 Community. It's not just where you live, it's how you interact. Here at High Desert, we believe communication is the number one way to build our community: communication between neighbors, among homeowners and with management. This website is designed to keep every High Desert resident informed and up-to-date on the vital issues that affect us as homeowners. Here, you'll find quick access to our governing documents, policies and procedures, calendars of upcoming community meetings, copies of our latest newsletter, home improvement information, links to Village news and the e-mail addresses of your officers and directors. We hope this information will provide High Desert homeowners with what they need to know...and when they need to know it. For the latest news, scroll down. For more information on High Desert, see the Notices and Reminders page. |
High Desert Board Seeks Candidates Interested in Running for Open Board Positions in April Election
Are you interested in serving on the High Desert Board of Directors? There are four positions opening in April 2012 and candidates are needed to run for election. |
Voting Members Review Reserve Study at January Quarterly Meeting
 High Desert Voting Members reviewed the 2012 Reserve Study presented by Board Treasurer Mary Kurkjian at their quarterly meeting Thursday, January 19.The new funding schedule will result in no change for the master association monthly reserve contributions and "modest" increases for gated villages beginning July 1, 2012. The study, updated every two years, looks at long-term funding for various capital expenses in the community through the year 2042. For this study, the Association worked with Great Boards, LLC, to inventory High Desert assets, estimate replacement timelines and all future costs. Those assets include signs, landscape irrigation systems, pavement and streetlights. "There's no magic in it," Mary told Voting Members. "Our goal is to stay 70 to 100 percent fully funded and to avoid special assessments.” Reg Rider, High Desert Board of Directors President, added, “We are in darned good shape here.” High Desert residents can obtain a copy of the Reserve Study by contacting David Janik, Community Property Manager, at 505-314-5862 or via email at David@hoamco.com. Volunteers Needed For Landscape Survey Ray Berg, Committee Chair of the High Desert Landscape Advisory Committee, asked Voting Members to volunteer for an upcoming survey of High Desert’s landscape assets. The Committee has been asked by the Board to identify and rate the 270 acres of High Desert landscaped areas throughout the community. “We’ve developed specific criteria for maintenance and appearance for each area,” said Ray. “We plan to send teams to inspect different areas and score each of them against the expectations we’ve set.” The individual surveys will be combined to produce a “living document” of the High Desert landscape, Ray said. The team will be made up of volunteers because a survey of this depth could be quite costly,” Reg added. “And,” he noted, “this is our landscaping. This survey is our collective view of what our landscaping ought to look like. We could hire someone, but then that company would bring in its view of what landscaping ought to be.” Reg and Ray asked Voting Members to consider volunteering for the surveys and to get feedback and input from owners in their villages. A call for volunteers will be made later this spring. New Construction Committee Ray, who is also Chair of the New Construction Committee (NCC), told Voting Members in his report that construction in High Desert remains low with about 100 to 125 empty lots left in the community. The NCC is working to update and revise the Guidelines for Sustainability, a document that provides specific building information for homeowners in High Desert. The revised document will eventually be submitted to the Board of Directors for approval. Areas that have undergone revision include those pertaining to mailbox construction and rooftop appurtenances (such as air conditioning units and solar panels). Contracts Lynn Claffy, Chair of the Contracts Committee, reported to Voting Members that the Committee is currently working to obtain bids on the management contract currently held by HOAMCO. The new Committee oversees the bidding process on the three large contracts held by the Association including the landscape maintenance contract (contracted currently to Heads Up), the security patrol contract (currently contracted to Guardsmark) and the management contract. The Committee reviews one contract per year with 2012 designated for the management review. “We are not necessarily looking for a new management company,” Lynn said. “We are seeing what is out there and if we can obtain services for a more competitive price.” A request for information was sent out to 11 management companies throughout the Southwest last fall with eight companies responding. The Committee reviewed and selected five of those companies and asked for proposals from each. Those proposals are due back this month and will be reviewed by the Committee, Lynn said, with a final recommendation made to the Board. The new contract will begin in July. |
Free Classified Ads to High Desert Residents Selling Household Items and Teens Looking for Babysitting, Snow Shoveling or Other Jobs
Are you a High Desert resident looking to sell household items? Maybe you are a High Desert teen looking for babysitting jobs or interested in making some money shoveling snow or doing other household tasks. If so, your classified ad can run free on this website. Click here to fill out an online Classified Ad form which will be sent directly to the website administrator. Links can be included to your email as well. If you have a picture of the item you are selling, send the jpeg to eenews@comcast.net. (Please note that classified ads are subject to Board approval where necessary.) |
Board Approves New Documents and Solar Pamphlet
| At their November 16 meeting, High Desert Board members approved several documents updating the Guidelines for Sustainability for Estate and Premiere Homes. The Board also approved a new Solar Pamphlet for owners considering modifications including solar panels. The new documents include updated Lighting Guidelines, Mailbox Guidelines (for location, construction and materials,) and a New Construction Committee Enforcement Policy. The new guidelines documents can be found on the Governing Documents page under the Guidelines for Sustainability for Estate & Premiere Homes, and the NCC enforcement policy is on the Board Approved Policies and Procedures page. The new Solar Pamphlet gives guidance to homeowners designing a solar energy-based power generating system in High Desert in a way that is in harmony with the rules and regulations of the community, the environment, and the expectations of residents. The new Solar Pamphlet is found on the Modifications Committee page as a menu item to the left. Residents considering a new solar panel or power system will need to contact the Modifications Committee after reviewing the new guidelines. |
Cougars Spotted Near High Desert Park and In Village of Chamisa Trail
Update: A cougar was spotted near High Desert Park at Imperata and Academy about 10:30 Tuesday night, November 1st. Earlier in the week a bobcat was seen in Desert Mountain. Residents reported that the bobcat killed a domestic cat. The big cats apparently are coming down into High Desert for food…..so residents need to be alert and keep their animals inside. (Earlier story below.)  When Jack Herndon opened his garage door on his way to work in the predawn hours of Sunday morning, October 15, he didn’t expect to see two cougars standing right in the middle of his driveway. The animals froze for a second, looking directly at Jack, and then quickly jumped aside in opposite directions, one leaping over the wrought iron gate into the backyard. His wife – High Desert homeowner Sherry Brown Herndon – was inside, in bed, when she heard her husband shouting. “Jack yelled for me to hurry and close the doggie door into our house,” she said. “I got up and looked out into the back yard, where we have a light always on, and I saw a very big cat trotting along on the brick patio.” Sherry said the cat she saw was as large as the Labrador dog her son has and was a similar yellow color. “This cat was big and it had a really thick, long tail,” she said. “I was so startled to see it just walking across the patio. Then it disappeared.” Her husband thought at first that the animal was a bobcat but when they saw photos of cougars online, he realized that the cats he’d seen were not only much larger, but they had long, thick tails, unlike a bobcat’s shorter, stumpy tail. Later that morning Jack and Sherry called the New Mexico Game and Fish Department to report the sighting of the two large cats. Officials told them cougars generally travel alone unless the pair is a mother and her nearly grown offspring. Cougars hunt in early dawn and dusk, which match the times these animals were spotted. Jack and Sherry live in the village of Chamisa Trail, at 12824 Sandia Ridge Place, west of Cortaderia. Their property abuts a long section of High Desert Open Space that runs east and west from the foothills. “It’s a bit scary to have seen them down this close to Tramway,” Sherry said. They have lived in their High Desert home for 13 years and never seen any wild animals on their property. “No coyotes, no bears and certainly no cougars…until now,” Sherry said. Sherry sent out emails to her neighbors, letting them know about the sighting and warning them to keep their pets in at night. Her email included a sketch of a cougar and noted that cougars can travel up to 25 miles at night on a hunting expedition and can weigh up to 200 pounds. They are excellent climbers and jumpers and their primary prey is deer. For now, Jack and Sherry are keeping their doggie door securely closed at night and personally escorting their Yorkies into the yard each evening. “Four years ago, we lost one of our dogs to what we thought was a coyote,” Sherry said. “Now we’re wondering if it might have been a cougar after all.” |
Another Successful Studio Tour For High Desert
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Perfect autumn weather and purple helium balloons greeted visitors and residents touring 14 High Desert artists' studios Saturday, October 15 during the 3rd Annual High Desert Studio Tour. The Studio Tour is an annual event of the High Desert Welcome Committee under the co-chairmanship of Thea Berg and Susan Gall.
Wine & Cheese Party Welcomes New High Desert Residents
 A spectacular sunset and views of the mountains and city lights provided a perfect backdrop to the Welcome Committee's Wine and Cheese party for newcomers Friday night, September 23, at the home of Horton and Joan Newsom in Wilderness Village. Joyce and Matt Melzer were two of the newcomers at the party. They moved to The Aerie Village three months ago from their previous residence in the Northeast Heights. "We drove around High Desert and we knew we absolutely wanted to live here," said Joyce. The High Desert Welcome Committee holds wine and cheese parties for new residents two to three times per year. The parties give new residents a chance to meet established residents, other newcomers, learn how the High Desert Residential Owners Association works and receive a Welcome Bag assembled by committee members. Welcome Committee Co-Chairs are Thea Berg at theaberg@comcast.net and Susan Wrona Gall at wronagall@comcast.net. Members include Lori Enright, Sandy Jacobi, Joan Newsom and Janice Rosett. (Photo above: Matt Melzer, David Bentley, Jr., member of the HDROA Board of Directors, and Joyce Melzer at the Wilderness Village home of Horton and Joan Newsom.) |
New Governing Documents Have Been Adopted and Are Now Available for Use
Newly restated and amended High Desert Residential Owners Association By-Laws and Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions for High Desert Residential Properties were formally adopted on August 15, 2011 and have been recorded with the Bernalillo County Clerk’s office. These restatements, which are designed for easier reference and readability, now incorporate all previous amendments and eliminate a number of obsolete provisions relating to the original developer and transitional events that have already taken place.
The new documents are now posted and available for your use on the Governing Documents page of this website. Archived copies of the prior documents are on the Historical Document Archive page for historical reference purposes. Should you have any questions regarding these new documents, please contact Community Association Manager, Dave Janik at David@hoamco.com. |
Volunteers Needed for High Desert Projects
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If you are interested in any of these activities, please contact me—Ray Berg at 366-8104 or rsberg01@comcast.net for more information or to get on the notification list for more details. This will also ensure that we have adequate tools and supplies for the participants.
The Forest Service has been looking into transporting rock and other materials to worksites via all-terrain vehicles so we won’t have to be hauling rock ourselves. This should make the work significantly easier and quicker. The next Trail Maintenance day will be held this spring. We will see you in the field.
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Volunteers should meet at High Desert Park. Email me for dates at 
Foothills Trail Maintenance: The Foothills Trail #365 Maintenance Project helps keep the trails along the east side of High Desert in usable condition. We repair erosion damage, block some of the proliferation of "user trails" to help protect the fragile ecosystem, and cut back vegetation that can block safe trail use. This year has been a particularly difficult year for the trails because of the lack of rain since early February. Billing Information For Residents
| High Desert residents now have several options for paying assessments. Billing information and payment instructions can be found on the Billing Information page. |
Notices & Reminders
| To see "Notices and Reminders" for High Desert, click here. |