GRIT Newsletter: June 2025

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Summary

June 2025 GRIT

As in all the 2025 issues to date, the June 2025 GRIT began with the President’s letter. In it, Jim Stewart reminded residents not to store RVs in their yards. Jim also recounted the happy times residents had at the April 12 Easter Egg hunt, and went on to compliment the Finance Committee’s progress in organizing and posting SHHA financials to the website. Jim closed his letter with a shout-out to the Environment and Safety committee for their well-attended wildfire seminar and an “APB” for volunteers willing to serve on the IT Committee.

Following the President’s letter, The Board Notes article discussed the updating of SHHA committee charters for the Covenant Support Committee, the Governance Committee, and the Nominating Committee. Also, it announced a new procedure for Board meetings that allows residents to submit items (well in advance) for Board discussion, and  to be recognized to speak at the meetings. Prospective speakers must request time via an online form before noon on the day of the Board meeting. This form can be found in the Governance Committee section of the SHHA website. The article ended with an announcement of a new Board member, Paul Baumgartner, and a reminder of the ongoing work of rewriting the Association’s bylaws.

The Community Service and Membership Committee contributed to the June GRIT with a report and photo on their successful shredding event in which Sandia Heights residents cleanly disposed of ~5,000 pounds of paper. Later in the issue, the Environment and Safety Committee memorialized their efforts to pick up less-well-disposed paper during their May 10 Tramway trash pickup event, with an accompanying picture of event volunteers and bundles of roadside trash.

The Covenant Support Committee published a short article describing how the committee addresses covenant violations, referring interested readers to a far more detailed guide the committee just published on their web page within the SHHA website. Claudia Mitchell, who is the Vice-President of the Sandia Heights Artists as well as Editor of The GRIT, made readers aware of a new exhibit at the SHHA office. This exhibit showcases Sandia residents’ art for admiration and sale. Claudia also wrote a second article clarifying which services SHS, Sandia Heights Services, is responsible for vs. those that SHHA, the Sandia Heights Homeowners Association, is responsible for. Hopefully the improved distinction will reduce the number of mistaken calls to each entity. No, SHHA does not issue water bills nor does it perform green waste pickup.

Adding botanic flair to the June 2025 GRIT, Stan Davis submitted a perspective on the “elder” trees in Sandia Heights. These vary by altitude zone and include some astonishingly old specimens—for example, one limber pine dates to 416 AD. Stan’s article introduces the concept of Medallion Trees—ancient trees named for a famous historical event occurring during the tree’s germination year.

After Stan’s article, The GRIT Editor picked up her pen again, this time on behalf of a concerned resident, in order to describe the rather gruesome death that rodenticides induce in the animals they poison. Her article recommended residents use traps instead.

The wildfire seminar mentioned in the President’s letter on page one, bookended the June GRIT. In The GRIT’s last pages, Kathleen McCaughey wrote an extensive description of the recommendations and insights our local public officers delivered at the seminar. Representatives from Bernalillo County Fire and Rescue, Bernalillo County Emergency Management, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department, and the Sandia Peak Utility Company all stressed the importance of preparing well in advance for fires—clearing out brush, hardening roof vents, preparing a GO bag, signing up for alerts, setting up phone trees with neighbors and deciding upon on a family re-union point in the event of evacuation. In addition, these officials stressed that if evacuation does occur, one should leave immediately when told and not linger in the area. Residents will not be asked to leave twice.

Sprinkled throughout The GRIT were the recurring monthly reports. These include the Community Events Bulletin Board listing bridge and group dining opportunities, the ACC Activity log of residents’ approved architectural change requests, and the Covenant Support Committee’s monthly tabulation of covenant violations addressed by the committee. A lively call soliciting Information Technology committee volunteers was also included in the June issue, thanks to Heidi Komkov, chair of that committee.