Well, We Almost Made It!

Here's a few photos of the driveway replacement at 1733H. Work was finally authorized for the board selected and "approved" driveways at the September association meeting. However, that work did not commence until November. Concrete work was done on the day this photo was taken, which was November 4. There was no advance notice to the unit owners and so one car was blocked in the garage. That owner got a surprise upon return from a short trip, and couldn't retrieve the automobile. Wooden planks were put into position to permit the car to be driven out of the garage.

The work will remain incomplete for this year, as it has been suspended. Asphalt will be done next year, or so the board announced at the November 12th meeting. The trench running the width of the garage will be filled with limestone screenings, which are very small chips of limestone. This is a loose, porous material, and water will migrate into the sub-base this winter. It remains to be seen if this will cause further problems with this garage floor. Last year, the floor heaved and several cracks running in a large "Y" in the floor from the entrance to the interior, widened to about 3/8 of an inch and the floor lifted. It has since returned to a normal position. My concern and that of the former Architectural Director was that permanent damage could occur to the floor, resulting in the need for costly repair and/or poor seal of the garage door.

So, we have run out of time for work this year, exactly as I predicted. Earlier in the year, certain board members had parties on the agenda and other special interests on the part of our CD interfered. The new board took too long to pick up the reigns for this project, which needed to be done "immediately" and so they announced at the November association meeting that "we have run out of time and the weather is against us".  Frankly, that is an excuse and is not quite accurate.  I sent a letter to the management company immediately after the election because I knew this new board would not get into immediate action required to get the job done this year. I decided to support them to the extent of pointing out the "immediacy" for action. Of course, when one of two transitioning board members voted "NO" for driveway repairs, it isn't too difficult to determine how this will go. Interests are elsewhere, and I and the rest of the unit owners in the affected buildings apparently aren't "special friends".

I delayed posting these photos, pending the outcome and action of the board. I was not surprised, but I have to say that I was disappointed. One can always "hope" that things will turn out, but of course, mixing virtues with action items usually results in failure, as it did in this case

When I provided my concerns about project timelines during the "unit owner's" portion of an association meeting early last year and also expressed my concern about lack of prioritization of tasks, I was considered a "kookoo". Of course, I am simplifying this. Of course there was prioritization on the part of board members, but there was insufficient alignment with the goals of the Architectural Director. Is it any wonder he no longer wanted the job? When the characteristics of an organization are such that it becomes impossible to do a good job, it is best to simply walk away and put someone's talents to use for another purpose.

Well, all  I can say is that the delays which postponed a vote for this work until the September meeting had a predictable outcome. So we are on "hold" until next year. Sorry to say "I told you so".  Meanwhile, we can all get "touchy-feely" and say such things as "Oh, what a shame" and "Isn't it too bad"! But the truth is, this outcome was predicted and was preventable.

As they say in management "You either get results or reasons."