Manager’s Messages

As the year is ending, Management and the Board have been reviewing the financials and budget performance and found San Diego Gas & Electric (SDGE) bills to be one of the major shortfalls of the 2022 budget. While the 2022 Budget increased for electricity and hoped for savings associated with the hallway LED project, the decreased average of kwh was insufficient for SDGE’s steep increases in their Delivery Charges and San Diego Community Power’s Electricity Generation Charges.
Traditionally, electricity generations charges have gone up by a few pennies per kWh between summer and winter months, but from 2021 to 2022 SDGE’s delivery charges went up by $11.56/kW and their kWh fees based almost doubled as well. This coupled with increased Electrical General up by $.02/kWh as well, has caused Aria’s electricity bills to be tracking $16,706 over budget year to date.
The Board and Management have reviewed the 2023 Budget, spoke with SDGE, and teleconferenced with other downtown San Diego high rise managers to best prepare for these continuing increases to electrical costs. Unfortunately, these rates, and their further increases in 2023 and beyond, are actually making the news.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics, has San Diego’s price per kilowatt hour outpacing neighbor counties of Los Angeles and Riverside by 34%. And Utility Consumers’ Action Network (UCAN)’s Executive Director states San Diego’s “price per kilowatt is the highest in the country. ” (Read more at the article here: https://www.cbs8.com/article/money/amped/san-diego-has-the-highest-electricity-rates-in-the-country/509-b33c2aa1-5414-431d-a060-273059f1e0da.)
In response to their customer’s growing frustrations, San Diego Gas and Electric has recently published an article with their explanation of the reasoning behind their forecasted price increases beginning in January of 2023. Their article cites 1) Higher use of renewable energy to address climate change 2) Wildfire safety program development 3) CA state technology subsidies increasing electricity costs for non-solar customers 4) Legislative mandates that account for about 24% of electricity rates and 5) Improvements making the power grid more reliable during hot weather as their main reasons for why SDGE surpasses it’s competitors in rates. (Read more at their article here: https://www.sdge.com/rates/why-did-my-energy-bill-recently-go.)
The Board is deciding to make reduction of electricity use a major priority in order to combat these rising costs and its direct impact on the homeowners at Aria. Management and the Board are reviewing consultants that work to reduce electrical output of major components and are continuing to make changes to improve Aria’s routine electrical use. 

Effective October 1, 2022, Action Property Management will be upgrading our accounting software. Three important notes: 1) During October 1-3 the Resident Portal may have limited availability, 2) Homeowner balances will initially reflect only the October assessments – any prior balance activity will be visible as soon as November Statements are generated, and 3) November Statements may be slightly delayed, but you should receive your statement during the week of October 31 – which still provides ample time to submit assessment payments within the grace period, and without any late charges. If you have any questions, please visit www.actionlife.com/contact.

On Wednesday, September 14th, from 9am to 5pm we will have our regularly scheduled water shut off to accommodate necessary and preventative homeowner and association maintenance. The affected areas are as follows:

• 1703-2403 washer and kitchen sink stacks
• 1701-2401 bathroom and kitchen sink stacks
• ALL UNITS of floors 8-16 (due to the on-going riser valve replacement project)

Water will be restored to these areas as soon as the scheduled unit work has been completed and the riser valves in this middle zone have been replaced. Management and Engineering want to strongly encourage owners and residents to take advantage of these scheduled water shut offs as an opportunity to replace original angle stops or plumbing fixtures, before they fail. There have been a handful of units that recently changed possession and have been found to still have original plumbing valves or fixtures.  A leaking sink or toilet without a functional angle stop could cause great damage to both your unit and the units below if a leak begins unexpectedly and an expensive emergency water shut off is needed after hours. If you are unsure if your angle stops are in good condition you can inspect the visual condition of the angle stops or have a plumber come check if the valves function properly and are able to completely turn off the water supply. If you have any angle stops that need replacing or other plumbing work that requires a water shut off, please contact XYG Plumbing (619-271-2916) so you can be added to the scheduled water shut off.  Management will send an email once all work is completed. If you are not sure if you have plumbing work that requires a water shut off, please contact Management before starting the work.

The Aria Board of Directors and Management know how frustrating water shutdowns are, not to mention the frustrations with post-shutdown complications with temperature balancing and debris. This is precisely the reason the Board approved the major project of replacing all the Riser Valves (168 Valves) in the building. The scope of this project is huge, so these major water shutdowns have been scheduled so the plumbers can replace these valves in the shortest reasonable timeframe. Once this project is complete, future water shutdowns (and the frustrations that follow them) will be reduced in both frequency and in the number of units/locations affected in each shutdown.

With faulty riser valves, if one unit has a leaking kitchen sink angle stop, all units in the zone might need to be without water to make this minor angle stop replacement.  With functioning Riser Valves, the shutdown to make this minor repair would be much more isolated. For example, if unit 1801 had to replace a leaking angle stop, without functioning riser valves, all units from 18-24 might have to be without water while a plumber made the repair. With functioning riser valves, if unit 1801 had a kitchen angle stop leak, the water shut down could be localized to only ’01-unit kitchens from floors 18-24.

Here is also a YouTube video for greater understanding of how these valves function: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txDANNh4_ME

A broken riser valve constitutes a valve that the handle does not control the ball or the ball valve no longer has a solid spherical side in its closed position and therefore cannot stop water flow.

Below you will find the upcoming riser valve replacement water shut offs. Tuesday, September 14th, is the regularly scheduled shut down for unit work. No unit plumbing should take place during the other water shutoffs. Please prepare to have enough drinkable water in your unit and potentially fill your tub so you have extra water available for flushing if needed during these shut offs. We appreciate your patience with this project.

AUGUST 16, 2022

Pursuant to Civil Code Section 5115(b), Notice is hereby given at least thirty (30) days before the ballots are to be distributed, that the annual meeting of the members of Aria Homeowners Association will be held:

MEETING DATE:      OCTOBER 31, 2022 6:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

LOCATION:               VIA ZOOM https://actionlife.zoom.us/j/4912864625

                                    MEETING ID – 491 286 4625

REGISTRATION/CALL TO ORDER:  6:00 P.M.                                                                               

At the meeting, there will be a vote of the membership, via secret ballot, to elect directors to the Board of Director and to determine the allocation of any excess operating funds at the end of the current fiscal year. This meeting will be held online via virtual platform only. No physical meeting location will be available. You will be able to use a smartphone, laptop, tablet, or desktop computer to attend the meeting and witness the tabulation while it occurs. Members may join the meeting via the information emailed and posted in the general notice location:

For technical assistance before and during the meeting, call Action Property Management at (949) 450-4388 or email support@actionlife.com.

The Board of Directors has contracted with an independent vendor, The Ballot Box, to serve as the Inspector of Election for the purpose of preparation, receipt, and tabulation of the ballots for this meeting. Each home is permitted one (1) ballot. Ballots will be mailed to the membership at least 30 days prior to the meeting and election date. Returned ballots must be received in the envelopes provided by the inspector by mail, certified delivery such as UPS or Fed-Ex, or by hand delivery to: The Ballot Box, 3315 E. Russell Rd., #A4-156, Las Vegas, NV 89120. The deadline for the receipt of mailed ballots is no later than 12:00 PM (noon) on October 27, 2022. As the meeting is virtual, ballots will only be accepted through the deadline as noted above.

If you would like a receipt for your returned ballot, you are encouraged to mail the ballot with tracking through the United States Post office, or other certified delivery service (UPS, Fed-Ex, DHL, etc.). You may also request a confirmation of receipt of your ballot via email to info@ballotboxservices.com.

Members may verify the accuracy of their individual information on the voting list by contacting The Ballot Box via email info@ballotboxservices.com. Any request to update/change information on the voting list must be submitted in writing.

*This notice is available to any member by individual notice upon request by contacting the Managing Agent.

The candidates are: 

*Incumbent

At the Annual Meeting, additional nominations will be taken from the floor for candidates to serve on the Board. 

IT IS IMPORTANT that you either attend the Annual Meeting or return your Ballot since a quorum (25% of the voting power of the members – 35 members) must be present either in person or represented by secret ballot to conduct the annual meeting.  (Bylaws, Article 4, Section 9)

Ballots will be distributed approximately 30 days from the date of this letter.  If quorum is achieved and Directors are elected, there will be an Organizational Meeting of the Board of Directors immediately following the Annual Meeting to appoint officers. 

Sincerely,

Board of Directors