Employee Spotlight

fact to create a warm and inviting space which will be used by members as: (a) a meeting space for homeowner groups, board and committee meetings, as well as casual gatherings; (b) work areas for those who want a quiet space to hang out and work inside; and (c) an event space to be used for some increased homeowner activities throughout the year, such as wine/ cheese gatherings, some small musical events and the like, also possibly using the adjacent grassy area out front for some of these in the summertime.

Since the Spring, we have been working with an interior designer on some modest improvements to make the space more attractive and inviting, and we are starting to move forward with the initial stages of this, which we anticipate will be accomplished in 2022 and early 2023. This will include painting, some better lighting, flooring and some new furnishings (what we have now is roughly 25 years old) which will be attractive and flexible. Even in its current form, we have already seen that people are utilizing this space for quiet work, so we are encouraged about how we might make it far better utilized in the future. Our current plan is to see how these operational changes have been working out in practice and to finalize how we will use the spaces by the end of the Summer. This work, which is part of our effort to revitalize the Recreation Center facilities, is being championed by our Strategic Planning and Visioning Committee, led by Chairman Steve Klei and with members Jackie Apple and Paul Schumacher.

One other thing to point out is that the Main Pool and Kiddie Pool will close at the end of Labor Day as usual and that we will have a major pool project going on thereafter in September, involving the replastering of the Main Pool, Kiddie Pool and Twirl Spa, including replacement of tile and trims. While this work is underway, the Lap Pool and the Gym will remain open, but the area will be an active “construction site,” so be aware that appearance and access will not be what you are used to. The weeks immediately after we close these facilities for the season is really the only opportunity with enough time to complete the needed repair work.

Early Work on the 2023 Budget: The Budget Committee, led by our Treasurer and CFO Sue Cordonnier, and with members Colette Findley and myself, has already started work on the 2023 budget. This work will continue throughout the Summer and conclude with the annual budget review by the Board in October. Several things are already clear, which we want homeowners to know as we move forward: First, some of our costs are significantly increasing. Examples of these include: (1) our annual property insurance, which increased by 180% in 2022 over 2021, and our insurance brokers advise that Continued on page 8 Greetings NPOA! My name is Greg Aiken and I’m your new Design Review and Compliance Manager. I’m a California native through and through, born and raised in the east bay town of Pleasanton. Since moving to Truckee in 2004, I’ve spent most of that time working at Northstar in real estate development and hospitality for East West Hospitality, Welk Resorts, and The Ritz Carlton.

When outside of the office, I spend my time enjoying all things Truckee/Tahoe with my wife Rachael and our two young children, Liam and Nahla! Like many people that live here, I moved to the area for the snow, but truly fell in love with Tahoe for the indescribable summers. We continue to enjoy the mountains in the wintertime by skiing, snowboarding, and snowshoeing, but really hit our stride during the summertime as we set sail on Lake Tahoe and break out the mountain bikes, tents, and hiking boots. I’m looking forward to becoming more acquainted with all our NPOA homeowners and guests, while continuing to assist in allthings design review and compliance.

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additional increases are expected next year due to the wildfire risks in the Tahoe region; (2) our costs for pool and spa chemicals have increased by nearly 100% this year over past years and are expected to increase again next year; (3) our utility costs have increased by nearly 50% since the beginning of 2022, resulting from the very significant increases in natural gas costs. Second, we are now fully staffed. Over the past two years, we added Sean Cutunilli as our Operations Manager and significantly upgraded the position now occupied by Greg Aiken (more on Greg below). In both 2021 and 2022 we were in hiring mode, and had positions open for part of the year, thus reducing our annual employee costs; 2023 will be the first year in which we are paying for a full complement of staff for a full year. We have also had to increase staff salaries and wages for our hourly personnel to remain competitive and we expect that to continue into 2023. Third, we are finding that the costs for doing almost any kind of repair work on our facilities have gone up significantly in the last year. This impacts both our operating expenses for routine repairs and also the amounts which were expected in our reserve studies for many longer-term replacement components for our facilities (pool heaters are just one recent example). We are currently reviewing all the elements of our reserves, and while we are quite well covered for the immediate upcoming years, we will likely have to increase our annual reserve contributions to keep things well reserved for the future. Finally, there are the unknowns which impact our nonmember income, primarily our “guest fees,” which have become a significant source of extra income to run our business in the past few years. Last Summer, we had a large shortfall in guest fee income when August turned Tahoe into a smokey, unhealthy and largely uninhabited zone. We are, of course, hoping this will not repeat itself this year, but we shall see. If it does, then we probably also need to be more conservative than we have been in projecting guest fee income when we do the 2023 budget. More on all this as we approach the end of the Summer and as we prepare the final Budget for 2023 in the Fall.

Welcome to a New NPOA Staff Member: For close to two years, we have been looking for the “right person” to oversee our Design Review activities and coordinate the oversight of compliance with our community rules and standards. In May, we hired Greg Aiken, as our Design Review and Community Standards Manager. Greg will be working with GM Tim Fulton to streamline our processes in these areas and work directly with homeowners on their remodeling and improvement projects, the number of which have been skyrocketing in the last few years. Greg has a significant construction background and will also assist us with projects we are doing ourselves in-house and in the coordination with professionals and vendors who work for us in our own design, repair and construction work. Please call on Greg if you have plans for a project on or around your home, as he can help you through the process and give you guidance on our Design Review Guidelines. Many smaller reviews are handled in-house by staff without involving our professionals on the Design Review Committee, and for those that do require DRC approval, Greg will be the initial interface to make sure that any plans submitted to the DRC are complete and ready for their review.

Mike Plishner, Board President

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