GRIT Newsletter: May 2025

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Summary

May 2025 GRIT

Jim Stewart, the SHHA President, used his letter in the May 2025 GRIT to announce a new series of informal coffee meetings for residents to discuss any issues of concern directly with the President and the SHHA Administrator. Residents must RSVP to these meetings in advance. The President also admonished residents to display the American flag correctly, and to care for its fabric. The President’s letter mentions that a revision of the bylaws is underway, largely for clarity and consistency.

A major feature article in the May 2025 GRIT was a report by Kathleen McCaughey, Chair of the Environment and Safety Committee, on a table-top simulation that SHHA held to walk through emergency response actions, should a wildfire take hold in Sandia Heights. This exercise took place in March. Four county offices tasked with different aspects of emergency response participated, along with Sandia Heights Services, the SHHA President, and several Environment and Safety committee members. SHHA learned that our local first responders, though they were from different agencies, had well-established plans, roles, and communication protocols between them. The missing piece, as it were, was ensuring residents were also informed and prepared, with key gaps being sign-ups for emergency alerts, preparation of Go Bags, and understanding of what to do when ordered to evacuate. A Wildfire Seminar for residents on April 24 was planned to help fill this gap.

The Board Notes for May covered a Board discussion over whether to raise SHHA’s prices for Sandia Tram Passes, after the Tram had raised its prices for SHHA to purchase the tickets. The decision was made to keep the tram passes at $10 apiece. The Board Notes additionally covered several committee-led activities, a number of which had their own articles in the May GRIT. Those articles are as follows:

The Information Technology reported on the March 13 meeting between Ezee Fiber representatives and the community, at which Ezee Fiber reassured residents that there would be ample notification of any planned construction work. The perpetually busy Environment and Safety Committee notified residents of a volunteer trash pickup drive taking place on the morning of May 10. The Covenant Support Committee wrote a very useful “how-to” article on changing Unit Covenants, for those residents who feel their covenants no longer represent their wishes, or perhaps their reality. The Architectural Control Committee reported out its new guidelines for radon mitigation systems, which take into account both color-matching and noise abatement concerns. In a tribute article near the end of the May issue, The GRIT’s Editor profusely thanked the plethora of volunteers whose dedicated time spent toiling on SHHA business, makes it possible to keep the community informed, aesthetically beautiful, and socially connected. The Editor also closed the issue with a visual recap of the Easter Egg Hunt on April 12, with a set of pictures from the event.

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 one-time notice for residents to check their email address of record at the SHHA in order to ensure receipt of announcements, was also included in the May issue.