Volunteer Guidelines > HOA Forum

Unanswered

Active Topics

Forums

Forums > Homeowner Association > HOA Discussions

Subject: Volunteer Guidelines

Prev Next

You are not authorized to post a reply.

Author

Messages

MistiH
(Texas)

Posts:52

07/22/2006 1:36 PM
I would like you guys to offer your opinions about the below scenario. Early this summer we were having problems with non-residents utilizing our pool facilities, residents breaching rules, etc. A group of residents decided to reclaim our facilities. To accomplish this goal we created a Pool Monitor program, comprised of volunteers with guidelines. We have met with great success. Non-residents can no longer enter, members in dues arrears have paid almost $100K to gain access, alcohol consumption is under control, etc. We have some residents that are demanding to be copied our volunteer operational guidelines. Should we dessiminate resident wide? Or just refer to the HOA office to see/ obtain? Thoughts and ideas, anyone?

Loving Life in Texas! Misti

LeeS1

Posts:0

07/22/2006 2:29 PM
I have more questions, I'm afraid, than perhaps help for you. What do your bylaws say about management of common areas? Why is your pool serving liquor? Sure hope you have a hefty liability insurance policy. Do you have a website? Some association have taken to only online management. If you want a hardcopy, they charge you for it. Do you have any lifeguards? Is the pool gated? What does the volunteer do--only makes sure the person is a member? Any consequences for non members who get caught using the pool? I take it that membership in your HOA is voluntary, not mandatory. To have $100K in dues arrears is unbelievable. The lost interest alone is phenomenal. I would be very concerned that the fiduciary responsibilities by the board are not being carried out. I shall be anxious to hear what others on this forum say.

MistiH
(Texas)

Posts:52

07/22/2006 11:23 PM
Posted By LeeS1 on 07/22/2006 2:29 PM I have more questions, I'm afraid, than perhaps help for you. What do your bylaws say about management of common areas? Why is your pool serving liquor? Sure hope you have a hefty liability insurance policy. Do you have a website? Some association have taken to only online management. If you want a hardcopy, they charge you for it. Do you have any lifeguards? Is the pool gated? What does the volunteer do--only makes sure the person is a member? Any consequences for non members who get caught using the pool? I take it that membership in your HOA is voluntary, not mandatory. To have $100K in dues arrears is unbelievable. The lost interest alone is phenomenal. I would be very concerned that the fiduciary responsibilities by the board are not being carried out. I shall be anxious to hear what others on this forum say. We don't serve liquor. People were bringing it in, which is prohibited. Yes, we do have a web-site. The Pool Monitor guidelines are not published on it. Perhaps they should be. Certainly something to consider! Lifeguards - one complex is guarded, the other is not. Oddly enough it is the guarded pool that has had the most issues. Weird, huh? Volunteers make sure that owners in good standing only come into the pools and only bring in the approved number of guests. They also ensure compliance of no diving, no running, etc. Our lifeguards aren't very good at that. In fact, we spend an inordinate amount of time instructing the lifeguards. Makes me crazy. We have a MC that is supposed to stay on top of the dues and collection thereof. Personally, I do not think they do a very good job in that area. That too makes me crazy. Our BoD is still the builder. We will flip in another year to year and a half. Maybe I'm just tired and cranky from spending 8 - 10 hours a day at the pool

Loving Life in Texas! Misti

CharlesW1
(Georgia)

Posts:818

07/25/2006 5:38 AM
MistiH, I have very little experience with HOA. MY community has had this type of scenario though. We have a magnetic key card issued to each homeowner when he/she pays their dues. If you are current on your dues you receive a card, Simple as that. NO card no entry, unless you jump the fence, Then if you are caught it trespassing. (That has nothing to do with the HOA) you are breaking the law! I have found it nearly impossible to enforce rules and guidelines in and around the pool area. I wouldn’t think it would be this difficult. We have made rules for the pool as you have. One is no alcoholic beverages (no glass of any kind) in our around the pool area. Two, no smoking! This has been very hard to enforce. I personally don’t care if someone else would like to smoke, as long as I don’t smell it then that’s fine. But, my father has been a smoker my entire life and I have been around smokers. When they are done smoking they will generally just “flick” the butt. Welll with the dry spell we have had, it doesn’t take a genius to know that the whole place could go up in smoke. Then the community is upset that the pool is closed! Yeah believe that? If you tell a smoker if they could extinguish the cigarette, they will tell you “it’s a free country and I am outside” True! But it’s not the smoke that we are trying to restrict. We are trying to prevent the potential fire if the butt is “flicked” into the dry landscaping around the pool. We are looking into putting in those trash cans with the sand in the tops,(just for cigarettes). Keep us posted. I’m interested to hear any suggestion to improve my pool area as well. Chuck W.

Charles E. Wafer Jr.

RogerB
(Colorado)

Posts:3694

07/25/2006 6:22 AM
Pool rules should be posted at the pool not just at a web site. Make sure the penalty is stiff enoough and includes barring from using the pool. This requires pool monitors or life guards who are authorized to enforce the rules. Pools are the greastest financial risk of the HOA so make sure to have greater than adequate insurance.

Roger Borcherding Official HOATalk.com Sponsor DARCO Property Management (Colorado) (303) 925-0150 *See legal notice below (end of page) or go to www.hoatalk.com/legal

MistiH
(Texas)

Posts:52

07/25/2006 8:08 PM
The rules are posted all over the place. It's the pool monitor guidelines that people are demanding to view. Oddly enough, that has simmered down somewhat since my last post. Thank heavens!! Smoking... we do allow smoking in designated areas and provide "smoke station" ash trays. We have few problems with smokers. It's just all the everything else! LOL We too have key card entry. However, we have parents giving their 8 - 11 year olds the cards, when our minimum unsupervised age is 12. We have residents that will give their keys to friends, who also access our gym. We have lifeguards that give away their keys and then ask for more keys. We did have residents propping the gate open with chairs so anyone that wished could enter. We had teenagers walking a mile down TX State Hwy 380 to use our pools!!! We have that stopped. We had some fence hoppers, but that has stopped also. We are making some headway. It just gets discouraging sometimes. These people do not seem to understand that they are giving away the farm here. We have about 1,300 occupied homes. We will build out at 2,500. Total anticipated population of around 8,000. If even 1/2 refuse to follow rules, that becomes a very serious problem. Ok, through venting for now.

Loving Life in Texas! Misti

CharlesW1
(Georgia)

Posts:818

07/26/2006 4:20 AM
MistiH, That is awesome that, have a better handle on the pool rules and guidelines. I assume it will only get better for you. If money (HOA), man-power and the dedication to these rules and guidelines are enforced, I see a much greater appreciation for the amenities, in your HOA community. I say “go for it” IMO, All “board” around the world need member like you to take position on the board. Chuck W.

Charles E. Wafer Jr.

RogerB
(Colorado)

Posts:3694

07/26/2006 9:09 AM
Misti, I hope your rules allow cards to be taken away from kids under 12 and have an very high cost for the parents to get them back. Likewise for lifeguards they will not give keys away if the replacement cost to them is too high. Same with anyone who props the gate open or otherwise violates the rules. Fence hoppers should be banned for the season and if not a member call the police, have them arrested, and press charges. If the cost is high enought the violations will stop. It does take lots of manpower to monitor a pool; that and high insurance premiums are costs you chose with an HOA pool.

Roger Borcherding Official HOATalk.com Sponsor DARCO Property Management (Colorado) (303) 925-0150 *See legal notice below (end of page) or go to www.hoatalk.com/legal

MistiH
(Texas)

Posts:52

07/26/2006 6:11 PM
CharlesW1, thank you for the vote of confidence. It means a lot to me. I am not on our Board, though. We are still under Builder BoD. It will be another estimated 15 - 18 months b/4 we flip to Owner BoD, at the current rate of growth. I am the co-chair of our Safety Committee, and the Pool Committee sits beneath our umbrella. This fact alone has been cause for contention with the Pool Committee. Some wish for independance, some appreciate the weight of the Safety Committee (and budget!) behind them. We try to keep them all placated until the end of this season and then we can re-visit with our appointed advisor for the 2007 swim season. TMI? It has been challenging, that's for sure!! RogerB, as volunteer homeowners we have self imposed limited power of enforcement. We cannot pull a card, even with cause. If there is an issue, we call the HOA office for our property manager, who will then pull the card. Our job is to politely insist upon rule compliance and call the correct authority if necessary. That includes the sheriff's department as a last resort. Frankly, I like this system. It is non-confrontational, therefore neighbors are not pitted against neighbors. It seems to be a good system this first year out. We all had a LOT to learn, and still do I'm sure.

Loving Life in Texas! Misti

MistiH
(Texas)

Posts:52

07/26/2006 6:14 PM
Oh, hte fence hoppers were not community residents. They were the kids walking down the highway. After the enforced compliance with the key card use, they would hop the fence. We knew most of them by sight and would run them off... LOL They no longer bother taking the hike in this 110 degree weather!!

Loving Life in Texas! Misti

EdR
(Texas)

Posts:170

08/03/2006 9:17 AM
MistiH: Great that you are able to monitor and control your pool and facilities. Our assn. has created a monster by having a swim team. When it first started about 10 years ago, they were business-like enough to ask for permission from the board to use the pool to practice and have a few swim meets. Over the years, residents became aggravated that the pool would be in use by the ST either practicing or having a meet, until finally, the board let them use the pool in April (for practice) (we are in TX) before it opened to the members in May. As our assn. had fewer and fewer children, as it is an increasingly retirement age group of people, they had to start recruiting kids from outside. They did not get the permission of the board of the HOA to do this. Then, unfortunately, along came a family from outside who moved into the assn. and the woman refused to work with the board, but is now president of the ST for the last few years. She basically has taken over the pool and clubhouse as though she owns it. Many members are furious that IF the pool is open for any reason, they should be able to use it--including April. I agree. Further, the ST tries to say that "well, no one comes to the pool anyway". Dues-paying members feel that if just one member is there--the pool should be open to the members because the members pay for it. We have lifeguards and pretty good rules--posted--including "no smoking or glass" and they haven't made a stand about alcohol, because people sneak it in in their plastic "drinking-type-looking" cups and the problem is: how can a lifeguard, who usually is a minor (under 18) tell an adult that they cannot bring a drink in that has alcohol in it. At any rate, as you can see, it's infuriating that non-members (about 1/3 now on ST) are from outside and have more use and say of our facilities than the owners. This is aggravating as hell to the owners. To make matters worse, the management company is colluding with them to keep their contract with the assn. and in return DONATES to the ST so they can kiss each other's ____! These people also make it unpleasant for a child of someone they don't like to be on the team, to keep them out and keep them from lowering their scores. We have an unethical, terrible situation going on. I've been on the board and tried, along with other directors (minority) to do something about it, but the forces from outside (of parents who have kids on ST from outside) are stronger than from inside the assn. (apathy). We will end up selling our beautiful home (which has decreased in value due to the lack of enforcement of important CCRs) and moving on when our youngest graduates from HS. Those of us who tried to change the situation and make it fair were verbally assaulted and defamed. I congratulate you that you've been able to handle this, and I might add, it is probably best that you do it from a position of "not" being on the board. You are probably less vulnerable. There need to be outside pools (Aquatic Buildings, etc.) for swim teams and to keep the assns. politically out of it--keep that in mind for any future use of your pool. I've heard it is a nightmare in other assn.'s as well. Because, how can you tell an outside kid "no" to pleasure swimming in your pool, if you've allowed him in for a ST, and he is not a dues-paying member? It's a racket! Our assn. spent $200K renovating a pool that would have lasted many more years if not for the extra wear and tear from ST--not one outsider helped with that cost. EdR

MistiH
(Texas)

Posts:52

08/03/2006 11:42 AM
Ed, we're in Texas too, north of Dallas, between Denton and McKinney. Ok, that said, just take this post as a good ole gal from West Texas and 1/2 red-neck. I'd be damned and double dipped in he!! b/4 I'd let anyone over take the facilities that I and my neighbors pay for. Your residents own the pool. I reckon ST would find somewhere else to swim if you and your neighbors jumped in and started tossing a ball around every time there was practice or a meet! It is your pool. What're they going to do, have you arrested for tresspass? LOL See, I just wouldn't play the game. I pay the dues, I swim when I choose. If the pool is open, I have access, period. You could hire me as an old fashioned Union Buster! LMAO Where are you, Texas-wise?

Loving Life in Texas! Misti

MistiH
(Texas)

Posts:52

08/03/2006 5:16 PM
Ok, been thinking about the post I made earlier today. Texas Red has been replaced with sane Misti. Can you guys work out a compromise? How many actual hours is the pool utilized by the ST and meets each week. Does the ST enhance the quality of life of the youth in your community? If it does, then the value of it may out weigh the negatives. Maybe try to depersonlize and look from another angle. If it's still just wrong, then play ball.

Loving Life in Texas! Misti

EdR
(Texas)

Posts:170

08/07/2006 5:44 AM
MistiH: We're in the Houston area. I like TX too, but there are lot's of problems in the areas of HOAs, which I believe are deliberate lack of communication between board, MC and homeowners. Yes, the ST is good for the kids, but they have plenty of time at the pool without residents there. They have the whole month of April and May to practice (weekday afternoons in May). The kids are not the problems, Misti. It's the adults. A very few think they own the pool when everyone is paying for it. It's the parents who want their darlings to sleep an extra hour rather than getting to the pool at 7a so they can be out by 10a so it can open to the other residents in the summer. These parents wanted us to delay the pool opening time until 11a. This is unacceptable to other paying members, especially when one third of the kids on the ST do not live in the assn. (so their team can be large enough to compete in a higher division). There are many HOAs in the area who have stopped allowing practices and meets in their pool for just these reasons. In fact, we all also pay outrageous property taxes which pay for pools at local schools. These pools can be scheduled for practices and meets, and in fact is a better situation for all especially when it comes to weather. The problem in our assn. is that we have a ME-generation set of parents. The president of the ST moved into the subdivision with the idea that she was controller of the pool--more than her fair share of 1/500th. She is still, by the way, running the show! People are scared of her; she's devious and has underhanded ways of getting at you if she doesn't like you. I cannot count the number of people who have just given up and sold their homes and moved because they just won't deal with the problems. I too, am counting the days here. This is no longer a "community"--the HOA board is a social club. EdR

MistiH
(Texas)

Posts:52

08/07/2006 5:56 AM
It is a pretty intense situation. I'll continue to watch for updates. You could always move north to Providence. We like good homeowners up here!

Loving Life in Texas! Misti

You are not authorized to post a reply.

Forums > Homeowner Association > HOA Discussions > Volunteer Guidelines