Shadows of the Ridge Newsletter

Hello Everyone,

Hopefully this finds you well and enjoying our spring weather. There are a couple of things I

wanted to share with you:

Our annual meeting at the El Conquistador Hilton was quite enjoyable. The gathering was

small but such a pleasure to be in a single space with others again not just for the meeting

but dinner afterwards as well. We recognized and welcomed Belinda Taylor as our new

HOA manager. Ruvimbo Mutongi was elected to the HOA board replacing Niranjan Vescio.

It is exciting to have Ruvimbo join us but certainly a sad day to see Niranjan bump up

against our HOA term limits.

With spring comes thoughts of house repairs and landscaping. Please remember to

submit an ARC form before any changes so we are not dealing with any glitches that could

have been avoided proactively. That form can be found at shadows2hoa.com along with

lots of other HOA information.

Here is a startling statistic: 60% of all potable water used in Oro Valley is for outside

purposes. Comparatively, the golf course uses a scant 1%-2% of potable water. As the

town council decides how to manage our water resources let’s all ensure that our irrigation

is in good working order and our watering schedules have been reviewed. There will be

more information to come from the town in the coming month.

If you haven’t participated in Oro Valley’s Path Forward 10-year action plan, please

consider doing so at ovpathforward.com. Participation has been quite good to date. The

town is looking for citizen input for what should be our future priorities.

Thank you,

Be well,

Mike Flamm, President

Shadow of the Ridge HOA

  Hilton Pool Pass Update!!

Our neighbors at the Hilton are currently experiencing much higher occupancy rates. This is great news for the resort and our community!  The flute music at dusk has returned and all of their restaurants are open. The hotel will continue to offer $5.00 per day pool passes to homeowners in our community – however – effective April 3rd, this offer is only available Monday through Friday until further notice. They are still offering a 10% discount on food and beverages and a discount on rooms for our out of town guests. 

To access the pool and receive the discounts, a membership application is required. Let the front desk know you are an El Con Homeowner, complete the application and simply check in at the front desk after that. We can request a maximum of four wristbands per day. They highly recommend reservations for dinner at any of the restaurants – when you dine let them know that you are a member and they will apply the 10% discount to your check. See you at the pool! 

Shadows of the Ridge Annual Meeting of the Membership/ Notice 

In-Person @ 9806 N. Ridge Shadow Place Oro Valley, AZ 85704 or Via Zoom 

On November 18, 2020 members of the three (3) Pusch Ridge golf course HOAs publicly expressed their views at the Oro Valley Town Council meeting in a coordinated appeal for representation. The outcome was a surprising 6-1 council vote supporting the HOAs’ petition for a seat at the table with HSL Properties and the Town in deciding the fate of the Pusch Ridge golf course. That led to two subsequent ZOOM meetings with HOA representatives, town managers, and HSL’s president. HOA reps felt the first meeting was an unproductive and even regressive meeting with the Town Manager dismissing open discussion, claiming it was irrelevant until HSL decided on their lease option which expires Jan 31, 2021.  After Tony D’Angelo, ElCon Golf Course Committee chairman expressed strong discontent with the way the first meeting was handled on behalf of the three HOAs; the second meeting was far more productive with each party asserting they would consider a 3-way partnership to restore and resume golf operations…if and when circumstances permit.  The HOA reps feel the Town will realize their most economical and politically palatable option is the restoration of golf operations. HSL’s Omar Morales also concedes golf is the best option but says even a $40,000 contribution in 2021 is a heavy lift when losing millions across his hospitality properties. Please read the ElCon Patio Homes Proposal to force the issue by making the Town and HSL a non-binding $35,000 offer proportionally equivalent to Canada Hills’ contribution to 36-holes golf operations. The offer, which is contingent on homeowner approval by May 1, 2021, will be discussed at the Dec 17, 2021 SRA #2 Special Meeting.  At issue is whether SRA #1 and #2 HOA support this initial offer.

The Town of Oro Valley has declared Pusch Ridge a discontinued golf course, thereby forcing adjacent HOAs to face HSL properties, which now has until Jan 31, 2021 to decide if they will exercise their $10K/year lease option under the terms of the original Purchase and Sales Agreement with Town of OV.   The problem is that the GC is not profitable as currently operated, and may have lost $150K - $200K last year.  The El Conquistador Patio Homes HOA is leading the legal fight against the Town of OV and is urging our HOA and the lower Ridge Shadow Place HOA to stand in solidarity with them.   We have indicated we do but must now decide if we (a) support a legal fight against the Town of OV, (b) negotiation with HSL to subsidize the GC, or (c) do nothing and "ride this out" and hope for a favorable outcome.  Please review the top two (2) documents under "Documents/HOA Documents" for background on this dispute, and send your opinion to "niranjan.vescio@etest.com". 

The Town of Oro Valley has declared Pusch Ridge a discontinued golf course, thereby forcing adjacent HOAs to face HSL properties, which now has until Jan 31, 2021 to decide if they will exercise their $10K/year lease option under the terms of the original Purchase and Sales Agreement with Town of OV.   The problem is that the GC is not profitable as currently operated, and may have lost $150K - $200K last year.  The El Conquistador Patio Homes HOA is leading the legal fight against the Town of OV and is urging our HOA and the lower Ridge Shadow Place HOA to stand in solidarity with them.   We have indicated we do but must now decide if we (a) support a legal fight against the Town of OV, (b) negotiation with HSL to subsidize the GC, or (c) do nothing and "ride this out" and hope for a favorable outcome.  Please review the top two (2) documents under "Documents/HOA Documents" for background on this dispute, and send your opinion to "niranjan.vescio@etest.com". 

I just spoke with John Spiker at the O/V Water Dept. and he confirmed that the two culverts leading down to the main wash have been cleared of brush as previously committed to.   If anyone has questions, please contact Sandy Carter (204-4794) and I will address them with you.”  

After inspecting the area in and around the culvert, on July 21, 2020, I contacted Oro Valley Storm Water Dept. I told them that there appeared to be a substantial amount of brush, including buffle grass growing behind the drainage gates inside the actual culvert flowing both to the west and to the south.  John Spiker from Oro Valley called me to advise that their men had been up to inspect the culvert and are scheduled to remove the debris.