Thursday, May 28, 2009

A TIDBIT

Director Steffensen said LIV’s new web site will be operational on Monday. Word is that you will need a password to fully access it. Your lot# with your street name will be your temporary password example being (640starfish). After entering tou can change it to a permanent one. Be sure not to forget your changed password.





Read more on this article...

Saturday, May 23, 2009

MAY 20TH COFFEE WITH THE DIRECTORS

After the Pledge of Allegiance Director Halbach read items from the suggestion box.

Lot 121 complained about people using the exercise room in the dark. He said it made things difficult and has to be a safety issue.
Lot 779 complained that people were still illegally parking making it difficult for traffic. President Burke said they will forward this to Securitas.
Lot 285 stated to let the manager run the Park and not the board. He said he wished Director White would quit being an M.C. and stop singing. It was also requested that only authorized personnel be allowed test the pool and spa water. Dir. White rebuff the comment about her saying she's not sure what he's referring to.
Lot 288 said there are still owner lots that have not been attended to from the hurricane and wanted to know why? Lots in question were 267, 592, and 602. After a few questions and answers Armando said we have been going through the procedures of notifying these owners, some to no avail. P. Burke said since she has to meet with the Park’s attorney today about the Cowen and Arrayal litigation, she will also discuss this topic.
S.C. 120 asked that the palm stems that shed seed flowers into our pool facility be cut.
Lot 155 asked that the items for sale posted in the Activity Center have a better update system.
Lot 207 complained about a forwarded e-mail he received. This comment was allowed to read to the audience further which chastised Ed and Jennie McBride who never sent it to him.

FROM THE AUDIENCE

S.C. 70 questioned the lengths of time vehicles were allowed to park on common grounds with a pass.
Lot 571 asked who had land lines to call for help when the electricity goes off. It was said
maintenance did but were only being answered during work hours. Security was also mentioned. Lot 97 said it does no good for anyone and with the Park’s owners being in the healing state, requested that these suggestions which attack another owner not be read.
S.C. 2 said that she appreciates these types of comments and thinks they should be read so the truth is said.
Lot 329 asked when the summer rules and new wristbands will begin. Answer was this Friday.

There were several other short questions and comments from owners who never gave their name or lot number.

Director Guerra asked Armando if he was notified by Aramark to take over the additional GM responsibilities. The answer was no, they haven’t contacted me. P. Burke intervened stating that she had talked to Mr. Halstead from Aramark yesterday and on May 29th, he is bringing down a GM candidate for the board to interview. D. Guerra continued with Armando asking him if Aramark is compensating him for this additional work. Answer was no. Armando said he is trying to perform this additional work as if the GM was on vacation and is filling in when needed.
Director Guerra asked if there's to be any action taken for an informational leak at the last executive meeting. (To note:April’s regular board meeting recessed for this Executive Meeting and P. Burke said to the audience upon her return that there was no action taken at that meeting executive meeting.)

S.C. 57 asked if the temperature for the indoor pool could be kept constant. She said today it was too hot at over 87 degrees.

WORKSHOP

Dir. Steffensen said we have new wristbands that will be worn by Villagers four years and older. Four free to owners with an additional four available for a small fee. Max number per lot allowed is eight. All renters and visitors will pay for their wristbands.
Dir. Steffensen said we have received our new scanner but we now need to purchase a new workstation for this new scanner that will cost the Village an additional $2015.
Dir. Steffensen said there were unforeseen increases to the amounts approved at last month’s board meeting totaling a whopping $25,332. The unforseen items include sales tax on the $10,095 replacement engine for the five year old skid steer, money to remove the old Activity Center's sidewalk and the new need for additional money to fix the damaged pavement when the old sidewalks were removed. It's noted that the company paid to remove the sidewalks that did the damage is one of the two bidders to fix it.
Dir. Steffensen said she would like to use part of the $50,000 allotted in the budget for new pool filters and pumps to pay for these items because this $50,000 may not have to be used for the filters and pumps. She said counsel one of our pool system believe there is a flow problem involving a pipe problem with the outdoor pool and that the current filters may need to have the sand replaced or stirred more often, but overall were capable to do the job. She wants on the agenda to hire someone to consult them further and to take the $25,332 out of the $50,000 budgeted for the filters and pumps.
Dir. White said she had distributed to the board the info and bid from Sundance Solar for solar heating of our pools.

Dir. Halbach went over the restaurant improvements which include a new ceiling, paint, a remodeling of the bar area, enlarging the walk-in cooler by four feet, the lowering of labor cost, the lowering of the percentage of food cost by 15%, and the buying of a new deep fryer. He believes that from ten to fifteen thousand dollars in food is stolen from the Grille each year. He said he will have on the agenda a request of $10,000 for this remodeling upgrade.

Dir. Pelletier said the bath houses are dripping condensation water from the ceilings and fear damage. He noticed the A/C’s were set as low as 70 degrees and asked if they could be set at 85 degrees with a way to make them unable to be changed? Aramando said yes and will take care of it. The light switch at bath house three was discussed about being on all the time.
Dir. Pelletier wanted the board to further look at banning people other than authorized personnel to test the Park’s pool and spa water. Dir. Halbach said that he would want to test the water before using it and that it would not be advisable to have such a rule. It was asked who was unauthorized that's testing the pools and my name was brought up by President Burke who added that she thought I had ulterior motives in doing so.

Dir. Guerra asked about the status of the new motor for the skid steer? Armando said it should be finished by the end of the month.

Dir. Gagan asked about having no parking signs on Mr. Freeland’s property.

Dir. Steffensen said the current approval that's pending on whether the Board could find the money to pay for the 65% Berry Pool service increase said she has found it. It will come from the wristband sales.
It was also announced that the new servers are in place for the office.

P. Burke said Aramark’s new contract will have the alcohol portion as a separate contract. Aramark’s Halstead is to discuss these two contracts with the Board on Wednesday when he brings the GM candidate. P. Burke gave a strong warning to the directors that questions and comments will be limited to the contract only. The Bio of this GM candidate has yet to be seen by any of our directors.
P. Burke said that she had arranged the meeting they had recently with the Port Isabel’s hurricane authority. P. Burke said they discussed many things at this meeting. She said don’t get your hopes up but there might be a very small possibility there may be some government assistance advailable for our bridge. Also discussed was the 211 setup for evacuees, making the Village helicopter pad big enough to make our Park into a possible hurricane distribution point, and clearing the confusion on where to get hurricane stickers.
P. Burke said they are to meet with the attorney to discuss the status of the Cowen Group and Arroyo Cable lawsuits.

Dir. Pelletier wanted to change the board meeting schedule for June. It would be discussed at the regular meeting.

Dir. White said that bath house two has a constant puddle of water in front of the ladies bathroom door. She asked if there was any way to fix that. Armando said it’s probably a result from the sprinklers and he would take care of it.

Dir. Halbach said he felt real uncomfortable reading two letters this morning from the suggestion box and asked for some guidelines towards the reading of comments that appear to be personal attacks. He said in the future he will not read them, but pass them on to the president to read. P. Burke said no problem.

End of Meeting



Read more on this article...

Friday, May 15, 2009

MAY SUGGESTIONS

We would love your suggestion that will improve our Village. Suggestions may be viewed by those visiting. We will renew the display each month. Anonymous are welcomed. So throw one in the box.




Read more on this article...

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Post Corrections

I wish to post a correction to the last paragraph of the April Board Meeting that said "There was a letter sent from Mayor Vega saying they would like to have a meeting to improve relations with our Village." It should have read that there was a letter sent from Mayor Vega's office saying they would like to have a meeting to discuss,understand, and improve hurricane related protocols between Port Isabel and our Village.
The meeting was to have been scheduled after May 16th but took place last Monday at 5:30 PM. It was thought that the meeting went very well and left good impressions to all. Read more on this article...

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

A TIDBIT

It appears that Director Bergsma has provided a wonderful solution for Village owners who wish to stay abreast to the events occurring at our Board meetings.

He has researched different downloads for web conferencing and feels “GoToMeeting.com” is the best. Besides his time, he has spent money out of his own pocket and for awhile let our Park use his own personal computer and video hardware.
There are two features that will be provided. The first is the ability for any Board member to actively participate at any called meeting via the internet. The second is the ability to let up to 1000 owners view a Board meeting live or review it later from an archive. This may be featured at the August Board meeting if not before. If so, I am sure it will be highly appreciated by those owners concerned with our community. This would start our Village towards stepping into the 21st century, thanks to Director Bergsma.


Read more on this article...

Sunday, May 03, 2009

APRIL 2009 BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

Pledge of Allegiance

Owners Speaking on Agendas
There were none

Presidents Remarks-P. Burke
She discussed weather, Armando at the doctors, and her upcoming trip to the North.

General Manager Report-DeMalade
He discussed violations, late fees, bath house #1 near completed, starting work on Arts & Crafts room, what to do about old Arroyo cable, and keys for the Arts & Crafts storage lockers. P. Burke said organizations like the Quilters will have priority over locker room use. Personal use will be last.
DeMalade said he wanted to correct a statement about our hospitality manager. He said the previous week someone said Les did not have experience to run a restaurant. He said that was false. He said his experience came when he ran food service for an assisted Health/Home Care facility. D. White asked to discuss this a bit further but P. Burke would not allow any comment towards DeMalade’s statement. She said something to the effect of nope, no, we are not going there Approval of Minutes
Motion made and approved for March 25th minutes.

Treasurer’s Report-Treasurer Steffensen P&L for February
This Feb. net income was $48,696 less than last Feb. 2008
Losses; Village Grill $12,415, Rental Dept $747, Laundry $177.
Profits; Golf course $10314, Newsletter $23

Committee Reports
A. D&E committee-D. White
Summer events include an Ice Cream Social on June 20th, LIV Cook Off July 4th, and Cocktail Party August 1st.
B. Golf Committee-D. Pelletier
Wish to report non-golfing people are now allowed to walk the golf course sidewalks at anytime and told P. Burke that you can now take your pictures.
C. Pool Committee-D. Steffensen
Motion made and passed to make wrist bands include everyone using the pool 365 days a year.
D. Management Committee-P. Burke
She said it appears Aramark is the cheapest of other (?) companies, have negotiated changes in the new contract and will have this new contract available for review soon.

The Board recessed to an Executive session to discuss a problem with an owner.

Unfinished Business


A. Litigation-P. Burke
The Arroyo, Cowen, and Smith lawsuits are still under discovery.

B. Other-P.Burke gave the floor to DeMalade to speak on non scheduled agenda items. Items he addressed were
1. He said the five year old skid steer engine will cost the Village $10,095 to replace. Board made a motion and approved it.
2. Indoor pool heater will cost $2358 to fix or $2980 to replace. Motion made and approved to replace at $2980. After the approval the GM said the heater was for the hot tubs instead.
3. Lift station #1 new pump will cost $2377 to replace. He said he needs one also as a spare. He said we’ve been replacing one or two pumps every year because they get clogged and motor runs dry and burns up. Motion made and passed to purchase two motors for $4754.

New business

A. Web Conferencing-D. Bergsma
Go to meetings software can handle up to 1000 users. D. Bergsma said wireless signal unstable and requested a hard line be routed to the Rec. Hall. P. Burke requested something in the news letter to see owner’s response to this on line meetings. This will not happen until August.
B. Village Grille-D. Halbach
The committee is still in review but D. Halbach requested the physical changes to the grille get started. P. Burke said Treasurer Steffensen needs the costs figures. Example of change is installing a new sound deadening ceiling tile to make the restaurant quieter.
C. Review of Amenities-P. Burke
DeMalade said the basketball court cement pour over from one bid was $8200. Supposedly two more bids are coming. P. Burke wished further review on this while she is gone.
D. Tennis Court Usage to Non Owners-P. Burke
The motion was made to have all people playing must have a wrist band.
E. Sidewalk Replacement-D. Pelletier
The bid approved by the previous Board for the sidewalk replacement in front of the activity center did not have the removal of the existing sidewalk. D. Pelletier made a motion not to exceed an additional $3000 for this. This was approved.
F. Summer Meetings-D. Pelletier
Motion was made to not have a board meeting in July and passed
G. Welcome Center Parking Lot-D. Pelletier
It was requested to get bids for applying a seal coating for the asphalt around the Welcome Center. DeMalade said he is looking at Pave Shield and with $18000 he said was in the budget, we might do both the Rec. Hall and Welcome Center areas.
H. Technology ( computer, copy/scanner)-D. Steffensen
The copy machine is down continuously. D. Steffensen wanted scanners for both the office and document recording archives. Copy Graphics have an extra copy machine with a scanner for less a month than what is being paid now. Lease cost is $540 a month. The term of the old and new lease was not disclosed. She said this is just a replacement for the office. There is still the need for another scanner for documents records.
Computer prices have come down. $10,400 was budgeted for computers and scanners in 2008. A company can supply LIV with seven Dell computers ($715 ea.) and a 1.25 Terabyte four drive Dell server, all for $7496.31. DeMalade said his maintenance computer was not mentioned and his has had problems. It’s for time keeping and schedules. D. Steffensen said we are looking to give maintenance the office managers computer as your replacement. He said he doesn’t recommend that. He didn’t want a laptop. They went back and forth for awhile. He said he didn’t know why you are replacing our office manager’s computer because it’s brand new. P. Burke stopped it right there.
I. Solar Panels for Pool/Hot Tubs-D. White
Sundance Solar came and left info for the Board to review. Pay back is in two years with this system. A committee is to be formed with D. White to head it up.
J. Summer Events-D. Montalvo
Canceled

Other

G. Guerra had a complaint about someone’s truck parked near the Bridge and wanted signage.

D. Steffensen said we are sitting here with this unsigned Berry Pool contract which was reduced $200 to $1295 each month. DeMalade was asked if LIV can pick and choose two which of the four units to keep, suggesting having automatic chemical injection units for the the pools only. A lot was said after this question by our GM but he never did answered her question. He did say Berry Pools carried us for eighteen months now and they will take their injectors out or not, it's up to you all. Motion was made and approved to pay Berry Pools $1295 each month . That's $15540 a year plus we have to pay market price (retail+) for chemicals plus any service fees beyond the contract. D. White brought up the current problem of no chlorine in the outdoor pool. DeMalade said we been working on that since Monday (4/27) said the chlorine cylinder (chlorinator) was clogged. He said Berry Pools discovered this problem on their scanner and solved the problem Monday. (4/47). Asked if they were aware this was happening the week before that Monday and DeMalade said first was aware of this problem that Monday when he saw Berry Pools here at the Village fixing it.
P. Burke asked D. Steffensen if this amount can be dealt with in our budget. D. Steffensen's answer was I can’t say yes or no. P. Burke then said let’s approved this Berry Pool contract contingent that we can find the money in our budget. P.Burke said this last year was less expensive for LIV before when we had a pool person. Motion was then made and approved.

D. Halbach said the pool players did a fund raiser for the tables and raised $737.
Pelletier made a motion to make May’s meeting on Wed. and June’s meeting on Sat. It was approved. The first variance was for lot “A” to put up an 8’x24’ screen to stop errant golf balls. Motion made and approved. The second variance was for lot 685 wanting stucco trim around the windows was denied.

There was a letter sent from Mayor Vega saying they would like to have a meeting to improve relations with our Village. P. Burke, D. Steffensen, and D. White will attend this meeting sometime after May 16th.

Meeting Adjourned.



Read more on this article...