January KBV Newsletter

[DeniseM]

JANUARY KBV NEWSLETTER:

Back in September we announced the new Board of Directors Newsletter, which would be sent periodically throughout the year to help keep Owners informed about their home away from home. The second edition is here!

Maintenance Fees in Brief
By Dani Ramos

The 2019 maintenance fee bills include an increase of just under 5% over 2018. Here are some highlights from the budget:

• Hotel pool is NOW OPEN! If there was one question we received the most from our owners over the last several years it was “Why can’t we use the hotel pool anymore?” Well, your board heard you loud and clear and effective October 15th all arriving guests were provided with wristbands to access the hotel pool (up to six bands are provided depending on the unit size and number of registered guests). The annual impact to maintenance fees would have been about 3% to provide this amenity, but the implementation of the Resort Service Fee of $20/day for newly arranged rentals and exchanges will recover the majority of this impact once it phases in. KBV Owners and Club Wyndham based reservations will not be charged the fee; if a KBV Owner rents their week, it is considered the Owners’ use week and the fee will be not be charged. With the financial support of the fees we’re paying for pool use, the hotel has been able to move ahead with upgrading the pool facilities. Towels are not being provided at the hotel pool, so timeshare owners and guests will need to bring along the pool towels stocked in the unit. Please note, the Fitness Center and other hotel activities are not part of the pool use program.
• Although bad debt continues to be the number one financial concern for our association, rental income has helped tremendously to offset the impacts to the budget in the short term. Your board is actively considering various strategies to address this issue. The December survey feedback from owners who agreed in September to receive the long survey included several questions related to this concern. Your board will continue to communicate with you about this.
• Reserve contributions were increased by 8% so that we can make progress on a major renovation as our reserves are being hurt by nonpaying owners. We recently received a Reserve Study that will assist the board in making sound financial decisions on the scope of the project based on available funding. A model unit with conceptual fabrics and furnishings was recently completed and looks beautiful. Even with the 8% increase, keeping the renovation costs within affordability targets may require removing some of the features incorporated into that model unit. Your survey feedback will help us prioritize what should remain in the final configuration.

Beach Cleaning Equipment
By Larry Warner

After the severe storms last spring and with all the debris washing up on our beaches the Kauai Beach Resort Association (KBRA) board decided to invest in equipment to clean the beaches. We have a Kubota Compact Track Loader which is capable of removing many of the logs that wash up on the beach. In addition, we can mount our new Clean Sands, sand sifting machine on the back of the Kubota Loader. Our beaches should always be clean now.

KBV Has a Great Reputation Score
By Larry Warner

Measuring online reputation isn’t just about reviews or surveys. Today, our brand receives multiple sources of feedback — from star ratings to search impressions to social comments — across a broad and ever-expanding ecosystem of data sources. The Reputation Score is a single, sophisticated and real-time calculation of our online performance across online reviews, business listings, social media and search engines, so we always know where the KBV brand stands. The score takes into account many factors affecting our reputation, including star ratings; review volume, recency, length, and spread; search impressions, listing accuracy, review response, and social engagement. We score favorably in comparison to our peer group.

Review sources measured include: Google, TripAdvisor, Expedia, Hotels.com, Booking, Facebook and others.

Board Transitions Committee Report
By Jack Goodstein [TUG MEMBER]

As many of you already know, owner defaults have led to a significant growth in bad debt in KBV’s budget over the years. Even so, the 2018 maintenance fees remain competitive with comparable accommodations on Kauai.

The timeshare industry has and continues to change significantly since the Pahio at KBV timeshare began. Few of us imagined the difficulty we would face in finding someone else to take over our timeshare ownerships when life changes prevent our continuing enjoyment of them. There are too many contributing factors to this situation to discuss meaningfully in this short newsletter. There are also several different directions that can be pursued to adapt to the current and changing environment. All the members of your BOD and management representatives of Grand Pacific Resorts have been meeting monthly in committee by telephone to understand and address ownership transitions. In support of that, a lengthy follow up survey to owners who agreed to receive it was designed to gather information to address specific aspects of our as-is condition as well as testing elements of various potential strategic directions. We appreciate your willingness to take the time to answer it thoughtfully.

One of the exciting results from the September survey was 237 owners indicating their willingness to serve on committees using virtual tools. It was clear that we needed to enable hundreds of KBV owners to be as involved as they wish in KBV committees. The Kauai Beach Villas IOA Public Square forum has been established as a sub-forum under US - Hawaii Timesharing in the Timeshare Users Group (TUG) forum system. All KBV owners can read the forum without registering a TUG identity. Anyone desiring to post comments in the forum must register as a guest (free) or join as a member ($15/year). Membership in TUG provides access to resort reviews, certain members-only forums, and up to 25 annual for sale or for rent listings in the TUG marketplace. Ultimately, the value of the KBV IOA Public Square depends on owners using it. More explanation is contained within posts in the KBV forum. Please check it out at your earliest opportunity.

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The following Board of Directors Code of Ethics was adopted on October 12, 2017. Owners interested in nominating themselves to be candidates for election to the board are expected to abide by this code should they be elected. Agreement to do so is a requirement for being included on the ballot.

Board of Directors Code of Ethics
Adopted October 12, 2017

(Based on the Community Association Institute’s Model Code of Ethics for Community Association Board Members)

Board members should:

1. Strive at all times to serve the best interests of the association as a whole regardless of their personal interests.
2. Use sound judgment to make the best possible business decisions for the association, taking into consideration all available information, circumstances and resources.
3. Act within the boundaries of their authority as defined by law and the governing documents of the association.
4. Provide opportunities for residents to comment on decisions facing the association.
5. Perform their duties without bias for or against any individual or group of owners or non-owner residents.
6. Disclose personal or professional relationships with any company or individual who has or is seeking to have a business relationship with the association.
7. Conduct open, fair and well-publicized elections.
8. Always speak with one voice, supporting all duly adopted board decisions—even if the board member was in the minority regarding actions that may not have obtained unanimous consent.

Board members should not:

1. Reveal confidential information provided by contractors or share information with those bidding for association contracts unless specifically authorized by the board.
2. Make unauthorized promises to a contractor or bidder.
3. Advocate or support any action or activity that violates a law or regulatory requirement.
4. Use their positions or decision-making authority for personal gain or to seek advantage over another owner or non-owner resident.
5. Spend unauthorized association funds for their own personal use or benefit.
6. Accept any gifts—directly or indirectly—from owners, residents, contractors or suppliers.
7. Misrepresent known facts in any issue involving association business.
8. Divulge personal information about any association owner, resident or employee that was obtained in the performance of board duties.
9. Make personal attacks on colleagues, staff or residents.
10. Harass, threaten or attempt through any means to control or instill fear in any board member, owner, resident, employee or contractor.
11. Reveal to any owner, resident or other third party the discussions, decisions and comments made at any meeting of the board properly closed or held in executive session.

 

[DaveNV]

I like seeing a newsletter that actually involves Owners in the management process. And seeing Jack’s name in there is good to read.

Dave

 

[TUGBrian]

agreed, this is a wonderful way to keep owners informed!

 

[Jeff From Salem]

I appreciate the posting of these newsletters. This is great.

However, the rule about all BODs speaking with one voice is not a good one, in my opinion. Imagine if the minority in one of the houses of Congress were not allowed to speak.

["8. Always speak with one voice, supporting all duly adopted board decisions—even if the board member was in the minority regarding actions that may not have obtained unanimous consent."]


We, as owners, are allowed to phone in and connect to the BOD meetings so we can listen in. It's great for that opportunity, but how many have the time to do so? And as detailed minutes of the meetings are not being posted, most of us have no idea as to the variety and complexity of issues being discussed. Pretending that there that policy is 100% agreed upon and that there are no dissenters doesn't forward our knowledge or awareness. It's as though we are being treated as children (as though simple yes or no is all we can comprehend properly). It's dumbing down the information for us.

Jeff

 

[ecwinch]

Jeff - BoD’s - by design - have a fiduciary duty to the HOA and a duty of loyalty to support the direction of the BoD. A BoD member who cannot meet those obligations should resign.

 

[Jeff From Salem]

Jeff - BoD’s - by design - have a fiduciary duty to the HOA and a duty of loyalty to support the direction of the BoD. A BoD member who cannot meet those obligations should resign.

Having a fiduciary responsibility does not negate the other. I don't think it's an either/or. In fact, there may be legitimate arguments against what the majority has voted for.

I think there has to be a different paradigm in which to operate. There MUST be greater transparency. If detailed minutes were noted and posted for all to see, then these discussions might be less dire. But with essentially no one outside of the BOD knowing the nuances of the debated issues, there has to be a way to see what the different arguments are. Again, there's a reason that we see dissenting opinions from the Supreme Court, not just the majority's.

 

[ecwinch]

This is not the supreme court, nor the partisan halls of Congress. This is a corporation and the BoD needs to be united and working toward the common betterment of the corporation. The time/place for discussion and debate is prior to a vote of the BoD, but once the BoD collectively decides on a direction, the corporation is not well-served when a BoD member undermines the BoD by their conduct.

https://www.davis-stirling.com/HOME/Duty-of-Loyalty#axzz3LtNqb1Fn

 

[Pathways]

Eric - A huge 'THANK YOU' for your concise comments and especially the link.

We see this situation most frequently in local school board's, where disgruntled constituents disagree with 'insert issue here' and campaign to oust someone they feel does not support the direction they want things to go.

Then, once elected, they are educated with the 'real' duties of the BOD, and suddenly find they can do far less as a member to move the BOD where they want than they could from the outside.

I once argued an issue in front of a BOD and the vote went the other way. Two members told me privately afterwards that they agreed with me and knew my facts were correct, but the consultant they hired said otherwise. As as board member, they had to vote to follow the consultant's recommendations as they were the licensed professional. (Else, as noted, they could be breaching their fiduciary duty and could face personal liability). A third member was the one who put me on the agenda, hoping the consultant would rethink and leave some room for further investigation. (Didn't happen)

As Eric noted, a huge difference between a Corp BOD and our elected reps!

 

[leehad50]

I appreciate the posting of these newsletters. This is great.

However, the rule about all BODs speaking with one voice is not a good one, in my opinion. Imagine if the minority in one of the houses of Congress were not allowed to speak.

["8. Always speak with one voice, supporting all duly adopted board decisions—even if the board member was in the minority regarding actions that may not have obtained unanimous consent."]


We, as owners, are allowed to phone in and connect to the BOD meetings so we can listen in. It's great for that opportunity, but how many have the time to do so? And as detailed minutes of the meetings are not being posted, most of us have no idea as to the variety and complexity of issues being discussed. Pretending that there that policy is 100% agreed upon and that there are no dissenters doesn't forward our knowledge or awareness. It's as though we are being treated as children (as though simple yes or no is all we can comprehend properly). It's dumbing down the information for us.

Jeff

I would love to have access to BOD minutes. I feel very uninformed.

 

[jacknsara]

I would love to have access to BOD minutes. I feel very uninformed.

Board minutes are posted on the KBV website maintained by the resort manager. Start with https://kauaibeachvillasresort.com/owners-community/ or https://kauaibeachvillasresort.com/ and click on Owners Community. If you do not yet have the password to get in (I won't post it here), call Grand Pacific Vacation Services (888) 477-6967. Once they confirm you are an owner, they will tell you the password.
Once you are in, click on Board of Directors. For past minutes, click on "2018" which is somewhat mislabeled since board minutes from 2016 to most current posted are there. There is a delay in posting new minutes related to waiting for them to get approved at the subsequent board meeting. It is not unusual for corrections to be incorporated.
BTW - all owners are welcome to sit in physically or dial in telephonically to scheduled board meetings but are precluded from participating unless specifically granted permission. If you want to dial in, contact the resort manager in advance and ask for dial in instructions. Should an executive session be declared toward the end of the meeting, all non board members must leave or hang up.
Jack