The APC-Junta de Vecinos mediation meeting

Again it is good to see somebody joining the debate!

My aim was not to mis-inform or scare people - I was only relaying information I had been told - the result of which is that it is now clear the Junta is still in existance. A "thank you" may be in order ;-)

Personally I wouldn't trust the city to collect the garbage & maintain the green areas - the good thing at present is that, if there is a problem, we can go & talk to Bethania in the APC office & there is swift action. Because there is ACCOUNTABILITY. What does it benefit the city to respond to our pleas? There are relatively few votes for the ........ "politicians" in Costambar.

Ditto the water - the most essential resource on the planet. In my opinion a well is essential for myself & my family.

You are quite right on the issue of wether or not Costambar is still a "private community". In order to determine that we need several things:
1. The original documents approving the development to determine if they contain any clauses as to what happens if the developer fails.
2. To get a legal opinion from either the attorney general or a very expert real estate attorney on wether law 108-05, chapter IV, Art.106 apply retroactively or not.
3. To determine, the same way as above, if the fact that Costambar property owners gave up their private water supply service in favor of the Government's and there is an actual Contract by which APC de facto recognizes the Government's authority over the trash collection and the maintenance of green areas, as well as acknowleging the government's right to charge fees and taxes on "signs, chairs, restaurant tables, hotels and construction permits"(Article 3 of agreement between Puerto Plata City Hall and APC dated February 1, 2009), affects or not the "private" nature of the project.
If we are provate, fine; let's go after the developer and make him or her live up to his/her obligations.
If we are not private let's go after the government and demand the goods and services we have the right to receive from it.
Either way it serves no purpose to misinform and scare people. The Junta de Vecinos is alive and well and only wants what's best for our community wether it is private or not.

You're quite right about the chickens Sue - they're not allowed here & are a menace, also if the guys' chickens were not running free would the dog have chased them? No!

Back to the topic in hand.

At the meeting the Junta mentioned some "public works" they believed it would be possible to obtain funding for

beach beautification & cleaning
a sewer system - it would allow proper bathrooms on the beach so people wouldn't go in the ocean & prevent leaking septic tanks polluting the groundwater
road repairs
improved streetlighting

I think these were the main ones.

It was also mentioned that Edenorte wanted to replace the electric cables at a cost of .... wait for it ... RD27 million & wanted us to pay for it! The reason? 16% of supplied power is lost due to bad cables. Great deal - they're losing money & WE pay for their losses & crappy service - I think not!!

Ok that's my rant over.

One thing that's not been mentioned here yet. Gonzalo did say that the state can levy a "Restaurant & bar Tax" based on the number of chairs & tables an establishment has. At present they "choose" not to charge it. If we receive public money might this change?

Ok first the reason I did not join this before is you asked for comments about the meeting, as I was not at the meeting I did not join in.

What do I want from them as in the Junta de Vecinos or APC or a.n.other !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

well cleaning the place up would be a good start, Costambar at this moment in time is looking very shabby, the roads although better than they were still need a lot of work.
I know you said only one thing but hey sorry I have lots of things..............

Security you can tell me all you want that its better but I would argue that point here is why, on paper it all looks good well if you dont look into things that are happening here then they wont be on the paper will they !!!!!!!!!!
I wrote on here a while ago when I had poison thrown over my garden wall, what I did not put was that the night before that I had a bloody madman outside my house with a gun!!!! how do I know he had a gun he fired it into the air and told me I was next, did I phone security NO why I locked myself in made sure I was not by a window, so I was safe, do I want a security guard to get shot again no.

Did I report it yes I did, I also got a ex APC Board member to report it we both got the answer phone and I am still waiting, this was before the security plates so that cant be brought in to it.

We have motos that race down almarantie past the APC jeep parked at the bottom of the road, one day they were getting in it as they passed what was done NOTHING.

Well thats my rant over for now, if they ever come to see me and do a report on the mad man with a gun ( they know who he is hes done it before ) seems my dog Jake got one of his chickens, look up the APC rules your not allowed to keep chickens, I might start to pay again !!!!

Sue

Finally!

Somebody joins the discussion ...

Further thoughts on the meeting - if, as they say, the Junta can lobby for public money for large public works projects, which ONE project should be done first?

Over to you folks.

On reading your post I decided to find out more about this,

the Junta de Vecinos is not disbanded at all, I checked this morning and was told that its still going strong !!!!!

I dont know where these things start but lets hope that this puts the record straight, I agree it can only be good for Costambar

Sue

I agree with Bob's sentiments that if the Junta can help Costambar as it stated, why all the bad blood?

However it all seems academic now since the word on the streets is that the Junta de Vecinos has been disbanded ...

Notes & Impressions of the meeting at Loase on 10/22/10

Please note that the following is one person’s interpretation of the meeting, which was conducted primarily in Spanish, with occasional English translations.

Notes
As prior emails have informed you, a meeting was held at Loase’ on Friday night. It’s purpose was to get input from the various ‘stakeholders’ regarding issues of concern to the future of Costambar.
The meeting was organized and run by Freddy Vasquez, whose wife supplied English translations of his remarks. Mr. Vasquez (if I understood the translation correctly) moved three months ago from Cofresi and is renting a house here; he states that he is neutral on the APC/JdeV issue and thus sees himself in a position to try to bring both sides together.
Mr. Vasquez stated that he had hoped to have representatives from the JdeV (there were two), the APC (there were none), the beach vendors (there was one), M.r Vallereno (there were none) and a new group whose name I did not recognize (it was represented by Mr. Polanco).
Later in the evening a special guest arrived: a government representative associated with tourism (if I understood the translation correctly).

The following issues were discussed, some with quiet dignity, some without:
1. (Actually a non-issue.) Mr. Polanco introduced himself (in English and in Spanish), wished everyone success in their endeavors and promptly left the meeting, since, as he put it, he did not want to delve into ‘political’ matters. (I am totally mystified as to what this was all about, and welcome an explanation from anyone else in attendance.)

2.Much was made of the presence of four ex-presidents of the APC (Swerdlin, Polonco, Docker and Gill).

3.Gosolo declared that the JdeV has no desire to see the APC eliminated. Specifically, he said that the JdeV is an ‘advocacy’ organization, and has no interest in taking on the responsibilities associated with road repair, beach cleanup or security. Rather he believes that the creation of the Junta will allow government funds to flow into the community for the repair of roads, maintenance of street lights and sewer service to the beach.

4.In response to a question relating to the collecting of maintenance, Gonsolo stated that the JdeV is in a better position to get non-payers to pay, although the translation lacked specifics, at least to me.

5.A discussion ensued relating to government Tourism funds becoming available to Puerto Plata, and the absence of any mention of Costambar in the proposed allocation of said funds. Gonsolo said that he hopes for a combined effort of the APC and JdeV to work towards getting Costambar some of this funding.

6.Gosolo said that, while the JdeV wants to work with the APC, they will not be stopped, regardless of APCs objections.

7.The question was raised as to the status of Costambar as a “private community”. The position of the JdeV, as stated by Gus Dominquez (the second JdeV representative, and frequent translator for Gonsolo) was that this was no longer the case, due to:
A. the bankruptcy of the original developer
B. the existence of contracts between Costambar and the city

To me this suggested that some degree of consideration has been given to this issue by the Junta. Following up on this, the question was raised as to the need for this private status to be given up before government funds could be forthcoming. At this point the government representative stated that in the past tourism funds have been expended within private communities; he used Punta Cana as an example.

8. The issue of non-payers was raised. Gonsolo said that under the auspices of the JdeV everyone would be expected to pay, and that security would be funded from those payments.

The meeting ended without objection that the Junta could have a positive effect on the future of Costambar if the following conditions are met:
. The project remains private and that Costambar’s security is recognized as intrinsic to its future
. The JdeV’s role is that of advocacy and that they are not involved in the day-to-day maintenance of the project
. The APC accepts the JdeV’s existence as partners and that agree to work together.

The above points seemed to have been put forth by the representatives of the Junta (baring any misunderstanding on my part).

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My Comments
I was quite astounded by the statements made at the meeting. If the words spoken by the JdeV have been understood correctly and accurately documented by me, then I’m confused as to why we have been fighting all this time. So now I await responses to this summary; responses which will clarify, question and/or refute what I have written.
Also I wish to state that I have doubts as to the availability of non-tourism based funds to Costambar unless the project first loses its ‘private’ designation. It is an issue of law as to whether or not we have this status and an issue of law as to whether or not it can be taken away. The future of Costambar IMHO rests on this very fundamental issue.

Thank you for taking the time to read this,
Bob Curtis

So does anybody have any comments or thoughts about the meeting held at Loase?