The 2010 AGM was held on the 31st May at the Venta de Golf restaurant in the commercial centre near GGM II.  Firstly, we are pleased to report that Jeremy Watkinson has agreed to continue as our Presidente and his committee have all been re-elected We had a small turn out of about 10 owners compared to previous years where we have seen 30+. We are still deciding if moving the AGM date forward has been a success or not. The thought was that more owneres may be about in a schoool holiday week, however prices for flights at that time are at premium rates, so owners without children may have been put off by the cost? We purposly didn't propose a date for next years AGM, as this obviously needs some more discussion by the committee.  Following the Presidents report that was circulated to all residents (a copy is in the AGM section of this website) we were all presented with a presentation document prepared for the AGM that outlined the success's and issues concerning the community. This document will be made available to all owners that didn't attend.  Success's included the pool surround, postbox cover, new website, grande community relationship, the gardener, the cleaner and the huge amounts of ongoing maintenace we had achieved with Angel. The issues we had includes the theft of community electricity by an owner, the need for increased security with a spate of opportunist thefts, water leakage problems from planters on owners terraces , expansion joint repairs to all buildings and ongoing debtors. All these items were discussed and the owners felt that the Presidente, Intercala and his committee had all the issues in hand and had a clear plan to resolve these in the forthcoming year.   The Presidente was also pleased and proud to report that the community and property of Golf Gardens Miraflores II had been awarded a "AAA" Status by the Mijas Council, and we are the only community to have this status in the local vacinity, so our ongoing goal to be "the best place to live on the Costa del Sol" has now been recognised officially. The budgets for running the community were then presented and whilst the provision for "Basura" (which will in future be paid for by owners independently) had been taken out, the increases announced in Spanish VAT would result in an overall static posion on the costs to run our community. the Budget was therefore confirmed at the same levels as last year. With no other matters being raised the Presidente closed the meeting with the following statement: "I would like to put on record, my thanks for the support that has been given by the committee and most importantly Johanna Beemster who has given so much of her time to community work. Johanna has meticulously ensured work has been done correctly, on time and within budget. I am very pleased with the way the team of Committee members have worked together, it has been a very successful formula for our community, it’s a pleasure to work with them all.  I look forward to working with the same experienced and committed team in the foreseeable future." A full report and the minutes of the 2010 AGM will be distributed and placed on the website in the near future, if you have any questions please send an email from this website.

 This is my second report, giving you an overview of what has been happening on the community over the last year. It will also hopefully serve to remove or reduce the amount of time normally taken to answer questions relating to these points during the AGM on the 31^st May 2010.

 

 

As we left the first year of my Presidency, I reported that we had achieved a lot more than initially anticipated with regard to getting the complex back into tip top condition. The Committee had hoped for a small increase in the community fees last year to action all the plans we had on our wish list, however no increases meant that a number of things had to be deferred. Nevertheless at the end of the second term I trust that you are all happy with the achievements and improvements we have initiated and completed for the community.

 

As you know, I am not a permanent resident at GGM II, so throughout the year I have been fortunate to have an active community committee and administration team supporting me on a day-to-day basis. Community meetings and discussions with the committee and our administrators have been held on a regular basis, then the responsibilities have been shared around the team. I would like to put on record, my thanks for the support that has been given by the committee and most importantly Johanna Beemster who has given so much of her time to community work. Johanna has meticulously ensured work has been done correctly, on time and within budget.

 

I am really pleased with the way the team of Committee members has worked together and that it has been such a successful formula for our community, it’s a pleasure to work with them all. 

I look forward to working with the same experienced and committed team in the foreseeable future.

 

The new updated community rules displayed in the lifts has also been a successful decision, as guests have often commented on them during conversations and the majority have abided by them, respecting other people and the complex, which is beneficial to everyone.

 

A major achievement for the community this year has been around the pool, where the widening of the surround, better drainage for the grass and the introduction of hundreds of ‘Spanish Grass’ plants will give us a more enhanced and resilient grass area.

 

Our website www.golfgardensmiraflores.co.uk has been redesigned and the small number of initial hiccups sorted out, so it is hoped that we will be able to update a lot more information and photographs in the next few months. The newsletters continue to be well received and again have been useful for keeping everyone informed. If anyone does have any comments or suggestions for the website or newsletter please just get in touch.

 

All these efforts will hopefully have made a difference and kept us ahead of other local communities in the vicinity. Properties are selling on GGM II and long lets being achieved, as people recognize the benefits of living on our great community. Deservedly, we are still appearing high up on the first page of Google for the search “the best place to live on the Costa del Sol.” And rightly so!  

I am also very pleased to report that the Town Hall has classed Golf Gardens as the highest standard for properties in our area: Classification CLASS A.

 

Jeremy Watkinson

 

 

 

FINANCES

The community remains in a solvent financial position, largely because of controlled spending on maintenance items by Johanna Beemster, and myself. Alison at Intercala has ensured we collected the majority of the community fees in, especially from the debtors.

 

1.      Over the past 12 months we have been able to create a reserve fund, which currently stands at about 65,000 euro’s, made possible by the monies we have retained over the past 4 years for the Basura tax (5,000). The Painting Reserve Fund (44,000) and the legally required Emergency Fund (16,000) that should be at least 10% of the community annual fees. This account has been invested in a short-term bond, attracting interest for the community.

2.      As at 30 April 2010 the total amount outstanding in community fees were approx 16,400 euro’s, a proportion of which is the current quarter. The community currently still has some serious serial debtors, which disappoints me as they are the ones benefiting from all the facilities like water, cleaners, pool, satellite, lift maintenance etc. which are being paid for by the rest of us. Legal action is being taken against these people for debts, interest and costs will be covered in the financial section of the AGM.

3.      Do please bear in mind that if community fees to 31 MAY 2010 are not paid up, you will not be entitled to vote at the AGM.

4.      It is also worth remembering that community fees that are paid within the first month of each quarter receive a 20% discount. Over 75% of the community now pays by Direct Debit to ensure they receive this discount.

5.      Over 3900 euro’s was retained this year by owners incurring late fees

6.      Two items that are noticeably high on last year’s expenditure are firstly the cost of the cleaner this is due to deciding to include 14 months costs in this year so we can bring it in line with our year end. 

The electricity total is also high partly due to having some of last years bills in late so they are included in this year and also because of  a discrepancy we have found with one of the meters in Block 11, we are asking Endesa to investigate this.

 

As you will all have noticed costs for everything in Spain have risen again in the past 12 months and with IVA expected to increase this year we are going to find it difficult to continue on the same budget for the community fees much longer. You can be confident yet again we will prune every cost we can and then prune some more to try and stay within budget, but I would envisage an increase in 2011/2012 will be necessary.

 

Also I must reiterate again the problems outstanding fees from community debtors create. Like any business, we always have tremendous cash flow problems when people don’t pay. This has a knock-on effect, restricting development, improvements and day-to-day repairs. In the budget all the community fees are allocated  to be spent in the year. So if as this year 16,000 euros are not paid by some owners, then the actual budget spend must be reduced or increased for everyone else to cover the basic essentials needed for the community!!

 

With regard to our serious debtors, our lawyers are having the courts put a charge against two properties. This should mean they cannot be sold without the community being repaid first. Also, the new EEC laws now enable us to appoint UK lawyers to go after unpaid community debts in Spain, this is through the UK legal system where ccj’s and bailiffs will be appointed to seize goods from UK properties to repay the community. We are already in discussions with a British solicitors practice offering a special ‘no-win no-fee’ service to Communities in Spain with these problems. This is also an option for debtors resident in other European countries.  

 

GARDENS AND POOLS

 

The gardens I feel are now the best that they have been for the past 5 years. Our agreed structured plan of work and regular walkabout’s to ensure the quality of work are paying dividends, colour is coming back to the flowerbeds and the shrubs are looking neat and tidy.

 

After the turmoil of my first year, our gardening contract for the past 12 months has been with Juan, he had Franco working here successfully for about 8 months, but recently moved him onto another project and we agreed that Juan “the main man” would for the time being take control of the GGM II gardens personally.

He now works on the community for 20 hours a week to maintain the gardens to a standard I am happy with and hopefully you will be too.

 

 

REPAIRS

The decision to appoint Angel as part-time community maintenance man, has proved a resounding success.

He also carries out work for the Riviera Grand Community President who also expects work to the highest standards. It has been Angel’s responsibility to put right and work with us to resolve all the ongoing problems we have.

He has maintained our plumbing and the building repairs and his work also includes maintenance of the pool. All of the work he has done for us has been to an excellent level and as with any good maintenance man, he often checks to see if problems or wear and tear are occurring and reports or corrects it before anything serious happens. He has worked through the year to repair, re-plaster and then re-paint any cracking walls around the community.

 

After the regular walkabouts, Johanna has been overseeing any necessary repairs we need, which is ensuring we are aware of and staying on top of most maintenance issues. 

 

Maintenance projects we hope to carry out over the next year include:

1.     Renewal of the expansion joints between each block to prevent the rain running down into the garages.

2.      Treating of the decorative clay bricks and tiles on the external portal walls with a clear water proof sealer which we hope will stop them absorbing water into the walls and plaster.

3.      If the budget permits at the end of the year we will look at re tiling a section of the block 11 terrace with anti-slip tiles and replacing the membrane.

4.      Painting of the gate and the railings.

5.      Replacement of the swimming pool lights with low energy LED units.

6.      We will also be looking to update some of the portal lights to low energy bulbs with proximity sensors to turn them on only when needed

 

 

COMMUNITY RULES

 

The new community rules for “harmonious living in close proximity” seems to be followed by most people.

All properties that are rented out must have the community rules clearly displayed inside the apartment; this is to insure that tenants and holidaymakers are clearly aware that community rules do exist, for the benefit of everyone. Please note that any vandalism and damage to the community by your tenants will be considered your responsibility and will be charged back to the owner.

 

We again request that all renters be supplied with front gate remote controls, thereby enabling them to park in your garage space and that they are aware of your own numbered parking space. Please don’t forget to let your guests know the gate code, any damage from them climbing over will be charged to you.

Please ensure your rental agent informs your guests of these details.

 

With the summer season almost upon us again rule breaking will be rife - towels hanging over balconies, washing lines on full display, rubbish dumped in the garages and stairwells, graffiti, vandalism, damage, ball games in the gardens, lilos and ball games in the pools, pool hours not observed, sun beds not put away, parking all around the access roads and in other peoples parking places and serious noise issues…….And that can be just some of the owners!!!!!

 

Please make the “Late Night- No Swimming” rules known to your guests – or ask them to go to the beach!

 

Unfortunately, we all know that it is not just holiday renters that are always to blame. It’s your community; it will cost you money for repairs and reduce the value of your home. We want this to be a nice place for nice people, so if you see a problem happening, be polite and request that it stops, if you ignore it, you are really saying its ok for them to abuse your home!

 

If you are considering any changes to your property whatsoever, then please take 5 minutes to call the President or Intercala to establish the legality of your actions; it could save you a lot of heartache and money in the long run.

 

 

 

TV CHANNELS

 

Spain has gone digital, so to view all the TV channels, owners need to make sure they have an up to date digital box or suitable TV.

Only a couple of satellite dishes remain in view and owners have been notified that they are required to drop them down out of view or connect to the community system.

 

POST BOXES

 

The post box facility appears to be working and general clear outs by conscientious residents ensure minimal amounts of junk mail, leaflets and brochures litter the road. 

The installation of a small roof over the postboxes has just been completed and this should add extra protection in wet weather, the gardener will also be shaping the tree in front so it gives some additional shelter.  

Should you require an update to your nameplate just let me know the details and I will print off a weather   proof card so we keep it all looking neat and tidy.

 

 

THEFT & DAMAGE

 

As you were notified at the end of last year we experienced a couple of opportunist break-ins.  It is important that we should always remember and remind renters to be on their guard against opportunist thieves when doors and windows are left open especially on ground floor properties. 

There have also been a number of garden flowers, shrubs and walls, which have been, damaged either by people forgetting the gate code and climbing over the wall, or from chasing balls through the flowerbeds in the gardens, again why anyone would want to do this is something I personally cannot comprehend. 

We have also had to replace most of the garden umbrella tops sooner than expected. I would ask all parents please do not to let children damage the umbrellas or use the sun beds to play with, including standing them on end against the umbrellas!! The community can’t keep on paying out every time they get needlessly damaged.

 

RIVIERA GRAND COMMUNITY

 

Unfortunately with the debtor situation the Grand Community has with some of the communities in our area, the Grand Community projects we were working on last year still remain live and unresolved. The area by the side of the golf course fence, which was cleared by Grand Community, ready for planting did not happen. We are also still pushing the Golf Club for an answer on if we can get the Basura/ rubbish area agreed upon, we have offered to maintain the fence and plant colourful shrubs to give us a nice drive up to the complex.

 

AGM – Please note the new venue

 

The AGM for 2010 will be held on Monday 31st May at 11am over the road at the Venta del Golf Restaurante, Las Terrazas,  Centro Commercial 

Please also remember if you are unable to attend the AGM please complete the sheet to allow proxy votes to be received by the date of the AGM. 

I am holding a small drinks party in the community gardens on Sunday 30th May and would like to take this opportunity to invite you and your family to join me from about 3pm onwards.

 

I look forward to seeing you at the AGM. It is important if you are unable to attend, please ensure that you give your Proxy to a member of the committee or to another owner who will be there.

 

 

Jeremy Watkinson

President

Golf Gardens Miraflores Phase II

 Having survived the first year as President for GGM II, I am writing this report so that I can give you a good overview of what has been happening on the community. It will also hopefully reduce the amount of time normally taken to answer questions relating to these points during the AGM. 

As you know, I am not a permanent resident at GGM II, so throughout the year I have been fortunate to have a very active community committee supporting me on a day-to-day basis. Community Meetings have been held every month. Then the responsibilities have been shared around the team. I would like to put on record at the earliest point in my report the support that has been given by Joke Beemster and Dave Lines who have really been my Spanish hands, voice and eyes on the complex. This has ensured work has been done correctly and appears to be a successful formula for our community and hopefully the future. 

It’s also been the second year we have worked with our administrators Intercala in La Cala, I have personally enjoyed working with Lazara, Alison and the team, and between all of us we appear to have successfully kept everything in order, improved a lot of things and importantly kept within our budgets. The noticeboards in every stairwell are being updated regularly by Brian King and have proved a success for communicating important information to residents and guests on the complex. 

The website www.golfgardensmiraflores.co.uk and newsletters organised by Ian Cook have again been informative and useful – the website regularly receives 200 unique visitors a month - and have hopefully made a difference and kept us ahead of other local communities in the vicinity. Importantly, we are still the first community that appears when you Google “the best place to live on the Costa del Sol.” 

Finances

The community remains in a reasonably healthy financial position, largely because of controlled spending on maintenance items by Joke Beemster, myself and with Alison at Intercala who has ensured we collected the community fees in, working hard to keep the debtors down.

In summary:

 

1. Over the past 12 months we have been able to create a reserve fund, which currently stands at about 65,000 euro’s, made possible by the monies we have retained over the past 4 years for the Rates Bill (20,000) that will become due at some point in 2009. The Painting Reserve Fund (30,000) and the legally required Emergency Fund (15,000) this should really be at least 10% of the community annual fees, so we are currently behind our requirement in this sector. These reserves have been invested in a short-term bond, attracting interest for the community. 
2. As at 30 April 2009 the total amount outstanding in community fees were approx 13,000 euro’s, a proportion of which is the current quarter. However at last years AGM you will remember we informed the community that we had reduced the 2007 debtors from in excess of 50,000 euro’s down to 25,000 this tight management and the legal action has enabled us to reduce this deficit even further. The community currently still has some serial serious debtors, which disappoints me as they are the ones benefiting from all the facilities like water, cleaners, pool, satellite, lift maintenance etc etc which are being paid for by the rest of us. The legal action being taken against these people for debts, interest and costs will be covered in the financial section of the AGM.
3. Do please bear in mind that if community fees to 15 June 2009 are not paid up, you will not be entitled to vote at the AGM.
4. It is also worth remembering that community fees that are paid within the first month of each quarter receive a 20% discount. Over 75% of the community now pays by Direct Debit to ensure they receive this discount.
5. Over 4,000 euro’s was retained this year by owners incurring late fees.

 

As you will have noticed the cost for everything in Spain has risen dramatically in the past 12 months and unfortunately as discussed at the AGM last year, we predicted that we would be unable to retain our budgets at the same level for next year. There are increases in the running costs for the community and these will result in the raising of the quarterly community fees for 2009/10.

Also I must reiterate again the problems outstanding funds from community debtors create. Like any business, we always have tremendous cash flow problems when people don’t pay and this knock-on effect restricts development, improvements and day to day repairs. Something then has to be deferred, or we will all have to subsidise more legal costs and supplementary payments to get the work done, which is ridiculous.

Gardens & Pools

I’m sorry to have to report that we have just appointed our third gardening contractor in the year! Having personally some horticultural qualifications and experience, I know how the work should be done correctly. We had appointed Marcelo at the start of 2007, things started well with Marcelo visiting regularly and his guys working well. Unfortunately in the autumn of last year Marcelo had staffing problems the regular guys changed  and the quality of the work declined. Although Marcelo was warned about the situation things did not improve, so in January we started to look for a new supplier!

Having interviewed a number of prospective gardeners, we eventually decided to give a guy that had been partnering his father an experienced gardener a trial. We thought that the opportunity for someone starting their own business would be a good stimulus to make our gardens spectacular, so that he could use us as his own first reference……..Lets just say…it didn’t work and after 2 months we terminated the agreement. 

Both contracts were terminated without financial penalty to the community.

We have now appointed a new Head Gardener Juan Ignacio Grosso, who has run a team of 6 men for the past 10 years, during May they are working 40 hours a week on the community gardens to get them back into shape quickly for the summer. Dependent on their trial and success, I will then address the situation to see if they require 20, 30 or 40 hours a week to maintain the gardens to a standard we are all happy with. 

Other garden projects we have completed are:

 

1. Two of the four troughs on top of Block 11 have been emptied, relined to resolve the water leaks, irrigation fitted and replanted to develop a wonderful coloured outward vista of the community. The final two troughs work is being carried out in May and will be replanted ready for the summer. 
2. A sand and soil topcoat mix has been put on the grass around the pool to deepen the base levels and smooth out any dips and hollows, reseeding has been done to stimulate new growth on the bald patches.
3. The white stones on a number of flowerbeds has helped reduce weeding and improved the gardens appearance. It is envisaged, budgets allowing, that a number of other flowerbeds will receive the same treatment during the forthcoming year.
4. General pruning and the introduction of flowering plants to fill gaps took place in the summer, some of these have developed into big banks of colour further re-planting ready for the summer will hopefully be done in the next few weeks. We hope to organise a community gardening weekend soon to get a number of larger projects completed at little or no cost to the budget, your support would be appreciated.
5. Commercial flycatchers also appear to have reduced the irritation of flies in the garden and these will be put up again in the next few weeks for the summer.

 

Repairs

We took the step of appointing Angel as our part-time community maintenance man early in January. It has been his responsibility to put right and work with us to resolve the problems we have. He is able to maintain our water system, the gate motor and his work also includes maintenance of the pool. All of the work he has done for us has been to an excellent level. 

As any good maintenance man he often checks to sees if any problems of wear and tear is occurring and reports or corrects it before anything serious happens. He has recently repaired and repainted all scuffs on some of the stairwells, which has returned these to a newly finished level again. After the monthly walkabouts, Joke has been overseeing any necessary repairs we need, which is ensuring we are aware of and staying on top of the major maintenance issues.

Committee members Joke Beemster, Dave Lines and Ivett Hart have also undertaken a regular walkabout inspection and then implemented a repairs programme.

The biggest issue the community faced this year was the ongoing problem of loose roof tiles roofs on all the community blocks. This problem has been a bone of contention in AGM’s for the past 3 years. With no response from the Promotor we were budgeting that the community would have to find in excess of 41,000 euros to complete the repairs.

However, with the help and assistance of Lazara at Intercala and Joaquín our community lawyer, we have been able to pressure Ferrovial, the builders, to come back on site and make these repairs and a few other small problems for us. The alternative was for us to pay out for repairs and try to win our money and legal costs back through the Spanish courts. After the repair work we carried out an inspection with our architect and Angel going on the roof checking the tiles, we found one area of loose tiles so Joaquin has asked Ferrovial to return before we sign off the repair.

This for me is our biggest achievement this year and one I hope that the community will not have to face again. I can only highlight for the community that had we been unsuccessful, we would be discussing at the AGM the need for a supplementary fee from every owner, fortunately this looks to have been averted, so our thanks need to be recorded to Lazara and Joaquín

In summary: 

 

1. Our cleaner Carmen has performed her tasks competently, the complex has looked tidy and smelt clean throughout the year, our thanks go to her.
2. A programme of “Things to Do” has in the main been completed, a new set of maintenance jobs I’m sure will present themselves during the coming year. 
3. We now have a number of serious water leak problems around the complex that need to be delt with quickly.  If we do not establish and rectify these leaks soon we could be facing major repair and rebuilding costs. 
4. The budget concerns regarding the roof, put a halt on almost all improvement projects. This included the extension to the concrete pool surround, this will again be considered for the forthcoming year, as during the summer the area around the pool does become muddy, which affects the filtration and cleanliness of the pool water.
5. The overhaul of the water pumping system last year seems to be working satisfactorily and a maintenance programme for the pumps and tanks by Angel ensures they remain in full working order.
6. The pool will be due for a maintenance and repair overhaul either this coming winter or the following depending on everything working correctly and tiles and lights staying in place. When the pool needs to be drained, we are hoping to build a set of tiled steps in the shallow end to ease pool entry, for the disabled, old and young children, this has recently been done successfully on phase 3 and we will establish the costs.
7. The new chemical dispenser for the pool has been installed and the corrosive problems incurred by the previous storage of the chlorine has been resolved.
8. The new lift maintenance company Schindler, finally appear to have resolved all the major bumping and stalling problems.

 

TV Channels

An overhaul of the community TV channels has been undertaken and the power boosters previously fitted by Terry Stone have been replaced with ones that work! This has resolved viewing issues for most owners. One major expense this year has been the purchase of extra distribution panels for some portals where owners have required more than one satellite box connection. Only a couple of satellite dishes remain in view and owners have been notified that  they are required to drop them down out of view or connect to the community system.

Post Boxes

Due to issues with the postal service refusing to enter communities, we resolved the situation by installing at the main gate individual postboxes that cost the community over 2500 euro’s. We are intending to add a tiled roof to post boxes later this year to give more protection from the rain. 

Keys for your personal postbox must be collected from Intercala. Please can you ensure you only use the nameplate to mark your name and refrain from writing or placing stickers on the outside. Thank you.

Community Rules

Last year we took the opportunity to remind all owners of community rules and to ask that all properties that are rented out have the community rules clearly displayed inside the apartment so that tenants and holidaymakers are aware that strict community rules do exist for the benefit of everyone.

We will be presenting at the AGM a revised set of community rules (included with the AGM notification) and these will be implemented subject to the satisfactory vote.

 

1. The lifts in each block will have the new community rules in Spanish and English, so there is no excuse for not knowing  what the community rules are. Extra signage has also been installed around the community.
2. With the summer season almost upon us rule breaking will be rife - towels hanging over balconies, rubbish dumped in the garages and stairwells, graffiti, vandalism, damage, ball games in the gardens, lilos and ball games in the pools, pool  hours not observed, sun beds not put away, parking all around the access roads and in other peoples parking places and serious noise issues. Unfortunately it is not just holiday renters that are always to blame. It’s your community, it will cost you money for repairs and reduce the value of your home. We want this to be a nice place for nice people, if you see a problem, please just say something, if you ignore it, you are really saying its ok!
3. Last year we requested that all renters be supplied with front gate remote controls, thereby enabling them to park in the underground garages. I hope that all owners who rent out their properties have arranged for this to happen. Please ensure that renters and visitors are aware of your own numbered parking space, so that they do not upset your neighbours by parking in someone else’s space illegally.
4. We only had to throw a handful of renters out of the pool in the early hours of the morning during the summer 08, so we should consider ourselves lucky when compared to other communities. Please make these “Late Night- No Swimming” rules known to your guests – or ask them to go to the beach! 

 

Theft & Damage

Thankfully there have only been a small number of incidents on our community due mainly to the high number of visible cameras, fences and increased CCTV signage we have installed.

The recording system has also been upgraded recently, to give us better visual pictures when problems, theft or damage does occur. However we should always remember and remind renters to be on their guard against opportunist thieves. 

New key pads have been installed for block 11 entrances and catches to the doors to the garden to give increased security.

There have also been a number of garden flowers, shrubs and walls which have been broken either deliberately or through ball games in the gardens or people climbing over walls – again why anyone would want to do this is something I personally cannot comprehend.

Riviera Grand Community 

Joke Beemster has represented us at the recent Grand Community (GC) meeting and we have now seen the replacement and renewal of all lights along the entrance road. The GC gardeners have repaired and cleared small areas alongside the path, which has now been replanted to hopefully give us a more colourful drive up to the complex. 

The Graffiti on the electricity building at the end of our road was painted over by Dave Lines and his trusty roller, and the GC president has made investigations to having the unused building removed.   

Basura

The situation regarding our rubbish bins has remained unsatisfactory during the year, however they have been emptied regularly. With the GGM phase III Community only having one bin at the moment its just not enough and our bins get used and then overflow as well. I have been assured by the phase III president that an extra bin is in hand for the summer. 

The GC president has requested some co-operation with the golf course to enable the bins to be removed from the road and into a purpose built storage area, as it is GC policy that bins do not sit on the roadways. We are still awaiting the response to this request.

As we normally pass the Easter holidays, its almost as if every community along the Costa del Sol springs back to life and the rush begins to get everything ready for the summer high season.

However, on Golf Gardens Miraflores II we have tried to do things differently since the new President took over last June. We realised that as a team it was a lot easier to get jobs done while the sun wasn't as hot, which requires more siestas and breaks by the workers! and the community isnt as busy aswe dont have the volume of visitors and guests that are around in the traditional summer periods.

So the committee set off on with their "things to do" list late last year, and we are pleased to report more things have been ticked off than left unticked, however, after the monthly walk abouts there have always been a number of maintenace items that have needed to be repaired as well, which in the main have been done and this has enabled the standards of the community buildings and gardens to be kept at a reasonably high standard, as we move into the run in for the AGM and summer season.

You only have to read the papers and website forums in Spain to realise that all around us the credit crunch, euro exchange rates and general inflation have taken their toll on community expenditures and budgets for repairs, gardens, security and general maintenance. Miraflores Golf Gardens II could have been in the same situation had we needed to use our reserves for necessary major repairs.

In the next couple of weeks you will all be receiving your AGM notification and included with that will be a copy of the presidents report, which covers most of the projects and issues on the community in some depth. A written report saves hours at the AGM, rather than having to report on all these items seperately. Should you have any questions these can be raised at the AGM by yourself or your proxy. Jeremy is always happy to give you his feedback on any issue, should you wish to email him or leave a comment of the community website.

The president has asked me to remind everyone on the community how important it is, especially in these current times to attend the AGM on the 15th June, which this year is being held in a new venue, the Miraflores Golf Course Club House.

The president will also be hosting a small drinks party for all owners in the community gardens on Sunday 14th June, full details and times will be given in the notifications being sent out to you, he does hope to see you all there.

 

Just a brief update on what’s happening at GGM2 at the moment.

The Grande Community
Over the last few months we have had a lot of help and advice from the President of fase 5 of the Grande community Juan Gutierrez. Joke Beemster has had regular meetings with him which has resulted in a lot of improvements in the the approach road. The path and rubbish has been cleared on the bank at the end of the road, edging stones put in place and some oleander planted. The sub station on the other side has been painted and Dave and myself have painted over the graffiti. Juan hopes to have the missing section of path tarmaced iver n the Spring. We will keep pushing for clearer road signs and an island at the end of the road but because it’s the boundary of 4 phases of the grande community it’s not easy to get them all to agree on the costs.

Juan is also the President of the community next to the golf club and his maintenance contractor (Angel) and Gardener have visited GGM2 to give us advice and help us obtain quotations on some of the work we need to carry out.

Entrance Gate
The gate has been smartened up by giving the canopy and walls a coat of paint, new lights have been fitted and a new sign put up. A tiled roof for the new post boxes is also planed in the next few weeks.

The Garden
The grass around the pool area took a hammering again in the summer with it turning into a muddy strip around the pool surround. We have had quotes in to extend the pool surround but with other unforeseen expenditure we have put this on hold for the moment. We have decided to introduce Spanish grass in the pool area, cuttings have been planted but it will take a couple of years to spread and take over. It should be harder wearing and stand up to the extremes of water logging and drying out that we experience.

Over the last month I was rather disappointed with the amount of weeds in the beds and the garden not looking up to the standard we expect. I have had words with Marcelo (our gardeners) and he knows he has to get it back up to standard before the end of January and keep it there or we will look at alternatives.

Satellites
Two of the remaining satellites on the face of the building have been taken down in the last few weeks (well done Dave on your work on this) and the owners are now connected to the community system - a reminder to you that no personal satellites must be visible on the face of the building they must only be below your balcony wall out of sight. The community system is now working well although we have had to spend a lot on the system again this year putting right all the the work carried out in 2007 by the previous (cowboy) contractor. Only the community satellite contractor is now allowed to carry out work on the system.

Maintenance
During the Autumn the commitee looked at alternative ways to manage the maintenace rather than having quotes for every individual job and we have managed to combine a number of regular jobs within a maintenance contract. With this Joke has negotiated some considerable savings on the maintenance rates so we can get more done for our money. From the beginning of January we now have in place a maintenance contract with Angel and his team and this covers the water tanks and pumps, pool maintenance, gate repairs, sweeping through the garages once a month, light bulb replacement and a lot of the small repairs around the place. Angel will also inspect the work on the roofs for us as it proceeds. We expect over the next few months to really get on top of some of the ongoing maintenance issues and keep the standard high.

Bin Fire
Over Christmas we had a fire in one of the bins, fortunately thanks to the quick action of some owners it was put out and only the one bin was damaged. The fire was caused by some bright spark placing hot ashes in the bin!! We will now have to try and claim on our insurance for a replacement bin.

Promotor Claim
One of the major issues we have to resolve is the repair to the roofs. As agreed at the AGM our lawyer wrote to the Promotor with a surveyors report asking for them to carry out the work and letting them know if they didn't we would have the work done and then reclaim the cost from them with legal action against them if necessary. With the Promotor not carrying out the repairs we have gone ahead in getting quotes in and then go ahead with the work. We have had a number of builders look at the job, it’s a very tricky one with difficult access and we need to be sure it’s done to the correct standard with all tiles secure and no longer a safety issue. Some builders have looked at it and decided it was not for them but we now have two quotes in and will have the final quote in the next few days. We then expect to be in a position to make a decision with Intercala as to who to proceed with. The work could take up to 2-3 months and we will let owners know in advance before the work starts on each block.

One other problem we have is 2 of the planters on top of block 11 the lining has cracked causing water to leak into the apartment below. This was included in the surveyors report so we will aim to claim the cost from the promotor. The 2 planters have been emptied and work is in progress to repair the planters putting inside a new lining to the right standard before we refill them and plant them in the Spring.

Debtors
You will see from the notice boards the debtors figure has crept up again to 15,588 euros. Legal action is in progress against 4 owners, they will now have to pay the legal costs as well as the late payment charge. Legal action will also be started against the other debtors should they not pay up.

Garbage Tax
Both the IBA + and your property IBI charges are expected soon (this is like your rates/or council tax in the UK, for garbage collection, street lighting, etc. the community gets a charge and so do owners). This has been dragging on since the community was formed so unfortunately we will all have the charges to pay since then. We believe the town hall has finally caught up and will be sending the charges out very soon. We have a reserve in the budget for the community IBA charge but no doubt the IBI charge for owners will come as an unwelcome shock for some.

Dogs and Cats
We have had problems with people feeding the stray cats in the garden and garages which then only encourages more strays but also encourages rats and mice. Intercala have taken action so I hope the problem is resolved. Despite previous requests to dog owners from Intercala reminding them of the rules of keeping dogs in the community we still have owners walking dogs in the gardens, off leads and not cleaning up after them, THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. I have now had both the cleaner and the gardeners complaining about having to clean up the dog mess and requesting extra money as it is not in there normal duties. Letters have gone out again to all dog owners reminding them of the rules and letting them know if the rules are not followed the clean up costs will be passed on to the dog owners. The rules are:-
- No dogs are allowed in or through the gardens.
- Dogs may only transit through the Portals and Garages, they must be on a lead at all times.
- You must clean up after your dog in any community area and also on the road outside.

Finally a big thank you to the committee Dave, Joke, Ivett, Brian and Ian for all the work they have put in during 2008 to ensure the smooth running of the community.

I wish you all the best for 2009 I hope the sun shines on us all at GGM2 and we all have a great year.

Jeremy Watkinson

Sorry guys for not posting for a while, but had a few business issues that needed my full concentration on recently.

However, there hasnt been a lot happening at golf grdens Miraflores as its wintertime and everything seems to almost stop on the communities in Spain.

Jeremy our President and the residents on the committee have been looking at all the outstanding issues on the to- do lists and getting quotes for that work to be actioned.

One of the main problems we have had has been the watertanks that we discovered hadnt been serviced for nearly 3 years earlier this year, one of the pumps for the distribution of water to all apartments had stopped working and when we organised a repair we discovered all the other problems. We had everything repaired and the system appeared to be ok, but we have had numerouse minor problems including the replacement of the pump for block 11 and the levels of service we started to get have trailed off dramatically. In conjunction with Intercala, we have therfore agreed to fire the maintenace company and employ new engineers.

The tiling around the edge of the pool is still in quote mode, however we do have a sample of a tile we are considering and Jeremy will be presenting this at his committee meeting on Friday with Intercala.

 So you can see we are still trying to resolve the big issues the community have. Its a very slow and frustrating process of getting something put right in Spain and the analagy that a "red letter threat" in the UK is the equivalent of a summons for court action in Spain, however you have to give the accused every opportunity and time to put things right before you get to that point. we are very close to getting there i understand....but like the chasing of debtors it all takes time and money.

On the debtors front....i understand we now only have one serious problem resident - The Hammonds - an update on that will be given after the weekend hopefully.

I'm out in sunny Spain for the day on Saturday, so a quick flying visit to have a catch up with the presidente and the team and to pick up all the beachware, shoes and suntan lotions for our holiday in Barbados next weekend to celebrate my wifes "big" birthday......dont ask....it was cheaper to fly out for the day and pick up the stuff, than to go shopping for it all again...

Dont forget to look at all the Golf Garden Miraflores Pictures on Flicker...add some yourself

Hope everyone is fit and well and that the sun shines on Saturday.....see you all soon 

  ian cook

Hola everyone, Things appear to be pretty quiet on the complex at the moment with majority of holidaymakers back in England enjoying the Indian summer!!!! The committee are holding a meeting this Thursday evening at Intercala in Spain to try and sign off a few of the issues that need resolving after the August break in Spain. Items currently on the agenda include: Surveyors report, To establish the damage and repair costs for the roofs and water damaged buildings around the community. A decision will be taken on this to progress legal action against the promoter for the costs of repair. This is the number one priority for the community currently and it needs to be understood that this needs to be resolved before we can consider any other projects or improvements. Lift Company, As you will be aware there are a number of lift shafts on the community that require remedial building work to stabilise the up and down transit of the lifts. Dates for this work need to be confirmed. We are pleased to report that at last some of the emergency telephones in the lifts have been connected, the remaining lifts we hope will be sorted in the near future. Post-boxes, now fully operational for those people that have collected their keys, discussions to agree how to keep this area neat and tidy with people not being on-site for long periods will be held and decisions on how to remove excess junk mail will be confirmed. Please arrange to collect your new keys as soon as possible from Intercala. Pool laboratories, this is to confirm the new "tablet" chlorination system for the pool. This should be installed within the next 4 weeks and Marcello and his team will be trained to control the system. The Presidente has also requested updated income and expenditure accounts for the community to be presented at the meeting so that we can establish exactly the financial situation of the community. Any necessary legal action against debtors will be discussed. Quotes have also been obtained for the substancial tiling of the pool surround and other areas, subject to the situation with the roofs been resolved and acceptable costs being received we can consider this in relation to the budgets we have so that this urgent improvement can be progressed Other than clarification on these points, we hope to bring you some more news later in the week once the meeting has been held. If you have any other items that you wish the community to discuss on thursday please add a comment below and we will add it to the agenda.

Hola everyone

Well that was an interesting 2 weeks in Spain, firstly lets get all the great bits out of the way...... the weather was fantastic, the guys behind the bar at Andys Beach in cabopino were on top form during the day with their free shots and general merryment to keep the holidaymakers amused. we discovered a couple of great new restaurants that have moved into our top 10 restaurants list, firstly Julie's on the port at Cabopino - great wraps and starter portion size meals all at 7 euros a go- everyone order a couple of different ones and then mix and match - great value, good fun and top food...check it out.
Also the sister restaurant to the Mijas Player in la cala - Sloane's in Elvira, just behind the water company's offices. Spectacular food and a great ambiance- dont miss it.

We also discovered this time the Don Carlos Beach Club, 20 euro's a bed may seem a little expensive, but compare that to the 40 or 125 for a double sunbed at Nikki Beach and 50 at Pangea (double lounger) and its good value for money when you add in all the extras they give you, free juices are reguarly bought to your sunbed, free towels, 2 or 3 ice cold facetowels to cool you down, cocktail shots and all day waiter service with reasonable priced drinks, they also give you 10 euro's off the 60 euro spectacular buffet available in the restaurant, but we stayed with the sandwiches and burgers off the bar menu and they were all great. TIP: We also found it useful on our last day, as we were able to wash and dry all the Beach towels in the apt.

As previously mentioned by Jeremy, the first community BBQ party was a great success, over 60 people enjoyed the sangria, wine, beers and juices, the food was being cooked all afternoon and then everyone seemed to get a second hunger at about 8pm and the BBQ's were fired up again. The party was scheduled to end at 9pm and at 10.30 we all called it a day and the survivors wandered across to Bar Oro to carry on late into the night. All the children thought the magician was great fun as well as he kept them all occupied for over an hour.

In preparation for the party the tiles on the top of block 11 were powerwashed by jeremy and they looked better than they had done for a few years. The gardeners had been doing their best to make the place look neat and tidy and in general they succeded. We still believe we have some watering issues around the gardens, which are being investigated by Jeremy and Dave as our plants continually seem to be on the verge of dieing, rather than blossoming and producing loads of new growth and colour....this is now in hand, as i mentioned.

As we move into September the Spanish nationals get back to work and try to catch up with all the backlog of work from their August siesta!

The new postboxes are now in situ at the entrance to the community and your new keys are available from Intercala, i can already see from the amount of junk mail in my box that these will very quickly get full for people that arent there all the time, lets hope our cleaner can keep on top of this. We are also still discussing the issue of the community holding the spare set of keys so that if a postbox overflows it can be emptied of all the junk. An ongoing issue that will no doubt throw up more problems.

The ongoing lift saga rolls up and down, the maintenace team turn up time after time and claim to resolve the problems, however this isnt the case and Intercala are now back on the problem and we hope that it will be resolved sooner than later. I wont even mention the ongoing lift emergency telephone problem, other than to say lazara is screaming at them everyday.

We have received quotes for the automatic chlorination of the pool and that is likely to be initiated in the next few weeks, likewise an inspection of the pool has shown that the expected service is not as urgent as we believed and the pool is still in very good condition. This news will allow us to defer some minor upgrades that we were proposing for this year to hopefully next years budget.

Quotes are coming in thick and fast for the terracotta tiling of most of the grass area around the pool, this will make the pool area look a lot more clean, neat and tidy and resolve the problems we have with the current dead grass and muddy areas around the pools edge. We are possibly looking for this work to be done over the winter when the pool is used least...... if the costs are within budgets allocated for the project.

other than the above,  i'm sure there will be other things that i've forgotten to mention, so when i'm reminded by everyone look out for the next installment. 

Adios   

Thanks to everyone who attended last weeks BBQ party, it was great to see everyone getting together and having a good time.
Thanks to Ivett for all the preparation and to Paul for the sound system.

I hope we can arrange another party early next summer (the weekend before the AGM) which will allow even more people to attend.

Catch up with you soon
Cheers
Jeremy

Well the second major debtor to the community paid today, leaving us with a couple of stragglers owing less than 2500 euros, which isnt bad after 5 years of community life, there cannot be many communities in the same position.

Our new Presidente thought that it would be nice for the owners and residents of the community to have a BBQ in the community gardens on the 25th August (Bank Holiday Monday) at the moment the food for the kids is on order as is ice a few drinks a music system and a magitian to keep the youngsters amused.

we are hoping for in excess of 50 people to turn up and done the VIP thing by inviting the presidents and friends off the 2 other phases of our complex. We are also hoping the administrator and her team and the grand community president will make an appearance....should we go on a mission to get them all dancing on the tables!!!

In preparation for this the gardener has been put to work to make sure everywhere is spick and span, the cleaner has been polishing anything that moves and lets just hope we have some sunshine!!!!

i'm starting to pack now for our flight on Thursday morning, i cannot believe how depressed i am with the weather in the UK at the moment...roll on that 6.30am flight.

will do a final round up before i go so that you have the latest information on everything.