01/15/2022
STATE OF THE RV RESORT
PICKLEBALL: The Pickleball Court is open for play. The white 3M tape used for court lines was reputed to stick to warehouse floors and endure the heavy traffic and scraping of lift trucks , but, it is not sticking to the DP pickleball court. Removal of the tape and painting the lines is planned in the near future.
BOCCEBALL: The first court has been smoothed and a 700 pound roll of grass has been spread out. Stretching the material taught and pinning it to the ground is the current activity. Bocce balls are at Desert Palms and ready for play when the grass is affixed to the ground and sand applied to the surface of the grass to keep it from laying down flat. Sometime after the grass is fixed, bumper boards will be installed in the center 50 feet or so to facilitate banking balls off the sidewall. Immitation grass for the second court will soon be purchased and treated similarly when the first court is finished.
CRAFTS BUILDINGS: Buildings now used by quilters, beaders, and gourd carvers are planned to have stucco applied when the supplier has time in the next several months. Then they will be painted Desert Palms orange. Propane lines are being installed to feed propane heaters for these buildings.
RECENTLY ARRIVED BUILDINGS: These buildings will house the Model Railroad Layout that has been considered for several years, a Ham Radio Station, video games, and Table Tennis. It is challenging to find contractors to set the buildings up because they are all oversubscribed with work. There is not much internal work to be accomplished on these buildings, but efforts are underway to customize these structures for Desert Palms use. The buildings will not likely be fully operational until next season.
ENTRANCE PLANTER: The primary purpose of the entry planter is to prevent accidents by discouraging tenants from entering Desert Palms by way of the principal exit path. A secondary objective is to create a more pleasant environment at the Desert Palms primary entryway. Remaining efforts include spreading topsoil over both leach rock and a drain piped placed at the bottom of the planter, installing irrigation systems, configuring an electrical supply system to support planter lights, and planting a variety of attractive plants. Much of the planning and acquisition of materials for this project has been accomplished.
ATV STORAGE: Two 8' x 40' "no-trip" shipping containers have been purchased with the intent to rent them as summer storage for seasonal residents who want to leave their ATV in a reasonably secure storage facility for the summer. A four double door container is expected to house four smaller ATVs. A two large double door container is expected to house three larger ATVs. Rates will be configured to comply with the Desert Palms mantra of being a quality RV resort at a reasonable price. Jan is now accepting applications only from seasonal residents for this upcoming summer period. Non-residents will not be offered this ATV storge option.
BUILDING SIGNS: Tastefully prepared signs outside Desert Palms buildings that announce the activity inside that building are now being positioned to help newcomers become acclimated.
NEW STREET LIGHTS: Street light standard poles have been purchased and will soon be erected to replace the pipes now used to support street lights. New LED standard configuration street lights will replace the mix of lights now used.
R/C OPERATIONS BUILDIING: A new 8' x 8' shipping container style building has been delivered that is intended to replace the aluminum operations shed blown away by last summer's monsoons. A cement support structure will be poured on which the Ops Building will be placed.
DOG PARK: New brighter Solar lights have been purchased and will soon be installed to supplement the solar path lights recently mounted to provide some light for after dark dog walking.
GOLF COURSE: Greens are being watered less this year than in prior years and they seem to be responding favorably. Play on the golf course is pleasantly heavy.
FOOD SERVICE: Lots of changes to the clubhouse with new 5 foot round tables and elimination of customer handling of any food not theirs with new cafeteria style serving stations have highlighted changes in food service. Since pot lucks have been eliminated, Desert Palms staff has more responsibly for the preparation and distributing of food. This required building a new food service storage closet. Changes implemented have received positive responses, but, the learning process continues. A new 6-burner grill has been placed in service to augment the existing 6 burner grill.
SPA: La Paz County Health requires that the Desert Palms Hot Tub not be operated until Desert Palms can prove it is a commercial spa. When the hot tub was purchased, the top of that manufacturers line of spas was selected which is the same model now in the Washington DC US president's residence. It appears there will be a lot of work required to meet government checker's requirements.
GROUNDSKEEPING: Dying rosemary bushes with thick, stiff, prickly branches that prevent maintenance personnel from accessing broken drip sprinkler heads near the trunk of the bush are being replaced. The replacement bush most popular with Desert Palms is "Firestick." It is drought tolerant, cold tolerant, sun and heat tolerant, and has no prickly branches that prevent access to limbs near their roots. The end branches of Firestick become a definite red in the December/January/February time frame and it grows prolifically after it has established a good root system. Several dozen have been planted around Desert Palms with the intention that more will come.
RECYCLE: Gates are being installed in one end of the recycle bins to help recycle technicians move the 55 gallon Brute containers that can become heavy at times. Beta test of a composter will begin occurring in a few weeks. California now has a law on the books that requires composting among other things relating to recycling. Desert Palms wants to be at the forefront of any activity that helps preserve or reuse resources and it is obvious the requirement to do some composting is headed our way.
ACTIVITIES: Desert Palms is prudently coming out of last year's CV-19 sponsored lockdown on activities. Food service has changed to be more respective of a continuing need for separation of participants from each other and from the food serving operation. Desert Palms is attempting to reconfigure inside activities so they are not so populously attended. Concentration on providing interesting outside activities has been at the forefront of our thinking, planning and building program. Heavy participation in Bocce Ball is expected because it is easy for either senior or juniors to play. Construction of a second Pickleball court is being deferred to observe activity at the first Pickleball court. Piece parts for future construction of a miniature golf course are now being purchased and stored.
RENTAL RATES: Current Desert Palms management declared 15 years ago that it would raise rents to cover rising costs, but that the rise in rates would be limited to the US Government's posted yearly inflation rate. This assurance was intended to calm the fears of park model owners who do not have ready wheels under their unit that they would not experience a significant one-year price increase. This past year's inflation rate was roughly 6% so space rents for the 2022/2023 season starting July 2022 will be raised 6%. Experience with most products on the market suggests that 6% is a very conservative (low) number.
OCCUPANCY: Year-round residents who stay most of the year number about 25. Annual rentals numbered about 225 last year. All 300+ spaces are rented at our peak occupancy period near early February 2022. The best time to lobby for changing your space for next season is between early February and mid April. These increasing occupancy trends are expected to continue as Desert Palms continues to improve its offerings, benefits from the Salome Way Station to the Arizona Peace Trail about mile away, and continues to offer good quality accommodations at a reasonable and competitive rental rate.
ROADS: It is Desert Palms intent to replace the worst of its tarred roads with cement each year which should eventually eliminate the pothole problem. A large section of road by the front entry was replaced this year which eliminated a lot of potholes at a sizeable cost. Note that dust is not caused by Desert Palms roads as much as they are caused by dust from nearby farm fields. When these fields are tilled large dust clouds move over Desert Palms. When these fields are not tilled dust clouds created by commonly appearing winds move over Desert Palms carrying dust from the fields. Dust lays on both cement roads and tar and chip roads in equal amounts so it defies logic to expect repair of macadam roads to significantly appease the dust conveyance problem in Salome. Desert Palms does use a product called road patch to temporarily fill potholes which has been found to last better than commercially available tar based macadam road repair. Desert Palms plans to continue using road patch to fill occasional holes in the road until the high cost of more cement for roadways needing repair the worst can be included in the budget. Note that a special one year large assessment to repair roads is another approach to funding road repair. Massive road replacement cannot be accomplished using the current low cost rental amounts charged by Desert Palms.
