Please post the attached notice today. The notice provides information and instructions regarding the coronavirus.
Please contact your Portfolio Supervisors or HR if you have any questions or concerns.
Thank you and stay well!
Pet Policy and Assistance / Companion / Service Animal Policy
The purpose of this is to review both your property’s Pet Policy and Assistance / Companion Animal Policy – two distinct and separate policies.
Your property’s Pet Policy could be any one of the following:
- No Pets Community
- Cats Only Community
- Pet-Friendly with Breed Restrictions
If your property does allow pets, you can collect a pet deposit (with the exception of City of Portland properties) and pet rent, if permitted.
Your property’s Pet Policy will automatically fill in when you click the gray Insert Default Terms and Conditions when completing M006 Pet Agreement in Tenant Tech (see sample screenshot below). Please talk to your Property Supervisor if you have any questions or concerns about your property’s Pet Policy:
Regarding your property’s Assistance / Companion Animal Policy, keep in mind there are no restrictions on Assistance / Companion animals. Additionally, there should be no pet rent or deposit ever charged for an Assistance / Companion animal. If a household has an Assistance / Companion animal, use form M106 Assistance / Companion Animal Agreement. Note this policy also applies to Service Animals.
You can contact Kristin Strong at kstrong@cambridgeres.com with any questions.
Staying Healthy
The current flu season, along with the outbreak of a newer pathogen, the coronavirus (COVID19), offers an opportunity to reinforce the importance of keeping all work spaces clean, safe, and healthy. Our preventive recommendations during the current COVID-19 situation are similar to our recommendations during a regular flu season can be observed on the flyer below.
We will be printing and mailing to sites at the end of this week. Feel free to hang in your office, clubhouse and in common areas such as laundry rooms. You may also forward this as an email and attachment with a shortened note to your community members:
Dear Residents,
The current flu season, along with the outbreak of a newer pathogen, the coronavirus (COVID19), offers an opportunity to reinforce the importance of keeping all work spaces clean, safe, and healthy. Our preventive recommendations during the current COVID-19 situation are similar to our recommendations during a regular flu season can be observed on the attached flyer.
We hope you are feeling healthy and that you remain so. But if you are under the weather and you need any service from our staff, remember you can email us at __(site)___@cresapts.com or call us at _(phone #)___ and we will be happy to respond.
Sincerely,
(SITE) Management
Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.
What to do when Purchasing Blinds for your Property
The window coverings you’ll purchase from HD Supply will look just like the ones installed by Proset but will be by a different manufacturer.
You’ll want to purchase the deluxe vertical blinds (not the standard) made by Champion. These are listed on page 1103 of the HD Supply catalog, volume 69. You will have to measure the width of the window (measure along the metal headrail at the top) and the height, by measuring from the top of the headrail down to the bottom of the blind slat. In the HD Supply catalog, you’ll then look for the corresponding group of blinds for that height. In that group, you’ll then look for the blind that matches the width of the blind, and that’s your replacement blind.
As these are for patio doors, you don’t need to be as particular about the measurements, if the slats are a little long, you can always trim them down with scissors.
If you still can’t find one that is the correct dimensions, you need to find the next larger size, and when you place the order over the phone, ask that they be cut to size, and then give the person on the phone the exact measurements. It adds a few days to the order, but it’ll come to your exact specifications.
If you have any questions, contact Scott Busch sbusch@cambridgeres.com
Repair Awareness
We always want you to be really diligent in following through quickly with bids. But, when you have a situation that occurs at your property (major safety issue, roof leak, flood, etc.) make sure to advise your supervisor immediately. This can come in the form of a phone call to your supervisor but should also be followed up with an email as well. The earlier that we can have the opportunity of notifying our clients of potentially large non-recurring capital improvement necessities the better. Especially those that end up being of the unpredictable surprise variety.
$5,000 Cash Giveaway with SmartDollar– Enter Now
SmartDollar’s annual February global contest is back again . . . and they’ve got bigger cash prizes than ever before! Every week in February, we’ll be drawing two $500 winners. At the end of the month, we’ll be drawing one lucky winner for the grand prize—$5,000! That amount of money can put a dent in any Baby Step. But as always, consistent budgeting and tracking in SmartDollar is the ultimate goal for long-lasting results and a happier, healthier lifestyle.
This contest will run from February 3 to February 28. There is no eligibility deadline—anyone can create an account and jump in at any time before the end of the contest. Users who sign in and complete an activity to earn SmartDollar Points will automatically earn entries!
Check out the flyers below with information on how to get started!
Symposium Travel Time and Pay
Employees,
We look forward to seeing you at the Symposium 2020!
For those of you live out of state, Cambridge anticipates that those of you who live a distance from Portland will fly in on the morning of Tuesday, January 21, 2020. Your work day will start when you arrive at the airport unless your commute to the airport is further than your commute to work. For example, if your work commute is typically 20 minutes and your commute to the airport is 40 minutes then add the difference, 20 minutes to your start time. You will also be paid for the time spent in the air, spent waiting to check in at the airport, disembarking, being transported locally, etc.
For those of you who are unable to fly, Cambridge will advance you a payment equal the cost of what your airline ticket would be (Lauren Winkelman can provide you with that amount). You can use the payment to pay for gas, lodging, meals and incidentals. After determining the amount to the airline ticket, contact your Portfolio Supervisor for approval and to request an advance.
For those who choose to drive, you will also be paid for the time you would have spent traveling to Portland via the most expeditious manner possible. Therefore, please estimate the times noted above for traveling to the airport nearest your home, working through the flight process itself, and arriving in Portland for Symposium 2020. Please be sure to notate in ADP that you drove.
Please be sure to reach out if you have any questions!
Have a safe trip!
Property Managers – Please print and provide a copy of this notice to your Maintenance Technicians that are going to the Symposium.
Meal Break Reminder
Employees:
Property Managers – Please provide a copy of this to each of your staff members.
State laws are tightening in regard to employee meal breaks, consequently we would like to take this opportunity to remind you of the importance of taking your meal breaks in compliance with the law. In addition to being required by state law, Cambridge policy also requires employees to take their meal breaks as follows.
Ensure that you take a minimum of a 30-minute uninterrupted meal break prior to the start of your 5th hour of work, per the chart below:
We strongly recommend taking your meal break away from your desk and office so your meal break is more likely to be uninterrupted.
Cold Weather Preparedness
As we’ve been experiencing some cold weather in many of the areas in which we have properties, it’s time to take a few minutes to review our policies and practices for cold weather preparedness. As with so many things in life, and ounce of prevention is worth a pound of medicine. Or is that a ton of cure? Either way, preparing for cold weather is much more effective than responding to an emergency situation caused by the cold.
So, without further ado, let’s talk about preparing for cold weather.
To begin, please remember that our position is that we do not use ice melt products of any kind. As effective as they can be at melting ice, this is one of those instances in which we believe the cons outweigh the pros. These products can be damaging to sidewalks, surrounding vegetation, the environment, and carpeting, when it’s tracked inside a unit. Although many manufacturers claim that their products are safe to use, both for the sidewalk itself and for the environment, when pressed, we have not been able to get a manufacturer to put that claim in the form of a written guarantee.
So, what do we do instead?
Well, since we feel it is in the best interest of our properties, all sites are asked to use sand and/or pea gravel and physical snow removal as the primary and only means of combating icy and snowy sidewalks and stairwells. Now that the weather has turned colder in most areas, you should all make sure you’re properly stocked with sand and gravel. Bags can be purchased at your local Home Depot, and your property’s landscaper or snow removal company can often times deliver a larger amount of sand if you need more than a few bags. If you have the means to store a supply of sand or pea gravel in several locations around your property, it is always helpful to do so, as this way you’re not dragging heavy buckets of sand from one area to the next. Many sites use a standard Rubbermaid 32 gallon garbage can stored in an inconspicuous location to store the sand until it is needed.
As most of us are aware, freezing temperatures wreak havoc on plumbing systems. One of the unique properties of water is that it is one of the rare substances that actually expands as it freezes. This means the pipes that supply water to each of the fixtures in our buildings are at risk of becoming cold enough that the water inside will freeze. When this happens, the pressure of the water expanding inside the pipe can have enough strength to actually burst it open. When the temperature warms up a bit, the frozen water thaws, causing water to gush out of the burst part of the pipe. Pipes that run along exterior walls are most vulnerable, but remember, often pipes run in the attic and under the building, too. As much as we try to prevent burst pipes, it happens every year at one or more of our properties. Fortunately, there are things each of us can do to help prevent this.
Install styrofoam covers over your hose bibbs. These are available at your local Home Depot, and are an inexpensive way to help insure against frozen pipes. It’s recommended to install these on every hose bibb, even those that are frost free.
Also, make sure all of your foundation vents are covered. Some have little flaps that you can close, others need to be covered with styrofoam inserts. Both the prefabricated inserts and sheets of styrofoam that can be cut to size can be purchased at your nearest Home Depot.
Turn up the heat in vacant units, not too high, but not below 55 degrees. Open up the cabinets under the kitchen and bath sinks. If the temperatures gets below freezing, leaving both the hot and cold water running at a trickle can help keep the pipes from freezing.
Deliver “Freeze Warning” notices to each of your residents to help them understand what they can do to prevent freezing pipes in their units. This, in turn, will help reduce the chance of frozen pipes.
For those of you with pools, please make sure your pool pump is circulating 24 hours per day. When water is circulating in the system, it greatly reduces the chances of the water freezing.
Please make sure your shops are stocked with extra heaters, thermostats, and parts to repair heaters. If a resident reports an issue with the heat in their unit, it is considered a priority during cold weather. Make sure to address any report of a heater not working on a same day basis. It’s also a good idea to have a small quantity of radiant heaters, which are available at The Home Depot, to put in a unit that has a heating problem that cannot be fixed immediately.
Make sure all on call maintenance personnel are mindful of the potential of this type of situation, and if you do suffer a no heat call or a frozen pipe, act immediately. A burst pipe can put forth water at an alarming rate, so be prepared to handle the emergency. Make sure your site has extra plumbing parts on hand, and keep the number for a plumber nearby, as well as a carpet extractor, in case they’re needed.
And, last but not least, be careful. Slips and falls on ice are a very real danger. We have coworkers that are injured every year by falling on the ice and snow, and we want to make sure to minimize the chance of this happening. So, be mindful of your step when you’re outside during snowy or icy weather. It sound cliché, but our employees are truly Cambridge’s most important asset, and we don’t want anyone to get hurt. So, please be careful out there.
And if any of you have any questions about any of this, please don’t hesitate to contact your supervisor.
Pet Policy Guidelines
More and more residential properties are recognizing the importance of being pet-friendly, especially when it comes to dogs. Welcoming “people’s best friend” into your community requires some guidelines and rules for everyone to follow.
Pets must be leashed and controlled by an adult at all times when in the common areas of the property.
Pets must be licensed and vaccinated as required by local ordinances.
The pet owner is responsible for any damage or injury caused by his/her pet.
Animal-aggressive or people-aggressive pets are not permitted on the property.
Pets shall not be chained or otherwise secured in a manner that allows them access to common areas.
Do not allow your pet to dig or damage landscaping on the property.
Owners are responsible for cleaning up after their pets.
By having and enforcing rules and guidelines for the residents, pet-friendly communities can be a great place to live for people and their pets.