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Dear Fellow Las Palmas Owners,
A general assembly meeting for all Las Palmas owners is to be held Saturday, January 21, 2012 pursuant to article 28 from the law to hold an annual meeting. The purpose of the meeting is to conduct and carry on the business of the Las Palmas Home Owners Association to include HOA business, the election of a three year term for Board member and voting on the 2012 budget.
Until such election, the operation of Las Palmas will continue with the existing Board Members and the same HOA fees as approved for the 2011 budget. The first quarter common fees due January 1, 2012 may or may or may not be adjusted based on the approval of the 2012 budget. Should there be a change in 2012 HOA fees, owner account balances will be adjusted accordingly to reflect these changes for the second quarter payments due April 1, 2012.
2011 has been a remarkable year in many respects for Las Palmas. The HOA Board had made a commitment to continue to find ways to work on cost saving measures and continue to bring down the owners common fees. At the same time, our goal was to improve the onsite services for all owners and guests.
This turned out to be a greater challenge then expected. The Board was faced with several unexpected setbacks that included federal zone issues costing the HOA approximately $20,000.00 in back payments and fees for the use of our property on the Federal Zone beach area. Additionally the HOA was pulled into the Villa 1 ownership dispute. Villa 1 was accruing excessive common fees and we were not receiving payment from any of the disputing parties. The HOA took legal action by restricting all services and access, applying a legal lien on the property and securing the Villa with additional security service.
More details will be provided at the owner meeting, however the HOA Board wanted to assure all owners everything possible was being done to protect and safeguard the interest of Las Palmas. This included billing Villa 1 for all and any additional expenses incurred due to the ongoing ownership dispute between the previous owners and or occupants because of non-compliance with HOA CCR’s and forcing the HOA to incur additional costs.
Although setbacks like this made it difficult for the Board to focus on improving our resort, the Board still managed to complete several Capital projects in 2011. All villas and all condo buildings common areas were repaired and painted after the 2011 earthquake. Lava rock replaced the gravel throughout our resort. The cool decking was replaced at the Baja pool area. The Grande and the main pool areas are scheduled next.
The Developer, for whatever reason did not install floor drains in the laundry areas in our condos, so the board acted pro-actively and approved a laundry drain upgrade for under $150.00 labor per unit. This was to install a floor drain along with a travertine floor sill in the laundry doorway to minimize any flooding damage occurring in the laundry area. The project is expected to be complete prior to the owners meeting.
The board also approved an on demand water heater system program with HOA financial incentive to any owner that wanted to participate. Should there be enough owners still interested, the HOA will advise owners at the meeting if we can provide this program again.
The Developer also used questionable quality electrical switches in the Baja building that has become a safety issue. Accordingly, the Board approved an electrical switch upgrade using the same switches that are in the other three building for consistency and safety purposes. This project is also expected to be completed before the owners meeting.
Chaise Lounge Chairs were purchased in volume directly from the manufacturer mid 2011. With the harsh desert sun a decision was made to purchase the cushions separately and only purchase high quality Sunbrella®cushions. This would ensure durability and longevity. This has proven to be a challenge since obtaining the correct Sunbrella®material at a reasonable price has been difficult.. This issue may not be resolved by the time of our owners meeting.
We also purchased a Kawasaki "Mule", This all purpose, all terrain vehicle will be cost effective by assisting in landscaping and other projects at our resort. We also plan to puchase a beach cleaning attachment to better keep our beach beautiful.
The Board has been diligent in trying to keep the utility costs in check at Las Palmas. This area is one of the highest expenses in our budget and required serious Board attention. With the help of quality control consultants and on site accounting team we have been successful in finding areas of improvement and keeping our costs low by negotiating a substantial water discount.
The success of many of these 2011 challenges and projects could not have been possible without the hiring of our Quality Control & Service Consultant and our new onsite management team. Effective December 1, 2011 the Las Palmas HOA hired a new onsite management team headed by Osvaldo Beltran Camacho to implement these measures. These management changes will be discussed in greater detail at the owners meeting.
The Las Palmas HOA Board of Directors scheduled the General assembly meeting for 10:00am Saturday, January 21, 2012. The Board wants to remind all owners that it is everyone’s responsibility to participate in these meetings either in person or by proxy. We have a lengthy agenda this year and very important items needing all owner attention to help the HOA Board members with our direction for 2012. Please make every effort to attend or to send in your proxies to the attached address if you are unable to attend this meeting. The Spanish version of the proxy must be filled out to be valid. If you misplace your proxy you can go online to www.laspalmashoa.com and print one. The HOA website has direction on how to fill out the proxy.
Should you not be able to attend, please forward your proxy to someone that you know and can vote on your behalf. If you do not know anyone, choose our Administrator, where you send your payments or to the HOA Board, with Lynda Saveski designated as proxy with your directions. They may be faxed, scanned email, or snail mailed to us. Ross Anfuso will continue to oversee the our website and will assist in the official HOA communication by posting HOA information from Board Members as well as messages from owners pertaining to and consistent with Las Palmas HOA business.
The Las Palmas HOA Board of Directors focus for 2012 will continue “to work smarter” in all areas of the Las Palmas operation. We will scrutinize methods and find ways to become more efficient and work on lowering all non hard line items in our current and future budgets. This will be accomplished with the assistance of an HOA Quality Control Service Consultant as an external means dedicated to work with all onsite operators / tenants and the HOA management team.
It is the belief of your HOA Board that there is no reason why the Las Palmas 2012 budget cannot be less then the 2011 budget as long as we continue to practice good cost saving measures and develop good habits for continued savings.
The Board of Directors is grateful to all owners that have assisted the HOA and given their personal time in the past, present and future to make our community a better place. The more everyone can participate and be heard for the better good, we can improve Las Palmas even further.
Las Palmas HOA Board of Directors
Jaana Panzio
Bruce Turner
Dan Dimovski
