Heads up!

Tourist season is in full speed. Everything is going well, Building eight is almost done. The Kahala pool is now salt water (cheaper and healthier), the Po’ipu Kai pool is still chlorine, but plans are to convert it.

We finally found someone to clean our gutters. We plan to tree trim this summer to prevent roof tile damage and to clear your ocean views if necessary. We ordered new walkway lights.

The Po’ipu Kai Association has decided to fix the tennis courts one by one. They did courts five and six and they are now planning to do court four. There will be a little bit of landscaping change around the courts to prevent stormwater run-off. The Po’ipu Kai Board decided to lower the price of the Lanai Room under Kalapaki Joe’s because they weren’t getting any offers.

Feral cats and wild chickens are an Association expense because your guests feed them. A little sign in your unit might help.

Our trees are blooming beautiful flowers. Sweeping the stairways and the front steps are NOT the purview of the homeowners association, please tell your property managers to include the outside as part of their cleaning service.

It is 2024 budget time. The most difficult part of HOA Board duty is trying to figure out next year’s expenses and try not to raise the dues too much. We definitely have to budget for our new balconies to be protected and sealed. Let me know if there are other big capital expenses that we need to budget for.

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Gordon LaBedz 

808 634 8535

Not much to report. That’s good. No news is good news.

On behalf of your Board of Directors, I want to thank 95% of Kahala owners for not giving us a hard time on the balcony project.  Considering what a pain it was for all of us, your cooperation was amazing. It was a structural safety emergency. We had to do it. 

We have had a very rainy winter and we are finding a few problems with stormwater run-off at Kahala, but the original designers did a remarkable job of flood control. 

The vacation rental business has been quite good. Property values have skyrocketed. Po’ipu condos stay on the market less than half a day. Japanese tourists are returning. Businesses are having a hard time finding workers (they aren’t paying enough.) There are tourists everywhere. Local politicians are talking about “managing tourism” and raising taxes on vacation rentals.

The last of the balcony project is still not finished because building eight has had trade wind exposure and has considerably more dry rot. The downstairs patio tile project will probably start in September. Remember, the upstairs balconies are the responsibility of the home-owners association. If your guests wreck the tiles, however, the Association will charge you for the repairs… The downstairs patios are the owner’s responsibility, after the Association puts new tiles on them, you are on your own.

The Po’ipu Kai Association Board incumbents have all decided to re-run for election, so Shawn Cohen and I have withdrawn from the Po’ipu Kai election. 

We have noticed that five and six guests are still packing into one bedroom units. Please tell your property managers to stop renting your unit to big crowds, it increases the wear and tear on your unit and it over burdens our sewage system. It is also very annoying to downstairs units to have so many people stomping around upstairs.

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Gordon LaBedz 

808 634 8535

Although October is usually “slow season,” the resort is quite full with lots of visitors on the island. The weather feels like summer and it doesn’t cool down much in the evenings yet. The big waves are coming back to the north shore and we saw the first humpback whales September 28.

Condo property values have gone up through the stratosphere.

The balcony rebuilding is almost done, only a few more months… We still want to resurface the downstairs lanais and replace damaged landscaping. The reconstruction project hardly affected our monthly fees at all. The project was a nightmare for our Board and we are glad it is almost over.

The Kahala Homeowners Association Board had its annual budget meeting and it was a tough one. We have got a forty year old roof with concrete tiles that are no longer being made, a pool that needs repair and our painting is three years overdue. Owners and property managers are complaining about the health of our stairwells.  Previous Boards have grossly underestimated the cost of replacing the roofs and the reserves are inadequate. Inflation in Hawai’i is higher than the continent and we are looking at an 18% due’s increase next year. The Po’ipu Kai Association is raising their dues also. The idea is to avoid huge special assessments or loans in the future. It is simply a question of saving for the future. Our management experts are telling us the dues increase should be at 25%. We just simply couldn’t take it and hope Hawaii inflation lightens up next year.

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Gordon LaBedz 

808 634 8535

It is awesome here. I hope you can visit soon!

The Lanai Replacement Project is nearing completion.  Our contractor is now working on Buildings 8 and 9. The light at the end of the tunnel is visible. The two last buildings also have the most structural damage. Should be done early next year.

For those of you who may have units with storage lofts now converted to a bedroom, this is a friendly reminder that unpermitted modifications are illegal.  The PKA sewer system is 40 years old and operating above its capacity.  A one bathroom unit should be rented to two people, not four. 

Another concern your Board of Directors has is fire. Our wiring, outlets and circuit breakers are also 40 years old in a damp, salt laden environment, and are starting to experience failures and causing fires in other nearby condos. Please have your electrical panels and wall outlets checked regularly by your maintenance representative or electrical contractor.  Also remember the air conditioner rules and the NO instant-on water heaters.

Our budget preparation meetings were very challenging, and we look forward to the October 17 Kahala Board Meeting to discuss with the owners. Some of the challenges we encountered, is that many of the upcoming “planned“ projects that were identified by previous Boards budgeted far less than what it will actually cost in upcoming years.  Other Poipu condo associations have found roof replacement, exterior painting, and other major projects are costing far more to complete. The dues will be going up. (Please don’t kill the messenger.)

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Gordon LaBedz 

808 634 8535

We just wrapped up the annual meeting and annual potluck at the pool. Thanks to all who sent in your proxies to give us a quorum.

Here is the update:

The present Board was re-elected. Thanks to our amazing hands-on Board and our honest and super competent property managers, Scott and Marlene and our super competent Hawaiiana money manager, Whit, we feel like we finally have a good handle on things. A few years ago, we were pretty much out of control.

The construction is going very well. The last three buildings that have most of the dry rot are taking longer. Building One is half done. Building Nine is next (July) and finally Building Eight. We took out the loan when the interest rates were 3%, we bought the wood and tile long before prices went up and we were able to finish the most noisy and disruptive part of the project during the Covid clampdown when no one was here. We saved a ton of money. Dumb luck.

The Board is still very concerned about flooding and worried that we will lose our insurance if we have another flood. Most floods come from old water heaters at the end of their life. Please check our website (Www.KahalaOwners.org) to see if your unit is out of compliance. Ice maker pipes to refrigerators are also a problem. All the locks will be synchronized in June so we can enter quickly in an emergency. We are cleaning the indoor drains and the sewer drains on a regular basis and we want to remind you of something that you may have not read in our rules when you bought your property:

Every unit needs an on-island property manager. THIS IS STATE LAW. The on-island representative needs to be able to handle any problems with your property. A cleaning service or an old surfer buddy who lives in Hanalei doesn’t do the trick. They also better have the key to your car in case it needs to be moved for some reason. Call me if you need help on this.

REMINDER: Our electrical system is not modern and cannot take more than one air conditioner per unit. To upgrade our electricity would cost millions. NO TANKLESS WATER HEATERS. If you have one, it is a fire hazard and must be removed immediately.

Financially we are doing quite well and the reserves have actually grown, in spite of the $200 thousand in unbudgeted insurance claims, the doubling of our insurance rates and the $85 thousand cost when the county made us install new back flow valves.

The Board is watching Po’ipu Kai Association closely on plans for the tennis courts and proposed pickleball. We are strongly opposed to adding pickleball because of the noise and we don’t want to see a massive construction project at the courts that will make our neighborhood unrentable.

There is a bill in front of the county council to mandate electric charging stations in all parking lots with a hundred spaces. We are going to have to figure something out quickly if it passes.

If you missed the meeting, again thanks for your proxy. It is gorgeous here, come back soon.