SUNSCAPE RV RESORT CASA GRANDE AZ What’s happening on … Volume 2014 No 7 November 2014 WELCOME BACK EMERGENCY 520-421-9957 SUNSCAPE RESIDENTS Paste this number everywhere! This number is the emergency number for the ambulance, fire, EMT, and Sunscape response team. Stickers are available at the Welcome Center. Get one for you and a friend. It’s great to see all our friends and neighbors arrive for the winter season. Old friendships can be renewed and new friendships made. The park looks very clean and fresh. The landscaped area in front of the Clubhouse was completed last spring. Some very energetic residents started to paint the entire perimeter wall of the park; the lion’s share done by Kathy Miller. As winter residents begin to return, more have picked up their paint brushes to help. The job should be complete soon. The shuffleboards shine like a mirror. Soon they will be buzzing with players. CLUBHOUSE CLOSED As with most construction projects, the clubhouse is running a little late. Has there ever been a remodel completed on time? In the meantime, the Activity Office is in the Welcome Center. The Activity sheet and Sunscape Way can be found in the Welcome Center and the mail cabinet in the post box area. No meetings or events have had to be canceled due to lack of space. All meeting minutes, notices, information, sign-up sheets and posters normally found in the Clubhouse will be posted in the Activity Center. CANDIDATE SEARCH The Election Committee is searching for Candidates for the Sunscape Board of Directors. We have three (3), three (3) year positions for the 2015 Ballot. We invite anyone interested in the positive continuation of our park to take an active role by serving on the board. Qualifications include: Member of the cooperative for a minimum of one (1) year Have a physical presence in the park for a majority of the period of September 1 st to May 1st Willing to be active participants in board activities Application deadline will be November 30, 2014. Those interested, please contact Helen Custer, Lot #473, [email protected] or any member of the Election Committee. PAGE 2 V O LU M E 2 0 1 4 NO 7 SUNSCAPE VOLUNTEER POLICY At the October 2014 Town Hall meeting it was clear most people missed this article. This is a reprint of the article from March 2014. This policy was initiated approximately 18 months ago by an ARF that was received, reviewed and considered by the Management Team. The Management Team forwarded it to the Admin. Support committee for development. The policy was developed with consideration of the Park’s insurance coverage, and input from our lawyer. It was recognized that our working volunteers are not on record and are only partially covered by the Park’s insurance coverage. The Board expressed their concern for protecting one of the Park’s most valuable resources- our Volunteers, and asked that liability protection for the volunteers be a consideration in the development of this policy. With all concerns considered and numerous drafts, the policy was developed and approved in Dec. 2013. The policy defines what a volunteer is: someone who works without the expectation of compensation. It sets out three categories- ongoing, occasional and ad hoc (special events). The policy does state that in future, a Park volunteer will have to reside in the Park. Our consulted advice recommended that we only use residents of the park, but we also recognized that we currently have volunteers working for us whose service is appreciated and needs to be recognized; therefore the words “in future” were used. It states that direct supervision of our volunteers is a necessity in order to coordinate, supervise, direct, and as well ensure that safety procedures are followed to protect the volunteer, the Park, its guests and members. It clearly states that volunteers should not be required to perform tasks that are beyond their physical or skill level, nor should the volunteer attempt to do so. The policy sets a formal structure in place for the Park’s volunteers. It will create a format that is consistent for all volunteers and will require an assurance of a level of required basic training for duties performed, as well as the equal treatment of all who volunteer. In addition, the policy attempts to reduce the risk of liability for both the Park and the Volunteer. tions. Liability is a major concern for all of us. As our legal counsel wrote, “a non-profit can be sued by anyone, at any time.” Our primary focus in this regard must be the potential outcome of such suits. The Park’s protection begins with its management of policies, rules, and its insurance coverage. The Park’s insurance policies conditionally cover the working volunteer for liability, but not for injury or personal damage. The volunteer can be protected for liability under Federal and State law as well. The Federal law was enacted in 1997 and applies to “volunteers of non-profit organizations”, which we classify as. The State of Arizona has enacted state law that supports and enhances the federal statutes. 42 U.S.C.S. – 14503, limitation on Liability states: “A volunteer of a non-profit organization or governmental entity is not liable for harm caused by an act or omission done in the scope of responsibility on behalf of the organization”. It should be noted that in all three cases – insurance, Federal, and State - the exceptions are: willful or criminal misconduct, gross negligence, reckless misconduct or indifference to the rights and/or safety of the individual harmed or harm caused by an individual who is operating a vehicle for which a license or insurance is required or a criminal act. Arizona statute attempts to insure protection for the volunteer as long as they are operating within the scope of their official duties. Park insurance coverage has similar condi- After all the policy discussion it was concluded that in order to afford all parties such protection, the volunteer and the park must be able to prove that the individual was in fact an accepted volunteer and that he/she was working within the scope of their official duties. Therefore we must have a recorded file of our “regular” “working” volunteers that will verify that persons working as volunteers are recognized as such. This is why the park will have a signup sheet as part of the approved policy. All three sources of protection use conditions such as “volunteer workers”, “documented volunteers”, “performing duties related to the business”, “acts within the scope of the work”, or “qualified to do the work”, which dictates how we must document our volunteers to protect them. This sheet indicates that:  the volunteer understands that certain training might be required and provided, and that the individual agrees to not perform duties beyond his/her physical and/or skill level  the park has liability insurance for the park and volunteer  the park does not carry insurance related to medical or personal damage for the individual or property  the Federal and State laws afford the individual certain rights and protections the individual will not perform in a manner that is noted as an exemption to protection under the Federal or State acts or statutes. This formal record of our volunteers is a method of protecting both the Park and the volunteer. V O LU M E 2 0 1 4 NO 7 PAGE 3 Cont’d Sunscape Volunteer Policy A great deal of work has been done to ensure the ongoing protection of the Park and volunteers. This was done because all concerned were appreciative of what our volunteers do for the park and the desire to have their service and support continue. With the way the organization is growing and the frequent risk of liability in today’s climate, it was concluded that we had a responsibility to create and enforce such a policy. AUTHOR’S NOTE: This summary is in no way intended to promote or assure any authority or volunteer of the potential success of the policy or its practices, but is simply a historical update of the development of this policy. The Board of Directors Sunscape Estates RV Park Cooperative STAFF CHANGES This year we have a new face, Celeste Shirley, to greet our guests and owners . She is well suited for the front desk. I hear from some guests that she is friendly, courteous and answers all questions with a smile. I think the thing that surprised me the most is that she is the mother of 7 children, ranging in age from 18-5 years old. She is extremely proud of all of them. Drop by the office and she will tell you about their accomplishments. When she has time, she loves to do arts and crafts. You can also find her sewing or crocheting. Her passion is to go on a motorcycle ride with her husband, Justin. Right now her bike is recovering from an ouch. Stop and say hello when you have a chance. Celeste Shirley NEW “GREETER” PROGRAM Hey Sunscape; we will be trying a new program to greet newcomers to our park when they register at the Welcome Center. Anyone interested in participating as a Greeter, please contact Marion Wallin at 520-7230311 or mwallin1@yahoo,com to leave contact information (name, Lot #, Phone # and/or email). We will arrange a meeting to discuss all the details ASAP. We hope to have 2 people each weekday to prevent this from becoming a burden for anyone. The greeter will need access to a golf cart to accompany the guest to their site. The greeter will then answer any questions and generally welcome our guests to the park The ultimate goal is to project a positive first impression to newcomers. This will not replace the duties of the Ambassadors; they will continue their visits for visitors remaining for an extended period of time. If we project our friendly atmosphere, more people are likely to go away with the idea this is a park they would like to visit again. SUNSCAPE RV RESORT 1083 E. Sunscape Way Casa Grande, AZ 85194 85194 520-723-9533 Office 520-723-8689 Fax 1-866-678-6722 Reservations [email protected] [email protected] Welcome to our new Park Members Doyle Waters Jr. Lot 186 We’re on the web www.sunscapervresort.com Lloyd & Donna Schueler, Lot 194/195 www.sunscapervresort.info Newsletter SQUARE DANCING ANYONE? Delivery This newsletter is published at the first of each month during the winter season. Pick up your copy at the same location as the Activity Sheet (inside cabinet in breezeway) or at the Welcome Center. You can get your copy delivered by email by Billie Hering, [email protected]. It can also be found on our website, www.sunscapervresort.info If you know of anyone who does not have a computer or email, have them contact Pat Catlin at Lot 243, or phone 208-871-5182. We will make sure they receive a copy. We are looking for those who would like to participate in square dancing. JoAnn has found a local “caller” who could come to Sunscape on Monday evenings to instruct. There may be experienced dancers in the park, and we would like to see them participate as well as any “newbies” The cost would be $5.00 for a 2 hour session. Please indicate your interest by signing up on the sheet in the Activity Center.