President's Report
SIHHOA Annual Meeting, February 21, 2026
Don Julien, President

Coming into 2025, I knew this was the last year of my terms as your president. So, always in the back of my mind was the question "What still needs to be done before I turn over the reins?"

The first area was housekeeping.  We updated and clarified policies to conform with state and local ordinances and to bring some consistency into how we deal with common HOA issues. These updates included our policies regarding the Dark Day Ordinance, Residential Display of Signs, Homeowners' plantings, including updates to approved plant guides, revising our approved paint colors on our website, plus a new policy dealing with long term parking in guest parking areas. And the most important update: posting these revisions and other information on our website so homeowners have easy access to to them at their convenience.

The second were projects that had been simmering. We  contracted for weed & grass spraying so our landscape maintenace crews could spend less time weed-wacking & more time working on trimming & managing plantings. We negotiated a new garbage collection contract, which Jerry will report on. We completed a kitchen remodel in the Ramada, with special thanks to John & Diane Plantz. We just completed fortifying the causeway behind the houses on Anastacia. And we passed a special assessment to complete the funding for a roads repair and chipseal project that is now finally underway.

I look at this as a "passing of the torch." This has been my sixth & last year on the Board, 5 of those years as your president. In those 5 years, much of my focus has been on bringing the HOA into compliance with state & local laws, especially the open meeting act, home purchase disclosures, and policies related to signs and enforcement. We've opened or reopened avenues of communication with homeowners through a new website, regular email communications, regular social gatherings in our coffee and happy hours, and reviving a newsletter. We contracted for a detailed examination of our roads and the first Capital Reserves Study in over a decade. And we're trying to take a longer view of HOA needs instead of reacting to what needs to be done today or this year. What we've done with Roads, Landscaping, legal compliance, and communication are not one time projects. This Board and future Boards have to stay focused on preserving what we have done and mindful of what we still need to do.

We've had challenges in a number of areas, including turnover in Landscaping and Compliance Chairs. But we have the tools, guidelines and policies for their replacements to use in moving forward. We still have long-standing problems that need addressing, especially in enforcement, hardscaping, long-range planning, homeowner engagement and even better communication. But I feel we have a Board that can tackle these issues effectively.

It's been a pleasure (most of the time) to serve as your President. Like all presidents, I hope I leave the HOA in better shape than when I started. I have tons of people to thank, but I'd like to start with a few people who helped a newbie find his way: former treasurers and secretaries Lexie Kupers, Denny Skelton, and Martha Gamez, and HOA lawyer extraordinaire, Michael Shupe. I am endeared to my Board members, past and present for their guidance & support, even if I didn't always get my way. Continuity on the Board is a challenge, with members coming and going, so it's the committee chairs that give a historical context and often years of expertise that the Board has to rely upon. So I thank Al Loomis & his roads committee,  Chuck Willie on Architectural, Diane Plantz and Karen Pitts on Ramada and Social, Peter Johnson and his predecessors Phil Pitts and John Plantz on Landscaping. And many volunteers have stepped forward in their own quiet ways to make this HOA a better place, spraying weeds, trimming bushes, repairing causeways, even leaving touches of beauty such as painted rocks discreetly and strategically placed. These small acts demonstrate a pride of place and a sense of community. I see you and I greatly appreciate your contributions.

As I mentioned in a recent email, being your President gave me the opportunity to meet many of you whom I might not otherwise have had the pleasure. Thank you for that opportunity. And I look forward to continuing my support of this HOA in smaller, quieter ways.

Sincerely yours,
Don Julien
Soon to be former President