August 31, 2008 by THE VOICE.

One of our Villa homeowners recently experienced major flooding and mold problems in their bedroom that was directly due to Kitec plumbing failures.

If you have not replaced your Kitec system with corrosion-free components, or if Pulte has not yet repaired your Rehau plumbing system, you need to read this article.

plumbing_action_required.pdf

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August 29, 2008 by Norman McCullough.

The slight of hand facts are now revealed that enabled the look back committee to “STEER” Diversified Facilities (The reserve specialist), to falsify the figures reported to the board of directors.

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August 27, 2008 by admin.

In case you have not noticed, the August 28 Board Meeting in Freedom Hall will become a MAJOR turning point in the history of Sun City Anthem! While most people are traveling or hunkered down to avoid the heat, the board is pushing through a very aggressive set of agenda items. Here is the final agenda: 08-_agenda_-_august_28__2008_draft.pdf

On the surface, this agenda might seem somewhat uneventful, but it actually involves the following:

1. Major changes in political sign display policies. (Previous AV Posting on this topic.)
2. Major changes to the Board of Directors Election Policies.
3. Major expenditures for more facilities improvements recommended by Finance Committee.
4. Major policies to be set on the Trumpets Restaurant project–see Director Frank’s slides opposing public access to Trumpets in the future: no_public_access.pdf
5. Cleo project report (including a response to complaints about sofa recovering problems)
6. Report on CC&R Workgroup concerning public outreach efforts.
7. Report on Board-sponsored Educational Seminars on Construction Defects on Sept 24/Oct 22.
8. Report on potential income tax difficulties from accumulating $3.7 million in surplus funds in addition to the annual assessments of over $7 million in the past 4 years, and voting on how much will be refunded or credited to member accounts this year. These $3.7 million surplus/operating funds are what are left over after all normal bills have been paid, after the reserves accounts have been funded to over 90%, and are surplus to what is needed for authorized, but uncompleted projects. (Previous AV posting on this tax topic.)
9. Action to continue with the Reserve Study project–in spite of serious questions about the legality of using Diversified Facility Services since it has not been licensed to practice in NV in the past 8 years. (Previous AV Posting on this topic.)
10. Action to pay the $28,782.20 legal defense bill incurred by Director Frank because of unsubstantiated and unproven legal complaints through the State of Nevada by former board president Mike Dixon. The board has the duty to do the honorable thing and immediately pay this bill–as required by law. NRS116_31036_3.pdf Failure to act promptly on this matter could put at risk payments of their own legal defense expenses–in the future.
11. Board-initiated action to terminate the SCA Code of Conduct Procedures–apparently because too many residents have been filing code of conduct charges against board members, and that is considered annoying and inconvenient for board members, as well as an inefficient use of the Community Manager’s time.
12. Action to fund a Veterans Service Plaque to remember the names of deceased SCA veterans–sponsored by the SCA Veterans Special Interest Group.
13. Changes to Swimming Pool and Spa rules and regulations to deal with such things as children ages and health and safety problems. Discussions are not planned to include current worries by many members over the health and safety problems associated with the common disease called “crypto” that comes from fecal matter discovered in SCA pools and spas. (Previous AV Posting)

So, if you miss this SCA milestone meeting, you will be missing out on a GREAT DEAL of information that could affect your lifestyle in the future!

See you there!

Posted in SCA Board, Community Affairs, Laws & Rules, Clubs & SIGs | Print | No Comments »

August 26, 2008 by Norman McCullough.

Serious Questions: Why won’t Diversified Facilities answer questions about our reserve study, and why does the Board of Directors hire incompetent/unlicensed contractors?
I received a communication from Mr. Tom Stephan (The President of Diversified Facilities - the SCA reserve specialist), stating that he can not, and he is under no obligation to respond to individual homeowners in matters concerning our reserve reports.

Diversified Facilities has been proven to be one of the most incompetent, and unprofessional reserve companies that do business in the State of Nevada, and now we find out that the firm that the SCA board of directors contracted to handle our multi million dollar reserve studies is not even properly licensed–for many years!

Not only has Diversified Facilities committed numerous errors in their reports, but they have consistently published reports that do not conform with the established guide lines provided by The State of Nevada.

I am of the opinion, that the board of directors have serious problems about their fiduciary duties by continuing to have dealings with a reserve specialist who works out of a residential neighborhood in California, instead of a local, reputable, properly licensed firm right here in Las Vegas.

Mr. Stephan refuses to answer why he committed a 35% error when calculating the square feet of needed paint surface for a Villa Home. He also refuses to answer why he committed a 39% error when establishing the cost of paint need for the Villas.

As a direct result of Diversified Facilities errors 162 Villa home owners have suffered financially, yet the board of directors will not consider any other reserve specialist, and will not even consider bids from any other source.

The Nevada Statute Regulation R145-06 Sec. 20 (a (3)) states that a reserve specialist is subject to disciplinary action if the reserve study specialist commits “Negligence or gross negligence”.

Why doesn’t the board of directors read the rules, and follow them? Why should we trust the board’s business judgment–considering all of the problems we have discovered?

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August 23, 2008 by tim_stebbins.

At the Town Hall meeting last Thursday, August 21 Roz Berman resumed her rude and disrespectful treatment of members.  She repeatedly interrupted those attempting to make comments or ask questions. 

She has upset much of the community in the past with such bad manners and we hoped she had learned her lesson.  At a recent board meeting she announced that members would be allowed to speak uninterrupted.  Apparently that promise was insincere, or at least short lived. 

When it was my turn to speak Ms. Berman interrupted me again and again and again, making it impossible for me to make my comments in a coherent way.  Her misbehavior continued with others until finally a woman more astute than I paused her comments after an outburst from Ms. Berman and stated “I thought we could speak without being interrupted.”  Ms. Berman seemed indifferent to the remark but at least she shut up for a while.   

It has been said, “a leopard can’t change its spots”, and so if there is an analogy here perhaps these characteristics are imbedded in Ms. Berman’s persona because of long term practice.  Now that she has assumed the responsibilities of President wouldn’t it be nice if she could muster enough self-control to suppress these urges for the remainder of her term?   

It is likely most of us would agree a person of integrity would apologize to each of the members treated so badly as well as to the entire community.  It remains to be seen what Ms. Berman will do.  I have not heard anything yet.

Posted in Truth Squad, SCA Board, Community Affairs, News!, Other | Print | 4 Comments »

August 23, 2008 by THE VOICE.

Most of the Anthem Center refurbishment project is moving along as expected, but some of the new furniture items have generated many strong objections. Most of the concern has been about the new sofas and chairs for the main entrance area. Some members have been overheard saying they disliked the new sofas so much that they would not even allow them to be placed into their garages!

Many members believe the sofas are very poorly designed and constructed. They do not appear to be sturdy, and they do not appear to be capable of holding up under the heavy use of our facility. The color is not attractive, the fabric is cheap-looking, and all of the sofas appear to be damaged and/or defective in various ways. At least, we certainly hope the overall appearance is not what was intended!

Many members have said that even if the fabric was replaced, the sofa style is so cheap-looking that they seriously detract from the elegant feeling of our unique facility. For those of us who attended the project team and Cleo contractor presentations during the past few months, we were shocked at what was delivered. Neither the style, nor the color, nor the fabric type was anything like what we were expecting. Considering the generous budget available, we all were expecting much better items.

Board President Roz Berman was challenged on this matter by Rivka Wolf during last week’s Town Hall, but Roz refused to admit there was anything amiss. She claimed the items were satisfactory, and that regardless, there was nothing that could be done about the situation. But, Property and Ground Committee member Carol Siebel reported that the project team was investigating the situation and would be reporting soon on what could be done.

In the meantime, if you missed the last Town Hall meeting, an audio clip is enclosed of the discussion about the furniture between Rivka and Roz and others. Defective Sofas Discussion

Some photos taken on August 22, 2008 are included below for your review and comments. Please note that the spots, scrapes, creases, and other blemishes that show up in the photos look even worse when seen first-hand. Most of these sofas do appear to be defective.

In our opinion, Board President Roz Berman is seriously mistaken. These new furniture items are unsuitable for use in our main entrance. Bob Berman, Rita Berman, Linda Krivic, or and/or the Cleo Design team members who ordered the items need to resolve this matter immediately. We believe the sofas and chairs need to be replaced with items that are clearly suitable for the grand foyer of our elegant Sun City Anthem Center.

Please take a look at the below photos and tell us what do you think. Have we over-stated the problem? Do you agree that the sofas and perhaps the chairs need to be replaced with more suitable items?

(PS. Since the above was written, we have been advised that the old sofas were just recovered with new material, and they look so different because of the change from dark to light material.  The defects in the new material are very obvious because in the past the backs were covered up by other furniture and there were some pillows on the front that made the sofas look quite different.)

Posted in Truth Squad, SCA Board, Community Affairs, Other | Print | 4 Comments »

August 19, 2008 by admin.

Carl mentioned at the recent workshop that he had two or three companies highly interested in the Trumpets contract or lease. He previously said that the Omelet House was one of them, but declined to say the name of the others.

We believe that Chef Neal’s “Normandie French Bistro” is another, but he declined to name the third option. Since there is no reason to keep the names of interested applicants secret, we have to believe he will be releasing it soon.

In the meantime, here is the web site for the Omelet House chain for Las Vegas. And, here is a sample menu (breakfast and lunch only) from the Charleston location. cl-8542_omletweb.pdf

Update on August 26:  Here is a proposed (unofficial) dinner menu drafted by the Omelet House and presented to Carl Weinstein.  He has asked AV to post it for general information purposes.
omlet-house_proposed-dinner-menu.pdf

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August 12, 2008 by bobfrank.

As announced, there will be important Trumpets Workshops held at 2 PM and 7 PM in Hanneman Hall on Wednesday, August 13. Including in this posting are the presentations from myself and Carl Weinstein.  Other Directors are also expected to submit items.

My presentation follows:

PROPOSED SCA TRUMPETS RESTAURANT SERVICE CONTRACT TERMS & CONDITIONS (INITIAL DRAFT)

Contract: Service agreement to operate the “Sun City Anthem Community Association “Trumpets Restaurant and Bar” and to use the associated kitchen facilities and equipment to create highly popular food services for SCA members and their guests, and to produce a reasonable net profit to contractor.

Objective: SCA CAI’s annual business objective is to break even when access to its premises is limited to members and guests. The costs to association members to reserve the repair and replacement of furnishings and equipment will not be part of a break-even analysis. This objective may be revised if the service contract is converted into a long-term lease with public access.

Provided Premises, Furnishings & Equipment: SCA CAI will provide and maintain the basic restaurant premises, furnishings, and kitchen equipment. Contractor will replace and/or repair any unusual damages to SCA furnishings and equipment. Contractor will provide any additional furnishings and equipment required to provide its desired services.

Menus, Beverages, Services and Operating Hours: In recognition of the world-wide diversity of SCA members, the contractor will establish Trumpets food, beverage and other service offerings centered on a continental cuisine style while also being able to frequently offer a wide variety of other food types and styles for the restaurant and catering services during special events. Contractor will set operating hours, locations, and service offerings based on SCA CAI facilities schedules and customer preferences. Home delivery of meals and take-out menu services will be offered.

Prices: Contractor will consult with SCA CAI when establishing food, bar and service prices to serve SCA’s 55+ community. Margins for restaurant table services will be set lower to stimulate member patronage, and catering pricing will be set higher to compensate.

Profits or Losses: Contractor will receive the profits and/or suffer the losses from its product and service decisions. SCA CAI will help the contractor achieve success by sponsoring a broad set of dining and catering events with minimum guarantees. These events will be a combination of SCA CAI and club/SIG sponsored activities. The contractor will be required to aggressively market its services to SCA clubs, SIGs and SCA neighborhoods without SCA CAI guarantees.

Business Equipment/Services: Contractor will provide all of the business and special food preparation equipment required to offer its Trumpets food and catering services.

On-premises Catering: On-premises catered events will be limited to SCACAI activities, Clubs, Special Interest Groups, and SCA members and guests.

Off-premises: Catering delivered off-premises to non-residents will be encouraged. Margins on off-premises catering to non-members will be set higher to subsidize low prices for members.

Public Catering: No public catering events will be delivered on SCA premises because such public accesses (1) seriously degrades member access to and full enjoyment of our recreation centers, (2) greatly increases assessments to compensate for increased maintenance and security system costs, (3) may reduce contractor motivations to fully satisfy SCA CAI and member requirements. In the unlikely event of a future SCA CAI decision to allow public access to the restaurant and/or catered events, gross revenue sharing may be implemented to help offset SCA CAI’s increased operating costs and income tax liabilities.

Contract Period: Nine (9) months with 3 options to renew, or to allow conversion into a five-year lease with options.

Rent & Deposit: Initially set at a below-market rate of $2,000/month payable on the 1st day of the month for the first 9 months. After completion of the first contract period, rent will be increased up to the market rates for a comparable (fully furnished) restaurant and kitchen facilities.

Cash Deposit: A reasonable cash deposit will be required to initiate the contract. The initial deposit amount will be negotiated. It will be significantly increased as part of future extensions or conversion.

Revenue Sharing: Contractor will not share its catering or restaurant revenues with SCA CAI unless it is mutually decided to allow public access to the premises. In that event, many new terms and conditions are likely to be negotiated.

Utilities: Contractor will pay all utilities expenses for the restaurant and kitchen areas and it will provide all required licenses to operate the required food and bar services.

Marketing & Promotion Expenses: SCA CAI will provide marketing and promotional services at no cost to the contractor through its communications capabilities with its 10,000+ residents. Since SCA CAI is obligated to assist the contractor become profitable, the Directors will ensure that a robust budget for promoting and advertising all Trumpets events is provided.

Steering Committee: SCA CAI will provide a Trumpets Steering Committee composed of volunteer community leaders from the clubs, SIGs and SCA neighborhood groups to assist SCA CAI and the contractor with stimulating patronage, evaluating contractor performance, achieving broad member satisfaction, and generating sustained support of the Trumpets food and bar services.

Event Guarantees: SCA CAI will guarantee a minimum of two major catered events each month with over 100 participants paying a minimum of $25 per seat. SCA CAI will schedule and promote special events every month for such things as Sunday Brunches and monthly theme nights to complement holidays, celebrations, sports events, and entertainment performances.

Clubs/SIGs Support: Chartered Clubs and Special Interest Groups will be encouraged to sponsor a minimum of two annual events through Trumpets. Clubs, SIGs and neighborhoods will be encouraged to promote the use of Trumpets for lunch and dinner before or after their monthly meetings or neighborhood parties.

Pot Lucks: Clubs and SIGs will be allowed unlimited food events in designated SCA meeting facilities at approved times, but no contractors will be allowed on premises during “pot luck” parties.

Priority Access to Facilities: Contractor will have exclusive control of the restaurant, bar, kitchen and other food service facilities. Contractor will have the first right of refusal to offer any and all types of food and beverage services in all SCA facilities. However, if the contractor is unable to provide a food service requested by a club, SIG, member, or the SCA CAI on any requested date or time, it will release the event space for the sponsor to consider having another contractor service the event. But, the outside contractor will not be permitted to use the restaurant and kitchen areas. The exception will not preclude the contractor from being considered the SCA preferred provider of food and beverage services for all such future events.

Prepared by SCA CAI Director Bob Frank, August 12, 2008

Carl Weinstein’s presentation follows: http://blog.anthemvoice.org/__oneclick_uploads/2008/08/weinstein_proposed_trumpets_terms.pdf” title=”weinstein_proposed_trumpets_terms.pdf”>weinstein_proposed_trumpets_terms.pdf

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August 11, 2008 by bobfrank.

DON’T MISS THE TRUMPETS BOARD WORKSHOPS ON WEDNESDAY, AUG 13 @ 2 & 7 PM!

Although not widely promoted, the Trumpets Board Workshops to be held on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 at 2 PM and 7 PM in Hanneman Hall will likely be a turning point in the checkered history of this SCA restaurant facility.

Carl Weinstein, Shirley Cheri and I will be leading three different discussions to gather more member feedback, and to develop some recommendations for consideration at the September board meeting.

Shirley Cheri has declared she will lead discussions about the “minimalist” option where I understand she will propose that SCA should only ask RMI to contract for (1) a full-service Bar for members only with all types of beverages and pre-packaged snacks, (2) offer full service catering by multiple companies in support of clubs and activities department events, and (3) offer no scheduled table services in the restaurant area.

Carl has said he will lead the discussions about a long-term lease using a broker. However, he and Roz Berman have been sending mixed signals since they announced they have been holding private discussions with an owner of one of the Omelet House chains in North Las Vegas. I will be interested in hearing from Roz and Carl about how an Omelet House chain owner/operator could have gained the range and depth of expertise to handle the Trumpets operations at SCA.

For the third approach, I will lead discussions on what I believe will be the “best choice” option using a “two-step approach” to take advantage of the lessons learned by the previous Trumpets Working Group and with S&D Cafe. With assistance from some SCA members, I will discuss how it could be possible to quickly contract for 6 to 12 months with a SCA-proven catering vendor that already operates a highly successful LV restaurant. At least one leading restaurant company is ready to propose to the Board some very favorable Terms & Conditions in support of this two-step approach.

The proposed goal will be to “test the feasibility” of members-only restaurant, bar and catering services contract. At the end of the service contract period, SCA would consider such options as (1) continue the contract with updated terms and conditions, (2) convert the contract to a multi-year lease, (3) convert the contract to a public access lease where SCA has options for revenue sharing on the public catering business, or (4) transition to a “minimalist approach”.

It is currently envisioned that such a two-step service agreement could include most of the key terms and conditions (T&Cs) proposed by the previous working group so that, if both parties wish to do so, a transition to a multi-year lease (at some time in the future) could be quick and transparent to our members. Also, if either party wished to end the contract early, it would be easy to do so.

As envisioned, this two-step contracting/lease strategy would allow SCA to avoid significant business risks and operating losses. It would also give our 10,000 members the chance to demonstrate if they have sufficient interest in enjoying private food services or if there really is no choice but to allow public access.

Details on how this could become possible will be included in the presentations and discussions. So, if you share in the passion to do something smart with the Trumpets space, DO NOT MISS THIS WORKSHOP!!

Bob Frank, SCA Director

Posted in SCA Board, Community Affairs, Clubs & SIGs, Operations | Print | 1 Comment »

August 8, 2008 by THE VOICE.

At the Thursday, August 7, 2008 meeting of the Current Events Club meeting in the Anthem Center, Carl Weinstein’s daughter reported that the SCA community and Henderson public pool facilities were highly susceptible to being contaminated by a well-known parasite called “Cryptosporidiosis” or “Crypto”.

Most alarming was her report that traditional chlorination was not effective at providing adequate public safety, and no one seemed to know what RMI was doing, if anything, to prevent Crypto in SCA facilities.

Crypto is a dangerous disease related to fecal matter in pools and spas commonly coming from diarrhea experienced by seniors and children. It can cause serious illnesses, and even death, in those with immune system problems.  cryptofacts.pdf

This created a great deal of concern among those present since there have been numerous reports of fecal matter being discharged into SCA pools and spas during the past year or two. These incidents were reportedly caused by elderly members who were known to have incontinent problems, but were not prohibited from using the pools and spas.

It is well known that elderly residents often develop serious health problems and can become highly susceptible to developing crypto when their immune systems become degraded from cancer therapies and other health treatments.

Since Carl Weinstein is the Board Vice President, his wife is a RMI employee involved in supervising SCA pool operations, and his daughter is employed by the Henderson Recreation Department in the pool operations area, we have to take the Weinstein family public comments and concerns very seriously. We did not learn if any of the Weinstein’s have previously reported their concerns to RMI management.

So, since no information has been put out by RMI on this very important health and safety matter, the following items have been extracted or linked to appropriate Center for Disease Control (CDC) information. Link to Informational items.

In the meantime, there are important questions that need to be immediately answered. For example:

1. What does RMI management know about “crypto” and what is being done to prevent a crypto outbreak in SCA?
   
   
2. Has RMI tested SCA pools and spas for Crypto? If so, on what dates were they tested and where are the detailed results?
   
   
3. Who in RMI is technically knowledgeable and personally responsible for pool, spa and bathroom health and safety issues?
   
   
4. How many fecal matter incidents in the SCA pools/spas have there been in recent years, when did they occur, were they reported to the City and CDC, and what cleanup and prevention actions were taken by RMI to ensure future health and safety to SCA pool and spa users?
   
   
5. What has RMI done in the past to inform pool and spa users of what needs to be done to avoid crypto disease at SCA?

Posted in Truth Squad, SCA Board, Community Affairs, Operations | Print | 5 Comments »

August 7, 2008 by tim_stebbins.

It has been reported that Clark County will no longer tax the common property of homeowner associations such as Sun City Anthem. 

That would mean no more taxes on the Anthem Center, the Independence Center and other lands and buildings owned by our association. The basis is that the property values upon which our personal property taxes are based already reflect the value of these common elements and thus we do not have to pay taxes twice. 

Based on recent budgets that will mean a savings of about $15-20 for every household.  Our dues for next year will hopefully reflect this reduction in our costs.

Posted in Community Affairs, News!, Other | Print | 3 Comments »

August 4, 2008 by Mark Cook.

My fellow residents in Shadow Canyon village, Desert Sky village up to February 2008, and the newer half of Black Mountain village, here’s where the rubber meets the road:

You may have seen that picture before, and you may recall that it shows a Wirsbo C-360 brass fitting that has been in service only a little over two years. Pretty bad already, isn’t it? In another year or two, water conservation will be taken care of automatically by severely restricted water flow…and hopefully the fittings won’t fail and flood our homes in the meantime.

The material that is clogging up that fitting is zinc oxide. That is a product of dezincification of the brass. Of course we knew that all along, but the Pulte Corporation went on record stating that there is no evidence of dezincification in my residence. The above photo apparently didn’t impress them. So, that fitting was shipped off to an engineering lab for analysis, and the test not only proved that the white residue is zinc oxide, it stated that the zinc content in that specific fitting is about 35% (based upon an Energy Dispersive X-Ray, EDX, analysis).

The testing lab further states that brass containing greater than 15% zinc is susceptible to dezincification. We knew that all along, but it’s nice to have a PhD agreeing with us. The scientific analysis of that fitting could be applied to every one of your homes, if you have Wirsbo brass fittings, and if your home was constructed before February 2008. That is the date that Pulte started to use red-brass C-314 fittings rather than the yellow brass C-360 fittings which you see above.

This article is posted to show that there is really no need for further testing by Pulte or an independent contractor. We already have performed the test, and we already have the test results! The Wirsbo fittings are clogging up with zinc oxide because of the high zinc content in those fittings. Pulte, make the necessary repairs now!

If you have any questions regarding the above, feel free to ask them by commenting on this article.

Posted in Truth Squad, SCA Board, Community Affairs, News!, Other | Print | 5 Comments »