Comunidad de Propietarios Urb. Sol Golf I y II

new website

2009-05-19T01:01:00.000-07:00

I am working on a new Community website and will post details soon. This website will hold all the minutes from the meetings and information under different headings instead of this blog style where owners have to plough through a lot of information to find what they are looking for. Owners will also be able to advertise properties for rent or for sale and also chat to each other on the forum.

Cockroaches

2009-05-19T00:58:00.000-07:00

The council has sprayed the main roads around phases one and two against cockroaches. There is no charge to the Community for this process. As agreed at the last A.G.M. we are using the same Company to spray the internal walkways as they will do so at a reduced price as they are in the area.

New Bins

2009-05-19T00:54:00.000-07:00

We have now had the old green bins replaced by larger grey bins. These bins are three times the size of the old bins and therefore there are not as many of them. The old bin on phase 2 has not been replaced and the nearest one now is either at the bottom of phase 3 or near the bottle bank at the roundabout. I am in discussion (yes here we go again) with the new providers to get us another bin but as usual this is taking time. We do really need on outside the pool but this is not on the new route at present.

fundraiser

2009-05-12T09:08:00.001-07:00

It has been a long time coming ( I kept forgetting to pay it in!) but I now have the receipt from the money raised by the raffle at the New Years Eve party at the New Shalima Indian restaurant. Thanks to all who took part

RECEIPT NUMBER 09/024

Date - 12th May, 2009

Amount €50.00

Received with much appreciation from

Denise Brown, President Sol Golf 1

The sum of Fifty Euros

Alison Clarke
Assistant Treasurer
Costa Blanca Samaritans
Reg. No. CV- 01-042952-A
NIF G54341466

If anyone should need it the number for the Costa Blanca Samaritans is
902 88 35 35

JUNE 10TH COMMUNITY PARTY

2009-05-07T19:08:00.000-07:00

The last Community street party/fundraiser held on Easter Monday was a great success despite the cold weather and we have been asked to hold another event any time soon.

We are therefore, holding the next Community party on Wednesday 10th June at 7.30 p.m. at 5 phase 1. Once again all profits will be given to charity and this time we will share this between the Paul Cunningham Nurses and the Costa Blanca Samaritans both worthy causes here in Spain.

Tickets will be limited to 50 and are 10 euros each. The ten euro will include all drinks, food which will consist of chilli, curry, chicken faitas, hot pork roast, rice, nan bread, salad and roast potatoes. There will be a vegetarian option of vegetable curry and quorn lasagne. Following this there will be a barbeque with burgers, sausages, ribs and chicken pieces with lastly desserts to suit all.

Entertainment will be provided by local duo Ameritz.

There will be raffles etc, throughout the night in aid of the two charities.

If you would like to reserve a ticket please contact Denise at janddservices@msn.com tel (0034) 699416819.

Committe meeting May 5th 2009

2009-05-05T14:23:00.000-07:00

MAY 5th 2009 COMMITTEE MEETING

Time 15.00
Held at 33 phase 2
Present
Denise Brown (President)
Angie Mundeane (Committee)
Anne Dudley (Committee)
Neville Jackson (Committee)
Marion Jackson (Owner)
Liam MacDonald (Owner)
Apologies
Vic Callaghan-Smith (Vice President)
Janet Turnbull (Committee)

AGENDA

Denise opened the meeting by thanking those present for giving up their time and explaining that although it was a meeting for the Committee any owner is welcome at these meetings. She added that she had sent the agenda to Vic, Janet and Ron and that Vic and Janet had expressed their views on the items on the agenda. She thinks that Ron may be away because he usually responds to emails regarding the Community straight away but had not done so on this occasion

1. Debtors…. Agreement for Denise to go to the Notary to commence court action a.s.a.p.
It was agreed by those present and those who had sent authority that Denise should represent the Community and start the first process which would result in court proceedings against those in debt to the Community. The total outstanding stands at €7,551.61 though this did not include this years charges. It was however realised that Banesta have paid their charges up to date and also the debt to 15 phase 1 was reduced as this was also a property returned to the bank. Helene, the Administrator for the Community, said in answer to the question would there be a charge to the Community for this process, that the only charge would be the 40 to 50 euro charge for the solicitor to have power of attorney for the President. As long as the President was Denise this power would endure so to save the Community money it was suggested that it would be prudent not to change President which caused some laughter amongst those present. On a more serious side it was agreed that some owners are facing severe financial pressures and Denise agreed and explained that if any owner needed a payment plan this was not a problem but the owner must communicate with the Officials or court proceedings were the only option available. It was also agreed that for a Community of our size the debts were small and Helene and Denise were thanked for their work towards this aim.

2. Gardens Agreement to give Pro Pools the go ahead for those quoted. Banesta…. lodge a complaint over the slowness of the bank to respond (from December 2008)
Those present and those by email agreed that the gardens left to weed needed once again to be tidied by the Community gardeners. The estimate was read out for these gardens and it was agreed that the works should commence as soon as possible. Some of the Committee asked if it was possible to tile the gardens causing problems as the weeds just grew back again and it was a constant battle to keep up with them in unoccupied properties. Denise explained, with the agreement of Helene that we have to find the cheapest way to upkeep the gardens just incase the owner does not pay the bill and we end up in court to claim the amounts the Community has paid out. If we present a bill for thousand for tiling or landscaping a garden the Judge could say that this is unacceptable and therefore, the Community would be footing the bill. Once this was explained it was agreed that once again the Community would have the gardens weeded and tidied and also that Helene would contact Banesta again regarding the five gardens they own that need clearing at the moment.

3. Agreement for the Community to pay for the emptying of the pool at 52 phase 2 and to claim the monies from BankInter.
Denise was adamant that this problem should be sorted out as soon as possible as it was ridiculous to expect the neighbours to put up with this problem any longer as it is a serious health hazard. Initially, it was agreed that with the help of Liam and the Committee we would see to the emptying of the pool ourselves. However, Helene pointed out that there may be an objection from the bank who own the property and also a possible health and safety matter and it was agreed that we should get a quote from Pro Pools and have a factura for the work to cover the Community in case of legal action.

4. Planning consent. Discuss and show forms for neighbour agreement.
Although Denise could not present the forms they were described, and the process that needed to be gone through before building works commence discussed in some detail. It is Community law (and local planning law) that permission for any alteration to the outside of an apartment should have
1. Written permission from neighbours. Denise asked if no reply for requests meant a yes and Helene said that this was a very grey area so to be within the letter of the law it would be wise to send a burofax to those affected and if this was ignored at least there was proof of sending the notice.
2. For major projects there has to be approval from the Community at the A.G.M. (This is in the first instance, once there has been approval the same works, using the same plans and materials may be done in other properties)
3. Once stages one and two are met then the owner must get the necessary permission from the Town Hall. If they have it in writing that no permission is needed they may proceed. The Community however, will not be held responsible for giving permission for works that the Town Hall do not approve of the onus is on the owner to check this matter thoroughly. Liam did think that to wait for an A.G.M. in the event of an emergency was too long and Denise stated that in such cases they would be looked into and ways found to suit the Community, and the owner.

5. Items to be purchased for the pool
Denise stated that this was going to be a tough one as no two people could agree what was the best thing to buy for the pool. She, as President, had no preferences, she did however state that what had been passed at the A.G.M. could not be changed either by the President or the Committee. It was therefore, decided to purchase;

1 bin and to ask Pro Pools to empty it.

10 new sun beds but the one piece ones as they are less likely to
break.

2 permanent straw umbrellas to be placed as far away from the pool water as possible.

Several small plastic tables

2, 3 or 4 covered pergolas dependent on price.

Denise then went on to say that once the purchases this year were completed then it was hoped that the spending would stop for a few years unless there was an emergency. This was unanimously agreed by all those present. To this aim it was decided to purchase the stronger, more expensive pergolas with a better canvas so as to make them last a few more years.

6. Street signs to be purchased and fitted.
Denise explained that the file containing all the quotes for the street signs was lost and that she and the Administrator were looking for new quotes. After some discussion it was realised that if we purchased and fixed these ourselves we could get enough for both ends of the walkways and for a sign above the letter boxes for less than employing a Company to purchase and fix them. Liam knows of a tile making Company and is looking into it on behalf of the Community.

7. Painting of cupboards any volunteers?
Liam also expressed interest in this and has already got up a working party. Denise will pay for the materials and claim the money back once we have the facturas.

8. Items for the agenda A.G.M. 2009
It was firstly discussed where to hold the 6th A.G.M. as we needed to keep the cost for this down. We need somewhere disabled friendly which will be cool in September at little cost to the Community and Denise asked if anyone could suggest a venue?
She went on to say that to date, there was very little on the agenda and she hoped to keep it that way if it included spending. The Community however, is a very good financial position but she wanted the Committee and the rest of the Community to be aware that any problems in the future would have to be funded by the owners. The internal walkways are showing signs of breaking down and will one day need replacing. To this end (and of course for other unforeseen problems) she is hoping that the Community can build a large enough emergency fund to finance this and other matters. She would not wish to be in the position whereby she would have to ask owners to pay an extra 500 euro each to pay for such works. In addition, Denise also pointed out that although the banks usually paid the fees in the cases of repossessions there is it seems around a year before this money filters through. It is good for the Community as the 20% is added to the fee and the Community is running without this money but this may not always be the case so we have to bear this in mind.

Items already on the agenda

1.Election/re-election of Officials

2.Presentation of accounts 2009

3. Presentation of budget 2010

4. Keeping the Community payment at 330 euro with a 10% reduction for early payment and a 20% penalty for late payment.

5. New debtors list for court action.

6. Change of Community bank from B.B.V.A. to Banco Popular who has offered the Community a better deal.

7. Installation of Community T.V. for those who wish to contribute. This will not be a cost to the Community but a system with costs shared by those who wish to receive it. We need a mimumun of 17 owners for a one off price of around 450 euro with no monthly fees. More details to follow on the website. Please note, anyone not wanting Community T.V. will not pay towards it either direct or through their Community charge payments.

9. Any other questions/discussion?
Liam asked if the possibility of changing the pool entrance to the side of the pool to allow room for a disabled ramp had been looked into. Denise said yes it had but admitted that quotations for the work had not been asked for and it was not expected to be an item on the agenda for the A.G.M. unless it was requested by an owner. The main problem she concurred was the finance and the fact that by no means perfect, the existing ramp did meet Spanish disability guidelines. The was also a verbal objection by one owner of a property where it was proposed the new entrance would be sited, and some of the Committee agreed they would not wish to live opposite the entrance to the pool especially in the summer months.

The Committee discussed the news that the tenants at 3 phase 2 Mr & Mrs Edwards were leaving and that they had to all appearances abandoned their pet cat which they were not taking with them. This problem was discussed to some depth but no solutions were forthcoming. Denise had hoped that there was some law preventing this kind of thing but realised that there was not, and that the Community would have to either feed the cat or re home it. It was discussed whether the Community should denounce the Edwards but it was decided there would be little point in this.

The bushes in the central reservation between the two phases were discussed and the fact that there was an accident waiting to happen as traffic could not see oncoming traffic because they needed cutting back. Denise said that she had been meaning to ask Helene to contact the Town Hall about this matter and that Committee member Janet had reminded her yesterday. Helene had replied by email that the matter is in hand.

There is also still no sign of the speed bump outside the Community pool and Denise is once again looking into this problem. Helene is also purchasing boxes to go beside the mail boxes for the large amount of fliers that seem to be arriving every day.

Helene before leaving asked Denise to sign some papers to transfer the monies from the saving account at the B.B.V.A. to a higher interest account at the Banco Popular which she did. Although the interest is not fantastic at the moment the Community will be a little better off with this account and we are transferring ten thousand euros tomorrow. We will then look at the expenditure expected before December 2009 and decide if we can transfer more.

The new bins were also discussed and Denise said that we now would have no bins at all on phases one and two once the green bins were removed. She has looked into this and the reply is that the new grey bins are three times as big as the old green ones and therefore the Communities do not need as many. We are informed there is little (as in no) chance of any more grey bins than those already sited at the moment.

Denise said to remind everyone that the next Community party/fundraiser would be on Wednesday 10th June 2009 and she hoped that all could attend.

The meeting thus ended, with many thanks to those who attended those who sent input by email and to Anne for the refreshments ( yes I did really well but gave in at the end with the Danish pastry) and the use of her apartment.

EASTER STREET PARTY

2009-04-28T09:46:00.001-07:00

EASTER MONDAY STREET PARTY

What had started out as a small Community party for owners and friends of Sol Golf turned into a massive fund raising event when over 100 people turned up and a good time was had by all!

Despite the cold evening

some of you were in fine voice all of those who attended seemed to enjoy the event and are already asking for more. Owners from all three phases, Las Violetas apartments along with the Presidents and their wives from three nearby urbanisations made it a night to remember. Lesley and Vic from the duo Ameritz not only provided the entertainment free of charge in aid of the charity they also helped out greatly with the organising, cooking the roast potatoes and making the trifles.

As usual the catering was done by the lady Presidents of Sol Golf Phase 1, 2 and 3 and there were many comments in praise of both the variety amount and flavour of the food provided.

The guess the weight of the cake was won by Phil Wainwright of phase 2 and the many raffle prizes were much appreciatediv%253D3.0/image.gif">. The only prize that was not claimed was a picture donated by the Havana Bar landlady our very own Christine Dixon. Lesley was not impressed by this so she auctioned it and raised an amazing 20 euro for the charity. Unfortunate we could not stop Lin singing on the karaoke but this was drowned out in part by the backing duo Marge and John so it was not too bad. The donation of 4 euro for the opportunity to sing made this all possible. Tam paid 20 euro to sing and had she known his wife would have paid 30 euro for him not too a lesson to be learned there for the next event.

Speaking of next events, this will be on a much smaller scale and will be on Wednesday 10th June…. Hope to see you all there (details later)

Oh and by the way a MASSIVE

415.52 EURO
Was raised for the charity Paul Cunningham Nurses

Well done to all of you and thank you

Easter Party

2009-04-06T19:50:00.000-07:00

Due to the large amount of interest and expected attendance to the Easter Community/fundraising event to be held on Easter Monday the 13th April we have had to change the venue. We were going to hold it in the garden of no 5 phase 1 but have now decided to move it to the internal walkway between numbers 7 and 17 phase 1.

For those who have not had an invitation (sorry some email addresses are out of date) the event is a Community get together and also a fund raising event in aid of the Paul Cunningham Nurses. Paul Cunningham Nurses is a non profit making organisation similar to the Macmillan Nurses in the U.K. and all profits from the Community party will go to the fund. Tickets for the party are 10 euros each (children under 16 free but please make a donation to the charity) and this will include all food, drinks and entertainment. It promises to be a good night starting at 7.30 p.m. and continuing as usual until the early hours!

For further information please contact Denise on janddservices@msn.com telephone (0034)966764279/699416819

Pool reopens

2009-04-06T19:47:00.000-07:00

The retiling of the Community pool is complete and it is now once again open for use.

We have still to replace the furniture and may need some volunteers for this if you are out over Easter. For those of you not coming out soon I hope to have some photos of the tiled area which many owners are pleased with as Harold has done a very good job.

Community/charity event

2009-03-15T01:58:00.000-07:00

It has been decided to hold a Community event this Easter in aid of the Paul Cunningham Nurses Charity. We are to have a barbeque at no 5 on Easter Monday the 13th April starting at 7.30 pm and all owners, tennants, guests and friends are invited.
Our local duo Ameritz have kindly agreed to play free in aid of the charity. Tickets costing 10 euros (no charge for children under 16 but please make a donation to the charity) are on sale now.
There will be food on arrival, followed by curry, chilli, pasta bake and a Mexican dish as well as the usual salads and side dishes. In addition the barbeque will be serving up a delight of ribs, chicken, sausage and burgers. A raffle and other fund raising events are planned throughout the event so remember to bring some change

POOL CLOSURE

2009-03-15T01:52:00.000-07:00

The Communal pool will close on Monday 16th March 2009 to allow for the retiling to commence. Harold has told us that the work could take up to three weeks though he will try his best to do finish as quickly as possible. Although the weather is good at the moment it is too cold to swim although we have had the odd toughie child attempting to!

Harold has informed us that the work will be completed and the Community pool open for Easter which is around the 9th April this year.

AGENDA FOR 6TH A.G.M. 19TH SEPTEMBER 2009

2009-02-20T02:03:00.001-08:00

The agenda file for the 6th Annual General Meeting is now open.

Would any owner wishing an item to be placed on the agenda send it/take it in writing either to Denise at 5 phase 1 Sol Golf phase 1 or to the offices of the Administrator email orihuela-costa@orihuelacosta.net

We are, at the moment not looking to replace any of the contractors as the Officials are more than satisfied with the ones we have, however that could change as most things do in Spain.

Could any owner wishing to replace any of our current contractors please obtain three written quotes and recommendations from Presidents (the contractor should be able to advise you on this) along with their reasons for wanting the change. This should be forwarded to the offices of the Administrator before the end of June 2009 to allow Helene to check the details and place the item on the agenda of the calling.

At the moment there is not very much on the agenda as most items have been covered in previous years. There are a couple of planning applications which is a timely reminder that under the law plans of intended works need to be put before the Community at the A.G.M. for approval.

Up and coming events in the region

2009-01-31T08:01:00.000-08:00

March:
19 Calpe / Feast of Saint Joseph
April:
1-8 Orihuela / Festivities of Easter Week
1 Elche / Palm Sunday
22-24 Alcoy / Moors and Christian Festivities in Honor of San Jorge
29 Crevelliente / Festifities in Honor of San Miguel and Moors and Christians
June:
20-24 Alicante / The San Juan Bonfires
July:
8 Denia / Festivity of Bous A La Mar
21-31 La Vila Joiosa / Moors and Christian Festivities in Honor of Santa Marta
August:
7 Javea / Living Chess
12 14 Altea / Castell De L’Olla
September:
23 Altea / Moors and Christian Festival
October:
21 Calpe / Moors and Christians Festival

Direct debit payments

2009-01-30T22:39:00.000-08:00

The direct debit payments were finally taken by the bank yesterday the 30th January. We have to wait to see if anyone reclaims the money within the 20 day period before we can send out the receipts. Thanks to all who have paid in this way as it makes it so much easier for the accountant and the Community

t.v. the latest

2009-01-30T22:32:00.000-08:00

Following the departure of Telemicro many owners have been left without any English t.v. channels. We are looking into the costs of Community cable t.v. and these will be presented for voting at the next Annual General Meeting on the 19th September 2009.
In the meantime Torresat are now doing free instalation to those who used to be Telemicro customers asking only for the 20 euro a month payment six months in advance. Several of us have taken up this offer but we are in no way recommending them This is purley for information as they are rebroadcasting and may one day go the same way as Telemicro.

STORM DAMAGE

2009-01-25T07:09:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Saturday 24th January the area suffered from severe high winds resulting from the storm that most of Europe experienced. Fortunately apart from damage to the covers of the pergolas’ at the pool Sol Golf has mostly escaped without damage. A few homes have lost their T.V. aerials but unlike many Urbanisations in the vicinity we seem to have all kept our roof tiles.

Community Party

2009-01-22T06:01:00.000-08:00

Sol Golf phases 1, 2 & 3 would like to invite you to the 1st Annual Community Party to be held at number 5 phase 1 on Sunday 20th September 2009 from 7.30 p.m. onwards.
The theme will be Hawaiian and prizes will be given for the best and worst
.
Tickets are 10 euro each (available from any Official)
This price will include all food, (curry,chilli,rice pie & peas, pork roast, barbeque and salads) All drinks (including cocktails, shorts, and sangria and entertainment which this year will be provided by our local duo Ameritz. Prize draws and tombola throughout the night.
There will also be golf on the day and if you are interested in joining in please call John on 679871156
(Please note that all proceeds from the event other than costs will be donated to the Costa Blanca Samaritans)

CHANGES TO ELECTRICTY BILLS

2009-01-22T02:29:00.000-08:00

Just to let you all know that from January 2009 Iberdrola will be billing monthly instead of bi-monthly. Some of the accounts were sent estimated bills in January and I have spoken with Iberdrola and this should be rectified when the meters are read in February. I am trying to register for online billing and if successful I will publish the details of how to register on this website.

HABITATION CERTIFICATES

2009-01-16T08:27:00.000-08:00

The habitation certificates for properties on Sol Golf 1 phases 1 and 2 are ready for collection from the offices of Prointersol.

Owners do need to collect them in person taking with them some form of identification.

The Offices are open from 9pm to 2pm and 5pm to 8pm

They are in San Pedro del Pinatar, Avda Reina Sofia, s/n (near the maxi día , next to the Caixa opposite the park) Tel 968186168.

Please remember you will need this certificate should you wish to sell your property or apply for planning permission to do any extention or improvements.

COMMUNITY CHARGE 2008/9

2009-01-14T04:18:00.000-08:00

Just to let you know that the Community charge for 2008/9 became due on the 6th December 2008 and that the period for a 10% discount on the 330€ fee comes to an end on the 31st of this month. Sorry but the accounting system at the Administrators is such that it will not allow for payments to qualify for the discount if it arrives one day late. Therefore, if you want to take advantage of the lower fee you need to be sending it now if it is by direct transfer.

Payments received before the 1st February 2009 qualify for the discount = 300 euros
Payments received between 1st February and 31st March =330 euro
Payments received after 1st April 2009 = 396 euro

The bank details remain the same

Account number: 0182 4487 01 0201506780

IBAN CODE: ES27

SWIFT CODE: BBVAESMM

Comunidad de propietarios Sol Golf 1

And the bank address is
BBVA
Urb villamartin Comp.
Villagolf
03189 Orihuela

The best way is to pay by direct debit and I have attached a form should you wish to pay this way.

Want a chance to ask questions or just chat with other owners on the Community forum then go to http://myfunforum.org

2009-01-01T01:56:00.000-08:00

Make a Smilebox greeting

MINUTES OF THE 5TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 6TH DECEMBER 2008

2008-12-19T09:23:00.000-08:00

MINUTES OF THE ORDINARY GENERAL MEETING OF THE COMMUNITY OF OWNERS: “ SOL GOLF FASES I - II” HELD ON 6th DECEMBER, 2008
In Orihuela Costa, the Ordinary General Meeting of the Community of Owners Sol golf Fase I and II, took place at 11.00 H on 06th December, 2008. The house owners all present or represented, 50 in all, met on the second and last call, in accordance with the following schedule:
Owners of Properties:

Fase I: 5 (represented by properties 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 11, 13, 19, 20, 24, 25, 27, 33, 34, 40, 42 of Fase I), 12 (represented by Mrs. Andy), 17, 18, 26 (represented by Mrs. Margaret Dyer), 28, 46.

Fase II: Owner of property 5 Fase I (represe properties 6, 8, 9, 10, 20, 24, 27, 31, 32, 34, 36, 40, 41, 52, 54 of fase II), 3 (representing by Andrew Edwards), 18 (representing nº 15), 22, 25 (representing nº 21, 26 and 30), 29 (representing 11, 43 and 50), 33 (representing by Andrew Edwards), 38.

The President Denise Brown, spoke first and introduced herself. She also welcomed all owners and guests and introduced the members of the Administration Company OCSI, Co Ltd., José Javier Ferrández Torres, Helene Thibaut and Salvador Solano. After this introduction, she stated she was grateful for the work carried out by the members of the Executive Committee especially the Vice President Victor who had done much for the Community and by the new administration. She pointed out, that the new Administrators were working very hard and were fulfilling all what they had promised to the President, when they were hired. They were working effectively (efficiently) as the Community expected: to record/report in detail all the accounts, introduction/description of the budgets, following up correspondence, claims of outstanding payments (to defaulters/bad debtors), etc…. She said that Sue, (Vice President) was not going to apply again for the same post, because she was now President of Phase III, which would take her full time.
After this introduction the Administrator spoke and said they were impressed by owners’ attendance, in presence or by proxy. She asked those present to follow the order of the day (as described in the agenda). She pointed out, that any matters the owners wanted to ask, discuss or talk about, which were not included on the agenda, would be discussed later in the last point called: “any other business”.

1. Discussion of previous year’s minutes. (Copies available on request)

The administrator said that according to the law, it was not compulsory to read the minutes of last year’s meeting, because these had been legally approved. At that time (last year) there was nobody against the approval of those minutes. Nevertheless, this point of the agenda has been added to the invitation, because first, the Administration has changed, and secondly, just in case there still were matters to be cleared up or someone simply did not understand something.
After this, the Administrator asked whether there were any questions. The tenant of property number 3 Phase II spoke and apologised to the President for his attitude during the meeting last year. Both the President and the Executive Committee were grateful for his gesture.
Due to lack of questions, the discussions of the agenda continued.

2. Presentation and approval of accounts 2008 (copies attached)

The Administrator said that the record of expenses had been attached to the invitation, and sent to the owners. She explained, that the first half shows the fixed Community expenses, while the second half shows the miscellaneous ones, which have been described as follows: detailed information of the bank cheques, as well as description of the items and purposes to account for payments.
The tenant of the property number 3 Fase II (who represented the owner of that property) asked about the repairs of the showers. The President explained that the showers have been repaired, because these gave a lot of trouble. There is a manufacturing fault with the equipment and is being repaired under guarantee, at no cost to the Community.
He also asked about cleaning of the gardens. The Administrator explained that some gardens are in very bad conditions. Firstly, the owner is informed of that, to allow him to clean his garden. After a period of time, the owner is informed that the maintenance Company is going to clean his garden, and the subsequent costs will be charged (covered) to/by this owner. She added that the Community pays in advance the mentioned costs (cleaning of the garden), and this expense is registered then as a debt, until it is paid by the owner. The President added that most of these costs have been repaid to date
The Administrator reminded that all owners must keep their gardens in good condition, as stated in the Community rules/statutes.
Another owner said that in his opinion the 15-day period was short. He added that 15 days wasn’t enough time to receive the letter. It was explained that it is 15 days after having received the letter (the mentioned letter is sent through registered letter/certified letter with acknowledgement upon receipt)
She asked, whether there were more questions about the expenses. Due to lack of questions, and after voting process, the expenses were unanimously approved by the owners both present and represented.

EXPENSES REPORT
(due to data protection laws this will be emailed and posted to owners)
________________________________________________________

3. Presentation of budget 2009 and approval (copies attached)

The administrator said that this budget was similar to the previous one of last year, and it has been attached to the invitation and sent to all owners.
An owner asked about the meaning of the section: “several: swimming pool”. It was explained that this item was included, because the Community of Owners have some projects to improve the Community during this year, which will be voted later on.
Due to lack of questions and comments, it was unanimously approved by the owners both present and represented.
COMMUNITY OF OWNERS SOL GOLF, PHASES, FASES I AND II
BUDGET FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 2008-2009

GROUP Expenses
(these will be emailed and sent by post to the owners)

The quotes for the new fiscal year (from 01/12/2008 until 31/11/2009) remain unchanged (the same). Here comes a description of the Community quotes:

QUOTES RELATED TO THE 99 BUNGALOWS: 330 €, WHICH ARE VALUED AT 300 € IF THEY ARE PAID BEFORE FEBRUARY 1ST 2009.
QUOTES FOR THE VILLAS OF PHASE I: 561 €, WHICH ARE VALUED AT 510 € IF THEY ARE PAID BEFORE FEBRUARY 1ST 2009.
IN CASE THE QUOTES AREN´T PAID BEFORE APRIL 1ST 2009, A PENALTY OF 20% (AS AN EXTRA CHARGE) WILL BE IMPOSED TO EVERY PROPERTY.

4. Presentation of debtors list and agreement to proceed with court action against the following non payers
The Administrator said that there have been changes in the list of bad debtors, which was sent with the calling The owners of properties number 38 and 39 Fase I; 7 and 49 Fase II have paid their outstanding payments.
The Administrator said that when she took charge of the Community, there was a high volume of debtors. She had reduced this volume by 75% in just one year, because she concentrated on this matter, and she received much assistance from the President to do this. She said that it was a very difficult task, due to the fact that the accounts of the previous Administrator’s were not very clear. There were many mistakes, and bank statements from long ago had to be checked, before OCSI (the new administration) could start managing the Community. Each case was carefully examined with the President. The Administrator was grateful for the Executive Committee’s support, especially from the President who could find out/identify/recognise many payments or revenues, through all the documents that she kept. Without this aid it would have been impossible.
She explained that due to many mistakes (by the previous two Administrators), it was impossible to take legal action.. There was also a risk to include owners (who had already paid) in the list of bad debtors, by going to court. The thing is that, many payments hadn’t been registered by the previous administrator.
Some owners asked about the proceedings in case of taking legal actions. The Administrator explained that several letters are firstly sent to the bad debtors (by the Administration), before taking any legal actions. The purpose is to claim the outstanding payments. In case they ignore them, the defaulters receive a letter from the solicitor’s office. Once the legal proceedings have started, the bad debtors must pay their debts, as well as the solicitor’s fees, attorney and legal interests/costs.
The Administrator reminded those present that the Community would not have to pay in advance anything to the solicitor, because there is an agreement between the Administration and the solicitor’s office. This agreement states that the fees of the solicitor’s office are paid when the trial takes place, and when the Community gets the outstanding money back. She added that only the cost of sending the burofax (approximately 12 Euro per burofax) has to be paid in advance by the Community. The burofax is a document sent to the owner, as a notice given for his information that legal actions are going to be taken against him.
The administrator asked the owners to inform the Administration OCSI of any information of bad debtors (defaulters) as soon as possible, (change of address etc,) due to the fact that, to stop the legal proceedings (once they have already started), it is required that the bad debtors face up to the legal costs. The amount of the legal costs depends on the progress of the legal proceedings, which could be valued at approximately 600 € or more.
It was unanimously decided, by those house owners present and represented, to attach to the minutes a record of outstanding payments, and send them to the defaulters. Moreover, the Administration was unanimously empowered to have recourse to the law to claim the outstanding payments, in case of non-payment of those debts five days after having been received. The Administrator was also empowered to grant powers of attorney to solicitors and attorneys to take the mentioned legal actions.
It was also unanimously agreed, that all expenses related to these legal proceedings, like: Administration’s expenses, sending of registered letters, burofax, solicitor, attorneys, etc....will be covered by the defaulter.

5.Election/Re – election of officials

The Administrator spoke then, and was grateful for the work carried out by all members of the Executive Committee, especially by the President, who had been very helpful, in order to minimise problems and make easier the change of Administration. She reminded owners that all member of the Executive Committee and the President have spent their time for the good of the Community, free of charge, trying to carry out everything in a in a proper and perfect way.
The owners present were asked whether they were satisfied with the present Executive Committee, to which they answered in the affirmative. The owners were grateful for the efforts/management tasks performed during this last year. Shortly afterwards, the Executive Committee’s members were asked, whether they wanted to remain in their posts one more year, to which they answered in the affirmative. After that, it was unanimously decided by the owners present and represented, to keep the present Executive Committee one more year. With one new addition
After this voting process, the Administrators put their post to the vote. It was unanimously approved that the Administrator will continue one more year. The Administrator was grateful to the house owners present.
President: Denise Brown, property number 5 Phase 1
Vice President: Víctor Callaghan Smith, property number 17, Phase 1
Members Ron Cain 18 Phase 2, Angie Mundeane 24 Phase 2, Neville Jackson 21 Phase 2, Janet Turnbull 24 Phase 1, and Ann Dudley 33 Phase 2
Secretary-Administrator: OCSI, represented by Mr. José Javier Ferrández Torres, Mr. Salvador Solano and Ms. Doña Helene Thibaut

Regarding the possibility of proposing other candidates for the posts in the Executive Committee, the tenant of properties number 3 Phase II pled to make it more clear in the next invitation. The President disagreed and stated it was clear, and that if any owner had wished to apply for any position there was always the option to do so, and that no owner had complained. It was agreed to highlight this choice in future callings
The Administrator explained/clarified that OCSI Co. Ltd has not signed a contract with the Community, because OCSI only works in Communities where the owners are satisfied with their work. The President of the Community Denise, said that the previous Administrator(s) did not reply/answer emails or phone calls from the owners. They only and from time to time answered to the President’s correspondence with delay. She stated she was pleased that any owner can directly contact OCSI, who usually reply by return. The Administrator pointed out that in case of doubts or proposals, the owners can send emails, letters or faxes, or simply call the office, because everybody is treated equally (both President and owners). (Due to the high volume of emails received everyday, answers in the same day can’t be guaranteed. Nevertheless OCSI always tries to reply as soon as possible).

6. Retile poolside area as quoted below. Please note this would mean we no longer require 7 or 8 but would need to increase the fee payable to Pro Pools to cover cleaning of the area to 4.3000€.

The Administrator said, that from this point of the agenda onwards, all projects (planned by the Community of Owners ) for this year will be explained in detail. As these projects are discussed, ones will be approved, and others not. After the voting process, it was approved by the majority (29 votes for) to pave the swimming pool area with anti slip tiles. It was also decided that the best one quality-price will be chosen.
Some owners asked when it would be done. The Administrator said that he would discuss with the Executive Committee, what was best time, and will try to carry it out early in 2009 to make sure that the Community pool was open when the weather improves.. Denise asked the owners for the colour, because she had brought several samples. The owners present agreed that the Executive Committee decide the colour.

7. Cover poolside area with artificial grass as quoted below Please note this would mean we no longer require 6 or 8 but would need to increase the fee payable to Pro Pools to cover cleaning of the area.

This point of the agenda wasn’t put to the vote, because point 6 was already approved.

8. Renew Contract Pool Exterior clean/antislip CompanySafety Direct Spain (as long as item 6 and 7 are not approved).

This point of the agenda wasn’t put to the vote, because point 6 was already approved.

9. Purchase items for poolside

The President spoke then, and said, that these proposals had been included in the agenda, at the request of some owners.
a) Straw parasols. It was approved by the majority, with 30 votes for, and 19 votes against.
b) 2 pergolas. It was approved by the majority with 31 votes for and 19 votes against. .
c) Sunloungers. It was approved by the majority, with 34 for, and 17 against.
d) Stone seating. It was approved by the majority, with 35 for, and 16 against.
e) Stone Table. It was approved by the majority, with 30 votes for and 21votes against.

The Administrator said, that he would examine with the Executive Committee, where to place/install all what has been approved, taking also into account the space. All agreed that the Executive Committee has to do what it is more convenient for the Community.

10. Contract for drain clean and cockroach eradication every six months

The Administrator said that this point had been added (to the agenda), due to the problems during this last summer. She said that every time there were infestations caused by cockroaches, the President contacted the Administrators who contacted the Town Hall in order to send the Company in charge of fumigation works, to fumigate the lids/covers of the public sewer system. It was also said that it would be a good option to directly hire the maintenance service of this Company for the internal walkways. This Company is usually in charge of fumigating the drains located in the public streets. In this way, they could even carry this work out at the same time to be more effective, If in the case the Community seeks another Company, only the Community drains would be fumigated.
She reminded owners that it hadn’t been included in the budget for the financial year: 2008-2009, because after talks with several neighbours, the majority of the people were against. Therefore, in case of approval, this kind of work would only be carried out provided that the Community has enough funds. All agreed (with 47 votes for) to fumigate the Community small drains, when it is necessary.

11. Change date of A.G.M.
It has been proposed to change the date of December to hold the assembly, and arrange it earlier. It has been proposed to change the date to the third Saturday of September. so that as much owners as possible can attend the assembly.
Mr Edwards tenant of no 3 said that the date depends on the fiscal year. The Administrator explained that the accounts can be closed any time, and it isn’t necessary to wait until December 31st to close them, due to the fact that the Community is not a Company. Regardless of when the A.G.M. is held next year, the record of expenses (sent to the owners) will include all operations in the account dated from 01/11/08 until the date when the invitation to attend is sent. Therefore, the record of expenses will be sent on that date. The Administrator stated that it does not matter when, but it is better not to hold the assembly on December 6th, like this year, due to the fact that it is national day in Spain..
The Administrator said that these two dates had been included in invitation, because no one had proposed other dates. The tenant of property number 3 Fase II pled to vote also for February, due to the fact that there are holidays in the United Kingdom. It was agreed to take into account this month, in spite that some owners did not agree, because the flight tickets are expensive at that time. Both the President, and Vice President stated that they had no opinion on the matter as they were both resident and were happy to go along with the wishes of the majority of owners. After these explanations, and after voting process, it was approved by the majority of the owners, to keep September 19th 2009 (33 votes for) to hold the assembly , and only 14 votes for December and no votes for February .

12) The signs on Sol Golf were a temporary measure as we were unsure at the time if the name Sol Golf would remain. The proposal is to replace the now fading signs and replace them with tiled name and numbers for both phases

The President explained that the final/ultimate name of the Community had been approved. Therefore, it had been proposed to place some tiles with the name of the Community, so that it was easier for people to find it.
This matter was putt to the vote, which was unanimously approved, provided that the Community had enough funds. The owner of 29 phase 2 asked for these to be at either end of the walkways and after explaining the complicated numbering system the President agreed that if this was within the budget it would be applied.

13) Repainting of water/other meter cupboards on the urbanisation

The President said, that this point had been included, because some doors of the above mentioned meters are in bad conditions. The tenant of 3 phase II wanted to know whether this matter was Iberdrola’s or Aquagest’s responsibility. The administrator said not.
Some owners asked if the neighbours could do it by themselves. The Administrator said yes, but she would only allow payment for the materials (used for painting), not for the labour. The Administrator was grateful for the volunteers due to the fact that the Community can save money.
After these explanations this matter was put to the vote, which was approved by the majority (there were only 4 votes against) .

14) Purchase and fixing of 2 anti dog fouling signs one on each phase

It was approved by the majority of the owners present, provided that the Community had enough funds.

15) Permission once again from the Community of owners to employ security guards for the pool area on a temporary basis if needed 2009 (not needed 2008 but thank you for your support over this matter).

Regarding the security guard for the swimming pool and in case it was necessary during next summer; the President explained that she had asked for support once again from the Community of Owners . She said that it wouldn’t be necessary to hire this service, if everyone co-operates to make sure that the rules are respected, as it has happened this year. Since asking for help last year this had made more owners aware of the problems occurred and she thanked owners who had helped out this year, making the need for security unnecessary
It was said, that the President, the Executive Committee, as well as any owner are authorised to reproach those who don’t behave properly in the Community, and who don’t respect the rules. The owners were asked to directly rebuke those who don’t behave correctly, and not complain to the President, because she is not the Community’s police,
It was approved by the majority of the owners present (34 votes for, and 16 votes against), to hire a service , in case it was necessary during next season.

16) Any other business.

The administrator spoke then, and informed all owners that from now on, all costs related to bank transfers and cheques, will be covered by the owners. For example, if the annual Community quote of a property is valued at 330 €, and the owner transfers this amount, but due to transfers costs the Community bank account only receives 325,15 €, the 4,85 € left to be paid will be considered as an outstanding payment, and will therefore be claimed. The Administrator said that it was better to pay through bank direct debit, which hasn’t any kind of commissions, in order to avoid the above mentioned problem.
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The Administrator (Salvador) explained that the Community has a current bank account in BBVA bank, as well as an investment /mutual funds. He explained the interest on the account is very low. He said that he had asked the Banco Popular regarding the amount of 7.000 € that the Community has invested in the mutual funds. Banco Popular would have granted a 5% TAE (Annual Percentage Rate, APR), which would yield 46 € as monthly income, taxes deducted. Through the above mentioned mutual fund, the Community has only earned 240.00 € this year, compared with the 550€ the Community would have earned through Banco Popular´s proposal. Moreover, the Community would have the possibility to have access and use the (mentioned) funds any time without cancellation fees.
The Community should examine/look into, whether it is worthwhile or not to change the fund, the current account, or just one of them, or simply nothing. OCSI had explained this matter to the President, but she thought it was better not to change the bank in total, due to the fact that BBVA was nearer the Community, and the Community had changed banks before. The Administrator said that the Community had to decide if the mentioned proximity of BBVA was worth paying approximately 100,00 € per year as bank commissions. The nearest Banco Popular, proposed by the new administrator, is in Cabo Roig. Furthermore, Banco Popular does not charge any commissions to the bank accounts of the Community, as negotiated with the Administration.
The Administrator added that BBVA will cancel the commissions of the bank transfers. Therefore, the Community has saved 100 € per year . The owners present agreed to let the Executive Committee decide what is best for the Community in such cases. Regarding the current account, the Administrator asked the owners to contact the Administration in writing (fax, e-mail or letter), explaining their opinion about whether they wanted to go on with BBVA bank or to choose BANCO POPULAR . The President said that she was happy to move the savings and payments out element of Community money but that she felt that changing the bank in total should be left to owners to vote on at the next A.G.M.
Some owners complained about the advertising that is in the letterboxes. The administrator said, that some special letterboxes (only for advertising) will be bought.
Some owners asked about the blue plates that the Town Hall has installed. It was reported that the ultimate way of delivering the post between the Post Office and the Town Hall is now being examined. All owners will be informed of this as soon as possible.

Note: We inform all the owners that they will have to use the following address as 01/01/2009:

The address will have to be as follow:

Full name of owners
C/ …………….., ……. – Pta “property number”
03189 Orihuela Costa (Alicante)

Please see herewith the street of each block

Sol Golf Fase I:

Owners of properties1, 2, 5, 6 will be on Calle Tosca, 2 – Pta “property number”
Owners of properties9 y 10 will be on Calle Nabucco , 4 – Pta “property number”
Owners of properties3, 4, 7, 8, 13, 14, 17 y 18, will be on Calle Tosca, 5 – Pta “property number”
Owners of properties15, 16, 19, 20, 23, 24, 27 y 28, will be on Calle Tosca, 7 – Pta “property number”
Owners of properties25, 26, 29, 30, 39, 40, 41, 42 will be on Calle Tosca, 9 – Pta “property number”
Owners of properties11, 12, 21 will be on Calle Nabucco 6 – Pta “property number”
Owners of properties31, 32, 35, 36 will be on Calle Nabucco 8 – Pta “property number”
Owners of properties33, 34, 37, 38, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47 will be on Calle Nabucco 10 – Pta “property number”

Sol Golf Fase II:

Owners of properties1, 2, 5, 6 will be on Calle Aida, 7 – Pta “property number”
Owners of properties9, 10, 13, 14 will be on Calle Aida, 9 – Pta “property number”
Owners of properties3, 4, 7, 8 , 25, 26, 29, 30 will be on Calle El Barbero de Sevilla, 9 – Pta “property number”
Owners of properties27, 28, 31, 32, 33, 34, 37, 38 will be on Calle El Barbero de Sevilla, 7 – Pta “property number”
Owners of properties35, 36, 39, 40 will be on Calle El Barbero de Sevilla, 5 – Pta “property number”
Owners of properties41, 42, 43, 44 will be on Calle El Barbero de Sevilla, 3 – Pta “property number”
Owners of properties45, 46, 47, 48 will be on Calle El Barbero de Sevilla, 1 – Pta “property number” Owners of properties49, 50, 53, 54 will be on Calle Tosca, 4 – Pta “property number”
Owners of properties51, 52, 55 will be on Calle Tosca, 6 – Pta “property number”
Owners of properties19, 20, 23, 24 will be on Calle Tosca, 8 – Pta “property number”
Owners of properties11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22 will be on Calle Tosca, 10 – Pta “property number”

We remind you that you will need to inform all your contacts of this change of correspondence (Telefónica, Iberdrola, Aquagest, insurance….).We recommend you to contact with the Urban Department of the Orihuela Costa Town Hall in case of any doubt.

It was pointed out, that more bins have many times been (in writing) claimed from the Town Hall. It usually takes time, and the Town Hall do not always grant it, but the Administration will keep on asking.
An owner asked about the T.V problem. The Administrator said that there is nothing clear yet. Nevertheless, it seems that the only option to have access to T.V is through the satellite ASTRA. Regarding this system, there are some difficulties like for example: the wires/cables must be in good conditions, and there shouldn’t be anything that blocks the signal. The Executive Committee will be informed as soon as there is more information about it.
Some owners asked about the building works that are being carried out in the Community. The Administrator did explain that neither they or the President gave authorisation and reminded the process to follow to proceed with legal building:
1º) You must ask permission in writing to the surroundings owners and to the ones the work may affect.
2º) Apply to the Town Hall for an authorisation to proceed with the building,.
3º) Owners have to include the request for the building on the agenda of the calling of the next AGM, explaining with details what it is requested, with this agreement, the one from the neighbours and the one from the Town Hall the building will then be legal. If you do not respect this process anyone at any time can denounce you to the Town Hall or to the court asking the remove of the building. Another owner stated that asking the Community and neighbours was essential to good manners.

The owner of 29 phase II asked about the possibility of changing the entrance to the pool to allow disabled access. The Administrator said that while not ideal the current access does comply with the law. Denise said that the matter would be looked into and quotes obtained for the next A.G.M.

Once all points of the agenda were discussed, the Administrator and the Executive Committee were grateful for house owner’s attendance. The meeting was adjourned at 12.45 h.

The Administrator (By order of the president)

COMMUNITY CHARGE DIRECT DEBITS

2008-12-12T01:10:00.000-08:00

As you know the Community charge of 330 euros became due on the 6th December 2008.
Many owners have now signed up for direct debit as they can see that at last we have decent Administrators that we can trust to manage this without problems.
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The payments for 2009 will be taken on the 12 January 2009 and unless the property is in arrears or credit the amount taken will be 300 euros. If you are on email and I have your email address I will send you a receipt.

Reminders will only be sent out by email and these will be sent between February 1st and 31st March for the full fee of 330 euro.

An up to date bank statement is available by return email on request from any owner. Copies of the accounts will also be available on request, as this would need to be updated and from the Community Accountant could you allow a couple of days for this, again by email please.

5TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

2008-12-06T07:47:00.000-08:00

The fifth Annual General Meeting was held this morning at the Havana Bar Villamartiin.

The meeting was very well attended by owners and their representatives and the meeting lasted in total two hours.

During that time all items were voted on and those items with the majority of votes were, in accordance with the law passed.

The Administrators, Helene and Salvador did an excellent job and the time taken by them to explain subjects raised was very much appreciated.

The minutes will be sent out as soon as possible but in the meantime we can let you know the main changes.

The previous years minutes, the expenses and budget for 2009 were all passed.
The Officials nominated were all elected. The Community charge for the apartment will remain at 330€ for 2009
The pool is to be retiled early next year with an anti slip tile
Furniture and other items are to be purchased for the pool area once this is complete
New signs are to be erected and two anti dog fouling signs are also to be purchased.
The meter cupboards are to be repainted and cleaned up although this may be done by owners and not a Company, and the drains are to be serviced unde contract. New Sol Golf signs are also given the go ahead.
It is not thought to be needed, but if it is, the Officials have the backing of the Community to employ a temporary guard.

The main difference is that the Annual General Meeting will now change to the 3rd Saturday in September (every year) and this falls on the 19th this year. There were as expected some owners dissapointed by this decision and it is to be hoped that those wanting the change of date will come out to the meeting now that it has changed.

Thanks to all who were either able to attend or send their wishes by proxy. The Community charge is now due for 2009. The 6th Annual General Meeting Sol Golf 1 phases 1 & 2 is on Saturday 19th September 2009 and the file is now open for items or suggestions for the agenda.

Building works Sol Golf phase 2

2008-12-03T02:32:00.000-08:00

Following several calls and emails both to myself and the offices of the Administrators it was decided to call down ourselves to chat with the owner of 29 phase 2 and see exactley what the position is.

It would seem that in widening the disabled ramp which was falling away that there was a problem with the wall. This was demolished and rebuilt with balustrades and the coping which is a feature of the walls on Sol Golf has also been removed.

The Administrator was assured by the owner that planning consent is not required for such works and that all the neighbours are in full agreement with the building of the wall and its change from copings to balustrades. If this is the case then there is no problem, however there should have been full Community agreement before building works started. The erection of railings has been mentioned in the context of this issue (by a neigbour) and whilst it would be looked into if there was a complaint (from an owner) there has been non so far.

Committee meeting November 26th 2008

2008-11-30T03:03:00.000-08:00

MEETING WITH ADMINISTRATORS 26TH NOVEMBER 2008

TIME: 11 A.M.
VENUE: OFFICES OF ADMINISTRATION
PRESENT
HELENE (ADMINISTRATOR)
SALVADOR (ADMINISTRATOR)
DENISE (PRESIDENT)
VICTOR (VICE PRESIDENT)
SUE (VICE PRESIDENT)
LESLEY (OWNER)

APOLOGIES
ANGELA (U.K.)
RON (U.K.)
NEVILLE (U.K.)
JANET (U.K)

1. NOTICE OF CALLING TO 5TH A.G.M. IN SPANISH FOR NOTICE BOARD.
The notices were collected and will be placed on the board this weekend.

2. CHECK THAT THE FOLLOWING INVITATIONS HAVE BEEN SENT TO RESIDENTS IN SPAIN. PHASE 1 1, 5, 15, 17, 22 & 46 (22 in Spanish please) PHASE 2 25, 29, & 44 (44 in Spanish please).
This was confirmed and some extra invitations in Spanish were also collected.

3. DIRECTIONS TO HAVANA BAR FOR ADMINISTRATORS
Confirmed

4. SIGNING IN SHEET AND VOTING CARDS IF USED BY O.C.S.I.
As this is the first Annual General Meeting that the new Administrators have attended we needed to go through the voting structure and the way that proxy votes are collated. This was useful as the Administrators are used to dealing with Communities that do not give owners individual choices when giving a proxy to some other person. The voting system was explained and we see no problems on the day. All proxy/postal forms are to be kept at the Administrators for viewing by owners as they were last year in an attempt to avoid accusations of vote fixing.
5. CHECKING FOR FAXED RETURNS AND ALSO CHECKING TO SEE IF THEY ARE SIGNED AND NOMINATE A PROXY.
Following the problems last year with people standing proxy for owners and not checking to see if the papers were either signed or indeed had nominated a proxy to stand in their absence it has been decided to check each return as it comes in. It is not however, the responsibility of the Officials to check this and the onus in on the owner and the person standing proxy to see if the papers are completed correctly. Papers not forwarded to the Administrator to be checked will be the responsibility of the person standing proxy and not the Officials.

6. INVITATION TO SPANISH OWNERS TO ATTEND.
Helene has spoken with several Spanish owners and it would seem that it is unlikely that any will be attending the meeting this year. If they do then the meeting will be conducted in both Spanish and English. It was mentioned that there may be at least three other Presidents from other urbanisations attending as they have heard of our voting system, and our excellent Administrators, and are interested in implementing both for their Communities which is a great compliment to Sol Golf.

7. PRESENTATION OF MEETING.
It was agreed that the meeting would be presented both by the President and the Administrators with Vice Presidents, Committee etc., answering questions on subjects they had the most knowledge on. The problem of aggressive guests and swearing at the meeting which occurred last year was discussed and the Administrators stated that this will not be tolerated in any form this year.

8. MASTER SHEET FOR COLLATING RETURNS (EXCEL)
It is important that every owner´s vote is collated properly to allow the Officials to know the wishes of the majority of owners. After some initial confusion and much discussion it is believed that we have found a way to achieve this.

9. COPIES OF MINUTES FROM LAST MEETING TO BE AVAILABLE.
It was felt unnecessary to read out the minutes from the last meeting, as there have been no complaints or queries about them during the year. Copies will be available if any one wishes to have them.

10. COPIES OF ALL QUOTES RECEIVED TO BE AVAILABLE.
In previous years all works have been quoted and the contract awarded by the most votes in favour of that Contractor. There has been a problem obtaining quotes for many of the items in writing and we do realise that Companies may no longer be trading by the time any works passed by the Community of Owners commences.
There us also a need to look
at what monies we have received in 2009 before spending any, and also the situation with properties returning to the bank. In view of this all items that require funding have the proviso lowest acceptable quote No extra payment should be required, subsequent to financial availability. Any contracts given will be decided by the Officials as a team and NOT by the President.

11. LATEST ON DEBTORS.
The fact that the debts to the Community have decreased substantially was discussed and thanks to the Administrators given over this. Denise mentioned that she has been in contact with three owners who are in the process of handing back their properties to the bank and she has the details of the banks in question which will be a help when claiming fees in 2009. Helene mentioned that she expected a payment of just over 2,000 Euros this week (this has arrived) bringing down the total debts to just under 10,000 Euros.

12.OTHER QUESTIONS
BUILDING WORKS PHASE 2

One item not on the agenda was the problem that seems to be occurring re unplanned and unlicensed building work on phase 2. Denise said that she had not received anything in writing from the owner concerned and therefore could not comment. Helene had written to the owner and he has replied stating that he has all the relevant permissions and that his neighbours are in full agreement. Helene is looking into this and it may be that the work is acceptable to the Community as a whole and allowed under local planning laws but the proper procedures must be gone through under the law.

The meeting was closed at 12.37 p.m.

Building works Sol Golf

2008-11-30T00:56:00.000-08:00

The Administrator contacted me last week to say that she is receiving emails and phone calls (also I have had three over the weekend) from owners concerned over the building works being carried out on phase 2.

Please could owners direct their emails and calls direct to the Administrator telephone (oo34) 965322450 email orihuela-costa@orihuelacosta.net as they are looking into the matter on behalf of the Community of Owners Sol Golf.

Whilst on the subject, could I remind owners that the local Council have strict planning laws, and are at the moment sending teams to Urbanisations to enforce them. This is taking some time but they will arrive at Sol Golf eventually, and owners may have to pay a fine and demolish any unlicensed structures.

It is also a Community rule (and therefore the law) to discuss any proposed build with other owners and get the agreement of the Community in writing before any works are started. Forms for this are available from no 5 phase 1.

TOWN COUNCIL MEETING 25TH NOVEMBER 2008

2008-11-27T10:10:00.000-08:00

Town Council Meeting - 25.11.2008
At the full monthly meeting of the Orihuela Town Council (Pleno) held on Tuesday 25th November the following points which affect Orihuela Costa were discussed.

The ruling Partido Popular finally adopted the partial plan for the development land within the PAU 7 area of Villa Martin for the building of 2570 new homes including 650 social housing properties. The 14 PP Councillors of course voted in favour of the proposition whereas the 11 Opposition (PSOE, Los Verdes and Centro Liberal Renovador) Councillors voted against it. The contra arguments put forward by the Opposition were that there is no market demand for the additional houses and that there is insufficient water supply available to service them. Los Verdes put forward the additional argument that this is not the correct location to put this number of homes for social housing. It will create a ghetto style environment.

There was an unanimous approval by all Councillors of the Territorial Emergency Plan for Orihuela.This is to cover the procedures and services to be adopted within the Municipality in the case of major emergency situations including natural disasters and the like. With such a large population in Orihuela Costa it is important that there is a clearly defined proceed of coordination of emergency services and contact points to help the citizens at such a time. Los Verdes will ask that an information leaflet is published in Spanish and English for public distribution.

Los Verdes presented a written question to the Council meeting in respect of the possible felling of approximately 42 mediterranean pine trees and 20 palms in the Punta Prima urbanisation adjacent to the Cala Mosca development. The PP Councillor for Urbanisation, Sr. Barberá confirmed to the Council that the existing trees will be respected and that the proposed road system will be adapted to accommodate them. The pressure of the residents and the action of Los Verdes has resulted in the saving of the 40 year old pine trees and the palms.

Los Verdes asked during the verbal question time of the meeting, about the continued delay in the publication of the public information leaflets about the two new Bye-laws in respect of the 'Ownership and Protection of Animals' and the 'Regulation for the cleaning of the Municipality and the Management of Urban Services and Waste' It was pointed out that the PP governing team agreed several months ago that these leaflets would be produced in three languages, Spanish, English and German, but that they have not honoured their words as the leaflets are still not available.

A.G.M. Invitation returns

2008-11-27T00:08:00.000-08:00

If you are unable to attend this years Annual General Meeting on Saturday 6th December you do need to send in your proxy postal vote as soon as possible.

Returns can be sent either by post to the Administrator, scanned by email to either
orihuela-costa@ocsi.e.telefonica.net or janddservices@msn.com or faxed to the Administrator on 0034 96 532 28 58

5TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

2008-11-25T02:03:00.000-08:00

The invitation to the 5th Annual General Meeting went out two weeks ago. Please could you let me know on janddservices@msn.com if you have not received it as the Administrators may not have your correct Address.

There does appear to be a number of owners attending this year which is excellent news. If any owner wishes an item to be added to the any questions for discussion could they either let me, or the person standing proxy for them know before the meeting please.

Please also could you remember to sign your forms and nominate the person standing proxy for you if you are unable to attend

One final reminder is that the Community fee is due on Saturday December 6th 2008. For all apartments this is 330 for the next financial year but will attract a 10% discount if paid before 1st February 2009. Payments made after the 1st April 2009 will be subject to a 20% penalty under the law. The easiest way to pay the Community charge is by direct debit. Problems encounted by this system are now in the past and there has been no problems for the last two years with payments made this way.

Christmas and New Year

2008-11-09T04:56:00.000-08:00

As many of you know there is nothing planned Community wise for Christmas this year. Previous years have been resounding successes but it is time for a rest for the organisers, who I am sure you will realise have worked hard over the last four years.

Similarly New Year although we are planning a get together meal at the Indian Restaurant on New Years Eve.

We are planning to meet (Owners and guests from Phase 1, 2 and 3, Las Violetas Urbanisations RA1 and RB1 and also owners from Bahia Golf) at the New Shalima Indian Restaurant on the top floor of the plaza at 7.30 p.m. on New Years Eve.

The plan is to have a meal together and then see New Years Eve as you choose, it is not planned to stay in the restaurant all evening as some owners wish to go home and others arrange to meet other friends on the night outside of the plaza. Others plan to see the New Year in at the Plaza and anyone is more than welcome to join us.

The New Shalima Indian Restaurant are offering for 16.95 the following menu

Tray of Chutney dips
Poppadoms
Any starter of choice
Any Chicken or Prawn dish main meal
rice, chips or naan bread
glass of red or white wine, soft drink or large beer.

Of course due to the size of the restaurant numbers will be limited at this time although they will be open all evening.

We have approx. 20 already so if anyone is interested who has not got their name down could they please contact me a.s.a.p. please

Costa Blanca Samaritans

2008-11-09T01:44:00.000-08:00

Following two succesful golf days , one in September and the other in October when owners and their guests went out for a day´s golfing followed by a barbeque on the September outing and a five course meal on the October outing at number five the below was raised for charity . Thanks to all who attended and to Sue for her help once again, anyone interested in future events please contact me on janddservices@msn.com. And a big thank you for your donations to a very worthy cause.

Date 30th October, 2008

Amount €283.35

Date 30th October, 2008

Amount €283.35

Date 30th October, 2008

Amount €283.35

Received with much appreciation from Denise Brown and John Stevenson

The sum of two hundred and eighty three euros and 35 centimos

This amazing amount helps us greatly on our way to establish our service
On the Costa Blanca. Once again, thank you very much.

Brian E. Scoullar
Treasurer,
Costa Blanca Samaritans
Registered with the Generalitat Valencia on 16th April 2008,
as a not-for-profit organisation
Provisional CIF –G 54341466
Registered office –Bernia Golf 3/12, Avda Bernia,
03599 La Vella, Alicante

Television the latest news

2008-11-07T05:06:00.000-08:00

Taken from the Round Town News 7th November 2008
Comments please on the forum http://solgolf.myfunforum.org

Is This the Return of Telmicro?

Residents throughout the Costa Blanca were sent into a frenzy once again, when they clicked on their television sets this week and were surprised to receive a picture! Twelve channels are suddenly available in the majority of areas, which although do not include the popular ‘Sky’ viewing channels, do incorporate ITV, ITV2, ITV3, BBC news and CBBC. There is also an information channel announcing, “Welcome to Simulsat TV - For information please wait for a few days.” The notice goes on to inform clients that viewing will be free of charge during the ‘Test Transmission’ period up until the 31st December, with normal programming commencing from this date. However, clients were rapidly brought back down to earth when they attempted viewing. Both the picture and sound quality are poor in the majority of areas, although most said that they persevered as it was easier than trying to follow the Spanish terrestrial alternatives and better than nothing.

FREE VIEWING?
Nonetheless, readers remain weary that if they submit to the idea of ‘Free Viewing’ now then they may be faced with extortionate monthly charges later on as the company attempts to claw back lost revenue. On their website www.simulsattv.com which is currently under construction, it was allegedly previously stated that a new installation will be 400 euros once normal programming has commenced or 400 euros for the transfer of an existing micromesh system. That is, for majority of viewers, 400 euros that they have already paid to Telmicro and they fear that the new company is simply a spin-off from this. The suggestion was also raised that as former Telmicro clients are receiving the signal now, why would any transfer costs be required, and would transfer really be as costly as an entirely new installation?

Speculation on local discussion forums has suggested that this is merely an opportunist who has captured a crossover signal from another broadcaster as a short term money making scheme, which will be scrambled once again as soon as encryption is introduced. Indeed evidence is clear that it is not Telmicro as we know it, in that their previous broadcasting outlets are still deserted, with no antennas or equipment to be seen. It would appear that Simulsat is a Spanish company which is based in Santa Pola, and is registered in the name of Gines Garcia Martinez of Santa Pola TV. The Round Town News made several attempts to contact her by telephone and email, but had received no response at the time of going to press.

REBROADCASTING
Confusion over the rebroadcasting of British channels was also rekindled with these latest developments in the British television saga, and the question of why Simulsat have been allowed to recommence provision of a proclaimed ‘illegal’ service. A section of registered Digital Television companies have warned that viewers take advantage of the free viewing whilst it lasts, but not to perceive it as a long term solution, as the authorities are still investigating the act of rebroadcasting. The Round Town News is not at liberty to question how long Simulsat will be allowed to broadcast, but would like to take this opportunity to remind readers that the only reliable ways to gain access to British television in Spain are to invest in a satellite dish, either as a community or individual, which will provide a broad spectrum of channels and the highest quality reception.

Call to the 5th Annual General Meeting 6th December 2008

2008-11-05T12:52:00.000-08:00

CALL TO THE 5th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
SOL GOLF 1 PHASES 1 & 2.

In accordance with the provisions stated within Section 16 of the Law of Condominium now in force, on the orders of the President, may I call you to attend the ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF CO-OWNERS which shall be held on the 6th Day of December 2008, at 10:30 on first citation and 11.00 on second citation, should a minimum number of the owners not be present, as dictated by Law, in the Havana Bar Villamartín, in order to discuss the issues below indicated in the following. To facilitate those not able to be present, could any person(s) wishing to vote by proxy vote state their intentions by use of a tick in the appropriate box, and please forward this with the name of the proposed person who will vote by proxy on their behalf to the Administrator at the above address. Please note that this vote will not count unless accompanied by the owner present or person elected proxy voter present as this is a public meeting. All proxy voting slips need to be completed and signed by the property owner to be valid.

1. Discussion of previous year’s minutes. Copies available on request

2. Presentation and approval of accounts 2008 (copies available)
Yes  No 

3. Presentation of budget 2009 and approval (copies available)
Yes  No 

4. Presentation of debtors list and agreement to proceed with court action against the following non payers. Please see herewith list of non payers owners on 31/10/2008(Edited due to data protection laws, this information will appear on individual invitations to attend the meeting)

5.Election/Re – election of officials
President Denise Brown
5 phase 1 Yes  No 
Or …………………………… Yes  No 
Vice President Victor Callaghan Smith
17 phase 1 Yes  No 
Or …………………………… Yes  No 
Committee Ron Cain
18 phase 2 Yes  No 
Or other .......... Yes  No 
Committee Angie Mundeane
24 phase 2 Yes  No 
Or other ………………… Yes  No 
Committee Neville Jackson
21 phase 2 Yes  No 
Or other ............... Yes  No 
Committee Janet Turnbull
24 phase 1 Yes  No 
Or other .................Yes  No 
Committee Ann Dudley
33 phase 2 Yes  No 
Or other .................Yes  No 

Renew Contract Administrators OCSI

Yes  No 

6. Retile poolside area as quoted below Please note this would mean we no longer require 8 but would need to increase the fee payable to Pro Pools to cover cleaning of the area.

a) Pro Pools Quote 13,950€(to be re sent (inc IVA) Yes  No 
b) Harald Quote8, 640 euros (inc. IVA) Yes  No 
c) Becker Construction Quote 9,870 euros (+ IVA at 16%) Yes  No 
d) Lowest suitable quote available Yes  No 

No extra payment should be required, subsequent to financial availability
OR
7. Cover poolside area with artificial grass as quoted below Please note this would mean we no longer require 8 but would need to increase the fee payable to Pro Pools to cover cleaning of the area.
a)Euro Crest Quote 8,582.58 (+ IVA at 16%) Yes  No 

b) Lowest suitable quote available Yes  No 

No extra payment should be required, subsequent to financial availability
OR

8. Renew Contract Pool Exterior clean/antislip CompanySafety Direct Spain.
Price €4071.60 per annum payable monthly over 10 months. Yes  No 

9. Purchase items for poolside
a) Straw parasols Yes  No 
b) 2 pagolas Yes  No 
c) Sunloungers Yes  No 
d) Stone seating Yes  No 
e) Stone tables Yes  No 

No extra payment should be required, subsequent to financial availability

10. Contract for drain clean and cockroach eradication every six months

a) Lowest suitable quote available (approx €500 per annum + IVA) Yes  No 

No extra payment should be required, subsequent to financial availability

11. Change date of A.G.M.
It has been suggested on several occasions to change the date of the A.G.M. from the last Saturday in December to a time earlier in the year. To accommodate this it is suggested following a verbal and email poll of owners to change this to the 3rd Saturday in September

a)Change of date of A.G.M. to 3rd Saturday in September Yes  No 
(Date of 6th A.G.M. Saturday 19th September 2009)

b)Leave date of A.G.M. as first Saturday in December Yes  No 
(Date of 6th A.G.M. December 5th 2009)

12) The signs on Sol Golf were a temporary measure as we were unsure at the time if the name Sol Golf would remain. The proposal is to replace the now fading signs and replace them with tiled name and numbers for both phases

a) Lowest suitable quote available Yes  No 

No extra payment should be required, subsequent to financial availability

13) Repainting of water/other meter cupboards on the urbanisation

a) Lowest suitable quote available (Approx 650 + IVA) Yes  No 

No extra payment should be required, subsequent to financial availability

14) Purchase and fixing of 2 anti dog fouling signs one on each phase
a) Lowest suitable quote available Yes  No 

No extra payment should be required, subsequent to financial availability

15) Permission once again from the Community of owners to employ security guards for the pool area on a temporary basis if needed 2009 (not needed 2008 but thank you for your support over this matter).

Yes  No 

16) Any other questions. Discussion.

-Item 1 for discussion: Banks charge for Community payments made by cheque/transaction. Owners wishing to pay by this method should be aware that their accounts will only be credited by the amount received after this charge. Payment by direct debit is advised as the best method to pay.

Further information on the Community and the A.G.M. is available on the website: http://solgolf.blogspot.com
Please send delegation forms before the meeting to the Administrators Helene or Salvador OCSI by fax, e-mail or post; hand to Denise at nº 5 phase 1; hand to Victor at nº 17 phase 1 or by fax to (0034) 966 76 42 79, or post to: Buzón 5 Commercial Rioja Local 37, 03189 Orihuela-Costa Spain, or at the meeting. If sent before the meeting please could you check to confirm that your proxy form has arrived and is correctly submitted.

………………………………………………………………..

Delegation form
(Please note to be within the law the below MUST be completed, signed and forwarded to the relevant Official or presented at the Annual General Meeting)

Signed by the owner of property nº _____, phase _____ of the owners’ community of the residential estate “Sol Golf phases 1 & 2”, further to my inability to attend the 5th Annual General Meeting Sol Golf 1 phases 1 & 2 on the 6th December 2008, I authorise by means of this voting slip, grant authorisation to __________________________, owner of property ________, phase _____ (if it proceeds), to act on my behalf and reach the above agreements in my name. In the event of no boxes ticked I authorise he/she to vote using their own discretion.

Signed………………Date………….

………………………………………………………………..

BANK DETAILS All payments to be made before 1st April 2009 to avoid 20% surcharge. Community charge 330€ per apartment and 561€ per villa, discount for payment before February 1st 2009 payment: 300€ or 510€.
If making a payment by electronic transfer please remember that the bank will only recognise the first 20 digits so it is important to put your name and house Number first and any other information after.

Bank: Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA)
(at the front of the Plaza next to the Gamma supermarket)

Please use the following details when making payment:
Account number: 0182 4487 01 0201506780
IBAN CODE: ES27
SWIFT CODE: BBVAESMM
Comunidad de propietarios Sol Golf 1

Name: ………………….

Phase……

Number……….:

Amount………….

Annual General Meeting Agenda reminder

2008-10-01T00:54:00.000-07:00

We would like to remind all owners the the fifth Annual General Meeting will be held on Saturday the 6th December 2008. This is just over nine weeks away from today. As you will realise the agenda and calling to the meeting takes some time to prepare and also translate into Spanish/English. It is intended to send the invitation to attend out in October, and it is almost complete apart from some quotes which we are having difficulty in obtaining.
As in previous years ALL owners are invited to add items to the agenda. We need these in by next week at the very latest but the file for this has been open from December 2008 so there has already been given a lot of time. Any items for addition should be in writing and either sent to the Administrator, Denise on janddservices@msn.com handed in to no 5, or 17 phase 1 or published on the forum http://solgolf.myfunforum.org

debtors update

2008-10-01T00:47:00.000-07:00

September has seen three more debtors wiped from this list which now leaves a total of 14.

From these 14 we have one very small debt and one owner who is paying by instalments. From the remaining twelve we are in contact with nine owners and they have indicated that they are to pay before the next Annual General Meeting in December. It is looking as though we are forced to start court proceedings against four owners and these will under the law be named in the calling to the A.G.M.

Missing girl

2008-09-27T09:36:00.000-07:00

My name is Christopher Fitzpatrick my Daughter Amy Fitzpatrick disappeared on the evening of New Year’s Day 1st January 2008 at approximately 10pm when she left her friends house in the tourist resort of Riviera Del Sol on the Costa Del Sol, Spain to take the 10 minute walk to her house.
Amy was 15 at the time of her disappearance; she has black hair, blue eyes and has a pale complexion. She is 1.65m tall and was wearing brown crushed velvet tracksuit bottoms and a black T-shirt with the word “DIESEL” in various different colours when she was last seen. She had no money, phone or passport
Amy is originally from Dublin Ireland but was living in Spain

Telmicro the latest update from the Costa Blanca News

2008-09-23T01:12:00.000-07:00

Still No Word From Telmicro
Written by Louise Clarke
Thursday, 18 September 2008

Not surprisingly, our open invitation to Telmicro Levante to speak to us regarding the dire situation that it has found itself in, went unanswered. Here at Round Town News we are still being inundated with e-mails and telephone calls from disgruntled customers and have spent the week getting various statements in order so that we can tell you, our readers, the best course of action; a legal way to get British TV here in Spain. As we told you last week, we have contacted many companies in both the UK and here in Spain so that we can determine exactly what is the best and legal way to receive TV and what isn’t. As we confirmed at the time, the crux of the whole issue is that Telmicro Levante S.L. were re-broadcasting British TV. Basically, they were using the mesh dishes to receive a signal that was itself being received via a larger dish. The signals were transmitted all over the Southern Costa Blanca and as this is illegal, the authorities shut them down. It is believed that they will be also targeting other companies doing this in the near future. Through our investigations, we have confirmed that the only legal way to get British TV is to buy a satellite dish that is large enough to receive the signal directly from the satellite that is in orbit. This has been confirmed by the Telecommuncations Ministry in Madrid.

SKY
We contacted BSkyB to determine what their position is with regards to their channels being broadcast over here. Their spokesperson said; “Sky only authorises the reception of Sky TV in the UK and Ireland. Our terms and conditions expressly prohibit reception elsewhere in Europe. If we have evidence that a viewing card is being used outside the UK or Ireland, we switch it off. We also have no formal distribution or re-broadcasting of our channels outside of the UK and Ireland.” The Spokesperson continued; “Because we don’t own the rights to broadcast many of our programmes outside the UK and Ireland, we are unable to make our Sky TV services available in other countries. We only provide Sky TV services to customers with an address in the UK or Ireland. Telmicro Levante S.L. has no connection to Sky and, while we are very sympathetic to its former customers, we are unable to assist them in this situation.”

BBC & ITV
The BBC told us that their programmes are financed by UK Licence Fee-paying citizens and outside of the UK they are licensed by BBC Worldwide. They said; “BBC Worldwide’s portfolio of 22 channel brands brings the best mix of entertainment, factual, learning and children’s programming to around 259 million homes in over 100 countries around the world, making BBC Worldwide the UK’s number one international television broadcaster in terms of reach. BBC Worldwide is the only service that can be transmitted legally outside of the UK.” ITV on the other hand said that it would be legal to transmit their channels if an interested party were to buy a licence. They said; “ITV’s channels are produced for broadcast in the UK. Any party wishing to broadcast them in another territory, such as Spain, would need to enter into a licence or agreement with ITV” They refused to speculate as to how much a licence would be to buy.

Digital +
It soon became apparent that none of the main British TV companies are willing to transmit here in Spain, so after we had exhausted the UK companies, we turned our attention to the Spanish. We contacted the Comisión de Mercado de las Telecomunicaciones (CMT), the Spanish Broadcasting Market Commission. They told us that in order to transmit a signal of a paid satellite channel in Spain, that channel only has to ask for a permission from the UK authorities, to get the signal out of the country. This can be done in every country where the satellite has coverage and that channel won’t have to ask for any broadcast permit in Spain. If a company wants to broadcast that channel here they will need to, contact the broadcast channel to ask for permission to re-broadcast and pay the copyrights to the channel. The channel will have to ask for the permission from the UK authorities first though. Secondly, they need to be a legal company which is registered at the CMT and at the Comunidad Autonoma de Andalucia. With this in mind, we then contacted Spanish company Digital Plus. The press department of Sogecable, the group that owns Digital Plus, issued this statement to RTN; “We confirm that we have no intention at the moment of getting the rights of SKY channels for Spain. Therefore Digital Plus will not transmit that signal.” The reason that they gave is that due to the majority of English speaking people only living in pockets along the coast of Spain, they won’t transmit specific channels just for one or two regions. They have a countrywide signal and it wouldn’t be in their interests to provide British TV to the whole of Spain.

Satellite
A satellite TV expert confirmed; “UK TV is only legally obtained by installing equipment that receives the TV transmission direct from the satellites (Astra2D and Eurobird). It is possible to purchase and install readily available consumer products and equipment designed to receive these satellite transmissions and when using a free to air ‘digi’ box the customer is not infringing any copyright laws or licenses by viewing channels received via satellite transmissions that are readily available in Spain. In summary, the use of a large dish and a free to air ‘digi’ box decriminalises the viewing of UK television in Spain.

September update on debtors

2008-09-09T01:02:00.000-07:00

We are pleased to report that the month of September is showing that we have less debtors than ever before! Although the figure is still high at 16 the breakdown of this is reassuring and we believe that many Urbanisations would like to be in this position. On the 16 debts outstanding we have

2 Bank (repossessions) the Bank concerned have agreed to pay.
2 Bank (nearing repossession) the Banks concerned have yet to commit
1 owner paying of arrears in instalments, (hopefully cleared before next A.G.M.)
2 unfortunately that are subject to court action
1 owner paying on their next visit this month
2 debts under one hundred euros
6 Debtors have agreed to pay before the next A.G.M.

Anyone requiring further information could they please contact the Administrator or email Denise on janddservices@msn.com

Reminder

2008-09-08T12:49:00.000-07:00

We have been asked to remind all owners and visitors to the region to be careful with cigarette ends and lighting fires in woodland areas. The area is very dry due to the lack of rainfall and fires are easily started by accident. The following report from today's leader shows us all the problems encounted at the moment.

Intense heat and humid conditions caused chaos for the region’s forest areas last week as forest fires ravaged the Costa Blanca.

Three blazes, thought to have been started deliberately, were all put out on Wednesday in the Marina Alta area, north Costa Blanca. One blaze broke out at 4pm in Lliber. It had two centres, one in Alcanalí and another in Pedeguer close to the residential Monte Solana area.

The Mayor of Pedeguer, Andrés Ferrer, said it seemed the blaze had been started deliberately. Two fire-fighting helicopters were used and the blaze was declared to be out at 7.30pm.

Two earlier small fires in the region are also both thought to have been started deliberately.

The following day on Thursday, saw another three fires take hold. In Guardamar, firefighters fought all afternoon, against an ever-increasing wall of flames, as they tried to protect a nearby petrol station from becoming engulfed and resulting in disaster.

The fire, which had started sometime around midday, had gone unnoticed until smoke began billowing across the Agip petrol station forecourt, adjacent to the N-332, and the alarm was raised. By then, the flames had taken on such ferocity that three engines were called into attendance but still the fire, fanned by a strong breeze, crept towards the petrol station on the ease side of the road. Guardia, Policia Local and fire crews needed face masks as the smoke completely swallowed up the petrol station. Incredibly, cars pulled in, drivers got out of their cars, choked…and tried to fill up. After three hours, the fire had spread and threatened the petrol station from two sides while firefighters struggled to contain it. However, at four o’clock and with the fire now under control, although still burning viciously, a water-carrying plane was called for and within minutes of it dumping its load onto the flames the fire crews on the ground managed to start winning the battle.

Fire investigators at the scene expect to pin the blame on a stray cigarette or litter that had piled up in the surrounding scrubland catching fire in the heat of the day. Fortunately, no injuries were reported on the day and the services united in warning people of the dangers created by throwing cigarettes and litter into the verge.

The ‘Leader’ was also at the scene later that afternoon in urbanisation La Marina as a fire sent thick black smoke billowing in to the sky at around 5pm causing concern amongst residents.

The owner of the Los Pinchos restaurant, opposite where the blaze started, was first to raise the alarm calling the emergency services just after 5pm. Policia Local were immediately on the scene directing traffic away from the fire as fire crews from Santa Pola and the Vega Baja arrived shortly after. The rapid intervention meant damage was limited and the fire was contained.

Later that evening, in El Galan a forest fire broke out on the road from the urbanisation to San Miguel. One ‘Leader’ reader said they noticed the smoke at about 6.30pm and were thankful the wind was blowing the flames away from their property. Again, the fire was contained quickly.

cheap flights

2008-09-05T20:06:00.000-07:00

The cheap flights are becoming available for those wishing to come out for the A.G.M. for example www.bmibaby.com have Manchester to Alicante for twenty four pounds including taxes on Wednesday 3rd December 2008. There are many other offers from different airports and with different airlines.

Changing the date of future Annual General Meetings

2008-09-04T07:49:00.000-07:00

The following appears on the Community forum under Polls (the bottom of the home page)

If you would like to vote for a suitable month to hold future meetings (2008 is booked) please let us know your preference by voting on http://solgolf.myfunforum.org

The date of the 5th Annual General meeting is 6th December 2008 at the Havana Bar Villamartin on the 2nd calling being 11am (first 10.30)

One item on the agenda will be to change the date of future A.G.M.s from the first Saturday in December to a date earlier in the year when more owners can attend. Now that we have a decent set of Administrators the date of the A.G.M. is no longer a problem to the Officials and they are happy to apply for this to be moved.

WE NEED YOU OPINIONS PLEASE, Please vote using the poll above(on the solgolf forum) or email direct to the Administrator or President as not all dates will be available for choice on the calling to the A.G.M. as this would be difficult to administer.

Spanish pay as you go mobiles

2008-09-04T01:04:00.000-07:00

There are articles in the local papers stating that pay as you go mobile phones (spanish NOT any other) purchased without showing your passport will be disconnected as from October 2008. Although one news item states this as 2009 the majority do state 2008 but once again we are just passing on news as it comes in.

To avoid your pay as you go mobile being disconnected is simple, many residents have done this. You need to go to the Telephonica s shop in Habeneros if your phone is Movistar other providers you need to take it back to where you purchased the handset or simcard from(what an excuse to go shopping! )and take your phone number and passport. The assistant will register it for you free of charge.

Telmicro the latest

2008-09-02T01:41:00.000-07:00

LATEST NEWS FROM TELMICRO LEVANTE

(updated September 2nd)

Telmicro is broadcasting again. Customers on the Montesinos transmitter have been receiving some channels since last Saturday. It is our intention to be broadcasting to as many of our customers as possible by the end of this week.

We have been given permission to restart broadcasting. To begin with, it is a restricted service comprising of some of the channels that the company has contracted to retransmit. Telmicro´s clients have got to know these channels very well over the last year, such as MGM, Cinestar, XTRM Film Channel, Sci-Fi, Calle 13, Fox, National Geographic and many others. In addition, we will be showing some of the terrestrial programs.

Telmicro is working very hard to contract and provide even more channels that will appeal to our customers.

Telmicro will not make any charges to their customers for a month after the service has been resumed in their area. The second month will be half price and thereafter the monthly charges will be at a reduced rate.

House numbers

2008-09-01T23:49:00.000-07:00

Information from the Town Hall, Orihuela Costa

Thanks to the Neighbourhood Watch for passing this on.

A number of you will probably have seen workmen attaching blue metal plates with white numbers to houses or urbanizacions throughout the Orihuela Costa.

They are Council Worker employed by the Statistics Department of the Council who are numbering all the houses and residencias and will continue to do so until all are numbered.

These numbers are the new numbers to all the residences and will be your new postal address and the address your home will be known by for all matters.

Although it will mean informing all persons who send us mail, etc of this change, from our point of view, it will mean that if needed, the emergency services will be able respond faster to calls made upon them. It should also remove a lot of the present confusion that we are at present experiencing.

The Council have asked our Group to circulate the above information through our system and to stress that if anyone has any query or problem with this exercise they should visit the Ayuntamiento at Orihuela Costa for advice. In due time, Padrons, where it is necessary should be amended by visiting the Ayuntamiento.

Crime Prevention

2008-09-01T23:40:00.000-07:00

To all,
Subject:- Crime Prevention advice received from the Guardia Civil

The Guardia Civil at Pilar de la Horadada have advised that persons be aware of different types of distraction thefts that are being used in our area.
1) Persons distracting victims by asking directions, being authorative about vehicle parking, pointing out damage to victims vehicles, actual or imagined or any story that will distract a possible victim.
2) Thieves watching for persons returning to cars either near to the beach or on shopping car parks. Never leave anything on view or house keys in the car.
3) Potential victims leaving banks - When withdrawing cash, always put it out of sight in handbags, wallets, etc before leaving desk or counter, no matter how long the queue is behind you, and away from the view of other clients and persons looking through windows from the street.
4) Small persons asking you to reach items from top shelves in supermarkets or causing
a distraction by arguing over produce or at the cash till.

On your urbanizations, please be aware of strangers leaving their cars amongst those of residents. We have had incidents of stolen cars, including U.K. registered ones being left near to pools whilst the thieves have been away committing crime and returning to them with stolen property. If you see strange people leaving cars in your Residencia and suspect that this is happening, contact the Police immediately directly or via the 112 system. Do not be afraid that you are making a fool of yourself and do it right away. The Police will not mind if it is a false alarm.

meeting with Administrators

2008-08-27T15:23:00.000-07:00

Urbanisation Sol Golf 1 phases 1 & 2 Committee meeting 26th August 2008

A meeting was held at at the offices of the Administrators Cabo Roig at 11.30 am on the 26th of August 2008. Present were Denise Brown (President) Victor and Lesley Callaghan-Smith (Vice President 1) Sue Davidson (Vice President 2) and the Administrator Helene and Salva. Other Officials were either in the U.K. or unavailable apologies accepted.

Items on the agenda 7.

1. O.S.C.I. have a system where they pay for all outgoings, not on bank transfer and under a certain sum allowing the Community to make out one cheque and therefore save on bank charges. A record of all these expenses was produced and a cheque duly signed to cover these. An up to date balance sheet was given to each Official present, and a hard copy of this is available to any owner who calls at no 5 phase 1.
2. A bill for weed killer, applicator and cutters was handed to O.S.C.I for future payment. These items have been purchased to allow Officials and other owners weed internal walkways/overhanging trees/private gardens and now belong to the Community of Owners. Any owner wanting to use them please call at no 5 phase 1.
3. A second bill for the six umbrella stands purchased after a suggestion by an owner was also handed to O.S.C.I. This purchase has been covered by the sale of 2nd pool keys to owners or guests who required more than one and will be reflected in the end of year accounts.
4. A direct debit form was handed into O.S.C.I. and the subject was discussed. We need more owners to pay by direct debit as this is the easiest and most cost effective payment method.
5. The list of the remaining 17 debtors was looked through and the figures agreed.

2 properties are understood to be handed back to the bank and the Administrators
are looking into this.
2 Belong to Banesta and they have sent notice of intention to pay in September
2 Have forwarded bank details to the Administrators for them to collect payment.
1 Is subject to court action between buyer and seller and we will have to wait
judgement on this.
2 Have agreed to pay in September.
1 Is for 66 euros
1 Is paying in instalments agreed by the last President.
1 We are having to wait until the next A.G.M. to state in the minutes that we are
taking court action
5 Have signed or are in the process of signing direct debit mandates (the Spanish
equivalent)
Hopefully by the next A.G.M. 6th December 2008 these debts will be substantially less.

6. The problem with unkempt private gardens was discussed next, and Helene is once again to come to the Urbanisation to go round with Denise and take photographs to send to the owners. A time will be set to tidy up these gardens and if this is not done the Community will have the work done and the bills sent to the owners. This scheme is working as past bills are now being paid and owners are taking responsibility for their own gardens in the main. The condition of the pool at no 49 phase 2 has been noted and reported to the owner. This is (we are informed by the owner) to be emptied and cleaned at the beginning of September.
7. The last item on the agenda was the agenda for the 5th Annual General Meeting 6th December 2008. The venue and time was discussed and it was agreed to ask the owners of the Havana Bar Villamartin if we could hold the meeting there as we did last year.

Much of the agenda has been written already but spaces are left for more owners to contribute. It was agreed that for this next year at least, tenders for Administration and for Pool Maintenance would not be sort as for the first time in four years the Officials had not experienced any problems with either. They have also received comments from owners about the professionalism of both these Companies. Of course as is the norm on Sol Golf 1 phases 1 & 2 if an owner proposed a change it would be put to the vote. It was also established that unlike previous years, the debtors list, the accounts and the projected budget would be printed so all owners understood it and it could clearly be seen where monies had come in and gone out.

Lastly, although not on the agenda the problem with feral cats was discussed. Thanks to Leslie and Vic we now only seem to have one female cat on the urbanisation able to breed young. This cat has lived on the Urbanisation for over two years and has delivered at least three litters. Leslie and Vic have paid for most of these kittens to be spayed and re-homed. It is feared that this cat is to produce yet another litter, and plans have been made with a local charity to have the cat captured and spayed. This is a necessity as this cat keeps breeding, and we are to pay the much reduced vets bill of approx 65 euros to rid the urbanisation of this problem. It is then hoped that the cat can live out the rest of its days on Sol Golf.

The meeting ended at 13.15 with thanks to all.

Community t.v. dish the latest

2008-08-25T08:03:00.000-07:00

We have today had the Community t.v. dishes (the yellow ones at the pool and the one in the garden of 37 phase 1) checked to see if we are able to connect them to provide U.K. t.v. following the problems with Telmicro Levante. The engineers report has come back as stating that these dishes are now too low as the large apartment blocks have gone up since they were installed and are blocking any reception. Furthermore, we are informed that even extending the pole will make little or no difference to reception.

Many owners have now decided to subscrible to Torresat as the debarcle with Telmicro Levante seems to be ongoing and there is no suggestion that they will be up and running shortly. We cannot however, recommend that you stay or change providers that is individual choice. If you wish to change we can of course get you phone numbers and programme information. For you t.v. buffs out there the large yellow dishes belong to the Community i.e. you and if you wish to pay for connection to these to allow you to watch t.v. from your sky box that you have in the U.K. then by all means do so. I understand that this is legal but in breach of your contract with Sky but as it is your contract then it is of course up to you and nothing to do with the Community.

The Communal ariels however, are a different matter and cannot be interferred with. All Urbanisations must provide the facility (i.e. ariel) for owners of properties to receive Spanish t.v. On the surface this may seem odd especially in an area of mainly U.K. majority owners. I have looked into this and the reason is that should there be a disaster of national importance the Spanish government (as of course the British do too) rely on the t.v. to broadcast transmittion of information.

I have also just learned that we (as a Community) may have to pay to have the Spanish ariels upgraded to digital before 2010 as this is the law so I will look into this as a budgeted item for next years A.G.M.

Official statement from Telmicro Levante

2008-08-22T00:21:00.000-07:00

From http://www.telmicrolevante.com/

UPDATED STATEMENT FROM TELMICRO (20/8/08)

1. Telmicro Levante have all the relevant licenses and legal
permits in order to broadcast and operate.

2. The closing of the broadcast has nothing to do with Telmicro
Levante being prohibited to broadcast, however all the relevant
technical material is being looked at.

3. Telmicro Levante promises all its clients to restart broadcast
and business as soon as possible.

4. Telmicro Levante is aware of the fact that these proceedings
take time, and asks its customers for their patience to allow for the
investigation to finalise.

5. We would also like to reassure that obviously no customers will
be charged and no bills will be sent during this time and until
further notice.

6. Since all the Court proceedings have been declared secret, it is
not allowed to obtain any detailed information, and it is against the
law for anyone to communicate any information regarding the ongoing
investigation.

7. Telmicro Levante expresses our support to the Courts and Justice
system of Spain, and our firm belief in that the matters will
eventually be solved so that our customers can again enjoy a very best
quality TV service.

8. These unfortunate events concern all the English speaking
customers and rebroadcasters in the area, and Telmicro Levante will do
its utmost to continue to inform of the situation with maximum
transparency.

9. We know that there are other companies within this sector
offering their services and we strongly recommend that you seek to see
whether these companies have all the legal requirements in place in
order to broadcast (ie. Boletin Oficial del Estado, that is Official
Bulletin from the state).

10. Telmicro Levante would also take this opportunity to thank the
local English media for their help and support on this matter.

For any further information: info@telmicro.es

Community pool pumps

2008-08-21T04:46:00.000-07:00

The new pump has been fitted ( Friday last week) and isnow up and running. The damaged pump has been sent to the repair centre and Pro Pooñs are just waiting for the call to say it is ready for collection. This pump is to be kept as a spare so hopefully in the future pump problems will not mean the pool having to be closed.

An electrician has been to the Communal pool and has carried out a insulation test and checked all the breakers and wires and everything appears to be in good working order. It would seem therefore that the problem is just coincidental as there is nothing untoward with the electrical side, which is excellent news. Hopefully, once the season ends we can part drain the pool and sort out the pool light that keeps blowing as this has meant we have had no pool lights on for months

21st August 2008 latest statement from Telemicro Levante

2008-08-21T01:47:00.000-07:00

At 10.45 (Spanish Time) the owner of Sunshine Radio in conjunction with Telemicro Levante made a statement concerning the lack of t.v. programmes.

Succinctly
They have the correct licences
They does appear to be a minor problem with some of their equipment (not stated but intimated) which they are correcting.
They will be broadcasting as soon as possible.
They are sorry for the inconvenience (at last)
They applaud you for your patience
There will be no charges claimed during this period and monies paid will be off set against future month.

At last we have some firm news from the owner of Telemicro Levente. We will keep you updated on this issue.

t.v. statement from Telemicro Levante

2008-08-18T10:22:00.001-07:00

This is what I could copy from what was read on Sunshine FM 102.8 earlier today, hope it helps:

STATEMENT FROM TELMICRO (Monday 18th):

In light of the current reports on Telmicro Levante, we can confirm the following:

1. Telmicro Levante have all the relevant licenses and legal permits in order to broadcast. These legal documents were issued by the Ministry.

2. The closing of the broadcast has nothing to do with Telmicro Levante being prohibited to broadcast, however all the relevant technical material is being looked at. Some of which was purchased in the UK

3. Telmicro Levante will promise all its clients to be operational as soon as possible, and ensuring the very best quality.

4. We know that there are other companies within this sector offering their services and we strongly recommend that you seek to see whether these companies have all the legal requirements in place in order to broadcast, such as “Boletin Oficial del Estado” (Official Bulletin of the State).

5. Due to the obvious upheaval caused to Telmicro Levante, on Monday 18th we will contact the British Consulate and others to shed light on all the recent events, and will be furnishing them with all the legal documentation required here in Spain in order to broadcast to the British Community, always showing complete transparency.

I did not miss out the apology offer on compensation for missed t.v. or thanks for staying with them......... there was none!

t.v. the latest

2008-08-14T01:03:00.000-07:00

The below is believed to be a translation of the official police broadcast to the media

digital television signal Pirates Network dismantled
The Civil Guard has dismantled a network based in the Vega Baja, accused of pirating digital television signals to resell at low prices to a wide customer base that stretched from Benidorm to Almeria.

Yesterday the Guardía detained 17 people who are reputed to be mostly British, but sources close to the raid indicated that the figure could increase as the investigation open.

During police searches to at least eleven homes, agents confiscated items valued at over one million euros and 500,000 euros in cash.

Investigations were launched four months ago by agents of the Judicial Police of the Guardia Civil of Torrevieja, Alicante, Novelda and Pilar de la Horadada.

According to the same sources, those arrested in Torrevieja and other localities of Vega Baja had created their own platform for distributing TV and radio signals between the entire British population. Under a semblance of legality, offering a service to their customers for around 20 euros a month.

The business was widespread throughout the province and the Andalusian coast so the number of affected is very high, indicated sources. The alleged fraudsters had great telecommunications knowledge of and were able to encode and decode signals from the satellite to market their service, to create their own digital platform.

The extensive network infrastructure offered a semblance of legality with which managed to capture their customers and gain significant economic benefits.

The complicated investigations have dragged on for months. Courtesy of Información.

(14.08.08)

SUMA BILLS ARE HERE

2008-08-13T09:25:00.000-07:00

The Suma (local tax) bills have arrived for 2008. For those not on direct debit the bills should be in your letter boxes on the Urbanisation. If you do not pay by direct debit or you have never had a bill then you need to go to the Town Hall Playa Flamenca with your passport and address and get an up to date bill.

The bill for 2008 for phase 2 is €174.71 and needs to be paid before October 3rd to avoid penalties. I have not seen a bill for phase 1 but it should be around the same.

ENGLISH T.V. IN SPAIN

2008-08-13T02:43:00.000-07:00

Most if not all t.v. providers in Spain have stopped broadcasting.

The rumour has it that the offices of Telemicro were raided by the Guadia Civil yesterday and the staff were arrested.

It would appear that the t.v. will remain off for the forseeable future but we are sure that with such a wide market someone somewhere will come up with a solution.

It is advised that if you are due to pay up front or by direct debit then you seriously consider your options although we can not tell you what you should do in invidual cases.

Other than keeping owners informed of the situation, there is nothing that the Community or any of the Officials can do about this. Please will you inform your guests of the situation and ask them to refrain from calling at the President´s house at all hours to demand the t.v. stations be returned "as we have paid for an apartment with sky t.v."!

Hopefully, it will be returned in some form and we will of course keep you all updated on the situation.

Non resident bank accounts to be frozen

2008-08-12T01:28:00.000-07:00

BANK EMBARGO SHOCK

Brits find their accounts have been frozen

THE TREASURY is moving to embargo the bank accounts of EU citizens who are not residents in Spain, government officials have confirmed.

Foreigners who have opened accounts with either passports instead of NIE numbers or with NIE numbers without paperwork from the National Police declaring that they are not residents in Spain are being hit.

The situation came to light after an expat complained to CB News that her account had been emargoed while she was in the UK without her knowledge.

As a result and unbeknown to her the bank was no longer paying standing orders or making transfers.

A source at the Treasury department in Alicante explained that the Spanish government is following an EU directive introduced to crack down on tax evasion.

However the source added that they are not informing non-residents of the situation ‘because it would be impossible to do so’.

The source also stated that the Treasury is working ‘little by little’ and that all the accounts will not be embargoed in one go.

In order to have the embargo lifted clients are being asked to provide their banks with an NIE number and a certificate of non residence (un certificado de no residencia).

British citizens affected by the new regulations appear be to those who live in Spain for less than 180 days and who have not declared their ‘non residence’ with the National Police.

The initiative is not only affecing EU community residents – the government is using the legislation as a tool to clamp down on illegal immigrants.

Hundreds of Morrocans have been hit by the embargoes and thousands of non-resident workers from North Africa have been drawing money out of banks before their accounts are blocked.

In response to the information provided by CB News, the British Embassy in Madrid has advised British expats who are non residents to make sure they are registered as non residents with the National Police.

A spokesman at Orihuela town hall told CB News that certificates of non residence are available from the town hall building in Playa Flamenca.

People are asked to call between 09.00-11.00 from Monday to Friday to reserve an appointment.

Non residents all over the Costa Blanca are advised to contact their local town halls to find out where they should apply for their certificate of non residence.

(source Costa Blanca News 08/08/2008)

pool

2008-08-09T01:25:00.000-07:00

Could all owners please remind their guests to abide by the pool rules.

Bottles and glasses are strictly forbidden at the pool. In the event of a breakage the pool will need to be drained under Spanish Law. The cost of this will be levied on the apartment where the guests are staying, and this cost is substantial. There are also people smoking around the pool and this also is against Spanish Law as the pool is a public no smoking area. Fines if they are caught will be levied on the Community (i.e. you and us) and these could total 9,000 euros! Finally, please remind your guests that children under the age of 12 are not allowed in the pool area without an adult. There has been several drownings this year and two involved young children unsupervised in Communal pools. We have been several times over the past three weeks to remove children as young as four from the pool because they are in there without an adult and this cannot continue

Pool pumps

2008-08-09T01:18:00.000-07:00

One of the pumps at the pool malfunctioned late on Wednesday night. Pro pools responded very quickly and were able to let Vic know what to do to prevent any more damage being done. They attended the pool early Thursday morning and are having to take the pump away for repair. They have suggested that we purchase a third pump thereby, leaving the repaired pump as a spare. This suggestion seems to make sense as we are having pump problems every year and this usually results in the pool being closed for several days.
Pro Pools are also organising a survey of the electrics at the pool to see if anything can be done to prevent pump damage in the future. If anyone has any strong objections to the purchase of the third pump could they please contact me as soon as possible as it needs to be fitted on Monday at the latest.

Community debtors

2008-08-08T02:54:00.000-07:00

Good news.... once again Helene has managed to collect 2,434.14 euros this week from Community debtors. This with the monies collected in June has brought the debt down substantially, well done to Helene and may she keep up the good work.

Earthquakes

2008-08-06T01:34:00.000-07:00

There were four minor earthquakes (or quakes and aftershocks depending on the report) in the night the first at 12.45 a.m. 6th August 2008, with a strength of 4.2 and the last just before 8am with a strength of 2.2 (according to met reports) Although there were ground tremors on Sol Golf there appears to be no damage. The epicentre of the earthquakes is reported to be south east Algolfa and there are reports of small internal damage to a few properties but no injuries

Community newsletter

2008-08-06T01:12:00.000-07:00

The first edition of the Community newsletter for Sol Golf phases 1 & 2 has now been printed. Could anyone wanting a copy please ask Denise for one, or anyone with publisher on their computer who wants an electronic copy please could they email janddservices@msn.com and one will be sent.

The idea is to publish four newsletters a year and ideas/suggestions for the next issue are more than welcome.

Lights phase 2

2008-08-06T01:11:00.000-07:00

The lights on phase 2 were out for a couple of nights over the weekend. Thank you to the owner who reported this to the Officials.
Vic looked at the problem yesterday and the lights are now back on. Thanks once again Vic for saving the Community the cost of calling out an electrician.

Community pool

2008-07-28T06:58:00.000-07:00

Holiday makers are complaining about the rule not allowing children under the age of 12 into the Community pool without an adult to supervise them. Apart from this being against our conditions for the insurance policy below is a timely warning why this is not allowed

Danger! Swimming Pools
A seven year old girl drowned on Friday in a swimming pool in Cartagena. It happened in an urbanisation at Islas Menores just before 8:00 pm. Health officials were unable to revive the child on their arrival at the scene.

Coincidentally another four year old girl almost drowned in a pool in La Manga del Mar Menor, but she was able to recover.

A two year old French girl drowned in the swimming pool of a villa in the Torreazul urbanisation in Elche last Wednesday (24th).

The villa is owned by the child’s father who is also French, and it seems the tragedy happened at 7:00 pm when the girl fell into the water while being watched by a brother and a friend. Despite attempts to resuscitate her nothing could be done to save her life. She had only arrived in Spain on holiday a few days previously.

The tragedy follows the drowning of a three year old English girl in a pool in Cómpeta last week and that of an 18 month girl in El Campello on the 13th of the month.

New Forum

2008-07-21T05:48:00.000-07:00

Hi all

Just to let you know (those on email should already know) that I have set up a forum for the use of owners and visitors of Sol Golf 1 phases 1 & 2 (also 3 until they get their own)

The forum address is http://solgolf.myfunforum.org (sorry cannot provide the link so you will have to type it in or copy and paste) Once you are into the forum site you will need to register, and this is easy. On the top bar on the right there is a log in button, to the left of this is the register button. Click on this and click on the button regarding your age i.e. over 13 agree to the terms set up your user name (which can be anything if you wish to remain unknown to other users) pick a pass word which can be saved and your in.

There is a wide range of topics and if there is something you wish added please ask. Hopefully, the forum will be well used and will be another method of keeping owners and visitors informed.

meeting with Los Verdes de Orihuela (Green Party)

2008-07-16T07:27:00.000-07:00

This morning we had a very informative meeting with Los Verdes de Orihuela at the Celtic Isles Playa Flamenca to discuss with them issues concerning the Community.

Present at the meeting were Denise, Victor, Lesley, Sue and Neville (thanks to all for taking the time) Los Verdes Councillor for the Coast, Monserrate Guillén, assisted by Ulla (who acted as interpreter) & Gérard Perret, and Elliot & Natalie Sampford, four members of the Los Verdes Working Group for Orihuela Costa.

During this meeting is was mentioned that the contract for refuse collection is due for renewal in September 2008 and until it is decided who has been granted the contracted we are unlikely to get any bins or bottle banks for the Urbanisation. Nonetheless an aplication to the Town Hall was made for these items by Los Verdes Councillor for the Coast, Monserrate Guillén, which was signed by all the officials representing Sol Golf.
In addition, we spoke to the Councillor about our concerns for the saftey of children crossing to the Communal pool as the traffic comes very fast round the blind bend. Los Verdes Councillor for the Coast, Monserrate Guillén has now made a further application to the Town Hall to ask for the police (Traffico) to come and do a survey of the area to see if they agree that a speed bump (or sleeping policeman) would be a viable option. He/we are also concerned that there are no speed limit signs on the Urbanisation and he is asking the Town Hall to look into this also.
The discussion then turned to the excellent campaign by the Los Verdes de Orihuela (Green Party) Clean up the Costa,
Although we have not a problem in our area at the moment we could have in the future and we should support this campaign. We are hoping to be contacted when help is needed to clean up an area and with some fellow Sol Golfers help to clean up the problem area. In the meantime if all owners could use the green bin on phase 2 and also the bottle bank and other recycling boxes at the Plaza this would be a great help. Could any owner wishing to dispose of any large item please not put it in the street but contact me either by this site or on (0034)966764279 and I will contact the Town Hall who will collect it for you. There is no charge for this service.
Lastly we discussed the new bylaw (coming into force soon) covering the protection and ownership of animals
"This is a wide ranging Byelaw that includes the responsibilities of owners of dogs in such items as; the ownership & control of dangerous dogs; the control of all dogs in public areas to ensure the safety and health of the public, including the legal requirement to clean up any faeces of their dog in public areas; exclusion of dogs from designated public recreation areas including beaches; protection of animals against cruelty, including leaving dogs in parked and unattended cars. It includes regulations in the treatment of abandoned and lost animals.
Los Verdes are delighted, as this is the culmination of the work that they have carried out since the 15th November 2007 when the party raised the matter of the lack of any legislation within the Orihuela Municipality in respect of this matter. Seven months of continually putting pressure on the ruling PP Council, by repeatedly raising this subject in the Pleno and with the Councillors responsible for drafting the Ordenanza, has seen fruition."
(source http://losverdesinorihuelacosta.blogspot.com ,

In particular Sol Golf had an interest in finding out if there is any action we can take to control the number of feral (wild) cats we have on the two phases. We are to be sent some phone numbers and hopefully we can at least control the amount of young that these cats have by having them captured and neutered.

Committe meeting 6th July 2008

2008-07-06T05:41:00.000-07:00

Time 11am
Place 17 phase 2
Present
Denise Brown (President)
Victor Callaghan Smith (Vice President 1)
Sue Davidson (Vice President 2)
Neville Jackson (Committee)
Leslie Callaghan Smith (refreshments)
Andy Edwards (Proposed Security guard)

Following agreement by the majority of owners phases 1 & 2 and passed at the A.G.M. 2007, the Administrator and officials have been looking at quotations for the employment of a pool guard for the high season.
As has everything is Spain, these prices have increased from those given before last December and we are also informed that employment of the larger Companies is by contract only. This in effect means that we have to contract the Company for set hours and set weeks regardless how empty the pool was. We were approached by Andy who we all know in his position as a bonifide security guard and an arrangement has been made with him to provide security round the pool as and when we require this. This the officials feel will not only save the Community money, but give employment to one of our residents and also as we know him make Communication between the Officials and the pool guard easy.
AGENDA
A)POOL GUARD

1. Quotation for Administration files
Andy will supply this early next week.
2. Copy of insurance for Administration files
Andy has checked with his insurers and will supply this also early next week.
3. Start date
The children have staggered holidays now and it was agreed the the weekend of the 19th was the best start date but Andy agreed to be flexible on this.
4. Uniform
The Officials do not want uniformed guards at the pool. It was also stated that this kind of clothing would be too hot. It was agreed that Andy wear normal summer clothing but also a thin waistcoat (the kind you carry in the car) with the words security on the back. It was also agreed to put a sign on the gate (English and Spanish) mentioning that security was present every time Andy was on duty
5. Pool rules
It was agreed that the main aim is for everyone to enjoy themselves at the pool and the object is not to spoil users fun but indeed to increase it. If there is only one family in the pool for instance then playing games (ball or otherwise) would be permitted. If the pool is full and this is causing offence or danger then it would not be allowed and they would be asked to stop.
6. Debtors admission to pool
This would be difficult to police. However, we are now fortunate that it will only apply to five properties as the other properties (owned by debtors) are either empty or have their own pool.
7. Invoice
As Andy is to work on a weekly basis it was agreed that payment would be made weekly through bank transfer
8. Bank detail
Andy will supply this next week.
9. Official/Community business
Andy was asked to refer any one asking about Community problems/concerns to one of the officials he also took our telephone numbers to pass on to any enquirer.
10. Any questions
The subject of rubbish round the Communal pool was discussed and it was agreed to place a bin there for the summer season. Andy has agreed to empty this at the end of his shift.

B)DUSTBINS
Meeting 15th July with Los Verdes de Orihuela.(green party) to discuss dustbins, bottle bank and feral cats any other problems?
Despite many,many requests to the town hall we still only have one bin for 101 properties. Denise, Victor, Sue and Neville have an appointment on the 15th with Los Verdes de Orihuela (the green party) to see if anything can be done about this before the high season begins. We are also going to mention our concerns over the feral cat problem and ask for a bottle bank and also paper recycling boxes.
C) COCKROACHES
Council eradication in June completed do we need the internal walkways done this year.
It was agreed to play this by ear as the Cockroach problem is not like the infestation of 2007. Therefore, not the need to spend so much on specialist treatment. Victor is to lift the internal drains to see if we can spray them ourselves, although there will always be some cockroaches in the area we do need to keep them down.
D)DEBTORS
With the help of Helene over four thousand was collected last month. We are talking with 6 other debtors (three claiming they have paid Fincas Network) One we now find is still owned by the Constructor.
It was mentioned how good the new firm of Administrators were
E)ANY OTHER BUSINESS.
none
the meeting closed 12 25 pm.
Thanks to all those present

bins the latest!

2008-07-01T03:35:00.000-07:00

Following several attempts to get us more bins in the Urbanisation with nothing but promises resulting from the Town Hall I have written a letter to the Green Party with our request and publish their answer below. I had hoped to visit their last surgery but had to be elsewhere however, I will try and attend the next one this month to plead our case. Hopefully this will get us at least one more bin!

Dear Denise,

Thank you for your letter and email.

I apologise for the delay in replying but my colleagues were waiting to see if you were able to attend the surgery on the 25th, and also for my return from England.

Monserrate Guillen our Councillor for the Coast is taking your request to the department in the Town Hall to ask for additional bins.

Would you please let me have your contact telephone number so that I can keep you up to date with any progress.

Yours sincerely,

Elliot Sampford,

English Spokesman - Orihuela Costa,

July update debtors

2008-07-01T03:30:00.000-07:00

During the month of June with the help of Helene and Salvador, our new Administrators, we managed to collect €4,321.64 from the debtors.
This is excellent news and we have a similar target for July.

Helene and I are in discussion with 9 (Spanish) owners who have stated their intention to pay this month. I also am due to visit the bank that now owns three of our properties to discuss with them Community payments and upkeep of two of the properties gardens.

debtors

2008-06-19T09:16:00.000-07:00

Good news at last, four of our debtors (including three who have been charged by the Community for the weeding of their gardens) have now cleared all amounts outstanding. The total of debts paid this month is just in excess of three thousand five hundred euros. We have two 2008 payments being transferred at the moment (with 20% added) and a promise of a further one in September. Helene is in discussions with a further four debtors which will hopefully reduce the sum owed by a significant amount. Ideally, the Community should have no debtors as the charges are relatively low however, we are doing our best to bring this amount down.

Planning permission

2008-06-09T08:02:00.000-07:00

As owners are aware, all works to the outside of properties on Sol Golf 1 phases 1 and 2 need to go first to the planning office and then if approved the certificate of approval and the plans need to go before the Community as a whole before works should commence.

We have stated on many occasions that unless the work has a licence from the Town Hall that it could, and usually has to be, taken down sometimes straight away but sometimes years later.
(We have checked with the Town Hall and there is no permitted over or outer building allowed on Pau 8 despite what builders or fitters may say).

The order of demolition has occurred on several urbanisations recently on the Torretas (near Carrefour) and now the one reported on in the Leader today (below). Please check before you build with not only the Town Hall but also the Community.

TAKEN FROM THE LEADER 09//072008

Several residents of the Parque de las Naciones urbanisation in Torrevieja got a nasty shock recently when letters from the Town Hall, ordering them to pull down extensions to their homes, arrived on their doorsteps. Additionally, they are in danger of having the water supply cut off.
Several houses have had existing patios glazed in, which has not extended the houses as such, although the enclosed area is now greater. Others have added glass and aluminium conservatories built on the flat roof of the property, which is somewhat different as it does extend the house, even though it is upwards rather than outwards.
The problem has arisen because none of these extensions have been approved by the Town Hall, who will not release the certificates of habitation for those properties until the structures are pulled down. All the properties are still receiving water from the builder’s supply, even though they were actually built in 2001. A proper water supply will not be connected until the owners have their certificates of habitation and the builder (Eden) has now threatened to cut off the water from his supply if the extensions are not removed.
Jean and John Cooper purchased one of these properties in January 2002, having moved from the U.K. and not having a clue about building regulations in Spain. In 2003 they decided to have their front porch glazed in and also to have a 5m x 3m conservatory put on their roof. They consulted the community president, who assured them that there was no problem if the extensions were constructed of glass and aluminium, as they would be classed as temporary structures. He himself has the same glazed in porch.
They then approached a local company, Torry 2000, who gave them the same advice and proceeded to construct the extensions, at a cost of 7500€ in total. Several other properties in the same street of the urbanisation had similar work carried out, as indeed have many others of the 400 houses on the complex.
All was fine until the letters from the Town Hall arrived last month. Jean has since been to see Graham Knight at the Foreigners Office in Torrevieja, who she says was not too helpful, simply directing her to go to the Town Hall with a translator. This she did and was told that there was no alternative to the demolition order. It is not uncommon for unlicensed extensions or properties to be allowed to remain if a licence is applied and paid for retrospectively, along with a fine sometimes. There is no leeway in this case however, according to the Town Hall, who confirmed that when our reporter visited the Urbanisation Office there.
In the case of the glazed in porches, it all seems a bit heavy handed, as they do not affect anyone else. One would have thought that, in the current financial climate, the Town Hall would be glad of some additional income from granting the licences and maybe levying a fine, rather than making the Cooper’s and their neighbours lose a considerable amount of money as well as a harmless part of their house.
The Cooper’s and others have engaged a solicitor, who has arranged for an architect to visit their property this week. They desperately hope that between them a solution can be found.

Message from Neighbourhood watch

2008-06-05T08:19:00.000-07:00

The following is a message from the local Neigbourhood Watch, who we need to thank for helping to increase the police presence in the area. This has resulted in a much needed reduction of crime on Pau 8

Subject: Vecinos Colaborando - Orihuela Costa -Stolen Property
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2008 09:17:56 +0200

Please advise all persons who think that they have been victims of the thieves using the white Peugeot 206 car Reg No
A 0826 CH to visit the Guardia Civil Cuartel at Torre de la Horadada to see if their property has been recovered. The occupants have been involved in a number of handbag snatches and house breakings throughout the Vega Baja and were apprehended following
observation and quick response by our members.

blue flag beaches in the area

2008-06-02T12:24:00.000-07:00

Blue Flag is an international exclusive voluntary eco-label for beaches and marinas

The Mayor of Orihuela, Monica Lorente, is very pleased to announce that the Orihuela Costa has just been awarded six Blue Flags, one for each of the following beaches:
Flamenca
Cala Capitán
Barranco Rubio
Cabo Roig
Campoamor
Mil Palmeras

flights for 5th A.G.M. 6th December 2008

2008-06-02T10:31:00.000-07:00

Thanks to one watchful owner We now know that the flights for December 2008 with Ryanair have been released. It is possible to get flights out (depending on where you need to fly from) into Murcia or Alicante just before 6th December (the date of the A.G.M.) for free paying just the taxes. There are also return flights on the same deal. Many thanks to the owner who passed this information on.

take care

2008-06-02T10:28:00.000-07:00

We are sorry to report that some chairs have been stolen from the garden of an apartment on Phase 2.
We had thought that this type of crime had stopped now that there are more residents and holiday makers around but it would seem not.

Please would owners, where possible, take in their garden furniture to prevent this happening to them.

English t.v. in Spain (update)

2008-05-25T02:44:00.000-07:00

As discussed in a previous post, there are some owners who have the mesh t.v. system (those who pay monthly or up front yearly) loosing channels on their t.v.

This is the latest (as I understand it but it may have changed again today)

TelMicro have continued to show:

SKY News
Movies
BBC1
BBC2
ITV1
Channel 4
TVE 2
Channel 5
ITV2
RTE Television

TelMicro have anounced the addition of the following channels:

EuroSport
EuroSport 2
ESPN Classic - old sports stuff
MTV Hits - music
Nick - kids TV
VH1 Classic

Temporarily they are also currently showing:

A range of Spanish language programmes
BBC World News
National Geographic
Sci-Fi
Calle 13
XTRM
ITV3
ITV4
RTE2
UKTV Gold
UKTV Style
UKTV Drama
SKY One
Living
Hallmark

These may be on different channels that they were on before so you may have to look through the system to find them

Neighbourhood watch scheme website

2008-05-20T01:51:00.000-07:00

Sol Golf phases 1 & 2 actively support the Neighbourhood Watch scheme and send in monthly crime figures, and contact them in the event of anything suspicious happening so that they can liaise with the police.
We believe that through the actions of the neighbourhood watch scheme the police activity has increased in the area, we have more police on patrol in general, crimes are easier to report and we are to have a local station at La Zenia. In addition, to this the Neighbourhood Watch now have a website http://www.orihuelacostavc.com which contains much needed information for those either security conscious or those who unfortunately have been a victim of crime

gardens and walkways

2008-05-14T04:53:00.000-07:00

Prices are coming in now for cleaning and weeding the internal walkways and weeding the private gardens that are despite many requests to the owners to clean them up letting the urbanisation down. The price of repairing the private gardens will be sent to the owners plus administration charges which is allowable under the Horizontal Land law. Hopefully, this will make the owners look after their own gardens in the future.
The rains have brought out all the weeds in the walkways and it is difficult for some owners to open their drive gates for this reason, the delay in seeing to this problem has been due to the weather so will all those affected please bear with us.

Sol Golf Pool

2008-05-09T02:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we experience torrential rain in this part of Spain Yes I know it was hot in England - no laughing please
Although the rain was much needed as we have had very little this year it was the type that brings the red dust with it and on this occasion more than usual.

Because of this the Communal pool will look cloudy for the best part of the week. It is being hoovered daily but because it is such a fine dust it is taking time to remove and Pro Pools are doing all they can to rectify the situation. The pool has been tested and it is safe to use although I don´t think it is likely there will be a lot of people attempting to use it at present!

English t.v. in Spain

2008-05-09T01:59:00.000-07:00

At the moment everyone who has English t.v. at their apartment in Sol Golf are either loosing some of the programmes or in a few cases there is no t.v. at all. The problem has arisen (according to sources on the internet) because all English programmes in Spain are in effect illegal broadcasts. Some suppliers are offering a free month while they sort out the problems and there may be alternative English speaking channels to the ones we receive at the moment for those who have no channels at all. If you are getting calls from your visitors/renters about the problem, I would advise them that the situation is out of your control and not to try to re tune the t.v. sets as this will not help. You may want to contact your supplier but due to the large volume of calls you will have to wait a while to get through.

MEETING WITH THE ADMINISTRATORS 8th May 2008

2008-05-07T13:13:00.000-07:00

Meeting with Administrator May 7th 2008

Present
Helene (Administrator)
Salvador (Accounts)
Denise Brown (President)
Sue Davidson (Vice President (2))
Time: 13.00
Place: Offices of Administration Cabo Roig.

A meeting was held on Wednesday 7th May between the Administrators, President, and Vice President(2) purely with the intent to clarify the situation re the debtors although some other small issues were on the agenda.

1. Debtors
The problem re the debtors to the Community was discussed at length and the difference between the figures held the President and those by the Administrator was discussed. It emerged that Fincas Networks had passed on the wrong information to Helene and Salvador (Administrators) which was shown to Denise in an email from them. Helene had been told that the Community charge for the apartments was 300 euros if paid before 1st February and this increased by 20% if paid after 1st April. Denise pointed out that the minutes of the A.G.M. 2007 clearly state that the Community charge for this year is 330 euros with a 10% discount for payments before 1st February 2008 and a 20% charge for payments after 1st April 2008. This was checked in the official minutes book of the Community and it showed it was the case. The accounts of the Administrator were changed and we are now showing that we have debts of €21,250.60. It was also stated that four owners are claiming to have paid and we have not received this money into the Community accounts. These owners have been asked to provide the Administrator with details so that it can be looked into further. There is also a case of a sensitive nature and this was discussed, payment is to be made soon in this case.
It was also agreed that on the agenda at the next A.G.M. would be a proposal that payments must be sent to the Community in advance of cut off dates as some were just arriving on the date or the day after. The issue of payment by cheque, which is costing the Community money, is also to be on the next agenda.
Finally, it was agreed that one final registered letter is to be sent to all debtors with the cost of the letters added to the outstanding amounts (as is agreed under the law)
The letters will request payment within a time limit and if none is forthcoming court proceedings will begin in all cases. Sue inquired as to the legal procedure and it was explained that the President and the Administrator took the list of debtors and the amounts to the Notary and she/he prepared the case for the courts. It would seem that all cases are found in favour of the Community and in many cases the defendant does not even appear at the court. An embargo is then placed on the property and if the Community fees, penalties, administration and court costs are not paid within a certain period of time the property is then sold at auction.
2. Gardens
It was agreed that work will be done on the offending gardens and the bills will be sent to the owners. One of the properties, it appears still belongs to the Constructor and he will be asked to clear the weeds etc.
Wasp’s nests
We were informed that in discussion with the Council that wasps nests are now protected!

Nonetheless, after much discussion it would seem that the Council will remove the one on the Community at a cost of 30 euros and Helene is going to arrange this.
Outstanding payments.
We have not to date paid O.S.C. I. (the Administrators) for their services this year, In addition to this, they have paid out of their own petty cash, the smaller bills that we have had this year (Outstanding bill Fincas Network, Postage, Drain cleaning etc) Helene explained that they will not take payment until we are satisfied with the services they provide. To say the least we are more than satisfied and payment will now be collected from the Community account. There is also an outstanding payment due to Slip Solutions for work on the skirting of the pool and this will also be paid today.
Internal walkways
Work will commence on clearing the weeds in the internal walkways in the next two weeks. The price quoted remains the same as paid last year.
Main road edges
The edges of the council owned roads need cleaning and weeding and Helene will contact the council over this.
Wheelie bins
The council is to be contacted yet again with an urgent request for more bins.
Certificates of Habitation
It now appears that the original law on this relates again and the President can collect these on behalf of the owners. This will be done as soon as possible and owners will be contacted.
Meeting closed 14.30 pm

Events in May

2008-04-29T07:54:00.000-07:00

For those who are out in May or have visitors staying the following was taken from this weeks Coastrider

The May Fair or ‘Feria de Mayo’ opens in Torrevieja this week. This annual fair organised by ‘La Asociación de Amigos de la Feria de Mayo’ is one of the undoubted highlights of the Torrevieja cultural calendar. It is a hugely popular fair which brings together all the colour and excitement from Andalucia in the south of Spain and mixes it together with evocative music, food and companionship. The spectacle of the casetas or little pavilions is something to behold especially in the evening when the sun goes down and the lights of the individual stalls come on. The crowds in their finery, many wearing the traditional dress of Andalucia with the ladies in their ‘rocerías’ emphasise the cultural background of the event. As you enjoy the entertainment with the opportunity to sample some excellent fare from local providers and from further afield in Spain, one could almost be at that much larger and more famous event the Feria in Sevilla. It is a truly accessible festival, unlike many parades which while enjoyable do not allow the spectator to get too close. At the Feria de Mayo you can wander freely just soaking up the atmosphere if that takes your pleasure or sitting down to enjoy a beer or some Fino sherry and tapas. It is a perfect fiesta to take friends and visitors to, offering a truly magical insight into the colour drama, excitement and enjoyment that being in Spain is all about.
Each year there is also a competition in the schools divided into different age groups with prizes for the best, most evocative pictures that sum up the Feria de Mayo. This year, the 17th year of running the competition, prizes were awarded to 12 young artists from schools in the town.
The May Fair starts on Wednesday 30th April at 9.00 pm when the mayor of Torrevieja Pedro Hernández Mateo, will officially open the Fair. There will be music provided by the Union Musical Torrevejense and the Coro y Orquesta Maestro Ricardo Lafuente, so very appropriate as the composer died earlier this year. There will also be fireworks and there is nothing as guaranteed to get a fiesta of to a good start as a sterling pyrotechnic display. There will also be a performance on the main stage by the Academias de Baile de Torrevieja.
On Thursday night, May 1st, as well as being able to enjoy what the casetas have to offer of course there will be a performance by the duo Kiko y Sara starting at 11.00 pm. This young brother and sister from Cadiz have just received their second platinum disc for sales of their latest album ‘Una de dos’. Their music is light pop, very commercial and most people should enjoy tapping along or dancing to their numbers many of which have a flamenco feel to them.
The Feria del Mayo is the first stop on their summer tour this year.
Friday 2nd May brings an evening of Flamenco to the Feria starting at 11.00pm and on Saturday night the 3rd of May there is the Mass Rociera in the Inmaculada at 10.30 am with singing from Coro Nuestra Señora del Rocío de Almonte. In the evening starting at 11.00 pm ‘El Mani’ will be appearing. ‘El Mani’ was born in Gines on the outskirts of Seville and began singing with the Coro Rociero de Gines and was a soloist with the choir at the tender age of 12 years old. His professional career stared in 1988 and he has become a well established and highly respected sevillanas singer and no doubt will be performing a number of songs from his latest album ‘Ami Aire’ which contains a flamenco bulería, a rhumba as well as sevillanas. He is backed by a small group of musicians, almost all of whom have been with him since he stared and whom he counts as his friends. It is hard to think of a more appropriate performer to appear on the Stage at the Feria.
The Feria de Mayo comes to an end on Sunday evening at 10.00pm when the official closing ceremony takes place with music from the Coro de Nuestra Señora de Rocío de Almonte.

Car Tax

2008-04-27T06:53:00.000-07:00

For those of you who own a Spanish registered car, a reminder that the Suma (car tax) is renewable before 9th May 2008. This tax is applicable regardless of when you bought the vehicle and ranges from 50 euros up to around 200 euros depending on age and size of the vehicle.
An embargo (tow away) will be placed on the vehicle without any notice if the tax is not paid within three months of May (this may change again) so beware!

electricity costs

2008-04-17T01:19:00.000-07:00

At last some good news for the urbanisation. Despite the large increase in the cost of electricity in Spain, our bills for the pool have actually decreased. The new firm that we have employed since the last A.G.M. did a free survey of our pool before the were given the contract by you the owners. They told us that the water was clean only because the pump was on far too long every day to cut down on the amount of chemicals that needed to be used. While assuring us that the pool was clean (we have had it independently tested at no cost to the Community several times over the last few years) they queried the cost to the Community for this exercise.
Looking at the bills this year it does seem they are right.
ELECTRIC POOL 2007
DECEMBER 401.89
FEBRUARY 382.79
APRIL 326.81
ELECTRIC POOL 2008
DECEMBER 415.80
FEBRUARY 251.63
APRIL 238.38

Could we also remind all owners that (for those who have excel) copies of the accounts for 2007 are available by email on request to Denise on janddservices@msn.com or for those without email/excel a hard copy can be collected from no 5 phase 1. All the accounts are now up to date and 2008 accounts are also available at all times for any owner to view.

violent crimes

2008-04-09T01:46:00.000-07:00

As part of Sol Golf´s participation in the Neighbourhood Watch scheme we have received the following.
While not wanting to cause alarm to owners we feel we need to pass on the information and also the advice given in the email. Could all owners remember if they are subject to any crime here on Sol Golf that we need to report it to the Neighbourhood Watch and can do so via Denise at no 5 phase 1.

Subject: Fw: Vecinos Colaborando - Orihuela Costa - Violent muggings
Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2008 19:13:22 +0200

Denise,

Subject:-Violent muggings

In addition to the violent muggings circulated previously (see below), most of you will have seen in last Friday's, Costa Blanca News, details of four similar attacks on the Orihuela Costa. Three of them occurred when people were leaving the Villa Martin Plaza late at night, some on the road to Eagles Nest and the other by the nearby canal. I fourth occurred when two girls were robbed by La Zenia island. The assailants were described as being 4 men who speak Spanish and English with an Eastern Europeon accent and were driving an old black BMW car on Spanish plates but number unknown.
Action:- The Police are looking for these men and if seen, contact them via the 112 system.
Most important:- Follow the advice given below.
Keep alert and keep safe.
Please pass on to those not on e-mail
Chris.
Circulated to:- L.Z., All O.C.'s, C.C., Outs and Associates.

----- Original Message -----

Subject: Vecinos Colaborando - Orihuela Costa

Denise,
Subject:- Warnings and thefts.
1) Persons returning home from bars at night targetted by gang of muggers.
On two occasions last week different couples were returning home from bars near to the coast and crossing waste land
or deserted streets when they were attacked from behind, knocked to the ground and robbed of their property. On the one
occasion hospital treatment was needed. On both occasions the assailants were not seen but were thought to be four or more
North Aftricans.
Advice - When returning home during the late evening or the night, try to walk with others and in well lit and populated areas.
Only have with you what money you need for the evening and only Bank cards and documents if needed.Try not to
become a target.
2) Taken from the letter page of today's Leader - Pick pockets in Playa Flamenca
Place:- Lidl's Supermarket, Playa Flamenca, Orihuela Costa
Date and Time:- 22.3.08 3.40 p.m
Method:- Team of 4 possibly Eastern European males attempted to steal wallet from shoppers pocket whilst accomplice
distracted him trying to reach article from shelf.
Advice:- This type of crime not only occurs in Lidl's supermarket but in most supermarkets. Do not be distracted by other
customers.Do not carry wallets in outside pockets. Do not leave handbags or other personal property in the shopping
trolley. Be also careful when leaving the supermarket and putting shopping in your car and never leave your car insecure
whilst returning the trolley.
Keep Alert and Keep Safe.

accounts 2007

2008-04-05T14:31:00.000-07:00

Many owners are aware that the accounts presented by Fincas Network were to say the least a joke.
This rightly caused problems amongst the owners who needed to see where the monies collected in 2007 had gone. I had kept a full set of accounts for John for this period as we had a similar problem with the first Administrator. This set of account along with the cheque books and bank statements were passed to the new Administrators for accreditation. This has now been done and for those with excel a copy can be sent by email on request to Denise on janddservices@msn.com. Anyone who does not have excel can have a hard copy either posted to them or by calling at number 5. All original bank statements, facturas, receipts and copies of cheques can be viewed (sorry they cannot be taken away) during normal office hours at the offices of the Administrators.
If anyone has any further queries over the accounts could they please get in touch.

Summer

2008-04-05T14:11:00.000-07:00

So soon we are into the month of April and although we still have winds in the late afternoon it does seem that summer has arrived. The pool is ready apart from the canopies that need to go back onto the gazebos, but we are waiting for the winds to drop more first as we don´t want them blowing off!

The drains are once again causing us problems as the surveyor from the Town Hall said they would! This time it was over the Easter period and instead of calling out the usual Spanish drain contractor we tried an English Company who were pretty impressive. They actually came when they said they would and also charged the Community less than we have paid on the previous three occasions.

What was more important was they were able to confirm what the surveyor from the Town Hall told us last year in broken English. The drains it would seem are built to a standard passable by the Town Hall (any court case to get the builder to pay for the work needed would fail) The problem is that they are built for residential properties and not as in our case empty or holiday homes in the main. We simply do not have enough water flushing through them and the debris sits in the well of the drain which then over time blocks and sends the effluence back up the pipes and comes up into the apartments sinks and baths!!

Apart from regular flushing (at least twice a year) the drains need "benching" which I understand means concreting round before the problem can be solved and we are getting quotes for this at the moment

Financial report 2007

2008-03-20T07:51:00.000-07:00

As owners will be aware the financial report for 2007 was not sent out with the invitation to attend the A.G.M. 1st December 2007 as was requested by the then Officials of the urbanisation. This matter was not under the control of the then Officials and they had been assured that the up to date accounts would be available at the date of the A.G.M.

As many owners are now aware the figures presented by the last Administrators, Fincas Network, were to say the least incorrect. It was therefore fortunate for the Urbanisation that a full set of accounts and corresponding copy bank statements had been kept by the Officials. Denise presented these accounts to O.S.C.I (the new administrators) in January of this year. Helen and Salva the new Administrators have gone through the figures, bank statements and accounts and they have now been passed as correct. Any owner may have a copy of these figures at any time please could they request them (they are on excel) by email to Denise at janddservices@msn.com For those without email a hard copy can be collected from 5 phase 1. The original bank statements, receipts and facturas are available (viewing only they may be copied but not taken away) from the offices of administration during normal office hours.

At all times the account of 2008 and copies of bank statements for 2008 are available by request to Denise on janddservices@msn.com

local earthquake

2008-03-02T02:23:00.000-08:00

Those of you who log into local websites will be aware that we suffered a small earthquake at 5.03 this morning. The epicentre of the earthquake was San Miguel and was reported to be on a scale of 3.3. http://www.emsc-csem.org/index.php?lang=en&page=rye&sub=loc&id=79929&country=197®ion=72&dept=0&city=140780&distance=&direction=&address=&zip=&city2=&email=

Although this shook the properties on Sol Golf and was followed by an after shock about 9 minutes later there does not appear to be any damage here or anywhere else.

Parking

2008-02-26T00:31:00.000-08:00

Once again we are experiencing a problem with owners/guests/tenants parking in the internal walkways. Please can we ask ALL owners to ensure that they and their guests either park on the main roads or in their own parking spaces. Any suggestions on how to enforce this would be appreciated. Parking in internal walkways is not only causing great inconvenience to other owners and their guests it could lead to further problems if the emergency services are needed at an apartment and cannot gain access because the walkway is blocked.

Pool work

2008-02-26T00:13:00.000-08:00

During February there has been a lot a general maintenance work going on at the pool. The white skirting has been cleaned and treated with anti slip and the edges of the pool re-grouted. The re-grouting took longer than expected as there was hardly anything under the tiles which meant they had to be packed and then filled in stages so this took several days.
The two new showers have been fitted and this will cut down on the water bill for the pool, and the planters will be refreshed before the Easter break.
During the last month only one of the pumps at the pool has been working properly. Tony from Pro Pools has stripped the pump down as sometimes it is hair etc, which cases the problem. Unfortunately this was not the case and the pump will have to be replaced. Tony has offered to fit this free of labour charge, we have checked and the old pump is 18 months old and is six months out of guarantee. We have managed at last to find two stone benches at a reasonable cost of 178€ each and these are now in situ. The gates at the pool are looking very shabby and we are getting a quote to have them repainted.

Aministrator details

2008-02-02T07:56:00.000-08:00

The new administrator for Sol Golf Phases 1 & 2 is Helene Thibaut, and owners are more than welcome to discuss Community issues, or look at the Community accounts at her office in Cabo Roig by appointment

Her office is at C/Mar Edit Faro 2 b 03189 Orihuela Costa Alicante Telephone (0034)965322450 which she shares with Salvador. If you wish to contact her or Salvador by email the address is
orihuela-costa@ocsi.e.telefonica.net

Weath tax for non residents

2008-02-02T07:42:00.000-08:00

We have been asked recently about the wealth tax which is a tax put on all properties owned by non residents of Spain. Many of you will have been paying this for the last three years but some have not. As with all things Spanish if you do not pay on time there will be charges and penalties and in the case of wealth tax we have been told that they are substantial. If you have a solicitor or fiscal rep and you have not paid this tax please contact them a.s.a.p and they will look into it for you. For those who have no solicitor or fiscal rep I have looked into the matter and to the best of my knowledge have come up with the following. Please note that this is for information only and nothing to do with the Community, also be aware that as everything changes in Spain and sometimes overnight some of the information or figures may have changed. If anyone has any more up to date information please pass it on.
WEALTH TAX FOR NON RESIDENTS

As a non Resident you are liable to pay a Wealth Tax, every year, non payment is subject to penalties and interest charges. The tax is in two parts, one part is on the amount you paid for your apartment and the second part is on the rateable value, on the assumption that you receive some rental income from it). If you are a non resident and you have a Solicitor or Fiscal rep. please contact them over this issue
The tax is paid between the 1st of January and the 31st of December of the year following purchase and must be paid to the Agencia Tributaria (Tax Office). I understand that the nearest one is in Orihuela (Avenido Obispo Rocamora), although please check as with everything Spanish this is likely to have changed .
The Tax Office in Orihuela is easy to find. As you enter the town you go under bridge and approach a roundabout. At the roundabout take the third exit to the left. The fourth and last exit is no entry. The tax office is about 200 yards down the street on the right hand side. Drive past and you come to some traffic light, go straight over and past a small square on your left. Turn in to the underground car park on your right, which is next to the river. When you come out of the car park, walk back to the traffic lights, straight over and the Tax Office is about 100 yards down the street, now on your left. Avoid going on Market day

The payment is made using a triplicate form, know as Form 214. You must go to the Agencia Tributaria, to obtain identity stickers (Tarjetas), so the Form 214 can be bought there at the same time. The forms cost 50 cents each (this may have changed) and come in an envelope, that is used to post one copy to the Agencia Tributaria. The identity stickers contain your name, your NIE number and a bar code to identify you and your form
When you have completed the Form 214, you stick an identity sticker on the top. You then take it to a bank and pay the money there. They give you one copy, keep one for themselves and send the third in the envelope, with another identity sticker on, to the Agencia Tributaria
To complete the Form 214 you will need:
1. Your NIE number. Mine begins with an X, followed by about 6 numbers and ends with another letter. Your solicitor should have your NIE number, as it is required to buy a property.
2. The amount that you paid for your house on the Escritura (Deeds)
3. The rateable value (Valor Catastral) that is shown on the rates bill that you get/pay to SUMA. In the first year when you may not have a Valor Catastral you can calculate this part of the tax by also using the Escritura, but the amount comes to much more
You can download a copy of the Form 214 to look at, in pdf format. Print it out and fill it in, it will make it easier for you to follow the calculations. The Form 214 will print out as THREE pages, you only complete the FIRST page as the others are completed as they are carbonised

Assuming an Escritura value of 100,000 Euros and a Rateable Value of 20,000 Euros

Delegacion de = Alicante
Administracion de = Orihuela
Ejercicio = Year that the Tax Return is for eg 2004
NIF = your NIF number
Apellidos y Nombre = your surname and first name in that order
Direccion a efectos de notificiones……. URB Sol Golf 1 Pau 8
Numero = house number
Codigo postal = post code - 03189
Municipo = Orihuela
Provincia = Alicante
WEALTH TAX SECTION
Valor - 01 = 100,000 (Escritura Value)
Duedas - 02 = 0.00 (This figure would be any outstanding mortgage or debts on the property, which would reduce your tax burden)
Base imponible y liquidable - 03 = Figure 01 minus 02, with no debts this would be 100,000
Resto - al % = 0,20 (This is the tax rate of 0.2%) Then 200.00 in next box on right, also 200.00 underneath for Suma – figure reached by 100,000 x 0.2%
Cuota Integra. Impuesto Patrimonio - 04 = 200.00 (This is 200 Euros wealth tax on the value of your property)
IMPUTED RENT SECTION
Base imponible – 05 = 220 this figure is reached by 20,000 x 1.1% (The tax`rate)
Tipe de Gravamen = 25% of the above amount, so in the box at 06 this would be 55– this
is 25% of the 220 figure above
Total a ingresar = 255.00 – which is amount in 04 + 06
Next section your address details again
Referencia Catastral – this reference number is on your IBI form
Next section would be filled in by your representative if you were using one
Fecha = date
Firma = signature
Place a Cross in the forma de pago box
Importe = the amount eg 255.00

REMEMBER
1. If your property is in joint names then the two figures above Escritura (100,000) and Rateable Value (20,000) must be halved and you must fill in TWO Form 214's - one each
2. You recieve about 20 sticky identity labels, so buy several Form 214's, and next year the Rateable Value will have increased slightly, and you can fill the forms in, stick on the labels and take it to the bank without visiting Orihuela. So while the first time may be a bit traumatic you will be able to DIY for years to come
3. You should use the Rateable Value for the year that you are making the tax submisson for
4. The Tax Office in Orihuela is easy to find. As you enter the town you go under bridge and approach a roundabout. At the roundabout take the third exit to the left. The fourth and last exit is no entry. The tax office is about 200 yards down the street on the right hand side. Drive past and you come to some traffic light, go straight over and past a small square on your left. Turn in to the underground car park on your right, which is next to the river. When you come out of the car park, walk back to the traffic lights, straight over and the Tax Office is about 100 yards down the street, now on your left. Avoid going on Market day
When you enter the office there is a large open area with tables and chairs for completing your forms. To your right is an information desk where you can buy the Form 214. In front of you is a corridor and just to the left of the entrance to the corridor is the desk where you ask for the sticky labels (Tarjetas) to be printed

COMMUNITY PAYMENTS

2008-01-09T05:03:00.000-08:00

Just a quick reminder to say that the Community charge for 2008 became due on 1st December 2007, and has been set at 330 euros for the coming year.

For those wishing to make an early payment there is a 10% discount for payments received before 1st February 2008, which will mean that you would need to pay 300 euros the same as last year.
Payments made between 1st February and 31st March 2008 will need to be for 330 euros.
Any payments not paid by 1st April 2008 will once again be subject to a 20% penalty plus any administration costs accrued in claiming the debt.

Could anyone who has made a payment and not received a receipt from me please get in touch as once again we have already this year two payments with no details of the payee.

The bank (as all banks do) will only forward the first 20 digits of an instruction and therefore, if an owner puts Community charge or Sol Golf first that is the only information that we receive such as this one that came in today! CDAD.PROP. SOL GOLF I CASA If you think that this is your payment could you please get in touch a.s.a.p.

minutes of the 4th Annunal General Meeting Sol Golf 1 phases 1 & 2

2007-12-13T05:24:00.000-08:00

MINUTES OF THE 4TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE COMMUNITY SOL GOLF I & II, DATED FIRST DECEMBER, TWO THOUSAND AND SEVEN

The A.G.M. held in the The Havana Bar, in Villamartín, Orihuela Costa, on the first of December two thousand and seven took place on second call at 10:30 as there was not sufficient quorum for the first call.
The A.G.M. was called by the President, Mr. John Stephenson. At the annual general meeting the following property owners were present or represented.
PRESENT OR REPRESENTED PROPERTY % REPRESENTED BY
Mr. HEDGES DWELLING 1, F.1 2,110 DENISE BROWN
EDWARD PICKFORD DWELLING 2, F.1 2,110 JOHN STEPHENSON
DENNIS DAY DWELLING 3, F.1 2.110 DENISE BROWN
HELEN ANN PETERS DWELLING 4, F.1 2,110 DENISE BROWN
JOHN STEPHENSON DWELLING 5, F.1 2,110 PRESENT
PIERRE SIDNEY SEECHIM DWELLING 8, F1 2,110 DENISE BROWN
LORRAINE ARCHER DWELLING 9, F.1 2,110 JOHN STEPHENSON
ADRIAN JAMES DWELLING 10,F.1 2,110 JOHN STEPHENSON
ROSALYN THOMAS DWELLING 11,F.1 2,110 JOHN STEPHENSON
MIKE MCKEE DWELLING 12,F.1 2,110 REP. NO VÁLIDA
FRIEDA DOCKX DWELLING 13,F.1 2,110 JOHN STEPHENSON
JOHN PICKERING DWELLING 16, F.1 2,110 DENISE BROWN
VICTOR CALLAGHAN SMITH DWELLING 17, F1 2,110 PRESENT
TONY & CAROL ANDREWS DWELLING 18, F1 2,110 PRESENT
FRANCIS GIBSON DWELLING 20, F1 2,110 ANDY GIBBONS
JANET TURNBULL DWELLING 24, F.1 2,100 PRESENT
DANIEL GALLIMORE DWELLING 25, F.1 2,110 LIAM MCDONALD
CAROL PRICE DWELLING 32, F.1 2,110 DENISE BROWN
INA PRETSALL DWELLING 33, F.1 2,110 JOHN STEPHENSON
RACHEL AYLETT DWELLING 34 F.1 2,110 LIAM MCDONALD
SHARON GRANT DWELLING 40, F.1 2,110 LIAM MCDONALD
JOHN PROCTOR DWELLING 42, F.12,110 JOHN STEPHENSON
ANDREW DAVIDSON DWELLING 46, F.12,110 PRESENT
MR. GREGORY DWELLING 01, F.21,820 DENISE BROWN
ANN DUDLEY DWELLING 03 F.21,820 PRESENT
MARTIN GARFOOT DWELLING 04, F.21,820 DENISE BROWN
ALAN FERGUSON DWELLING 06, F.2 1,820 JOHN STEPHENSON
MICHAEL STEPHEN IWANKCO DWELLING 08, F.2 1,820 DENISE BROWN
MICHAEL JOHN DOWNES DWELLING 09, F.2 1,820 DENISE BROWN
DUNCAN JAMES McCALLUM DWELLING 10, F.2 1,820 DENISE BROWN
LESLIE BEALE DWELLING 12, F.2 1,820 LIAM MCDONALD
BRIAN NEVILLE COLE DWELLING 16, F2 1,820 PRESENT
JEFFREY STANLEY GORDON DWELLING 19,F.2 1,820 DENISE BROWN
PAUL PHILLIPS DWELLING 20,F.2 1,820 JOHN STEPHENSON
DAVID FISHER DWELLING 24,F.2 1,820 PRESENT
DENNIS DIXON DWELLING 25,F.2 1,820 PRESENT
PHILIP WAINWRIGHT DWELLING 26, F.2 1,820 CHRISTINE DIXON
HILARY WHITE DWELLING 28, F.21,820 PRESENT
WILLIAM JAMES MCDONALD DWELLING 29, F.2 1,820 PRESENT
ROBERT BACON DWELLING 30, F.2 1,820 CHRISTINE EDWARDS
ANN DUDLEY DWELLING 033 F.21,820 PRESENT
EDWIN MARTIN DWELLING 34, F.2 1,820 DENISE BROWN
MAXWELL DEAN SHARMAN DWELLING 36,F.2 1,820 DENISE BROWN
JULIE OWEN DWELLING 38, F.2 1,820 DENISE BROWN
RICHARD JONES DWELLING 40, F.2 1,820 JOHN STEPHENSON
ERIC WATSON DWELLING 41, F.2 1,820 JOHN STEPHENSON
RAYMOND BLENKINSOP DWELLING 42, F.2 1,820 LIAM MCDONALD
KEITH LEWIS DWELLING 47, F.2 1,820 DENISE BROWN
SHERRALEE WADE DWELLING 48, F.2 1,820 DENISE BROWN
JAMES DICKINSON DWELLING 50, F.2 1,820 LIAM MCDONALD
JOHN LAWRENCE HEALY DWELLING 52, F.2 1,820 REP. NO VÁLIDA
CRAIG LEE HIGGINS DWELLING 53, F.2 1,820 DENISE BROWN
ANN JONES DWELLING 54, F.2 1,820 DENISE BROWN
JAMES ALEXANDER DWELLING 55,F.2 1,820 DENISE BROWN

Once the vote had been confirmed, the meeting began based on the following agenda:

READING AND APPROVAL OF THE PREVIOUS MINUTES.
The minutes from the previous general meeting, dated 1st December 2006, were read and approved unanimously.

1. PRESENTATION OF ACCOUNTS AND DISCUSSION OF BUDGETS 2007/2008.
The correspondence to the fiscal year that started the 1st November 2006 and ends on 31st October 2007 was explained and discussed and is indicated below;
Initial Balance on 1st October de 2006 _________________ 18.549,68 €
EXPLANATION OF THE BALANCE:

INCOMES
COMMUNITY FEES (CLAIMED) 30.720,00 €
SURCHARGES 1.981,17 €
CLEANING GARDENS 1983, 60 €
DEBTORS LETTERS 108,00 €
CLEANING PRIVATE POOL (PHASE I, Nº 1) 200,00 €

TOTAL INCOMES ___________________________________ 34.992,77 €
EXPENSES
ELECTRICIAN REPAIRS 839,00 €
WATER 806,05 €
ADMINISTRATION FEE 9.513,34 €
VAT 2.388,91 €
ELECTRICITY 2.759,72 €
POOL MAINTENANCE 4.907,60 €
ADMINISTRATION FEES 5.197,52 €
NON-SLIP 1.047,00 €
PEST CONTROL 700,00 €
CANAL PRINT 185,00 €
EXPENSES
(DRAIN CLEAN, STREET CLEANS, PLANTERS, INK, PAPER etc) 450,00 €
POOL REPAIR 326,00 €
VARIOUS 3.590, 35€
INSURANCE 1.825,31 €
BANK CHARGES 111,34 €
TOTAL EXPENSES 28.639,62 €
BALANCE (Initial Balance + Incomes – Outgoings) 28.902,83 €

Some owners asked for clarifications on specific items, which were answered by the administrator and the President. The problem of debtors was raised and it was explained that this was a problem for all urbanisations and that although there were still debtors, this was less than previous years and the President was active in reducing this further. The Administration pointed out that to have more than 8,000€ in the bank at the end of the year was a position that many Communities would wish for as most are in arrears. The President also stated that the accounts are available at all times at the offices of the Administration for inspection by any owner.

After several questions, the Budget was approved Unanimously.

2. THE PROPOSED NEW COMMUNITY CHARGE 1ST DECEMBER 2007 TO 31ST NOVEMBER 2008 WILL BE €330 AND WILL REMAIN THE SAME I.E. €300 FOR PAYMENTS RECEIVED BEFORE 1ST FEBRUARY 2008 FOR THE 99 APARTMENTS. AND THE PROPOSED NEW COMMUNITY CHARGE 1ST DECEMBER 2007 TO 31ST NOVEMBER 2008 WILL BE €561 FOR THE 2 VILLAS PHASE 1 AND WILL REMAIN THE SAME €510 FOR PAYMENTS RECEIVED BEFORE 1ST FEBRUARY 2008. and THE EXISTING PENALTIES OF 20% WILL BE PAYABLE ON PAYMENTS RECEIVED AFTER 1ST APRIL 2008. This proposal was passed with a vote of 52 owners in favour and one 12 phase 2 against

3. RESIGNATION OF CURRENT JOHN STEPHENSON AND THANKS FOR HIS HARD WORK OVER THE LAST THREE YEARS.

The President declined to be elected again. There has been many letters phone calls and emails thanking John and he wishes to thank everyone for their kind words.

4. ELECTION OF AUTHORITIES. PROPOSAL AND VOTES

There were two nominations for President, Denise Brown who obtained 44 votes and 9 against. Votes against Denise Brown were owners of properties 34 & 40 phase 1 & 3, 12, 29, 30, 33, 42 & 50 phase 2 The other nominee was William McDonald, getting 9 votes and 44 against from owners in favour of electing William (Liam) McDonald were owners of properties 34 & 40 phase 1 & 3, 12, 29, 30, 33, 42 & 50 phase 2 against were all others listed above either present or by proxy.
At the time of the vote was explained to Mr. McDonald by the Community solicitor that the voting delegate from Mr. Healy and Mr Mackee, were not valid as they did not authorise anyone to stand proxy in their absence.

During the decision of the Authorities, tenant of dwelling 3, Fase II, after arguing strongly with Denise Brown, did abandon the meeting because he did not agree with the system of voting. Owner of dwelling 3 and 33 left the meeting at this point also. Votes for no 3 and 33 and proxy vote for 30 then fell under Spanish Law to be in agreement with the majority

After voting, the authorities elected are;
President DENISE BROWN
Vice President VICTOR SMITH
Vice President 2nd SUSAN DAVIDSON
Committee RON CAIN, JANET TURNBULL, ANGIE MUNDEANE AND NEVILLE JACKSON

5. ELECTION OF SECRETARY-ADMINISTRATOR

It was decided to not re-elect the company Fincas Network as the secretary- administrator. The majority vote of 38 votes was to contract the service from ORIHUELA COSTA SERVICIOS INMOBILIARIOS S. L. Votes against were 9, 20, 24, 42, phase 1 & 10, 12, 25, 29, 34, 42, 48, & 50 phase 2.

7. RENEW EXISTING CONTRACT OR EMPLOY A NEW COMPANY FOR THE SWIMMING POOL MAINTENANCE.

It was voted not to renew the contract of Juan Rafael (Ray), and to contract the service from Pro Pools.
In this moment, before the vote, Mr. McDonald decided to leave the meeting, as he considered his votes and representations had not been considered and took into account, which was not the case as they had been counted up to this point. Following his departure under the Spanish Law the vote for his own dwelling 29 phase 2 and the proxy votes held by him for 25, 33, & 40 phase 1 and 12, 42, & 50 phase 2 were deemed to be in favour of the majority.
The proposals where put up for a vote, and the service from PRO POOLS, were approved unanimously by 52 votes against this change was one owner 24 Phase 1

8. RENEW CONTRACT POOL EXTERIOR CLEAN/ANTI SLIP COMPANY

Before voting, Mr. McDonald did abandon the meeting because he said that his votes weren’t heard.
Proposal approved unanimously. Against this were owners of 10 phase 1

9. RENEW THE CURRENT INSURANCE COMPANY OR CONTRACT ANOTHER ONE.

Several estimates were looked into, and the best Company for the Community is Liberty Seguros, this is the only one with information in English. A discounted insurance policy is offered by this Company to all owners on phases 1 & 2. The proposal was put up for a vote, and was approved unanimously.

10. APPROVAL, IF AGREED, TO GROUT THE EDGE OF THE SWIMMING POOL.

The proposal was put up for a vote, and was approved unanimously.

11. CHANGE THE SHOWERS IN THE COMMUNAL POOL TO AUTOMATIC STOPS

It is proposed to contract Pro Pools for this work before the Easter season.
Proposal was approved unanimously.

12. APPROVAL, IF AGREED, TO SET UP A PAINTING FUND (INCREASE THE COMMUNITY FEE WITH 50€ PER PROPERTY)

The proposal was put up for a vote, and voted in favour by the majority, and 21 votes against. It was however, decided that this matter needing looking into in greater depth as it was a great concern to many owners and that their opinions needed to be sought, and other alternatives considered. Votes against 1, 2, 5, 8, 10, 17, 18, 24 phase 1 & 1, 4, 6, 8, 16, 25, 26, 28, 34, 38, 53, & 55 phase 2

13. PAYMENT, OR A SET AMOUNT OF EXPENSES FOR THE INCOMING PRESIDENT.

It was voted by the majority not to set a payment to President. It then was voted, with the majority vote in favour and non against to pay the President her expenses and this the meeting was told would be kept at the minimum cost to the Community

14. APPROVAL, IF AGREED, TO INCREASE THE CLEANING OF THE POOL DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS (INCREASE THE COMMUNITY FEE 55 EUROS PER PROPERTY AND YEAR).

The proposal was put up for a vote, and was voted unanimously, to not accept the proposal. This matter was looked into with several pool Companies who all stated that is was not needed as if the pool is cleaned properly, the current cleaning schedule is more than adequate.

15. DISCUSSION OVER THE CREATION OF GATES AT EACH END OF THE COMMUNAL WALKWAYS AND QUOTES FOR THIS WORK TO BE OBTAINED DURING 2008 IF ENOUGH OWNERS SHOW INTEREST IN THIS PROPOSAL.

The Item wasn’t discussed because not enough owners were interested in it. Those owners who voted for the discussion (5) were 17, & 33 phase 1 & 25, 41 & 47 phase 2

16. APPROVAL, IF AGREED, TO CHANGE THE DATE OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING.

Two owners (54 & 55 phase 2) wished to change the date of the meeting. This was considered not to be enough and as one owner stated whatever the date of the meeting there is always going to be reasons why owners can not attend. Voted against by the majority vote.

17. DUE TO THE ONGOING PROBLEMS IN THE COMMUNITY POOL, THE EMPLOYMENT OF SECURITY ON A TEMPORARY BASIS AT THE POOL IN THE HEIGHT OF THE SEASON.

The meeting heard that problems had once again been had at the swimming pool during the summer, by different owner’s guests and tenants. The proposal was to employ the Company on a temporary basis with as little cost to the Community as possible to keep all in place and guarantee that all owners can enjoy the swimming pool; it was put to vote, and was approved with 38 votes in favour, and with 10 votes against. The votes against came from 3, 4, 9, 20, phase 1 & 6, 19, 25, 34, & 55 phase 2. The proposal was therefore approved by the majority. It was also commented on by those present that if the abuse and language at the beginning of the meeting was an example of what the Officials had to endure then some form of protection was well called for and sanctioned.

The President fixes the date for the 5th AGM on the Sixth December 2008, at 10:00 am on first call, and 10:30 am, on the second call, at a venue to be announced.

And with no other matter to be discussed, the President finalised the meeting at 12:30, 1st December 2007, closing the minutes with the signature of the President and the Secretary.

Christmas in Spain

2007-12-13T05:15:00.000-08:00

Christmas in Spain

Christmas is a deeply religious occasion in Spain. The country’s patron saint is the Virgin Mary and the Christmas season officially begins on December 8th, the feast of the Immaculate Conception.

For those of you planning to spend Christmas in Spain, you will find it is a far less commercialised affair to what you have become used to in latter years in the UK. Unlike, in the UK where the build up has already begun, the shops don’t actually start filling up the Christmas stock until December and you certainly won’t find a tree in anybody’s house until the second half of December.

The main difference between a Spanish Christmas and the UK version is the importance of the feast of the Epiphany on the 6th January. This is the day that the Three Kings arrived in Bethlehem, on horseback. In Spain this is when presents are given and the three "magic" kings, not Father Christmas give the children presents. Parents encourage their children to write to the Three Kings, in the same way that ours write to Father Christmas. It is on this day, that people gather in the town’s streets to watch the cavalcades of the Three Kings in all their glory, throwing sweets for all the children. In recent years many families have started to give their children their presents on Christmas Eve because children have to go to school on the 7th January and they don't have time to play with their new toys.

Spanish Christmas is known as Navidad. It is still regarded as a time to go to church and of course, exchange presents. Christmas Eve is known as Nochebuena, “the Good Night”. Families usually gather around Nativity scenes (a belen) in their own homes. The meal eaten on Christmas Eve is one of the most important meals of the year. Seafood is widely eaten and families often hang a ‘pata de jamon’ in their kitchen and slice off cuts of cold ham over the Christmas period. You won’t be eating mince pies at Christmas in Spain; here you find cupboards stacked with Polverones, a cake/biscuit made with almonds, flour, and sugar, and turron, similar to nougat, made with toasted, sweet almonds.

If you are thinking of spending Christmas in Spain, it is far less stressful than in the UK as there is hardly any hype, think UK Christmas in the seventies. However, for children it is probably not anywhere near as exciting as in the UK. Everything closes down over Christmas and you don’t have the Boxing Day sales to escape from the house to. As Spanish television is pretty dire, even for us who can speak and understand Spanish, my recommendation would be if you have not had satellite television installed, bring some new DVDs and some family board games, oh and don’t forget the Tesco´s mince pies for festive homesickness.

Christmas Day Lunch

2007-12-08T06:23:00.000-08:00

The Annual Sol Golf Christmas Day lunch is now full.
We have a guest list that has shot up from the intended 30 to 50 and have found it impossible to fit any more in. We understand that there are still some places left at The Square on the first floor at the Plaza for those who are coming over and have not booked yet. If any one needs any phone numbers for any of the restaurants could they please email me and I will look them up

minutes of the 4th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 1st DECEMBER 2007

2007-12-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

The minutes of the 4th Annual General Meeting which took place last Saturday 1st December 2007 are being prepared this weekend. As soon as they are signed we will publish a copy on this website, on the notice board and send them to each owner.

In the meantime, I would like to say a very big thank you to all owners who elected me as President and I will of course do my very best not to let them down.

Any queries should still be sent to the existing Administrators or direct to us until the Offices of Administration are formally changed which should occur in the middle of next week.

The Community charge for 2007/8 has risen to 330 euros and became due last Saturday 1st December 2007. Payments received before February 1st 2008 will have a 10% discount therefore making no increase for those who support the Community and pay early in the year. Payments received after the 1st April 2008 will once again be subjected to a 20% penalty.

The bank account will remain the same although we may have a better deal with another bank later in the year to move some money and gain interest. As always the accounts are available for inspection at the Offices of the Administration and I will send a copy bank statement to any owner on request by email.

The next (5th) Annual General meeting will be at 10am on Saturday the 6th December 2008 and the folder is now open for items to be on the agenda. Should any owner wish anything to be voted on or discussed at the next A.G.M. could they submit their request in writing either direct to me or to the Administrator who will be sending all owners their contact details next week.

Many thanks

Denise

comments

2007-11-27T03:21:00.000-08:00

It seems that the site has been very active with comments while we have been off line. Comments are always welcome but not from anonymous writers for obvious reasons. As we have stated we will remove these comments (good or bad) from the site. We, as the owners of this site reserve the right to do this as this site was set up to keep absent owners informed of points of interest or concern on Sol Golf and for no other reason.

problems with this site

2007-11-27T03:08:00.000-08:00

We have been experiencing a problem with access to the website which is why there has been no input for the last two weeks. As it happens there is not been much to write about other than preparations for the A.G.M. next Saturday are going ahead as planned. We are once again disappointed to see the lack of interest from some owners who have decided not to vote on the many aspects that could affect their property in years to come. This is however, their decision and we would like to thank all those who have replied or are indeed able to attend the A.G.M.

2007-11-17T00:58:00.000-08:00