HOA Strategic

A Michigan condo association and a family of beavers were recently in the news. The beavers were deploying foliage that was blocking a drainage pipe in a pond situated near other bodies of water around the condo homes. Some residents were concerned that water would overflow from the one pond, cascade into other ponds and streams and possibly cause flooding in the condo community. According to the story on MLive, the beavers were being "threatened with eviction..." But an area resident had "discovered a state hunting law that requires hunters and trappers to get permission from any neighbors or residents living within 450 feet of the proposed hunting site." The local resident "said he and other neighbors have removed the dams the beavers build...to remove the threat of flooding." While he "and some neighbors welcome the beavers, others on the association board" were worried. The president of the association explained in the story that the as

Can PR lingo establish positive practices for HOAs? The author of a book about community association PR thinks it can. In the book, board members of a fictional HOA "get into a shoving match during a heated debate. Bystanders attending the meeting are appalled. How can this behavior be condoned? " asks a homeowner. In PR lingo, the response to this question could be: "Every effort is made to amicably resolve disagreements that may occur during meetings." Such words -- rather than being reactive and defensive -- suggest a positive goal. But "before using a statement like this," cautions the author, "be sure there really is a commitment to amicably resolve disagreements. "The neat thing about PR is that along with shaping communication about issues, PR (lingo) can sometimes generate positive thinking..." As long as there's a commitment to walk the walk before using PR lingo to talk the talk.

Because of severe drought conditions in Nevada, a homeowners association cut down pine trees which, "as they age...demand more and more water," -- 12 times as much per tree "as when they were originally planted," according to the HOA manager in a story broadcast on a Nevada NBC-TV station. The trees "drink tens of thousands of gallons of water every month," said the manager. "In a drought, they are an expensive luxury, and the HOA had a choice to make." The manager also explained that pine trees "are not indigenous to this area." The HOA is planning to "replace the pine trees with drought tolerant trees and flowers." A resident of the HOA said in the story: "It took my breath away...they're killing the trees. It's terrible...I feel like they're taking away part of my neighborhood." The HOA manager provided information about the decision to remove the trees while the resident quoted in the story, under

Parched California is facing "one of the worst droughts on record." So of course, news media are running drought news. Like a Fox TV story about a community association being "busted for wasting water." Sounds serious, doesn't it? During a rare bit of rain -- a pleasant surprise, recently, for certain areas of California -- a TV staffer "captured video of...rainwater flooding lawns while the sprinkler system continued to flow...This is just egregious waste," said a water quality watchdog group official. But to the community association's credit, a manager described a glitch in the sensor-automated sprinkler system, a system that was installed to help reduce water use. "The technology had programmed the controllers for zero irrigation, however, something defaulted on some of the controllers." The manager further explained that the sprinklers would be operated manually while efforts were underway to determine what caused the