Sun City Board discusses Whisper Creek, finances

The February 2022 Sun City Board meeting began with a bombshell announcement that Whisper Creek Golf Course is for sale. Whisper Creek General Manager, Dominic Flood, confirmed the report and further replied with a “No comment” when asked about the announcement.

Board members made reports on the Advisory Committees that they support. Dottie Harrison reported that the Charter Club Presidents Council is meeting on Friday, March 4, and that the Charter Club Expo will be on August 30.

Vito Benigno reported that members of the Facilities Committee would be completing tours of the Sun City facilities so that they would be familiar with all that is part of the community’s properties. He also indicated that there were discussions regarding the Fountain View Lobby bar area.

The Finance Committee, according to Bob McGouey, was reviewing the Charter Club financial information that was recently collected. He indicated that “the committee might be requesting more account balance information” from some of the Charter Clubs. He also said that the committee hopes “more financial reports can be completed in NorthStar.”

Barry Newman said that the Neighborhood Advisory Committee was focusing on communications, specifically “how the neighborhoods communicate and how they use newsletters and websites.” He also said that only “twelve neighborhoods have websites and most send newsletters.”

The newly formed SPAC (Strategic Planning Advisory Committee) “is focusing on three areas” reported Russ Howard. They are “communications, volunteerism and the repurposing of common areas,” stated Howard.

In her Management Report, Deanna Loughran said that “there were only nine resales in January versus 13 in 2021.” She also reported that there was “a 20% increase in advertising revenue but that lifestyles activity levels are still down from pre-pandemic numbers.”

“Indoor mask requirements are expected to be lifted at the end of the month,” concluded Loughran.

A lengthy discussion ensued regarding a Veterans memorial in Sun City. Previously, a group of Sun City residents made a presentation to the then-Board for a Veterans memorial at Eakin Field. No motion or decision for a memorial was made at that time.

Benigno made a motion to “rename Eakin Field to Veterans Memorial Field and to place a flag pole for each military service in the outfield” as part of the memorial. He also indicated that a memorial marker “would be placed somewhere else in Eakin Field.”

Benigno’s motion was amended to only the renaming of the softball field to Veterans Memorial Field. The other portions of the amendment were assigned to the SPAC for further action.

The Board voted to accept a proposal from the Peterson Paving Company for a three-year contract for the paving of Sun City’s common areas. The contract is valued at $706,000.

Marilynn Berendt, Board President, recommended that a motion to approve the recent Election Committee appointments be set aside. She commented that “only two candidates submitted interest applications for the two openings on the committee and that the prescribed committee interviewing procedures were not followed.”

She requested that “the appointment approvals be rescheduled for the May Board meeting and that the date for accepting additional candidate applications be extended until May 15.”

The motion to approve the appointments was defeated and the process was returned to the Election Committee with the instructions as per Berendt’s recommendations.

The Board reviewed the report on the 2021 Charter Club financials. Newman said that he “would like to know more details on how the funds are used.”

McGouey said that “the Finance Committee may decide if some boundaries or limits on Charter Club funds” will be needed.

Charter Club Facility Requests was an agenda item. Loughran had been asked by the Board to prepare a draft document that “would be part of the Charter Club Operations Manual when finalized and approved.”

The draft document, according to Loughran, “formalized the process for requests for changes to facilities.” A request for additional Pickleball courts was cited as an example of the need for the standardized process.

If approved, the process “would involve approval of requests by the Charter Club Presidents Council” she stated, since “changes could affect other club’s facilities.”

The last item on the meeting’s agenda was an amendment to Article 3.4 of the By-Laws. That amendment covers the terms of service of Board members.

Berendt offered that the current Article “limits Board members to no more than three terms.” She said that, “historically, the Article included the word ‘consecutive’ as it relates to any limits.”

She said that reinstating the word ‘consecutive’ would allow “experienced Board members to run for reelection after a year away from the Board.”

Howard commented that “allowing former members to return would be anti-volunteerism” and that increasing volunteerism is something that is a Board and SPAC stated goal.

Further discussion on the suggestion was assigned to the Elections Committee.

---