Members of the Facilities Committee, left to right: Sally Hampton, La Donna Womochel, Pat Knight, Shirley Martin, Linda Terry and Susan Wells. Committee member Don Hebert was absent.
La Donna Womochel
Every month homeowners who serve on HOA committees have an impact on the way that our HOA operates. If you are new to Robson Ranch or have some free time, the HOA Board of Directors wants to encourage you to apply to an HOA committee. To help you understand what each committee does so that you can determine what might interest you, the Pioneer Press will be featuring articles on the various HOA committees over the next few months. The first committee to be reviewed is the Facilities Committee.
The Facilities Committee, like all HOA committees, is an advisory committee that reports to the board. It has no operational or management authority. Even though that description sounds limiting, you might be surprised by the types of tasks that it has completed and the kinds of recommendations that have been implemented by the board and its operations staff.
The Facilities Committee is charged with recommending solutions for disputes with homeowners concerning scheduling of various facilities. For example, one homeowner came to the committee to voice his concerns about the gym never being available to homeowners to just walk in and use it at a reasonable hour of the day. The committee checked with the manager of the Sports Center about use and recognized that having some free, unscheduled time not tied to an organized group, was important to homeowners. The HOA Operations acted upon this recommendation, and a few hours of free time is now part of the weekly schedule in the gym.
Another responsibility of this committee is to recommend guidelines for new amenities and modifications to guidelines for existing amenities based on changing community needs. Prior to the opening of the softball field, this committee met with softball players to gather information about the type of guidelines necessary for both organized play and for homeowner play. The guidelines were then passed to the Rules Committee to insure that these guidelines were consistent with the rules already in place for the community at large. The recommended guidelines were adopted by the HOA board and are in use now.
The Facilities Committee is also a sounding board for new amenities. Homeowners can bring their interests to the Facilities Committee, which can evaluate the project and provide a recommendation to the HOA board. The horseshoe pit, soon to open near the dog park, is an example of just such a project.
The committee meets the first Tuesday of each month at 1:30 in the Bandera Room of the clubhouse. Homeowners are always welcome; you might want to attend a meeting to see if the committee is your cup of tea. The committee is actively looking for one new member. If you wish to apply, please fill out a Committee Volunteer Form available at the HOA office.