General Manager’s Update

Dear Landings Association Members,

One of my favorite parts of being a member of The Landings Association’s employee team is the vast knowledge our volunteers provide to help make The Landings the best community possible. Even after 21 years of tenure, I continue to find myself learning new and useful information. One recent example occurred during an Insurance Committee meeting. In this challenging insurance market, the idea of a “Captive” insurance company came up as a potential long-term solution. That’s a new term to me, but we have experts on our committee who are well versed in this concept. Fast forward a couple of months, and we’re now setting up a meeting with The Landings Golf & Athletic Club’s insurance committee experts on this topic, to determine whether such a concept might make sense, and if there’s an economy of scale in combining forces. Fantastic! I look forward to learning more about this and sharing with the community in the future.

Your Association has other good examples like this, of those who offer their time and talents to our various committees. We’re looking to update our Association Rules & Regulations, along with other governing documents this year, to provide easier to understand, more consistent guidance to our residents. After working through various committees, proposed changes then go to the Governance Committee for review and inclusion. Now it’s time for community feedback. You’ll soon see an email with the updated, draft document asking for your input. Even with dozens of volunteers working to improve the Rules and Regulations, that’s no substitute for the eyes and experience of our nearly 9,000 residents. Please email any suggested changes, additions, etc. to webmaster@landings.org.

Your Public Works team continues to think creatively regarding how to protect and preserve the Association’s assets. The Landings Harbor Pier was scheduled to be replaced next year in the amount of $440,000. That would have provided a like-for-like replacement. However, following the success of the Islands of Deer Creek bridge project, we have determined the best path forward is to perform similar work. The current wood decking requires costly and time-consuming maintenance, due to the exposure to the saltwater environment. Therefore, the deck will be replaced with light-weight concrete, the railings will be a synthetic product able to withstand the elements and require minimal maintenance, and most of the work will be conducted in-house. The total cost of this project will be $77,000. This will create big savings, improved appearance, and decreased maintenance costs. We’re now reviewing all other bridges and walkways for similar treatments. This savings frees up money for pressing needs such as storm drain repairs and replacements, along with necessary road repaving.

Work continues on the fiber-to-the-home project underway by Coastal Communications. As a reminder, they are building a fiber network to offer internet. Coastal Communications has now partnered with Live Oak Fiber, which will handle the actual hookups to the home of those who subscribe. The service is expected to go live sometime in July or August for those homes already passed. As of this writing, about 10 miles of conduit have been installed, with another 90 or so miles to go. We’ll continue to provide updates as work progresses in the community.

This project is part of the Association’s Strategic Plan (Technology – Research and leverage cutting-edge technologies to enhance the safety, security, and quality of life for residents of The Landings). We just completed a quarterly update of progress against the overall Strategic Plan. Click here to view the updated document.

Finally, after an interruption caused by COVID-19, we’re gearing up for our first community survey since 2019. Focus groups will be conducted by the survey researchers to help develop the questions. When you receive the survey this fall, please take the time to complete it. This helps guide our Board and staff as we work for the betterment of The Landings.

As always, I value your feedback and suggestions. Feel free to drop me a line (karls@landings.org) if you have questions or concerns.