The winter season is the time of year that Deanna usually deals with leaky ceilings, worries about snow removal, and plans for the capital projects that we have scheduled for the upcoming year.

This year, Deanna tells me, it rained, it snowed, it melted, it snowed, it melted, over and over, but she has had no (that would be zero, folks) reports of leaks.

For those of us old timers, and anyone of you owners who care to read the historical records of our annual meetings, I believe this is the very first winter in Wildflower II history that we have not had any leaks.

Roof-top decks, skylights, chimneys, and as they grew older, the roofs themselves, all contributed to leaks. A succession of boards and property managers all grappled with the problem, which kept eluding a complete solution because there were so many different contributing factors.

What I'd like to crow about is not even so much that we are leak-free, but that I think we've identified all of the various causes; we now have a preventive maintenance program that will keep our condos dry.

• We have new roofs, and we have a schedule for maintaining them.
• We have repaired the chimney caps, and they are on a preventive maintenance schedule.
• The roof-top decks have been covered and sealed with a newer-generation product than the old paper-and-tar product that was formerly used.
• When we reroofed we installed new flashing around the skylights, the roof-top decks and the scuppers.
• We know that if ice is allowed to build up and clog the scuppers, it can freeze up above the top of the flashing; later as this ice melts, the melt water atop the ice seeps in behind the flashing causing a leak. To prevent ice formation we ask Phase II owners to keep their scuppers cleaned of leaves and debris and to install heat tape in their scuppers.

Everyone of us had a part in accomplishing these improvements. The owners, first of all, for voting in the necessary funds. A former owner/board member, who correctly identified the chimney caps as one of the problem areas, and finally, Deanna, our property manager, whose persistent oversight of the contractors ensured that all work was performed completely and properly.

One of the big variables in our budget is the snow-removal line item. So far this season, snow fall has not been excessive. Deanna takes extra care to keep our walkways ice free, a task that is easier now that we have resurfaced our walkways, removing the hollows where water collected and froze.

This year's milder snow-fall also has allowed us to repair two more of the roof-top decks before winter, and to continue with the replacement of our pathway lighting.

Our new pathway lights are designed to conform to SROA's limitations on exterior lighting, while still providing our dark pathways better illumination. Chuck Knox, Deanna's husband, designed and is building our light boxes for us. So far we have replaced 13 pathway lights with this newer two-bulb version. Click here to see a picture of one of them.

Our big capital project this year is to be the resurfacing of our parking areas. At this time Deanna is collecting bids for this project. At our March board meeting we will review these bids, choose a contractor, finalize the design of the parking slots and authorize Deanna to proceed with the project. Most likely it will be scheduled after the summer "high" season.