Puerta del Mar HOA

KM55 - Baja California Norte

Puerta Del Mar


General Meeting


Minutes


November 19, 2011



The Puerta del Mar Homeowner's Meeting was held on November 19, 2011 at the Puerta del Mar Clubhouse.

The meeting was called to order at 10:45AM after general welcome to owners.

Treasurer's Financial Report:

Jose Rodriguez reviewed our balance sheet and profit and loss statement.  Jose indicated that we are still recording negative income each month based on current expenditures and lack of owners paying their HOA dues. Jose answered questions posed by owners.

Security Update:

The board indicated that no decision has been made in terms of security cameras for the development as yet.  We are still evaluating proposals.  The final solution might be the complete proposal or a sub-set which would only include cameras to the most critical areas. We also discussed the security concerns of the low perimeter walls. Since the length of the walls are almost 4/5 of a mile, the cost of raising these walls are cost prohibitive. The other options to protect entrance over the walls is to use Razor wire (which is already being used in some areas of the perimeter walls) or to use broken glass.  After discussion with the owners, the majority felt the use of broken colored glass is a better solution in terms of cost, appearance and the fact that the Razor wire quickly rusts and deteriorates with the salt air.

We also discussed and presented a list of security guidelines that was issued to our security company. This covers all the expectations we have in terms of security coverage, reporting, and procedures to be followed by the guards.Some owners questioned why some of the guards are being changed.  The security company explained that guards might be changed because of performance issues, or that they are trying to find the best personnel for our development.  For example finding a guard that is more fluent in English.  Also the security company uses Puerta del Mar as a reward to guards that perform well.  Guards would rather work at a "resort" type environment rather than in a high risk assignment.  This ensures we are get the best motivated guards for our development.

Legal Update:

The board briefly touched on the fact that Bank Trusts are still not being processed for owners at Puerta del Mar due to the lawsuit from First Baja against Grupo Lagza. Antonio Diaz, the principal of First Baja who was previoiusly the General Director for Grupo Lagza is suing them for unpaid compensation when he worked at Grupo Lagza. Hopefully these two companies can come to some settlement so the embargo can be removed and owners can proceed with their Trusts.

The other lawsuit affects those owners with donated lots.  Title to these donated lots were transferred back to Constructora Brisas (a division of Grupo Lagza). However Constructora Brisas failed a Hacienda (IRS) tax audit. Hacienda has placed a lien on these properties until they settle they tax obligations.

Lic. Gavino, our attorney was present at the meeting to discuss the progress on a number of activities he is representing the Association on. The two most important activities are Voluntary Jurisdication and HOA Dues Collections.

Voluntary Jurisdication involves filing our Association By-Laws and Rules and Regulations with the court system and various government agencies to ensure that these agencies are obligated to abide by our CC&R's. We also explained that the attorney is working on 4 cases for HOA dues collections. Lic Gavino was given two delinquent American owners and two delinquent Mexican owners to pursue HOA dues collections and legal proceedings if necessary.  The owners present asked why only four accounts and we explained that this was to perfect the process and procedures. Once the test accounts have been worked on, we will be looking to provide other accounts for legal collection. We explained that the attorney will receive a 20% commission of the amount collected if the case does not go to court and a 30% commission if the case goes to a judge in the court system. We also explained we will be seeking reimbursement of these legal fees as part of the collection process.

Lic. Gavino answered a variety of questions about these activities and discussed the progress to date.

Possible Restrictions for Delinquent Owners:

The board presented a list of possible restrictions that the HOA will be imposing on delinquent owners.  Lic. Gavino fielded a number of questions on the legality of some of the restrictions, but felt that all were within line of actions that can be taken by the HOA. The owners present agreed that such possible actions were needed and necessary to get delinquent owners to pay their HOA dues. We also indicated that these restrictions have been reviewed with the security company and they will be supporting us on such actions. The board indicated that we would be sending out this list of restrictions in the next general mailing and we would also be sending out to all owners by email.

Infrastructure Updates:

We discussed the fact that Telnor is unable to provide additional phone lines and internet access due to the fact their equipment is at maximum capacity.  The board indicated that we have approved a project for Telnor to replace and upgrade their equipment early next year. This will alleviate this problem.  It is the hope of Telnor to also provide internet TV for the development.  It is our belief that the equipment they will be replacing will be based on fiber optic cabling which will dramatically improve the speed of internet access. We will continue to keep owners abreast of this project.

We discussed the improvements made to beach access in Phase 2 which is almost completed.  We indicated that we have also be working on protecting the walls in Phase 1 with wire mess and that work is still in progress. It was requested that the board also look at installing railings for the beach access in Phase 1.

The board tabled the discussion of the engineering study completed for the repair of the Arroyo in Phase 1 since Ernesto Quintanar from our Architectural committee was not present and lead the work for the study.  However we indicated that it is something we are needing to start on in anticipation of the upcoming rains, and the need to prevent further erosion of the Arroyo by the waste treatment plant.

Open Question and Answer Period:

The board then fielded general questions from the audience

The meeting was adjourned at 1:10PM

Respectfully Submitted
Your HOA Board