ATTENTION: WE NOW HAVE AN HOA MEMBERS ONLY SITE

IF YOU'RE AN HOA MEMBER PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR NEW SITE MONTEREYVILLAS.ORG

Recent Comments

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

More Break-Ins...What do we do?

blueprint said...

My friend's car got broken into last night! It happened between 9:00 - 11:00 pm. She was parked on Wellington Street. A police report was filed immediately but this is frustrating, especially since I heard this has happened a few times on Wellington. What can we do about this? Even if we install more lighting and security cameras in Monterey Villas, I don't think it will cover Wellington and Williams Street. The new parking regulation will be effective soon and most of us will end up having to park outside our complex if we're not doing that already. I'm sure I'm not the only one concerned about this. I would love to hear your opinion and suggestions. Thank you.

Safety Committee What's going on with the cameras? I know they won't solve all the problems but they should help immensely. I understand the reason for the new parking rules and I know there will be a lot more cars parked along the streets but what about having...say 1 camera pointed down Wellington and one down Williams? Just a thought. Joe any updates?

Monday, April 28, 2008

PARTY LIKE A ROCKSTAR!!!

JUST A FRIENDLY REMINDER, THE MONTEREY VILLAS SOCIAL COMMITTEE WILL BE HOSTING A CINCO DE MAYO THEMED PARTY THIS SATURDAY MAY 3RD, 5PM TO 9PM, IN THE POOL AREA. ALL RESIDENTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND. 


I would like to thank the entire Social Committee for distributing the event fliers this weekend. It was great to open my door and see something other than a company advertisement. Hopefully the fliers weren't mistaken or thrown away by residents as this looks to be a promising event. I look forward to meeting new residents. 

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

WOODFLOORS!!!

Upper units are not allowed to have wood floors due to the amount of noise that can be heard in the unit below. Unfortunately not everyone complies with the rules. Mel, a ground floor resident had this to say:


HELP PLEASE!!! My upstairs have hardwood floors, I hear footsteps and their dog running around through out the entire day...especially late at nights and early mornings is when it is most disturbing. I have contacted Beacon Property/Charity for the last year and they have done NOTHING! I want the hardwood floors remove, it is in the Homeowner Manual that upstair units should NOT have hardwood floors. Can someone help me resolve this issue, I have been trying for the past year. Thank you in advance.
-Mel


What should be done? Does anyone else have this problem? Let's help him out. If I can hear my upstairs neighbors and they have carpet I can't even imagine how loud it would be if they had wood.

Mel your plea has been heard, hopefully someone will have an answer. Committee Chairs. hopefully you'll know what to do. It's not hard to believe that Beacon Property/Charity hasn't helped you out one bit.

Please Use A Name When Commenting!

Sorry that it's getting longer and longer in between post but I've been away on business lately. I wasn't here to write about the lights being out on buildings P and Q so I'm sorry for that but as of last night it seemed like that problem had been fixed. Its been a week since the association meeting and I haven't heard anything from our committee chairs so if anyone has information please advise.

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING:

I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE YOUR COMMENTS BUT PLEASE USE A NAME WHEN COMMENTING NOT ANONYMOUS. ITS FINE IF YOU MAKE UP A NAME JUST TRY TO KEEP USING IT. THIS WILL ALLOW EVERYONE TO RESPOND TO THAT PERSON. FOR INSTANCE SOMETIMES THERE ARE 4 ANONYMOUS COMMENTS ON ONE POST AND ITS NOT EASY TO TELL WHO SAID WHAT.

Here's how to leave a name when commenting:

  1. Open the comment box.
  2. Type in your comment.
  3. Scroll down to "Choose an identity"
  4. Select "Name"
  5. Type your desired name in the box.
  6. Click "Publish Your Comment"

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Meeting Recap

I was not able to attend last night’s meeting due to a work schedule conflict but Joe from the Safety Committee was going to video tape the meeting. Hopefully I'll post it online later today.

The Board didn't allow the recording of the meeting; Joe sent me an e-mail about an hour ago. Below is the second e-mail Joe sent me, wow, pretty specific, it sounds like I missed a good one. Thanks for the hard work Joe.


Input is highly encouraged.


Cyrus,
Let me start by saying that last night’s meeting was crazy, one you shouldn't have missed. The meeting got off to a late start because the executive meeting ran over a couple minutes due the budget review.

Before the meeting officially started I think I kind of rattled the board, and Charity's cage. I made an announcement that I would be videotaping the meeting for two reasons: 1) Some members can't make it to the meetings for various reasons and this would be a great tool to allow them to view what goes on in the meetings rather than just reading it on paper. 2) This would keep an accurate record of what is said at a meeting being that it is so difficult to obtain meeting minutes.

Once I made my announcement Charity informed me that recording is prohibited based on the Open Meeting Act, which I reviewed and it only states that recording is prohibited if it is strictly stated in our HOA by-laws or CC&R's. It should also be stated on the Meeting Agenda, all of which it is not. She said that she would ask the Board if they would allow it and Vijay, the President, told me that he wasn't comfortable having it recorded. I was upset and frustrated, but being a good sport I agreed with their decision not to video tape this meeting. But, I then requested that I would like to be shown in writing where it states that we are not allowed to video tape the meetings. I apologize to anyone who thought that I was being inconsiderate but Cyrus you and I both thought it would be awesome way for everyone to see what happens in the meeting, and maybe encourage more people to attend, although the clubhouse was packed for this one

The meeting flow went a little different this time around since we had two contractors present who would be informing the board and members of their proposed services:

First up was Bobby of LTS Lighting. His presentation covered the assessment, replacement, and construction of lighting throughout our facility in regards to the walk-through which was performed earlier this month. Members were informed of lights which were broken and told that it’s not just a bulb issue; it’s more of an electrical issue in most situations. He was a little confusing to distinguish exactly what his quote was proposing. From my understanding we already have an agreement for him to replace bulbs that are out, but not to repair or replace damaged housing, so I would say that his quote, $16,000, was to do that. He also proposed that his company would assess the electrical infrastructure in our laundry rooms at a cost $500. This assessment should help in distinguishing why the laundry machines constantly break down.

Next up was Andrew and Scott of Ultra Imaging, a video surveillance contractor. Their presentation was to inform the board and members of the benefits, equipment, and methods or installation they proposed in their bid for the installation of a video surveillance system at the Monterey Villas. After giving a brief introduction about their company Andrew went on to discuss how the cameras would help deter and catch criminals while monitoring and securing people’s assets. Along with the presenting the purpose of the cameras, Ultra Imaging provided some samples of their cameras and informed everyone that the setup would be wireless with transmission antennas. Redundancy seemed to be carried on throughout their presentation but they stated that their bid of $32,850.00 would provide the facility with enough cameras to cover a majority of the parking areas, 4 entrances/exits, the laundry rooms, pool area, and clubhouse. He stated that the cameras would give us roughly one month of coverage before in re-records over itself. Meaning that if you are out of town for two weeks and find that something happened to your vehicle we would be able to back track those two weeks and find out what happened. I can’t remember exactly what promoted him to, but just as Andrew ended his presentation he asked for members in attendance to raise their hands if they would like to have cameras installed. A few hands were blocked from my view but it looked as if everyone in attendance raised their hands. Their presentation ended and it was on with the meeting.

The meeting finally got on at 8pm. Charity read out the usual number for the financial report, if you really want those numbers I’ll post them in a comment. Charity quickly turned the meeting over to Committee Reports, first up was Finance Committee:

  • Sarah, the Finance Committee Chairwoman, informed us that we are in trouble for next year and a lot of research was done to establish the new budget. She quickly caught everyone’s attention when she said that there would be an immediate increase in the association dues. The board and Sarah agreed that a 10% increase ($20.00) would be essential in covering next years operating cost. The increase seemed to be understood by most members in attendance but there were some verbal outburst; questions came up as to what was being done with all the money, and are the converters paying for units they own? Sarah was quick to answer with numeric stats and assured everyone that the converters have been paying fees since their project first began. She finished her talk by telling everyone that in order to maintain accountability the Finance Committee would be reviewing expenses monthly.
  • Now came the big topic of the day, Parking Permits. Adam, the Architectural/ Rules Chairman, told us that upon further review the initially proposed parking permit rules needed modification and they had been done. Here are some of the highlights to the amendments:
    Every homeowner will be eligible to receive (1) Parking Permit
    Only uncovered stalls require a Parking Permit, you don’t need a permit for your assigned stall
    In order to obtain a Parking Permit valid vehicle registration will need to be provided
    Homeowners who rent out their units are responsible for obtaining the permits for their tenants, tenants will not be allowed to obtain a permit.
  • The new amendments will be sent out but to get things going Adam will still be on site this weekend to start the permit process. The time and date are still the same, I don’t have access to that information at this time.
  • Adriana, the Social Committee Chairman, reiterated that we’ll be having a residential gathering, Cinco de Mayo Fiesta, on May 3rd, 2008 from 5 pm to 9 pm. She also informed us that the Social Committee has been considering a revamping of the empty office space in the clubhouse. They would like to make the office space into more clubhouse space which would be open daily to residents. That would give two sections of the clubhouse, one for reservations and one for everyday use. This sounds like a great idea; I hope to hear more about it soon. In the meantime the Social Committee is going to establish rules for general clubhouse usage and hope to have the clubhouse open when not reserved and for sporting events.
  • Charity spoke on behalf of the Communications and Landscape Committee encouraged the board to at least have LTS assess our electrical problems in the laundry. She told us that rock installation and tree trimming had been completed. From the tree trimming we learned that there are some major irrigations problems throughout the facility. A landscape walk-through will be conducted on the 24th of this month.

    I spoke on behalf of the Safety Committee and reiterated an immediate need for the installation of security cameras. I say immediate need because of the amount of vandalism and break-ins we are suffering as a community. Statistics show that theft and vandalism seem to increase in the summer due to fact that teenagers are out of school. Cameras would be beneficial to us because they would allow us the ability to view capture footage of criminals and be able to turn it over to the police. Also we would be able to distribute posters throughout the community with images of such criminals. I highly encouraged that as homeowners we need to be policing our community. If you see someone that looks suspicious, don’t hesitate to call the police. We could have 600 plus eyes watching this community which would be much more effective than any one security guard can do. I feel that our security guard has been a huge waste of money. She is rarely seen anymore and has not been affective. During my speech Vijay suggested that if we terminated the security guard we would be able to use the budgeted money towards the purchase of security cameras. I think this would be a great idea being the fact that most people don’t even realize we have a security guard. Once again I’m sorry if I took too long but I wouldn’t have spent so much time if I didn’t think it was important.

Next up were the Agenda Items, like I stated in the previous e-mail I can’t really remember the specifics about the topics because it was hard to hear conversation between Charity and Vijay. Hopefully someone else who reads this can shed more details on this.

  • Pest Control Contract – The current pet control contract needs to be renewed or we need to hire someone else. Another company was brought up but I’m not positive on what they decided.
  • Roof Leak Repairs – It’s sad to hear that we still have roof leak problems because from my understanding these leaks have been going on for some time now with no attention. I know that the board approved a company to complete the repairs.
  • Street Sweeping – Charity mentioned that a street sweeping services has offered to clean our parking areas and driveways for $350. The board approved the contract. The contract includes blowing out and removal of all the trash under cars and the carports.
  • Tennis Court Wind Screen Replacement – After turning down the replacement of the wind screen last month the board reconsidered it this month and decided to replace the windscreen at the amount of $2,100 which comes from the reserve account.
  • Board Vacancy – As of April 1, 2008 there was a homeowner vacancy on the board due to the resignation of Vito. According to the by-laws the board can appoint someone to fill that position. According to the board they had two active homeowners in mind, Adrian and Adam. Vijay expressed that he thought either one would be a good fit for the position but before the position could be filled, Sarah nominated herself to be considered for the board position, and I seconded her nomination. She was progress she has made with the Finance Committee in such a short amount of time I felt that Sarah would make an immediate impact on the board and would really give homeowners a voice on most decisions. Vijay left it up to Adam and Sarah to decide after the meeting who would fill the position and I was contacted by Sarah stating that she would be filling the vacancy.
  • Lighting Repairs – The board was asked what they thought of tonight’s lighting proposal and they decided to consider other bids because the $16,000 sounded a bit high. Charity did encourage the board to at least approve the $500 for an electrical inspection. The board did approve that to happen.
  • Security Cameras – The board was then left with one last decision, the installation of security cameras. Vijay asked to see how much money was allocated in the budget for security cost. Sarah stated that next year’s budget will allow $23,000 towards security. Vijay came up with an idea, how about getting rid of our worthless security company and using the $23,000 to at least get some of the cameras installed. I thought that was a great idea, so he decided to make a motion on it. But, a board member did not second the bid, instead they decided to create a survey amongst homeowners to see if they would like the idea of having security cameras installed. This did not make homeowners in attendance happy. They stressed that everyone present was for cameras and that they would like to see this done sooner than later. One homeowner, who is a teacher, said that she knows that crime increases during summer and know exactly what I meant in my earlier speech. She also said that she and her husband have been victimized by vehicle theft and demanded that we move forward on installing cameras. Around this time Sarah did some math and found that the proposed bid was just other the cost for this year’s capital expenditure and the bid could be approved without a homeowner vote. Some words were exchanged from board to members then Vijay made a motion to accept the bid in full, but to check and see what kind of payment options we can have with Ultra Imaging.

After that was decided it was just about 10pm and I had to get out of there, I’m not sure if they still did a homeowner presentation being that there were so many outburst throughout the meeting. Anyone who stayed later could shed light on this.

Next Meeting Wednesday May 21st, 2008 @ 7:00pm.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Be There!!!

MONTHLY MEETING TONIGHT 7pm in the Clubhouse BE THERE, IMPORTANT ISSUES BEING DISCUSSED!!!!

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Association Meeting Tomorrow

Mark your schedule, our monthly meeting will be held tomorrow night 7pm in the clubhouse. I'm not entirely sure what is going to be discussed being that the agenda for the meeting still has not been posted.

From what I can recall from the last meeting and from some e-mails this is what I think will be talked about:

  • Finances, aka our new budget
  • Parking Permits
  • Security Cameras
  • Lighting
  • Cinco de Mayo Party
  • ...and I believe a representative from Coin Mach is to be in attendance.
I know its not just me but don't you really feel that Beacon Property is leaving us all uninformed? From what I can recall Charity mentioned to us that there are new laws requiring that meeting agendas be posted prior to our monthly meetings, I know we get our newsletters every month with our statement but really that just recaps what went on at the last meeting.

I think I'm going to spend some time researching HOA laws because shit here is really starting to stink and I think I have an idea of where its coming from.

Friday, April 11, 2008

THE LITTER BOX

This is in reference to a recent comment on a post entitled Here's a Long Shot:

Anonymous said...

Regarding the two tennis courts, one of the reasons I bought here is because of the 2 tennis courts. I have been playing tennis for 20 years and still loving it. I disagree putting a basket ball court next to a tennis court since tennis requires quietness for concentration. Besides. the two tennis courts looks really nice the way it is architecturally and they have been resurfaced recently by the builder. Other communities in Irvine have more than 2 tennis courts and they get used all the times. I play on these two courts 3 times a week. The tennis courts need some maintenances like trimming the trees away from the courts so the leaves wont fall on the courts. We need 4 chairs/ one trash can, one squeegee, a broom, a water fountain and a net trap.


I guess I never thought about it needing to be quiet to play tennis but I see your concerns. My general thought behind it was that it would be nice to have an extra amenity on our facility and one that would be used. I was pleased to see that some homeowners gave this idea voice at one of the recent meetings. Like a lot of post I write it was a mere suggestion.
Well maybe an alternative can be derived from this. What if we converted the volleyball court from a "Giant Litter Box" to a basketball court. I don't think we'd be able to fit a full court in its place but a nice half-court would be great. Has anyone every seen or used the volleyball court? How would you feel about this conversion? Those who live near the volleyball court, is this a thumbs up or thumbs down idea?

ABRA CADABRA!!!!

Don't you find it a little ironic that within a week of stirring the pot about those hideous golf carts they're now gone. If I would have known that's all it took I would have started this blog the day I moved in.

I'm starting to think that residents aren't the only ones reading the blog. With things finally starting to get done I would say that "The Converters" or "Beacon Property" are actually taking the time to read what people are saying. They probably didn't like the fact that I suggested the carts be towed being that they were parked in a handicap stall.

I'm anxious to see what happens at our monthly meeting next Wed. because I've been talking to quite a bit of residents who are completely fed up with the constant lies we've received from both "The Converters" and "Beacon Property." It's time to take some action homeowners, we will win this fight.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

The Trees!

It was a noisy week but I must say it was worth it. The stairwells are being filled and the sun actually shines through the freshly cut trees. The trimming was much needed but I really would recommend that they take on all the trees not only a select few. There are some trees still out there that hang down to the ground. That only took a year to get done.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

ONLY BEACAUSE THIS IS FOR A GOOD CAUSE!

How you can support Idol Gives Back 2008

IDOL GIVES BACK, the historic Emmy Award-winning television event and music celebration airing Wednesday, April 9 (7:30-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX, will raise awareness and funds to benefit six charities. including: the Children's Defense Fund, The Global Fund, Make It Right, Malaria No More, Save The Children, U.S. Programs and the Children's Health Fund.


On Wednesday April 9th, starting at 7:30/6:30c, FOX, AMERICAN IDOL and the Idol Gives Back Foundation present a second installment of the popular TV event to help children and young people in extreme poverty here at home in the U.S. and around the world.

This year's event, beginning at a special 7:30 PM start time, will be bigger and more ambitious than ever. Robin Williams, Celine Dion, Forest Whitaker, Billy Crystal, Dane Cook, Kiefer Sutherland, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Jennifer Connolly, Elliott Yamin, Fantasia and Amy Adams join previously announced international talent and sports figures Bono, Brad Pitt, Reese Witherspoon, Miley Cyrus, Mariah Carey, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Fergie, Chris Daughtry, Carrie Underwood, Annie Lennox, John Legend, Snoop Dogg, Maroon 5, Heart and Gloria Estefan.

During the show, viewers will be able to make donations via toll-free lines and the Internet. Idol Gives Back Foundation charitable causes are also generously supported by corporate partners.

Idol Gives Back Preview

CLICK HERE TO DONATE NOW

Saturday, April 5, 2008

THIS JUST IN...CLUBHOUSE OPEN TODAY!!! FINAL FOUR

I JUST RECEIVED WORD FROM THE SOCIAL COMMITTEE THAT THE CLUBHOUSE WILL BE OPEN TODAY FOR THE FINAL FOUR!!! I'M NOT A HUGE UCLA FAN BUT ITS ALWAYS GOOD TO SEE A LOCAL TEAM IN A CHAMPIONSHIP!!!


This is awesome, I've been waiting to put that clubhouse to use and it looks like we'll have a chance to do so today. I believe the game starts at 3pm  so look for the clubhouse to be open sometime around then. 

ADRIANA OF THE SOCAIL COMMITTEE HAS TOLD ME THAT IT TOOK A LOT TO HAVE THE CLUBHOUSE OPEN SO WE NEED TO DO OUR PART TO TAKE CARE OF THE CLUBHOUSE. THE SOCIAL AND SAFETY COMMITTEES HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO CLOSE THE CLUBHOUSE AT ANYTIME., AND IF HOMEOWNERS BECOME DISRUPTIVE THEY WILL BE ASKED TO LEAVE. IF YOU SEE A PROBLEM PLEASE ARISING PLEASE CALL:

JOE
714.200.4741
THE SAFETY COMMITTEE MEMBER ON DUTY TODAY. 

VIVA LOS VILLAS!


The Social Committee has been working their butts off to pull our community together and they seem to be on the right track. At their meeting this past week they discussed the upcoming CINO DE MAYO get together we're having on Saturday May 3rd, and the clubhouse usage. The party duties were distributed to the committee members and I was even asked to design the flyer for the party. {Click Flyer on the Left to View Large Image} The party is going to have food, drinks, music, games and prizes. They're putting a lot of effort into this so I hope that all homeowners take the time to show their community support by showing up on MAY 3rd.


They also talked about the clubhouse being open for general use. It seems there were some issues that needed to be discussed prior to opening the clubhouse for general use. I update I received didn't go into great detail about the new clubhouse rules but they did talk opening the clubhouse for major sporting events like but not limited to: NCAA FINAL FOUR, NBA PLAYOFFS, MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL AND MORE... Look to hear more about this soon.

Brighter is Better

In a collective effort this week the Architectural, Landscape, and Safety Committees met with our light vendor to do a night walk of our community. They were hoping to address our current lighting situation, and in a lot of places the lack of lighting. The committees  were able to point out non-functioning light while also suggesting where new lighting should be installed. 


The update I got didn't specifically point out where the new lights would be installed but it did say that the parking areas where the main focus and if we could have the parking stalls better lit if should drop the number of break-ins we encounter. Wait, there was a specific location in the update, the unit letters on the front of the buildings would be lit up. That would help when we have visitors stopping by, plus it would just look good.

Other lighting concerns discussed were replacing the broken light poles and fixing the electrical work which was the cause of most of our light issues.  Thank you to the committee members who take their personal time to make this a better place.

Friday, April 4, 2008

ROCKY, ROCKY, ROCKY...

In case you haven't noticed yet the rocks under the stairwells are currently being installed. I must say it was a very noisy install but what do you expect, they're ROCKS!!! They look good. Hopefully they finish up soon because those parking spots would really come in handy this weekend. I know I haven't been posting much lately but I've been a little busy at work. Look for things to pick up in the next couple weeks. I just got an update from the Landscape, Safety, and Social Committee's so I'll have something up later today or early tomorrow.


Here is a summary of what's ahead:
  1. More Lighting
  2. Clubhouse possible open to watch sporting events
  3. Cinco de Mayo Party