Indian Palms Country Club HOA No. 9

 Quorum Article - May 2003

Indian Palms Homeowners Association #9 is one of sixteen homeowner associations within Indian Palms Country Club, which is located in West Indio and bounded by Monroe, Jackson, and Avenues 48 and 52.

Floyd Odrum, owner of Hollywood RKO pictures and his wife, world famous aviatrix Jackie Cochran bought these 732 acres of prime fee desert land in the 1930s. It became Indian Palms Country Club and the destination of their famous friends, celebrities, and politicians, including Clark Gable, Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower, who wrote his memoirs at Indian Palms after playing rounds of golf.

Association #9 was built in 1981, occupies 12 acres of land, and comprises 132 condominium units. These are arranged in thirty-three single level fourplexes. All units are identical, having two bedrooms and one bath in 715 square feet.

The market for these condos was and still is starter homes for local young couples, retirement homes for seniors, and second homes for Southern California weekenders and snowbirds from afar.. These units are selling in the $70,000 to $80,000 range, which represents great value, having regard to the fee land and low ($162 per month) association dues relative to the excellent amenities. Low electric power rates from Imperial Irrigation District help this affordability. Naturally, all of this is driving prices steadily higher. Occupancy of the units is approximately one-third full time an two-thirds part time.

Facilities include a family pool and spa with restrooms (including a laundry), an adult pool and spa, a tennis court and a two-acre lake stocked with fish and inhabited by ducks. There is also a picnic and barbecue area at the lake, a koi pond, shuffleboard court, and lots of greenbelt. A state of the art proximity entry card system controls access to the pool areas and laundry room. A high tech "MUL-T-LOCK" key entry system controls access to the tennis court, lake, and restrooms. Association #9 is the only association at Indian Palms with a tennis court, lake, or pond.

Homeowners also enjoy the facilities of the self-contained Indian Palms Country Club and its par 72 USGA championship golf course. Stores and restaurants are nearby and the El Dorado Polo Club is less than a mile away.

The Board of Directors consists of three persons, who possess a depth of experience, to manage the Association. Nancy J. Goulston, President, is a mortgage broker, Mark Adkins, Vice President, is a security consultant, and John Winters, Treasurer, is a federal employee and real estate investor. There are currently no committees. The Association may be described as aggressively self-managed under the guidance of Gerald S. Carlin. Gerald has an extensive background in law and insurance and was elected to the unpaid position of Risk Manager for the Association. The current Board, elected in 2002, is actively engaged in a turnaround operation after a period of weak management.

The Association has embarked upon a continuing program of updating the amenities and facilities. Recent accomplishments include a newly refurbished tennis court, deck resurfacing at both pool and spa areas, new fencing at pool areas, pond and lake, remodeled laundry room, and security systems to control access to all amenities.

Projects underway are the remodeling of the lake and pond, together with new lighting, fountains, picnic and BBQ areas, and new signage for all amenities, streets and parking areas. Future projects includes a video surveillance system to monitor use of all the amenities, re-plastering the pools and spas, remodeling the restrooms, painting the stucco and trim of all the buildings, and resurfacing the roadways.

On the administrative side, challenges include the need to restate and modernize the Master Association’s twenty-plus year old governing documents to accommodate the conflicting goals of the sixteen individual HOAs at Indian Palms. Gerald Carlin is using his particular expertise to minimize and mitigate the Association’s hazards and liability exposures in order to keep insurance premiums and monthly assessments low.

Cost control is a high priority. This has driven the installation of modern and energy efficient pool, spa, and lake equipment with electrical power upgraded to 220 volts. Additionally, the irrigation system is closely monitored to conserve water.

This self-managed Association operates out of an executive office suite in Palm Desert. Bookkeeping services are contracted out. Vendors include Jesse’s Landscape, California Mission Services for pools and spas, Fantastic Exterminators, Love 40 for the tennis court, Shayne’s Water Gardens and Ponds for lake and pond maintenance, Avila Electric for electrical and exterior lighting maintenance, CTI of the Desert for resurfacing the pool and spa area decks, and Yucaipa Calimesa Fence Contruction.

Indian Palms Association #9 homeowners particularly enjoy their low monthly dues and their high value amenities, especially duck, fish and turtle feeding at the lake. They also appreciate a monthly newsletter that includes detailed reporting of the ongoing refurbishing of their community’s amenities.