| The driveway lights have been failing for more than a decade. Ten years ago, the preferred maintenance was to lift the light post out of the ground, cut off the rotted part, and put the shortened post back into the ground. | |||
| More recent boards have not even bothered to keep the lighting alive. Here a lightpost which rotted and fell over in November 2019 remains capped today. | |||
 
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| At the 2018 annual meeting, proposed improvements to the property drawn up by a local architectural firm included upgrades to the lights, the mail boxes, the entryway sign, garage doors, and retaining walls. So far the only use of these materials has been to market units for sale: at least the $15K drawings weren't completely wasted. | |||
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| The actual lighting situation is a bit less attractive. The lightpost near the mailboxes was beginning to lean into the driveway. The fix? Chop it down. | |||
 
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| The driveway repair has also been a subject of discussion for more than a decade. | |||
 
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| The 2019 board imposed a $59K special assessment to replace the irrigation water supply and to replace the mailboxes. Since the original construction, the association irrigation system had been dependent on a well in the meighboring property. Both parcels were at that time owned by Frank Mantia. After Frank's death and a few property transfers, a new owner finally demanded the removal of the piping. | |||
| Work on the irrigation system; sadly, there is less to irrigate with the current approach to landscaping. | |||
 
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The 2020 reserve study delivered to
owners at the 2020 annual meeting noted that the driveway was
fully depreciated and should be replaced that year. No repairs
are budgeted or scheduled as of January 2021. The latest notice
from the Board stated "And, importantly, we are well along in the process of drafting a multi-year capital improvement proposal to bring to our community. Some of the top priorities being investigated and quoted at this point are new lighting, new paving, and new siding and trim to addressneeded infrastructure upgrades. Also, as part of cultivating a stronger sense of community, we will be replacing two sets of stairs to the water and are considering adding places where neighbors may sit by the ocean to have a cup of coffee or watch the sun go down." | |||
Unfortunately this statement
required an immediate disclaimer:"In sending out the most recent letter to the community, we were remiss in not including a disclaimer that the contents of the letter did not represent the view of all Board members. Our apologies for that oversight. We hope this clarifies any misunderstanding. " | |||
| Surprise, surprise. The dissenters
were owners of waterfront units; the letter was written by the
board chair, an owner of one of the back units. To understand
the context of these problems, take a look at
the association's chronic underfunding. These in
turn can be traced to issues
with the Master Deed | |||
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