September Newsletter
Dear Homeowner:
The HOA Board would like to provide you with an update on the current financials, as the Association had some unbudgeted maintenance expenses this year.
BALCONY REPAIRS
On January 1, 2020 a new law SB 326, went into effect which requires all HOA’s to conduct visual inspections of balconies. The inspections must be done by either a structural engineer or an architect, who submits a report to the board detailing the physical condition and useful life of the balconies’ load-bearing components and their waterproofing systems. This new law was brought on by a balcony failure in Northern California where a number of people lost their live.
In February, we had a structural engineer inspect the ten balconies in the complex. He determined that three needed to be repaired immediately and two could be done at a later date.
GARAGE SUPPORT BEAMS
In November 2019, the board learned about a cracked support beam located in the garage of Unit 4426. We hired a Structural Engineer to inspect the cracked beam and he advised that the beam needed to be reinforced. The contractor reinforced the beam per the engineers’ instructions. As a safety precaution, the Board decided to have the Structural Engineer inspect all units that have a wooden support beam in their garage. The inspection of all units with supporting beams in their garage was done on February 1, 2020. The engineer recommended that six additional units with beams needed to be reinforced.
Several of the beams had plumbing pipes drilled through the beams which required an additional expense to have the pipes moved around the beams. The engineer told us that in the event of a large earthquake the damaged beams could fail and collapse. The Board voted to have the beams reinforced this year.
WATER LINE REPAIR
In February, roots from a large tree started to move the main fresh-water line for building #5 (4424-4438) along Kling Street causing a water leak. The board voted to move ahead with the repair. The plumber replaced the fresh-water line from the meter to the existing galvanized pipes, along with a new pressure regulator and a back-flow device. Per code, the plumber installed a custom cover cage to protect the expensive brass valves and keep them secured. The City advised us that we would need to have the back-flow valve tested yearly by a licensed plumber.
IRRIGATION REPAIR
A new water line to service the irrigation on Kling Street also had to be installed. This included all new copper pipes to the irrigation valves and all new irrigation valves.
In February, a claim for the damages was filed with the City of Burbank. Recently we were asked to provide additional documents and photos of the damage. The City has advised that we would be notified by the end of September on the outcome of the claim.
Here’s a breakdown of these unbudgeted expenses:
Balcony repairs - $8,000
Garage Beam repairs - $13,800
Water line repairs - $10,889
Irrigation repairs - $3,309
Irrigation Around the pool – $1,115
Total Cost - $37,113
Normally we would have had a special assessment for all these unusual maintenance expenses, however we already had the pool assessment this year.
The entire budget for all building maintenance is only $50,000 which includes gardening, landscaping extras, tree trimming, general repairs, plumbing, electrical repairs, pool service, and roof repairs.
Recently we had to borrow from reserves to pay our current bills. We will need to pay back all money borrowed from reserves within a year. This might be a line item in the 2021 budget.
The budget for 2021 will include the two-year contract for Higgins Termite which is approximately $6,400. Additionally, the State has passed another new law Assembly Bill 5 which requires contractors to hire their contract workers as full time employees. This will increase payroll and insurance costs, which will in turn be passed along to us.
We had to skip a main drain cleanout this year and we will have to wait until next year to have the trees trimmed. These are important maintenance projects that have been rescheduled due to lack of funding.
Several homeowners have already said they don’t think we should have an HOA increase next year. The budget process will begin soon, and we will do everything we can to try and maintain the current HOA dues.
An on-site reserve study has just been completed for the Association. We were able to add some new components to the inventory, including balcony inspection, balcony decking replacement and reseal, pool furniture and back-flow device. We will be able to use money from reserves to cover some of our unbudgeted maintenance expenses. This will help to improve the operational budget.
We will keep you posted on the finances. Please let us know if you have any questions.
See attached breakdown of annual HOA expenses.
The Board