By Ken Kmet, Condo Voice, Clearwater, FL

Seawalls are everywhere. There are endless miles and miles of them. If you live in a condominium, HOA, townhouse community, or home along the beach, bay, inter-coastal waterway, or lake, you most likely have one. Most condominiums and community associations do not reserve for seawall major repair and/or replacements. Other than the actual building structure, much of what they protect is not a covered loss under your association’s insurance policy, including your swimming pool and other ground-floor elements and facilities. So much of what seawalls protect, if damaged or destroyed, will be an out-of-pocket expense to repair or replace. Most seawalls are not inspected annually and have no maintenance performed on them. If you think a roof is out of sight, out of mind, try seawalls. No one wants to think about increasing the monthly maintenance fees to cover those costs. What shape is your seawall in? As federal and state funding for beach re-nourishment dries up, you’d better have a look at your seawall. Seawall contractors know this, and are gearing up for a bull market in seawall repairs coming soon to a shoreline near you.

Most communities are lulled into a false sense of security when it comes to seawalls, especially along the beach. Federal and state tax dollars have paid to rebuild beaches many times over the past 20 years so they are protected from hurricanes. However, as is and will be the case for the foreseeable future, that funding has ended. As of this writing. for example, Florida’s Pinellas County beaches are being restored, adding 300 feet of beach sand along 10 miles of beaches. However, all it will take is a couple of no-name storms or one big storm to erode most if not all of that beautiful new beach sand back into the sea. Then, the only thing standing between the destruction of your buildings is your seawall. Have I painted with an accurate brush a picture you have hidden in your management closet for a couple of decades?

Without a beach, the seawall is the only thing keeping the land under the buildings in place. When the seawall fails, the ground is washed out to sea, causing at least the ground and first floor of the structure to collapse. Other candidates for destruction include your swimming pool, railings, fences, light poles, landscaping, driveways, parking lots, security houses, maintenance rooms, irrigation systems, domestic and reclaimed water pipes, utilities, storm water pipes and drains, and many other community-specific surface and ground floor elements. Suffice it to say, seawalls protect way more than you may have considered. Those seawalls have had a great life the past 20 years or so, because the beach has been maintained during that time. But, just because the waves and water have not been crashing against it, doesn’t mean they haven’t been aging just as quickly.

Let me also paint picture with regard to coastal structures protecting property and life. Hurricane Katrina caused severe damage to property and life, but it wasn’t an epic catastrophe until the levees broke. Your seawall very quietly has been protecting your property and life for a long time. What can you do? Let’s have a look at that.

First you have to understand what causes the problems, so you can do something about it. Salt is the nemesis. Salt is the catalyst the steel needs to start corroding, rusting, expanding, and cracking the concrete, resulting in a “spall.” As anyone who lives along salt water knows, salt gets into the concrete and causes major repairs to the walkways, balconies, and parking garages. Seawalls are no different than any other form of exposed concrete. In fact, it gets much less attention, cleaning, and protection than a walkway or balcony, and, by design, has relatively more reinforcing steel than most floors, slabs, beams, and walls. In fact, in most cases, they receive no coatings, no maintenance at all.

Seawalls age, just like everything else on or near the beach at a rapid pace, as compared to inland steel-reinforced concrete structures. You should have your seawall inspected annually by a licensed marine structure contractor or an engineer who specializes in marine structures. They will examine the current status and health, and make recommendations for maintenance and repairs. They can also give you the remaining life expectancy and replacement cost, so that you can establish a reserve fund.

In addition to examining the actual structure, they will offer advice on the use of adjacent facilities. For example, if you are on an inter-coastal waterway or bay, they will look to see if there has been any scouring or prop washing. This occurs when a boat backs into a boat slip and runs the propeller, displacing the sand next to the seawall. One of the reasons is so that they can get closer to the seawall, expanding the length of the useful slip area. However, the sand next to the toe or base of the vertical panel of the seawall is there to hold the panel in place. By design, there should be at least one-half of the panel length covered by sand. Panels are typically 10, 12, or 14 feet in length. Without this sand in place, when enough hydraulic pressure builds from behind the wall, this toe can push outward or fail. Every community association with boat slips should have a rule or restriction against prop washing, end of discussion on that.

Don’t want to spend the money for an inspection? Need to justify the expense? Even without a contractor or engineer, anyone can walk along the seawall’s “cap” and look for cracks, rust bleeding through to the concrete surface, chips, and spalls. Cracks usually appear running parallel to the cap’s length. You can take a long stick or pole and measure roughly the depth of water, height to the cap, and estimate whether you have adequate sand cover of the toe. You can walk on a dock and examine the panels to look for usually horizontal cracks along the panel’s width. You can dig holes where the tie-backs are located, expose the tie back steel bars, and see if much corrosion has occurred. If you look waterside of where the vertical panels join, with clear water you may see small hills of undisturbed sand leaches out between the panel joints. If this is happening, you may also see a related hole land-side of the cap in your turf. Just filling the hole land-side won’t cure the problem, but it will temporarily relieve you from a trip-and-fall liability. There is more to detail about the problems and cures, but that is for another article, or information you should obtain from your local professional.

The longer you leave these problems unattended to, the more you have decreased your seawall’s life expectancy, and the more it will cost you when you finally do get around to doing something about it. It is also true that, when it comes to seawall repairs, nothing is cheap and nothing happens quickly. The licenses for marine contractors are heavily regulated, and the permits involved in whatever will be done take more time than land structure permits. There are always environmental concerns. There are only a limited number of environmentally approved products that can be used, and protections must be put in place waterside of the work areas.

Thankfully, there are things you can do to treat your concrete. There are water-based clear penetrants that can be spray-applied to the exposed surfaces of the concrete, are environmentally approved, and do not cost a fortune. There are epoxies available that can be gravity- and force-fed into the cracks to seal and protect the internal steel from additional exposure to the elements. There are maintenance services you can perform to the tie-backs to coat them and protect them from further deterioration. Again, your local professional can advise you on what can be done to help.

The bottom line here is, do yourself and your community a big favor. Grab a cup of coffee, and take a walk along your seawall and really take a close look at how it is doing. If you see any evidence of aging, or obvious problems, at least have your seawall inspected by a marine contractor or structural marine engineer. It is better to know what shape it is in and what can be done than to ignore it, live in denial, and/or stick your head in the beach sand.

By Ken Kmet, Condo Voice, Clearwater, FL

Say the phrase “fire inspection” and every property manager, board member, and maintenance engineer will make a face. It is that annual visit to your property by the local fire marshal. It is usually unannounced, may not necessarily happen every year, and often comes with a price tag to repair, fix, label, identify, upgrade, add, test, certify, or change out something. Even though you have complied with the previous inspection report, and did what was asked then, that doesn’t mean something new will not be written up this year. You may feel like you are being picked on. Don’t; this is a very common thing. Things that change from year to year include new codes, new personnel, new technology and equipment, new facilities, new use of the facility, and new laws. Buildings and equipment age between inspections, and although something may seem to function well enough for you and the residents, that doesn’t mean it is functioning well enough to contain or distinguish a fire or evacuate the residents.

What gets inspected? Virtually everything within your building, and outside, is subject to inspection. Anything that could cause a fire, fail to contain a fire, fail to help fight a fire, or restrict an exit to safety during a fire is a candidate. A partial list of those include signs, fire extinguishers, fire pumps, alarm systems, alarm monitors, fire pull stations, horns, lights, smoke detectors, fire sprinklers, fire hydrants, stairways, railings, and generators, to name a few. They all get inspected annually themselves and certified to be operational by their designated service companies. If the inspector does not see a tag that is current, then it gets red tagged, sometimes literally.

The above list is just the equipment. Some of the other concerns of the fire inspector include storage of flammable, combustible, and incompatible liquids and/or materials. Some routine violations include gas cans in an enclosed room, such as a maintenance or storage room in a condominium or HOA. The inspector looks for combined storage of chlorine for the swimming pool with gas, paint, cleaning supplies, or other maintenance materials. It is critical to have fire rated doors, and signs, on these rooms to contain, and to indicate to the fire fighters what is “behind the door” that feels hot or smoke is coming out of.

Does your community association have a grille? Do you use LP gas cylinders to fuel it? Keep your LP, gasoline, chlorine, acid, and janitorial supplies separated and in different approved rooms, containers, or areas. Most of what an inspector will find is where people just don’t use common sense. If something even looks like it might be a safety concern, it probably is. So be proactive, and be preventive. Don’t wait for the fire inspector to write you up. Practice safe use and storage of all of these chemicals and supplies. Whoever is in charge of managing your facilities should conduct inspections quarterly. People move things, store things, and use things without your knowledge or permission. Just because something is safe today doesn’t mean those conditions will remain that way.

The other people who will have sad faces will be the insurance agent and company. Improper storage of chemicals and supplies, and failure to keep the buildings and facilities up to fire codes, is putting not only life, but also property, at a risk level they will not want to insure, and may, after forensic studies results are in, deny a claim for damages. There is language I have found in virtually every insurance policy and condominium and HOA covenant, declaration of condominium, and supporting recorded documents: “Nothing shall be done to increase the insurance risk to the property, the residents, the units, or the facilities.”

Containment and possible causes for a fire extend everywhere. A common area for problems is on the roof, which is usually difficult to access. Most often, it is on the roof where your air conditioning equipment is located and your dryer venting exists. Some A/C companies leave junk, old units, and electrical wiring, boxes, and connections to a sub-par level. Fire inspectors go there, inspect, and report on any conditions that may cause a fire, whether it is the associations or the unit owner’s obligation to correct it. If your dryer vents are not cleared, the fire inspector will insist these issues be repaired quickly. He or she doesn’t care who fixes it, just that it gets repaired, because failure to do so puts everyone potentially in harm’s way.

There are always costs associated with fire safety and inspections. You should budget accordingly. Here is a list of common expense items virtually every multifamily community incurs each year:

1.  Fire extinguisher inspections, recharges, and certifications.

2.  Fire pump (if you have one) flow and pressure test, and certification.

3.  Fire hydrant flow test, and certification.

4.  Fire alarm test and certification.

5.  Generator or backup power test and certification.

6.  Fire sprinklers test and certification.

This is not intended to be a complete list of possible certifications need for your community, city, or state.  You may have other equipment or issues specific to your community.

The costs of each of these, of course, varies depending on what, if anything, needs to be repaired. But fire service companies are heavily regulated, require licenses difficult to qualify for and keep, and are a trade that carries with it very high liabilities for failure to perform. As a result, their hourly charges are pretty high. Inspections for each service can range from $200 to $500, plus cost of materials. The inspection for the fire marshal can range from $200 to $400 per visit. Return visits are usually much less, from $25 to $100.

Not directly related, but usually with shared resources, are your elevator services. There is a phone monitor, which is related to the phone line that monitors the fire alarm systems. This cost, as well as their inspection and operational license and associated fees, should also be included in your budget.

Once you have received your inspection report, generally you are given a week to a month to have the problems corrected. If it is a major expense, or something you have to get bids for, the inspector will give you more time, if you ask, and if you supply a letter explaining how and when the work will be completed.

There will be a re-inspection, and hopefully all is well. However, these days, there are charges for the inspections, and for each return trip. Most fire department budgets are running thin due to the struggling economy, and even though you may receive an extension, you can expect to be charged for each trip to your property.

The bottom line is, the fire inspector is there to protect lives and property. Everyone thinks, quietly, that it is a bother and an unwanted expense to have to keep up fire equipment to the latest standards. However, when there is a fire or an emergency, those that survive are very glad for the inspector, the fire department, and the EMS, and that the association spent the money to keep up the equipment that saved their lives.

By Ken Kmet, Condo Voice, Clearwater, FL

Hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, so we’ve put together a checklist for condominium associations and homeowner associations for hurricane season readiness. The first thing an association has to do is adopt a policy on how the association will function during the three phases of a severe weather event: before, during, and after a hurricane/severe weather event. They must also adopt a hurricane shutter specification, then make a checklist of actions and duties assigned to the association and to each homeowner in all three phases of the severe weather event. If you have all this, examine it carefully, and update if necessary. Of course, all of this should be done well before you see the television alerts showing you the radar of a hurricane off shore and heading right for you. The last thing you need in a crisis, where your life may be in danger, is confusion and wrong assumption of duties. Make sure your preparedness policy alerts individuals of what common area services, equipment, and facilities will be available, or NOT available (such as the elevator). How to create this policy deserves its own post, and we will do that at a later date at condovoice.com, but every policy should contain the following details.

Emergency Board Powers: With details on the “special powers” conferred by the state legislature on condominium boards to enable them to maneuver their association through the difficult post-disaster period;

1. Immediate Post-Storm Action: Including locating residents and employees, attending to the injured, securing the community, and documenting storm damage.

2. Reconstruction and Restoration: Dealing with association attorneys, insurance companies, and contractors in disaster recovery and putting a community back together again.

3. If you have hurricane shutters, decide whether the association has the ability and the responsibility to close them when needed, or not.

Note: Impact-resistant glass windows and doors have become the norm in recent years, and condominium units and HOA homes with these are now self-sufficient and hurricane ready. As a homeowner, and as a rule, you should never assume it is the association’s responsibility to close your shutters. During a crisis, there is never enough manpower available to handle everything the community needs, or for each homeowner that has not planned well.

4. Post a notice to your bulletin boards and website. It should contain an alert of severe weather approaching and clearly state the association’s hurricane policy. This policy will assign duties to the association and each homeowner before, during, and after the crisis, including evacuation procedures.

5. Install shutters and/or make the association’s common areas and facilities ready well in advance of the storm. The storm may not hit, but it is better to be safe than sorry.

6. If you have association records on site, gather the boxes that contain them and put them in your pre-designated secure location either higher up or off site.

7. Try to determine who is staying, who is leaving, and what group of people will serve as volunteers for the association during the crisis. For example, who will help fill sand bags, move furniture, etc.?

8. If you employ a maintenance person or staff, determine if they are available, and if so, when and for how many hours, before they have to head home and care for their own property and family. They may serve several properties and have to share their time with those, and at their own homes. Contact each of your service providers and have a plan for what they will do for your property before, during, and after the storm. Discuss charges, rates, and the amount of time they can dedicate to your property, so that expectations are clearly set. Some service contractors have hurricane retainer contracts, which can reserve a certain amount of man-hours for emergency service.

9. Move all equipment that can be moved to a higher place. This includes pool pumps, compressors, small generators, and the like. Most condominiums and HOAs have maintenance rooms, which are most often located on ground level. These contain tools, equipment, and supplies, which should be set up to be moved quickly in the event of rising water. This place should be higher and easy to access after the storm so these things can be used to clean up and do immediate repairs if necessary. Remember, your elevator will not work in a power loss. Generators operate life safety equipment, and an elevator is not life safety equipment.

10. Remove all furniture and items that can become projectiles in high winds from the exposed common areas. Check with your swimming pool professional, and, in an emergency, if your pool’s surface can handle it, throw your pool furniture in the swimming pool.

11. If the association owns a generator, test it, and make sure it is supplied with fuel and that it functions properly.

12. If you have time, purchase supplies needed at your local hardware store for possible repairs and cleanup after the storm, including water, batteries, and perishable items.

If you have a website for your community association, make sure you post the links to medical and emergency services, including evacuation routes and procedures, so that members can access this while there is still power. A community website can be a powerful tool and asset during a time of crisis. It can be a place to turn, created and designed for just that moment, when all else fails. Make sure your website is also mobile ready, so that if power does go out, your members can still use their mobile phone to access the website. If you can, manage the website by posting alerts, notices, and other information so that not only residents, but out-of-town owners can access it for updates as to the status of the property, damages, etc. A website can also serve as an off site records storage resource for occasions like this. Talk to your website manager about this option.

Each condominium and HOA community has their own particular needs to prepare for a hurricane. This list IS NOT complete. It is only intended to get you thinking about “what if” a hurricane were to approach your condo community, townhome, time share, or HOA. Make sure you have gone over everything ahead of time.

If you are a self-managed community, have the list of people you will turn to for help handy. If you are professionally managed, go over your hurricane policy with your property manager, and how management will help you during the three phases. Don’t assume! Make sure you are clear with how much, and with what specifics, management will help you in the crisis. Determine and agree on the additional charges, if any, so that there will be no hesitation on their part when you ask for help. Make sure crisis-related manpower and equipment is designated for your community. Also determine how many of their resources you will have available to you.

During a time of high anxiety, the last thing you need to do is to have your anxieties increased by the thought that you haven’t prepared well enough. Having a proper checklist, being fully stocked with hurricane supplies, and having a clearly defined hurricane policy for your community can give you the peace of mind to know you have done all you can to prepare.

By Ken Kmet, Condo Voice, Clearwater, FL

As buildings age, more attention has to be paid to repairs and replacements. Plumbing problems are more expensive than other repairs because they are hidden. Locating the source of a leak may not be easy, even though wet areas or standing water may be evident. Finding the actual problem source may require the assistance of a professional leak-finding service, as well as invasive tactics, including drywall or concrete removal. Plumbing leaks of every kind usually come with collateral damage, not only to the property owner of the home where the leak originates, but also to the neighbors.

When you experience one leak in a building that is over 20 years old, chances are you will start to see them more frequently. If you live in an older community association, including an HOA, condominium association, townhome community, or other multi-family community, a call to action is needed. You may try to make do, repair the one leak here and there. But living through these repairs is misery to all involved, and expensive. Most of the time the expenses are shared between unit owner and the association, and just how the bill gets shared is not always clear. Just because “you’ve always done it this way,” that doesn’t mean someone took the time to research it properly, and the laws have changed recently in every state regarding who is responsible to do the repair and pay for the repair for each part of the damaged property.

You can look to your condominium documents, HOA bylaws, deed restrictions, and other forms of legal documentation for your community for answers. It may say plainly in these documents that the unit owner is responsible to repair the pipe, but the association must pay for the drywall repairs, regardless of fault, cause, or location. There can be any number of variations on this theme. However, you must also look to your state laws, because they have probably changed since your documents were recorded, and they may take precedence over your documents, depending on many factors. You can always call your attorney and pay for a letter to define the current responsibilities.

However, there is one rule of thumb that I always go by, and that is to look to your property insurance for answers first and last. In other words, follow the money, or better said, those with the gold make the rules. The insurance industry doesn’t play around, and they lobby legislatures all over the country to make laws that favor them, and perhaps not necessarily for the consumer or property manager. For example, recently in Florida, regarding a “pipe burst” event, the law was changed to make the drywall, regardless of location, the responsibility of the community association, even though in most condominium documents, the interior walls, as well as the plumbing pipe (providing it services only that unit), are defined as being “a part of the unit,” and therefore the responsibility of the unit owner. In the past, the association was only responsible for common walls. But now, we look to the insurance industry to explain to us what is the responsibility of the association versus the unit owner.

I use a visual when explaining the principal of “no-gap” coverage. Take your right and left hands, fingers stretched out, and bring them together so that each finger fits into the other. The right hand represents the community association insurance policy, and the left hand represents the unit owner’s insurance policy. The state laws are written so they fit together with no gaps. Theoretically, if both the association and the unit owner call their agents and each file a claim, the adjusters for both companies will determine what is covered under which policy, with no gaps in coverage. The only thing out of pocket for both parties should be the deductibles and/or co-pays.

Let’s take this one step further. If a building experiences leaks, and they become more frequent, then the issue of “neglect” or “negligence” starts to pop up in conversations. The implication is, if you “know” you have pipes that are getting old and need replacement, and claims are adding up on the loss history charts, the insurance company is going to require you, the property owner, or community association, to make significant if not total repairs and/or replacements to stop the leaks. They will not simply keep paying for property damages year after year. They will either increase your premiums tremendously or drop you. If you get dropped, and/or have a large claims history, it may come to the point where you cannot get insurance, you will pay through the nose for it, or you may have to use an insurance company that is not “admitted” (in your state) or even rated well.

By law, community associations have to make “their best effort” to get insurance. Best effort here includes repairing the property as needed to get the insurance at a reasonable rate. Most building owners, boards of directors, and HOA, condominium, and community associations put off the huge expense of replacing plumbing for obvious reasons. However, if you count the cost of premiums that are 10 times more than you are paying now for many years, it makes sense to just spend the money before that time comes on the one-time replacement, eliminate the issue and risk from the picture, and keep low premiums. It makes economic sense to, for example, pay $100,000 to replace the plumbing pipes in a building, than to pay five times your current insurance premium over the next five years, only to have to pay the $100,000 anyway, five years from now.

Replacing plumbing pipes is invasive, it is miserable, and it may seem expensive until you do the math when you bring the insurance factor into the equation. If you have a building that is aging, and especially if you are starting to have leaks here and there, start a reserve now for replacing your plumbing. Being proactive and funding a reserve, as well as conducting a study to establish what the scope of work and eventual cost will be, not only makes good financial sense to your community, but it also shows your insurance company that you are taking steps to reduce the risk, which is the thing they rate their premiums on and whether they will offer you a renewal policy.

This blog submission is only for purposes of disseminating information. It does not constitute legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is formed by virtue of reading this blog entry or submitting a comment thereto. If you need legal advice, please hire a licensed attorney in your state.

By Ken Kmet, Condo Voice, Clearwater, FL

Trending now within city and state governments is the notion that operational costs and budgets for 2013 will call for either higher taxes or fewer services. The sluggish economy, along with property values remaining still or down, is not helping avoid tax increases. Tax increases are not popular or politically welcomed, which means local governments nix services as the first option (even though raising taxes may be inevitable). So now you’re probably asking, “What does this have to do with community associations?”

If governments have to cut services, the first to go are usually the non-essential services with large budgets, i.e., the parks and recreation department. In addition to the traditional parks, city and county swimming pools may be closed, as well as ballparks, gymnasiums, tennis courts, and playgrounds. The total cost to operate these services and facilities is not just the cost of paying employees to police, repair, and maintain them. The costs for lighting and security are significant, as is the cost of liability insurance. The trickle-down effect to HOAs, condominiums, townhomes, neighborhoods, and deed-restricted communities will be that their common areas will become, in effect, private parks and recreational areas. Thus the resident, and resident’s family and friends, will use these facilities more. This will increase community associations’ operating budgets for repairs and maintenance, as well as increase the rate of aging, which will in turn force an increase in reserve budgets for their replacement costs.

The covenants of most community associations allow for reservation of these facilities by the members for private parties and event use. Some communities charge a usage fee, but others don’t. For the ones that don’t, this may mean they will have to increase their budgets for their common areas and facilities, and consider whether to charge their residents fees to cover these costs that spike only because of these events. Communities will have to answer the question, “Is it fair to charge the entire community for a cost that is only associated with one member or a couple of members?”

There will also be an increased demand from the general public, as well as family and friends of members, to reserve or rent these facilities for their own private events. Each community association will have to weigh the income that can be generated from these rentals versus the wear and tear. They should also consider that their own members may get blocked out of using the facilities as often and as freely as they are used to. It may be wise to review your existing rules and regulations regarding the use and fees associated with using your common facilities.

Many people use public parks and recreational facilities for weddings and other family-related events. For example, if an owner has a family member or friend that is planning a wedding, and your community has a very nice clubhouse, swimming pool, and deck area, that owner/member may get pressured to request the use of your community’s facilities for that wedding. Perhaps your community does not charge now. Perhaps you don’t have a limit on the number of people that can attend an event that is privately reserved. You may not have a rule that allows or restricts catering events on common areas. Closing public parks and recreational areas and facilities will bring pressure to use private community common areas and facilities. This pressure and increase in requests for use by members may be cause enough to review your community’s reservation request procedures, rules of use, and fees.

Here is a short list of questions that should have good answers when it comes to the use of your community’s common areas and facilities.

1. Do you have enough guest and non-reserved parking?
2. Will the noise disturb the residents?
3. Are their any restrictions on how long the facility can be used?
4. Is the reason for reserving the facility even a part of the process of reserving it?
5. Do you charge a deposit, in case there are damages?
6. Is there an option to pay the association’s staff to clean up after the event?
7. Are there any types of activities or events for which the facility cannot be used?
8. And, of course, there is always whether or not you allow consumption of alcoholic beverages on the premises during these events. Check with your insurance agent when considering the rules of use. Are you protected if someone gets drunk and drives away from your facility under the influence, and they hurt themselves or someone else?

The point of this article is to get you thinking about your common areas. When was the last time you reviewed your request procedure, rules of use, and fees you charge? The odds are you may be receiving more requests for unusual events, along with more noise, and more people than you have ever had to deal with before.

The bottom line is, as access to public facilities becomes more restricted or eliminated, the pressure on using private facilities, such as your community’s clubhouse, pool, or common areas, will increase. Give it some thought. Review your current guidelines for use. Take preventative actions to make sure you upgrade your related rules and regulations as necessary, and anticipate this increase in the volume and types of use. This economy has caused changes in all our lives and in our communities that we did not expect. But we do have to stay ahead of the curve to protect the assets of our communities for our members. Be proactive instead of reactive to prevent a problem, and your community will be better for it!