Coronado Cays HOA - Announcements - Mardi Gras Village Director Newsletter- February 2018

Mardi Gras Village Director Newsletter- February 2018

2/6/2018

Good morning Mardi Gras residents and owners. This is the early spring update on events in Mardi Gras.

BUDGET

It is budget time for the Coronado Cays Homeowners Association (CCHOA). The General Manager has been meeting with the department heads. There was a public meeting on January 25, 2018 that coincided with the January Board meeting which was posted on the CCHOA website. The upcoming public meetings will be posted for those of you interested in the budgeting process. Sometime at the beginning of March, each of the 10 Village Directors will meet with the CCHOA staff to finalize each Village budget, which includes Mardi Gras.

As a reminder, Mardi Gras has a planned Reserve spending budget which covers the next 30 years. There are some items that have a useful life longer than that such as: tile roofing, bulkhead railing, and the tennis court fencing. The seawalls are scheduled for 30 years but the useful life may be longer. This is a different issue from maintenance and repair of the seawalls and the need to use tiebacks at the south end of the seawall. More on the seawalls later in this letter.

Currently, we have expended approximately $200,000 more than we contributed to our Reserves which is to be expected during high expenditure years. Mardi Gras Reserves do increase during the years where there are low expenditures and decrease during the high expenditure years. We currently have $1,932,971 in Reserves. This will go down over the next 4 years as the streets will receive an overlay for $200,000, painting for over $300,000, termite control over $100,000, landscaping and grounds $139,000, and minor roofing for $27,000. Major roofing is out 7 years and will utilize over $500,000. Of course the day to day operation side of the budget is ongoing and where a good portion of our annual dues are utilized. As previously stated I continue to ask the CCHOA departments, when possible, to not defer any maintenance on our 120 homes. It is hoped that Mardi Gras will continue to have a superior external appearance in order to help maintain value. Also, by way of a reminder, there is always an attempt to hold expenses down but wages are going up in many areas of our economy and the CCHOA.

CCHOA INVESTMENTS

The CCHOA continues to maintain a policy of safety and security in the investment policy. Currently the investments include CDs. A ladder approach is followed extending out 4 years. The present return is 1.33%, on $4,147,000 in Reserves. The CCHOA has done a short term loan to Antigua and Montego with a current loan percentage of 4.5% which is pegged to the US Prime Rate. If the two Villages decide to vote in favor of a special assessment it would be anticipated that the Reserves will increase appreciably by the end of this fiscal year, otherwise they will increase more slowly as the two Villages pay off the loan with their annual dues. This loan does not affect Mardi Gras in any way other than the collective CCHOA Reserve money is used for the short term secured loan. The CCHOA currently maintains a higher than normal cash position in order to fund the maintenance projects in the two Villages, in addition to regular reserved items in the other Villages. The CCHOA has a Finance committee that meets every 3 months and owners in the CCHOA are always invited to attend as well as attend the regular monthly meetings with the Board of Directors. There is a calendar of these events posted on the website.

Seawalls

The maintenance and repair of the south end seawall has been an ongoing project for a very long time. All of the permits to repair the south end of the seawall have been received but the CCHOA currently cannot get a waiver from California for an outside contractor to complete the repairs. One of the biggest problems is that the helical tieback anchors that we intend to use have few contractors available that know how to install them and none in California. Currently there are two large dock/seawall contractors in California investigating the financial implications for them to become acquainted with the installation process and hopefully be able to use their new installation knowledge in the Cays as well as in other areas of California. Currently over 9,000 of these anchors have been installed in other States with zero failures. Some seawalls utilizing these anchors in Florida went through the hurricanes this past year and reportedly survived just fine.

AECC

The CCHOA has an architectural committee that meets regularly to evaluate and approve building projects in the CCHOA. Residents planning any alterations to the exterior of their homes need to secure a permit. The permit applications are available in the CCHOA office or online.

TERMITES/BEES

Mardi Gras appears to have had several infestations this past year with bees and termites. This has been a rather new, large expense for our Village. If you notice screens in the home vents that have rusted out please let the office know. In addition, should you see, in the future, bees swarming around your home please let the office know quickly so the large hives do not have a chance to get started. As stated, removal of both bees and termites has become a significant expense for Mardi Gras.

SOUTH BAY BOATING

The bay to the east of the homes in Mardi Gras has a speed limit of 5 mph. If you see any type of watercraft in the bay exceeding 5 mph please call the Harbor Patrol, 619-686-6272. As previously mentioned, the waves from the boats exceeding the speed limit in shallow water can damage the eelgrass and the wave action against the seawall purportedly undercuts the sand at the base of the seawall and adds to erosion. The Port of San Diego has now indicated that they will not currently approve an ADDITIONAL application to bring sand in to fortify the base of the seawall.

CONCLUSION

Mardi Gras has a newly repaired and upgraded Clubhouse and pool area (cabinets and bathrooms hopefully will be finished this year), improved grounds, improved monument area, private street sweeping, homes being repainted, roofs and chimneys repaired, several termites now missing, and permits secured for the seawall. This has been a productive year and the CCHOA and Mardi Gras remain a beautiful place to have your home. To date Mardi Gras and the CCHOA are financially sound.

I welcome your questions, concerns, and comments. I hope this email answers many of your current questions. If you have neighbors that did not receive this email please ask them to send me a note requesting that they be added to the Mardi Gras list. As previously mentioned Mardi Gras saves a great deal of money by emailing instead of using the US Mail.

Bob Rood, Mardi Gras Director, dirmardigras@cchoa.org