10/3/2024
ANTIGUA NEWS
Well, In the words of the Godfather, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull
me back in”. Oh well, we’ll keep going. Just a point of clarification. At the
annual meeting they announced I only received 38 votes. The reality is I
received 68 votes. Apparently, they had two people counting and forgot to add
the two together. So, I appreciate the show of support. Happy to win an
uncontested election, by a big margin.
Seriously, it is time to find a replacement. I have a great deal of knowledge to
pass on. I am more than happy to work with someone to do that. This is the only
way we can keep progressing. I’ve seen new directors walk into this job, not
knowing anything about the issues and really struggling to get up to speed.
It really is a fun and rewarding job. As long as you don’t mess up.
OK, Let's do some updates. May run a little long just to catch everybody
up.
GARAGE
ELECTRIC: We are still working on this. We have changed
consulting firms to MPE. They are the same firm, handling the electric for the
new garage in Montego. While we can’t increase the total power to the garages,
we are going to get individual meters. Just a reminder, the cost to increase
total power to all the garages (from SDG&E) was between 1.6 to 2.0 plus,
million dollars. Or 15,000 to 20,000.00 per unit.
LANDSCAPING:We are starting this winter’s heavy trimming. They will be trimming a number of
the larger shrubs back, and lowering them. Some of the trimming will look a
little severe, however, I can assure you they will come back healthier and
looking great very soon. We will also be removing most of the mulch and
replacing it with a small bark. This will give us a chance to check the drip
irrigation as well as re-pin these lines below the surface. This month we will also
be scarifying all the turf areas and overseeding with winter turf. This process
helps keep the lawns healthy by removing all the thatch that builds up and
prevents water and fertilizer from getting to the plant’s roots. We are also
going through the Village refreshing the landscape lighting as funds
permit.
RAIN
GUTTERS: The HOA has gone through and cleaned the upper unit
gutters. They will soon be doing the lower units in an effort to be sure we are
prepared for winter. If you live in an upstairs unit, please check to be sure
these are clean. We constantly get reports of clogged gutters which overflow
onto the lower units and sometimes into the lower units. Leaves, doghair, old
rags, golf balls are the typical items we find plugging these gutters.
LANDINGS:These are the landings that service the two upstairs front doors. Several of
these have been tiled over the years which have caused big problems. As you may
expect, the current owners have no idea who did this work. We will be removing
these tiled surfaces this year and restoring them to originality. Every time we
have done this, we run into major problems with rotted wood under the tile,
rusted metal trim, and sometimes stair issues.
BALCONIES:These are the upstairs, waterside patios. The HOA recently sent out a letter
regarding weight limits. As you would expect, some owners only have a few
items, and others quite a few more. I hope this helps. It’s a good idea to
check the surface of these decks to see if there are any cracks or worn areas
that might leak. We are scheduled to recoat all of the non-tiled balconies next
year.Still have a few owners with tiled surfaces. They know it’s their
responsibility to maintain it so that it doesn’t cause a leak in the lower
unit. As we found out this year, insurance companies will not cover the cost to
repair their units or the unit below. It’s considered a lack of maintenance on
that owner’s part. Several have unfortunately had to spend thousands of dollars
to make these repairs.
DOCK
BOXES: We have been looking for years to find a replacement for
our existing dock boxes. Even to the point of checking custom boxes. Our
current boxes have electrical panels in them, and the new way is to separate
that from the box. Further, our boxes are designed to be in the inside corner
of the docks. That’s why they are shaped like a triangle, and not a square. At
some point they got moved to the head walk. While I know this is a project that
needs to be addressed, there are some questions to be resolved. First, should
we keep box boxes on the docks? As you may have seen, Bahama is replacing all
their docks. They are not replacing the old dock boxes, which is the same as
most marinas. In fact, removing and cleaning out the old boxes became a real
problem with the hazardous waste. Most of these boxes are full of old oils,
fuel, solvents, cleaning supplies, etc. At this point, it will take buying four
boxes per dock, as well as two electrical pedestals. It looks like a total cost
around $105,000 to complete. Currently we don’t have that funding. Doing this
piece meal also creates problems. As we’ve learned over the years, you buy
something today and a few years later that model doesn’t exist anymore. It’s
imperative we present a uniform look for the entire village.
DOCKS:I think at this point we have addressed all of the items bolted to the docks.
Whether these floats constitute an additional shading of the bay, in an
unassigned area, I’ll let the Army Corp. of Engineers or some other agencies
resolve with those owners. Just as a point of clarification. Each unit is
deeded a wharfage area, and a dock space to use exclusively to moor a boat. We
are not deeded the dock. The docks are owned and maintained by all 108 owners.
Like other marinas, we just can’t add, bolt on racks, hangers etc. While some
owners keep and maintain their dock areas in a clean and neat condition,
others, not so much. We’ve all seen the collections of old unusable watercraft,
etc. floating around these areas. Trust me, your neighbors see, and comment
about it. Our efforts, my efforts, are simply to maintain a safe, stable,
organized dock system in compliance with the laws. 20 years ago, there were
only a few owners with dinghies in Antigua, now we have quite a few. Only 15
years ago there were only a couple kayaks in all of the Cays. Now we have
hundreds. There were no paddle boards, now we have hundreds. Who knows
what new, exciting things will be developed in the future. Regardless, all
these items need to be placed or stored within your “wharfage area”, not placed
on head walks, fingers or breezeway where the other 3 owners in the area have
to deal with them.
GANGWAYS:We continue to repair, and in some cases, replace these components. As you know
these are made of wood. Wood by its nature, located this close to saltwater is
very hard to maintain. Wood rot, termites, sun damage etc. all take their toll.
At some point we will have to replace them with another type. Many have
selected aluminum ramps. You can see the new ones going in at Bahama. However,
these cost around 16,000.00 dollars on average, each. That would be around
480,000.00 for Antigua to do.
BREEZEWAY
LIGHTS: We have been working on finding a replacement for these
fixtures. These are the lights on the ceiling of the breezeways and above the
stairs. Our existing fixtures are no longer manufactured. Many of these, after
50 years, are rusting out. We have gone through dozens of combinations to try
and get the best replacement. Over the course of the coming months we will be
replacing many of these.
POOL:We will be replastering the pool this winter. It’s been well over 10 years
since the last time this was done. You may have noticed the existing surface is
failing. Also, we have now contracted with a pool cleaning service to take care
of all the pools in the Cays. Looking forward to an increase in our service
level and a reduction in total cost.
PLUMBING:We have completed inspecting or replacing all of the pressure regulators within
the Village. Should help with minimizing any slab leaks. We still get a few
drain line leaks; however, it continues to be minimal by comparison to the
past.
PALMS:We will be trimming the palms in November before the winter storms. Still need
to remove a number of these that have now become very crowded next to sidewalks.
Again, I’m limited to what I can get done because of funding. We again
fertilize the King palms and they are looking good. As you know, these (King
Palms) were planted over the years to replace the taller Fan palms. Many of
these are now at roof height and doing exactly what we wanted.
ELECTRIC
PANELS: When you enter the trash areas you see the electric
meters and the metal electric breaker panels. These control not only the units,
but the landscape lights and dock power. Recently we have had several that have
now, after 50 years rusted out. Usually on the top where the sun and rain have
hit them. Another project we will need to face in the near future.
CAYS:As you know, the HOA is continuing to work on numerous projects throughout the
Cays. Building a new garage at Montego, re-roofing and painting in Mardi-Gras,
several landscape projects and finishing other dock projects. We are also
focused on contributing our efforts and views to the city, for the park remodel
as well as working with the Port of San Diego on efforts to improve and protect
Grand Caribe Park. There are a host of other issues that present themselves
every month as you would expect. Disputes between neighbors, remodels problems,
and constant violations of CC&Rs and our rules. Dogs, kids and cars always
seem to come up. Ah, part of living in this great community.
DUES:I heard a lot about the cost of our dues. Or at least at some point somebody
will add that into a conversation. Just for comparison, here is a list of
current 2024 dues at other Coronado HOA’s. These are for, two bedroom, two bath
units. Obviously, three bedrooms are more.
The Shores
1,565.00 (plus special assessments)
The Landing 1,500.00
(plus special assessments)
On “C” street
805.00
The Harbor Club 1,759.00
As you see, we are far below these numbers. And in most of these cases, we have
fewer units. Plus, we have other very unique issues and items (docks, Nav.
aids, etc.) to deal with.
As a director, I can tell you it’s frustrating not to be able to do, or
complete projects simply because we don’t have funding. Many improvement
projects can’t be done because we don’t have the funds. If you read our reserve
study, I think we have captured all of the required items, however we constantly
fall short of funds because of rising costs. As an example, we recently
completed repairs and painting to all of our wood fences and trellis. These are
50-year-old, wood fences, in the ground. Many of the trellis have major
structural problems. They have been sometimes maintained, and sometimes, not so
much. That project cost over double the estimated amount. The estimated amount,
in the reserve study, came directly for the cost we spent in 2017 as part of
the remodel. The damage keeps getting worse, and the cost has doubled. So, I
guess my point is, we are going to have to increase our monthly dues again next
year. I don’t mind the time it takes to research these issues, figuring out the
best valve repairs, or in some cases, cutting a few corners, however I refuse
to put bandages on things. We can’t just leave it for the next director or
manager. We live in a 50-year-old community, and those structures require some
additional maintenance and repair to keep up.
All that said, it is still an amazing and truly unique community to live in.
Dennis
Well, In the words of the Godfather, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull
me back in”. Oh well, we’ll keep going. Just a point of clarification. At the
annual meeting they announced I only received 38 votes. The reality is I
received 68 votes. Apparently, they had two people counting and forgot to add
the two together. So, I appreciate the show of support. Happy to win an
uncontested election, by a big margin.
Seriously, it is time to find a replacement. I have a great deal of knowledge to
pass on. I am more than happy to work with someone to do that. This is the only
way we can keep progressing. I’ve seen new directors walk into this job, not
knowing anything about the issues and really struggling to get up to speed.
It really is a fun and rewarding job. As long as you don’t mess up.
OK, Let's do some updates. May run a little long just to catch everybody
up.
GARAGE
ELECTRIC: We are still working on this. We have changed
consulting firms to MPE. They are the same firm, handling the electric for the
new garage in Montego. While we can’t increase the total power to the garages,
we are going to get individual meters. Just a reminder, the cost to increase
total power to all the garages (from SDG&E) was between 1.6 to 2.0 plus,
million dollars. Or 15,000 to 20,000.00 per unit.
LANDSCAPING:We are starting this winter’s heavy trimming. They will be trimming a number of
the larger shrubs back, and lowering them. Some of the trimming will look a
little severe, however, I can assure you they will come back healthier and
looking great very soon. We will also be removing most of the mulch and
replacing it with a small bark. This will give us a chance to check the drip
irrigation as well as re-pin these lines below the surface. This month we will also
be scarifying all the turf areas and overseeding with winter turf. This process
helps keep the lawns healthy by removing all the thatch that builds up and
prevents water and fertilizer from getting to the plant’s roots. We are also
going through the Village refreshing the landscape lighting as funds
permit.
RAIN
GUTTERS: The HOA has gone through and cleaned the upper unit
gutters. They will soon be doing the lower units in an effort to be sure we are
prepared for winter. If you live in an upstairs unit, please check to be sure
these are clean. We constantly get reports of clogged gutters which overflow
onto the lower units and sometimes into the lower units. Leaves, doghair, old
rags, golf balls are the typical items we find plugging these gutters.
LANDINGS:These are the landings that service the two upstairs front doors. Several of
these have been tiled over the years which have caused big problems. As you may
expect, the current owners have no idea who did this work. We will be removing
these tiled surfaces this year and restoring them to originality. Every time we
have done this, we run into major problems with rotted wood under the tile,
rusted metal trim, and sometimes stair issues.
BALCONIES:These are the upstairs, waterside patios. The HOA recently sent out a letter
regarding weight limits. As you would expect, some owners only have a few
items, and others quite a few more. I hope this helps. It’s a good idea to
check the surface of these decks to see if there are any cracks or worn areas
that might leak. We are scheduled to recoat all of the non-tiled balconies next
year.Still have a few owners with tiled surfaces. They know it’s their
responsibility to maintain it so that it doesn’t cause a leak in the lower
unit. As we found out this year, insurance companies will not cover the cost to
repair their units or the unit below. It’s considered a lack of maintenance on
that owner’s part. Several have unfortunately had to spend thousands of dollars
to make these repairs.
DOCK
BOXES: We have been looking for years to find a replacement for
our existing dock boxes. Even to the point of checking custom boxes. Our
current boxes have electrical panels in them, and the new way is to separate
that from the box. Further, our boxes are designed to be in the inside corner
of the docks. That’s why they are shaped like a triangle, and not a square. At
some point they got moved to the head walk. While I know this is a project that
needs to be addressed, there are some questions to be resolved. First, should
we keep box boxes on the docks? As you may have seen, Bahama is replacing all
their docks. They are not replacing the old dock boxes, which is the same as
most marinas. In fact, removing and cleaning out the old boxes became a real
problem with the hazardous waste. Most of these boxes are full of old oils,
fuel, solvents, cleaning supplies, etc. At this point, it will take buying four
boxes per dock, as well as two electrical pedestals. It looks like a total cost
around $105,000 to complete. Currently we don’t have that funding. Doing this
piece meal also creates problems. As we’ve learned over the years, you buy
something today and a few years later that model doesn’t exist anymore. It’s
imperative we present a uniform look for the entire village.
DOCKS:I think at this point we have addressed all of the items bolted to the docks.
Whether these floats constitute an additional shading of the bay, in an
unassigned area, I’ll let the Army Corp. of Engineers or some other agencies
resolve with those owners. Just as a point of clarification. Each unit is
deeded a wharfage area, and a dock space to use exclusively to moor a boat. We
are not deeded the dock. The docks are owned and maintained by all 108 owners.
Like other marinas, we just can’t add, bolt on racks, hangers etc. While some
owners keep and maintain their dock areas in a clean and neat condition,
others, not so much. We’ve all seen the collections of old unusable watercraft,
etc. floating around these areas. Trust me, your neighbors see, and comment
about it. Our efforts, my efforts, are simply to maintain a safe, stable,
organized dock system in compliance with the laws. 20 years ago, there were
only a few owners with dinghies in Antigua, now we have quite a few. Only 15
years ago there were only a couple kayaks in all of the Cays. Now we have
hundreds. There were no paddle boards, now we have hundreds. Who knows
what new, exciting things will be developed in the future. Regardless, all
these items need to be placed or stored within your “wharfage area”, not placed
on head walks, fingers or breezeway where the other 3 owners in the area have
to deal with them.
GANGWAYS:We continue to repair, and in some cases, replace these components. As you know
these are made of wood. Wood by its nature, located this close to saltwater is
very hard to maintain. Wood rot, termites, sun damage etc. all take their toll.
At some point we will have to replace them with another type. Many have
selected aluminum ramps. You can see the new ones going in at Bahama. However,
these cost around 16,000.00 dollars on average, each. That would be around
480,000.00 for Antigua to do.
BREEZEWAY
LIGHTS: We have been working on finding a replacement for these
fixtures. These are the lights on the ceiling of the breezeways and above the
stairs. Our existing fixtures are no longer manufactured. Many of these, after
50 years, are rusting out. We have gone through dozens of combinations to try
and get the best replacement. Over the course of the coming months we will be
replacing many of these.
POOL:We will be replastering the pool this winter. It’s been well over 10 years
since the last time this was done. You may have noticed the existing surface is
failing. Also, we have now contracted with a pool cleaning service to take care
of all the pools in the Cays. Looking forward to an increase in our service
level and a reduction in total cost.
PLUMBING:We have completed inspecting or replacing all of the pressure regulators within
the Village. Should help with minimizing any slab leaks. We still get a few
drain line leaks; however, it continues to be minimal by comparison to the
past.
PALMS:We will be trimming the palms in November before the winter storms. Still need
to remove a number of these that have now become very crowded next to sidewalks.
Again, I’m limited to what I can get done because of funding. We again
fertilize the King palms and they are looking good. As you know, these (King
Palms) were planted over the years to replace the taller Fan palms. Many of
these are now at roof height and doing exactly what we wanted.
ELECTRIC
PANELS: When you enter the trash areas you see the electric
meters and the metal electric breaker panels. These control not only the units,
but the landscape lights and dock power. Recently we have had several that have
now, after 50 years rusted out. Usually on the top where the sun and rain have
hit them. Another project we will need to face in the near future.
CAYS:As you know, the HOA is continuing to work on numerous projects throughout the
Cays. Building a new garage at Montego, re-roofing and painting in Mardi-Gras,
several landscape projects and finishing other dock projects. We are also
focused on contributing our efforts and views to the city, for the park remodel
as well as working with the Port of San Diego on efforts to improve and protect
Grand Caribe Park. There are a host of other issues that present themselves
every month as you would expect. Disputes between neighbors, remodels problems,
and constant violations of CC&Rs and our rules. Dogs, kids and cars always
seem to come up. Ah, part of living in this great community.
DUES:I heard a lot about the cost of our dues. Or at least at some point somebody
will add that into a conversation. Just for comparison, here is a list of
current 2024 dues at other Coronado HOA’s. These are for, two bedroom, two bath
units. Obviously, three bedrooms are more.
The Shores
1,565.00 (plus special assessments)
The Landing 1,500.00
(plus special assessments)
On “C” street
805.00
The Harbor Club 1,759.00
As you see, we are far below these numbers. And in most of these cases, we have
fewer units. Plus, we have other very unique issues and items (docks, Nav.
aids, etc.) to deal with.
As a director, I can tell you it’s frustrating not to be able to do, or
complete projects simply because we don’t have funding. Many improvement
projects can’t be done because we don’t have the funds. If you read our reserve
study, I think we have captured all of the required items, however we constantly
fall short of funds because of rising costs. As an example, we recently
completed repairs and painting to all of our wood fences and trellis. These are
50-year-old, wood fences, in the ground. Many of the trellis have major
structural problems. They have been sometimes maintained, and sometimes, not so
much. That project cost over double the estimated amount. The estimated amount,
in the reserve study, came directly for the cost we spent in 2017 as part of
the remodel. The damage keeps getting worse, and the cost has doubled. So, I
guess my point is, we are going to have to increase our monthly dues again next
year. I don’t mind the time it takes to research these issues, figuring out the
best valve repairs, or in some cases, cutting a few corners, however I refuse
to put bandages on things. We can’t just leave it for the next director or
manager. We live in a 50-year-old community, and those structures require some
additional maintenance and repair to keep up.
All that said, it is still an amazing and truly unique community to live in.
Dennis