Work has resumed, after a short hiatus, on the foundation under the 700 building. Above is one of the removed pilings. It is incredible that 132 of these were identified and replaced four years and now we have found more. This is not the work of termites. The pilings were never properly treated and we won a lawsuit twenty years ago to get money to offset the cost of replacements. That money is long gone, but the replacements continue. I had lobbied for years to have these pilings inspected,  but investors who owned condos didn't want to discuss the topic. We have not had an engineer inspect them since the original lawsuit. Even then all the engineer did was to drill into the piling to see if a void existed. I don't think the problem is widespread at this time since we have replaced many of them, but going forward this will be something to keep an eye on. These recent piling repairs were precipitated by a building inspection for a pending sale. For the current project, the cost has been $550 for each piling. I recently talked to another condo HOA president who is having the same issue and they are paying four times that amount. Their contractor stabbed the piling with a screw driver and if it stuck, the piling was marked for replacement. That seems a bit conservative to me.
We will get this work inspected by an engineer to be able to get the repairs Texas Windstorm approved.
Trout did move back into the marina for a short time last Thursday. Only about five keepers were caught before the trout left.
I did extend my electrical contract today. I opted for three months at 7.5 cents per KWH from Infinite Electric. They are one of the few with an all inclusive rate. Others have a lot of fine print that drives the cost up each month. With the cost of oil down,  I expect natural gas to follow and in April I will go for a 36 month contract. On the first of this month, Infinite dropped its three year rate from 10.4 cents to 9.3 cents per KWH. I like that trend. The most important thing is to stay under a contract. Once it expires, it's Katy bar the door on  rates. My bill this month was $272, but I heard from one owner who had a bill more than that and did not have anyone in their condo for January! I'm guessing they were not under a contract.