May Board Meeting -

A WINDOW INTO THE 21ST CENTURY . . .

Picnic-area animal complaints, swim-diaper rule specifics, elevator-door repainting, and an architectural upgrade for kitchen windows were the major discussion items at Makaha Valley Towers' May Board of Directors meeting.

An almost full slate of board members were present for the occasion, with only director Mike D'Angelo absent.

Audience members learned that MVT is still on sound financial footing, as Associa account executive Donna LaFrance began the get-together with the mention that monetary reserves are being maintained at about the $3.2 million level.

The meeting then quickly proceeded into updates regarding infrastructure projects.

Even though some in the audience were of the notion (due, no doubt, to watching workmen pull old steel tanks from the buildings) that MVT's on-demand, hot-water system upgrade had been completed, General Mgr. Joanna Miranda swiftly disabused them of that assumption by explaining that, while initial preparations and some equipment removal had been undertaken, completion of the project was still weeks away.

Another in the audience then asked about the Towers' new air-conditioning chiller, and was told that project is still on schedule for completion this summer, and the unit itself is currently being assembled on the Mainland.

A project soon to get underway, audience members were told, is repainting of the elevator doors in each core's lobby areas, and on every floor lobby.

Application of the pigment will start in the Core IV mauka (mountain) end of the facility soon after Memorial-Day weekend, and each lobby where work is being undertaken will, of necessity, need to be cordoned off, meaning each particular floor as painted, will be accessed only either by stairwell, or from the core's opposite elevator units.

Miranda passed along that a project that's virtually complete, is the upgrades and placements of MVT's new security system. “All the cameras are installed and all the monitors are in place,” she noted.

Moving into the New Business segment of the meeting, Association President Michael Targgart brought up the request of owner, and now Board member, Don Arakaki to replace the kitchen window in his one-bedroom unit.

Seeking to upgrade the almost half-century-old louvered, jalousie-slats which currently compose the kitchen windows throughout the complex, Arakaki shopped around for a two-pane, sliding configuration that would be acceptable as an architectural feature.

He presented the board an example composed of two separate glass panels (each panel made up of two glass pieces with an airlock sandwiched between them for insulation), the top panel which can be slid down for ventilation. The panels are vinyl framed for longevity and corrosion resistance, and that frame will come only in the color white.

The panels themselves can be translucent, as is currently the case with most of MVT's jalousies, or be made clear, or a combination of either.

The Board was unanimous in approving the measure, with Arakaki recusing himself from weighing in on the matter, marking the ballot as the Towers' first significant architectural modernization in quite some time.

Now other apartment owners who wish to upgrade their kitchen portal can do the same, but it won't be cheap, as each installation will cost about $1,000.

Moving from better ventilation to enhanced health obligations, Board members next voted on beefed up and more specific house rules regarding non-potty-trained swimming-pool users, and pool users with incontinence issues.

While MVT currently has rules regarding the use of swim diapers, the new regulations outline specific performance expectations for the garment, and now require the diapers be covered with a waterproof undergarment, with elastic gatherings for the legs, all to be worn underneath swimwear.

Finally, Board members turned their attentions to a petition submitted from seasonal Towers' residents regarding animals in the picnic and barbecue areas.

The document outlined complaints regarding felines who frequent MVT's only outdoor, non-swimming, gathering spot, and objections against service or comfort animals, who are fed there.

Although the request had about two-dozen signatories, the majority of those who signed the paper were rental visitors and not owners. Actual owner signatories represented only five individual apartments regarding the matter.

Opinions expressed among meeting attendees signaled that current MVT house rules were adequate to manage the issue, with folks pointing out the brand-new “no feeding the animals” sign which was recently put up in the barbecue area, and information circulated in recent Towers' communications reinforcing the message that animal feeders risk an immediate $200 fine.

At least a couple audience members suggested the Board's response should indicate that, given recent efforts to heighten enforcement regarding people feeding the animals, and the expected reduction in behaviors once the animals disassociate people from food, the matter has been given the consideration it merits.

And with that, the meeting was concluded.