Facility Manager report and CoM update - March 2020

The Willsmere CoM had their latest meeting this week, conducted via video conference.

A few items came out  of the meeting which we need to pass on.

1 - AGM - We originally planned to have the AGM in three weeks time.  Due to the stage three restrictions, this will need to be postponed.  Legally, we have to have an AGM by July 1 so we are aiming for that date.  Obviously this may change due to unforseen circumstances.  The AGM will almost certainly need to be conducted online, where any issues to be voted on are sent to owners and they can send their votes back in.  Motre details can be given closer to the time.
Anyone who wants to nominate themselves for the CoM will be given an opportunity to do so at a later date.  As with the process last year, all nominees will be able to have a brief message added to the Willsmere website so residents can have an understanding of who they are voting for.

2 - We have had a number of instances where plumbers have been called out to fix sewerage issues at Willsmere.  Each time has been caused by items that are not meant to be flushed down a toilet.  In one case, it was a complete disposable nappy.  We shouldn't have to remind people again, but you can not flush tissues, paper towels, nappies and especially flushable wipes.  Emergency plumber call outs are expensive.

3 - We didn't want to have to close the Willsmere library, but with the latest round of restrictions, we had no choice.  The tennis courts are still open but only for residents to play tennis with members of their own household.  We will try to keep this facility open as long as safely possible. 

4 - Disposal of rubbish, hard waste and charity bins.  Please be extra careful around the rubbish bin corals.  Don't leave a mess, make sure all your rubbish is completely in the bin as it is especially important that others don't have to clean up any mess you leave.  Charity bins have been closed for the duration of the lockdown.  Hard rubbish is not closed at this time, but scheduled pickups may be interrupted. 

5 - NBN - There is still some confusion around this.  NBN is now available for all residents except those in the centre wing.  The last steps are being performed at this time to have the centre wing also connected.  If you have a technician booked in for an NBN installation it is very important you arrange this with Jay if you are in the heritage building as he will need to give access to the roof space.  If you are trying to get NBN connected and are told you are not eligible, this is because there is faulty information in their databases.  Unfortunately it is not a simple thing to fix but persistence is key.  Tell them that it's an apartment complex and other residents have it. 

6 - Facility Manager report - Please find here the latest report from our facility manager.  One point that was raised is that it is hard to get some contractors on site-site at the moment.  Getting people to quote for changing gate four to a slide gate has been difficult as some companies are not allowing their staff to make site visits.

7 - Some updates from after the meeting but this seems a good place to add them - 
Jay has worked with Multinet and they are sending someone out next week to read all gas metres in Willsmere.  Their testing of a new style of gas metre has worked well and they will now install one onsite to conduct further testing.  If all goes well they will install these for all residents at no cost to Willsmere or owners.  The new metres are capable of sending readings back to their head office with no on-site visit required.

The lights in car park three have been out for some time.  This was due to a faulty underrground cable causing the circuit breaker to keep triggering.  Every time the breaker tripped, it reset the timer that controlled the lights.  Jay has been working with the electricians and they have been able to find an alternate source for the power.  If all goes well those lights should have no more faults for the foreseeable future.  This has taken quite a bit of time and skill to get fixed so we thank everyone for their understanding that some problems have very difficult solutions even if it doesn't seem like they would.  The electricians are still working on the bollard lights that lead from the entrance to the basket ball court.  These also seem to have a broken underground cable somewhere.