The Casa Blanca News

Transcription

1 The Casa Blanca News News From The Casa Blanca Board of Directors Prepared by Roman Strzala, Vice President Dear Casa Blanca Owners: Here are some notes for follow-up from the last Board Meeting: 1. Occupancy of Units: The office requests that Owners notify them when you will be occupying your unit. In order to avoid confusion and billing errors, the cleaners need to know whether or not you will be using CB linens, and if you will be needing post-stay cleaning. There may be a renter inquiry on your unit, at the time you are occupying your unit, and could end up double booked, so please keep the office informed if you plan to occupy your unit. Additionally, Maintenance or cleaners may notice that your unit is

2 occupied, and not know if it is an authorized occupancy. 2. Water Damage Owner Martha Brown asked that Owners be aware of the possibility of inadvertent water damage to your unit by service personnel. It happened to her unit when HVAC workers stepped on a water line in the attic of her unit, causing it to crack down below in the wall, causing her unit to be flooded, resulting in heavy damage. With insulation in the attic, water lines (which may, or may not be in your attic), may be unseen by workers Budget and Finances First 8 Months: At the end of 8 months, Casa Blanca financials indicate we are approximately $1,800 over budget. By the end of the year we expect to have a balanced Operating Budget for Our reserves are stable at approximately $288,000. We are continuing to fund the reserves at the rate of $176,000 this year along with the plumbing remediation. So far this quarter we are making strides for a total balanced budget at the end of the year. Advanced reservations for Vacation Rentals for 2015 are more than 97% of the budget and have exceeded our expectations. Rental bookings for 2016 are on track to outpace Reserves The reserves are solvent. In 2015, we will be increasing our reserves with the $176,000 received from the Casa Blanca owner maintenance fees. We will be using a portion of those reserves for the brick paver change orders and villa plumbing remediation and also using the cross utilization voted on by the owners, thus not having to assess the Casa Blanca owners. This year $500 out of the $1490 quarterly owner maintenance fees is going into the reserves which is 33.5% of those maintenance fees. Most of the main projects will be completed so the reserve money will be increasing each year. As you can see as you look at Casa Blanca's new face lift, we believe the reserves have been well spent on repairing the infrastructure of our almost 50 year old facility. 5. Grounds As always landscaping is a high priority. The board will continue to monitor the landscaping to make sure Casa Blanca's grounds are

3 properly cared for. The Casa Blanca sign on Midnight Pass Road was refurbished in order to maintain the integrity and décor of the existing sign. A thank you to board member, Gary Stimpfl, for following through with Casa Blanca sign repairs. New plantings will be installed at the apartments along with a new irrigation system. The deteriorated lighting system through out Casa Blanca is being addressed so we have proper lighting for the owners and renters. 6. Office/Staff PCM (Progressive Community Management) is Casa Blanca's Management Company. PCM is in charge of the office, maintenance, and cleaning staff. All employees are hired and work for PCM. The Board sets policy and PCM carries out the business of Casa Blanca. Jasmine, the office manager and Bill our CAM are in the best positions to answer day to day questions. Teamwork and communication are the keys to a winning combination. 7. Plumbing Remediation The board budgeted to follow through with the plumbing remediation for 2015 with Custom Design as the contractor. These villas were scheduled for 2015: A1, A9, A10, B11, B13, B14, B18, C11, C16, D1, D2. This villa plumbing remediation is on going. The board budgeted 10 villas to be remediated in B11 was an emergency plumbing remediation. These designated owners were contacted so the proper scheduling could be started. Once again this is a perfect time for those owners to do any renovation to their individual units and many are doing so. If any owner did not want to schedule their plumbing remediation, a release letter signed by that owner was forwarded to the board absolving the association of any liability if there would be any sewer or water problems in the future. We then would replace the opted out unit with another unit to fill our 10 unit commitment. So far we have completed the plumbing remediation in all 16 apartments and 37 villas which is 60% of the complex. With the 11 villas being completed in 2015, that leaves 24 villas to be done in the future and 48 completed. That is 73% completion. Hopefully we can complete the villa plumbing remediation in 2-3 years. The board has hired Rich Baron to video the remaining 24 villas to see if we have any villas that need our immediate attention. This will hopefully remove any emergency issues in the future. 8. Road Brick Pavers

4 The installation of the brick road pavers is completed and the pavers look GREAT! In any construction project you run into problems and this paver installation was no exception. Change orders do occur, weather caused delays, owners requesting changes and additions and finally labor difficulties slowed down the project. Well we got through it all finally. Hopefully everyone is pleased. We believe every owner's investment will benefit with the installation of the road and villa pavers. Some areas of the pavers have been recently repaired by Atlantis and Custom Design. EcoShield pressure washed the pavers and sealed them with a satin finish. This sealing of the pavers should last 2-3 years. 9. Painting As stated previously, rows CD villas have been painted. Rows AB villas will be painted. The painting will be done by our maintenance staff who did a great job painting rows CD. 10. Security Entrance Gate The Casa Blanca Board will be reviewing the cost and probability of installing a security gate at the entrance to Casa Blanca including the possible security issue of cars being backed up on Midnight Pass Road with the new gate being installed. Other options such as security gates at the apartment entrance to the beach will also be considered. Nothing so far. 11. Safety & Security Once again the board is very aware with keeping Casa Blanca safe to the owners and renters. Keep the doors locked, your valuables in a safe place and alert the office of any suspicious development within the complex. We need your help to make Casa Blanca a safe environment for all. Lock your doors every time you leave your unit. The board and management company (PCM) has implemented security measures with regards to any holiday period and spring break week rentals. This will be a priority for spring break and all holiday periods. The new security measures were implemented during 4th of July and were effective. 12. Board of Directors Congratulations to Robert Biggins on his recent appointment to the Casa Blanca Board of Directors. Bob was appointed to the board at the

5 June board meeting. Best wishes to Bob and his family and we thank him for his participation. 13. Reorganization of Board President - Roger Feist, Vice President - Roman E. Strzala, Treasurer - Jerry Nienaber, Secretary - Barbara Bray, Director - Susan Geitz, Director - Gary Stimpfl, Director - Bob Biggins 14. Casa Blanca Projects Here are a list of some of the Casa Blanca projects: 1. Refurbishing of the Casa Blanca sign. 2. Cleaning, repairing and seal coating the brick pavers. 3. Villa plumbing remediation. 4. Apartment and villa roof maintenance including the installation of gutters. 5. Landscaping of villas. 6. Security gate and total security of Casa Blanca. 7. Continue office training. 8. Total maintenance and up keep of the Casa Blanca facility including the outside lighting. 9. Painting of the villas in rows AB. 10. Cleaning and monitoring of the rental units with new cleaning standards and accountability. 11. Landscaping of apartment grounds. 12. Casa Blanca website upgraded with owner portal. 13. Validated our Google Listing. 14. Instituting of the Constant Contact Program for news for owners. 15. Cleaning of the villa roofs. 16. Monitor Midnight Pass sewer project. 17. New pool and beach chairs. 18. New umbrellas. 19. Repair and replace the Casa Blanca lighting electrical fixtures. November 19th at 2:00 PM 2016 Budget Committee Review Meeting. All owners are welcome to attend. November 19th 3:00 PM Board Meeting. Included on the agenda will be the adoption of the 2016 budget. If you have any specific questions or concerns, please them to manager@thecasablanca.net.

6 Until next time, we are your Casa Blanca Board of Directors, Roger Feist, President Roman E. Strzala, Vice-President Jerry Nienaber, Treasurer Barbara Bray, Secretary Susan Geitz, Director Gary Stimpfl, Director Robert Biggins, Director