Hello everyone,
Welcome! It is with great excitement that we announce that we have been making some great improvements to help get the website and grounds here at Condo Del Sol looking refreshed and ready for summer and the years to come. I’ll be breaking down all of the work that has been happening both online and to our grounds, as well as some rules that need to be gone over.
CHANGES/ADDITIONS TO THE WEBSITE:
- Forms — now available for you to select and fill out online. You can then send right to our inbox, where we can then print and file.
- Board minutes — notes/highlights from board meetings for you to look through and review.
- Owners Private Facebook Group — a Facebook forum area where you can chat with other owners. It is private and only accessible by other owners.
- List of Rules — available for renters and guests to view, print and follow on our homepage.
- Owners section — contains passwords, forms, updates, pictures and other private information for homeowners so that you can keep up to date on everything.
UPDATES/IMPROVEMENTS TO THE GROUNDS:
We have been very busy since last fall! We hydroseeded all the bad/dead spots on the lawns before the snow hit so when spring came we would have a good base for the lawns. And much to our pleasure, it worked really well. Several owners have told me that the lawn looks just like it did when it was first put in.
We are fighting with our geese on some invasive species of fescue grass that we are seeing come up and we are addressing that as we speak. The grass is full and green and we are cutting it twice a week, except this last week as it has been too wet to cut.
The gardens have been totally weeded by hand and 5 inches of mulch has been added to help with weeds. We have transplanted areas that have been too crowded and replaced some plants that were either dead, invasive or should not have been there in the first place. To date, we have added 56 yards of mulch to the complex bedding. We have been working hard on the appearance of the front entrance and the islands around the complex; we have added some beautiful flowering plants that will grow and really pop when you come in and walk around.
I have to give credit to two very talented professionals, Dieka Gericke and Merl Kastin of Hummingbird Gardening. We were able to work closely with them and come up with a plan to help make this a property that owners and guests would be impressed with. Dieka and Merl were recommended by one of our owners, Cecelia Spence, and we have a long-term plan with them to keep tending to and improving the landscaping. They come 1-2 days per week. Once you’ve seen their work you will be able to tell right away the vast improvement that has been made with the landscaping. If you see them working in the beds, be sure to let them know what you think of their work!
We have begun with demossing the roofs and maintaining proper care of them in order for us to save up and plan for new roofs in the future. To date, we have finished buildings A-E and are moving to cleaning the others this month.
We have removed the old cement walls surrounding the north pool that were falling, and have made the pool match the style of the south pool. It is clean and looks very nice and welcoming! We have also planted some new plants to make the rework look even better. Maintenance on both pools should work out to be minimal.
The sidewalks have been another project we’ve been focusing on this year, along with the sea wall, bees and wasps. We are doing our very best to correct, fix and improve important parts of the grounds. Unfortunately, there are times when additional problems arise that can slow down our progress while performing certain jobs, in which we work to quickly correct so that we may properly resume and focus on the initial project.
While we are a work in progress, we are very fluid. We are doing our very best to take advantage of any situation that presents itself that will benefit the property and save us money. We are making moves that are becoming essential parts of our long-term plan to maintain beautiful grounds here. We always appreciate hearing from you on ways we can improve and do our very best to put those suggestions to action as soon as the timing is right.
A FEW NOTES ON OUR RULES:
Again, our rules are available on the homepage of our website for both renters and owners to view and follow. We really have to work together as a group to follow them in order to make this best place to own a condo and visit in downtown Sandpoint. It is really easy to just dismiss or not bother with something that you otherwise should, and that can unfortunately lead to others following in your stead, and before we know it we have an unfortunate trend of not following certain rules that help keep Condo Del Sol’s image. So please, let’s avoid that.
We have had bad issues with dog urine on the lawns and in the flower beds. The toxins in the urine kill large areas of grass. It is sad to see our large and very nice lawns patched with dead grass that otherwise would be healthy and green. A lot of time, energy and work has gone into growing the lawns back and making them vibrant and attractive, and it really makes a difference when your dogs do their business where they are supposed to.
In addition, dog feces have also gotten out of hand. Piles of feces have been left on the grounds, and unfortunately they do not disintegrate, and it is horrible and unsightly for the lawns. An important thing to note, when a dog does its business during the winter, that pile stays all the way through to spring. When the snow melts, we are left nasty piles to clean up that should not be there in the first place. I have personally cleaned up 8 full 5-gallon buckets of dog (not goose) feces since the snow melt. Please clean up after your dog(s) throughout all seasons. That allows me to focus my time and energy on other aspects that will help Condo Del Sol be even better. And it is only fair that each person clean up after their own pet.
We have added a lock on the pool gates and tennis court to discourage people from town coming and using our facility. An owner has already given out the code of the locks to a friend who then passed the code along to 4 young teenage boys that came and went swimming. They admitted that they did not live here and were kicked out of the pool at 9pm.
Last year, many owners were offended because board members were trying to keep out non-members and renters and unfortunately had to ask almost everyone if they were an owner, what their unit number and name were, and so on.
We are now having to change the codes every few weeks in order to keep non-members out. This comes as a bit of an inconvenience, because everyone will now have to make sure they are keeping up to date with codes and remember what they are, and the board members and myself will have to try and keep track of who are members on the property and try and recognize those who are not. Please, be careful with who you share and don’t share the codes with.
We want this to be a place you can escape to so you can relax and enjoy your time. We need everyone to work together and follow the rules, or else we’ll just be moving backwards instead of forward. Help us help you, the owners, make Condo Del Sol the best place in Sandpoint to have a condo.
There will be weekly blog posts/updates, so be sure to tune in for those!
REMEMBER, IF SOMETHING IS NEEDED PLEASE CALL US AT (208) 263-7595. WE WILL DO OUR BEST TO HELP YOU RIGHT AWAY.
Much thanks,
Scott
Bravo ? ? ? ? ? well done !!
Scott and Kennedy, looks great!!
Everything looks great! Thank you for all your hard work! From Mike & Shawn in # 248