Note from the Chairman
Dear Owners,
Since our last Newsletter at Christmas, we have seen the departure of the Resort Director, Dr. Daniel Gama, to a new job at the Eden Resort at Albufeira. This departure was a disappointment to all of the Owners Associations as we had all developed a good working relationship with him and he was doing an impressive job under considerable financial constraints.
We are awaiting news on the appointment by the Administrator, Dr. Bruno Vicente, of a new Resort Director and understand that a number of interviews have already taken place.
GSA “Liquidation” Process
Next week (26th February) in Olhão Court it is expected that the next step of the “liquidation” process will be formalised and that the Administrator can then proceed to sell the company. It is also expected that the conditions for the sale will include that GSA continues as a Service Provider and retains the workers.
GSA Staff Payments
The situation continues to be very unsatisfactory for the GSA workers with wages still being more than 6 weeks behind. To rectify this, the Administrator is currently negotiating a bank loan of €500K to pay back all staff arrears and provide some working capital. It is understood that some GSA assets are being provided as security for the loan.
Community & Urbanisation (C&U) Charges for 2015 & House Accounts
As we reported in the Christmas Newsletter, the C&U charges for 2015 are the same as for 2014 – with the exception of the 3 Villas and QDM 41 who have their own pool facilities and do not contribute to the pool maintenance and the cleaning and maintenance of the surrounding area.
The C&U charges can be paid monthly in arrears, or quarterly in the middle of the second month of the quarter. Owners can also make separate arrangements with the C&U supervisor, Patricia Vieira (patricia.vieira@saresorts.com) and include a “direct debit” type arrangement from the House Account provided that there are sufficient funds available.
House Accounts – Negative Balances – it continues to be important to monitor your House Accounts as GSA will not pay utility bills if there is negative balance; there have been a number of instances over the last few months of electricity bills not being paid and electricity being cut off – and there is a re-connection charge.
House Account Entries – when reviewing your House Accounts (Personal and Overall House Accounts), GSA advise to look carefully at the status of the payment on the Account statements – “Not Paid” or “Paid”. When a bill is presented to the Account, if there is a sufficient positive balance, then the bill is “Paid”, if insufficient, then it is “Not Paid” until a transfer of funds is received, following which the bill is paid and the status is automatically changed to “Paid”. Owners may also state what the funds are to be used for, noting that GSA gives priority to paying bills over paying the C&U charges. Queries on House Accounts should be made to your Owner Services contact or to Magda Mendes (Credit Control).
Fractional Owners Management Fees – GSA will give a small percentage discount if one of the Owners is identified as a sole point of contact for the Overall House Account – the GSA contact is Magda Mendes at credit.control@saresorts.com
Security
In the QDM budget discussions for 2015, GSA provided us with the annual cost of maintaining the night-time security patrols (€10,000 + GSA 10% margin + 23% IVA). If we had proceeded with this, it (a) would have increased the C&U charge by 17%, and (b) would have been in breach of the decision made at the 2012 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Owners Association when the Owners decided “that security patrols should be suspended until such time as a satisfactory monitoring system is in place at a cost acceptable to the Owners. Re-introduction would be subject to a further vote once full details and costs have been agreed”.
As a result, we have looked at a number of options in order to find a sound and cost-effective proposal that could be presented to the Owners –
– night-time security patrols provided resort-wide by Grupo 2045 for GSA, at an annual cost of €10,000 + GSA 10% margin + 23% IVA
– night-time security patrols provided by a security company purely for QDM, at a monthly cost of €1160.50 + 23% IVA
– resort-wide CCTV – at the all OAs’ meeting in January the PDF OA agreed to investigate further a solution that, with 6 cameras at QDM, would have a capital cost to QDM of approximately €10,000 (including IVA) and an annual monitoring cost of approximately €500.
– QDM CCTV – following discussions with a local security company, the capital cost of a QDM-only solution would be between €10,000 and €20,000 depending on the quality of the cameras and the type of cable infrastructure, together with an annual monitoring cost.
The cost-effective way forward would be a CCTV-based solution. However, following a meeting of the PDF OA with the President of the Camara and the Commander of the GNR at Vila da Bispo, the PDF OA were advised that PDF is considered as public roads and CCTV is not permitted. This could also be the case for the top row and Villas at QDM, although the individual calçada are not public roads.
We are also closely following the efforts of the Quinta da Encosta Velha (QdEV) Owners Association who are looking to implement their own CCTV solution.
As a consequence of the above, the Committee is not yet in a position to make a proposal at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting of the OA, and will continue to look at options that can then be presented at a later date to the Owners for their consideration and vote.
Reserve Fund and OA Subscriptions 2015
The Reserve Fund contributions of €100 per house and Owners Association subscriptions (€20 per house) are now due and are being requested by David Curtis (Treasurer). Details are copied at the end of this Newsletter.
The Reserve Fund is important to QDM as it provides the funds (as stated in the Community Services Agreement) for the replacement of items covered by GSA’s maintenance. This includes the pumps and heat exchangers associated with our domestic water, irrigation and swimming pool infrastructure.
Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2015
This year’s AGM will be held in either the week beginning 13th or 20th of April (at the Spike Restaurant). We will publish the Agenda at the beginning of March which will cover, inter alia, the following subjects –
– QDM Finance and Infrastructure
– a Motion to raise the limit of the Reserve Fund in order that we can adequately address the cost of any replacement items of our infrastructure
– a Motion to authorise the OA to establish a separate bank account, specifically for the Reserve Fund – it is currently shared with the OA subscriptions
– a Motion to address further “Restriction of Services” to Owners who do not contribute to the community costs. Owners are not happy that a small number of non-paying Owners are getting the benefits as a result of the majority paying. This applies not only to the C&U charges but also to the Reserve Fund (also an obligation under the Community Services Agreement signed by Owners)
If Owners wish to identify any specific additional items for discussion, please feel free to contact Martyn Uttley (Chairman of the General Assembly) at martyn@martynandmarie.co.uk or myself at davidanddavina@sapo.pt or provide an input in the Comment Section below this Newsletter.
Service Standards – 2015
The quarterly surveys will commence in March, together with the potential percentage reductions on the C&U charges; noting that the reductions are not applicable to utilities – water and electricity. As previously, stated, the percentage reduction will only be applied if 80% of the previous quarter’s C&U are paid.
Note to all owners from the Treasurer (David Curtis)
Dear Owner
It is that time of year when I ask for the OA Membership Subs (€20 per house – €5 per quarter share) and the Reserve Fund (€100 per house – €25 per quarter share)
Your OA is your voice in ensuring that we get the best possible service/value for money from our C & U provider GSA and to protect your interests in the future. The subs are used primarily to seek and obtain professional advice and guidance in matters arising such as – changes in provider – provider in administration – seeking alternative options.
It is therefore vital that we represent as many “Owners” as possible and that you support your OA.
The “Reserve Fund” payment was originally collected through your C & U payment however, since the issues originally with PdF and subsequently GSA this has been collected by the OA. The reserve fund is held to ensure that any unplanned/unbudgeted urgent expenditure can be undertaken without delay. In addition it used with the “Owners” agreement to purchase items to enhance/improve the environment at QDM.
Please can you make the appropriate payment for both elements into the OA bank account – details as below –
Bank – CA Credito Agricola
Bank Address – 7150 Vila do Bispo, Portugal
Account Name – Associacao De Proprietarios Quinto Do Montinho
Address – Quinta do Montinho, 8650-060 Budens, Portugal
Account Number – 40242329022
IBAN – PT50 0045 7150 4024 2329 0226 1
BIC/SWIFT – CCCMPTPL
Please use your house number and Reserve as the reference – QDM?? Subs/Reserve Fund
Alternatively you may post a cheque (made out to myself) for the sterling equivalent to
Mr D R Curtis
13 Black Down Mead
Cheddar
Somerset
BS27 3XW
Or pay in person to either Martyn Uttley (QDM 8) or David Murphy (QDM 24)
If you have already paid please advise details and accept my apology for chasing you.
Thank you very much for your cooperation in this matter
David Curtis
OA Treasurer
Please feel free to use the Comment section below this Newsletter. We would welcome your comments, in particular on the subject of security at QDM.
Best regards
David Murphy
Chairman, Executive Committee
February 2015