Hello Mr. and Mrs. Century Village and all our residents around
the globe.
Friday I attended the “Anatomy of a Water Leak” presentation by
Mark Friedman at the Club House. I was
startled to see how few home owners attended this highly informative and
important meeting. Anyone living in a condo, renter or owner needs to know
their responsibility in cases of a leak.
Every issue that was
discussed contained information that home owners and association presidents
need to know. The new condo laws that
were passed by the Florida legislature was evaluated and how some sections of
the law could impact unit owners. One
part of the meeting was relegated to insurance issues. Mr. Friedman explained to one-and-all who
would be responsible for damages to a unit owner’s apartment and to what
extent the Associations liabilities
could be involved. Owners that attended
asked very pertinent questions, which
clearly illustrated their concern for their units and associations.
This meeting provided comprehensive data that all unit owners, Associations and
renters should have in order to deal
with the variety of possible disasters that can hit us without
warning. The old adage “Forewarned is
Forearmed,” applies here.
Unfortunately, and I say this sadly, the turn out was considerably
underwhelming. Her-in is the
problem. I have to conclude that this
was due to a lack of interest on the part of unit owners and renters about
important issues that should be important to them. Many of these residents have, what I will
label a “transient” attitude. Their attitudes can be summarized by: “I am here
for a few weeks, seasonally, then I go “home” so why should I be
concerned. This is the crux of many of
the problems we permanent residents have to cope with. This attitude is symptomatic of the
ever-growing series of events that has contributed to the multitude of issues
that are now facing many of our associations.
I am not pointing an accusatory finger at anyone, there is enough
blame to be shared by many in UCO and individual associations. However, it is important to identify and
define failure before you can correct it.
I hope those individuals that have the authority and energy begin to
address the issues that I have addressed.
For the past few weeks I have been going around the Village
placing flyers on association mail rooms announcing that Phyllis Richland is an
independent for UCO President in 2016.
Traveling from one association to another I was able to see close up the
contrast between vibrant associations and those which seem to take a less than casual interest in
their buildings. The landscaping and
patios that I saw in some associations were just outstanding. The buildings were fresh, clean, newly
painted. The areas set aside for gathers
were just great. What we need to do get
our photographers out there a give kudos to the hard work that went into those
projects. A good project for the UCO
Reporter. On the negative side, I saw
some buildings that were not clean, walkways that needed lots of work, little
or no extra plantings were in evidence (lack of pride, laziness etc), and
bulletin boards rotting over mail boxes provided additional evidence of
Associations lack of interest or energy in maintaining the quality of their
buildings.
I am not sure how to light a fire under these associations but it is a problem that will not go away.
May be with a change in the UCO
administration this March, these issues will be addressed.
Happy Halloween to All, and to All Ghoul Night!
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