The public session of the June meeting saw many issues brought up by homeowners, see below a brief recap of the matters covered.
Savings & Revenue Committee:
JP Cruz and Michael Gioan volunteered to create a new committee that will focus on ways of saving money on current operations and spearhead initiatives to provide additional savings and possibly additional sources of revenue in the future.
Official creation of this committee was requested from the board during May meeting and re-introduced during June meeting. The board has sole authority to create HOA committees and has yet to provide a final decision. Among initiatives proposed so far:
- Review of usefulness of project to re-pour concrete in all breezeways & driveways, a very costly proposition ($500K or more) that is not scheduled in our 30-year maintenance plan and ignores the fact that 90% of the concrete is fine. The expense would leave us with a dangerously low level of reserves and could lead to an unnecessary increase in HOA dues.
- Alternative solutions to concrete replacement, including interlocking pavers that do not crack and can be installed as needed and in small sections, spreading the expense over a longer period and having much less impact on our finances.
- Installation of solar electricity generation panels on carports and possibly also on roof. This can provide significant savings and even additional revenue for HMA, possibly up to $90K/year, equivalent to 25% of HMA current total budget!
- Installation of a desalinization unit that would be able to provide enough water for the plants and trees in the complex. This would protect us from rising costs of water and make us immune from potentially drastic municipal ordinances about water conservation.
Security:
Following the car burglaries that happened last month, several solutions were discussed to improve security, such as:
- Modifying sheppard hooks in some areas where access is still possible.
- Adding new sheppard hooks on the separation wall with Piedmont Cove complex, right by the seawall, where the burglar(s) seem to have gained entry to the complex by straddling the railing above the water.
Some homeowners also discussed whether the gate code should be changed and no longer given to delivery personnel. It was pointed out that a safe option would be to use the call box which connect to each of our home phones and allow entry by pressing “9” from our phone, no code necessary. Other proposal was to upgrade the Call Box to a modern system with optional video.
The board did not seem to want to make any decision at this time and tabled the issue.
Lordon Transaction Protection:
The board rejected a request by Lordon to add a fee per unit to protect from identity theft. Payments by homeowners to Lordon are already secured by the banks (if doing online banking) or by Lordon’s own system if paying directly.
Seawall inspection:
An inspection specialist was contacted by the board to give a quote for inspection of seawall but has not responded so far.
Acceptance of Audit:
The board accepted the audit conducted for the HMA complex by our CPA.