Coronado Cays HOA - Announcements - Mardi Gras Village Newsletter

Mardi Gras Village Newsletter - Oct 2018

10/15/2018

Good morning Mardi Gras Homeowner’s and Residents in Mardi Gras Village,

MARDI GRAS/PORT ROYALE DECEMBER 8, 2018 GET TOGETHER

The annual Christmas get together will be held in the Mardi Gras/Port Royale clubhouse on December 8, 2018 from 4-7pm. Details will be sent out as we get closer to that date. Chris and Herlinda Ryan are again organizing this wonderful chance for all of our residents and homeowners to get together and meet our new neighbors. This event has been very popular and the delicious food is eaten quickly. Please save the date.

CORONADO CAYS HOMEOWNER'S ELECTIONS

The newly elected or returning Board members were announced at the August Annual meeting and are as follows:

Port Royale- Kevin Foley

Montego- Tim Lavachek

Kingston- Michelle Junet

Blue Anchor- Mark Crisson- President

Green Turtle- David Rothschild

Antigua- Dennis Thompson- Vice President

Bahama- Kim Tolles

Trinidad- Tom Schibler

Jamaica- Karen Farmer- Secretary

Mardi Gras- Bob Rood- Treasurer

SEAWALL

If you attended the Annual Homeowner's Meeting you had a chance to see the tieback anchors that were planned for the seawall stabilization project. 5 test anchors were installed with excellent success. The anchors are 21 feet in length (after attaching the 3 sections) and the shaft was 1 inch square with a helix of 6 inches. They were drilled in at a 15 degree angle. The pressure on the anchors was tested at 17,000 pounds with a high of 33,000 pounds. The type of test anchors that we are using have been installed over 20,000 times in Florida and Texas with zero failures. The same type of anchor withstood a direct “hit” last year (hurricane Irma) where they were installed, with total success in the support of the wall. Currently the engineers overseeing the seawall stabilization have found that when the seawall was constructed, the slabs were only 12 feet in depth. Since we live in an earthquake zone, lack of depth, and the current movement at the south end, the engineers revised the anchor shaft size from 1 inch to 2 1/2 inches, and the helix is going from 6 inches to 8 inches and the installation distance along the front of the seawall between each anchor is being reduced from 10 feet to 7 feet. We are currently waiting for the final bid price for the changes. The pressure on the outside bolts appears to remain at 17,000 pounds.

It is currently assumed that we will resume the seawall stabilization project in 30-45 days after the revised bid is received and approved.

HOME REPAIRS AND UPGRADES

As a reminder, when planning any changes to the exterior of your home, please remember to submit your plan to the CCHOA Architectural Committee (AECC). The permit forms are available in the Cays office or online at the CCHOA website. Of course, the City of Coronado requires permits for almost all changes to your home whether it is interior or exterior.

WATER AND TERMITES

The cost of Mardi Gras’ water bill continues to escalate. If at any time you see water nozzles that are malfunctioning please call the Safety kiosk (619-575-8100) and/or call the Cays office (619-423-4353), including areas outside of Mardi Gras but in the CCHOA. Park West (the new Landscape company responsible for Grounds in the CCHOA) is certainly open for ideas concerning water saving methods. With our recent rain, they had all of the water shut off for the entire Cays. They are looking at various types of vegetation and ground cover to help save water.

The termite problem remains. According to the exterminators, the termites have been swarming and looking for openings into the homes. If you notice any rusted out screen vents on your home or open areas around your roof line where the termites might gain entry please let the office know.

IVY AND PAINTING

The painters are working their way along South Cays and the west side of Tunapuna. As many of you are aware, Delaport and Mardi Gras Road homes were painted during the last BUDGET year. This next budget year, painting and roof cleaning will start along the east side Tunapuna. There are several homes that have Ivy growing on the exterior walls. The Ivy will need to be removed prior to your home being painted. As mentioned last year in the September newsletter, the Ivy is quite damaging to the exterior structure, including window frames, doors, roofs and the stucco itself. Please make every effort to remove the Ivy, including any other vegetation that has grown up along the exterior of your home.

PALMS

We are continuing to “skin” the palm trees in the common areas around the homes. This is a slow process due to the cost of the skinning. We budgeted for an additional 20 this year, with the rest to be skinned during the next budget year. It is hoped that the skinning will occur where there is the greatest potential for damage to skylights from the falling palm ends. The desired selectivity cannot always be accommodated due to the distance between the trees and the set up of equipment.

INVESTMENTS

Currently the CCHOA Reserves are invested in CDs and Treasury Bills. The Finance Committee and the CCHOA Board continue to monitor investments to insure that they are as safe as currently possible. The first criteria is safety with yield second. The current investment strategy centers on a laddered approach to investing with a current one year goal. There have been 8 Prime Rate increases since December 17, 2015. The latest occurring on September 26, 2018, which brought the Prime Rate to 5.25%. Market information indicates that there may be at least one more Prime Rate increase this year on either November 8 or December 19. In addition, there is a potential for 3 more rate increases in 2019 and 1 in 2020. If this is the case the CCHOA will be financially ahead remaining with a short term laddered approach. Should the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) NOT raise rates it is presumed that the Finance Committee and the CCHOA Board will begin to move Reserve investments out 2, 3 or 4 years (only 25% of CCHOA Reserves can be invested out 4 years).

CONCLUSION

If your new neighbors did not receive this update and wish to receive it please ask them to contact the CCHOA office and asked to be added to my private email list or contact me.

I welcome the opportunity to improve our homes and the surrounding grounds. If at any time you have ideas, concerns, advice or questions please let me know. We all live in a terrific area and it is certainly my desire to have Mardi Gras continue to be an outstanding village.

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