THE PELICAN BRIEF
JAN. 2011
Serving the Community of Pelican Pointe
Board of Directors
Manager
Harold Davison, President
Steve Susman
Mary Mulholland, Vice President
8300 Fairmount Dr., #J-101
Glen Olmstead, Newsletter Editor
Denver,, CO 80247-6528
Marcia Helfant
Phone: (303) 394-0942
Frank Parker, Treasurer
Cell phone: (303) 668-2747
Book Club. Our Pelican Pointe Book Club will meet on Friday, January 14, 2011, at 6:30
p.m., at the home of Joyce Berman, #MM-105. To be discussed: Wild Swan: Three
Daughters of China, by Jung Chang. This is a powerful and moving account of three
generations of Chinese women with an astonishing view of life in a changing China. Join
this enthusiastic group of Pelican Pointe women and treat yourself to an enjoyable
evening. RSVP to Joyce at (303) 322-3713.
Lunch Bunch. Why not join this interested and interesting group of Pelican Pointe men
and women for lunch at the Cherry Creek Grill, 184 Steele Street, on Tuesday, January
11, 2011, at 11:30 a.m. Treat yourself to a good meal and sparkling conversation. New
faces are cordially encouraged to attend! Requirements: (a) You must breathe; (b) you
must park; and (c) you must be bored with chicken nuggets. RSVP to Susan Million,
(303) 316-7190.
SUSMAN UNLEASHED
by Steve Susman
How's your peripheral vision, your car insurance, and your common sense? All of us are
bombarded with news about drivers who are negligent, careless, or reckless on our public
streets and highways. But how about within our very own -- yes, folks -- Pelican Pointe?
The first maneuver that requires some care, as you leave your garage, is backing out. Our
driveways are wide, compared with the narrow ones typical in some communities. But
they aren't infinite. Go ahead and back your vehicle, even at very slow speed, into the
garage opposing yours. The steel door is fragile, bends and dents easily, and can't be
repaired. That'll cost our HOA mucho dinero to replace, unless you are honest enough to
admit to this sin. More important, though, is the care required, for just a moment, when
emerging from your driveway into our internal circumferential road. Most of us must
enter one of the T-shaped intersections. Our ability to see an oncoming vehicle is limited
by our end-unit townhomes or large trees or bushes. We've had too many near-misses
lately at such intersections. Please be careful; it takes only an extra couple of seconds of
neck-turning to proceed with safety.
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What constitutes an "emergency" in Pelican Pointe? In my many years here as a
director, officer, and manager of our Association, I have yet to encounter an emergency --
other than these four:
a. Fire or police situation. You'll know when that call to 911 should be made.
However, I do invite you to contact me if and when you observe conditions or activities
in our complex that appear to you to be unsafe or suspicious. Call me, from about 9 a.m.
to about 7:30 p.m. on weekdays -- somewhat abbreviated hours on weekends. Use my
voice mail, if need be. E-mails, which I prefer, usually receive my relatively-prompt
response.
b. Electrical outage. When that occurs, some residents believe that my unit will
remain unaffected, as if surrounded by kryptonite. Unless you've tripped one or more of
your circuit breakers, my home will be affected with yours. Call Xcel Energy at 1-800-
895-1999.
c. Natural gas leakage or carbon monoxide (CO). If you suspect this in your
townhome, or your CO alarm sounds, get the heck out, and call Xcel at 1-800-895-2999.
d. Plumbing breach. Your first task is to turn off your master water valve,
generally located very near your crawl space trap door. Then, if need be, call your
favored plumber's emergency phone number, if any. If you don't have such a favorite,
look in our Good Help is Hard to Find section of your HOA Handbook, or online at our
If your townhome is floating down Fairmount Drive and you haven't obtained quick relief
from your plumber -- and only in that instance, you may call (720) 276-8664. That is
Sonny's number, available to you only in that situation.
Some other typical situations that arise here, of which I should be apprised promptly, but
not as an emergency:
a. Strangers in our midst. Our social pendulum has swung so far to one side, in
the fruitless pursuit of Political Correctness, that we can inadvertently suffer by ignoring
"our gut reaction" in many situations. This isn't a clarion call for profiling. But it's better
to be safe than sorry, goes the old saw. If persons appear to you to be "hanging around"
without apparent reason, within our complex; or if you reasonably suspect that some
nefarious activity may be in the offing, please try to reach me. Alternatively, depending
on the apparent severity of the situation, call the police at 911, making clear to the police
dispatcher what you observe. The dispatcher must determine from your cogent
description how serious or lower-priority your call is. For example, on a recent evening,
around 9 p.m., one of our homeowners observed three men "hanging around" in one of
our driveways, without an apparent destination. They wore 'hoodies (as did a former
Denver football coach). He was correct to be concerned and was about to call 911, but
they soon disappeared. I'm not trying to alarm you, but this is not a "secure" community,
as I've often said. Our fence and gates create the illusion of some security; that's all.
b. You think you have animals in your attic. Our HOA-selected contractors have
experience in inspecting your attic; in removing live or dead squirrels, if need be; and in
effectively and promptly remediating your attic from the campsite waste of any such
squatters. We replace soiled attic insulation and repair the roofs, holes, and vents, as
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needed [the HOA owns the roofs]. We've had several instances, and will in the future, of
animals actually eating or clawing through our siding boards, flashing, and other roofing
materials. If you engage your own animal control or so-called remediation firm for attic
work, the HOA won't reimburse you. If you see insects or mice in your unit, the HOA
will not pay for your exterminator; our Covenants and Rules place that responsibility on
you as homeowner or resident. If there's credible evidence that your entire building
shares a similar plague, it's possible that the HOA, with its selected contractors, will take
appropriate action to assist you. I think we've never had such a situation.
c. Exterior repairs to the building you inhabit. Generally, our Covenants and
Rules place the responsibility for exterior maintenance upon the HOA. There are
significant exceptions --all spelled out in those documents [Examples: Water has entered
your unit from holes created by your burglar alarm service or your satellite-dish provider.
You damaged the frame of your garage door by careless driving.] Let me know ASAP,
for example, if exterior water from rain or snow has entered your domain, so the HOA
can "get on it" if it's the HOA's responsibility (depending on the facts).
In short, your management wants and needs your observations about our
buildings, in order to maintain them, to help preserve your value in your townhome, and
to keep our complex attractive. You know much better than management what's
happening, dude, in, on, or at your building. Please, help us to help you.
Your beeping smoke alarm may cause psychosis if its batteries aren't promptly replaced.
In most of our townhomes, one or more smoke alarms are located on or near the high
ceilings. If you cannot replace the batteries yourself, you need to engage a handyman to
do so. Be sure you have a couple of fresh 9-volt batteries available. It's bad luck to walk
beneath a ladder, goes the saying. I add to that, It's worse than bad luck if you try to
climb too high on a shaky ladder, depending on your physical condition, your experience
on ladders, and your aversion to risk.
"Superman leaps tall buildings with a single bound." However, your trash will also fly
through the air, spread across the driveway, and create a big-time mess there if it isn't set
out in a covered barrel, or bagged carefully. Bagged carefully means that you should not
place your bag outside your garage until the morning of pick-up, if it contains any
garbage. The animals that abound here will catch the slightest scent through the bag, rip
it open, and leave a mess. The trash-haulers will not pick up your mess.
All day I face the barren waste without a taste of water . . . cool, clear water," begins the
old Western ballad. Our trees and shrubs have been parched over the past few months
from our incessant drought. Sonny and his crew have spent several days, with our
specialized equipment, injecting many thousands of gallons of water into our tree roots.
Selected bushes are also receiving that treatment. Our western detention pond has been
surface-watered, too, to aid the dormant lawn there. As I write this, some snow is
forecast for Denver. And January through March are usually our snowiest months; let's
hope so. Our landscaping is thirsty.
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Committee chairs. President Davison announced the following Committee chairs for
2011:
-- Social Committee: Mary Mulholland continues (bless her heart!).
-- Welcoming Committee: Sheila Powell will continue her fine work.
-- Safety & Security: Harold Davison (double-dipping without pay at either job!).
-- Design Review Committee: Marcia Helfant continues to lead this fine team.
-- Landscape Committee: Kudos to Caryl Shipley for years of leadership; she deserves a
respite from this. Any volunteers? This Committee has several continuing
loyalists!
January trash pick-up:
January 5, 12, 20, and 26.
Recycling pick-up:
January 5 and 20.
Pelican Pointe townhomes For Sale: #GG-104, #U-101, #RR-103, and #KK-102.
Pelican Pointe townhomes For Rent: #S-103 (contact Debbie Segal, (303) 394-1224).
Weird behavior:
-- Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is the
other woman.
-- You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.
-- Hospitality: Making your guests feel like they're at home, even if you wish they were.
-- Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won't expect it back.
January Board Meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. at the Lighthouse Clubhouse, on
January 17. ALL RESIDENTS ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND.
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