Communications Committee Meeting – Part 2
by Darcie Gore
The Second agenda item for the communication committee meeting was feedback on the addition of a automated telephone alert/message system.
Most homeowners (by a show of hands) seemed to like the idea of “ONE CALL NOW” a telephone system that can send telephone and email messages to residents in a matter of seconds.
The system can handle up to 99 sub groups. So let’s say the Line Dancing class was cancelled unexpectedly. The system could dial just the class members and announce the class has been cancelled. Or the entire community could be reminded of the upcoming board meeting.
To see more information on this service, check out their web site at www. http://www.onecallnow.com/how-emergency-notifications-work.aspx
After some discussion and questions, it appeared the majority of the homeowners present would be interested in thaving this service available to them at a cost of $6.00 per year. There was further discussion about the Association paying for this cost for the first year but that is a Board’s decision.
The communication committee was going to recommend to the Board to initiate a contract with One Call Now for a year period.
Homeowners will have the ability to opt in or out of the system.
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JMO.........Since moving here 2+ years ago I can't remember one time I would have needed this. While the cost of $ 6.00 per year for each household seems very minor, when multiplied by the number of homes - lets use the number 300, that is $ 1800.00 per year added to our budget. If 100 of those homes sign on then that becomes $ 18.00 per year which is still not expensive. As to this item being paid by the HOA....Pam stated there was money in the communications budget to allow for this..........However, I believe you have to look at the overall budget to see if this is a priority for us. Since we have never had a balanced budget to date and would have faced an extra assessment had it not been for Pulte's contributions, a more serious look might be in order. What's wrong with each homeowner paying for their "One Call Now"? Since there were MANY complaints about our yard upkeep, maybe we could add that money to the landscaping contract and receive a bigger bang for our buck!
Also believe Pam somewhat hijacked our meeting with such a long presentation.
I agree with you on both points Norma. If this is something the Board wants to give a trial run to why don't they send a survey to homeowners who would be interested in having this system and let the homeowner's pay the $6.00 a year fee and give it a test run. Too much time was spent by Pam on reading the details of the system which cut off homeowners concerns.
Since the landscaping issues seems to be a major problem maybe Riverside Management could use the guy who walks the neighborhood every week checking violations of front porch flower pots and garbage cans left out or put on the side of garages to make notes of problems with landscape and send letters to Procida regarding upkeep of the community's front yards.
It just amazes me that there was a question about spending $125.00 on a plaque for outgoing Board Members at a recent board meeting and then there is suddenly $1800.00 available for a phone system???? We haven't had a balanced budget in the last two years but now we are talking surplus???
I give the communications committee kudos for holding the meeting and maybe the message will be sent to the Board that homeowner's are concerned about communications and are tired of attending board meetings where items and issues fall on deaf ears. Also that forming committees of homeowner's does wonders for the community.
LOL....had forgotten about someone "passing the hat" to collect $ 125.00 that was not available in the budget and that was just in July. Besides that, I can't seem to find a Budgeted item on the statement for the Comunications Committee that Pam said had monies left to cover this expense. Maybe someone can help me with this.
We should have ask the Communication committee to find out why we can't get financials for Board members in a timely manner. Maybe they should review the Riverside Mgmt contract for efficiency. I still think we need to have a local management company or CPA so Mina doesn't have to spend so much time travelling from Elk Grove to Roseville.
We should also check with local banks about giving us better interest on our money if we do business with them as we did that in Plumas County and the local bank was really willing to work with us given the size of the Reserve Acct that will continue to grow over time.
First - I'd like to thank the committee members for their time and efforts to continue making ours a better community. I'm encouraged that homeowners are gaining input into the way our community association operates. The fact that all our past and current board members were in attendance says a lot about their engagement too.
On the OneCall system, I was not initially enthusiastic about buying in. I envisioned it being operated much like our website, with communication flowing in one direction only. I'm not sure it is a worthwhile addition if used in that manner.
However, if board members were able to directly use the polling system, I guess that would make it worthwhile for that use alone. Board members could ask residents - should we ask more of our landscaping contractor, even if that means paying more? Should the management company, or lodge employees, have the responsibility for noticing landscaping deficiencies? Should lodge hours or pool heating schedules be changed? Even if the decisions didn't change, homeowners would feel better about being consulted.
Maybe you're right about the poll calling, but if we have quarterly meetings that are FREE, would that not serve the same purpose? Not only that, but maybe there's a comment or better idea other than a "Yes" or "No" vote. Unless every resident signs up you're still not covering Glenbrooke 100%. I still say, if you want it, pay for it!
First, I agree that those that want the service should pay for it. I would sign up at least the first year to see how it work.
But ,I have some concerns. This same information was presented at the Board meeting( an took way too much time). It seems answers to the questions raised at board meeting could have been answered at this meeting in order to make a full recommendation to the Board.
1) Who pays for it? If the HOA as suggested, which line item is it coming from? If owners will it be billed on HOA statement, do we need to pay for it ahead of time? What if there are only 100 homeowners?
2) What messages would be deemed important enough to call all residents- pinochle games? Board meetings? committee meeting? potluck or special events? new classes or groups? There should be a written policy before service begins.
3) Subgroups could send messages and the same questions regarding procedures remain. Who is allowed to have a pin number? Is their guidelines for sending messages? Call for group volunteers? notice of regularly schedule meetings? Extra tickets available for an event?
I did like the fact that we can opt for email notification instead of calls. Then you can pick up messages on your own schedule. For so many of us getting to the phone or being interrupted by calls it is not pleasant.
I would like to address some of the concerns mentioned. The question of where the funding would come from was never actually raised or answered. At this moment in time we probably could not start this One Call system until the start of the new year. That will give us time to understand the system and monitor who and when messages (non-emergency) could be sent. The cost for the first year would be absorbed by the current budget (currently running a surplus) and future years will be discussed. Since it is an all or nothing contract for usage we have to pay for the non users as well as the users. The budget will be presented at the October 20th meeting. All of the action items listed at the end of the meeting will be placed on the board meeting agenda. The landscaping issue is a contract issue and is being addressed in upcoming meeting with Procida. I am hopeful that we can have similar meetings 4 to 6 weeks before each Board meeting so that residents can express their concerns and place them on the agenda. We may not have complete concensus on all issues but everyone has a right to be heard and kept up to date with information.
Thanks for the clarifications on OneCall - and on the prospects for future meetings too. I look forward to the next board meeting.
Good to know we still have a surplus...............however, I wouldn't take that too seriously since at this same time last year we had a surplus, but by years end we had a (deficit).
I agree, the meetings are great and I'm assuming because of the time they were held a much larger group was able to attend.