Las Vistas Blog - February, 2016
Hello Fellow Bloggers,
I hope you are all enjoying the beautiful weather which has finally arrived in South Florida but if you are not here, come on down!
To begin my update, I am happy to attach the January/February edition of The Voice Newsletter, which will also shortly appear on our website. Continued thanks to Ray Schalow for providing this great form of communication to our unit owners. Ray is always glad to receive input from our unit owners and feel free to send interesting stories, etc.
At our February Board Meeting, the Resales and Rental Committee reported the sale of 3 units, including a 2 bedroom in the R building for $23,000 (this unit is entirely gutted and needs total renovation), a 2 bedroom in the M building for $53,000 and a convertible in the D building for $62,500.
At our meeting we voted on the vendor who will immediately begin the renovation of the K building cardroom which needs mold remediation and wall replacement, etc., all due to the years of water leaks caused by their roof. Now that the roof is repaired, we will begin to renovate the cardroom and return it to the unit owners in that building, especially all of the domino players who have had to relocate to the Clubhouse over the last several months!
We heard a presentation from Mr. Robert Rubinstein of the law firm of Becker & Poliakoff, on services available to condo communities such as ours, and we hope to hear from other firms in the future. The Officers are always seeking to make sure that we have the best consultants, vendors, contractors, accountants and lawyers available for Las Vistas, and we are making inquiries in all areas as we move forward with this New Year.
Some of the other items mentioned at our meeting included:
Power-washing of the walkways is complete as is the resealing of the chattahoochee in pool areas. We also washed and sealed the lower deck behind the clubhouse and resealed it as well.
The entire perimeter of our property has be inspected for large globe breakage and replacement and we are working on the areas along the canal in the back of the buildings and are about half way completed with that.
Next project on our list is the shuffle board courts and the painting of the laundry rooms over the next few weeks.
Channel 7 is back with AT&T – Contract negotiations were the issue but service was restored on Feb 10th.
During my President’s Report, I mention our common elements and the fact that they are for the use of all our unit owners and this includes of course the pools, cabanas, clubhouse, etc. Whenever unit owners place what they consider to be their personal property on the common elements, anyone can use them because they are on the common elements and these areas don’t belong to any one unit owner or groups of unit owners. For example, if a water hose is left in the dumpster area, anyone can use it. If a BBQ is left by the pool, anyone can use it. I just wanted to remind everyone of this and ask that you please refrain from leaving personal belongings in any of the common areas so there no conflict between unit owners.
I also announced at the meeting that I am appointing a Communications Committee whose goal will be to help us create a new telephone directory. They will be calling every unit owner to confirm telephone numbers, and to obtain emergency contact information, if we do not already have it. We will also solicit e-mail addresses, which will not be published in the directory, but will be used by the office for communication purposes between unit owners and the Association. Also, I am happy to report that all of our 2016 Board of Directors have their certifications on file.
The Social Committee update included the upcoming Ladies’ Luncheon taking place on Thursday, February 25th at 12 p.m. at the Springtree Golf Club. Space is still available for this luncheon so ladies feel free to call the contacts listed on the poster. On Saturday, February 27th, there will be a bus trip to the Mardi Gras Casino, and this has been sold out. The first Las Vistas Bingo party for 2016 occurred on Sunday afternoon, the 21st, and was a huge success with prizes ranging from $20, $25 and $50 per game. There has been another bingo game tentatively set for mid-March and posters will go up once the date is confirmed. On March 17th, the Broward Women’s Choral Group on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th. Thanks to Claudette Hinds and the Social Club for arranging this concert for us and we look forward to hearing these ladies sing. Signs will be up shortly with details.
I am happy to report that we have two English classes being taught, free of charge at Las Vistas, one by Judy Schalow and one by Mary Bradley and Janet Longsworth. Catherine Jacques is conducting a French conversational class for those non-French speaking folks who want to learn to say more than “bonjour!” Also, a drawing and painting class taught by Joe Pistolese is being held each week, and Joe is the artist who has provided so much of the artwork on our Clubhouse lobby walls.
For billiards lovers, we had our first 2016 tournament last week, and pictures will appear on our website shortly. The team of Nunzio Beddia and Joe Antonacci won. Another tournament is tentatively scheduled for March, and information will be posted.
That’s my blog for now, and I hope the sun shines every day for all of us!
