Rixxy's Clubs!

Hi to all at Los Olivos,

When we were on our second visit to los olivos in June we unfortunately had a burglary, it happened on a Saturday night whilst we were sitting on our front balcony downstairs, we had not put our security bolt back into the patio door after having mossi screens fitted the day before, they got in probably by lifting the patio door up and unlocking the lock, a small bag which was left on the bed containing a small purse with some money in it and my new mobile phone which i intended to leave in spain for use when we came out, was taken.

We did not realise we had been burgled until the next day, the patio door was slightly opened and the mossi screen was back, and we then found that the bag was missing, as we were going home that day and it being a Sunday we did not report this to anyone, but hopefully we will be more careful in future.  

Well that  said we cant wait to come out in September,do hope the pool will be ready by then.

Sandy and Carl Jackson 29b

Hi All, Regarding security I have not yet purchased external security bars. I have fitted the bolts in my shutters these are 5 euros each at window manufactures in Antas,

You only have to drill a 5.5mm hole in each side of the shutters alloy frame about 40mm up from the bottom.

I am having some made in uk cheaper than window company, if anyone wants any let me know. it means the shutters can be bolted in the lower position.

Don

Sorry to hear about the burglary at 29B in June. It is a good use of this site to pass warnings round of problems like this as soon as possible so others can be aware. Usually the intruders walk in through an open door so they can be quick in and out. See messages under burglaries thread.

Eddie 20B

Another afterthought! You are strongly advised to photocopy the page of your passport which has your photo and keep this separate from your passport - just in case!!

Eddie 20B

Can also scan passport and email to yourself, the it is easy to obtain, if needed.

Debora & Noel 8a

Hi All, sorry to bring this up and I do so after speaking to resident this weekend.

It seems, sadly, that the break-ins, sneak thiefs are continuing with another this weekend and a previous one about a week ago.

These do seem to follow a pattern, break ins when un occupied or a sneak thief when newly arrived people let thier guard down.

Mainly if not totally to ground floor apartments, I think.

It has also come tolight this weekend that BMS are no longer paying for Ramon to do site security!

For those new-comers Ramon was employed by the builders to do site security, and would drive round at all times

keeping an eye on things! He also hired himself out as occupation of Los Olivos took place as a private security guard for

the complex at the rate of 15 Euro's per month, ( a nominal £2.50 per week ), per apartment.

He can no longer provide this service as only around 10 people took up the option with him and so he now works at a loss with little income from BMS.

Some would argue that he was not effective with the number of incidents that have taken place!

But while that could be a valid point, remamber it is Ramon who has cleared off the Boy Racers, Cross Country Motorbikers, helped with the water and generator when they failed not to mention been of assistance re the police etc when these incidents have occured. Who can tell how many more there would have been if he wasn't around.

There are around 10 apartments with full-time occupancy and I get the impression that it is getting to feel a little bit like Fort Apache, The Bronx. (think thats right), might have over stated that !!

Just think Los Olivos can be approached from all four sides, it is at the moment isolated and being on raised ground easily watched.

I asked if at the next meeting at Marinasol this could not be raised but the next meeting is not until the end of the year so suggested that the un-elected committee might approach Marinasol to ask advice in the interim.

It would be interesting to hear what you Los Olivians think on this matter, I do know that some are not fans of Ramon and there was an unsavoury incident reported.

However I feel  we need to give the committee / Marinasol some input sooner rather than later.

Damn serious matter this owning in paradise what, chin chin.

Barry 18A

Malc and I found Ramon very friendley and maybe we could ask Marinasol to up our charge to include every apartment paying 15 euros to Ramon and not just the residents that live there full time. If we had known we would have gladly contibuted.

We also found Ramon helpful, but while he was being paid by BMS we were reluctant to pay into another ad hoc system.  I have to say, we went round and about with Ramon a few times and he never once asked us to pay any extra.  Also, after enjoying a trot around Los Olivos with a friend of his and his little horse and cart - Ramon absolutely refused to take any money.

I would be very happy to support the idea of paying him.   I honestly did not know he was not being employed any longer.

Linda and Brian 3b

Hi all,

With regard to security, I would only comment that It needs to be setup correctly, ie, If unfortunate enough to be broken into, contact details so we can be informed, also the property would need to be made secure, and we would need to list / photograph contents so some one would know what was missing. This would only apply to owners not on site.

Regards

Don

Security

Ramon does cover the rest of Huerta Nueva as well - don't know how many pay him though- but he isn't just dependent on the 10 payments he is receiving from Los Olivions. But we would support any move to add paying him to the Marinasol charge -  for all 80 it should be at a discount . It may be handy to have his support should there be a problem with unauthoried access to the swiming pool. Meantime we will start to pay him when we come out at the end of September.

Eddie and Su

Eddie and Su, I am out on 11th September, and I will do the same i.e. fix up payment for Ramon until we get something sorted out as a community.

Linda 

Hi all

I have e-mailed Marinasol yesterday to ask if everyone on Los Olivos could be contacted with a propsal to vote on paying Rammond as part of the communal charge. I have not yet had a reply, so wonder if they closed for the month of August. I have also stated my disappointment of not yet receiving the minutes of the meeting that was held.

Personally I do not think  we should be asking for a discount as I know Rammond is not paid by many others on HN. If it agreed that all of Los Olivos pay him, he will get about 300 euros a week. This is without tax being taken & he also has to pay over 1000 euros for his licence a year. Remember also he is working unsociable hours each day (7pm - 7am).

Linda & Rob (31a)

Hi all

Our only comment as Don has suggested is that it is set up and administered properly. We have no particular problem with Ramon and infact find him a very nice guy. I would question how effective riding around in his car is though. Presumably the recent break ins have occured during the existing patrols. The appropriate way forward is to ask  Marinsol are there any other security patrols in the market place which there must surely be, that may or may not be more effective or professional (hi vis clothing, liveried patrol cars) and if so how much they will cost. For instance what will happen when Ramon is on holiday ??. Once we have the additional info we can decide what we need and how much we are prepared to spend.

John & Pam 13B

Agree Ramon is good value. He also tours around during the day as well as at night. When he has time off he has relatives who stand in for him.

However, those who want to enter properties can watch out for him and time their move accordingly. High visibility vehicles, etc would only help them to know where the security guy is. In the end it is up to us to make sure we keep our properties as secure as possible. I gather that Ramon can be useful after the event with reporting to the police.

Out of interest we have recently had similar problems where we live in the UK  - very rare before. We now take more precautions here and have just put locks on side gates or the first time after 38 years in the same house.

Eddie and Su 20B

Talking of Ramon, has anybody seen him lately? Is anybody still paying him for his security services?

Last time I saw him was New Years day and that was just for a fleeting ,moment.

I know his sons seem to be around late in the evening but no where near as often as they used to be.

Would be interested to find out if we have lost what little security we once had.

Colin

Hi, have now been resident in Los Olivos for 5 weeks.

After 5 weeks of living here why are we paying Ramon ? Why are we proposing to make payment to Ramon compulsary for all?

A contract by the way that will be worth 13,440 euro's per annum to him! (14 euros x 80 apartments x 12 months ] this Item  is proposed for the AGM in July . 

Lets say at present he earns say 20 apartments paying him ( my estimate ) 15 euros x 20 apartments x 12 months ] a sum of 3,600 euro's per annum.

A substantial increase for Ramon and greater potential of purchasing power for the community { ie you, me, us }.

Why then was a decrease off 1 euro the outcome of the negotiation ?   Was the negotiation carried out with the benifit of the community as a priority ?

You would think that negotiating a contract of this value ,on the communities behalf ,would have resulted in a better deal than a decrease of 6.7%

The result will be an increase to the community charge of  37% approx at the end of a year when we have seen the value of our £1 decrease 
by 14% against the Euro.

Has anyone considered people on fixed income, people with mortgages they are all here in this community!

Over the past year while living in the UK I was a firm believer in  Ramon's services mainly based on facts and rumours along with rumours and facts from people
already living here. By the way I have paid  Ramon over the past year up to the end of June 2008.  I have now changed my mind.

The last and I believe the only break-in to date was prior to Christmas 2007 at an apartment with little security.   The other theft as far as I know occured opportunistically when a door was left open, something which will happen anywhere.   Both occured during the day.  Are there villians and  muggers waiting on street corners, probably, but not seen any on Huerta Nueva !   Some have said that we need security services as the Local Police from Los Gallardos do not work at night and that  they would have to come from Vera which I would estimate to be 10-20mins away but would they attend straight away for a break in, probably not, bit like UK really!   I have no experience of response times from Police, Fire or Ambulance here for other incidents.

Remember the deal is for a high intensity presence after dark, offered by Ramon after the price was negotiated. Do we require this high intensity when all the problems have been during the day !

I've gone public on this as there are people living here worried that this is a done deal, it isn't but it could be if you vote to accept it at the AGM. 

If you think that the service being offered has been negotiated at a competitive price in the best interests of the community and that we need this level of security then vote yes.  If not then your vote should be NO - but please make sure you vote - thank you.

I am surprised that there has not been a reply to the last message on this thread posted 26 May. 
The way it was explained to me was that we would have exclusive use of Ramon (or his sons) for 8 hours a night 365 days a year. This would only work out at 4 euros 60 centimos an hour - out of this he has to run his vehicle and, as the administrator will be paying him monthly, he may not be able to avoid declaring it for tax.
However, like Springsteen. I can't understand why we need his presence all night. I gather that a couple of weeks ago there was one problem with lads in the swimming pool at 3 a.m. but, as Springsteen says, problems seem more likely during the day. Not surprising when you see how many downstairs doors are wide open (when the sun shines and the wind drops) with no one obviously around in spite of the warnings.
 If we need Ramon ( and he can be handy when an incident occurs) perhaps a better arrangement would be that he spends some time round the area (rather than just driving by) at random times mainly day and evening.  Perhaps an average of 4 hours a day instead of 8. This would be more effective and substantially reduce the cost .
As most of us will not be able to attend the AGM the problem is how to find a like minded owner who will be there who we can give proxy too!
Eddie 20B

OK - I am spurred into a reply as well!!!  But I think many people may be a bit like us and reluctant to reply because they don't have strong feelings.  We are very mindful of the fact that the euro is very unfavourable for people drawing income from the UK, so of course don't want to add to the increasing costs, though I have to admit, I would come down on the side of some security.
H.N was sold as a safe and secure site - it you go into BMS site: www. huertanueva.com  it still says this, and I think a presence does have an effect.  I would be happy to support employing Ramon but I think that the last post does make a lot of sense, and surely Ramon could do this more flexible approach.  We have already indicated to our key holder that we want to vote for the increased security, and we certainly trust our key holders absolutely to represent us as we want to be represented!!
HOpe to see people over the summer anyway - in spite of minor problems, we are very happy with LO, and the friends who have just come home from there have had a wonderful time again.
Best wishes to all
LInda 

We think Ramon is worth his weight in gold, as soon as we arrive he checks it is definetely us due to the fact we always use a hire car and never get the same one twice. Although we have grills and window locks i still think Ramons presence is a deterrent to burglars and to any other undesirables.    We can't wiat to get back to L O on Sunday missed it so much.. 

We had planned to vote for the night security, however I think Sueddy's idea of 24 hr intermittent cover is excellent. Personally however I don't think 4 hrs would really be enough, but possibly 6 hrs would be a compromise? This would enable Ramon to continue with his other duties elsewhere on Huerta Nueva, but give us 25% coverage and also mean we could continue to ask Ramon for assistance if required.

This is dependant of course on someone being prepared to negotiate with Ramon!

We too miss Los Olivos :( 

Ali 11a