BY JOHN A. NAGY, Insider Reporter
Seven Lakes West residents unable to get to the community center office to conduct business during the week now have a couple extra hours on Mondays to get there.
Employees with Community Association Services, which handles all the business affairs for the Seven Lakes West Landowners Association, have regularly staffed the center offices from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. But members of the association’s Board of Directors had expressed interest in having extra time for property owners unable to the office during those hours.
During the board’s April 12 meeting to discuss the year’s goals and objectives, community manager Sharon Hodges gave the board three options to improve staffing:
* changing hours to 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Mondays, with two rotating shifts working eight hours apiece;
* changing hours to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Mondays, with two rotating shifts working eight hours apiece; or
* having the entire staff available from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. four days a week, with the office closed Friday.
None of the board members favored the four-day work week, saying instead it was important for residents who work during the week to have access either before leaving for the day or after coming home.
Hodges said the busiest day of the week is Monday, when the staff is handling a rush of requests for access from contractors and other work crews. Staffers also see a rush from residents submitting paperwork for the Architectural Review Committee. She said most of that extra business comes in during the mornings.
Monday afternoon is often busy handling requests for vehicle gate access stickers, Hodges said.
After considering the options, the board decided to have the staff, as of May 1, add two hours to the Monday shift, with the office opening at 8 a.m. and staff being available until 6 p.m. There was no ending date for the extended hours.
“Let’s see how it works,” board president Pat Zlotin said. “It’s not set in stone so that it can’t change.
Contact John Nagy at (910) 693-2507 or john@thepilot.com.
