Blog

One of winter’s great pleasures is relaxing in front of a warm, cozy fire. For most months of the year, however, the fireplace stands idle, and these long periods of disuse can lead to hazardous conditions when you light your first fire of the season.

 

Your fireplace needs regular care and cleaning to assure a safe and roaring fire. Creosote, a flammable, tar-like substance that accumulates in the firebox, chimney and flue, should be removed by a professional once a year, eliminating the worry of a potential fire hazard. Your chimney should also be inspected annually to ensure there are no structural problems.

 

Clean your fireplace and its accessories regularly to prevent the accumulation of soot, ashes and creosote tars. The following guidelines will help you keep your fireplace in good working order throughout the wood-burning season:

 

·       Vacuum or sweep the hearth weekly to prevent dust and soot buildup. Do not sweep or vacuum until all embers have been extinguished for at least 12 hours.

·       Burn only well-dried, seasoned wood to minimize dangerous creosote buildup and reduce the risk of toxic fumes and excessive smoke.

·       Don’t use water to drown a fire except in case of an emergency. Water will make a paste of the ashes, which is difficult to remove.

·       Don’t use an abrasive cleanser inside the fireplace; many such cleaners leave a flammable residue. Instead use a stiff-bristled brush to gently scrub the walls of the firebox.

·       When cleaning your fireplace, sprinkle damp coffee grounds over the cooled ashes to keep down the dust.

 

For more tips on fireplace care and maintenance, as well as kerosene heaters, wood-burning stoves and furnaces, download the U.S. Fire Administration brochure, Winter Fires: Safety Tips for the Home, at www.usfa.fema.gov/ 

 

 

For many people, meetings are a fact of life. Whether it’s a board or member meeting here in our association, a volunteer meeting at your child’s school or a department meeting at work, being adept at participating effectively and managing meetings is a useful skill.

 

Sometimes one or two participants will dominate the discussion, steer it off topic and interrupt others, causing long, uncomfortable or unproductive meetings. Whether you’re the meeting chair or a participant, there are techniques you can use to help engage others, limit intrusions and minimize distractions.

 

· Table the discussion. If a conversation is getting particularly heated, the chair or a participant can move to table the discussion for a later date. This helps clear the air and allows for a calmer and more meaningful conversation at the next meeting. It also sends the signal that debates will be conducted rationally and with respect.

 

· Take it offline. When a meeting attendee takes a topic off course, everyone’s time is wasted. A good tool for the chair to use—or for another attendee to suggest—to get the meeting back on track is to invite the member to continue the discussion privately. Saying, “Let’s take this offline so we can talk more,” is an easy way to get back on the subject without alienating the sidetracked speaker.

 

· Use the agenda. The agenda is a useful tool for keeping a meeting moving efficiently. When a chair begins a meeting by saying, “We have a full agenda today,” he or she sets the stage for productivity. Periodically referring to the agenda during the course of the meeting keeps all attendees focused on the discussion. If the chair doesn’t have an agenda, ask the group pause a minute to create an informal agenda that simply lists the topics to be covered or goals to be accomplished.

 

· Call on members. To engage more reticent members of the group, and to balance the impact of more vocal participants, it’s helpful to call on members by name to ask for their opinions. “What do you think, Mary?” or “Do you have some input here, Steve?” ensures that all members are valued. And you don’t have be the chair to ask for others’ opinions.

Its that time of year when we’re reviewing and updating the community’s budget, and we want your help!  We suggest starting the budgeting process by creating or updating the strategic plan.  

 

A strategic plan outlines priorities and projects for the immediate future and for years to come. It can accommodate revisions as changing circumstances dictate—without conflicting with the vision behind its creation. It also helps determine what this year’s budget will include and suggests what future ones might feature.

The strategic planning process has many advantages. It stimulates ideas to make good use of association resources, identifies responsibilities, assigns work, coordinates efforts, reveals obstacles, identifies opportunities and guides decisions.

 

The plan begins with our mission and vision statements. The mission statement explains our organization’s purpose, such as serving the community and preserving property values. The vision statement, also broad, provides a picture of what the community will look and feel like in the future. It can project a well-managed community, a place where homeowners’ needs are met and a community where residents have a sense of involvement.

 

As we review our plan, we’ll examine all critical association documents, our governance process, facilities and infrastructure, financial statements (including the reserve study) and community demographic trends. We also may conduct a needs assessment, which includes an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats—a tactic used by many businesses.

 

Resident feedback is crucial to the strategic plan. We may ask for your input via surveys and town hall meetings to determine needs and interests. Through these opportunities, you can indicate priorities and suggest projects.

 

We’ll review your comments then develop and prioritize short-term projects, longer-range projects, and how and when to fund them.

Stay tuned, and start thinking about the future of our community.  Let us know if you want to schedule a planning meeting soon.