Pictured to the right is what is called a Water Meter Key. It is a sort of wrench used for turning water off and on at the water meter. Although it is most often used by plumbers and water utilities personnel, it can be used by homeowners as well. It can also be used to turn off/on most gas meter valves.
A homeowner is not likely to ever have need of one of these; but, as shown by the movement of the extremely cold air mass through the state recently (and the frozen and burst water pipes it left behind), homeowners should be keenly interested in how to shut off the flow of water and, therefore, how to use one of these handy tools.
Damage from water pouring into a house can be devastating and will certainly disrupt the lives of those living within. Water leaks can come from a number of sources–frozen and burst water pipes, old and corroded pipe joints, aged water heater tanks that have ruptured, etc. The most practical thing we can do is be prepared to shut off the water supply if and when such catastrophe occurs, thereby minimizing the harm done.
I want to thank Ron B (#23A) for the loan of his water meter key over the last few weeks; it helped limit the damage from the several broken water pipes we experienced here in the Trace.
I have purchased a water meter key for the Trace to be used by anyone who may need one. You may call me at any time and I can bring it to you; or, you can retrieve it yourself. To make it available to anyone, I will keep it behind the driver’s seat of my truck. Since I keep my truck unlocked virtually all the time, you are welcome to get it as you need it; of course, I am happy to use it for you. Just so you understand the process, please review the video below.
The extremely cold air mass that moved through a few days ago brought some unfortunate consequences–frozen water pipes. We have two cases with burst pipes, one producing flooding in a crawlspace and one producing flooding inside the condo. We have had one case where the pipes froze but there was no damage as the pipes were thawed in time. Yet another case involved two units with a common wall where, seemingly, the pipes of one had burst and flooded the other unit when they thawed. We have condos which are unoccupied at present due to the holidays; these we know nothing about unless we see water running out from under the door(s). We can only hope that the owners have someone local who can look after them.
I have learned that there are folks in the Trace who do not know how to keep their pipes from freezing in wintry conditions. I am here going to reprint an article that will educate:
Tips to help prevent pipes from freezing
The three central causes of frozen pipes are quick drops in temperature, poor insulation and thermostats set too low. You can prepare your home during the warmer months.
Insulate pipes.Pipe insulation in your home’s crawl spaces and attic helps even if you live in a climate where freezing is uncommon. Exposed pipes are most susceptible to freezing. Remember, the more insulation you use, the better protected your pipes will be.
Use heat tape or heat cables.Heat tape or thermostatically controlled heat cables can be used to wrap pipes. Be sure to use products approved by an independent testing organization, such as Underwriters Laboratories Inc., and only for the use intended (exterior or interior). Closely follow all manufacturer’s installation and operation instructions.
Seal leaks. Locate and thoroughly seal leaks that allow cold air inside. Look for air leaks around electrical wiring, dryer vents and pipes, and use caulk or insulation to keep the cold out.
Secure outdoor hoses, valves and faucets. Before winter hits, disconnect garden hoses and, if possible, use an indoor valve to shut off and drain water from pipes leading to outside faucets. This reduces the chance of freezing in the short span of pipe just inside the house.
Let water drip. A trickle of hot and cold water might be all it takes to keep your pipes from freezing. Let warm water drip overnight when temperatures are cold, preferably from a faucet on an outside wall.
Adjust the thermostat. Keeping your thermostat set at the same temperature during both day and night also reduces the risk of frozen pipes. During extreme cold, this also helps reduce the strain on the furnace.
Open cabinet doors. This allows heat to get to un-insulated pipes under sinks and appliances near exterior walls.
Ways to help avoid frozen pipes while on vacation
Always be sure to winterize your home thoroughly. Before you leave, take measures to protect your home so you can enjoy the time away, rather than worry about pipes and security. A few things to remember include:
Check the thermostat. Set the thermostat in your house no lower than 55 degrees Fahrenheit (12 degrees Celsius). Also be sure to replace the battery in your thermostat.
Ask for help. Ask a friend or neighbor to check your house daily to make sure it’s warm enough to prevent freezing.
Shut off the water. Shut off and drain the water system. Be aware that if you have a fire protection sprinkler system in your house, it may be deactivated when you shut off the water.
What to do if pipes freeze
Pipes do not always burst when frozen. There are a few things to keep in mind:
Call a plumber if needed. If you turn on your faucets and nothing comes out, leave the faucets turned on and call a plumber.
Avoid use of appliances near water. Do not use electrical appliances in areas of standing water. You could be electrocuted.
Avoid applying flames to thaw pipes. Never try to thaw a pipe with a torch or other open flame because it could cause a fire hazard. Water damage is preferable to burning down your house!
Use a hair dryer as a possible heat source (with caution). You may be able to thaw a frozen pipe using a hair dryer — again, make sure you are not in standing water. Start by warming the pipe as close to the faucet as possible, working toward the coldest section of pipe.
Shut off the water supply. If your water pipes have already burst, turn off the water at the main shutoff valve in the house. Make sure everyone in your family knows where the water shutoff valve is and how to open and close it. Be sure to leave the water faucets turned on.
WHAT CAN THE ASSOCIATION DO:
The Association must respect the rights and privacy of homeowners; but , it must also watch out for the investment interest of all members; therefore, we will turn the water off at the meter under only two conditions:
When there is an observable problem–water flowing from a unit.
If you look at the photo below you may recognize it as the location, near the west entrance to the Trace, of a large cedar tree that was cut down a few months ago. To facilitate the removal of the logs and limbs of that tree we piled them at the site and called the Searcy Sanitation Dept. to pick them up. Since then some folks have continued to pile vegetation debris at the site, probably thinking that it holds some status as an official dump site–it does not. This site should not be used for discarding vegetation refuse. On occasion, volunteers have removed the debris here: but too often the debris remains for long periods of time untouched.
Please take vegetation to the dump site at the east entrance.
Let me first direct your attention to the most recent minutes (click here)of the meeting of the Board. It is a tough decision taking on a big project; but, after weighing the pros and cons, the Board thought it judicious to go ahead and rehabilitate our roofs from the hail damage that they sustained in April. There was some hesitation due to the sizable deductible of our insurance. With the help of our roofer we were able to find a workable financial pathway to get the work done. The effort is, however, not painless. The Association is going to have to raise fees for a finite period of time. All condo fees will increase by $25.00/month. This will fund repayment of money borrowed to meet our deductible, leaving our regular operating income for other repairs and expenses. It is planned that this rise in fees will sunset in approximately 36 months.
The condo fee increase will come with the delivery of new invoice booklets. As in the previous edition of these booklets, you do not have to return the coupons with your payment if you pay by check. Keep the books only for your records. Those who pay by automatic draft will have to sign a release for the Association to draft their accounts for the additional funds. For those who pay by draft, these booklets are only for their records also; they constitute the official invoices for monthly condo fees. New booklets and additional information will be mailed out in the next few weeks.
The relationship between you as a homeowner and the Association is one of symbiosis–you help the Association with your contribution of resources (i.e., condo fee) and, in turn, the Association helps you by providing services (insurance, lawn care, repairs, etc.) which you would otherwise have to pay for yourself. The benefit to you is that you do not have to pay for large out-of-pocket costs typical for a homeowner. Theoretically, you pay for the services you receive over time. We are an experiment in socialism; however, you are not trapped in this system as you may sell and leave at any time.
As in any purposeful organization, we have a common philosophy and a set of governing documents (Master Deed, By-Laws, Articles of Incorporation, Rules and Regulations) which help us interface with the real world. These documents outline the executable behaviors expected of a law-abiding membership; however, members must be knowledgeable and responsive to their governing documents for the organization to be successful.
With the requisite of the preceding paragraph in mind–understanding our governing documents–it needs to be reinforced occasionally what is expected of a homeowner in an association. I am suggesting here that member/homeowners read their governing documents and re-read them from time to time. If there are questions or lack of understanding, the homeowner can ask the Board and, if necessary, our attorney may be counselled.
One issue that has come up recently where a homeowner has acted outside the governing documents is one in which the homeowner contracted construction without the approval of the Board of Directors or the Association membership. Any alteration or improvement in our infrastructure must be approved before any work is done; and any such work may be denied if its merit is lacking in the eyes of those groups. Let me give some reasons where there may be a denial:
The work is expensive and may substantially increase the financial liability of the Association–causing an undue increase in fees.
The work has not been verified by a qualified professional.
The work places an unnecessary encumbrance on other members.
The work poses a safety risk.
The above issue is addressed in the Master Deed, Article VIII, Section 8.1 and 8.2. If a member/homeowner thinks work is required on his/her home, this article should be read and understood. If a member proceeds to do work that has not been approved, that member may incur not only the initial cost of the work, but also the additional cost to have the work undone if it is found defective or substandard.
For convenience, the governing documents are posted on this site in the sidebar under Governing Documents.
Please be aware that title fraud is real and can strike anyone. Personally, I have protection with Zander Insurance against all kinds of identity theft, including title theft. I have reprinted an article about title theft below for your information. I am not promoting any product; you choose your own. I do urge you to look into some kind of protection as identity theft can be devastating and is occurring at an alarming rate.
Phillip C has a new charitable endeavor to share. The visual below has all the information. If you know a young person who would like the experience of hunting, you can provide that and do a good deed at the same time.
I want to take a little time here to tidy up a few things that are important for members to know. I will do this in a series of short posts to follow.
The photo above shows what we lovingly call the “dumpsite”. This inelegant term describes a partially enclosed corral used to receive refuse of various, but restricted, kinds. It was established some years ago as a one-point drop-off and pick-up location for trash . Note that it is divided by the short partition into a smaller and a larger section.
The smaller section (on the left) is for discards from the household like broken furniture, appliances, etc–things which cannot be discarded conveniently in a garbage bag. The sign posted in this section also instructs what not to place there–recyclables and regular garbage. These should be placed in their respective containers for pick-up.
The larger section (right hand side) is for vegetation only–grass clippings, shrub trimmings, limbs, etc. No inorganic material of any kind should be placed here. If leaves, for example, are put here, they should not be bagged as this introduces plastic into the mix. Landscaping refuse placed here is likely to be composted or mulched.
Please read the signs and use our dumpsite accordingly. Thanks.
Some months ago I published a report regarding the use of the term “fences” in the Master Deed. In the report I develop a line of reasoning and cite evidence leading to the conclusion that the term as used in the MD existentially differs from the term as it is most commonly understood.
For many years I thought that there was something wrong with Association policy on fences; but, I could never quite put my finger on the problem. Then, one day several months ago I was talking with my friend Phillip C. as he described living in Florida for many years. He and his wife lived in a condominium association and they wanted to install a fence around their back yard. He approached their Board of Directors to ask permission to install one, but was denied. When I heard this, I knew immediately what our problem was–we actually had no policy on fences. If you read the report referenced above, you will understand that the term “fences” as used in the MD does not refer to fences as we usually understand them. In the MD the term narrowly focuses on short, single runs of fencing used to form privacy partitions between adjacent condominiums in a multi-family structure. Most often, when we talk about fences, we mean the term in a broader sense as much longer runs of fencing enclosing yardage that is segregated for personal use.
Fig. 1 Typical multi-family condominium with free standing garages showing privacy partitions between units.
If you read the report and refer to Fig. 1, you can clearly see what the framers of the MD meant by the term “fences”. Fences in their context are short runs of fencing to create privacy barriers between adjacent condos. Such short runs of fencing should be given a name more appropriate to their function. I would suggest a term like “privacy partitions” so as not to confuse them with their longer, enclosure counterparts. The shorter partitions are much cheaper (costing a few hundred dollars) than fences (broader sense) which may cost thousands of dollars. Partitions may be funded as part of the condo structure while fences are a major capital item and are largely unfunded, drawing money from our general revenue with no mechanism in place to replace it.
In the minutes of 11 SEP 2019 the Board states the following in its list of Rules and Regulations:
All new or replacement fences must be approved by the Board and should be of white vinyl or metal and maintenance-free. Owner pays half the cost of repair and/or replacement of fences, porch rails, and porch columns.
In the post, “???50/50???”, it has already been shown that the requirement for members to pay half the cost of fence replacement is not valid. Specifically, it is stated in Section VIII of the Master Deed that the Association is responsible for 100% of this cost. Likewise, the requirement for members to obtain Board approval to build a new fence is also invalid. The Master Deed addresses the issue of new fences in Section VIII. 8.2. You can read this section below:
It is quite clear that members approve new fences (or any other new construction), not the Board. This is in keeping with the corporate and democratic intent of the Association. Members decide how they want to live and be governed; members decide what they want to allow in their neighborhood; and, members decide what, or whether, they want to pay their money to support additional infrastructure or services.
The same section of the Master Deed also disallows the replacement of fences with different materials other than that used in the original construction (replacing wood with vinyl). This is the wisdom of the Master Deed–to limit replacements to in-kind. If the Board has the power to unilaterally choose the method and material for new construction, then it could push the Association to have to increase fees or implement special assessments, or suffer some other financial hurt. The Board has attempted to force members to build vinyl fences at three times the cost of wood fences. It could just as easily force members to build brick fences at ten times the cost, or gold-plated wrought iron at twenty times the cost. Fortunately, the Board does not have such open-ended authority.
It is the intention of this post to point out that Association members have paid thousands of dollars over the years for a luxury item–fences–when it should not have paid anything. Fences have been an unfunded liability which have diverted money away from more important repair projects. This practice must be stopped by an amendment to the Master Deed at the next general meeting or at a special meeting called for the purpose.
