You should have received from Vigia (Mark McFadden) an email regarding the departure of Aequitate, the management company employed by Vigia last year. It appears Vigia and Aequitate jointly agreed that they could not introduce, successfully, the Resort structure Aequitate had been advocating. If you have not received this email please advise and I will forward it to you.
As further background an OA Chairman’s meeting was held on Tuesday 22nd November to discuss the current position. This was before the announcement of Aequeitate’s departure. The Chairmen of PDF OA, Phase 111OA, QDEVOA and QDAOA were present. Martyn Uttley and I attended on behalf of QDM. It was clearly evident from that meeting that the major stumbling block to agreement on 2011 budgets was the reluctance of Phase 1 & 2 Owners to accept the proposed increase in their C&U charges which have, historically, been very low.
Mark McFadden attended part of the meeting stressing the perilous state of Vigia finances and the need for agreement to be reached and monies paid. Mention was made of the possibility of Vigia being unable to meet salary costs unless this was achieved. He urged the OA’s to send as soon as possible their proposals for 2011.
As a result your committee, guided by David Curtis, revisited the QDM budget. In the meantime we have been talking with other management companies and have already received quotations for certain services that appear to be considerably cheaper than Vigia’s. These have been factored into our proposals which were presented to Mark when Martyn and I met with him again yesterday. We await a response.
I am sure all Owners will agree that we have continued to receive support from Vigia services throughout 2011 and whatever the outcome QDM Owners will have an obligation to pay for these once the budget is agreed, irrespective of what other Owners Associations may decide. None of us would wish to see a return to the situation last year where loyal Vigia staff on whom we depend not being paid in the run up to the festive season.
As mentioned in previous updates whilst Vigia remain our favoured option we have continued to investigate alternatives should Vigia fail. We have had a positive response from 51 owners (out of 73) which represents 39 of the 49 houses on site. Whilst this is an excellent response by most standards it will be difficult for the Committee to implement an emergency plan (should it become necessary) without complete support. If you have not yet responded please do so.
We will come back to you as soon as we receive a response from Vigia to our budget proposals
Best regards
Nigel Chairman QDM Executive Committee.
2011 Government Budget
For anyone interested David Curtis has forwarded a summary of the relevant points from the 2011 Government Budget Proposal. This is available for download here. The file is approximately 1MB. This will be particularly relevant for owners renting their properties, or for those registered offshore.
Update on A22 tolls
The Government has announced that the proposed tolls on the A22 will come into effect on December 8th. I have included details of how this will affect foreign registered vehicles below. More information is available here.
The www.ct.pt website provides the following information:
The lanes in which tolls are electronic only are marked with a reference “electronic toll only”. Foreign-registered vehicles have several payment options in order to circulate in these lanes.
Prepaid Products without Toll Tag (License plate registration – see my note 1):
• 3 days “Vignette” (valid for 3 days, only for Classes 1, 2 or 5 vehicles, unlimited number of trips in motorways without manual toll lanes, total amount to pay: 20,62€)
• 5 days Prepaid (valid for 5 days, trips limited to the deposit amount paid, rechargeable at Post Offices, PAYSHOP or at ATM machines, total amount to pay: 10,62€ for vehicle classes 1, 2, 5 (cars and motorcycles) or 20,62€ for vehicle classes 3 and 4 (heavy commercial vehicles)
Pre-paid Toll Tag
• You may purchase a temporary prepaid toll tag (deposit fee in currency of 27,5€ plus 10 € in prepaid tolls for vehicle classes 1, 2, 5 (cars and motorcycles) or 20 € for vehicle classes 3 and 4 (heavy commercial vehicles).
• This prepaid is valid only in motorways without manual toll lanes and the toll tag is valid for 90 days, and may be renewed for 90 days periods with minimum prepaid toll amounts** of 10 €.
• Upon return of the undamaged complete tag (tag + bracket/holder + deposit fee receipt) within 30 days of purchase, the deposit amount paid is refunded. A rental fee will be charged according to period of use: 6 € first week and 1,5 € for each of the following weeks of use. Non used prepaid toll amounts are not refundable.
• You will be able to access to your toll electronic receipts at portagens.ctt.pt, by using your activation key (chave de activação) provided with the deposit fee receipt.
• You must install, use or dispose of your Tag in accordance to our instructions making sure to use it in vehicles that are of the same class as the Tag. Before placing the Tag on the windshield of your car, make sure that it is properly inserted in the holder.
• The prepaid toll tags are on sale on service areas of these motorways – see my note 2
• For more information you may consult our website portagens.ctt.pt, call 707262626 or go to a Post Office.
Note 1 – I understand this to mean that you should pre-register your registration no and other details on-line in advance.
Note 2 – There is still confusion in the Algarve over this. I am still investigating availability.
** All recharges made through ATM services may take up to 48 hours.
Repainting of town houses
Repainting is now well underway. Repainted properties are looking good. CAPS (the painting contractor) has a website at www.caps.com.pt
2011/12 Membership Fees
There are still a few members who have not paid their Membership Fees for 2011. If you have not yet subscribed, payment of €20 per household (or €5 per quartershare) should be made to David Curtis as follows:
- €20 by post to David Curtis, 13 Black Down Mead, Cheddar, Somerset, BS27 3XW
- or left at PDF reception for the attention of David Curtis