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From The Observer News
(www.observernews.net) Top Stories By Melody Jameson
Since July 1, residents in the gated condominium community, accustomed to a wide array of services provided as part of the $400-plus fee each unit owner pays every month, have been confronted with cutbacks in their internal transportation system and a surcharge when they board their big coach for external road trips. The situation is attributed to fuel costs rising so rapidly in recent months that budgets forecasted last fall now sink in red ink without remedial action. The remedy worked out by Kings Point Management (KPM), professional managers engaged to oversee resident-owned recreational, transportation and security facilities, KP Federation directors elected as the community’s onsite governing body, and their standing recreational facilities executive committee, endeavors to “balance” all of the factors involved in the best interests of residents, said Ginger Anzalone, KPM general manager. When the 2008-09 budget for transportation services inside and outside the community was drafted, fuel costs still were under $3 per gallon, Anzalone said. Anticipating increases, the budget projected a ceiling of $3.50 per gallon, she added. However, she pointed out, the diesel fuel that powers four trams which circulate upon demand through the community of some 5,200 homes, taking residents from villa to various local sites and back again, has reached $4.80 per gallon. The result is a substantial budget shortfall in the remaining nine months it covers. The same high fuel costs impact the large coach which transports loads of KPers on various types of excursions. Another aspect coloring the picture is an earlier increase effected in April for the transportation component of the monthly charge assessed each unit owner. It was bumped up from $5.19 to $8.67 per month, a $3.48 increase representing a 67 percent hike, Anzalone noted. Then, there’s the new tram, a smaller version of the older vehicle it replaced and expected to deliver more efficient, accommodating service. The purchase price – just under $59,000 – was covered with a loan from another recreation area fund and must be repaid, Anzalone said. Taking all factors into consideration and with a supporting ridership survey in hand, managers chose as the most equitable solution cutting back tram service by five hours daily during the week, with new hours running from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM, Monday through Friday. The new schedule eliminates the former operating evening hours to 9:30 PM. The evening hours were the least used, the general manager said. Saturday and Sunday tram service hours also were reduced, but with transportation to local area churches preserved and a few additional hours retained. Managers also opted to impose a $5 surcharge for each resident using the coach for an outside trip. The changes eliminated one fulltime and one part-time position, Anzalone said. All told, the savings are expected to be about $2,100 each month. And for that amount, residents will be willing to assess themselves a few cents more each in order to retain the former transportation schedule, said Nina Block, one of hundreds opposed to the reduced hours. Block presented a petition calling for return to the old transportation schedule and bearing the signatures of 527 KPers during a community meeting on the subject last week. She also asserted that the savings projected over the next nine months, when divided among some 5200 unit owners, produces an added monthly assessment of just $0.41. It is an amount so small, she told managers conducting the session, that it could be increased to $.50 or a dollar without complaint if the transportation restrictions were removed. Block, who said she’s considered legally blind and no longer drives or owns a car, emphasized that a great many KP residents depend on the tram to meet their routine transportation needs, whether days, evenings or weekends. Others use it not because they need it but simply because they value the service, she added. A total of 59 clubs and clubhouse activities start and conduct sessions after 5 PM, Block said. “Did you notify them of the transportation changes?” she asked managers rhetorically. “I contacted 25 of them and none of them” were aware of the change, she noted. Anzalone said residents can use any of the busses running for special evening programs such as bingo or a series show to get to the clubhouse for other purposes. A posted monthly schedule of such night time programs should help in advance planning, she added. As for the $5 surcharge imposed on every resident for every trip taken on the excursion coach, Block noted that as economic conditions worsen the extra charge could pose a hardship for some residents. She also suggested that a number of unit owners spending summer months in northern states may be chagrined to find the changes awaiting them when they return. Residents, concerned about multiple effects of reduced transportation options, contacted the state’s Department of Elder Affairs. In a response addressed to Anzalone by Buddy Cloud, transportation liaison in the department, he noted “The health and wellness of the seniors…is at risk if they become isolated and lose their sense of independence, because of the transportation challenges they are facing.” Anzalone said this week she advised Cloud of the budgetary constraints involved and received a second communication from him acknowledging that some situations require “concessions by everyone.” Block, however, is not deterred. Contacts with other organizations dedicated to senior interests are on tap and the transportation issues are likely to arise again later in the year when more residents return for the winter, she said. The Kings Point transportation system has been a “godsend,” Block added. “It’s why I moved here.” But, she also questions the “lack of foresight” that characterized the budgeting process. And, “It’s not fun to cut back services,” Anzalone said. Managers have worked to balance resident needs against budget concerns, she added. Looking ahead, the general manager said the situation will be monitored closely. Additional changes may have to be made in the future, she indicated, including possibly establishing fixed routes for existing vehicles, consideration of smaller, multiple passenger electrically powered carts and use of volunteer drivers. ©2008 Melody Jameson © Copyright 2008 by The Observer News Publications and M&M Printing |
