Issue link: https://imageup.uberflip.com/i/1367497
24 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | MAY 2021 FOUR SEASONS BEAUMONT EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM In the event of a disaster or emergency, Four Seasons Beaumont needs people to do welfare checks on their neighbors. We believe that CERT-trained people would be up to the task. We need to identify residents with CERT training and find out if they would be willing to help. The CERT concept was developed and implemented by the Los Angeles City Fire Department in 1985. The Whittier Narrows earthquake in 1987 underscored the area-wide threat of a major disaster in California. It confirmed the need for training civilians to meet their immediate needs. It was seven years ago when Four Seasons Beaumont still had an active Emergency Preparedness Program that they encouraged everyone to get CERT training. There were about 70 CERT-trained residents back in 2012 when I received my CERT training. Many of the CERT members became residents on the survey team who were tasked to check homes after a disaster. Well time, apathy, and liability took their toll on the survey team. The team was disbanded when the HOA board encouraged an advisory rather than an active response role for residents. Now in the event of a disaster we have a limited number of EPC and radio club members willing to help. The CERT program trains people in three areas: firefighting, first aid, and urban search and rescue. Firefighting may be too dangerous, first aid may be too complicated but urban search and rescue may be just right. After a disaster we will need people to check on folks and we believe that CERT-trained residents could meet that need. Anyone who has had CERT training and wants to help please contact Nelly at nelly.alcocer@fsresidential. com. She will compile a list of CERT-trained residents. We meet on the third Tuesday of the month. The next meeting will be on Tuesday May 18, at 10 am on Zoom. ~ Michael A. Mendoza, srmendoza@verizon.net Emergency Preparedness Committee Finance Committee The Finance Committee has been reviewing various vendor contracts in order to refine terms and conditions and eliminate some inconsistencies in standard clauses and contracting operating procedures. The contract sub-committee was formed and is comprised of three BOD members and three Finance Committee members with David Sweet as the Chair. The committee was tasked with developing and proposing solutions that would ensure that the business and legal interests of our HOA were consistently set forth and provide for accountability of all vendors who work and service our Four Seasons community. The outcome has ensured an efficient, practical, and thorough business-driven approach to the submission, documentation, and approval of proposals and/or contracts to the Finance Committee and Board of Directors. The sub-committee, in concert with HOA legal counsel, updated the two contract templates used: "Basic" and "Comprehensive." The Basic is for small project work and the Comprehensive is for work that is significant in scope or cost. For example, the landscape maintenance contract would use the Comprehensive contract template. Additional work related to these contracts was the formulation of processes to improve the management and administration of each contract's terms and conditions as well as the scope of work, etc. The processes include project description/definition, contract renewal, bidding, and RFP (Request for Proposal) flow charts. Further, two other tools were updated. The first one is the Contract Information Sheet which captures all information relevant to contracts. Second, the Proposal Form used by the various committees for submissions to the Finance Committee was updated to reflect the contract type (Basic or Comprehensive). These enhancements further standardize our business processes, streamline the review process for Management and Committee requests, and assist the BOD's decision-making. In doing so, these enhancements provide for the HOA's interests and effective management of project and service contracts. ~ David Sweet,dslkrfan@gmail.com.

