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March 2007
Contents
President’s Corner
Academy News
Golf Cart Registration
Cart Path Illumination
Artificial Reef Update
Candelero Marbella Park Update
Candelero Point Beach Access
2007 Annual Homeowners Activities
New AVI System Up and Running
New Service 923 Entrance
Palmas Community Church
PHA Building Update
Power Outages
Security Notes
Holiday Festivities
ARB Update
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President’s Corner
As my tenure as President of the PHA Board draws to a close I want to thank you for your steadfast support and vote of confidence. The road over the past nine (9) years in the PHA Board has not been easy, but progress never is. My special gratitude to the PHA Board members, past and present, the PHA Delegates and to the many committee members and individual homeowners for their generosity in taking time out of their personal lives to work on your behalf solving issues and problems as well as developing new initiatives for the betterment of our community.
Character defines the individual and often it is necessary to go against the grain or to take the unpopular stand for the just cause. Today, more than ever, Palmas property owners need to stick together to defend our rights, to insure the best quality of life for ourselves and families and to promote the values that will stand our community in a class by itself. I urge you to get involved in solving community problems, bringing forth new ideas and implementing new initiatives for the good of the whole. It is critical that you stay abreast of what is going on with frequent visits to PHA's website www.palmaspha.com and becoming involved in committees and action groups. Please don't let the responsibility of tackling our problems fall solely on the shoulders of a few well intended volunteer community leaders. Lighten their load by helping anywhere and anytime you can.
It has been a great pleasure working with you for the betterment of the community. I remain always available to represent and to fight for the best interests of Palmas del Mar.
God Blessings! Luis R. Lomba
WHAT'S NEW
Academy News 
Just across from the PHA new building, the Palmas Academy is undergoing the major restoration of two buildings. The center building will have on the first floor a new facility for library and multimedia-center, the second floor will house classrooms for middle school students while the third building next to PHA will be the High School with new science laboratories for physics, biology and chemistry as well as class-rooms and administrative offices. Expected enrollment when the project is finished will be of approximately 750 students and if the trend continues about half will be from the Resort. In order to continue its path to-ward excellence the Board of Trustees has created an Endowment Fund aimed to attract prospective donors
Golf Cart Registration
Just a reminder that the 2006 golf carts stickers are now expired and you should stop by PHA to register your cart and obtain the 2007 stickers. The grace period to drive with the 2006 stickers ended on February 28. 2007. Avoid $60 fines for driving with expired stickers. Remember that you will need to submit proof of inspection and insurance to register your cart.
Cart Path Illumination
PHA has initiated a program to provide solar illumination to critically dark cart path areas in Palmas del Mar. Phase I of this project is included in the 2007 budget and will initially focus on the area along Candelero Drive between Palmas Drive and Casillas de Palmas. Phase I completion is scheduled for June 2007 and subsequent phases will continue in 2008 according to budget.
Artificial Reef Update
Planning for the construction of an artificial reef at Palmas to stop the beach erosion, restore beach areas and minimize dangerous sea currents continues. A presentation detailing the studies and the proposed final design was given at a regulatory inter-agency meeting sponsored by the Corps of Engineers in December 2006. A similar presentation was given to the Secretary of Natural Resources in February 2007. The endorsement of these agencies is critical in order to move forward in the permitting process. Submittal of permits and supporting documents is in process. Regarding costs PHA is working on alternatives with experts from construction companies to come up with options that will meet design criteria at the lowest cost possible. Preliminary cost estimates received place this project in the range of $9 to $12 million. The funding envisioned for this project contemplates participation from Palmas homeowners, developers and state and federal agencies.
Candelero Marbella Park Update
PHA continues to pursue the creation of a recreational park suitable for the Palmas community. For years PHA had been anticipating that such a park would be built in a 3.3 acre parcel designated for such a purpose in the Palmas Master Plan located near the mouth of the Candelero River. Instead, a very small park was built at this site by the Marbella project developers. Subsequently the parcel was transferred to the Marbella Club instead of PHA as spelled out in the Palmas Covenants which forced PHA to initiate legal action through a lawsuit to re-address this situation. The case is at the discovery phase.
PHA has indicated its willingness to entertain settlement proposals but such proposals must be serious and presented through the correct channels. If a meaningful proposal is received, a special committee will be appointed to pursue such an alternative. Meanwhile PHA will continue pursuing this matter through the court of law. Details of this issue can be found at the PHA website www.palmaspha.com.
On a related note, PHA is negotiating with the Palmanova Village developer the acquisition of a 1.3 acre parcel located between the Tennis Center and the previous Oliva's Restaurant. The objective is for PHA to convert this parcel into a small children's recreational park for the enjoyment of the Palmas community.
Candelero Point Beach Access
A Dialogue Committee appointed by the PHA Board of Directors has been actively working with the Candelero Point developers to define beach access requirements in this area. Members of the Committee include Rita Molinelli, Walter Fournier, Ricardo Collazo, Raul Rivera, Tony Maldonado. Carlos Lázaro and Developer Luis Muñiz. The plan is to build an easement between Crescent Beach and the Candelero Point parcel six (6) meters wide with parking for 33 golf carts, landscaping and a small turn-around circle at the end of the beach access. The Candelero Point developer informed the Committee that Palmas del Mar Properties, Inc. (PDMPI) has also agreed to provide another beach access easement between the Candelero Point parcel and a 2-acre parcel owned by PDMPI next to the Beach Club. Discussions between the Dialogue Committee and the Candelero Point developer leading to these agreements have been conducted in a very amicable and cooperative manner. We thank Ms. Molinelli and Mr. Muñiz for their diligent efforts in working solutions to ease community concerns regarding future beach access in this area.
2007 Annual Homeowners Activities
Preparations are underway for this year's homeowners week April 9-14, 2007. Detailed information is being -mailed to y-u directly with-the Notice of Meeting: As in years past addition to the-business activities required by the PHA By-Laws there will be a series of events open to all PHA members. These include a Tennis Tournament on Wednesday, April 11 at 4:00 pm; Golf Tournament with Dream Team Competition on Friday, April 13 at 11:00 am; Homeowners Party at 4-Points Sheraton, Friday April 13 at 7:00 pm; House Tour Saturday, April 14 at 1:00 pm. Please sign up early for events requiring registration. You will find registration forms included in the Notice of Meeting. You may register by mail, FAX 787-285-6401 or depositing your registration in boxes at PHA, DCI, Golf Pro-Shop or Tennis Pro-Shop.
New AVI System - Up and Running
The new AVI system is fully operational at both entrances to Palmas and working well. The old system (plastic AVI card attached to the windshield with velcro) was deactivated on March 1, 2007. If you have not done so, please stop by PHA to obtain the new AVI decals to be permanently affixed to your windshield. Don't forget to bring with you your old AVI cards for credit purposes (must have been issued in your name) and the license of any new vehicles you may want to register.
New Service 923 Entrance
The new Palmas service entrance through 923 road is now complete. This was a joint PHA/Palmas del Mar Properties, Inc. project done as part of the cost share and construction agreements signed to build the 'men' entrances and access control facilities at Palmas del Mar. New entrance consists of a new guard house. five lanes equipped with AVI equipment and close circuit cameras for security purposes.
Palmas Community Church
Palmas Community Church has been serving the community for 33 years. Last month they had a weekend celebration of its land purchase and the launching of its building program entitled Building for the Harvest. Though the Church was initially founded with people on short-term assignments, it has grown into a permanent ministry of full time residents. The church has ministries in both English and Spanish caring for all members of the family. It also partners with ministries across Puerto Rico and the world as it reaches out in service to others. The church's property is located between the new Homeowners Building and the Palmas parking lot near the service entrance to Palmas. They are designing their facility to meet the needs of the whole family so that it can accommodate different activities for all age levels. Palmas Community Church currently meets each Sunday morning at 10:00 am at the Palmas Academy and has other ministries on various days and times throughout the week. For more
PHA Building Update
The construction of the PHA Building is on schedule, within budget and the structure looks impressive. Overall the project is 66 percent complete and should be finished on time by August 2007. The work performed by Berrios Construction Company is of excellent quality.
Holiday Festivities
Congratulations to all residential areas for the excellent job in decorating entrances and common areas. Palmas looked beautiful and certainly helped everyone get into the holiday spirit. Kudos to Palmas Reales, Sunrise and Casillas de Palmas for their selection as the best decorated regime entrances. Also, special recognition to Beach Village, San Marcos, Haciendas de Palmas, Palmas Plantation, Palmas Doradas, Crescent Beach. Crescent Cove and Fairlakes Village for a nice decoration job. A special mention to Mrs. Annie Pietri at Villa Franca A-01 for a fantastic decoration job. We are happy to see Mrs. Pietri again sharing her magnificent Christmas display with the entire community.
The X-mas parranda was a huge fun family event hosted by the Palmas Academy. The golf cart parade. the music and the food was absolutely great. It was very tough to select the cart parade winners as most participants really went all out with impressive theme decorations and innovative ideas.- First place went to cart no. 64 (Christmas Tree with Santa), second place to cart no. 10 (Live Nativity scene to include the Three Kings) and third place was a tie between cart #2 (Reindeer with Sleigh) and cart #58 (Chimney with Climbing Santa).
Security Notes
Zero Homicides, rapes, sexual aggressions, robberies or car thefts were registered at Palmas del Mar during 2006. A total of 46 burglaries and 86 illegal appropriations were reported to the police. Additional security resources have been assigned to areas where trends have been identified. Also, the Puerto Rico Police has assigned additional resources to Palmas and is actively patrolling the area on a 24-hour basis.
The PHA Security Director is holding meetings with regime boards to assess individual area security risks and concerns in order to develop action plans according to each regime needs. Security personnel has been given additional training to become more proactive. Also, they have been provided additional equipment to assist with community problems and emergencies.
Please remain very vigilant of your surroundings and report any suspicious activity to Palmas Security 787-852-7775 immediately. Should you need to talk to the PHA Security Director you may reach him at 787-955-5758 at anytime.
Power Outages
Work continues by the Puerto Rico Electrical Power Authority (PREPA) to correct electrical distribution deficiencies brought up in the recent electrical study update conducted by PHA. Last three major power outages, latest one on the evening Saturday, February 24th, were not limited to Palmas but two of them involved the entire Southeast region from Las Piedras to Yabucoa. Fortunately for Palmas power was restored within a couple of hours.
Palmas has been also experiencing frequent short-duration power outages and fluctuations often as many as four per day. These short-duration outages stem from problems at the Palo Seco Plant (a major recent fire forced shut down of the entire plant) which have placed additional stress in the entire PREPA electrical system. These power outages may continue until the Palo Seco Plant is completely restored or additional capacity comes on stream.
A new electrical substation for Palmas del Mar is being built with a significant contribution from Palmas del Mar Properties, Inc. and is programmed to be online by the end of August 2007. This new substation should significantly improve Palmas electrical situation and provide added reliability. With the new substation Palmas will have its own dedicated high power lines coming directly from PREPA's Control Center and will not be affected by regional power failures as it does today.
ARBUpdate
The year 2006 was very busy for the Palmas Architectural Review Board (ARB) in relation to constructions. Averages of 130 simultaneous constructions were monitored in the field during year 2006. A number of them started the year before and others started during year 2006. In 2006 the ARB received a total of 368 plans and request for approval of which 132 were for new construction (single family houses and multi-family developments) and 164 were for remodeling of existing structures.
PROJECTS UNDER CONSTRUCTION % OF COMPLETION
Plaza del Mar 99% completed
Harbourlakes 73% completed
Costa Verde 90% completed
The Woods 100% completed
Palmanova Village 50% completed
PHA Building 65% completed
Service Entrance 95% completed
Villa Franca II 75% completed
Los Lagos earth movement stage
Palmas Academy Phase II 5% completed
PROJECTS CURRENTLY UNDER REVIEW
Parcel RC-6 Condo Hotel (parcel behind Four Points Sheraton parking) Conceptual Plans
Solarea (Final Plans)
Sunrise Extension – The Views (Final Plans)
The ARB continues with its efforts to curtail the construction violations of approved constructions and the proliferation of illegal constructions. In 2006 a total of 290 inspections were carried out in the field of which a total of 84 resulted in violations notifications to already approved constructions that were not following the Palmas del Mar Construction Rules. A total of 6 illegal constructions were stopped and instructed to file for construction permits both with the ARB and with the Autonomous Municipality of Humacao Permits office. A total of 6, of the stop work orders, ended in legal action.
The ARB wants to take this opportunity to thank its modifications committee members for their important role in reviewing remodeling plans.
The ARB spent about $150,000.00 in legal fees during year 2006 to enforce our Design Codes in an effort to maintain our Architectural Character which distinguishes Palmas del Mar as the most beautiful planned community of the island.
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