LA SCALA NEWS
2nd Quarter
2007 from Andrew Fentiman (603)
Summer’s here once more, with higher humidity and also weekly rainstorms, and La Scala is very quiet again. NOAA predicts a 75% chance of an above-normal hurricane season with 13-17 named storms, 7-10 hurricanes and 3-5 major hurricanes. NOAA will issue an updated outlook in early August, which begins the peak (August-October) of the hurricane season. Interestingly, some of the most damaging hurricanes have occurred during a year of near-normal activity (Donna in 1960) or below-normal activity (Andrew in 1992). Last year’s prediction was for above-normal activity and we had no severe hurricanes….. so, go figure.
QUICK NEWS - Welcome to new owners
Roger & Kimberly Petrin (302), Henry and Ann Sampers (1103) and Peder & Linda
Engebretson (1602) ☼ Seen the new
lower parking garage door? Great, isn’t it? All paid for by WCI ☼ Lunch
at the Bay Club (12-3, M-F) is offered July 9-13, August 6-10, and September
10-14 ☼ Summer reciprocal
dining is here. If you didn’t get the Reciprocal Clubs dining list from the Bay
Club, I’ll e-mail it to you. We just had a great dinner at West Bay Club with
the Hoodbhoys from 602. Nicole (992-2100) or Tammi (390-4709) at the Bay Club
have to make your reservation for you
☼ Naples Sugden Theater & Vergina Restaurant have a Dinner & Show for just $45
per person (Beauty and The Beast,
featuring our very own Joseph Loiacono). Box Office: (239) 263-7990 ☼ 1st
Phase of Florida Property Tax reform is now law. Estimated tax cut for primary
and secondary homeowners is 7% in the first year ☼ A couple of
HOUSEKEEPING - Unit Owners leasing units: you are responsible for any damage caused by your tenants to La Scala common areas, so please ensure you take appropriate security deposits from renters ☺ If you hear sub-contractors playing music while working in a unit, please tell the Manager ☺ Please don’t come straight out of the pool into the building and drip water on our lovely marble hallway floors ☺ Recycling Rooms: please break down cardboard boxes flat. Styrofoam chips go in a (tightly closed!) trash bag down your trash chute but large Styrofoam blocks should be stacked neatly in the Recycle Room. Put fluorescent light tubes and other light bulbs in there also, on the floor in a corner, out of the way ☺ There is a marked ‘Batteries’ box in each Recycle Room, for your old batteries (no car batteries, please!) ☺
SAVINGS TO THE ASSOCIATION – Bending over backwards to save the Association money is not something Property Manager’s typically do, but since Day One, Joseph & Isabella have found ways to save our Association significant amounts of money. There are numerous examples. Here are just three…. A) After Hurricane Charlie in 2004, La Scala had $51,000 in damage, a windstorm claim that was denied by our insurance company because it did not reach the deductible. After scrutinizing the fine print of our flood insurance, Joseph found a loophole and submitted a claim for flood insurance. The Association ended up paying just $17,000. B) Our metal-link lower parking garage door corroded and links started breaking. WCI refused to replace the door. Through Joseph’s dogged persistence, WCI eventually relented and gave us a new and infinitely better door. C) WCI provided black-and-white non-weatherproof exterior security cameras. S.E.L. Security Systems quoted nearly $34,000 to upgrade the system. Using our in-house talent, Joseph had the system completely upgraded everything for just over $4,000.
COMMITTEES – We have two La Scala committees starting up in the early winter. The Documents Committee will review the La Scala governing documents and suggest changes (contact Andrew Fentiman if you wish to become a committee member). The Social Committee will suggest and organize La Scala social events (contact Char Lupke at clupke@comcast.net if you wish to become a committee member).
YOUR WATER HEATER - Although the local water supply surpasses all federal and state standards, our lime-softened water has two characteristics. 1) If you have not run your faucets for weeks/months, you will need to turn them all on for ten minutes or so to get rid of the rotten-egg smell. 2) Over a period, lime scale builds up on the anode rod heating elements inside your water heater. Your water heater is now at least 4 years old. Jackie and I have already replaced our anode rod heating elements, the bottom one being heavily lime-scaled. Good news; a new generation of water heaters is now on the market. The Rheem Marathon energy efficient electric water heater has a lifetime tank warranty (6 years parts warranty). Its plastic inner tank does not rust and its outer tank is polyethylene. It doesn’t use anode rod heating elements and so there is no rotten-egg smell (caused by anode rod interaction with sulfates in the water system). An 85-gallon tank costs around $2,100. Call Bear’s Plumbing on 597-2951 for further information.
PELICAN LANDING MASTER ASSOCIATION DOCUMENTS – PLCA now has the Pelican Landing latest-version governing documents available on their website as downloadable .pdf files. This is important to you because you must hand over these Master Association documents to any buyer of your unit. Go to www.PelicanLanding.org. Click on ‘Website Entrance’, then ‘The Association’ and ‘PLCA Documents’. They are big files but load them onto your computer, or on CD, and at least you’ll have them.
FUN THINGS TO DO –
OR OUR OWN BEACH:
Alternatively, it’s a lot closer to rent a boat from Bay Water Boat Rentals on
Bonita Beach Road and go to our own community beach. Go south on U.S. 41, turn
right (west) on Bonita Beach Road, pass Vincenzo’s Restaurant on your right and
take the narrow road off to the right, just before the bridge. At the end of the
road/track is Bay Water Boat Rentals at
WATER BIRD ROOKERY AT DING
DARLING: Around late April/early May in Sanibel’s Ding Darling National Wildlife
Refuge, you can rent a kayak and paddle to the mangrove island rookeries in
MANATEES GUARANTEED: No see, no
pay. Can’t beat that. It’s just over an hour’s drive south on U.S. 41 to Port of
the
MUSIC OUTDOORS: ‘Evenings On 5th’
has live music and entertainment on July 12th on
LA SCALA WEBSITE & WEB FORUM –
Please look at our website from
time to time, also keeping up with the web forum and posting your own comments
there. The website and web forum are for the benefit and interest of Members:
La
Scala website:
www.LaScalaAtTheColony.com.
La
Scala web forum:
www.LaScalaAtTheColony.com/smf
Enjoy the summer,
ANDREW
Cell: (239) 405-3455.
E-mail:
acfentiman@comcast.net