General Manager's Update

Karl Stephens - karls@landings.org
General Manager/COO
  Dear Landings Association Members, One of the main things I enjoy about working for The Landings Association is the variety of what comes across the desk every day. One area I’ve learned much about over the years is the wide range of insurance coverages. We have a strong Insurance Committee of members with decades of experience who help ensure we have the appropriate property coverages in place, at a fair cost. Unfortunately, that cost has increased this year due not only to tighter insurance markets (“hardening” markets), but also to inflationary impacts on materials. You can read more in this month’s Budget Box. On a more positive note, as interest rates begin to rise, and since your Association is debt free, we can put our cash to work for us and earn more than we have the past few years. In order, the primary goals are:
  • to ensure principal,
  • maintain liquidity,
  • and then to maximize yield.
The Investment Subcommittee of the Finance and Audit Committee has been reviewing how to increase interest returns. For the first time in years, Treasuries now earn more than Certificates of Deposits in some cases. With the help of an advisor and the subcommittee, we are rebuilding a ladder of investments to ride the interest rates up. This won’t erase the effects of inflation, but it’s a good start. For our major road and path resurfacing programs, we have received encouraging feedback about the work to date. Labor shortages and occasional outages of the asphalt or concrete plants have provided a few setbacks, but the work is progressing nicely. Thank you to all who slow down near the work zones and patiently take the required detours. This help makes the projects run much more smoothly. Maintaining our community is a key part of our Mission and our Strategic Plan. Recently, we held meetings with all Association employees to review the Strategic Plan in depth, and to determine how everyone can contribute to its success. It was gratifying to hear the thoughtful ideas coming from all corners of the Association. If you haven’t yet, please visit www.landings.org/50th to learn more about our history as we celebrate our 50th Anniversary. I’ve worked here for 20 years, and I can’t wait for the latest “Golden Nugget” to come out each week to learn (or relearn) something new. Special 50th Anniversary merchandise is now being stocked in the Landings Harbor Ship’s Store, so swing by to show your support. Finally, I enjoyed meeting some new residents at our recent Landings Association Annual Meeting. Thank you for attending, for the questions, and for the enthusiasm about our community. If you have feedback to share, please drop me a line (karls@landings.org).



This article was originally published by The Landings Association on their website.

Visit landings.org to read the original article.
https://landings.org/news/2022/03/24/general-managers-update