First-ever association board elected at Sunrise

DINGMAN — This past Sunday an election was held with 18 Sunrise Lake owners on the ballot to form a seven- member board of directors for their new community association. Sunrise Lake is an 875-home community on state Route 739 which was developed and has been operated by Bob and Bill Ramagosa as a private corporation for many years. Unlike many communities, the owners had retained ownership of common areas in the community. There were two factions in the election: the Concerned Citizens of Sunrise Lake and the Responsible Residents of Sunrise Lake. When the votes were counted by an independent law firm, six members of the Concerned Citizens slate were elected and one member from the Responsible Residents. The Concerned Citizens cited deteriorating community amenities and the close of the community pool more than three years ago due to over $30,000 worth of needed repairs. A grass roots organization formed and pressed for changes. Aside from community amenities not being maintained, they charged financial mismanagement and poorly kept records of dues collected and how those monies were being used. They solicited financial help from Sunrise homeowners to bring a civil action against the developers. The lawsuit led to mediation and in May the developers sent a letter to all Sunrise owners requesting dues payments and notified them that a community association was going to be formed which would take over community roads and amenities. The Responsible Residents of Sunrise Lake was formed late in the game. They opposed many of the positions of the older group, concerned that an association would provide restrictive rules and increased costs for homeowners. Their position was that those who used amenities should bear the cost of providing and maintaining them, that dues payments for those services were not obligated in homeowners’ deed contracts. “We only found out about two months ago there was going to be a community association formed,” said Barbara Chapman of the Responsible Residents group. Chapman was an unsuccessful candidate to the new community board. According to Chapman, the Responsible Residents only had time to have one meeting, had no funding to even get a mailing out and had to walk around giving out flyers in the community. “The Concerned Citizens said they couldn’t reveal what was going on and so the rest of the community was ambushed by this,” stated Chapman. Chapman was unsure as to how the new association was going function and did not believe they would be able to live up to their campaign promises. “Community associations are so restrictive; but we have no choice now and we’re going to have to make the best of it.” In response to a question regarding the community amenities and the right of community residents to use those facilities Chapman stated, “From my understanding it was costing $30,000 a year to maintain the pool and the Ramagosas were only collecting $3,000 in pool fees. It was a losing proposition for them.” “There is a tremendous amount of work ahead of us,” said DeAnna Margiore of the Concerned Citizens who was elected to the new community board. There is a transition period which has to take place and it is expected to be completed within the next two weeks. She hopes the transition will go smoothly and the many tasks of running a large community association will then have to be faced. Of prime concern is the task of winter snow and ice removal from the roads. Sunrise has approximately 37 miles of roads according to Margiore that will need snowplowing and salting this next winter. “After sitting and talking with some of the Responsible Citizens running for board positions on the night of the meet-the-candidates, some of them have great ideas,” said Margiore. She looks forward to working with all the homeowners and to moving forward and improving their community. According to both Chapman and Margiore, everyone seems to be on the same page with regard to getting the new community in focus for the tasks ahead. Margiore said she is receiving e-mails by the hour from Sunrise residents who want to contribute their time and energy in doing community-needed tasks from planting flowers, to changing words on the community sign board or anything else that is necessary. “I am thrilled to death with the results of the election. After three and a half years of work we have proven ourselves to the community and they see our dedication and we are willing to put in the hours it takes to bring about change,” stated Margiore. Election vote totals from third party Attorney James Baron 1. Andrew Mellen 258 2. Jack Ritter 234 3. Chip Dingman 233 4. DeAnna Margiore 232 5. Gary Johnson 214 6. Janice Schneck 209 7. Lou Sancio 199 8. Brendan O’Sullivan 194 9. Barbara Chapman 194 10. Lisa Krenkel 191 11. Barbara Borriello 186 12. Heather Koferl 158 13. Roberto Mendoza 145 14. Donald Post 136 15. Richard Babcock 121 16. Matt Colello 103 17. Jim Furno 71 18. Debbie Jack 16