Layne Varney
We are now right in the middle of summer, and it’s HOT!
About 400 common area trees, including mesquite, Palo Verde, and acacia trees are being thinned and access trimmed. The thinning helps keep the trees healthy and open in the middle. When strong gusts of winds blow, it also reduces the risk of trees blowing over and/or branches breaking off. Trimming desert-like trees in Arizona is different than most other places. These desert trees are normally very hardy and need space. Some trees have grown extremely tall in very small areas, potentially causing damage with the shallow roots and falling debris or danger to the surrounding area. These trees will be removed. After these common area trees are trimmed, 126 common area palm trees will be trimmed. The ideal time to trim palm trees is sometime in July after all of the seed pod stalks have grown. These seed pods open up and drop large amounts of pea-sized seeds and white, cotton-like “dandelion” floating seeds. This causes a terrible mess to the swimming pools and area around.
In Maricopa County, as reported by the Maricopa County Public Health Services, as of June 1, approximately 49% of the population over 10 years of age has had one or more of the vaccination shots. A survey was made available on the SunBird website last month that was also linked with several of SunBird’s community eblasts sent out to get an idea of how many people in SunBird have been vaccinated. Of the respondents, 96% indicate that they have been vaccinated, 2% were undecided about getting vaccinated, and 2% indicated that they were not getting vaccinated. With this positive news, activities in SunBird have slowly started again. Participating in activities, recreational, or social events is at your own risk. Know and be comfortable with whom you are socializing and participating. If not fully vaccinated and/or immune compromised, please consider what, if any, activities are safe to participate in at this time. It is also strongly encouraged when participating in social or other activity, to wear a protective face mask if not fully vaccinated and/or are immune compromised. It appears life is beginning to return to the new normal, and we want to keep heading in this same direction.
SunBird home sales are continuing to set a recording-breaking pace, with the number of homes sold this year and with homes selling at record-high prices. As of the end of May, 80 home sales have closed. At this rate, SunBird could have 192 home sales this year. The average number of homes sold each year is 120, and the record year for 2003 was 189.
Thank you to our 20 faithful SunBird volunteers who helped prepare and mail the second half of the year billing invoice and a letter from the SunBird Golf Club. This was just mailed out late May. If not already paid, the amount for the last half of 2021 is $530, due July 1. These were mailed to the last known address as updated at the SunBird office. If this mailing was not received or if someone may have had a change of address, please email the SunBird office at [email protected] or call 480-802-4901. SunBird has an above-excellent payment/collection status. The Community Association Institute (CAI), the largest and most reputable national HOA education and training organization, just reported that HOAs with a 3% delinquency rate were considered excellent. As of the end of April, only two lots owe for 2020 or longer and two lots owe for four months of this year, for a total delinquency rate of less than one-quarter of one percent, and 26 lots are making regular, monthly payments. The large part of this excellent rate is credited to the homeowners who pay on time. The second reason for such a low delinquency rate is the collection policy followed by SunBird to collect late and delinquent assessments.
Thank you for choosing a wonderful place to live and for all of your interest and support in continuing to make SunBird the best community around!