Community Manager's Report (November 1, 2026)​

 

Summer Recap

As everyone knows it was quite the summer. Happy to report, except for the catastrophic fire, there were no other major losses. A few water leaks, but nothing compared to what Bldg. 2 endured.

The swimming pool cover has been “band aided”, and heavy-duty straps were placed under it to get by for another winter.

We have the pool pump disconnected and I will take it to the electrician’s shop.  It is 11 years old and was failing at the end of the season.  If we can fix it and get a few more years out of it, it would be worth the small expense versus a new pump which would be a few thousand dollars. The pool does have a leak in the piping underneath. We are going to try to get it sorted out in the Spring.  Notably, when the pool closed for the year, the water pressure to Bldgs. 8 & 9 improved.

I often get and very much appreciate the compliments regarding the pool flowers. This year, I took them all into the garage to over winter them and reuse them next year.  Wish me luck!

The cabana is still open until the snow comes. 

 

Accomplished since last meeting:

• Installed a new roof on the office.  Replaced the ‘employee only’ door and installed a screen door.

• Clubhouse:  Two new ceiling fans were installed, tinting was applied to the sliding doors, and the blinds were removed. Added another bookshelf for our ever-growing collection of books.

• Painted the bollards along the cabana and the underside of most balconies.

• Miscellaneous roofing repairs on Bldgs. 6, 7, & 8.

• Repaired furnace room doors and trim.

• Installed new lighting in front of Bldg. 5. (When this was installed, someone drove a nail into it for an EV charger.  Needless to say, not allowed.)

• Replaced exterior lighting at Bldgs. 8 & 9.

• Flat roofs were cleaned off several times.

• There was a sewerage clog behind Bldg. 9. The 7 Springs Water Authority had to call a company from Pittsburgh to get it resolved.

• Installed the new red gate going up the ‘back road’ behind Bldg. 1. 

• Repaired guard rails below Bldg. 1 and between Bldgs. 7 & 8.

• Removed a dead tree beside Bldg. 1 and one behind the playground. Several other trees were pruned. We also planted some pompous grass throughout the property.

• Chimney work was done at Bldgs. 1 & 8.

• All gutters and downspouts cleaned, some repaired and replaced.

• A major balcony repair was made to Unit 9C4.

• Replaced most of the circulating pumps. The mountain water is very hard on them.

• Installed handrails on every floor in Bldgs. 1, 2, 3, 8 & 9.

• Replaced many rotted boards at Bldgs. 1, 2 & 3. Soffit fixed and boards coil-wrapped to preserve them.

• Checked back doors and main doors and replaced closers as needed.

• In the spring, sixty-five (65) bags of cold patch asphalt were used to fix some holes.

• Stained office deck, cabana and bridges. We might skip a year to save some money. We have looked into alternative boards. The cost is estimated to be around $75,000.

• Enclosed the steps and the underneath area of the cabana to make it look a lot neater and cleaner.

• Replaced splintered and bad boards on cabana, steps and bridges.

• Because of their age, weather and salt, the gas lines going into the buildings under the bridges were corroded to the point that we could not ignore them.  Mensers replaced them and then painted them with rubberized paint. Harry Maust and his guys took a look and are going to build some custom ‘roofs’ for the pipes to protect them from the snow melting salt.

 

Currently:

Furnace PMs are done for the season. If you have an issue with your furnace, please call or text me, and I will get a technician out.

Fall leaf cleanup is underway.

Firewood will be replenished. If, during the season, you start to run low, please let me know.

 

2027 Projects:

Because we did more than we planned, next year we are scaling back to rebuilding the Reserves.

More brick repair is needed.

We want to continue with balcony repairs and wood replacement.

Miscellaneous painting.

 

Odds & Ends

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Building 2 Fire 7/21/2026:  Everyone by now knows what happened. The DRS crew was able to empty the units. Independent of that, I had Mensers install a special valve to turn the water off for that side of the building. They also isolated 1A5 from the gas line so that the other units have working furnaces. The hold up right now has been waiting for the county permits to come through. The framing of the roof will begin as early as next week.

Thank you to all of you for supporting the local fire departments that showed up that night and saved our building. Without their quick action and dedication, this would have been much worse. So many of you donated to them and supported their raffles. It was inspiring. I still share the raffles on the MV FB page.  So keep the support going.

 

Snow Crew:  We have the same crew shoveling walks this year. However, I am directing them to use less salt. There are a few reasons for this. First, the price of ice melting salt has gone up 45%. Second, it is hard on pipes under the deck and even though we are using concrete and pet safe salt, it affects the cement. And lastly, it will track less into the hallways, which will save money on cleaning.

 

Water Woes:  The 7 Springs Water Authority was investigating a leak near Bldg. 9. They did not find anything. They now believe that the water loss was coming from our pool. We will attempt to address that in the Spring.

 

Reminder:  All fireplaces are for owner use only. Our insurance policy prohibits renters from using any fireplaces  (this includes both wood and gas).   I do have stickers with me today if anyone would like to get one to provide notice to your renters and guests.

Wood burning fireplace inspections begin on Wednesday November 4.

 

Dumpsters and Trash:  Please do not put furniture in or beside the dumpsters. There are resources available for you to call to have large items picked up.  Also, please remind your contractors to remove all remodeling material from the property and NOT to use our dumpsters for building materials and supplies. We caught a contractor remodeling someone’s townhome and dumping debris in the insurance dumpster. This is not allowed.

Also, all contractors are required to provide a Certificate of Insurance (COI) to me for our files.

 

Renters:  Please share the ‘Tips for Renters’ sheet with your guests. I can email this out to everyone. It is also available on the Mountain Villas website. Do not give or post my phone number to your renters. Please make sure you tell them about the one-way traffic pattern during ski season.  As well as not park along the wall across from the townhouses.

 

A/R:  Pay your bills. There are a few owners who I must chase payments monthly. We offer online payment options, automatic payment options, coupons, etc. No reason to not pay what you owe. Reminder, the late fees are now $75.00.  Also in January, I will be going online and reviewing all the rental ads. If you allow pets in your rental, you will get the annual $50. charge.

 

Security:  We haven’t had any major security issues to report. The E.B. is still tossing around the idea of installing cameras at each building pointed towards the parking lots. Bull Eye is still our security company.  I have heard rumors that Swiss Mountain is going in a different direction with their security, which would mean we would have more coverage. This would NOT affect our costs.

 

3B1:  The unit is owned by the HOA. It is listed with Highlands Resort Realty for sale. We did have a leak from the unit above. The leak was fixed, the drywall patched, and the unit was cleaned. We also stained the back deck as it was looking rough. We are hoping that with Ski season approaching it will sell and those funds can go directly towards our parking lot. Ground floor one-bedroom units sometimes can be a tough sell. We just need the right buyer.

 

Donation Drive

We are doing our annual donation drive for the Humane Society of Somerset County. We will gladly accept the donations in the office, or you can have anything shipped here via Chewy or Amazon. Anything you can donate is greatly appreciated. This being our 10th anniversary of this event, let’s really knock it out of the park. There is a flyer in your packet.

 

Finally - I would like to take a moment to once again thank you all for your support and kindness throughout the year.

Last year with my kidney surgery and then this year with my thyroidectomy. I hate to give bad news, but I do have yet another surgery in “my” near future to repair a hernia.

And lastly, thank you to this incredible Executive Board. They do so much behind the scenes that nobody realizes. Between the zoom meetings, office meetings, and my never-ending emails, they are truly under appreciated.