KM Annual Reports....
2013
At we close 2013 and begin a new year, the term I would use to describe our current state is “stable”. We are slowly but surely making progress on renovating areas of the property discussed in previous reports and effectively maintaining the rest. As you can see from the accompanying financial data, our Association has set aside funds adequate for accomplishing the list of identified projects and we continue to evaluate the necessity of those and the need to consider other areas. Proper credit for the maintenance of the property goes to our Resident Manager, Mr. Guy Mazzanti, and his maintenance staff supported by the Board of Directors (Mr. Dennis Rose, Mr. Ernie Provencher, Mr. Scott Cabral, Mr. Luke Joseph, Mr. Damon Perez, Mr. Jeff Caeton and myself) and our Property Manager from Hawaiiana Management Company, Mr. John Schick. Together, this group continues to provide exceptional service to the owners and residents at Kaimala Marina.
We have established a web site for the community and are slowly building the use and application as a means of communicating with our membership. Mr. Damon Perez has been instrumental in this effort and, if you have not already done so, I invite you to take a look at his work (http://www.kaimalamarina.org). We will still use the traditional means such as bulletin boards and door hangers but will add the web site as a way to reach our membership as online communication is becoming more widely accepted and used throughout the community. Many of the day to day operational issues are covered on the site but there are a few topics I would like to cover as part of the annual President’s Report to the membership.
As you may have noticed, we have recently completed a modification to the sidewalks surrounding the mail box areas.
When the project was first constructed, there were no poured concrete walkways on the property as the designers elected to utilize individual stone slabs and tiles instead. Over the years, tree roots and water erosion has made it more and more difficult to keep the walkways level, a necessity if we are to keep them from becoming a tripping hazard. Unfortunately, concrete and the qualified labor to install it are not inexpensive and the cost to accomplish replacing the existing tiles is very expensive. The Board divided the property into five sub-areas and developed a plan to fund the replacement of the walkways at a rate of one sub-area per year. We began with the one that impacted the greatest number of people – the area surrounding each of the mail box clusters. That was accomplished right after the first of this year. In conjunction with the excavation that goes with the sidewalk installation, our maintenance personnel replaced both electrical and sprinkler conduits and wiring. The existing incandescent pathway lights are getting worn and are due for replacement. While these lights do not consume a large amount of electricity, replacing them with LED lamps will provide better lighting and save on future
electrical bills. The areas around the mailbox clusters will serve as a place for us to test lighting fixtures and
identify a replacement fixture that will be installed throughout the remainder of the property.
Last fall the Board solicited bids from local construction firms to replace the mid-level lanai railings and the fatigued fascia boards on the water-side of the waterfront buildings. Included as part of that tasking was the pressure washing and staining of
the trellis beam structure similar to the work already accomplished on the remainder of the property. Unfortunately, the work specification was not clearly communicated to the bidders and the resulting proposals were not sufficient for us to select a
contractor. We have revised the specification and are in the process of rebidding the work and still hope to accomplish the work during this calendar year. The actual construction may be the main event but this will require a lot of coordination and cooperation from building 100, 200 and 300 owners and residents, something we will focus on more closely as we develop the details. This will conclude the third phase of our property renovation and go a long way toward addressing the aging materials and enhancing the property’s overall value.
Most of you are aware of the effort to dredge the marina, also known as Kuapa Pond. That effort ran into some difficulties last fall and the timeline for completion of the dredging has been significantly altered. Prior to that, the contractor removed silt from both the opening to the bay and the area behind our complex but the remainder of the work has been stalled. For a more complete description of the project and progress, I encourage you to visit the Marina’s web site (http://www.hawaiikaimarina.com/) and to communicate with them regarding specific questions or concerns.
Lastly, the Board is in the process of revising our policy regarding property damage to individual units. The existing policy has worked well for the Association as a whole but revisions made by the state legislature to our governing statutes require that
we revisit our policy. The details have not yet been approved by the Board but the fundamental change will be that all property damage claims for fire and flooding will be submitted to the Association for submission to our carrier regardless of responsibility for the hazard. The Association will be responsible for restoring the unit to its original condition and individual owners will be responsible for funding the restoration of any improvements that may have been made. If the damage
is caused by the negligence of an individual owner or resident the Association may assess the deductible amount of the policy to that owner. The policy change will be delivered to all members of the Association as soon as it is approved, and in the interim you should report all incidents to Mr. Guy Mazzanti as soon as they occur.
The Board welcomes your participation in our activities and you are strongly encouraged to attend our monthly meetings.
We will continue to address the issues that we believe are important to you as individuals and to the Association and look forward to hearing from you.
Respectfully submitted,
Steven A. Newell - President
2012
Overall Summary: In reviewing the annual report submitted last year I noticed that we have made progress on some of our long term issues while continuing to meet the daily challenges of operating and maintaining the property. The Association ended calendar year 2012 in both a sound financial and physical condition. Financially, we have met all of our operating expense obligations and accrued a substantial reserve consistent with our long term plans pending the completion of the renovation of the marina side of the waterfront buildings (more below). Physically we have continued to maintain the property addressing short term maintenance issues, provided responses to needs of individual residents and maintained the appearance of the grounds. Once again I will note that the credit for this belongs squarely with our highly competent maintenance team headed by our Resident Manager, Mr. Guy Mazzanti. They continue to provide excellent service to our residents and we are indeed fortunate to have the services of these gentlemen.
Last year I provided some background on the property renovation project that we have been moving forward. I’ve repeated it below for the benefit of those that may not have had access to last year’s report:
Property Renovation: When the Board began to address the failing cedar shingles and trellis beams throughout the complex a little over two years ago, it became immediately apparent the most difficult aspect of the job would be the marina-side of the waterfront buildings. Although the construction of these units is only slightly different than that of the interior buildings, the lack of access points and the difficulty of lifting materials to the second and third floors make this area particularly challenging. These three buildings account for over half of the total number of units on the property and present a significant challenge. Rather than delay the work in the remainder of the complex, the Board elected to proceed with the areas that were more easily addressed and defer that portion of the waterfront buildings to the end of the project. This not only allowed us to proceed immediately but to also gain experience with contractors and materials that would aid in making decisions when we reached that point.
We have completed the removal of the cedar shingles from the roof mansard and the second floor lanais on the interior buildings, replacing them with a metal material that requires little to no maintenance. We’ve also pressure washed, trimmed and stained the trellis beams throughout the interior of the property, replacing rotted wood where it was necessary. We have worked within the funds available, focused on minimizing life cycle cost and done our best to preserve the appearance of the property as originally constructed.
It’s now time to begin addressing the marina side of the property. The work can be broken down into three areas: replacing the cedar shingles on the third floor lanai railings, treating the trellis beams above the second floor lanais, and addressing the deteriorating second floor lanai railings. The first two tasks are essentially the same as the work done on the interior buildings with the complications of the additional height off the ground and issues generated by the limited access to the work sites. The third element is unique to these three buildings and will require some additional analysis. The railings were constructed to comply with applicable building codes at the time of construction, but are no longer in compliance with the updated codes and will have to be modified as part of the renovation. In addition to the railings themselves, there is a substantial amount of deteriorated and bee-eaten wood that will have to be replaced.
Several different approaches were considered, including doing all of the work during one three month period. While this may have been the most direct and efficient, it required funding that simply was not available. As a result, the Board was able to replace the cedar shingles on the third floor lanais last year. The need to repair and modify the middle floor lanai railings required more evaluation regarding design, materials and the associated costs and the board is now considering several possibilities. We anticipate that the trellis beams will be addressed at the same time as the middle floor lanais and are evaluating different options including how and when the funds will be available.
In 2012 The Board retained the services of a professional construction estimator to evaluate the work required on the project. He evaluated the condition and provided an estimate to complete the work using both pressure treated lumber and synthetic materials. As expected, the cost is significant but can be completed using the existing reserve funds. I anticipate preparing a specification for the work and going out for bid later this year.
Last year’s report also addressed photo-voltaic (PV) and solar heating technology projects. A large factor in determining the payback period is the favorable tax incentives currently in place. Since the Association is a non-profit organization that does not apply and the resulting time to recover the initial investment is still well beyond the expected life of the technology. That may change as the technology improves and as the state government re-evaluates their rebate program. For individual owners there is simply not enough square footage on the roof to accommodate them and there are challenges in mounting to the existing structure as well. The Board is exploring ways to both maintain the watertight properties of the roof including the warranty on the coating and allow owners to attach antennas or PV panels.
Another item from last year’s report mentioned that common area improvements are moving at a slow pace and that description is still applicable. We have plans to remove the cement slabs that form the paths between the buildings and replace them with poured concrete sidewalks. The pagoda lights continue to be a high maintenance item and we are investigating alternatives to them that will lower energy costs and still provide the necessary lighting to ensure the safety of our residents. Spot repairs to the driveway surface continue in an effort to defer the full maintenance as long as possible.
2012 Initiatives:
· You may be reading this report on our new website (http://www.kaimalamarina.org). Thanks to the work of Board Member Damon Perez we have established a site that we believe will allow us to communicate more effectively with our membership. I anticipate that it will become more prominent in our discussions as we identify the applications that it will support. If you haven’t done so already, I encourage you to examine our preliminary efforts and to make suggestions on how we can better utilize this resource.
· The waterfront area is one of the elements that make our property appealing, and keeping it accessible to all of our membership is a challenge. We have installed additional racks for storage of watercraft and accommodated as many boat owners as possible, but are still looking for ways to make the best use of these facilities. One suggestion that has been examined is the installation of a floating dock in one of the unoccupied bays that will accommodate watercraft too lengthy to fit on the racks and provide a better launching area. If you are interested in seeing this constructed, please contact a board member.
Areas (Still) in Need of Attention:
· The actions of individual residents influence the costs of providing services to the community. Adhering to the City and County of Honolulu’s waste disposal regulations is the key to continuing our twice a week pick-up that is covered by property taxes. Increased use of recycling facilities such as those located at Kaiser High School not only benefits the school but keeps the dumpsters from overflowing. Glass bottles and jars are now being accepted along with containers requiring a deposit at Hawaii recycling centers, which means they can be added to the green recycling containers on the property.
· Last year I solicited for new members to augment our existing Board of Directors with no success. The current Board members are now a year older, the vacant position is still available and there is no apparent interest in serving on the Board. Service on the Board requires attendance at monthly meetings, the ability to thoughtfully consider all aspects of some fairly complex issues and then participate in the discussions leading to a decision, and a commitment to adhere fully to our House Rules. It doesn’t involve actually enforcing those rules and there are no special privileges that come with election. If you are eligible according to the By-laws, meet these criteria and are interested in having a voice in determining the future of our property I strongly encourage you to consider service on the Board. Those currently serving will not do so indefinitely.
Priorities for 2013 include continuing to maintain the condition of our property through sound management practices and daily attention to detail while addressing long-term needs. Those include completing the waterfront portion of the renovation, maintaining the parking lots and roadways, renewing the walkway paving and planning for additional long term needs. We continue to monitor technological improvements in lighting and building materials and are looking for ways to apply them and improve our property. Any ideas supplied by the membership will be welcome and carefully considered.
Finally, it has been a privilege to work with my fellow Board members (Scott Cabral, Luke Joseph, Damon Perez, Ernie Provencher and Dennis Rose), our Property Manager (John Schick) and our Resident Manager (Guy Mazzanti). Both as individuals and as a group, these gentlemen have served the community very well and deserve be recognized for their efforts. I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to the dedicated professionals that have served our Association so competently for the past calendar year and suggest that the remainder of the Association members do so as well.
Steven Newell
President
