HIGH SIERRA NEWSLETTER - FALL  2011

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

High Sierra Condominiums
PO Box 7188
Ruidoso, NM 88355-7188
USA

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

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

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

WINTER HOURS

During the winter months
office hours are
9 AM to 9 PM daily.

Print Version 

The President’s Corner    

Hello again to all High Sierra owners of High Sierra Condominium Owners’ Association (HSCOA). The busy summer season in Ruidoso is largely over, although High Sierra is still well-booked into the coming weeks. Your elected Board of Directors, in conjunction with High Sierra Management, is looking forward to using what limited slow time we have to do some exterior maintenance projects before the busy ski season and holidays arrive.

Here’s a quick summary of what we’ve done with the 2011 Special Assessment approved by the owners: $288,525.00 collected to-date (some owners elected extended payments still outstanding) $277,194.78 spent to-date on the following:

Rebuild of all front and back decks on Buildings 1-2, 5-6, 7-8, and 11-12 is complete, with additional extensive structural work done on Buildings 8 and 12. New materials such as composite decking (“plastic wood”) and poured concrete are being used to vastly reduce on-going maintenance costs, versus the previous all-wood exteriors.

Buildings 3-4, 9-10, and 13-14 remain to be similarly renovated. Additionally, the deck outside the clubhouse pool is a priority for renovation.

Your Board of Directors and Managers are working together to control costs while accomplishing quality renovations to keep High Sierra competitive in the timeshare market. Please see the Manager’s comments in this newsletter for more specifics. The proposed 2012 budget included with this newsletter also contains details.

On another topic, there’s big news coming for all owners interested in converting their High Sierra weeks to RCI’s “points” system. We’re working to develop a low-cost “in-house” conversion process for our owners in the coming months. You can read more about that in a separate item in this newsletter.

There were no candidates nominated to replace the incumbent High Sierra Board Members with terms expiring this year. The incumbents have agreed to continue serving, and their willingness to continue is deeply appreciated.

High Sierra’s staff looks forward to making your stay pleasant when you visit your resort.
 

Raymond L. Peabody, HSCOA President

ANNUAL BUDGET MEETING

The Annual Budget Meeting will be held at 10 AM on October 22, 2011, 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!

2012 PROPOSED BUDGET

WEEK 51 & 52 UNITS OWNERS!

If you want High Sierra to rent your unit for the holidays this year, please contact the office as soon as possible to make those arrangements.  We are already receiving inquiries.
 

2012 Maintenance Fee Statements

Statements for 2012 Maintenance and Reserve fees will be mailed in early November. Be aware that providing statements is a courtesy to owners. Per High Sierra’s Bylaws, fees are due January 1st annually, whether or not an owner receives a statement. The commitment for annual fees contained in the sales contract is just as legally binding as any mortgage payment.

Our thanks to the majority of High Sierra owners who pay all fees timely year-after-year.

2011 has been quite a year here in Ruidoso. We’ve experienced –27° weather, frozen pipes, drought and fires. Our terrific maintenance team kept the downtime to a minimum for our guests during the freeze. They also have been working diligently on unit projects. We’ve added second TVs to almost all the units, replaced the carpet in several living rooms and a few bedrooms, replaced some toilets with taller ones, also replaced a few bathroom countertops and hope to get three or four kitchen countertops replaced this fall. Unit 601 received a terrific makeover. It was the only unit here at High Sierra without a bathtub; it only had a small shower enclosure. The bathroom has been completely remodeled and it looks great now. The kitchen received new countertop and backsplash and the entry, kitchen, hall, and dining room have new tile. If you’ve never been in this unit, please ask to see it the next time you’re here. Last but not least, we’ve added a small workout room in the Clubhouse. The sauna stopped working this past winter, and since we have many more requests for a workout room than a sauna, we decided to convert the area into an exercise room. The cost for the exercise room and equipment was much less than replacing the sauna.

We continue to strive to make your resort the best it can be.

Margana Huff, General Manager

WEEKS-TO-POINTS CONVERSION IS COMING FOR HIGH SIERRA OWNERS

Most RCI-affiliated resorts are quickly converting from “weeks” exchanges to RCI’s “points” exchange system. Many of our High Sierra owners who are RCI members have been asking about the possibility of converting their High Sierra weeks to points. We are happy to report that after much research into this, we are about to offer our owners an opportunity to convert their High Sierra weeks into points for exchange.

There are several advantages to the “points” system of timesharing. Rather than using a full week at a single location, points can be used for several shorter visits to multiple locations. Also, last-minute reservations can extend the value of any owner’s points.

The first thing all owners should know is that no one has to convert their weeks to points; if you are not an RCI member, or you are an RCI member who simply wants to retain your week(s) at High Sierra, you don’t need to do anything. However, if you are interested in converting your High Sierra weeks to points for exchange purposes, you’ll be able to do that in the coming months….and we’ve developed a much more cost-effective weeks-to-point conversion process than you may have heard at other resorts.

If you don’t know all you’d like to know about “points,” we’re going to make that easy for you. High Sierra owners will soon receive a highly-detailed letter about our “points” conversion process, including pros & cons, and each owner will be able to elect to keep their week(s) as they are or convert to points. Watch your mail for more about this soon.

A CAUTION TO OWNERS WHO ARRIVE FOR INCORRECT WEEKS

High Sierra weeks are specific weeks recorded in a deed, and each corresponds with an RCI calendar week. Because of rotation in the calendar, no week is always associated with any certain date or holiday. For example, MOST years the 4th of July falls into week 26…but not ALL years. Some owners incorrectly equate their owned weeks with certain dates or holidays; for example, our office staff sometimes hears from owners “We own Memorial Day week” or etc. As a result, we’ve had several owners arrive on weeks that are NOT their actual deeded week.

PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT OWNERS MAY NOT BE ACCOMMODATED IF THEY ARRIVE ANY WEEK THAT IS NOT THEIR DEEDED WEEK. We have a great “problem” at High Sierra these days; the seasonal occupancy at High Sierra is currently so high that it may not be possible to find lodging for owners who arrive on weeks other than their owned weeks.

Posted on High Sierra website is an RCI “weeks calendar” : http://www.highsierracondos.com/RCICalendar2010-2016.pdf

Consulting that calendar for the dates of YOUR weeks will prevent a situation where we must turn owners away who arrive on incorrect weeks. We notify each owner by e-mail or post card giving the correct dates for their coming week(s) and ask if they’re coming. Please pay close attention to the dates shown for your weeks, and call if you have any questions about the dates shown.

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