​Foster  Tower

​​Upcoming AOAO Board Meeting:
The next Board Meeting is scheduled for: September 4, 6 pm on-site at Foster Tower's Porte Cochere area.   Please stay tuned for details.

2024 Bicycle Registrations are due
The Bike Room’s exterior has been repaired on the top level of the garage and the room is now ready for interior work.  In order to clean the floor, paint the interior walls, and construct new bike racks, we need all the bikes removed from the Bike Room by May 22. 

For the duration of the interior renovations, owners need to lock up their bikes in their parking stalls.  If you do not plan on using your bike during these times at all, you may take your bike up to your apartment for safekeeping, but after taking the bike up, you would not be able to continue using the elevators with the bike until returning it to the reopened Bike Room, as bicycles are not allowed in the elevators for safety reasons. Bike registrations will begin as soon as the room is completed.  The 2024 Bike Room storage fees were set at $50 for the calendar year of 2024 (June-December 2024).

​​Upcoming Major Building Projects
As we are getting ready to solicit updated proposals for the Paint & Spall Project, we would like to remind our homeowners to discuss their insurance needs with their HO6 policy agents.  Spall/Paint projects involve an inevitable disturbance to tenants.  I you are renting your apartment to short- or long-term tenants, you need to your HO6 agent know, as they can best advise you on riders that you can purchase for nominal fee to include Loss of Income coverage, should you need to either discount or cancel your reservations during the duration of the project.

  ​
Individual Surfboard Storage

Residents are welcome to store their surfboards in their parking stalls.  This may be the only option currently available to many surfers, since Foster Tower’s House Rules do not allow surfboards in the elevators.  There are a few points to keep in mind:

Surf boards must be stored in racks approved by the AOAO.  The parking stalls are ‘limited common elements,’ which means that the use of each parking stall is assigned exclusively to one unit for parking their vehicles.  It is also implied that others may have to walk through another unit’s stall to get to their stall.  For this reason, it is imperative to consider the safety of everyone.  We must pay close attention to storing surfboards securely.
We highly recommend tying down all surfboards and paddle boards.  We have witnessed several boards sliding off the racks.  We have also witnessed a numbers of strange weather phenomena, where bursts of gusty winds would sweep through the garage and driveway. This is a safety issue that must be addressed.
Please make sure that your parking stall is clean, paying particular attention to oil spills.  Oil puddles are incredibly dangerous, especially in a garage where others are expected to carry surfboards, making it difficult to retain balance on oily concrete.
The AOAO cannot insure the personal property of others.  In the event of damages, it will be imperative for the homeowner to rely on their own automobile insurance and H06 policy to cover both loss to their own vehicles or liability caused by their own unsecured stored items becoming loose.    


Hurricane Season

The hurricane season runs from May 1 through November 30 in Hawaii.  There is no better time than now to assess your apartment’s needs.

If you haven’t already done so, it is best to formulate a formal emergency plan.
Stock up on the supplies recommended by agencies such as the Red Cross.
Check with your H06 condo insurance agent to make sure you have adequate coverage in the unlikely event of rainwater entering your unit and damaging your contents.
Make sure that all of your windows close properly and the glazing and caulking are watertight. Although, the original windows are now over 50 years old and most hardware stores no longer stock parts, there are still some vendors around who can make repairs to your existing windows and lanai doors.  Robert Mathias has done a lot of work for owners in the building and is very familiar with the window configurations.  If you feel that your windows may not be able to protect your unit (and the ones below yours) in the event of major rain storms, contact Robert at 864-2202. The AOAO does not endorse any particular contractor or warrant their work, so homeowners must do their due diligence to find the best contractor and solution for their needs.
It is best to tie down all furniture on your lanai.  Recently, we encountered a slew of flying pieces of furniture.  We are very fortunate that no one was caught in the path of these items.
Please make sure to follow the building’s announcements in the elevators.  In the event of a major storm or hurricane, the building will likely be without power.  During the last hurricane, the island of Kauai was without electrical power for 6 weeks.  The loss of electricity affects condominiums more than single family homes.  We will not have working elevators, and worse, we will not be able to boost cold water to the higher floors and the building will not have hot water at all.  The pool would have to be closed off due to inadequate sanitation.  Our garage gate and sliding doors would need to remain open 24/7.  At times of disasters, individual responsibility and cooperation will be paramount.  But let’s hope that the next hurricane season will be uneventful and we will be fortunate enough not to have to test out our resources.  

Storage in Parking Stalls

As a friendly reminder, we are asking our residents to only store their bicycles, motorcycles, moped and scooters in their parking stalls.  Surfboards, boogie boards and paddle boards should be stored in the racks above the parking stalls. We have also received numerous complaints regarding residents storing their scooters or paddle boards across stalls, encroaching onto their neighbor’s stalls.  Please make sure that no stored items go beyond the boundaries of your stall.  Overhead surfboards should not reach beyond the stall boundaries, and leashes should be securely tucked in the racks.  Dangling leashes are a nuisance to our neighbors.  Thank you for your cooperation.   

 
You got mail!

Our USPS delivery person asked us to remind everyone to please check their mail frequently.  He is often forced to return mail to the senders, because the boxes are full.  Similarly, he noted that parcels are often left unchecked for long periods of time in the parcel lockers.  We have only 7 parcel lockers for the entire building, and when a few residents fail to clear the lockers, others’ packages must be taken back to the post office, and those residents must go to the post office in person to retrieve their packages.  USPS handles federal mail, so the delivery person cannot leave those packages with our staff.  The staff can only accept packages from private carriers (FedEx, UPS, DHL).

PLEASE  KOKUA

In recent Board Meetings, several owners voiced concerns over items stored in individual parking stalls.  Foster Tower’s House Rules allow for bicycles, scooters, mopeds and motor cycles to be stored in the stall that belongs to the owner of these vehicles. 

Unfortunately, there are a number of stalls that have other items stored, making the garage unsightly to our residents.  Also, these stored personal items can become dangerous when airborne by high winds.  We are in the middle of what is projected to be an unusually active hurricane season.  Consequently, the Board of Directors decided to focus on this issue.

Please remove all items stored in the garage that the House Rules don’t allow for.  Our property manager will be back next Wednesday to inspect the common areas.  We hope to have no need to issue House Rule Violations when we walk the garage next week.  Your cooperation in making Foster Tower the best place to live is always appreciated.  ​