All other profiles and election documents are posted online under the Election 2013 tab of the
ACCCA portion of www.OnlineAtAnthem.com. Ballots and instructions are mailed to all Lot Owners.
Voting begins February 25 and ends March 15. Every vote counts!
There’s a lot to celebrate
about living in our Anthem,
and there is always something going on. For information about projects, Board
actions, and events, keep an
eye on
www.OnlineAtAnthem.com
and sign up for our emails.
Reason for running: To continue to serve Anthem by developing policies guiding
Council Staff on an accountable, day-to-day basis in the
administration of our community, looking ahead to Anthem’s future.
Page 2
•Upcoming Projects
•Picture This—Help with
Your Painting Project
•Help with Traffic Management
Page 3
•The Top 13 Things Everyone
Should Know
Page 4
•Anthem Ridge Upgrade
•Golf Course Audubon Certified
•Spring Maintenance and
Other Tips
Anthem Community Council Candidate Profiles
John Birdseye
Qualifications for this seat:
*Full time, 4-1/2 year club resident, with a desire to
serve
*Have attended almost all ACC and ACCCA meetings for over 4 years
*Anthem Cares Through Service (ACTS) Leadership
Team 2009-2013
*Council Facilities Research Group 2010-11
(Swaback Study)
*Water Rate Panel, now Utilities Panel 2011-2013
*Planning and Development Committee 2011-2013
*One of four Anthem residents appointed to selection team to determine contractors for renovation
of the new Civic Building. We first selected the
construction management firm to represent the
Council’s interests on the project and, recently,
selected the design/build team (the architect and
builder)
*Pre-retirement career, in brief: Operated my own
design/build company; senior management in computer aided design (CAD) field; licensed Realtor; operations management with a land developer; aerospace/defense industry, USAF veteran.
Raymond A. Donie
Reason for running: I am enthusiastic about participating
in Anthem’s process to promote a sense of community
within Anthem and the Anthem Country Club.
Qualifications for this seat:
Dr. Ray Donie and Pam have been full time residents of Anthem Country Club since 2000. Their
four adult children still live in Arizona. Dr. Donie
has run his private family medicine practice in
Glendale for the past 28 years where he has
served on the Medical Executive Board at the
local hospital. Pam is an elementary school
teacher. If elected, Ray would work diligently to
foster a more transparent and responsive process including within “Public Discussion” section
of the ACC. Ray would promote the preservation and beauty of Daisy Mountain. Ray is a fiscal conservative used to critical thinking and has
a passion for learning. He can bring the forum a
practical, down-to-earth perspective with regards to community enhancement projects.
Complete instructions for voting by paper or
electronic ballot are included with your
mailed ballot. We need a quorum of 287 voters for a valid election, so please cast your
ballot. Paper ballots must be received by
5:00 p.m. on March 15, and electronic ballots by midnight.
ACCCA NEWS l 1Q13
Upcoming Projects
In addition to the upgrade of the Anthem Ridge entrance (page 4), Community Manager Jody Cote, working
in conjunction with the Gates, Properties and Patrols
Committee (GPPC) and the Lifestyle Enhancement Committee (LEC), is obtaining information and bids on work
for the following 2013 projects:
• Road maintenance, including
Anthem Hills and Anthem Ridge
• Refurbishing the monument
signs
• Refurbishing some mail box
units
The committees are also undertaking the following initiatives with prospective recommendations for the April
Board meeting:
• Review of appropriate stop sign placement
• Review of identified bench locations and alternatives
Training is also continuing for Trident staff in the use of
new technology for monitoring traffic for speeding and
failure to stop infractions. Increased enforcement is expected in the coming weeks.
Picture This—
Help with Your Painting Project
One of the most important ongoing activities of the
staff and the LEC is approval of submittals for work on the
exterior of homes, including new paint choices or repainting the original scheme. According to Jody, one important
thing for homeowners to do is to accompany the completed submittal form with a picture of the home and
where the paint choices will be applied. Without that picture, the submittal is incomplete and that causes frustration for both the staff and the homeowner. It just needs
to be a simple picture like the one below marked up to
show where the paint will be applied. Most paint contractors know how to help with this.
WWW.ONLINEATANT
Help with Traffic Management
Quick Entry with QuickPass®
Did you know that the security personnel at our two manned gates
processed more than 33,250 cars in December alone? In 2012, the
total number of visitors processed was 389,765. This is more than
other gated communities with five manned gates, according to the
Trident management team. The traffic load can cause a problem
with backup into the entry street, and that problem is compounded
when gate personnel have not been notified of the guests requesting entry and must call the designated homeowner for approval.
Although we may help the situation with additional staff and hours
at the manned gates, one of the most important things to ease the
situation is the use of QuickPass®. According to Bill Marrs, Chair of
the Gates, Property & Patrols Committee, if residents regularly
maintained their accounts with approved permanent and temporary
visitors, the situation would be greatly eased. “The time it takes to
call a resident to request permission is valuable time added to each
car waiting access. It’s our biggest problem.”
It takes only 25 seconds for a guest authorized by QuickPass® to
be approved for entry. Contrast that with over 120 seconds if the
guard at the gate needs to call the homeowner to authorize access.
In fact, it may take much longer if traffic is backed up and the staff
needs to move the vehicle off to the side in order to process cars
behind it. Multiply 2 minutes by hundreds of entries at crucial times,
and the backup of vehicles can become a significant traffic problem.
Every resident has an assigned QuickPass® account. It takes just a
few minutes to set it up and it is easy to maintain. Steve Champion,
Board President, noted that more than one of his friends recently
signed on for the first time and found it very easy. “They really don’t
know why they never did it before.”
Transponders to the Rescue
Aside from maintaining your online account, the other way you
can help at the gates and to make life easier for your frequent
guests, family and vendors, is to apply for and obtain transponders.
As we noted in the last issue of the ACCCA News, almost 9,000 of
them have been issued. They cost only $25, and the vehicle or user
to whom they are assigned may enter any of the four gates instead
of being restricted to the two manned gates. That helps relieve congestion as well as offering twice the number of access options to
the user.
If you need help setting up your QuickPass® account
or applying for a transponder, contact Jodette Snider
at [email protected], or call her at 623-742-4533.
She will be happy to help you.
THEM.COM
ACCCA NEWS l 1Q13
The Top 13 Things Everyone Should Know
Everyone knows that living in a gated community with a home- 7. In case of emergency, call 911—not the guard gate staff. The
owners’ association means that there are conditions and restricAnthem Country Club gate access team is NOT a law enforcetions that go along with living in the community. But reading the
ment agency. They are responsible for controlling entry to
governing documents is not always among the priorities of homeAnthem Country Club, for enforcing our community traffic
owners or tenants, which may sometimes lead to misunderstandand parking rules, and for notifying law enforcement of poings and perhaps violation notices that are not understood or aptentially illegal activities.
preciated. With that in mind, the staff and committees supporting
8. Park all vehicles in your garage or driveway/parking pad over
the ACCCA have come up with the “Top 13 Things that Everyone
night. If you must park a vehicle overnight in the street, you
Should Know” about living in our community. Each item is backed
may contact either guard gate for a possible overnight pass.
up by specific provisions of our governing documents, the law, or
9. All motorized vehicles, including golf carts, must obey traffic
just principles of being a good
rules and signs. You should obey all speed limits, stop signs
neighbor.
and no passing zones restrictions, just as you would on other
The detailed support of each of
public streets. You will be responsible for any citation and
these items is included in the docupotential fine for a violation by you or any of your authorized
ment filed online under Documents
vendors or guests. (See #5.)
and Forms on the ACCCA portion of
10.Motorized golf carts must use headlights and taillights in non
www.OnlineAtAnthem.com. Each
-daylight hours and, if you drive your cart outside Anthem
item will be further explored in News
Country Club, you MUST have a valid motor vehicle registraupdates and emails, but here is a brief
tion, and the driver must have an operator’s permit.
summary of the Top 13.
11.Don’t block the sidewalks. Your garbage cans and cars belong
1. Don’t change anything outside without first getting permission.
off the sidewalk and on the street, curbside. Sidewalks are
Always file a submittal for any modification to the exterior of
for pedestrian traffic.
your home, including paint, landscaping, or yard/wall art, and do
not commence any work until written approval is received. The 12.Keep your QuickPass® account up to date. The Anthem
Country Club access control team uses your visitor registry
only exception is that you may add or replace up to 8 plants from
on the QuickPass® security system as the primary and most
the approved plant list without filing a submittal.
efficient means of granting access to your visitors through
2. Obtain required permits and licenses to perform planned work
the manned gates. Keeping your account accurate and curon your house or lot, ensuring that those improvements comply
rent helps the team manage the flow of traffic in the speediwith Maricopa County codes.
est way possible.
3. You only control the property within your lot lines. The only land- 13.Use www.OnlineAtAnthem.com as a source of documents
scaping that you can do is within the boundaries of your lot. You
and information. The Anthem Community Council and Anmay not clear or modify landscaping outside your fences, gates,
them Country Club share a community website that contains
or lot lines. You may request assistance from the ACCCA to detercurrent copies of governing documents, forms, and informamine who is responsible for the property outside your boundation important for homeowners and tenants. Residents are
ries, and to assist in its maintenance.
encouraged to use this website as the official source of information for our community.
4. Do not use the golf courses as a park. The golf courses are private property. For your own safety, walking, cycling, or other
There is one more important thing that you should know,
activities are not permitted on that property.
and perhaps the most important of all. And that is, that if
5. You are responsible for your vendors and guests. Anyone you you happen to need to file a submittal, or you received a
authorize to enter the community is your responsibility, and you
courtesy notice and you need some help to understand or
will be contacted and potentially cited and fined should your
rectify the situation, please be nice. The compliance staff
vendor or guest violate the rules of the community.
6. Keep your pets on leash and clean up after them. Maricopa
County requires that pets always be on a leash (maximum length
6 feet) when outside their yard. Residents are required to pick
up and properly dispose of their pets’ waste when outside their
yard.
really is there to help you, and they and the supporting
committee members will do their very best to satisfy both
you and the rules they are employed to help enforce.
Your chances of gaining approval of a submittal or appeal
and having a positive experience are enhanced with a
positive attitude.
Anthem Ridge Upgrade
The Anthem Ridge Gate is getting a new, wider look with the expansion of the median, the addition of new plants, and some boulders. The new face of the gate will be attractive, to be sure, but will
also deter those cars who try to double up in a side-by-side entry
or enter through the exit gate. The enhancements to the gate were
proposed by the Gates, Properties and Patrols Committee, agreed
to by the LEC, supported by landscape contractor DLC Resource,
Inc., and approved by the Board at the January meeting.
As a corollary to this project, the Policy Committee developed a
new policy to define and penalize prohibited attempts at entering
the gates. The first fine is $150 plus any other expenses incurred to
repair damage; the second fine is $500 plus other expenses, and
possible legal action if necessary.
Golf Course Audubon-Certified
Anthem Golf & Country Club (AG&CC) has achieved designation
as a "Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary" through the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses, an Audubon
International program. AG&CC is the 16th golf course in Arizona
and the 997th in the world to receive the honor. Only 4% of golf
courses in Arizona and 3% worldwide have attained this recognition.
Obtaining the Audubon certification was a collaborative effort by
Chris Bolender, Director of Golf Course Maintenance, and Dan
Smith, Assistant Golf Course Superintendent. The entire process
took nearly a year and a half to complete. AG&CC members can be
proud of this accomplishment and the commitment to our community that it represents.
Spring Maintenance and Other Tips
It’s time to think about pruning back frost-damaged plants, weed
prevention, planting, and general outdoor maintenance. Tips for
these and other topics will be provided via email to our list of subscribers and will also be posted on the ACCCA portion of
www.OnlineAtAnthem.com under Documents and Forms/Home
Maintenance. A special section with detailed information provided
by landscaping contractor DLC Resources, Inc. will feature regular
updates and recommendations. Sign up and sign on for the latest!
Directory
ACCCA Staff
• Jody Cote, Community Manager
(623) 742-4561
• Taylor Gorman, HOA Coordinator
(623) 742-6030
• Jo Snider, QuickPass® Admin
(623) 742-4533
• Suzanne Cox, Compliance Manager
(623) 742-4552
• Brian Rude, Compliance Admin
623) 742-4555
Other Anthem Numbers
• Anthem Community Council
(623) 742-6050
• Anthem Community Center
(623) 879-3011
• Emergency Hotline Number
(623) 742-6129
Utilities
• Allied Waste
(602) 237-2078
• Arizona Public Service (APS)
(602) 371-7171
• EPCOR USA
(800) 383-0834
•
Southwest Gas
(602) 861-1999
Miscellaneous
• Anthem Neighborhood Watch
[email protected]
• Anthem Post Office (43rd Ave)
(623) 551-7950
(602) 906-4940
• Daisy Mountain Fire Dept.
(623) 465-7400
• John C. Lincoln Urgent Care
(623) 434-6444
• MCSO Non-emergency Number
(602) 876-1011
• North Valley Regional Library
(602) 652-3000
The ACCCA News is produced by the
ACCCA Board of Directors. Comments
or suggestions should be made to
Taylor Gorman. Content is the sole
property of the ACCCA.
Editor-in-Chief
Peni Long
Editor
Barbara Dosé
Production Support Taylor Gorman