Oakmont’s Semimonthly Newspaper
Insurance Update at Town Hall
nJackie Reinhardt
Californians dropped by home insurers in wildfire prone areas is a real issue, Emily Rogan, senior policy officer of United Policyholders (UP), said in an Oakmont Town Hall presentation Oct. 5. Her nonprofit agency acts as a consumer voice and resource on insurance matters in all 50 states. “It’s happening up and down the state,” Rogan said, noting there are laws in place to protect homeowners, including a one-year moratorium on canceling policies in zip codes adjacent to wildfires and a requirement to give homeowners 75 days advance notice of cancellation. Although the moratorium related to the Glass fire ended Sept. 28, OVA President Tom Kendrick said he is not aware of individual homeowner policies being canceled in Oakmont, but some sub-HOAs have been affected. Carol Callahan, board chair of the League of Oakmont Maintained Area Associations and of the Mount Vista Homeowners Association, said while many sub-HOA policies have not been renewed in the past three years, most have been able to find other insurers though at a much higher cost. She added a few sub-HOAs have moved to owners buying individual policies for their homes and carrying a separate group policy for common area, directors E&O and general liability. “We always thought that being surrounded by the green grass and wide fairways of the Valley of the Moon course was a positive in any insurance consideration,” lamented Frank Zelko, chair of the Rockgreen sub-HOA which was among those who experienced an increase in their premium. Rogan recommended if your policy is dropped to start shopping right away with independent brokers and agents. She stressed that insurance money—not charitable or government aid—is the No.1 source of money that helps people rebuild and recover after a disaster. “Being prepared for wildfires is an important mentality,” Rogan stressed, reminding Oakmonters to make sure they have the right kind and amount of insurance, to create a home inventory, to scan important documents and store them offsite and to take steps to “harden” your home and then ask for discounts for fire mitigation. UP is currently advancing a statewide standard to allow homeowners who harden their homes to get to keep their insurance. “Get to know your policy,” she said, especially the Declarations Page and the fine print. Most policies have separate dollar limits for dwellings, contents and other structures. She suggested having as much extended replacement cost as possible and enough coverage for loss of use since homeowners now have up to three years for rent. See insurance on page 8
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OVA Ups Dues to $106; Names Neuman to Board nAl Haggerty
The OVA Board voted unanimously Oct. 19 to increase the annual dues from $102 to $106 per person effective in January, and to appoint Jeff Neuman to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Director Noel Lyons. President Tom Kendrick called the 4% dues increase “appropriate and prudent” and said it was better to increase the dues a little at a time rather than have bigger increases every few years. He attributed the 4% increase to a 35% increase in insurance premiums, a 14% jump in administrative expenses and a 7% jump in personnel costs, including staff and salary increases.
NEUMAN BACKGROUND
Neuman will serve for the remainder of Lyons’ term, which ends next March, and can then run for re-election. He and his wife, Meg, moved to Oakmont in 2018. He has been active in Movies at Oakmont and the Architectural, Emergency Preparedness, Facilities Reopening, Firewise and Energy Resilience Committees. He also is a board Jeff Neuman. member of the Sunday Symposium (Photo by and the Technology Learning Center. Kathy Sowers) Neuman retired in 2016 after more than 35 years as a geophysicist, environmental geologist and management coordinator. He was with Texaco from 1981 to 1990, Texaco/Shell from 1991 to 2011 and Shell from 2011 to 2015. He handled external communications for the U.S. Superfund cleanups group in 2015–2016. Lyons, whose resignation was effective Oct. 18, served three stints on the board, beginning when he was elected to a two-year term in 2010. He was appointed to fill a vacancy in 2018 and then elected in 2019 to his current two-year term. He and his wife, Jackie Kinney, are moving to Spring Lake Village. The board voted to spend approximately $17,000 to replace computers and chairs in the Central Activities Center computer center. The resolution said the computers have reached the end of their useful life due to both technology advances and changes in residents’ educational needs. The existing furniture, it said, “is falling apart.” The new computers include an instructor iMac computer, six student iMac computers and seven Hewlett Packard computers and 12 mesh back chairs.
SPACE UNDER DECKS
The board tentatively approved a policy allowing homeowners the option to replace the lattice enclosing the space under decks with non-combustible materials or remove under-decking lattice altogether. The See board on page 3 PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID SANTA ROSA, CA PERMIT NO. 323
October 23, 2021 • Volume 60, Number 20
Exercise Habits Changing nMarty Thompson
People using Oakmont’s Fitness Center apparently aren’t getting their days started as early in the pandemic age, with many shifting their workouts to afternoons since the gym reopened in March of this year. And a lot of new people who may have moved to Oakmont after COVID shut down the gym and other Oakmont facilities in March of 2019 can now be seen among regular users of the gym in the Central John Phillips. Activities Center, says John Phillips, Oakmont’s trainer. “There is a changed pattern of when people come in,” says Joy Bellomo, president of the Oakmont Fitness Club. “It used to be that from about 5:30 until 9 a.m. it was always really busy,” Bellomo said in an interview. Joy Bellomo. The gym is open daily from 5 a.m. until 9 p.m., with access by using a key card obtainable from the OVA Office. Membership in the Fitness Club is optional at $30 a year, with dues it collects helping pay for some equipment and contribute to paying Phillips. OVA’s count of entry door badge tags was running from 6,200 to 6,700 a month prior to the shutdown, Bellomo said. More recently it has been in the low 5,000. Club membership was around 580 people in 2019 when COVID shut down all Oakmont facilities. The club paused dues collecting when the gym went dark early in 2020. “More than we expected paid 2021 dues anyway,” Bellomo said. She observed that the Fitness Center is still the most utilized feature that Oakmont offers. The gym reopened last March, with appointments required and a limit of five people at a time. After the limit and appointment system were dropped, usage built quickly, Phillips said in an interview. There was some usage drop-off and complaints when Oakmont instituted a mask requirement, but by this October things were “pretty close to normal,” Phillips said. Long term, Bellomo said, the Fitness board expects to work for approval to expand the Fitness Center footprint to add new equipment to make the Oakmont gym more appealing to some residents who may now be using larger private Santa Rosa clubs. That goal could take five years or so, she said.
Medical Emergencies: What to Know, What to Do
nOakmont News Staff
Town Hall—Nov. 2, 1 pm at East Rec. Center and on Zoom
Recognizing medical emergencies and knowing what to do will be the topic for a November Town Hall presented by Providence Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. Brian Schmidt, MD, and Omar Ferrari, DO, will be the keynote speakers. They will talk about identifying stroke and heart attack, when to head to the hospital trauma center versus urgent care, as well as advice on in-home safety. The meeting is hybrid, available at the East Rec. Center in person or on Zoom.