What happens if there’s an emergency? Say a fire or burglary or a medical
emergency. Is it still cheaper then a backup battery?
Sent from my iPhone
On Aug 19, 2018, at 2:33 PM, isom hawes <isom25@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Alex, I agree with not wanting increased HOA fees for a battery backup,
however, not being able to get our vehicles in or out of the complex is not a
viable option. It's not just about the convenience of wanting to get to and
from our homes, it's also about the occasions in which we simply need our
vehicles for travel in which a ride share program wouldn't suffice.
After about an hour of being locked inside the complex, a neighbor and I
began dismantling the connection between the control mechanism of the gate
and the metal arm that pulls the gate open. It was actually pretty simple
to do so in the future if the power goes out again, we don't have to wait so
long to get the gate open. Almost at the exact moment that we got the gate
open, the power came back on so we put the connection back together.
While I know dismantling the gate's control arm is probably not something
that the board would recommend, it's a better option than not being able to
get our vehicles in and out of the complex. I'd like to show 2 or 3 other
residents how to do it so that in the future there will be a few of us that
can assist should the power go off again.
From: highland-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<highland-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> on behalf of Alex Agle
<alex@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, August 18, 2018 10:22 PM
To: highland-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [highland-discuss] Power Outage & Gates
Hi everyone,
Our neighborhood has been known for having random power outages in good
weather. Yesterday's power outage affected approximately 2,500 Georgia
Power customers.
Since March 2016, we've had approximately 150 power abnormalities/blips,
but perhaps 5 of those resulted in a power outage lasting 30 minutes or
longer. Yesterday's two hour power outage was unusually long. An event
like that one happens around once every five years.
You might wonder what happens to the gates during a power outage. Do
they have a backup battery? No, that's an extra option that costs
several thousand dollars. Consider it a "nice to have" feature. A
previous Board explored that option, but found it too expensive.
I did notice that FedEx was able to get into the complex during the
outage. This leads me to believe that the front gate was open or
eventually opened, but I'm not sure.
I did need to travel during yesterday's power outage. The initial ETA
for restoration was 8:15PM, so I rearranged my plans. If I couldn't
have rearranged my plans and if the gates were closed, then I would have
used a ride sharing service. In this case, I would have had to pay $10
round trip, but that's cheaper than paying increased HOA dues for a
backup battery for the gate.
Thanks,
Alex
--
Alex Agle
alex@xxxxxxxxx
C 404-229-3325
W 404-894-6165
