Dear Homeowners,
 
We’re sending this to explain the actions the board has taken to address the water intrusion caused by ice dams over the past two years of record snow and persistent freeze-thaw cycles.
 
Our goal is to reduce ice dams and the corresponding leaks, and we have been spending tens of thousands of dollars each year on replacement of gutters and heat tape with no discernable reduction in ice dams.
 
There have been a lot of opinions offered about why we have seen ice dams at what seems to be a high rate: undersized heat tape, not enough heat tape, heat tape installed incorrectly, inability of the electrical panel to support the heat tape, bad thermostats, bad building design, not enough ice paper under the shingles, insufficient roof venting, insufficient attic insulation… you get the picture.  We have a lot of opinions but no expert advice.
 
This year we have engaged an alpine expert to do a thorough investigation of our roofs and provide a phased plan for roof replacements. A subsequent investigation will offer recommendations for how to most effectively mitigate the occurrence of ice dams in our community taking into account the plan for roof replacement. We expect a preliminary written report later this year.
 
In the meantime, our experts observe that in much of our community we have heat tape that protects the gutter, but does nothing to mitigate ice dams. Therefore, on the advice of the experts we will remove damaged heat tape and gutters, and will replace damaged heat tape and/or gutters only in a few areas where such replacement is expected to address safety issues. This work is expected to begin in early September. We will also have a contractor ready to manually remove ice dams this winter as soon as they are detected, with particular focus on those buildings/units that have experienced leaks in the past.
 
As your Board of Directors, we have an obligation to our homeowners to act responsibly to protect your property interest while appropriately managing the financial health of the HOA.  Our attorney has advised us that the board has an obligation to follow expert advice and a corresponding fiduciary obligation to spend your assessment dollars wisely, assessing the cost tradeoff of very expensive short-term fixes (adding heat tape, electrical panels, etc.) that may not solve the problem versus working toward a long-term solution.
 
We hope you’ll be patient with us while we work through this for the benefit of the entire community.
 
Regards,
 
Board of Directors
The Boulders Condominium Association

Dear Members of The Boulders,

We hope this notice finds you well. As part of our commitment to maintaining the integrity and aesthetics of our community, we are pleased to inform you that the asphalt crack fill, sealing, and striping maintenance project is scheduled to begin on Monday, August 7, 2023.

Please refer to the attached color-coded map for your specific assigned maintenance area and make the necessary arrangements to park your vehicles elsewhere on the aforementioned dates. By doing so, we can ensure the safety of our workers and minimize any inconvenience during the maintenance process.

We understand that the temporary restriction on parking may cause some inconvenience, but we assure you that this maintenance is essential for the long-term health of our roadways. The roads will be reopened as soon as the sealant dries and it is safe to drive on. This typically takes a few hours to a day, depending on weather conditions.

Please exercise caution and adhere to the temporary traffic signs and barricades that will be placed in the affected areas during the maintenance period. Your safety, as well as the safety of our workers, is of utmost importance to us.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the maintenance schedule or any other matter related to the HOA, please feel free to contact CAMCO at 530-587-3355.

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in this matter, and we look forward to showcasing the improved roadways in our community.

Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Eric Wicks
Community Manager

We’re sending this to our owners immediately to advise you of a new development.

In April CAMCO, our Association Management company, cancelled our contract, with a 60-day lead time. Since then we have been working with them to determine if we could resolve issues and renegotiate a new contract. During this period CAMCO has continued to work diligently to provide us with the services we require. They have just informed us that they do not wish to retain the Boulders Condominium Association as a client, and have asked us to find another Association Manager as soon as possible.

There are a few key reasons for their unwillingness to keep the Boulders as a client:

• Our property has many times more maintenance issues to address than any of their other properties. In this environment where suppliers and contractors are difficult to secure, this is causing them to require far more management and maintenance resources than their other clients. On some days they have all of their property managers and maintenance people working on Boulders issues to the detriment of their other clients. This severely strains their capability of delivering the quality work that they wish to.

• CAMCO prides itself on offering personal contact with their clients. While this gives us a level of confidence we didn’t have with our prior association manager and their property managers, the in-person communication with CAMCO from a segment of our owners has become abusive to the extent that it has caused CAMCO’s employees to threaten to quit. While I understand that there is sometimes another side to the story, we nevertheless need to treat our property managers respectfully, and expect the same from them in return.

• Because of the shortage of available contractors, the need to have two-way communication about owner requests and expected timing of results has become more challenging, and therefore more important. The current system (place a repair request and wait for results) was ideal when contractors were easy to find on a moment’s notice. Unfortunately, that’s no longer true and the current system is lacking.

We have begun a search for another Association Management company. This may be difficult given the scarcity of such companies in the Tahoe area. We’d like to be able to transition by the time we begin budgeting for next year. Given the feedback from CAMCO (and to some extent from our previous association manager), we will be looking for a company that provides (among many other things):

• All of the required administrative functions in an efficient and timely manner
• A property manager dedicated at least 50% of his/her time to the Boulders
• A maintenance person dedicated at least 50% to the Boulders
• A ticketing system that allows the owner to submit a request and be able to follow progress or receive updates

CAMCO will continue to fully support us during this time. This transition will likely not be easy and we will continue to ask for your patience as we find and move to a new association management company. These will be challenging times.

While we value your input and wish to remain transparent, if you choose to reply we can benefit most from positive solutions or recommendations.

Thanks,

Boulders Board of Directors