January 21, 2022 Update
Dear Montego Owners and Residents:
As promised, an update is being provided on the Montego parking garage structure. We are also sharing information we have recently received.
Attached are two opinion letters sent to the HOA and the City recommending that the parking structure be vacated within 30 days or that the structure be made inaccessible. The temporary shoring plan developed by Rockland Builders Services is also attached. Essentially the plan calls for steel I-beams to span the entire width of the garage, all three rows of parking, and be located adjacent to both sides of the existing columns plus another set of supports 9 feet away from each side of the current columns to support the structure where it is deflecting (sagging) between the columns. Since the beams run the entire width of the garage all storage would need to be removed as well as the owner-installed garages. The height of the garage will be lowered by approximately one foot and parking will be much tighter due to the new supporting structure for the I-beams. The green Xs in the garage are preliminary markings to indicate where the temporary shoring would be placed. It is estimated 20-30 parking spots would be lost due to the supports and it would require a month to install. Additionally the visitor parking would need to be vacated as it is needed for a staging area and all movement of cars within the Village will be restricted during working hours. We respectfully ask that you not contact Rockland Builders or any of the engineers and that all questions be directed to our office. Calls to contractors and engineers cost CCHOA and Montego Village money. Also, we have found that these calls have lead to the dissemination of incorrect information. We have instructed the engineers and contractors contacted by owners to direct all individuals to General Manager Henry Angelino.
The Board of Directors preliminarily approved the installation of temporary shoring at their December meeting and authorized the expenditure of up to $100,000 from Montego's reserves. The final shoring plan was shared with the HOA and Structural Engineer Mehdi Rashti of SMR Engineering in early January after the holidays for his final evaluation. The pricing, still only verbal, was estimated at $170,000 to install the shoring and $15,000 per month for rental of the materials. A majority of the materials had been located and Rockland Builders Services, contractor in charge of organizing the various entities required to develop the shoring plan and intended installer of the shoring, was standing by for the final approval and to submit for a permit from the City. As part of CCHOA’s ongoing due diligence there was a meeting onsite with the City Senior Inspector Dave Calvani, structural engineers Mehdi Rashti and Carl Josephson of Josephson Werdowatz and Associates, and HOA Management on January 13, 2022. Based on the condition of the parking garage structure and additional degradation recently noted, both structural engineers indicated that although an imminent danger of collapse is unlikely in the next 30 days, they verbally recommended vacating the garage within 30 days or installing shoring. Their written opinion letters were received on January 14th and 17th. In an effort to get the notice to the Village residents as soon as possible, HOA Staff prepared and presented the notification letter to the Board for emergency approval and worked extended hours to mail, post on individual units and Village bulletin boards, and email blast the letter to owners and residents in addition to posting the letter on the structure and a sign at the entrance to the Village on the evening of January 14, 2022.
Unless required earlier by the City, access to the garage will be removed after 30 days (February 14th). Additionally, the risk of the garage failing increases with time, so we recommend you remove your vehicles and belongings as soon as possible. You enter the parking structure at your own risk. Thank you to the many owners and residents that have proactively removed their vehicles and belongings already.
Currently, we are drafting a letter and special ballot to be sent to Montego owners for a vote on whether to demolish the parking garage structure. This special vote is required by the Coronado Cays Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs) Article III, Section 6 and states in summary that, the demolition of a Village improvement costing in excess of $15,000 requires an affirmative vote of two thirds of the Village owners. A copy of the CC&Rs can be found on the CCHOA website at www.cchoa.org under the Document Center section. The ballot will be presented for approval by the Board at the upcoming meeting to be held on January 27, 2022 at 2pm via Zoom videoconference. If you would like to attend, please contact the HOA Office at 619-423-4353 to obtain the Zoom details.
Parking
We have reached out to the City and received concurrence on easing parking restrictions outside the Village and along Coronado Cays Boulevard from the Chief of Police Chuck Kaye. Additionally, one unloading/loading parking space and one “Contractor Day Use Only” is being designated in each visitor parking area along with two reserved spaces for residents with mobility issues in the western section of visitor parking based on owner feedback. Please respect these spaces for the convenience of the entire Village and specific units identified.
Disposal of Items
Maintenance responded on Monday, January 17th, to remove large items placed over the weekend in the trash enclosure areas and ensure that EDCO was able to empty dumpster as scheduled. We are continuing to monitor the enclosures and ask that you contact the HOA Admin Office at 619-423-4353 if you need assistance with large items. EDCO will not pick up trash and recyclables if the dumpsters are blocked. Signs have been posted on bulletin boards regarding free disposal of hazardous waste and small electronics at the City's Public Services Building at 101 B Avenue on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month between 9am-2pm. Note that this coming Saturday is the 4th Saturday of the month. Hazardous waste disposal includes cooking oil for the resident that placed the box of oil on the wall in the easternmost trash enclosure.
The bottom line for the Board, Janice, and me is the safety of the residents. Secondarily, is fulfilling our fiduciary responsibilities in protecting the financial assets of Montego Village. We have explored different options to save the parking structure and exhaustively explored a Montego Village owner's proposal for a $587,000 solution that will allegedly last 50 years. We explained at the last townhall meeting that it was an incomplete solution that did not take into account deflection between the existing columns and stabilizing the corrosive environment within the slab that is damaging post-tensioned cables and rebar and ignored ongoing waterproofing and maintenance costs. While we are appreciative of this owner’s efforts, his own selected structural engineer has rejected his solution. In the end, the industry experts including, structural engineers that have worked with these structures for 30 plus years each, repair contractors, construction contractors including Rockland that was hired to design and install the temporary shoring agree that the best course of action is to demolish the structure and build a new carport that will enhance the value of the community and provide the amenities desired by the owners. Now is the time to act! There is no more putting off the decision in search of a miracle because that path will require the Village to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars with no guarantee of success. Even if the slab can be saved and a retrofit design developed, there is a high probability that the cost to install the repair, impact to existing parking spots, and ongoing maintenance costs of the structure will be prohibitive.
The balloting material will be mailed out to you in the next two weeks. Please be on the lookout for the ballot material and vote promptly. In addition to returning the ballot by mail , there will be a locked ballot box maintained in the CCHOA administrative offices. A townhall meeting via Zoom videoconference is planned for the early February and details will be provided next week once the timeline for the vote is finalized. My plan is to have structural engineer(s) and a Rockland representative present to discuss the structure and answer questions.
Sincerely,
Henry Angelino, CCHOA General Manager