Dear Pinewood Residents:

Five (5) lanai decks have been declared to be in emergency status by Crevalle Engineering whom we have hired to oversee our repair project. The decks in these 5 units require immediate shoring. These lanais and the upstairs units (1103/1107, 1202/1206, 1301/1305, 1802/1806, 1803/1807) cannot be used until repairs are made.

As events have unfolded, I now understand that we have very expensive concrete repairs ahead at Pinewood South. We must act and will focus on these until they are completed. Along with dangerously deteriorated lanai decks, stairways and upper front decks urgently require small repairs and special textured sealcoating. This coating is highly durable and needed to prevent further deterioration or future catastrophic failures in our stairways.

The list of pending maintenance and repair needs is large, and we currently have inadequate reserves and income to meet them. A list of needs includes

– Lanai Deck Repairs

– Stairway and Upper Deck Repairs and Textured Sealcoating

– South Swimming Pool Liner (~ $25,000)

– OSY Water Replacement Valves (~ $15,000)

– Asphalt Sealcoating

– Driveway Storm Drain/Sinkhole Repair

– Paint

– General Inflation

– other items.

We now find ourselves with many pressing and expensive maintenance and repair issues and an inadequate financial base. We must now address this inadequacy. When I was asked at last year’s budget meeting whether the quarterly fee increase would be enough, my answer was that we would not know until at least next year. Next year has arrived and, unfortunately, it is now clear that we are still far short of the revenue needed for repairs and expenses. The quarterly fee must increase by a substantial amount again. This is necessary to get us out of the financial woods. Even with another increase, I cannot rule out further increases in 2026 or 2027.

How did we get here? There are multiple reasons. They are: 1) General Inflation. Prices for everything have increased. 2) Age. Pinewood is now 40 years old and experiencing new age-related maintenance needs. 3) Quarterly fees were held low the last several years while reserves were spent down to near zero. 4) Long term maintenance needs were neglected or ignored in order to keep the quarterly fee low.

Forward to now – the easy years of lower quarterly HOA fees are over. We have now entered a new time that will require us to buckle down and raise the money required to restore Pinewood to good physical and fiscal condition. This will be financially painful for many, but the alternative is to let Pinewood crumble. That is not a viable option.

I have asked my fellow board members to investigate the possibility of Government grants or loans. Quite possibly, we can get a low interest repair and development loan through the FHA although we cannot include these in our planning as yet. If we are able to do this in the future, it would be of great help in completing our concrete repairs quickly and to stabilize our budget and planning process. Any owners that have specific or usable knowledge that could help us in this regard would be deeply appreciated.

Long term, I am highly optimistic that we can return Pinewood to top condition by every metric. For now, we just need to hang in there and work our way through this necessary time of adjustment.

Two Board meetings are planned soon, one in September and one in October. We ask that all interested and concerned owners attend. The September meeting will be called our ‘field trip’ meeting. We will walk the Pinewood grounds to observe the problems I’ve described firsthand. There will be question and answer time.

The late October meeting will be the big, annual budget meeting. We plan to bring Josh, the Crevalle Engineering lead person in to discuss the lanai decks and stairs problems. I would anticipate some question-and-answer time with him. We will discuss budget matters and have a vote on the proposed 2025 budget and announce the new higher 2025 quarterly HOA fee at that time, also. These meetings will be very informative so please attend if you can.

Sincerely – Gregory Grover – President, Pinewood South Condominium Association