Dear Board President & Members of the Board of Directors
We are in the middle of an extraordinary health crisis in this country and throughout the world due to the global pandemic surrounding COVID-19. As this pandemic continues there are daily developments with event cancellations, travel restrictions, school closings and more. Industry Specialists, such as local law offices and the local and national chapters of Community Association Institute (CAI) are operating under modified procedures and have canceled educational seminars and meetings for the near future. We recognize that this pandemic has an impact on our local community associations and Cambridge Management is trying to anticipate and plan for the possible effects of this situation on our clients.
As your management team, we want you and the community members to know that we have systems in place to ensure continued management of your community and individual needs. Our offices remain open on a normal business schedule at this time. In the event we need to make changes, we will alert you as soon as possible. Please be reassured to know that our Managers and support staff have the ability to work remotely and we will do our best to ensure all tasks are completed timely and efficiently.
The situation remains very fluid and we encourage everyone to follow the latest guidance and updates from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. It is important to recognize, however, that Cambridge Management and its’ employees are not health care professionals. The CDC and other qualified health officials should continue to be the primary source of current information and guidance. It is our goal to simply offer general, precautionary guidance from officials and adding some common-sense guidelines for our industry.
Below are steps that may be appropriate for your consideration:
- Many Community Associations have decided to cancel or postpone Board of Directors and/or committee meetings, Annual meetings and social functions. We believe given the current circumstances, cancellations and postponements are a practical course of action. It will be up to each individual Board of Directors to determine if they wish to cancel meetings. It is important to note that the current closings of Libraries, municipal buildings and other meeting locations may directly affect your ability to hold a meeting if the meeting is at such a location.
- Some Board of Directors are choosing to hold meetings via telephone conference which can be permitted under law (some restrictions and specific requirements may apply). Most attorneys have provided a guidance memorandum regarding these matters. However, as things are changing quickly there are sure to be further developments and recommendations. In many instances it may be appropriate to consult your legal counsel to ensure the Association acts within its’ authority.
- Work with your designated management team to communicate with your membership often, explaining measures that are being taken in your community where applicable and providing resource information from the CDC and other local, state and federal health resources. With the large amount of media attention on the COVID-19, we would encourage our Board of Directors to simply direct owners and residents to the resources provided below for information and have the Association focus their communication with regard to this pandemic to only the ways in which the Community Association is directly affected.
For more information and resources, please visit the following links:
- Center for Disease Control (CDC): https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
- Florida Department of Health: http://www.floridahealth.gov/
- CAI’s Coronavirus Page: https://www.caionline.org/Pages/Coronavirus.aspx
This is a unique situation for all of us. Therefore, patience, flexibility, common sense and a little creativity will go a long way. Please know that we are here to provide support to your community and all its residents. The Cambridge Management Team remains dedicated to providing exceptional service to all of our clients. We will continue to provide updates, as needed. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to your management team directly.
Thank you,
Cambridge Management of SWFL
(239) 249-7000