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An Accredited Association Management Company (AAMC®) FINANCIAL l GOVERNANCE l ACTIVITIES
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Scary Pruning Mistakes
6
Costume Contest
8
Reserve Study Q&A
10 Demystifying Slang
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Calling All Collaborators!
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Candy Corn
12
Caulking Windows
14
Standards
16
Reign of the Widow
17
Survival of the Fittest
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This publication is provided for informational purposes only. SunWest Management does not endorse any of the businesses, products or services advertised herein and assumes no responsibility or liability for the statements made in this publication.
Would you like your message to reach our customers? Contribute to magazine with educational articles, stories, or other content, or by advertising with us! Please contact collab@swmlife.com or 435-773-6456. Sandy Naylor has infused her creative passion as editor, writer, & designer into SunWest’s publications for over 12 years. She loves creating educational & entertaining products for our customers. sandy@swmlife.com
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Who is ...and what makes us us special? SunWest Management specializes in helping you develop and promote a strong sense of community and harmony in your community. Prudent financial management, the best governance practices and maintenance strategies, yeah, we’re good at that too! We work with you to keep your property values high and your community thriving. Our digital magazine is another way we share our passion and commitment to serve community associations everywhere. Read on for best practices, tips and offers to enhance your home and community! For over 20 years, SunWest has supported association boards and the communities they serve to achieve their goals. By taking care of the heavy lifting, we make it enjoyable and even fun for resident volunteers to lead and contribute. And our efficient management pricing model ensures your community will receive the highest value! Contact us today to discover how your community can start living the SunWest Life!
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r y a c S Pruning Mistakes By Nick Boulton, SunWest’s Landscape Whisperer Although you might want to act horrifyingly scary this Halloween season, your landscaping doesn’t need to be! Throughout the many years I’ve done landscaping, I’ve seen pretty scary things done to plants, trees, and yards in general. It’s extremely important that when you are caring for your yard yourself, that you know the proper techniques to do this. One task frequently done wrong is pruning. It’s important that you know how to care for each of your plants so that you don’t hurt them. Pruning will actually help promote healthy growth both above and below the ground as long as it is done right. Let’s look at just a few examples of plants that regularly get pruned wrong.
Palm trees are one of those plants that can definitely be over
pruned. As the fronds grow out and begin to die, they will need to be pruned off. When pruning a palm, imagine a clock and only prune it to a 10:00 and 2:00 position, or a “V” shape. Anything beyond this could potentially hurt a palm tree. In the center of the tree, where the new fronds grow, there is an area called the heart. This area should never be pruned, including the fronds directly around the middle, as this will kill the tree. Keeping the palm fronds around the heart will help keep the heart warm in the winter and help protect from potential freezing.
Red tipped yuccas should never be pruned or cut from the top to help keep it contained. You can prune from the sides (called skurting), but it is better if you pull out unwanted shoots from the sides all the way around to reduce it to the size you want. In late summer after the seed pods have bloomed, these stocks can be clipped off at the base of the plant. When Nick Boulton joined SunWest Management as our Landscape Coordinator he brought a wealth of knowledge and experience to the team. He is a great resource to have in your back pocket. If you would like help with your yard or have questions about plants, Nick would love to connect with you. You can reach Nick at services@swmlife.com or 435-773-6456. 4 l www.swmlife.com
Desert Spooned Yuccas should be pruned on the sides close to
the trunk, and never on the top. Try to only prune the leaves that are brown and dried out near the bottom. It should look similar to a pineapple top after a few years of growth. Be careful not to overdo it and prune too far up the trunk to keep it healthy.
Trees should be thinned from the
underside and inside to help promote a healthy canopy. You should never top a tree, except for a few certain species. Topping a tree can actually cause more harm than good, exposing the upper branches to burn in the sun, which is generally followed by disease and insect infestation. Topping a tree can also cause the tree to grow faster and thicker, which leads to an increased need for more pruning. The branches that grow after topping have a very weak structure which, in turn, creates a hazard as they are prone to breakage.
Prune flowering plants and shrubs well before that specific plant’s blooming season, or wait until they are finished blooming to prune them. This way you are sure to enjoy the flowers for as long as possible. I know from experience how easy it is to get carried away with pruning. I’ve stepped back after pruning and thought...”What was I thinking?!! That looks horrible!” It’s very important to remember that a plant’s leaves make the food for the plant. If you take away the ability for the plant to make food because too many leaves and branches were pruned off, it will re-route nutrients needed to combat environmental stress like heat, drought, insects, and disease, and put resources towards growing new leaves. This will make your plants/trees more vulnerable to other problems, as well as leaving them less than enjoyable to look at. If you’re unsure of when it is best to prune, your local nursery can help you decide what works best for your area or a specific plant. Have a great Halloween! I hope these tips help you to prune some of those plants you may have been wondering how to do best. Happy pruning!
Check out Nick’s family costume tradition!
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Halloween Costumes
By Nick Boulton, SunWest’s Landscape Whisperer
In my youth, Halloween in my family was huge! My parents loved getting new masks and costumes to dress up in, and naturally, us kids learned to love it as well. To this day, I still enjoy dressing up for Halloween, as do my wife and kids. Traditionally, every other year our kids can pick their costume, and the other year my wife and I pick themes with our boys for dressing up. We tend to get into it a little too much and sometimes go overboard. Before our kids came along, one of the first themes we tried was Little Bopeep and her sheep. Naturally, I got selected to be Bopeep, and my wife and Drake, our chocolate lab, were the sheep. The next year my wife went as Peter Pan, our new-born son went as Hook, and I was Smee in an extremely tight striped shirt that my wife pulled from her own closet. As I am much larger than my wife, that shirt barely fit over my head, and it had to be later thrown away because there was no coming back from me stretching it out! Most recently we have done Star Wars and Marvels superheroes, as they are big with our boys. Several years ago I went as an overweight Thor from the movie “Avengers Endgame.” My family seems to get great joy out of making sure that, no matter the theme, my costume stands out as the most hilarious and uncomfortable creation possible. But I know our kids have fun with it and that’s what matters most, so I reluctantly, but willingly agree to it every year. Whether you are dressing up this year as a ghoul, goblin, princess, witch, the headless horseman, or a fat Thor, I hope you have fun with it!
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Do you have an awesome Halloween costume planned? Send us a photo and let us help share the fun! You may see your photo in the magazine, or even win a prize!
Submit Photos!
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Q&A Reserve Study
A couple months ago, Brian Webster, the Controller for SunWest, contributed an article about reserve studies. In Utah, every Association is required to prepare, or have prepared, a reserve study. And, the study is to be updated every few years with current information. We had a few questions from our readers, plus we were a little curious, so we caught up with Brian to dig deeper to answer your questions and talk about the importance of reserve studies for Associations.
Brian Webster is the Controller for SunWest Management. He maintains designations with the IMA and CAMICB, as a Certified Management Accountant and Certified Manager of Community Associations, respectively. You can reach Brian at brian@swmlife.com.
What is a reserve study? Brian: There are a few key components to a useful reserve study. First, the study catalogs all the Association assets. Then, an estimated useful life and value of each item are assigned. Finally, schedules to repair, replace or refurbish each asset are provided, along with a funding plan to cover those expenses. A typical reserve study will look at these obligations over the next 30-year period for the association.
Why? Besides the State requirement to conduct a reserve study, why is it useful? Brian: This assessment is extremely helpful because it is forward-thinking. It allows the Association to know the amount of money to set aside in a fund for future needs.
How does the Association determine how much money to set aside? Brian: That depends! I suppose what it comes down to is the specific association’s tolerance for special assessments. If a particular association doesn’t mind planning for, or the risk of, special assessments, then they will tend to fund reserves at lower levels. However, many associations are risk adverse and want to fund reserves at higher levels. This way they plan to avoid special assessments.
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What’s your opinion about how much associations should be setting aside? How do you advise the Boards you work with? Brian: Again, it depends. For Utah, the statute is clear: preparation of a reserve study is required. However, the amount of funding is not legislated. I think this provides the right amount of flexibility for associations to govern themselves. In considering the amount to save in reserves, my consistent piece of advice for board members is to balance the amount of obligation between current residents and future residents. There is some legal precedent in the industry where incoming residents have moved in and faced special assessments; they have successfully sued their association for not saving enough in years past. So, I do not recommend a board neglectfully defers savings, just to keep regular assessments low today. Personally, I think the right balance is to have enough saved (remember to take any planned future contributions into consideration), to meet all anticipated reserve item needs for the next 30 years, plus some agreed upon amount, that acts as a buffer against the unexpected. This type of approach seems to be fair to both current and future residents.
You mention saving enough for all anticipated reserve items. What type of unexpected items pose risk for an association and its reserve fund? Brian: First, most catastrophic loss can be mitigated with all the proper insurance coverages. Association officers and managers should work closely with their insurance professional to bind the appropriate coverages. Specific to the reserve items, risks include factors such as an item wearing out sooner than expected, the price for an item increasing more than assumed, or a change in technology that requires a larger expense or replacement of multiple items. In a community we managed, all the wireless microphones had to be replaced
early because a cell-phone provider purchased the frequency their mics used. The devices still worked, but the technology suddenly became useless. If all the estimates in the reserve study can average out, then big picture, the association is in good shape. So, our approach to reserves is to be a little conservative. If an item has a 3-year warranty, and is expected to last 5 years, we might suggest a 4-year useful life. This way, there’s only one year after warranty before the reserve plans to replace the item, but it’s likely for the item to last longer and funds can be there, available, but not used until needed.
What else? Budget season is approaching for Associations, what else should they consider about reserve funds? Brian: Really, I think clear communication is the key. When boards and managers clearly set the expectations for residents, then everyone is on the same page. Frustration comes into play when a resident can say, “I didn’t know!” So, if you are in an association that is saving lots of money to avoid special assessments, talk about it. ‘Hey, this is why assessments are higher, we are saving like this…’. Or, if you are in an association that is planning on having a special assessment in 5 years, talk about it now. Whatever the case, make sure everyone is on notice so frustration can be avoided. In my experience, the sense of community is preserved and promoted when finances are clearly communicated! We want to thank Brian for sitting down and answering our questions! If you have any further questions about reserves or other ‘association living’ topics, please let me know. I would love to gather pertinent info from the right professionals. Good luck to all the boards, committees and managers working through budgets this time of year. Here’s to properly funding your reserves and carrying out all the operations of your associations! www.swmlife.com l 9
BEA
By Diana Juarez,
SunWest’s Swaggiest Resident Specialist
Listening to my 14 year old niece tell a story had my brain going into overdrive with all the slang she used. I remember the confusion my mother had with me when I was that age; and after experiencing it on the other end, I now suspect she gave up and only listened to me like a white noise machine. Slang has always been part of our language and is a constantly changing linguistic phenomenon in every culture. In the United States, about 64 percent of students prefer to use slang over conventional English as it is “sleek” communication. Slang helps us elaborate our thoughts without further explanation and communicate more freely. If you want to understand what teens these days are really saying, you need to know current slang. Here are some words that have been sleeked to the point that I had to look them up. Now we can all sound “swish” and “dope.” Good luck!
😊
p m i S
uch oo m t y a w , doing e they like n y o b n A meo fectio for so in their af to w tr ying
Before i.e. “G Anyone Else onn the mo a take BEA to vies to night.”
Bet
Express doubt and sarcasm
Savage
and When someone does or says something bold “Did you doesn’t care about the consequences. i.e. ’ with no hear about the guy you climbed ‘El Capitan ropes! What a savage.”
Tea
the latest Referring to d . “You talke gossip. i.e !” pill the tea to Carla? S
Snatched
To describe someo ne that looks good i.e. “Y ou look snatched in that dr ess.”
Dead
You find some thing hilariousl y funny. i.e. “Th at is so dead!”
Shook
shocked When someone is “Did by something. i.e. ason of you see the new se shook!” Yellowstone? I am
PeriodT
Add emphasis to the point being made – the more extreme variation of “period.” i.e. “This is the best food I’ve ever had, periodT” Show off i.e. “He posted a picture of his master’s degree, what a flex.”
Flex
Diana Juarez has 10 years of hospitality management experience, and it shows here in her work for SunWest. Her amazing sense of humor and passion to resolve any issue makes her a favorite with our clients. Reach Diana at dianaj@swmlife.com 10 l www.swmlife.com
Candy Corn Cruel Trick or Sweet Treat?
By Joseph Brimer, SunWest’s Human Search Engine Halloween, in my mind, has always been the start to the most festive and delicious time of year. Growing up my brothers and I would always have a “war counsel“ meeting to barter and trade candy between one another. As the oldest, I would strong arm deals in my favor, but one candy I always made sure to give away was Candy Corn. I have no idea why, but I can’t stand the stuff. I know its a controversial statement, I can already hear the mob marching over with their pitchforks and torches to chastise me. While the origins of Candy Corn vary depending on who you ask, it appeared in Philadelphia stores sometime in the late 1880’s, created by an employee of a candy company. It wasn’t until later in the
century that the company, now known as the Jelly Belly company, picked up the recipe and distributed the candy yearround under the name “Chicken Feed.” After World War I, Candy Corn rapidly rose to popularity due to the ability for kids to buy it in bulk for little money. During the 1950’s is when Candy Corn sales began to spike in October and began to be closely connected to Halloween. The National Confectioners Association estimates more than 35 million pounds of the candy are sold every year. So, whether you’re like me and think Candy Corn is just wax with some sugar in it, or if you thoroughly enjoy eating it, I hope you have a tasty Halloween!
After chocolate, candy corn is the most popular Halloween candy!
Reader Survey What do your taste buds say? Click
Candy Corn Rocks! More please!
Click
Meh. Got any chocolate?
Joseph Brimer is a Resident Specialist here at SunWest Management. If you have a question about your Member Portal, compliance, architectural review or governance, Joseph has the answer! He relishes being a problem solver and doing for others, so he’s a perfect fit for the SunWest team! Contact Joseph at josephb@swmlife.com www.swmlife.com l 11
Stop the
COLD
in its tracks Believe it or not, our weather will soon be getting downright chilly. Is your home ready for winter? This is the perfect time of year to check if caulking is needed around your windows and doors. For such a simple preventative step, sealing off those tiny entrances into your home can make a big difference in your comfort level, heating bills and more!
3 Scary Reasons You’ll Want to Caulk this Fall 1. Protect from Water Damage If there are any unsealed gaps or even minuscule cracks around the windows, they serve as invitations to rain and melting snow that could damage your home. 2. Save Energy Costs Hot air travels – and it naturally moves to colder areas to balance the temperature. That means if it has an escape route, your toasty home will soon cool off as the warm air vents to the colder outside. 3. Thwart Creepy Crawlies Insects can fit through small spaces, and spiders love exploring tight spots, so if you leave a path through a crack or gap You around your window frame, you’re inviting them in, can depend especially if it’s warm and dry. on SunWest, your
trusted resource for all your home maintenance needs. Let us help you make your home shine! 12 l www.swmlife.com
Avoid these nightmare scenarios! Contact SunWest today for a quick caulking maintenance that will help ensure your home is nice and tight before Jack Frost visits.
Your home and landscape professionals Free Estimates l Licensed & Insured
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Planting this Fall? Get on the Schedule Now! Fall is always an excellent time to plant as new plants benefit from the cooler months to become established and spread roots in their new home, giving them the best possible start in the spring. This year many summer plantings have been pushed to fall to comply with Utah’s water conservancy plan, so the fall will be BUSY! Beat the rush and reserve your spot today!
Window Caulking Don’t let winter creep into your home! Whether you need an evaluation, or every window and door caulked, SunWest has you covered. Give us a call today and let us help you get your home ready for the cold weather.
Call us for all your home and landscape needs!
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Don’t get surprised by a standards violation! By Kamarie Naase, the Manager’s Manager...and anti-flamingo advocate :)
The concept is simple…A Community Association is a group of owners who wish to
provide a common basis for preserving, maintaining, and enhancing their homes and the common areas. Those who choose to buy a home in a community with an Association agree to abide by, support, and uphold the community standards. Restrictions and uniform guidelines are often what attract residents to the community in the first place. In fact, homeowners pay assessments to ensure those standards and the common areas are maintained.
The WHY behind the standards…Have you ever visited a community that looks
beautiful, but you just can’t put your finger on what makes it look just a little better than the neighborhood next door? Most often it’s the little touches that make all the difference, which is the ‘why’ behind specific rules. The appearance of your community can directly impact your property values. A good example is satellite dish screening. It’s a common rule many Associations have and demonstrates how proper installation below the roofline and painting the dish to match the mounting surface helps screen the satellite that would otherwise stand out in an unattractive way.
Kamarie Naase, PCAM®, CMCA®, AMS®, is a Professional Community Association Manager who has been affiliated with SunWest Management and the SunRiver Communities for over 20 years. Having moved to St. George from a tourist destination she was impressed by the idea of creating a resort lifestyle community enjoyed every day by its residents. She feels privileged to play a part in bringing this vision to life in the communities we manage. Reach Kamarie at kamarie@swmlife.com 14 l www.swmlife.com
Another example is yard ornaments. They can be whimsical and fun, but can also deter from the beauty of the community when every homeowner expresses their unique personality, each in a different way. It may seem nice to want to have the association look past your unique style and décor. You may ask, “Can’t I get a variance for this ornament, it came all the way from Europe?!” Luckily for you, like this actual request for variance , the standards are nothing personal. The assocition’s job is to be consistent in applying the rules so the standard does not erode. This way, you and all your neighbors know what to expect from your community’s appearance.
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Making it a Win-Win…Everyone loves a beautiful community, but no one likes being told
their home is out of compliance or they have installed something they need to change or remove. The key is communication and cooperation. Here’s your quick reference guide for your community standards: 1. Review the Design Standards for your community so you will know what is and is not allowed. 2. Watch for communication from your Board or Management Company explaining the maintenance requirements and processes, if/when violations are found. 3. Be part of the solution by doing your part to keep your home looking its best. Your property values are worth it! Remember, you chose to live in an Association. The ultimate goal for every Association is to uphold standards so your home and community will be a desirable place to live for both you and your neighbors. When your community is a sought-after place to live, that translates into strong property values for you! www.swmlife.com l 15
e h t f no
Reig
W
! w ido By Sandy Naylor,
SunWest’s Communication Guru
As Halloween draws near, spooky decorations begin adorning our windows, ceilings, and bushes. All are good spots to make a home for one of the most popular Halloween decorations: spiders. But a simple eight-legged creature is not enough – you want those long spindly legs, that distinctive glossy black abdomen shape, and don’t forget the distinctive, sinister red hourglass marking – only a black widow spider will do! Black widow spiders are far and away the most popular creepy crawly used to strike all-in-good-fun terror into any houseguests this time of year. Fear of spiders is common, so they make a natural Halloween spook. The spider’s connection to Halloween also has a historical root due to their connection to witchcraft. During the Middle Ages, spiders joined black cats and bats as the supposed evil companions of witches. Even today many superstitions surround spiders, for example, black spiders found in the home are considered bad luck in several cultures.
But why all the fascination with black widows in particular? While they are venomous (their venom is 15 times stronger than rattlesnake venom), they are actually one of the least dangerous of the venomous spiders in our area, but you don’t see the cobwebbed entrances to the scary spook houses adorned with brown recluse spiders, do you? Black widows are also relatively easy to avoid as these docile arachnids don’t move around much; they prefer to hang out in their distinctive sloppy webs in quiet, rarely disturbed areas; and they usually choose to run and hide rather than bite. However, the female widow spiders do carry the reputation of devouring their much smaller mates – which actually doesn’t happen that often as the males can sense a female’s hunger level, but, still…. Perhaps it’s just the perfect storm to set the black widow up to be the perfect fall guy. If you’re looking for an immediately recognizable addition your Halloween décor that helps elicit a predictable human response, you can’t go wrong with a fashionable black widow.
Black Widow Bites While a black widow is armed with highly toxic venom, they inject such a small dose that bites are rarely fatal or cause long-term effects. Most symptoms disappear in a few days with home care, however, there is a wide variance in how severely venom can affect an individual, so if you believe you have been bitten, please seek medical treatment. Black widow’s venom contains a neurotoxin that affects the nervous system. Symptoms can include • Swelling and pain around the bite • Pain in the abdomen and back • Severe cramping in the muscles of the abdomen, back, chest, and shoulders • Nausea and Vomiting • Sweating or Tremors • Difficulty breathing • Restlessness
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SURVIVAL of the Fittest
By Laurie Nelson-Barker, SunWest’s Fitness Aficionado Recently, I decided to ride my bike from Dammeron Valley into town on a rather warm day. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but proved to be not such a brilliant plan. I intended to ride to my husband’s office at 700 South and River Road but the back tire on my bike squelched my ambitions by awarding me with a flat in front of the St. George Library. In spite of the fact that Mike had patiently taught me how to change a tire, and even though I had a spare tire and all the tools necessary to change it, I exercised my spousal privilege and called him to come get me. My excuse was that I couldn’t remove the quick release lever holding the tire on. We were both inconvenienced by the incident, but it could have been worse. Much worse. What if I had been unable to reach him? What if I had to leave the bike and walk to his office? What if I didn’t have enough water? I am sure I could have overcome those obstacles and managed, but what if there had been a major disaster and there was no one to help? Then what? It’s hard to deny that our world is changing rapidly and that any or all of us could be faced with trying to adapt and survive in hostile conditions. Could you walk a long distance without assistance if you had to? Can you climb a fence or tree if necessary? What about paddling a canoe or kayak across a lake to move supplies instead of just for fun? Would
you be able to ride a bike a long distance, if it was your only means of transportation? Could you change a flat tire on that bike if necessary? What if, like Pheidippides, the first marathon runner in Greece; you had to run a long distance to get help or warn of impending peril? Could you do it without actually dying, like he did? I am certain that the fact that he ran close to 300 miles the previous week and fought in heavy armor before his famous run from Marathon to Athens didn’t help his cause. I would recommend that you train diligently. Hopefully, you will never have to use those skills to survive, but regardless, you will be in great shape. That’s a good thing. It translates to better health, self-sufficiency and the ability to function normally. Engage with your friends and involve them in your endeavors. That way, you can encourage and support one another and stay in the best shape possible.
Although Laurie is technically retired, she refuses to give up on the activities that bring her joy. To her, a fitness center looks like a big playground as she utilizes facilities and equipment in creative ways. Laurie earned an M.Ed in Health, Physical Education and Recreation and is a certified trainer. She is also co pilot of the family Diamond DA 40 and is a former flight attendant. She has learned much over many years and is willing pass on that which she learned through trial and error. www.swmlife.com l 17
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