Property Managers Report – May 2010

SOMETIMES YOU GET WHAT YOU ASK FOR

Everyone was complaining about the colder temperatures this past “winter”…well now you’ve done it!  The warm weather is here and will only get hotter.  Many plants were badly damaged during the cooler temps and now need to be trimmed back to cut off the dead branches and encourage new, healthy growth.  Take a close look at your property and be sure your gardener is addressing the brown, dead, ugly plants.  You may need to fill in bare areas which won’t need ARC approval but if you decide to “re-do” your landscape you will need to get prior approval from the POA ARC.  The process is actually fairly simple and will ensure that you don’t do something that could result in having to change the landscape back later or having fines imposed for not following POA rules.

If you have any questions about whether your plans for updating your landscape need approval, give JoAnn at call at the POA: (561) 627-2800.

To those community Board members reading this article, take a look at your association’s entry!  Need work?  It’s time!

ANNUAL ASSESSMENT

The assessment notice and payment coupon will be mailed on June 1^st. The PGA POA annual assessment payment is due on July 1^st and has increased slightly to $650.00 for the year. This is due solely to “bad debts” or the homes that are in foreclosure.  Despite the Board’s diligence in holding down costs and even reducing many costs, the number of homes in foreclosure and those expected to be added to the foreclosure list have resulted in a budget shortage (meaning the assessment had to be raised).

As indicated in my article last month, if there is any reason you cannot pay the full $650.00 assessment by July 1^st, you must contact my office to make arrangements so the account doesn’t end up in collection with a bunch of legal fees and costs added to a balance you already can’t pay!

SECURITY

Last month I told you about all the changes in the security to improve service.  It is important that we hear from you if there is a problem.  Please call the POA office at 627-2800 if there is any problem.  If it relates to the entry gates, please be sure you tell us which gate and the approximately time.

NEVER TOO OLD TO ENJOY CHILDHOOD

For those who didn’t make it to Masters Park on April 24^th, you missed another fun day at PGA!  The Annual Children’s Party in the Park was a great success and a lot of fun as always.  In next month’s issue we should have photos available and, as usual, the pictures are on the Website at www.pga-poa.com

YOUR INNER ARTIST?

The POA Special Events Committee will again hold the Arts & Crafts festival in Masters Park in December.  If you have a talent that you want to show off and you’re willing to part with some of your items, why not join us?  The POA offers one tent on a “first come” basis for artists who don’t have their own tent. You can also purchase one at Target, Wal-Mart or similar stores for under $90.00 and the investment will be returned on your first good sale of the day!  If you and some of your friends enjoy knitting, painting, or similar arts or crafts, why not get together in one tent to sell your creations?  It’s fun!  Please go to www.pga-poa.com for information about the event and how to get started.

I LOVE RULES…..AS LONG AS THEY DON’T APPLY TO ME!

I will attempt some pathetic humor now (so don’t say you weren’t warned).  The story is the POA story and the heading explains it all.  Every day we get calls from owners who are upset because they got a citation for putting their trash out on the wrong day; leaving their garage door open; parking an unauthorized vehicle outside overnight; making too much noise; etc.  The names have been changed to protect the (not so) innocent and if you think I’m referring to you – I’m probably not because every one of these has happened several times.

Trucks:  The caller tells me they have a beautiful, brand new truck that was cited for being left out overnight.  They want permission to park it there for THREE MONTHS while their family is visiting.  Why can’t the POA just give them a pass that lets them keep the truck outside but only for that period of time?

ME:  If the POA gave a “pass” every time someone needed an “exemption” or “grace period” what would be the purpose of having the rule?  There would be trucks everywhere with little paper passes on the dash.  Why not just do away with the rule if anyone can just get a “pass” to be excused from the rule

THEM:  OK – so do away with the rule.  I think it is outdated anyway, my truck is beautiful!

ME: Then send a letter telling the board you would like them to reconsider this rule…I’ve told every caller this for the twelve years I have been at PGA National.  You know how many letters I’ve received?  None – zero – not one.

WHAT THIS SAYS:  It obviously isn’t important enough to be bothered writing a letter – I just thought I’d try to get away with breaking this rule.  I don’t like this rule because I have a truck and don’t want to make room for it in my garage.

Garage doors:  The owner says they should be able to keep their garage door open if they want to and security needs to mind their own business.

ME:  It isn’t very pretty to drive through a beautiful community and look at piles of junk inside garages but the real reason this rule is important is that we do, unfortunately, have things stolen out of garages.

THEM;  Then it’s my fault if something is stolen.  If I want to take that chance it’s none of your business

ME:  We’ve had situations where we have found owners injured and even dead and the only reason we knew there was a problem was because they fell after opening the garage door and after being left open we investigated further.  How do we know if the garage door is open because you want it open and don’t care; whether something has happened to you; or whether you drove away and forgot to close it and have accidentally left your house open to theft?

THEM:  It’s none of your business.  It’s my house and I should be able to do what I want.

WHAT THIS SAYS:  The owner should get a pass for his garage door, right?

Trash:  The owner said they put yard debris at the curb on Wednesday and got a citation. They feel they should be able to put bags at the curb when they need to because their landscaper comes on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.

ME:  The rules require private landscapers to remove their own debris at the end of the work day.  For your own trash, you can put it at the curb no earlier than nightfall on the evening before pick up but if you don’t use a trash can, you shouldn’t put the bags at the curb an earlier than the morning of pick up.

THEM:  But if the landscaper takes the debris I have to pay him and he can’t come on Thursday because he does a lot of houses in PGA and can’t do all of them on the same day.

WHAT THIS SAYS:  The owner should get a pass for their yard waste and trash so they can put it out whenever they want, right?

Everyone bought in a community with rules but no one likes being told what they can and can’t do.  The rules help maintain property values by ensuring the appearance of the community is maintained to a certain standard which is why many people purchased a home in this community.  It is why a community that is 30+ years old can still compete with newer communities when it is time to buy or sell a home.  It is why PGA is a great place to live!  It’s just really not right that those rules have to apply to you too.

We do want to thank you for not taking out your frustration on me or the rest of the POA staff since we are just the messengers who are tasked with letting you know what rules are.  We don’t really care if you call us bad names (I’m sure we’ve been called worse things by better people) but please keep in mind that we have to be sure that everyone abides by the rules. Thanks for your understanding and cooperation with the rules of PGA POA.

Property Manager’s Report – April, 2010

BYE BYE BIRDIES….

Every year I try to give you some reminders of things you should do before you “go north” for the summer (discontinue your newspapers; clean our the refrigerator and freezer; removing caustic blue agents from toilet tanks; do NOT turn off the air conditioner but set the thermostat at approximately 80 degrees and set the switch to “automatic”).  This year there is one simple thing you can do to get security to check the perimeter of your residence in addition to their regular drive by patrols.

The gate access system has an updated website that is much more “user friendly” than the old version.  This new program not only allows you to update your guest list but there is a section for you to enter dates when you plan to be away.  If you put your “vacation information” in the system, it will automatically generate a form for perimeter checks. This will allow security to walk around the outside of your home periodically to check for broken windows or other evidence of a problem (note; we do NOT check door handles).

To get this service (and to update your resident and guest information), you need  internet access.  Go to www.GateAccess.net (which you obviously have if you are reading this post).  You must log in by using PGA as the “community code”; your home (or main contact) phone number with area code but no hyphens, parenthesis or spaces as the “user name”; and your 5-digit access code for your “password”.  Please note that some residents have used their cell phone or other number as the main contact so if you can’t open the program, call the POA with your access code and we will tell you which phone number you gave us for contact.

The other nice feature of this program is that you can register your pet(s) and even post a photo of them!  If they get out we can literally look up “brown dog” or a specific species and get a list of every brown dog or specific species in PGA.  Recently an owner’s sixteen year old dog managed to get out and security saw the dog at about midnight and was able to reunite dog and owner.

One final request for exiting “snow birds”:  It is very important that you take a good look at your home.  If the roof or driveway needs to be cleaned or plants need to be replaced, it should be done before you leave.  It isn’t fair to your neighbors to leave your home in disrepair for months until you return.  In addition, your absence cannot be used as a reason to ignore or delay responding to requests from your HOA or POA if something needs attention while you are away.

SAVING YOU MONEY – IMPROVING SECURITY

As I reported last month, there were some burglaries and the Board worked diligently with Wackenhut (and continues to do so) to improve service.  One of the recent contract revisions allowed the addition of an additional patrol – and they still saved you almost $35,000. per year!    The new patrol is going to be walking around homes and keeping a close eye on perimeters so if you see someone in a different uniform with a baseball cap instead of the hats Wackenhut usually uses, it is probably the new patrol officer.  Many residents have met him when he entered their yard (and congratulations to them for being observant) but if there is any question about someone you see walking around, please be cautious and call security!

MONEY, PLEASE

The POA has an annual assessment that is due by July 1^st.  Assessment notices are mailed on June 1^st and it is your responsibility to ensure timely payment is made (whether you receive the notice and coupon on not).  What is the money being used for?  The budget with footnotes explaining every line item in the budget is mailed with the assessment coupon.   Because of the economy, many owners put off paying then forget completely, resulting in their account being referred to the attorney for collection.  Unfortunately, if you are already having financial difficulties, adding legal fees and costs to your balance is counter-productive!  Please contact my office if you cannot meet the July 1^st payment deadline.  Despite what some people say about the POA, the Board really is very helpful and will work with residents to resolve these problems but they cannot forgive assessments or interest and once an account goes to collection there is nothing the POA can do so don’t wait to call!

FINALLY….THE FUN STUFF:

In closing, let me remind everyone that the 24^th Annual Children’s Party in the Park will be held Saturday, April 24^th at Masters Park from 1:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m.  This event is for PGA residents and their guests.  An advertisement is on the homepage and a post card is in the mail – but in summary, there will be tons of fun!  Carnival rides, games and prizes; face painting; clowns; and, if you purchase a $1.00 food pass in advance, you can get a hotdog or hamburger and a soda.  If you don’t want to buy a food pass, popcorn, snow cones, cotton candy and other treats are also available.  Kids of all ages enjoy this event so we hope to see you there!