Page 24 - NJ Cooperator Winter 2020

24 THE NEW JERSEY COOPERATOR —WINTER 2020 NJCOOPERATOR.COM Insurance and Risk Management Solutions for Community Associations ©2020 USI Insurance Services. All Rights Reserved. Employee Benefits | Property & Casualty | Personal Risk | Retirement Consulting At USI, our real estate specialists combine proprietary analytics, broad experience and national resources to custom-fit an insurance and risk management plan that meets your needs. For decades, our team has been providing the solutions and services that associations count on to protect their communities. We’d like to do the same for you. USI Insurance Services Cheryl Rhine, CIC, CIRMS Debbie Pasquariello, CIC, CIRMS Toms River, NJ | 732.349.2100 Florham Park, NJ | 800.227.0185 www.usi.com We’ve Got Your Community Covered ATTENTION BUILDING OWNERS AND MANAGERS Maintenance of any masonry/concrete mid to high rise building is CRUCIAL From parking decks, to balconies, to brick pointing, window caulking, parapet walls, and roof structures, simple maintenance and inspection is IMPERATIVE to keep your investment DRY and STRUCTURALLY SOUND. Water intrusion can cause: • Structural damage • Damage claims from tenants and owners • Mold issues and lawsuits • Safety issues, e.g., falling masonry & Restoration Inc, of Jersey City, NJ, successfully completing over $200,000,000 of restoration work in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. H2O Pro operates only in New Jersey and we pledge to you that if you trust us to oversee exterior repairs to your buildings we will treat them as if they were our own. Choosing the right contractor is extremely important! Who are we? Call Toll Free: 844-774-6776 Small maintenance issues can become large capital projects. We work with you or your architect/engineer, to establish a repair plan that keeps your investment safe and sound without breaking your budget. with contests or photo-sharing within ease specialist at the Ann and Robert H. their communities. Holiday displays in Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and lobbies and entrances can bring joy to professor of pediatrics at Northwestern the world—even if your world is cur- rently restricted to your building or your cine, tells National Public Radio that she neighborhood. Bring out the lights, trees, fears that the lure of holiday parties, as colors, and sparkly things that remind us well as more indoor activity as tempera- of holidays past and stir up anticipation tures drop, will result in more illnesses. of future merriment. (Just be mindful of “Right now, in many areas of the coun- anything that can pose a fire hazard, im- pede emergency egress, or exceed bright- ness and noise restrictions.) Home for the Holidays Multi-Housing News points to virtual holidays, serious consideration of health ways of getting together from the safety risks should be taken into account before and comfort of home that are made possi- ble by access to high-speed internet, new to residents. Indeed, property manag- software, and availability of smart devic- es. With the Net- flix Party exten- sion for Google Chrome, for ex- ample, groups of individuals with miles or walls be- tween them can simultaneously watch anything that streams on Netflix while us- ing the chat menu to have a fun, communal expe- rience in a social- ly distanced way. (Note that Netflix Party only works on desktop and laptop computers for now, and Chrome ment at the School of Medicine at Johns must be installed.) MHN suggests that us- ers enhance this experience by plugging a siderations for holiday planning this year. laptop into their TV with an HDMI cable, Noting that “Innovation is key,” they sug- thereby getting better sound and a larger gest planning a small or fully online event picture. What better way to enjoy “It’s a now, with a larger in-person event to look Wonderful Life”—and to be reminded forward to once the pandemic has re- that it is, in spite of these challenging solved. A synchronous moment on a spe- times. Another suggestion from Multi-Hous- ing News is to promote an online game and feel connected. Attendees can then service that might appeal to a particular contribute to or view a virtual scrapbook community’s residents and take the place that they create with pictures or videos of of such in-person activities. Some exam- ples are: • Board Game Arena (en.boardgame- arena.com/join): Free board games • Tabletop Simulator (www.tabletop- simulator.com/games): Realistic, 3-D mentioning again here: outdoors is better simulated boards, for a charge • Tabletopia (www.tabletopia.com): low as possible and maximize ventila- Some free games; some require a premi- um subscription to host additional play- ers • QuizWitz (www.quizwitz.com/en): with soap and water for at least 20 sec- Free and expanded versions for a new onds. But think carefully about travel, say form of Trivia Night • Jackbox Games (www.jackbox.tv): A of contracting and spreading coronavi- variety of games and quizzes that require rus, keep in mind that travel to or from use of a computer screen and smartphone for each player Advice from Medical Experts Dr. Tina Tan, pediatric infectious dis- University’s Feinberg School of Medi- try, COVID-19 rates are starting to surge again,” says Tan. For multifamily com- munities that normally plan in-person functions and gatherings to celebrate the extending invitations or announcements ers from New York to New Hampshire; Naples, Florida to Na- perville, Illinois; told us that they and their boards are forgoing any in-person plans for their communities this holi- day season. Elizabeth Stuart, PhD, AM, associate dean for Education at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a pro- fessor in Mental Health, Biostatistics, and Health Policy and Manage- ment; and Keri Althoff, PhD, MPH, associate professor in Epidemiol- ogy with a joint appoint- Hopkins, published some important con- cific date and time observed virtually can allow distant attendees to show support the moment, they say. For those who insist on gathering in person, Stuart and Althoff maintain the same exhortations that have been re- peated over and over again, but still bear than indoors; if indoors, keep density as tion and air flow; wear masks at all times when around people outside of your household; wash your hands frequently Stuart and Althoff. Aside from the risks PREPPING... continued from page 8 “During COVID, we’re gonna have to challenge ourselves just a little bit to lower our risk factors. Have the crucial conversations with your relatives and loved ones. Plan ahead.” —Dr. Sam Jarvis