Leaves on Roofs (Jan 5)

If homeowners would like the leaves cleaned off their roof, please contact Amber at Keystone Pacific at 949-838-3264 and request that a work order is submitted to the Beachwalk Maintenance Crew. When our workers are on your roof they will also do the entire roof for your pod if it is needed. Work will be done in order that the work orders are received, so please be aware that there may be a 2-3 week wait to have this work completed. Thank you.

Sewers: A Very Expensive Connection (Nov 21)

We need everyone’s help. We have had two serious sewer spills in the last month that have caused the Huntington Beach Public Works Department to get involved with our Board. The City is required to fine Beachwalk for sewage spills and clean up costs.  More importantly if Beachwalk has more sewer spills the State's Regional Water Quality Control Board will fine Beachwalk up to $10,000 a day for sewage spills to the storm drain system.  These large fines will have to be paid by Homeowners, in addition to the costs to repair the sewers.
 It is up to each homeowner in Beachwalk to protect our investments in the community by accepting the responsibility to care for all common area facilities and amenities. This includes a personal commitment to maintaining the sewer lines we own under the streets; Beachwalk owns the sewer lines until they leave our property.   Wastewater flows through Beachwalk’s small lines on your property to the larger, sewer lines in the street which we also own. The household waste you put in your sink and flush down your toilet travels by gravity or pressure through our sewer system. Unfortunately, a blockage in the sewer line can interfere with this normally quiet, out-of-sight process. A blockage in the sewer lines in your house backs up through floor drains and toilets at the lowest point in your home, but after your waste sewage leaves your home it has the potential to cause a blockage outside of your house. At that point it becomes the responsibility of Beachwalk Homeowners. It is up to the Homeowner’s Association to maintain the sewer lines we own that carry water and sewage through our community. 

Beachwalk has shown good faith in our efforts to work with city officials: we have written letters to homeowners, publicized information, responded to spills immediately and most recently purchased tarps and sand bags to protect the storm drains. We will also be videotaping our more serious lines and will identify the exact location of our sewer problems and take steps to remediate it. All of these steps take time and money.
Anything, which should not be in a sewer line, has the potential of causing a blockage. Kitchen grease, disposable diapers, napkins, paper towels, rags, baby and sanitizing wipes, tampons and sanitary napkins can accumulate and cause a blockage. Make sure all of the people living in your house understand the seriousness and expense of a spill due to blockage. Regardless of the modern days sales pitch on the packaging of products that suggest products are safe and acceptable for flushing, if they have to tell you it’s safe assume it’s not and please dispose of products safely in the garbage.  If you experience or see a sewer problem call Keystone immediately, 24 hours a day.

Lighting Project – July 20

Rick Trucios, Chair

I will try and summarize the lighting project with as much information as I can give and, without boring all of you with each and every detail. It has been a project that was very much needed here at Beachwalk. I remember when I was on the Board from 2002 to 2005, we had challenges all the time with lighting in Building and Maintenance.

To begin with, all of Beachwalk lighting needed to be repaired, replaced and reconfigured in all areas. We needed to address our lighting with an “engineering map” to show what type of lights, when bulbs are installed and additional information they need for proper maintenance. The Boards goal was to get the light poles replaced where needed, and to save energy dollars by updating our replacement bulbs to more energy efficient lighting. We met those goals and continue to do so.

I met with different vendors to get proposals on our lighting. Sundown lighting was recommended and after numerous meetings and walks here at Beachwalk they were chosen. Sari Welch was of the utmost help in getting this project off the ground. We met with Sundown lighting which became Linc Lighting & Electrical. On March 10, 2008 we finally had a proposal to the Board for an approval. Motion was made and Sundown was hired on a month to month contract, $467.00 per month. Engineering map included. Steve Wilbur, Sr. Consultant, with Linc Lighting and electrical, a hands on and face to face person,  has been great to work with although we have had our differences of opinion, which is to be expected in a project of this magnitude.

The Main Benefits are as follows:

1. Major reduction in liability exposure due to having fewer lights out overall
2. Significant reduction in tenant complaints due to fewer lights out
3. Eliminates irritating cycling or flickering lamps as they near end of life
4. Provides for regular cleaning of fixtures which increases light levels
5. Helps to maintain proper light levels for safety and security
6. Free Quality Control Inspection once each year with written results
7. Cost savings due to a reduction in service calls between light checks
8. Preserves the life of ballasts by replacing lamps before they fail
9. Proper documentation protects customer’s warranty for defective lamps
10. Beachwalk knows ahead of time exactly what work their maintenance contractor is performing each month, which protects Beachwalk from being overcharged

Two months later, May 12, 2008 Board meeting, we were able to have a proposal before the board to replace and remove an existing severely rotten direct burial wood light pole and install a ground vault. The cost for a 20’ x 4” square steel pole was $7873.43.  To do 17 poles, the cost would be $86, 279.36. This was our jumping off point. We did not do either. It was only for information purposes. And it would not solve our problem.  On July 14, 2008 we received the proposal we wanted. The SOW (scope of work) we approved was to: Using a crane truck, remove (39) existing, severely rotten, direct burial wood light poles and install ground vaults. There were (3) poles previously removed. Install rebar cages, conduit and anchor bolts and pour new concrete bases 6” above grade. We had installed (42) Dura Grip 20’ x 4” square steel poles, Ruud PR 150-watt MH pulse start fixture and 42 Misc. (wire, rebar, concrete, fittings, etc.). With estimated permits and engineering………..Total cost $154,238.86. This project was paid from our reserves. Motion made and approved. This project is complete!

At our August 11, 2008 board meeting, I requested  a proposal to remove a “Globe” light pole on the path from Little Harbor to Surfside, due to being wobbly and a liability hazard.  It was tabled. Our maintenance crew of Mike, Angel and myself had taken it out prior to our Board meeting.  This was something that we knew about and was the beginning of the next Project/Phase.

At the January 12, 2009 Board meeting, I had our next proposals before the Board. Replacement of the remaining Globe Fixtures and replacement of parking area poles.  Since we had globe lights, in the middle of pathway entrances, we needed to demo the entrances to the pathways. We already had been working with ATC construction on various cement jobs. They were the lowest of the proposals and their work was excellent. Take a look at Pool 2’s cabana stucco work and shower tile installation. The proposal to remove  (24) severely rotten direct burial wood walkway “Globe” light poles, with 24 EGL Tuscany 26-watt light fixture, 24 #310 round direct burial light poles (10’ steel poles), and misc. (rebar, concrete, fittings, etc.) was $26,594.70. We also approved $21,200.00 to replace 1211 sq. ft. of concrete at 15 locations. This is done with a broom finish and saw cut diagonals into cement. This project was also from our reserves.  This project/phase is now complete.

Replacement of parking area poles was also on the agenda. Working with Linc Lighting we received the proposal to remove (15) wooden light poles. We had 2 that were removed because they were leaning so severely we had a liability exposure.  We had installed 15 Dura Grip square steel poles, 15 Ruud PR 70 watt metal halide shoebox style fixtures with a 6” arm, and misc. (wire, rebar, concrete, fittings, etc). Including permits and engineering, $49,853.24. These were installed with metal rebar cages.  This was also paid for from our reserves. This project/phase is also complete.

On March 9, 2009 we finished the work for the bids on lighting for a proposal to do the wall fixtures and lighting at pool 2. The cost was $3648.69. The SOW was to tap the power from the existing lighting circuit.
We had installed (3) Tuscany style 26-watt fluorescent light fixtures and a flush mount photocell. Also, installed were (3) new Tuscany style 26-watt fluorescent wall fixtures. They match the new walkway poles. Too much detail to explain but, it was all done and completed. Total cost $3648.69. This project was also paid for from our reserves. This project/phase is completed.

We also added 3 Tuscany light fixture/poles to complete the lighting at pool 2. There are 5 pole lights there that completed the lighting. By installing 2 light poles, that we were changing out, we just installed them at the gate entrance and to the south end of the fence, next top the women’s restroom.

The final phase will be completed the end of July and part of August. All the corner wooden light sign poles and metal poles with lights on top of them, will be replaced. We met with pole installers and decided the best “bang for the buck” so to speak would be ‘Orange County Mailboxes & Construction”. You can still see the wooden sign posts that are so bad, the arms have been repaired over the years, that their life has come to the end of the road. The arms and shoebox lights are barely hanging on. It was decided to have them match, throughout Beachwalk, they would have to be replaced. We entertained the idea of laying down the metal sign posts, cut the arms off of them along with the lights. Do the saw cutting and welding on site. It would have been to disruptive to the community and too much metal dust blowing around. The contractors said the cost was not enough of a savings to warrant the aggravation. So all existing light posts, at 22 locations, will be replaced. New footing and new custom made sign posts, with street signs, will be installed. Three new rule signs, 2 new stop signs at Deep Harbor and Seacliff intersection will be installed. “Orange County Mailboxes & Construction” will also be installing new street sign arms and street name signs onto existing light posts at 9 locations. Eighteen street sign arms and street name signs. They will be installing 44 new street name signs onto 22 street sign posts. The total cost for this job is $24,969.52. This project is also being paid from our reserves. This was approved at the May 5, 2009 Board meeting.

I’ve tried to give this information in a way that you could see how these projects went. I’ve spent so much time in trying to meet all the objectives and projects that Beachwalk has needed that I find it difficult sometimes to write descriptions on everything that is always done for the benefit of our community. Hopefully, this will help. Anyone and everyone is invited to our meeting every month and ask questions that we will be happy to answer. And last but not least, please, if you have the time and want to help your community…………..”Run For The Board”!