Kingswood Village Property Owners Association
Spring 2022 Newsletter
Wildfire Community Preparedness Day
Saturday, May 7
The Wildfire Prevention and Insurance Committee has been working diligently on efforts to protect our community from wildfires. Though there is no completely ironclad method of protection, the most beneficial thing we can do as homeowners is to create defensible space around our homes and property. We, the KVPOA Board and WPIC, started this process with our very successful Defensible Space Cleanup Day in August of last year and we’re planning more cleanup days for 2022. And what better day to start than on May 7 2022, the day now recognized as National Wildfire Prevention Day.
Like last year, your WPIC is looking for volunteers to lend a hand in this undertaking. We have identified specific areas on our property that pose the highest risk to our homes and constitute a significant risk for ignition and spread. Subsequently, we will be working to remove excess vegetation in those areas on May 7th.
This is strenuous work and will require all volunteers to follow a designated process and take all necessary safety precautions. Volunteers will have to sign a liability waiver as well. In addition, prior to beginning the process of vegetation removal, we will go over our defensible space plan, the safety measures we expect volunteers to abide by, and the process of documenting our volunteer hours (documentation of hours helps us maintain the Firewise* certification status we currently enjoy).
The cleanup day itself will start at 9am Saturday morning, the 7th of May. Currently, we are planning on ending the work at noon but that time may be extended depending on circumstances. If you are interested in volunteering, please send an email to:
firewise.kvpoa@gmail.com and you will receive further information about the event.
There is a link on the KVPOA website with frequently asked questions regarding Firewise USA.
Wildfire Prevention and Insurance Committee
Insurance
Tim Booth
The chaos surrounding property liability insurance in designated wildfire
areas continues in California. Anyone who resides in a wildfire area has
probably faced rate increases or cancellation similar to what our
Association struggles with every year.
Once again this year, although we have had no claims, we received a
non-renewal letter for our policy. This was not a surprise as the insurance
industry has had a horrific couple of years with floods, tornadoes,
hurricanes, and huge increases in the number and size of wildfires.
Additionally, the insurance companies have become much more
sophisticated in how they calculate risk using complex algorithms and
new tools including drones and LiDAR.
This year, with the hope of mitigating the cost and scarcity of coverage,
we engaged with two brokers instead of one. The first broker scoured both
the admitted and non-admitted markets without success. The second broker was also unsuccessful in finding new coverage but was able to get the non-renewal of last year reversed albeit with reduced coverage. This coverage is complex because our wildfire risk is rated so extreme that no single carrier would accept more than a small part of the overall liability. This makes for a complex layered approach with many companies sharing the risk.
The net result of all this activity is that we secured coverage for another year at a cost of $526K. With the inclusion of the other policies required by our governing documents our total insurance premium costs for the year are approximately $600K.
You will receive information throughout the year about the association's Firewise project which is a community program to help with wildfire mitigation and hopefully allow us to retain our property liability insurance and reduce premium costs in the future.
A new Insurance Disclosure will be posted on the association website as soon as all pertinent documents are received by the Association. Additionally, an email account has been established for any questions you may have specific to insurance or wildfire mitigation (firewise.kvpoa@gmail.com).
PASSWORD PROTECTION ADDED TO WEBSITE:
The link on the website to "Agenda and Minutes" will be password protected so that only owners will be able to view these pages. Because zoom links are sent with the agenda, there have been a few instances of people coming into the meeting who should not be there. Additionally, password protecting this section will secure our association business from public scrutiny.
* An e-Blast will be sent to owners with the password which will enable access this page.
New Short-Term Rental Ordinance
Gary Smith
On Feb 8, 2022, the Placer County Board of Supervisors voted overwhelmingly to repeal and replace the existing short-term rental ordinance: Chapter 9, Article 9.42 of the Placer County code. The new ordinance contains significant changes, including new requirements for condominium owners participating in the short-term rental market.
The full text of new ordinance, which goes into effect March 11, is available on the Placer County web site placer.ca.gov. All owners participating in the STR market are strongly encouraged to become familiar with the new ordinance.
Here is a direct link to the new ordinance:
https://www.placer.ca.gov/6109/Short-Term-Rental-Program
Facilities Committee Current Projects
Nick Zaikowski
As we go into Spring we will start focussing on the landscape and annual upkeep projects around Kingswood. In house projects will include:
- Replacing old Ash Disposal cans throughout Kingswood in safe locations.
- Repairing Gas Meter covers.
- Replacing Steps to entry porches
- Adding Dumpster enclosures (investigating the addition of shed roofs)
You will notice contracted work throughout Kingswood this summer. Fire resistant materials for decks, railings and building sidings will be used if cost allow us to do so. Annual Projects by contractors will include:
- Chimney Inspections and Cleaning
- Siding Replacement
- Painting will continue with the gray color (fossil) throughout Kingswood. The yellow/brown color was determined to be out of date and will no longer be used.
- Deck Replacements
- Window Washing
- Parking Lot Sealing
- Irrigation Replacement
The sidewalk and parking lot lights (campus lighting) are being investigated for replacement. The project had stalled a couple years, ago but we are picking up from where we left off. We are developing “Request For Proposals” that will give us more consistency for comparison with design and construction than we received in the past. We can then put these RFP's out for bid.
Manager’s Report
David Stirling
Amenities
The sports courts will open as snow load allows and will be available to use with your amenities card. Please be sure that the gate is secure when you are done.
The pool will open by Memorial Day in accordance with any federal, state, or county guidelines.
Sports Facility Lot
The Kingswood Village sports facility parking lot is open May 1st thru Oct 15th (weather permitting). All vehicles and trailers must be registered with K.V.P.O.A. Maintenance Dept. Unregistered vehicles or trailers are subject to towing at the owner’s expense. The registration form can be found online at: https://www.kvpoa.org/forms-documents. Please email the completed form to kingswood.tahoe@gmail.com, or turn it into the office.
This is a short-term parking lot. Vehicles and trailers with sleeping quarters are limited to a maximum of 3 days; overnight camping is strictly prohibited. All vehicles must have current registration and be operable.
Lights and Birds
Spring is here and the birds will be busy. Check your outside light fixtures for bird nests before flipping that switch! Nests in the fixtures are a fire danger. If you need assistance removing a nest, give maintenance a call at 546-5003 and we will give you a hand. The sooner you call the better.
Fire Safety
Due to the sparse snow fall this year, we can expect a very dry, high fire danger summer season once again. Please remain vigilant regarding fire safety. Be sure your unit is up to date by servicing your fire extinguisher. Also make sure you are up to current CA Fire code by installing combination co2/smoke alarms with a 10-year lithium battery.
Open flame devices of any type are prohibited at Kingswood Village. Smoking and Vaping are prohibited at Kingswood Village. There are fines of $500 in place per violation chargeable to the unit owners! Please be sure to inform guests, rental agencies, and family members of the open flame ban.
Dogs
Only owners and the guests of owners are allowed to have dogs on Kingswood property. Short-term and long-term renters are prohibited from having dogs at any time. Remind your rental agent of this policy. If you post online, be sure this policy is stated clearly.
Dogs must be leashed at all times on Kingswood grounds.
Please make the effort to pick up after your dogs. Failing to do so creates an unfair and unsanitary situation for your neighbors. Keep Kingswood Clean!
Bears
Bears are roaming and looking for easy meals. Be bear aware! Lock the dumpsters after every use. If you notice a bin that does not have the bear bar secured please fix it. Do not leave garbage out at any time. Do not leave food in your vehicle and lock the doors! We have vehicles destroyed in our lot every year by bears. For more info about living with bears see: http://www.savebears.org/ Please inform guests, renters, and family members of the importance of keeping our bears healthy.
TART Connect Comes to Kingswood
Susie Holway
If you spend very much time walking around
Kingswood Village, you have probably seen
TART Connect vans in our parking lot. It is an
on-demand service, so you can request a pick
up right here in Kingswood, and they will drive
you anywhere from here to Dollar Point or Crystal
Bay. After a very successful first season, TART
Connect has expanded the three zones and they
now cover the entire North Shore from Tahoma to Incline Village. They have also expanded their hours: 8 a.m. to midnight during high season, which began April 10.
There are three zones on the North Shore:
Zone 1: (West Shore) Tahoma to Olympic Valley to Dollar Point
Zone 2: (our zone) Dollar Point to Crystal Bay
Zone 3: (Incline/Crystal Bay) Crystal Bay just past Ponderosa.
TART Connection is free and they will pick you up and drop you off anywhere you ask within one zone. If you want to go from Zone 1 to Zone 2, Dollar Point is the exchange. If you want to go from Zone 2 to Zone 3, Crystal Bay is where you would change. Download the app, register your information, and you can ask to be picked up at any location on the North Shore within these three zones. Pick up is usually less than 20 minutes, and the app tells you when the van will arrive.
Website with information: https://www.gotahoenorth.com/tart-connect/
If you want to take a bike, write “bike” in the notes, and a van with a bike rack will be sent.
The goal of TART Connect is to have less vehicles on the road. With the price of gas, this would be a good time to try using this service, and to spread the word to visitors and guests!
