Goals of your HOA environment safe ecosystem and healthy living areas
There are many responsibilities in a common interest community, whether you are a homeowner, resident, board member or a manager of a Las Vegas homeowners association. We all coexist to make a beautiful, safe, and friendly neighborhood. Your home and neighborhood’s common elements may be your largest investment for your family’s future. So we all have a vested interest in maintaining a consciences ecosystem and respectful atmosphere to live in. Maintaining our financially equitable neighborhood investment should be paramount to all.
How do we self-govern and what to do if you get a reminder letter?
Having a professional management company for your HOA takes the pressure off of you and the board, which helps to ensure that homeowners get fair enforcement and compliance of the state laws, your governing documents, enforcing rules, licensing requirements, conducting elections, as well as, addressing the delicate issues of a pet nuisance.
- We are all human, so if you forget your doggy waste bag, accept a “friendly reminder” from a neighbor or a “reminder letter.”
- Keep an open mind if you receive a “reminder letter” from the compliance team; as it is not the end of the world. Compliance teams are there to help all of us with our busy schedules to quickly correct something that we may have easily overlooked.
- Calling your manager for information is fine, but NRS 116 requires that all business is done in writing.
- Your issue can be quickly resolved with a written response to the manager once the issue is addressed, avoiding hearings and fines. Most managers will accept scanned, faxed or emailed responses.
- For any HOA concern, email communication with the residents and community manager, cc’d to the Board Members, keeps everyone in the loop; this allows the board and management team to follow up and address your concerns rapidly.
Your manager and Board can help with easy solutions
- Doggie stations and bags located at every exit gate of your gated community can be a great solution that is also economical for your HOA budget. Most landscapers will replenish animal waste station bags as part of their maintenance contract at a very reasonable cost.
- We suggest that you obtain your doggie stations without the waste cans attached, as it will also have to be emptied routinely, can cause obnoxious odors for nearby homes, and attracts wild animals and pests.
- Advise you homeowner’s to grab a convenient bag on the way out of your community’s gates and deposit the waste bags in the Master Community’s trash cans outside of your community.
- Master Community waste cans are maintained on a more frequent or routine basis, usually have lids, and are away from your neighborhood’s living space.
Uncollected domestic animal waste can be a serious problem for your association and health risk for residents
- The Clean Water Act is enforced by the EPA – Environmental Protective Agency – which has become more aggressive and makes periodic visits to enforce their regulations.
- We all love our pets, but uncollected pet waste may lead to both personal HOA hearings and fines, as well as, a special assessment fines for you or the entire association. This happens when the EPA levies fines against all members of your associate—not just dog or pet owners.
- Keeping your own pet vaccinated helps to protect your pet but risks from uncollected pet feces can still effect other pets and natural species of wildlife by spreading parvovirus, muscle cysts, leptospirosis – a kidneys and urinary tract bacterial disease, spreading of parasites such as ticks, keds, tapeworms, and fleas, as well as, affect the behavior of other species of animals. Often domesticated pets drink natural occurring water sources which diminishes supplies for the desert animals. Pet feces also leaves behind significant nitrogen in the soil, which encourages non-native plants to grow at the expense of native plants. Being a responsible pet owner helps to encourage and maintain our balanced desert ecosystem.
Other motivations to be a responsible pet owner
- The common area appearance and quality have proven to affect home sales viability, values, and selling time. In one neighborhood within Seven Hills, have home values that range $35,000 to $70,000 more than adjacent communities; which have attributed to their common area upkeep.
- Just as in your job, your manager has time limit. They are much more productive working on pressing issues if they are not bombard my repetitive animal waste nuisances that we can all help to maintain on our own.
- Being in a desert community, animal waste spreads disease, attracts rodents, pests and other wild animal who feed on the pet waste and undigested food products.
We can offer you help and more information:
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact a member of the Shelter Management Group (SMG) team, we would be happy to help! Contact us at 702 – 818 – 4780 or info @ smghoa.com.
Article Edited By: Jamie Collins, Supervising CAM, CMCA, AMS co-owner, Shelter Management Group (SMG)
Article Written by Stephanie Calaway MSN
Source: Community Associations Institute, Domestic Dogs in Wildlife Habitats: Effects of Recreation on Rocky Mountain Wildlife, Environmental Protective Agency, SDUT 12/9/01, E2.