Capital Assets of the Association

Note: This page is a work-in-progress.  We’ll get it completed soon!

As mentioned elsewhere on this web site, the Association is a non-profit corporation registered with the Arizona Corporation Commission — we’re a business!  Most any business you can think of “owns some things”.  The Rio Crossing Homeowners Association is no exception.  This page lists most of the capital assets of the Association.  (Non-capital items may be listed separately at a later time.)

Real Estate

Figure 1: Google Earth view of Rio Crossing (north is to the right!), with common areas highlighted in green and annotated by Tract ID.

The developer of Rio Crossing (D. R. Horton, Inc. — Dietz-Crane) granted several tracts of land to the Association.  The Special Warranty Deed was filed by the Maricopa County Recorder under Recording Number 20050865778 on June 24, 2005, and specifies “Tracts B, D through H inclusive, J through N inclusive, P-1 through P-9 inclusive, and Q-1 through Q-8 inclusive”.  The single-letter tracts represent the various green-belt areas around the community.  The letter-plus-number tracts are the smaller round islands in the cul-de-sacs and along Highland and Devonshire.  (See the “Special Warranty Deed” from D. R. Horton to the Association online here; click the blue 1 under Pages to see the document.)

The tracts are highlighted green on the document image shown in Figure 1.  Click the image for a larger view.  (Image produced using Google Earth and Adobe Acrobat.)

According to information from a variety of sources (online, landscape vendors, etc.), there are a little more than 14 acres of property, with around 5 acres of grass area, and most of the rest is planted with trees and bushes, with granite (often referred to as DG, or decomposed granite) as ground cover.

Irrigation System

With over 5 acres of grass and a landscape plan that specifies over 600 trees, it should be no surprise that we have a very substantial water irrigation system on the property.

(Water meters connect to backflow valves, irrigation controllers, one pump, valve systems, piping, emitters.)

(more info here soon)

Drainage System

End wall with grate; steel rail on top

It doesn’t rain much here in central Arizona, but when it does, it’s extremely important to have a properly constructed and maintained drainage system.  If you’ve ever witnessed a major downpour here, you know water flows generally toward the Agua Fria River.

Our drainage system relies heavily on the proper ground elevation and gradients of our streets and the green belt areas.  Storm drains owned and maintained by the city are connected along city-owned streets in the community, but the water that enters those storm drains generally flows directly into our green belt tracts through short culverts and out of “end walls”.

(Culverts, end walls, grates, steel railing, rip rap, and drywells.)

(more here soon)

Playgrounds and Ramadas

The Association owns and maintains two playground areas. (covers, climbing equipment, sand, lights)

In addition, there are three covered Ramada areas.  (covers, picnic tables, lights)

Also, there’s an uncovered picnic table between the two Meadowbrook cul-de-sacs.

(more here soon)

Mailbox Units

One of the Mailbox Unit clusters around Rio Crossing

While not actually on Association property, Rio Crossing owns the mailbox units located around the community.

Boxes are assigned by the USPS, and any issues with broken boxes, lost keys, or other individual box problems should be addressed directly with the Postal Service.  You can contact the Association with questions and requests for guidance if you’re not sure who to turn to.

(more here soon)

Monuments

Monument wall with side pedestals, logo, flower bed, lighting

The monuments at each entrance to Rio Crossing, while not large, are the first things visitors see when they visit here — not to mention that the residents see them day after day!  So we want them to look nice.

(Wall, pedestals, logo, lighting, flowers)

(more here soon)

Solar Lighting

The latest capital item addition to the Association’s assets are the Solar King solar lighting units located in three main areas: the Roma Park green belt, along the walking path from Roma Park to Highland, and at the Glenrosa Park area.

Trees

You may be surprised to see any vegetation on the list.  Mature trees have substantial monetary value!  After the 60mph winds during the July 2017 storm blew down 19 trees, the insurance company reimbursed the Association $500 per tree for unrecoverable loss of assets – nearly $10,000 in addition to reimbursing us for the costs to clean up the area.  With a landscape plan specifying over 600 trees, if each one was still present and mature, the trees alone would be worth over a quarter million dollars.

Other Items

There are a few smaller items that wouldn’t normally be considered capital assets, but they’re included here to help provide a more complete picture of all the items we maintain.

Trash Cans and Doggie Stations

(more soon)

Bulletin Board

While we make every effort to get the word out electronically – and for the most important items, via postal mail – many items, like meeting notices and newsletters, are posted in the bulletin board located at the corner of Roma and 123rd.

Related Information

Paying for Maintenance: The Reserve Fund & Reserve Study

(We’ll include a link to information here soon about the Reserve Fund and the Reserve Study, two very important items related to these assets.)

“Areas of Association Responsibility”

Our CC&Rs include the term “Areas of Association Responsibility” in the Definitions, Section 1.2.  This term refers to two areas: all Common Area (those tracts owned by the Association — see “Real Estate” above), and:

all land, and the Improvements situated thereon, located within the boundaries of a Lot or a public right-of-way which the Association is obligated to maintain, repair and replace pursuant to the terms of this Declaration, the Plat or other Recorded document executed by the Declarant of the Association.

Exactly what does this refer to?  Nobody has asked a lawyer to research it, so there isn’t a definitive answer today.  But most people consider the following things to be included in the Areas of Association Responsibility:

  • The Mailbox Units, which are not actually located on Common Area land.
  • Common wall areas bordering streets and Common Areas in Rio Crossing.
  • Gravel areas along sidewalks and streets not located on Lots.

There’s probably more… if you’re not sure, ask – we’ll find out!