Kamaole Sands Guest Network

KAMAOLE SANDS
Summer 2009
SANDPIPER NEWS
Update #54
Board of Directors
2009-2010
Lois Koenig, President
Loikalane@aol.com
916-652-5017
Paul Stassinos, Vice-Pres
Pastassinos@yahoo.com
916-967-8000
Craig Chandler, Treasurer
Craigtc@pacbell.net
949-582-0733
Jim Van Blarigan, Secretary
Jvan50@juno.com
510-562-1251 808-270-4091
Ennio Avalon, Director
MAUI.PARADISE26@YAHOO.COM
208-634-1233
Kevin O’Brien, Director
Obrien_kevin@msn.com
425-643-6990
George Kent, Director
Kent1401@q.com
503-636-7224
Photo: Sara Baskurt
MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT LOIS
Time passes quickly and the Board will
begin planning for the 2010 budget in
August. It hardly seems like it could be
that time again. These past several
months has been challenging with lower
incomes than anticipated due to the loss
of income on items impacted by the
lower occupancy rates on the islands
as a whole. We have been lucky however,
in that our Treasurer Craig Chandler has
been diligent about examining every penny and working in conjunction
with Jarrett to keep expenses as low as we can get them.
For us individually, as owners, it is an opportune time to take advantage
of empty units to do more extensive remodeling projects. Right now,
contractors and handymen are vying for business so getting good bids is
also a possibility. If you have not had a chance to spend time in your
unit or visit to take care of upgrades, now is the time.
The Association is using this philosophy to plan some major projects which are just easier when we have fewer
guests. Two of the big projects planned for this fall are the repair/replacement of many of our fascia boards
which need replacement because of termites or dry rot and the installation of our backflow preventors. The
fascia boards are those big fat boards that are above each 4th floor unit at the roof line. We will do this project
with the boards on the front door side of your unit in 2009 and look to complete the lanai side next year. We
need to install backflow preventors to our major property water lines in order to meet new county
requirements. Without these preventors, the county can refuse to issue permits to the Association and
individual owners. Both of these projects are planned for later this year and both projects are part of our
reserve expenditures.
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FITNESS CENTER REPORT ~ Paul Stassinos
Aloha to all you Kamaole Sands exercise
buffs. You should be happy to hear that with
a small amount of time and money and some
modification of our space planning, the
Kamaole Sands now has one of the best
stocked fitness rooms of any Maui hotel or
resort. We now have two treadmills, two
elliptical trainers, three multipurpose
machines (one of which is the well known
Bowflex), a stationary bike, AND assorted
free weights. All these machines work well
and all are easily accessible. In addition, we
now have extra “back up” machines
(treadmill, elliptical trainer, and stationary
bike) so that the next time one of these has a
problem, it can be immediately replaced with another functioning machine while the broken one is moved into
a storage room, repaired, and it in turn becomes a “back up” machine. This should eliminate the “down time”
problem we’ve had in the past when our “out of order” machines have simply taken up space in the fitness
center during the month or more it can take to get repair parts from the mainland. To speed up the repair
process, we’ve ordered extra pulleys, cables, and wheels to have on hand for the machines, and installed
signage requesting that guests immediately report equipment problems. Also, as additional touches to
enhancing the room, we’ve added more rubber mats for placement under the free weights, laminated Bowflex
instructions on the wall, AND a television. Over the past couple of years, our fitness center has shown itself
to be very popular and based upon the extremely positive comments heard from guests, it looks like the recent
changes have taken this resort amenity to a higher level.
Mahalo to Joe Weckerle who worked with
Paul to add a TV to the exercise room.
Troy Katafias, Maintenance Supervisor, working on
a broken exercise machine. A working replacement
is being used while this one is in the “repair shop”.
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THE BARBEQUE KING!
Ron & Joanne Young have owned unit 2-405 for the past 19 years.
Ron was in the funeral business and since retirement, they spend 6
months a year here at Kamaole Sands, Their other six months is spent in
Kelowna, B.C.
Late in 2008, Ron came to President Lois Koenig with some ideas
about improvements he saw were needed in the BBQ areas;
improvement for safety reasons and for aesthetic reasons. Lois said,
“How would you like to chair a committee to help with this project?”
Ron said “Yes”.
Ron recruited Chris Aspol and with a number of other volunteers and
staff developed a plan for changes to our five property BBQ areas. The
committee began actually physically working on the renovation led by
carpenter and Volunteer Extraordinaire Cliff Sherwin. From the
beginning, dozens of owners were part of the work process. A project which would have taken months and lots
of money was finished in a couple months and saved the owners thousands of dollars.
When asked why he volunteers, Ron said that this project was his chance to “contribute to the betterment of
Kamaole Sands and was an opportunity for him to meet with and work with his fellow homeowners.”
Ron Young & Chris Aspol
Cliff Sherwin, Bob Burne & Ron Young
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Contributed by Gee Weckerle, Owner Rental Committee
Owner Direct Rentals
WARNING… At least three owners who have a lot of experience doing direct rentals have been
contacted by either one or more potential scam renter(s). The potential renter comes on strong to rent thru an
owner direct rental site. Different sites have been used. Each is a little bit different, but they do have some
common elements. The potential rentals appear to be part of a business (often a non-profit agency which plays
on the heartstrings of owners and adding credibility) that is coming to Maui for a conference. The expenses
are supposedly funded by a large corporation that is sponsoring several employees' conference costs. The
sponsoring company only issues one Money Order or check for all employee's expenses to attend the
conference. The owners are asked to receive the payment from the sponsoring company which is in excess of
the individual condo rental amount. Owners are requested to return the extra amount in order to cover the
expenses of the rest of the attendees. The hope is that before the owner realizes that the payment they
received is "bogus", the check that the owner sent has already been cashed. One owner has “called them out”
on their scam and never heard from them again, one owner played along and received a (bogus) Money Gram
never to hear from them again after not sending the check to them, and another owner ignored them after being
tipped off before even receiving the money order. Beware!
We encourage all homeowners to submit hints for inclusion. The hints can be money saving, decorating,
maintenance ideas, or any other idea that might be useful to other homeowners. Please send your hints to Gee
Weckerle @ MauiJoeGeeW@aol.com.
Wonder what to do with that 1/2 box of cereal or 1/2 dozen eggs at the end of your stay? St. Teresa's Church
welcomes any and all unused food. Open food is used for their daily feeding of the homeless at their Hale Kau
Kau (House of the feeding). Unopened food is given to the needy. St. Teresa's is located at 25 West Lipoa
(corner of S. Kihei Road & Lipoa). If you drop off food before 2:30 PM, please go to the church office. After
2:30 PM, food can be taken directly to the kitchen. For further information call 808-879-2681.
Another choice is Food Pantry, although they only accept donations of unused, unopened food. Any unopened
food or non food item (like paper towels) is acceptable as long as it is not perishable (no produce). Unused
food can be dropped off at the nearest fire station. There are two fire stations near Kamaole Sands. The Kihei
fire station is located at #11 Waimahai Street. It is on the corner of Waimahai Street and South Kihei Road.
The other is located at 300 Kilohana Drive in Wailea.
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Summer is Here!
In case you haven't noticed, the summer heat brings on abundant plant growth
at Kamaole Sands, and Island Plant Company crews are busy trimming and
weeding. Case in point: the ground cover at the north spa is growing inches a
day and threatened to climb over the stone wall, which is about 44 inches
high! In the pool area, the 'uki 'uki and the Scaevola aemula are thriving! New
flower beds have been planted along the upper section of the central courtyard
walkway, replacing beds that were "worn out".
The Landscape Committee has received numerous complaints from owners in Building Six concerning the
smoking bench under the mango tree. It appears that even though the bench is well removed from the building,
during certain conditions, the wind currents eddy smoke back into Building Six and sometimes Building
Seven. Further, the area draws groups of smokers that often bring lawn chairs to the area so they can party for
extended periods, sometimes late into the evening. The Committee will be working on a proposal to the Board
concerning the relocation of the bench further away from the building. If this proposal is approved, it will be
the third bench that has had to be relocated.
The Landscape Committee can hardly wait for Mary Van Auken to return so work can begin on improving
the koi pond habitat and renewing the landscaping around the pond. By winter, owners should notice a
significant change in the area. It is our hope that we can keep algae growth at acceptable levels while
enhancing the beauty of the waterfall area.
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VOLUNTEERS OF SKILL
Al & Terrie Himenes bought their unit (10-106) in June
2004. They have been an integral part of Kamaole Sands
life ever since. Al, you see, is one of our great volunteers
here at Kamaole Sands and we are lucky enough to have
Terrie work right alongside him.
Al & Terrie live in Citrus Height, California and visit
Maui 2-3 times a year. At present Terrie is employed
with Sacramento County Department of Human Services.
She handles administration for foster children and
adoption. Al works with Center Unified School District
maintenance department as a maintenance technician.
They are planning to retire Aug. 1, 2012.
Al has done many volunteer jobs here at Kamaole Sands. He rewired the pool area ice machine, soda machine,
lights, etc which took him about 3 days in 2007. Then, in 2008, he started on one of our most visible and
beautiful projects…our new reception desk. Al built the desk in Sacramento after work and on weekends using
about 800 man hours. Then he boxed it up and shipped it to Maui. He and Terrie used their entire vacation
time last year to rebuild the front reception area and install the desk, which took about 15 days. For those of
you who know prices, Al saved Kamaole Sands approximately $25,000 in materials and labor costs with this
project which is a focal point of our lobby and which is also ADA compliant. It doesn’t end there. Al used
additional hours at home to build the beautiful ergonomically compliant office furniture for our administrative
staff! At the beginning of 2009 Al moved the lobby further along as he and Terrie textured the walls in the
lobby which allowed for a cleaner softly painted surface. Terrie not only works beside Al, she made and
donated all of the beautiful floral arrangements for the lobby.
When asked why he does all of this, Al answered. “You ask why I volunteer. I think it started some 60 years
ago with this hard working little educated Spanish man (my father) who started to instill his knowledge in me.
I personally feel the most important was ‘You don’t always have to put a monetary value on everything you do
for someone.’ As long as I can remember I have been helping people, with or without an invitation. Since my
uncle passed on his trade to me, I have been building and making things for people. Sometimes free,
sometimes losing money, but when I finish and someone says they like it or it’s beautiful, it’s like being paid a
million dollars. With my experience and seeing our complex needing so much work and I like to work, it was
my opportunity to volunteer”.
“Oh, Terrie says she volunteers so she can see me (just kidding). When we first got married, she asked why I
was always helping everyone. Again, I went back to dad’s statement that someday you will need help and it
will return. That day came and everyone showed up to help me. This truly made a believer out of her and we
have been volunteering ever since.”
Al & Terrie, on behalf
of the owners at Kamaole
Sands, the Board wants to
personally thank you and
Terrie for all the time and
effort in helping to make
Kamaole Sands an incredible
second home for each of us.
Al begins building in California
Terrie helps with demolition of old desk
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Mahalo to Doug Hunt-- The $10,000 savings over the past 2 months was the
results of well water being used (50%) and Doug Hunt’s continued efforts to
find leaks and increase use of well water for landscaping. He helped Kamaole
Sands save water and a ton of money! The gallon usage per day for building 3
went from 29,759 gallons last year to 3,950 this year, an 87% reduction and
building 4 from 18,776 gallons last year to 4,067 this year, a 78% reduction.
Another way to look at it, the leaks Doug found saved close to what building 5
water usage is for 64 condos.
Article Submitted by Craig Chandler, Treasurer.
Trotto Wins Four USATF Masters National Titles
OSHKOSH, Wis. --- Dr. Mary Trotto of Kihei won four national titles
at the USA Track and Field Masters championships this weekend at
Oshkosh Sports Complex.
Trotto set a personal best in winning the women's 60 pentathlon with
1,882 points, and also took first place in the 2,000-meter steeplechase
(11 minutes, 54.18 seconds), 300 hurdles (1:25.10) and triple jump
(5.79 meters).
Trotto placed second in the pole vault (1.20 meters), third in the 200,
long jump (2.55 meters) and high jump (1 meter), fourth in the 100
(18.76) and 800 (3:50.47) and sixth in the javelin (19.39 meters).
Expedia Activity – Screen
The backside of the Expedia pool sign was recently covered with matting. This was in response to lessen the
harsh glare that the white background gave off.
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Dryer Vent Cleaning Schedule
Dryer vents are scheduled for cleaning from 8/3 thru 8/19/09. Please note, our original notice missed building
5 stacks 09 thru 16. The schedule below has been updated with this revision.
Vent Tech staff also clean dryer
vents inside the unit.
Vent Tech Hawaii Owner, Jay Jackson, cleans out the Dryer vent fans located above each unit stack. We
anticipate excess lint to be blown out of the shaft during the cleaning process. We will do our best to keep the
lint debris to a minimum near the building’s landscaping. At times, this is easier said than done.
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New Golf Cart
The Association operates a total of six golf carts and recently approved the replacement of one of the carts that
broke and was not worth repairing. Below, Rod Jones, shows off our “new” used cart.
New BBQ Table at Building 4/Banana Grill
The large table that use to be at building 4 BBQ area was moved to building 8 &9 BBQ. The large table
was replaced with a smaller concrete table and umbrella set. More improvements are being done to BBQ 4 to
enhance this amenity.
Before
After
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Monkey Pod Tree Removal – Phase 1/Sewer Line Replacement
The process to remove the large monkey pod tree near the registration building and replace the damaged sewer
line started on July 7th. Island Plant Company will complete the project when they address the landscape
restoration.
10
Monkey Pod Root Removal
The pipe above shows the damage
caused by the tree.
Sewer Line Replacement - Accurate Plumbing
Erik Kollist– Accurate Plumbing
Installation of the new sewer line.
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Free Informational Signs Available
Updated washer/dryer magnets and Expedia informational signs are available at the AOAO office.
Reminder that smoking is not permitted on the lanais. Please smoke in
designated areas only.
Mahalo ~ Dave
David Hummel
Security Supervisor
The use of a new ear piece radio assembly allows
security guards to hear radio transmissions
in private rather than using the traditional radio
speaker, where confidential information can be
compromised when dealing with security issues.
Security Officer Mark Hammer
shows the new ear piece.
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On Call Security
BACK
Welcome back to Brooks Cohen. Brooks used to work for the Kamaole
Sands as a pool attendant and recently returned to help out in the security
department to cover vacations. His familiarity with the property and poolside
experience will be a benefit.
Maintenance
Please join me welcoming James Brian Parks to our Kamaole Sands
ohana. “Brian”, what he likes to be called, is our newest maintenance
employee and replaces the position held by Larry Ah Nee. Brian
comes to us with a strong background in various maintenance trades and
home renovation. He also has experience in EMT/911 emergency
response and most recently was involved with the building and
operating of zip line tours.
Troy Katafias, who has been performing the unit inspections,
asked that we remind everyone about garbage disposal usage.
Be sure to run the garbage disposal and flush the plumbing
with an adequate amount of water to wash the debris through
the plumbing. This is especially important if the room will be
unoccupied for any length of time. During his inspections, he
found many garbage disposals that had unprocessed food in
them. Dried food debris can add to plumbing problems.
Our target date to complete our unit
inspection program is the end of July.
Fuse Box Replacement /Generator Inspection
A fuse box at the registration building was approved for replacement at our last board
meeting. We are waiting on MECO to approve our replacement request. Valley Isle
Electric will be handling the repairs. The electrical down time will allow Valley Isle
to inspect our new generator operation and make any adjustments, if needed.
End of Report~
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