Maintenance Committee: November News

As we move into fall and winter the Maintenance Team’s attention turns to community holiday preparations and planning for potential weather-related challenges. The Maintenance Committee has been addressing on-going business, urgent issues that pop up, and long-term projects for the
coming year. The Board approved the Committee’s recommendation to replace the furniture of the patio and Clubhouse so you can look for a major upgrade there. The damaged stone wall at the Stonehill service gate has been repaired but options are being reviewed to address the mismatched stucco.
Ongoing is the maintenance of our curbs and sidewalks which includes filling gaps and grinding uneven areas.
Speaking of the Stonehill service gate, its current repair is due to being struck by a vehicle late in August. Apparently, a resident was not aware that this is only used on occasion by Maintenance as a service pass-through and is not a resident egress. A word to the wise: If a gate doesn’t open, don’t try to force it with your car. The responsible party has been identified and is footing the bill for the repairs.
One major project, completed with only a few minor hiccups, was replacement of the fiber optic cable connecting the main office to the Mariner gate house. This vital link was plagued by outages due to the aged line. George Cooley and his crew wisely convinced the contractor to leave the old cable in place until the new one could be installed, making for a smooth transition to the new line with minimal downtime.
Our Maintenance Team spotlight this month falls on newest team member Manny Pantoja who started in June 2018. If you’re not sure who Manny is, just look for the 6’7” staff member often driving the golf cart. Manny says everyone is so friendly—“Well, this is Niguel Shores!” — and he is always greeted with a wave and a smile when he is driving the cart. Manny is a life-long resident of Capistrano Beach and attended San Clemente High School, class of 2018. At his height, the obvious question is “Did you play basketball?” He was asked to try out many times but decided instead to play football as an offensive lineman.
Manny says working at Niguel Shores is the best job he ever had and that it is “Cool to work along
the beach in a beautiful community, but not much fun getting up at 3:00 a.m. to take care of the maintenance opening procedures on a Sunday morning.” Hard to blame him there. He has an older brother and a younger sister and is currently a student at Saddleback Community College. He takes a full day of classes on Tuesday and Thursday and works out at a gym twice a week. If you see Manny around the community give him a wave and say “Hi!”
—Geoff Dunlevie