RCSCW ends year with flurry of work and goodbyes

Thursday’s regular meeting of the Recreation Centers of Sun City West marked the final meeting for a trio of governing board members and a flurry of activity leading up to the board’s July-August break.

Marty Bell, Paul Breza and board Secretary Sunny Wandro attended their last meeting. Their three-year terms end Monday.

Bell said he was proud of the strides the rec centers had made in the bowling center in the last three years. He encouraged fellow residents to be active in their community.

"I would like to see us find ways to increase our revenues because we get people to participate more, not less," he said. "We need to focus more on listening to each other and making sure we hear each other."

"We have to find ways to address revenues, and we have to do it in ways that pulls more of us into those activities not that pushes others out of activities," he said.

Wandro said she was proud of the achievements during her tenure as chairwoman of the legal affairs, golf, public relations and human resources committees.

"During my three years I chaired a different committee every year. I don’t know if people didn’t like me or what," she joked.

Breza said he believes his greatest accomplishment "was that I fulfilled my sworn oath of office."

Later in the meeting, a choked-up Breza borrowed the reading talents of board member Ginger Welch to recite a statement reminding residents of the good fortune to live in Sun City West.

Three new board members, Flora Capps, Max Mohr and Paul Piper, will officially begin their terms Tuesday. John Ronan, who is serving on the board as an appointee, will retain his seat after being elected to a three-year term.

The meeting also featured a presentation of concept plans for the R.H. Johnson pickleball expansion project by architect Ken Eller.

Eller discussed features in his concept drawing for the six new courts south of the current pickleball area. The project is in preliminary stages and faces reviews and approvals from the county. No timeframe has been determined for the project, but project manager Larry Griffith estimated at least two years before completion.

Griffith loosely estimated a project cost of anywhere from $270,000 to $600,000 as "concept figures (based) on a concept drawing."

In other news, the board unanimously approved:

• The re-appointment of Barbara Horton to board parliamentarian. Horton has been serving the board in this role for the last five years.

• The reallocation of surplus funds from the Kuentz Pro-Bounce project to the Palm Ridge pool deck resurfacing project. The pool deck resurfacing project bid came in about $39,000 over budget but a $45,000 surplus from the Pro-Bounce project bid coming in under budget will be used to make up the difference. The pool deck project will be completed during the summer months because of the approval of funding.

• A temporary Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions enforcement policy that gives the association’s general manager authority to enforce such violations until Dec. 31. The general manager will be responsible for enforcing violations pertaining to fees, fines and age restrictions, while the Property Owners and Residents Association, with whom the Rec Centers has been contracting to enforce CC&R violations for years, will investigate violations such as weeds.

• An amended version of the Bowling Incentive Plan. The newly approved plan extends the incentive program to all operating hours, whenever open lanes are available.

There will be no regular board meetings in July and August. The board will resume its normal monthly workshop and regular meeting schedule in September.