2011 - 06 open committee letter GB

Dear Neighbours,

Over the last few days the committee has received a couple of complaints regarding a number of things including the drop in the cleanliness of the complex. For this reason this note has been issued to clarify the situation.

The committee is 100% committed to improving the situation in La Finca whilst striking a balance between quality and costs and we are in constant dialog with owners and tenants, in general, to understand any concerns that they may have or any suggestions for improvements.

In general we publish news and the results of our work by email, on the Noticeboard, on our forum (https://lafinca.forumotion.com), on our webpage (www.lafincaonline.es) and on our presence on facebook (group and community; CDAD PROP LA FINCA). The main item that we issue by email is our Committee Report which is normally issued monthly. As well as giving an update on things generally, it provides a financial report (which shows how the community’s finances are improving month by month) and a debtor report. A copy of this is always placed on the Noticeboard. If you don’t receive our Committee Report then please make sure that the administrator has your current email address to receive future reports. Old reports are available on the forum.
If these publications do not answer your questions, then please come along to the “open-committee-meeting” which is held on the last Friday of each month between 17h00 – 18h00, to discuss any issues that you may have or simply to validate or otherwise any rumours that you may have heard. The committee is here to help. Please make a point of reading the information that is provided.

Below we address the complaints that have been received:
We still have the situation whereby our cleaning partner - Anna - can’t employ assistants without running foul of the law which obliges us to hire the 3 cleaners of the former cleaning company. This we agreed at the last AGM not to do because we wanted to save costs. The committee is in dialog with a lawyer to find a solution but, in the worst case, we shall all have to be patient until the 1st October (6 months from when our contract with the previous cleaning company was cancelled) by which time we can then hire assistants without having to employ all 3 cleaners from the previous cleaning company. In the meantime we would request all neighbours to do their bit to keep the complex clean by, for example, not throwing cigarettes or other rubbish on the floor or cleaning up self made mess (e.g. leaking from rubbish bags taken down to the basura) or sweeping up flowers that have dropped from your own plants onto the community walkways. We can all help to keep our environment clean simply by adopting common sense.

It was also agreed at the AGM that we would remove some light bulbs around the complex (where safe to do so) to save energy costs. Where we have done so, these lights have an appropriate label affixed to differentiate them from light bulbs that need to be replaced. If there are any light bulbs that you do not agree to being removed, then please let us know and we will replace them. If you see some light bulbs not working please let us know and these also will be replaced.

With regard to the mess in the garages, it has been brought to the attention of the committee that someone is deliberately throwing papers and rubbish in the garages. As we do not have any proof, we just have to deal with it and clean it. But we would ask the perpetrator to stop doing this and respect all of the other owners/tenants on the complex who want a clean environment.
The committee is aware of the problem with the intercom on the front gate. We now have a quote for fixing this and hope to have this repaired shortly.
With the exception of the rear garden, the appearance of the gardens, in general, is improving since we changed the gardener. The dead plants in the rear garden will be tackled over the next month or so.
All in all the committee needs feedback on frequently basis from all neighbours. Gossip is not helpful but dialog is - not only with the members of the committee but with your neighbours. If you have any problem with a neighbour such as a wrongly parked car, loud noises, noisy or messy pets or smoking at the pool area, your first action should be to speak directly to the neighbour responsible. Whilst most neighbours will act upon your request we have to unfortunately accept that some will simply ignore polite requests. Such people should not be living in a community like ours. Provided the majority of us, who have decided to live here, talk to each other about issues that concern them and have a little understanding and trust then life will be a lot easier!

Thank you for your time reading this letter.