MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY OF OWNERS REPRESENTATIVE
DATE: Wednesday 25th July 2007
VENUE: Main office HUMA - basement
TIME: 10.00AM
ATTENDANCE
Frank van Son (President)
Francisco Domingo Frutos (Administrador)
Emil J. Böttcher (Translator)
Andrew Heaney (Vice Chairperson)
Terry Chapman
Chris Gatenby
Jack Taylor
Dave Dennis
Martin Heppell
Karl-Heinz Schlömer
Sandra Miller
Wendy Slade (Minutes)
APOLOGIES
Roger Jay
MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
The meeting opened with the previous minutes -
Amendment 1.5 Terry did not make this comment - it was Martin who said more containers were needed.
Amendment 15.0 - Emil said that we now have public liability - What he did say was that we needed public liability insurance and it was currently being worked on.
MATTERS ARISING:
1.0 Meeting with Mr. Bolear (Huma) Re:- monies owing to them. We have to look into Diesel costs. The water element has to be paid. Frank agreed to pay 10.000 € off each month without interest (the biggest bills were for Aqualia and Diesel).
1.1 Sandra asked do we have to pay these debts legally. Administrator said yes. He had checked the list and it all comes to 150.000 € at the end of 2006.
1.2 Rick asked whether the debts had accumulated because of non payers. Response by Administrator was yes. If everyone had paid, then there would have been no debts to date. We are now officially paying everything.
1.3 Emil stated if everyone pays their community fees, then there would be no debts. Huma are paying their quota.
1.4 As from 5th May we will be paying our funds.
1.5 Terry stated that Frank has not confirmed these debts are legal. Encarna said she paid for these services.
1.6 Frank stated that we had problems with the last Administrator and President. We are investigating all previous unpaid bills.
1.7 Sandra said we were paying these bills because of other peoples mistakes. Clearly something is very wrong.
1.8 Andrew stated that we have not discussed this because we do not have any paperwork.
1.9 Emil said we have to bury the past and get on with running the urbanization properly. We will have a meeting in September to let everyone know what is happening.
1.10 Dave asked whether these outstanding debts would be placed on the website, to let everyone know that we are not in deficit.
1.11 Sandra explained that we needed to have everything explained clearly on the website prior to the September meeting. Also need to remember to cater for those who are not on the website.
1.12 Terry informed the group that a number of owners were worried. They wanted to know what was going on. Need to be very careful how you put things on the internet. He asked the President and Administrator to place information onto their website.
1.13 Dave stated that people will look at other websites to find information of what is going on, because they have received no minutes and no info from the President.
1.14 Frank said we should hold 2 meetings, one in English and one in German. After discussions with Huma and Mazápolis, they are still asking for 129.000 € without IVA for gardening. They said they would stop work immediately if they did not receive the amount stated. As from 1st September the contract with Huma will end and the gardeners will be leaving the urbanization.
1.15 Emil said let us discuss and make a decision on the above. We don't want to upset Mazápolis. We don't want them to leave before September as we may have bigger problems.
1.16 Andrew asked whether we own the watering system. We would need compound toilet facilities for the future (new) company.
1.17 Emil said we do own the watering system.
1.18 Emil also said that the new gardening company will bring all their own equipment.
1.19 Frank stated that Huma said he bas planning for the shops.
1.20 We need 2 port-cabins on site eg. a small kitchen, toilet for the guards and workers to use, somewhere for the Administrator to work with a computer, for us to hold meetings. Security may contribute to the cost of hiring them. They have asked for a piece of land behind swimming pool area by the roundabout to put them on. If they say no, then we will have to relocate them to land owned by the community.
1.21 Jack asked Frank if he had any opposition from Huma when he spoke to them regarding the site for port-cabins. The answer was no.
1.22 Frank explained that the Security company came to his villa and showed him the new changes to their car. It has a new sign with lights above for all to see. He would like to discuss security and roads at a later date.
1.23 Frank stated that he is not happy with the rubbish collection. Everywhere is a mess. Orihuela carried out their presentation and yet the group has not made a decision.
1.24 Terry stated that Orihuela was not made aware that the had to collect rubbish and larger items from outside everyone's villa. He thought it was only fair for us to tell them of these things, so they could revise their price to inc1ude these items of work. He asked Frank if he had seen the specification for gardening which Roger and himself had drawn up for MCC.
1.25 Dave stated that the weekly gardening collection is very important and nobody wants to loose this service.
1.26 Frank said we still need to employ another Security guard to work everyday, as Mazápolis will be building more properties.
1.27 Terry explained to Frank that we have a street cleaner, but who would be responsible for street lighting now.
1.28 Dave said that the community needed to take into consideration Health and Safety. The gardeners need to be briefed as to what is required of them, work to be done on the urbanization etc.
1.29 Sandra stated that people need to take responsibility. We all want the perfect place to live, but at what cost. We have to pay for council tax as well as community fees. We should allow the council to adopt the roads and lighting. Why pay twice for services. People need to be made aware of the consequences.
1.30 Rick stated that he is quite happy to pay the amount he is paying now. Why can't people go to the Ecoparque and dump their rubbish or larger items. Holiday makers do make a mess.
1.31 Frank said that the larger items are being dumped by the owners. We need to put everything in a contract that is required to be done by the gardeners and other companies that we employ. He suggested that we look at another company to do cleaning.
1.32 Terry asked whether we could get Orihuela to employ one of Huma's gardeners. Also could we ask Orihuela to clean up around the bins.
1.33 Emil said we will have to negotiate with Orihuela.
1.34 Terry stated that last week we had a discussion with Orihuela about cleaning and maintenance. Is he going to look after the caretaker.
1.35 Andrew said we need to have everything put into a contract. He said he would not be voting until he saw the contract.
1.36 Frank stated that we, the group, needed to make decisions as he has a business to run and we are all wasting his time.
1.37 Sandra said to Frank we know you have a business to run. We all have a right to have our say and the comments of the community should be taken into consideration. We are all here to discuss issues facing the community. She asked whether the gardening rubbish and larger objects could be placed in a central area, so the company collecting needs only to go to one location. We need to look at reducing costs.
1.38 Karl-Heinz stated that he agreed with this idea.
1.39 Rick stated that we need to take larger items like chairs, parasols to the Ecoparque.
1.40 Terry asked if Frank proposed to ask Orihuela to quote for gardening rubbish and other items, like cleaning around the bins, a caretaker to clean up dog poo!, gardening and cleaning of streets. There were originally 4 quotes. Roger and I prepared a specification for Orihuela and he sent one to all who had an e-mail address.
1.41 Andrew asked who is going to give Orihuela the additional specification for all these items complete with a caretaker.
1.42 Emil stated that we need to educate people as to where to dump their larger items of rubbish. We need an inventory as to what the gardeners are prepared to do.
1.43 Andrew stated that we need to get contractors in to clear away rubbish. Also if people do not like what we are doing they can vote us out at next voting.
1.44 Frank said we need to make a decision.
1.45 Martin said we are not in a position to make a decision, as we still have no budget.
1.46 Sandra explained we cannot make a decision. We were told that Orihuela could do the cleaning and maintenance every week. Orihuela said two people would be sufficient on site (permanently) each week and if we needed extra people they would bring them on site. Orihuela said quality was very important.
1.47 Terry told Frank that he needed to get the Administrator to sort this out.
1.48 Dave stated that we should only recommend companies that can do what we want.
1.49 Emil said we need public liability. The community does not have a building and he is finding it difficult to get a licence. When we get a building we can put in for a liability licence.
1.50 Emil said the Restaurant needs to have their own rubbish containers on their own plot. They should pay for this service themselves. We do not want their rubbish overflowing on our community land. They have broken the existing containers and will have to pay for them to be repaired.
1.51 Frank said our overall problem is that we still have not made any decisions regarding the gardeners, this must come to an end. I do not believe that we should react in order to keep everyone happy. I want things sorted out and I do not care who likes me or not. I don't believe in doing things the Spanish way. We have European Laws.
1.52 Terry stated that we cannot make any decisions without proper information.
1.53 Dave said the bins should not be a problem. Have you informed CESPA? We informed the Administrator 2 weeks ago to ask if rubbish could be collected more often. Has this request been made? If yes, then CESPA needs to be chased up.
1.54 Martin asked Frank what other issues do you want us to discuss apart from the Gardening and Cleaning.
1.55 Frank suggested that the community of owners representatives go for a walk around the site, take pictures of all rubbish and resolve this quickly. We should be aware of what is going on. Huma's rubbish is on our property. We need to meet up some time soon.
1.56 Dave asked if there were any more plans from Security regarding CCTV.
1.57 Frank suggested that we show all the non-payers that we are not a push over and can make decisions when necessary. We need to go back to Orihuela and ask them to be honest with us and tell us if they can and are prepared to take on cleaning our streets as well as the gardening. I don't think people really care as long as the jobs are done and at a reasonable cost.
1.58 Terry said we need to be budget conscious.
1.59 Jack stated that he did not think that dogs should be allowed in and around the restaurant area, because children play on the grass where dogs run.
1.60 Frank wants to propose that we nave signs put up at the front of the urbanization in welcome visitors, and let them also know this is a private urbanization.
1.61 Terry stated that the President was going to find out what powers the Security people had.
1.62 Dave said we also need to put on the signs information about (making people aware of) our CCTV and Security.
1.63 Martin wanted to know if we could ask the gardeners to spray pavements immediately, due to the number of weeds coming trough.
1.64 Frank suggested that we all meet on Friday 3rd August outside the main office at 8am and walk around the urbanization. We will take pictures of the rubbish that needs to be c1eared away to improve the urbanization.
Meeting closed at 12.45
NEXT MEETING SCHEDULED FOR
FRIDAY 3rd AUGUST
AT 11am (Main office - basement)