Announcements

Hi Neighbors!

At the start of this year our village director, Karen Farmer, moved away from Jamaica Village. I was appointed by the HOA Board of Directors to serve on an interim basis and finish her term which ends at the Annual Meeting on September 1^st. Accordingly, I’ve served as your interim Village Director for the past six months.

One of my first tasks as a director was to take part in the annual budget process. As you can imagine this is a complex process but Jamaica Village is financially solvent and despite the current inflationary economy we managed to keep our monthly village assessment from increasing.

Although Covid still hovers over all of us and has continued to put somewhat of a damper on a number of things, including staffing, maintenance, contracts and social activity, there has been some progress in Jamaica Village this summer. A number of maintenance projects have been completed at the docks and around the Village including installing ground fault circuit interrupt breakers at the docks, a new beach sign, renovating the stairs at the north end of Half Moon Bend, and refurbishing the pergolas along Half Moon Bend. Probably the most noticeable has been the replacement of parts of the concrete walkway between the clubhouse and beach as well as replacement of the stairs to the beach. Concrete in this area had been cracking and was in danger of becoming a safety hazard.

This concrete stair work was budgeted to be done over a 3 year period but to save money in an inflationary economy we accelerated it to be completed this year. A number of people using the beach have carts, wagons or other wheeled items. Since we were replacing the stairs we added a ramp in one area to accommodate those things and eliminate the need to bounce them down and chip the stairs.

Landscaping has always been an issue in the Cays. The Board of Directors decided to change the HOA landscape maintenance contract from Park West to Crossman. There was a 3 month period between the time Park West was given notice and Crossman started work. During this time there was a noticeable decrease in the level of service throughout the Cays as well as in Jamaica Village. Our GM, Henry Angelino, is addressing this with deductions to the final payment to Park West. Meanwhile Crossman has been working with our maintenance personnel to clean up the landscaping and bring it back to the standards we expect. Please be patient as this process continues.

On the bright side the final couple dozen palm trees that had been skipped when our palms were skinned a few years ago have now been skinned. And this week the rest of the palms have been trimmed. So the signature palms throughout our community all should look trim and proper. Also the grass sprinklers timers have been repaired and grassy areas are greening up. In the Fall the contractor will be thatching those areas so don’t be surprised if they turn brown for a short while.

The board recently approved modifications to Chapter 9 of the Member Handbook pertaining to the Architectural & Environmental Control Committee. Changes were made to more closely align with the CC&Rs and keep the AECC out of the business of the engineering approvals that are the responsibility of the City of Coronado. If you are planning any changes to your home’s exterior I encourage you to become familiar with that section of the Handbook.

On the social side, as I noted before, Covid has put a damper on large indoor gatherings but Donna Patrick has organized a weekly Happy Hour at the barbecue area adjacent to the village clubhouse. These are informal “Bring-Your-Own Drinks and an Appetizer to Share” gatherings and all village residents are invited to join in and meet your neighbors. Donna will have to bow out as the organizer of these events after September but hopefully others will continue them. They’re currently at 5:00 on Thursdays.

I don’t intend to run for the director position for a full term when we have the election at the Annual Meeting in September. But we have two neighbors who’ve stepped up and shown a genuine desire to serve us for the coming term. Both Deanna Sheldon and Steve Steinfeldt have distributed introductory flyers/letters to Jamaica residents so you should have a good feel for their qualifications and interests. I urge you to vote in the election either at the September 1^st Annual Meeting or by mail with the ballot that has recently been mailed to all residents. Mailed ballots are due in the HOA office not later than 5pm on August 31^st.

It’s been a pleasure serving as your interim director these past few months. I look forward to supporting our new director after the election.

Thanks,

Chris Guild