Venetia Condos Online

Dear Venetia Owners & Residents,

We are happy to inform you that the building’s air conditioning has been restored as of 6PM this afternoon, Tuesday, September 11, 2012. It will take several hours to cool the building.

Below are additional details & updates:

• The City officials have reviewed the electrical system and approved the proposed repairs. Based on the scope of work for the repairs, the city has allowed the AC system to be activated and restored. The building and all units should be cooler within several hours.
• In order to ensure proper activation of your AC system, anytime after 6:30PM this evening, please reset your AC by turning it off for five minutes and then turning it back on. This will reset the system and cool air should begin to flow.
• Management and Security conducted another door to door inspection of all units, entering units where it was possible, to make sure everyone was safe and that no one was overlooked during this crisis.
• Round the Clock Mitigation and Restoration continued the mitigation process in the hallways of the 11th and 10th floors. All affected units have had blowers and dehumidifiers installed to assure proper drying and mold prevention. Baseboards and damaged drywall were removed and blower fans and dehumidifiers continue to run around the clock on the affected floors. Mold and moisture tests have been conducted throughout the building, particularly on floors 10 and 11. Moisture levels are low and there are no traces of mold. Remediation will continue on the 9th floor to eliminate any remaining moisture.
• The pending repairs to the electrical system have been scheduled for Thursday, September 13, 2012. These repairs will require the building’s electricity to be shut down for approximately 4 to 6 hours. The building will operate on emergency back-up generator power during these repairs. The building will have limited power for elevators and water and emergency lighting only. There will be no air conditioning during these repairs, please plan accordingly.
• We will have additional details on how to handle insurance claims in our Wednesday update.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation.
Management

Dear Venetia Residents and Owners.

I want to be sure you all know that as we start a second week of recovery at the Venetia, every effort possible is being made to restore full electrical power and air conditioning at Venetia.

Our electrical engineers continue to do testing with our electrical contractors.

We flew in a representative of the manufacturer of Venetia’s electrical equipment, Square D, on Friday and testing was begun on the building’s main electrical panel.

Parts were dismantled in the presence of Florida Power & Light and testing was done on all to provide technical data for the manufacturer’s representative’s review and visual inspection.

The rep. made a provisional determination at that time that the damage was not great enough to merit replacement of all the parts.

A determination was made to have additional senior engineers come and review the “bus” parts.

An evaluation will be made tomorrow, Tuesday, with Florida Power & Light and the City of Miami inspectors for a final assessment that will hopefully result in a clearance to be taken to the City of Miami to satisfy all requirements and allow us to apply for a permit to turn the power back on 100%. (The power is presently allowed on at 80%, with a provision that only 3 elevators may run; no AC may be run; and that there be no electrical service to the 9th floor.)

In the meantime, the fire watch continues. This means that there is a security official that guards every five floors of the building, keeping watch and maintaining safety.

For those of you who had water damage and suffer from allergies, it is very important that all wet materials, including wood floors, be removed as soon as possible since spores begin to form 72 hours after moisture incidents occur. Please check the Yellow Pages or the internet for vendors who specialize in this type of remediation.

Again, I want you to know that we are all working around the clock to re-establish full services as soon as is humanly possible.

Everyone on the team appreciates your continued cooperation as we work to restore all services to the Venetia.

Sincerely yours,

Sharon Dodge
President, Board of Directors
Venetia Condominium Association

Dear Venetia Owners & Residents,

As you know, electricity, water and elevators have been restored to the building since Wednesday. We are diligently working on the repairs to the electrical system so that we can restore AC to the entire building as quickly as possible.

Below are additional updates:

• The representative from the electrical distributor, Square D, flew in from Tampa last night and has assessed the damaged parts for the electrical system. We have initiated the location of replacement parts, but based on preliminary evaluation of the damaged rods, it may be possible to repair them instead of replacing them (a much quicker fix). We will report any updates as they come in.
• The back-up emergency generator that went down on Wednesday morning, has been repaired and is fully operational. The Association has also rented a standby back up generator ready for immediate hook up in the event the original generator fails again.
• Castle’s IT department arrived on Thursday morning to bring the office and front desk back to full functioning capacity, including internet connections and telephone communications.

We have negotiated discount rates for PORTABLE AC UNITS for Venetia residents, please see below:

• Raircon Air Conditioning, Ask for Yailon Munoz at 305-206-4070. Mention “Venetia.” One ton units for $325 plus tax per week. This price includes delivery, installation, service assistance if needed, pickup and return. They do not work on Sundays.
• Sunbelt Rentals/Top Portable Air, Roberto Di Mauro, 954-275-8770, email him at Roberto.dimauro@sunbeltrentals.com. One week rental of a 1.25 ton portable unit is $380, plus tax. The price includes delivery, installation, all duct work, and pick up for return. Available Saturday & Sunday at no extra charge for Venetia residents. (The weekly rate is less expensive than the rate for 3 days.)
• Cooling Power, 305-599-7704. One week rental of a 1.1 ton portable unit is $350, plus tax. Price includes delivery, pick up and installation. Sunday delivery is an extra $50. Mention “Venetia.”
• Tiger Direct is selling refurbished 13,000 BTU portable units for $299, plus tax. Units can be picked up at several South Florida CompUSA retail stores or you can order on-line at this link which also shows local store stock status. (Updated by editor)

We have obtained confirmation from Torres Insurance Agency (the agent for Central Air Plus who caused the damage), that they will take information from residents who have suffered loss or damage. In no way is this a guarantee that they will cover loss, we are just passing this information along to you.

They have asked that you send information to them:

• Fax information to Ana Velazquez at 305-512-5881
• Email information to avelazquez@torresinsuranceagency.com

Thank you for your patience and understanding during this time.