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July 31, 2005
Spa News / Sue Burgess
Back in June I was asked to be on the board of directors for the Killington Chamber of Commerce. At my first meeting I volunteered to water the flowers,on the light posts going up the Killington Rd,one day a week.This requires 40 gallons of water and a pick up truck, Jim Bauer offered to help. Now on Monday mornings you can see the Woods pickup slowly going up the sidewalk,along the road,while I water. Sometimes it takes longer than the usual 45 minutes as people do stop to talk and ask us questions about the Woods and what we do. I'll keep you posted with our continuing efforts to be more involved in the Killington community.
An owner asked why the 10% discount,currently in effect for spa treatments for the summer,couldn't be extended to owners all year round. It will be, thanks for the suggestion.
Posted by sue at 09:44 AM | Comments (0)
July 30, 2005
I added an email subscribe to the sidebar
I added an email subscribe mechanism to the sidebar. That will enable to get your updates through email whenever someone posts something up here.
The email does not "look" great, but at least it's functional.
Email or comment (by clicking on the comments link below this entry) with any other suggestions! (f.gossieaux AT comcast DOT net)
Posted by Francois at 11:40 AM | Comments (3)
Another good move for you...pre-paid gas
We (superstar negotiator Ed) negotiated a fixed-price contract for propane for this winter at $1.37/gallon. That applies to the association and all the owners!
The current quotes for similar fixed-price contracts from propane dealers in VT is around $1.90- $2.00 for the upcoming season and rising. The spot market earlier this month was $2.45!
So what does that mean for you? And what are the downsides?
What this means to you is that while the cost of energy is up 50% from last year, the dollars that you spend on gas will be about the same as last season assuming same levels of usage. If we did not do this, you would be spending about $1,000 more each for gas this upcoming season.
The market prices would have to drop by around 40% before we would see any negative impact. (as natural gas follows oil futures, oil would have to drop from $60 to $35- not likely to happen in the near term)
Thanks Ed!
Posted by Francois at 09:42 AM | Comments (0)
Cable price changes...
Our "super" negotiator - Ed Martins - has renegotiated our rates with Adelphia (I would always want to sit at the same side of the table as him in negotiations - I will tell you that).
The deal with Adelphia is that they will provide basic cable to all homeowners for $12.95/month plus tax effective immediately through April 30, 2006. Effective May 1, 2006, the rate will increase to $15.95/month plus tax. In addition, Adelphia will provide high speed internet service to every unit for an additional $10/month plus tax.
oh yeah - and as part of that they will re-cable the complex - so goodbye grainy tv!
So at the end of the day we get High Speed Internet access for the same price as what we're paying now. Pretty good!
Posted by Francois at 09:31 AM | Comments (0)
Progress on hiring the GM
A few of us were up at the Woods this week to interview General Manager candidates face to face. This was the third step in our process - the first one was to select candidates based on resume, the second was to further triage the candidates by doing phone interviews.
We may go up again next week to interview some more, but at this stage it looks like we have a solid slate of candidates. The goal is still to have someone on board by Labor Day.
Thank you Frank Osmun for participating in the process!
Posted by Francois at 09:08 AM | Comments (0)
July 11, 2005
Summer News/July 10,2005
The summer renters are here and fully enjoying our tennis courts. They are also using our conference room for afternoon bridge. It's great to see more activity here and within the community.
All economic reports for Vermont have stated a slow June everywhere due to the hot weather and rain. July looks to be a better month. I know the spa business has started to pick up. I'll keep you posted.
Sue Burgess/Spa Director
Posted by sue at 10:02 AM | Comments (0)