February 7, 2012 Comments Off
Saturday, March 31st starting at 7:00 AM.
Time for SPRING CLEANING!
This means that any Cortina Residents may hold a garage sale at their home and we will be obtaining a permit to cover the entire community.
We will ONLY have the permit for Saturday, keeping Sunday clear of outside traffic so we can enjoy our neighborhood and common areas safely.
We will advertise the sale in a few different venues including Craig’s List and our community chat groups.
We are currently looking to schedule local p/u by charity organizations for anything that is left after the Garage Sale Day that is not something you want to keep but is worth donating. Stay tuned for more information on that.
If anyone would like to volunteer to make COMMUNITY GARAGE SALE signs for the entrances to Cortina for that day, please feel free to contact Rebecca Atlee who is heading up this event. 480-396-8298.
February 7, 2012 Comments Off
In our on-going efforts to keep our community beautiful and in good maintenance, we are giving the pool a face lift! The pool will be CLOSED from February 9, 2012 to mid March for resurfacing. On February 9th or 10th, the pool will be drained so you may notice a lot of water on the West and South sides of the Pool. This will dissipate within a couple days and if there are any issues with the grass or landscape, it will be taken care of by our the landscape company.
January 25, 2012 Comments Off
Hello Cortina Residents!
Yes it is time to start planning the SPRING CortinaFest Event!!! This event is FREE for Cortina Residents (food, drink and vendor tables will charge for goods and services they may provide).
When: Saturday, April 14, 2012 from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Where: Ryan Field (Ryan Rd and 188th St) in Cortina.
We are expecting around 800 people and will have a professional DJ, free inflatables for the kids, free face painting and balloon twister for the kids and much more!
Vendor/Sponsor Info
If you are interested in being a vendor/sponsor or know someone who is (vendors do not have to be Cortina residents), please let me know (contact info below) or forward this to anyone you know who may be interested.
The fee for a reserved space is only $25. You get pretty much as much space as you need. There is no charge for non-profit organizations and we have a special offer for our own Cortina Resident’s kids if they want to sell their own hand made things, contact me for details.
If you would like to be a sponsor for $100 you get the following:
- Reserved space
- Your logo on our flyer that gets mailed/emailed to all 1200 residents before the Event, and posted on the mailboxes thru-out the community before the event
- Your logo is on our website as a sponsor for a year.
- Call outs by the DJ at the event.
In the past our sponsors have enjoyed increased business opportunities due to the exposure at this event, so be a sponsor! Please contact Rebecca and let us know if you will participate this year and at what level you would like to sponsor. We will collect fees in March.
Thank you and we look forward to hearing from you!
Rebecca Atlee
Cortina HOA Board President
Social Committee Chairperson
rebecca.atlee@gmail.com
480-396-8298
January 16, 2012 Comments Off
The HOA Board would like to remind residents that the use of the common areas (i.e., greenbelts, parks, pool areas, etc.) are reserved for the use of community members and their guests, and charging for services such as fitness bootcamps or swim lessons is not permissible.
Please refer to the community CC&R documents on this site (available via the Info-Docs link at the top of the web site on every page) for more information about proper use of common areas.
If you have any further questions or concerns you are encouraged to attend the monthly HOA meetings, the schedule of these meetings is available also on this web site using the Calendar link available on every page.
December 26, 2011 Comments Off
An announcement from Cortina Elementary…
Season’s Greetings! I hope this message finds you and your family well. The purpose of this message is to alert and communicate to you two significant events happening at Cortina over the next few winter months.
Over the Winter Break we will be upgrading our school fire alarm system. As you may know, the Maintenance and Operations Department have been working vigorously to get the system functionally on-line the past few weeks. At this point, we will be completing a thorough upgrade by adding a new system. Crews will be at the school starting December 27 working during the day, and continuing throughout the week, until the project is completed. You may hear periodic alarms going off or may see strobe lights flashing during that time. Please know that this is part of the replacement and upgrade process. Our new system will ensure the continued safety of the school and the students in the community.
In addition, I am proud to announce the upcoming work being done on the front east part of the school parking lot and drives. This work will start in mid-late January and will consist of adding additional parking spaces, an added deceleration lane for cars, new fencing and sidewalks, additional parent drop-off and pick-up areas and relocating the dumpsters from our school playground. These improvements will increase our student safety, allow for better traffic flow, better clear 188th street during high traffic times and maximize the land area usage on the school site.
During the work time, student safety near construction areas will be a priority. Because of this we will plan carefully and communicate thoroughly to both students and families. We will also keep you updated on future proceedings and developments.
We are excited about these changes and the improvements they will bring to your child’s school. Thank you for bringing your children here to Cortina and your continued support.
Mr. Cort Monroe
Thank you Cortina residents for a wonderful Fall CortinaFest event!! Here are some pictures we collected
See you again in April…dates will be announced soon!
Thank you very much for your support and joining our community together!
From time to time the members of the Cortina HOA Board of Directors have scheduling conflicts. As long as a quorum (4 board members are in attendance as described in the By-laws section 3.9 ) the meeting proceeds as scheduled. Unfortunately, there are times when less than a quorum will be in attendance which results in the regular monthly meetings cancellation or rescheduling. Due to scheduling conflicts for several board members, a quorum will not be available to attend October 25, however, because of the importance of scheduled agenda items including the Tree Replacement and Asset Protection Program we are issuing additional notifications for the meeting change. The regular October meeting has been rescheduled for Wednesday November 2, 2011 at the Cortina Elementary Music Room (7:30 pm – 9:00 pm). We apologize for the need to reschedule and any attendance issues this may create for you. Please make sure your opinions are represented as we do look forward to and welcome your comments.
To allow for the greatest exchange of ideas we are offering floor time request cards which will be available at the door for the November 2 meeting. Please be precise in your floor time statements and limit them to 3 minutes to allow for everyone to have a fair opportunity to share their thoughts. If you have any documents to present; please provide an advanced copy electronically to Renaissance Community Partners at info@cortinahoa.com to assure the documentation is available for everyone to view at the meeting.
As an additional note: Please make sure to mark your calendar for CortinaFest October 2011 Saturday October 29th 11 am until 4 pm. Come enjoy our community and grow friendships. Queen Creek is a great place to be especially this time of the year. Contact Rebecca Atlee if you would like to help out with this event or any other committees.
Again we apologize for any inconvenience or scheduling challenges this may have caused for you. Thank you for your understanding.
Click to view the document mailed to homeowners. Tree Information Mailer
Respectfully,
Cortina HOA Board of Directors
October 10, 2011 Comments Off
We want to thank all of the Cortina residents who have expressed great concern and appreciation for our community. It is an outstanding place to live, raise our families and enjoy the many qualities of life Queen Creek has to offer.
To treat everyone with respect that have voiced concerns in the Cortina tree replacement asset protection program and allow equal voice to all we want to encourage attendance of the monthly Cortina HOA Community November 2 meeting at 7:30 pm at the Cortina Elementary School to come and share in the conversations at that time. To better manage the conversations and show the greatest respect we will hold our comments until all interested homeowners are able to attend and express their individual concerns. Again thank you for your involvement to improve our community both for today and for the many years to come.
In preparation for the November 2 HOA meeting at 7:30 pm at the elementary school the Board wanted to share some further information to serve as background for discussion at the meeting. We look forward to your participation in the meeting and having a respectful discussion about the concerns of the community.
The tree replacement project has been temporarily suspended until after the November 2, 2011 board meeting where more information will be provided to homeowners.
This question above is on the mind of many Cortina Residents seeing that some mature Sissoo trees that were planted right next to community walls have been removed. Some 150 trees were planted in Cortina that are too close to community walls and foundations of homes. As these trees mature, they will reach more than 40 feet with very large strong roots that will destroy anything in its way. Over the last two years, evidence of the destruction has begun to manifest on community walls. We are not yet aware of any home foundations that have been cracked or lifted yet. Left unchecked, these trees would cause significant damage to walls, pools, and homes.
Why is the Association doing this now?
Rather than wait until the walls are significantly damaged, pools cracked, and homes destroyed the board felt the responsible solution is to deal with the problem before it’s too late. Some homeowners have reported there is currently no damage to their walls. This is true. The property damage does not begin to occur until the trees are mature and are reaching further distances for water. Once the board became aware of the impending danger to walls and private property, sound business judgment was used to prevent the damage by replacing the trees now instead of when costly repairs are required. The board has a responsibility to take a long term view of the community and do its best to seek the opinion of experts to help understand current and future issues. In this case, the board met with two Certified Arborists and discussed it at open board meetings for over a year before making this difficult decision.
There are over 4,600 trees in Cortina and 138 of them will be replaced with less invasive trees as part of this project. Please feel free to do any internet search on “Sissoo tree roots” and you will immediately discover why this decision was so important.
Why didn’t the board tell homeowners before the removal started?
Each month the board makes many decisions that affect the community. You may recall the decision to take responsibility for landscaping in the boulevards, granite replacement throughout the entire community, painting the metal rails on the common area walls, converting from keys to “key fobs” for pool access, re‐paint of all the metal roofs in the community, re‐surfacing the pool decking, replacement of thousands of plants and trees and construction of retaining walls and sidewalks, just to mention a few.
The board didn’t feel the tree damage remediation decision was any different than the decisions mentioned in the above paragraph. Once the board discovered that the community wants more
information about this decision, the project was halted to provide an opportunity for homeowners questions to be answered before the project continues.
What will the trees be replaced with?
Many trees will be replaced with 15 gallon Mexican Bird of Paradise trees which will not damage the walls and still provide beauty and some shade. You can see quite a number of them on Longwood Blvd, south of Ryan, on the east side of the street. Where possible, the board is investigating the potential use of other less invasive trees.
This project started September 27, 2011 and will last through the winter as there are close to 150 trees that will be removed, stumps ground and re-planted.
The replacement of the trees in the boulevards in front of homes will continue for those damaged due to the extreme heat or disease that has killed many Evergreen Elms in the community. However, those will be replaced with Southern Live Oak trees that are more immune to disease.
Thank you for your patience through this process.
-Cortina HOA Board of Directors
The Board of Directors has temporarily suspended the tree damage remediation project. At the next board meeting, November 2 at 7:30 pm at the elementary school, the association’s certified arborist will be there to answer questions from homeowners.
All those who are interested are invited to attend this meeting. This project has been discussed at board meetings for 18 months and the board has received multiple presentations from certified arborists before making the decision to proactively prevent private and public property by replacing the trees in question.
Please come and learn how destructive the trees in question are and why this is an important decision to protect the long term stability of walls and home foundations.
