In its final meeting as a client of Incline Property Management, the Homeowners Association Board of Directors on Thursday announced tentative plans for snow removal this winter.
A new contractor; a new approach
This will be our first season with Capstone Enterprises, a Carson City-based contractor that will use a crew based in Incline Village and equipment stationed on the Incline Pines property.
The HOA’s previous contractor kept his equipment off site and charged hundreds of dollars for travel time.
The Board believes keeping equipment on site will lead to a faster response at a lower cost.
Incline Pines’ new snow removal contractor, Ricky Resendez of Capstone Enterprises
Our new contractor, Ricky Resendez of Capstone Enterprises, asked the HOA to take a different approach to snow removal. Ricky identified three sites on the property where he’d like to station his equipment for the winter.
Capstone’s snow removal equipment will be placed next to the monument at the driveway entrance, at the first switchback (used for boat parking in season) and at Unit 8.
This will allow his team to attack simultaneously from the top and bottom and meet somewhere near the middle instead of the snow being cleared by a single operator.
Weatherproof GFCI outlets have been added at each location to allow the equipment to be heated when not in use. The outlets get power from the nearest units (39, 32, 8) and are separately metered so the individual owners can be reimbursed for power used.
With new wiring at the entrance monument, the HOA took the opportunity to replaced the damaged ground-mounted flood lights with sturdy “scoop” lights above that won’t get buried in snow.
Protocol following substantial snowfall
Details are still being worked out, but the protocol will be very similar to how snow removal has taken place in the past. Four inches of new snow will trigger a response, and for the first time a single contractor will be clearing the driveway, parking areas AND individual walkways. This should lead to better coordination between crews.
One significant change this season will be the method of notifying homeowners and tenants when snow removal operations are beginning and ending. In previous years, the sound of the equipment was the only notification the community received and residents had to scramble to move vehicles out of assigned parking spaces or risk being blocked by snow berms.
New snow removal operations notification method
New Board member Susan Schwerd suggested earlier in the week the HOA use a group text system for notifications– and her fellow board members wondered why no one had thought of that before!
Instead of a traditional group text which reveals the phone number of every group member and leads to “reply all” mayhem, the HOA will use a one-way bulk text service that will protect our owners’ privacy and sanity.
Anyone who plans to be at Incline Pines during the snow season is encouraged to sign up for the bulk texts. Please understand the service will be used sparingly and requires the consent of all who join. Watch for a form coming via email for signups.
Our new community manager
During the Thursday meeting homeowners got a chance to meet our new community manager, Vojko (VOY-ko) Lapanja (luh-PAHN-yuh) of Swiss Time Management. Swiss Time will take over management of Incline Pines on Dec. 1. Watch for details as the date approaches.
As of 2024 the HOA is moving to quarterly Board meetings and our next scheduled meeting will be Feb. 15, 2024 at 5:00 pm.