March Report 2017

Dear Owners,

This has been a busy month.
The new cleaning company started on 1st March and we have
needed to make a few adjustments in terms of our requirements. The company’s plan was to concentrate on a
thorough cleaning of each block first but that led to some owners being
dissatisfied with the service. We have
taken all comments on board and amended the schedule accordingly. Hopefully we will get to a stage where
everyone – or at least almost everyone – is happy.

We finally recovered all the money the previous
administrator was holding in cash which amounted to €17,897.62, as shown in the
year end accounts, plus a further €2,405.16 which she had accumulated from 1st
October to 31st December. We
still have not received all the documentation we have asked for so requests
continue to be made. We also received a
payment from the community insurance company of €13,379.83 for damage sustained
in the lightning strike at the end of last year. The outstanding bill to Pacheco has been paid
and he will be installing new digital channels shortly. As soon as I have a new list I will post it
on the web site. Some re-tuning may be necessary
for some owners.

My plan has always been to concentrate on improving the
financial situation of the community by reducing costs where possible and by
reducing the amount of owners’ debts to the community. We have made great progress in both areas. I
have had several discussions with a number of owners who had discrepancies with
their accounts with the community and most have now been resolved. Owners who still have outstanding debts are
encouraged to get in touch with either Gerardo, our administrator, or myself.

Gerardo has worked very hard and has renegotiated a new
contract with Schindler who maintain our lifts.
We were paying €103.25 per lift per month and will now pay €72.60 per lift
per month and they are giving us 3 months free of charge. They will also alter the lighting in the
lifts so the lights only operate when the lift is in use rather than being on
all the time. Gerardo has also reduced
our electricity costs which should save around €430 this year.

I’m hoping work to finalise the tiling of the internal gardens
will begin shortly. We are just waiting
on another estimate. Having these areas tiled means less problems in the event
of heavy rain and means that all the blocks will be the same whereas previously
some had been changed and some not.

The part needed to reinstate the pool heat pumps has been
languishing in customs in Madrid for some time but we hope to receive it soon.

I discovered, to my horror, that for the past 2-3 years we
have been in a precarious situation regarding the pump to our domestic water
supply which has been repaired numerous times and is now really on its last
legs but which our old President decided not to replace for some unknown
reason. A new replacement pump will be
installed shortly.

From 1st April a new company will be starting in
the community whose sole responsibility will be to maintain the swimming
pools. Our pools are obviously a large
and important asset to our community and, as such, I feel, and the committee
agree, that we will be better served having a specialist company looking after
them. They will be working hard to prepare the pools for the start of the busy
season – replacing tiles and repairing a leak in the children’s pool of pool
number 2. They will be checking the pools every day including weekends during
the summer ensuring all is working correctly and that the chemical levels are
correct.

Because the gardeners
will no longer have to spend time working on the pools we are reducing to one
gardener from 1st April who will work 8 hours per day Monday-Friday. This is proving a contentious decision with a
couple of owners. However, the cost
savings that we will make are huge and, of course, the situation will be
closely monitored and changed if needed.
If we never try new things it is impossible to know whether they will
work or not. Antonio Carmona, the head
of the gardening company, will continue to supply additional help when needed
together with cover for holidays and sickness as he does now. Our gardens are very well established so, in
some respects, they need less maintenance than they did in previous years when
a lot of planting etc. was being done.
The ‘nursery’ has been set up just below block 1 where we will grow our
own plants from cuttings later in the year.

I hold monthly meetings with the committee and Gerardo
joined us at the last meeting held on 27th March. I have always made
it clear that owners are very welcome to also attend if they wish to know what
is happening within our community.
Several owners joined us on the 27th March but unfortunately
two – Mr Small (914) and Mr Dove (614) (yes, I’m naming and shaming!) – decided to
use it as an opportunity to cause disruption and to be very aggressive and
abusive towards me personally. For that reason I have to withdraw the offer of
owners attending our committee meetings unless they are personally invited by
me as I will not put up with this disgusting behaviour. The reason
for the attack was because they disagree with the decision taken regarding the
gardens. I understand completely that
I can’t please everybody all the time but bullying tactics are not the way to
get your opinion heard. I have been given the task of trying to get the
community back to a secure financial position and to maintain or improve standards and I am proud of what has been
achieved in the first 3 months. It’s not
been easy and difficult decisions sometimes have to be made – only time will
tell if they are the right decisions or not.
However, as I said, all situations are being closely monitored and we
will respond accordingly.

Those of you here will have noticed a row of plant pots
inside the main gate outside block 1.
The parking situation in this area has become, at times, very dangerous
as the view is completely blocked by cars. The feedback regarding the change has
been extremely positive. The pots which
are there at the moment are temporary and will be replaced by matching pots
containing flowers which will look much nicer.
Owners are always encouraged to use the underground parking.

Maintenance continues on an almost daily basis with repairs
having been carried out to intercoms, lift telephones, pool areas etc. and will
continue with the gutters to the penthouses being cleaned, the benches around
phase 1 being repainted and minor adjustments to the majority of the pool
gates.

The weather seems to have improved and Easter and the summer
season are fast approaching. If anyone requires any further information just
let me know.

Patti