High Sierra Newsletter

Fall 2007

Please send payments or any correspondence directly to High Sierra Condominiums at
the following address:

High Sierra Condominiums
P.O Box 7188
Ruidoso, NM 88355-7188
USA

Phone: (575) 257-6913
   Fax: (575) 257-7319

High  Sierra’s
E-Mail  Address:
info@highsierracondos.com

High Sierra rents units for owners — ask us how!

The President's Corner

Hello to all High Sierra owners.  It's nearing time for the Annual Budget Meeting which will be held at 10 AM on October 20^th, 2007, in the High Sierra clubhouse.  All owner-members are encouraged to attend.  A copy of the proposed 2008 budget is with this newsletter, along with the estimated financial costs for the end of 2007.  Your Board of Directors has critically evaluated operating costs for 2007, and the only way to balance the budget for 2008 was to increase the basic Maintenance Fee for each unit by $20.  This will be reflected in the statements sent out this November for 2008.  The Reserve Fee will remain at $100 annually per unit to allow continued work required on the complex.  There are still a lot of repairs and replacements that need to done, and as with all businesses the cost of operations continues to rise.  High Sierra's fees remain lower than the majority of timeshares affiliated with RCI.

Speaking of RCI…we've just received notification that RCI recently awarded High Sierra with their "RCI Hospitality" designation for 2007, awarded to resorts that consistently received high ratings from RCI guests for hospitality provided between September 1, 2006, and August 31, 2007.  This is concrete evidence of on-going improvements at High Sierra, and all owners should be proud of this accomplishment.

The Board encourages owners to attend the Annual Budget Meeting.  I want to thank the Board members for their long hours and diligence in working on the budget.  Members of the Board serve as volunteers and receive no compensation for their travel or time to participate in Board meetings.

I hope the membership is able to see and appreciate the recent improvements that have been accomplished at High Sierra.  The staff is looking forward to making your stay a pleasant one whenever you visit.

Raymond L. Peabody, HSOA President
 

The Annual Budget Meeting will be held  at 10 AM on October 20, 2007,  at the High Sierra clubhouse.

This meeting is open to all owners of High Sierra units, and attendance is highly encouraged since next year’s budget will be discussed and voted on at this meeting. The Board of Directors hopes to see you there!

Policy changes are made periodically by the High Sierra Board.  Such important policy changes are announced in this news-letter, and they’re also posted on High Sierra’s website.  Go to: www.highsierracondos.com

WINTER  HOURS
High Sierra has moved to winter hours.   During the winter months office hours are 8 AM to 9 PM every day.

 Pool hours are from 9 AM until 8:30 PM every day.

IMPORTANT NOTE — NEW TELEPHONE AREA CODE FOR HIGH SIERRA CONDOMINIUMS

In the past, the entire State of New Mexico has had only one area code (505).  However, effective October 7, 2007, there’s another area code (575) that will apply to part of New Mexico, and High Sierra is included in that new area code.

High Sierra’s correct phone and fax numbers with the new area code effective October 7, 2007, are shown above on the left in this newsletter.

For nearly a year, callers will be able to use either the new 575 or the old 505 area code to complete calls. This period is called a “permissive dialing” period. However, mandatory use of the new 575 area code will begin October 5, 2008.  Please begin using the new area code right away, because calls using the old area code will not be completed after October 5, 2008.

DVD/VCR COMBO PLAYERS IN UNITS

We now have combination DVD & VCR players in 21 of our 28 units, and all units will have them before the end of 2007.  We’ll keep our existing library of VHS tapes, but we’re now building a collection of movies on DVD also.  If you have any DVD or VHS movies you’d like to donate, we’d welcome them to our new combined DVD and VHS collection for use by owners and guests.  (High Sierra is one of the few resorts in Ruidoso that lets guests view movies at no cost.)  Also, if you have any usable sports or recreational equipment that you no longer use...items such as tennis racquets, board games, or etc...High Sierra would welcome any donations of such items for guest use.

 IMPORTANT NOTE FOR OWNERS
and THEIR GUESTS

For your security, keys for “after-hours” arrivals are now left in a metal mailbox with a changeable combination lock on it.  Any owner or guest arriving after the office is closed MUST know the current combination to obtain keys. 

IF YOU ANTICIPATE ARRIVING AFTER 9 PM ON ANY NIGHT, PLEASE CALL THE HIGH SIERRA OFFICE BEFORE 9 PM TO OBTAIN THE COMBINATION FOR THE LOCK. 

 Again, this procedure is to protect YOUR High Sierra resources and provide better security for our owners and guests.  If all fees are not paid current, keys cannot be left out.      
                              

WE NEED AN E-MAIL ADDRESS FOR EVERY HIGH SIERRA OWNER !!!

Please send yours to: info@highsierracondos.com

(And please remember to notify High Sierra of any changes to your mailing address, phone numbers, or e-mail address.)

OWNERS’ SURVEY RESULTS

The Board of Directors recently initiated a survey asking owners for their input to help the Board prioritize during the annual budgeting process.  There were 10 items listed in that survey and owners were asked to rank-order their top five in terms of priority.  (Note: some badly-needed things weren’t included in that listing because they’re (1) already funded or (2) in-progress.)  While every item of the ten in that survey received at least some votes, the item that the majority of owners felt was most important was very clear...replacement of kitchen countertops.  That item was cited more often than any of the other nine…so many times that it won both first AND third place!  Following close behind were replacement of the wooden front walkways with composition materials (“plastic wood”), and then replacement of the windows in the pool area.  A more complete summary of the survey results will be available at the Annual Budget Meeting on October 20, 2007, and  following that meeting the same summary will also be posted on the Owners Page on High Sierra’s website.  The Board of Directors and your managers wish to thank all those who responded, and owners are assured their input was actively used by the Board of Directors while considering the 2008 Reserve Fund for High Sierra.
 

FROM YOUR MANAGERS — As High Sierra’s General Managers, we’re very pleased with RCI’s recent selection of High Sierra to receive their “RCI Hospitality” award rating for the period September 2006 through August 2007.  As owners of 5 High Sierra unit-weeks ourselves, we believe this RCI award provides demonstrated evidence that High Sierra is staying competitive in the hospitality & timeshare resort industry.  For years, many Ruidoso-area timeshare resorts enjoyed full occupancy “no matter what” because there was little competition.  However, with the recent influx of many other lodging facilities, long-established resorts in Ruidoso can no longer “get by” doing business as usual.  We’re dedicated to keeping High Sierra fully competitive by elevating guest services to levels not achieved in the past.   Many dedicated staff members have contributed to improvements leading to this RCI recognition, and we encourage owners to thank employees for their efforts whenever possible.  While High Sierra may not be perfect, all the staff and employees are working toward that goal and words of encouragement from owners and guests let them know you see and appreciate their efforts.

Badly-needed repainting of building exteriors is now underway.  We’ll get as much done as possible before Ruidoso’s annual snow & ice season sets in, when it becomes unsafe to work on ladders & scaffolds; the project will be complete by spring of 2008.  Several units will get bathroom renovations this fall.  We’ll soon begin replacing deteriorating linoleum tile in some laundry room floors with ceramic tile.  And with completion of the re-flooring project, the last eight units finished will now receive new sofa-sleepers & reclining chairs in the living rooms by year-end.

Our thanks to those who responded to the recent survey concerning owners’ priorities for work to be done and possible new improvements at High Sierra.  There’s information below about those survey results.  The Board of Directors and your management team used the collective owners’ input during preparation of the proposed 2008 budget.  (See insert page.)

Our contract for management services at High Sierra began May of 2005, and was projected to end November  2007 unless extended by mutual agreement with the Board of Directors.  We’ve agreed to extend our management contract for another two years to the end of November of 2009.  This continuity in management will be an asset to High Sierra as we forge ahead into more competitive times.  Our goal for the next two years will be protecting all owners’ best interests by improving High Sierra’s property condition even further, while also elevating High Sierra to higher levels of guest service.

We encourage owners to visit High Sierra’s website ( www.highsierracondos.com ) where we’ll increasingly be posting important information so you can get news quickly.  Owners will also be able to initiate some actions on-line soon, such as generating requests for one-time unit exchanges & more.                                                

                                                           Rob Huff (Member, Board of Directors) & Margana Huff, General Managers

IN-HOUSE EXCHANGE (OR “SWAP”) POLICIES
If you know in advance that you won’t be able to use your regular unit-week(s) for any reason, we can do an “in-house” exchange with you for another unit-week at High Sierra. (We can NOT, however, exchange your week for one at another property...one must go through RCI or a similar timeshare exchange company for that.) There’s a $50 cost to do an in-house “swap,” but that’s less than one-third the cost of doing the same exchange through RCI. Here are the policies & procedures you need to know:

1. All annual maintenance & reserve fees must be paid current.

2. To the extent possible, we’ll try to “swap” your unit for an equal unit (same number of bedrooms & the same RCI “season”...red, white, or blue). However, that may not always be possible so please be flexible as we try to accommodate.

3. Any in-house exchange MUST be initiated a MINIMUM of 15 calendar days PRIOR TO the start of your week.

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