WSJ-VG Report from Owner-Elected Representatives
^^^^speaking of which^^^^ my comments are in
[bold-italics]
Dear Fellow Owners at Virgin Grand Villas:
We recently participated as your owner-elected representatives in another meeting of the Board of Directors of the owners’ association for Virgin Grand Villas. We have lots of good news to report:
Construction work on the major refurbishments to the exteriors of the buildings has begun and is on schedule. We toured the work being done on Building 34, the first to be renovated. We think that owners will be very pleased. Insulation is being added which will keep the upper units cooler. New windows and doors will not only save on energy costs but will also keep out a lot of the outdoor sound, such as the noise of the golf carts. The entry doorways will be frosted glass, providing total privacy while letting in light and freeing you from fiddling with blinds. New locks will solve the occasional inconvenience when your locks jammed from having water and sand in them. The enhancements to the cooling system and the solar panel pilot project will reduce our electricity cost significantly, and the new stucco siding and steel roofs will make the property seem brand new.
[Excellent - as I wrote in last years' trip resport - we hate the front door and blinds -and wondered why they were not updated - now we know]
Recycling for metal cans is now already in place, with the bins being emptied daily, and the garbage cans with open tops are being replaced by cans with animal-proof lids.
[Excellent - well needed]
The freecycle shed is a reality. It is located near the pool villas, and just off the corner of the road on the way up the hill. But it is underused at present; we need to build up the inventory of items that owners leave for the use of other owners. So if you have purchased beach chairs, snorkel equipment, children’s beach toys, books, or other non-food items that you aren’t taking home, please leave them in the shed for other owners to use. And when you arrive for your use week, please feel free to use items that have been left in the shed.
[Excellent idea - we hate leaving stuff behind to be thrown away - now if they could start a food bank system like WKORV/N]
Although the storms of last fall interfered with some owners’ use of the resort, you would now have to look hard to see that the resort had even been affected. Two major awnings at the hotel are still gone, and replacements are being fabricated; some of the eroded beach sand is still being replaced; and new, smaller trees have been planted to replace large ones that fell. Other than that, the resort is quite spiffy; and there is a silver lining to the storm damage: the big pool and the tennis courts have been resurfaced. (At an owners’ reception that we attended the day before our Board meeting, we heard only satisfaction for the resort’s appearance and praise for the responsiveness of its staff.)
[Excellent - maybe we will get down there this year 
]
Management (Starwood Vacation Ownership) is actively working on setting up an online posting board on which we can list weeks that we have for trade, weeks that we want someone to trade to us, weeks that we want to rent to others or are seeking to rent, and weeks that we would like to sell. We think this will make it much easier for us to make optimal use of our weeks.
[Excellent - but not sure if it will be used - we shall see...]
Management is also taking the owners’ voluntary directory to a new level by putting the registration process online for owners who want to participate in it. The next opportunity to be listed in the directory will be some time in April, and you will receive an invitation by email to enter your contact information and the units you own by filling in an online form. No more errors due to illegible handwriting! (Management would like to reissue the directory every six months, but because owners change addresses and email accounts frequently, and because units are often bought or sold, you will have to electronically update the form twice a year to remain in the directory. While this may be a minor inconvenience, there seems no better way to have an up-to-date directory.)
[Excellent - I agree that up-dates should be made, but concerneed that people will drop off if asked to update over-n-over since 2x per year goes by fast]
Dealing with defaults
A number of accounts – representing less than 5% of the total accounts billed for 2010 -- are still behind on the maintenance payments owed to the homeowners association. The association is about to begin foreclosure on delinquent accounts with the intent to get new dues-paying owners into the association. This can be a time-consuming and costly process on St. John; however, $600,000 has been budgeted to use this year for this purpose. For owners who are in arrears and want to avoid the hassle (and reduced credit rating) associated with foreclosure, there is still time to take action, such as paying their arrearage or turning their deed, free of any mortgage, over to the owners association in lieu of foreclosure (in which case any maintenance arrears will be canceled). We hope that most owners who are in arrears will be able to find a way to get current with their payments so that they can continue to enjoy the pleasures of St. John.
[Excellent - about time for action and transparency to this important issue]
Property tax bills
We learned that the Virgin Islands may send out the 2007 property tax bills in the near future, with later years to follow at a measured pace, and that all bills through 2009 are expected to be based on the 1998 assessed value.
[anyone reading this thread knows this already]
Hurricane insurance
We have had generally positive feedback from owners to our suggestion that we should gradually build up a reserve that would be dedicated to paying the deductible portion of the hurricane insurance policy (currently about 1.5 million dollars, and rising as the property value increases). We have not yet added anything to the budget for this purpose, but we still plan to discuss as a Board, next fall, the establishment of a hurricane reserve fund. Last fall’s storms were a warning that a major hurricane – bigger than 2010’s storms – could still do significant damage to our buildings. Our choices are either to hedge now by starting a reserve fund, or face the prospect of a sudden, unanticipated need for a large special assessment if there is a devastating hurricane.
[Need to ask if this includes Tropical Storms as major damage come from this more often - like last year]
Weeks not used by owners in arrears, or weeks owned by the association
Lastly, we are in active discussion with management concerning the best way for the homeowners association to capture revenue relating to weeks for which owners have been denied use because of non-payment of maintenance fees (or, in the future, because the owners association temporarily owns foreclosed units pending their disposition). Up until now most of these units had been made available to the Starwood Vacation Network, meaning that all Starwood Vacation Network owners (including Virgin Grand) were able to use them for StarOptions. As a result, while individual owners of Virgin Grand may have benefited from using StarOptions to stay at their home resort, the owners association derived no revenue from locked out units.
[This has an issue of concern to me - why is the HOA not compensated for SVN usage of these VOIs?]
At our meeting, members of the Board discussed this issue and we all agree that our objective in dealing with these units is to maximize revenue for the owners association, which would help to reduce our maintenance fees. For 2011, a large majority of these weeks have been set aside for rental availability rather than made available to the Network (of course there can be no assurance how many unit weeks can be rented, or on what terms). We are working with management to continue to explore a number of options for renting these weeks so that we can determine the alternative that would generate the greatest revenue for the association. We will advise you of our progress in dealing with this important issue.
[I hope this is resolved]
All our best,
Philip G. Schrag
phil.schrag@gmail.com
Bob Werbel
robert.werbel@yahoo.com
[What! - no mention that 2016 MFs will be 3x that of 2011!!!] 
- sorry couldn't resist...
