Town home tenting put off indefinitely

Residents concerned with an impending tenting fumigation to eradicate termites at their homes in the Corsica Villas, formerly called the Newport North Townhomes, got a reprieve at their recent homeowner’s association board of directors meeting.

The tenting, which would have used Dow Chemical Co.’s Vikane gas, or sulfuryl fluoride, had been scheduled to begin today but has now been put off indefinitely.

But the residents did not — and could not, according to the board and its attorney — recall the board Wednesday night as they had planned to do.

But the “fight” is not over, resident Beverly C. Bernstein said Friday.

The residents have now been charged with the task of coming up with the pros and cons of alternatives they think may seem more suitable for their community.

The board said it will then have all residents vote on four options, including the use of tenting.

“The management company would get that to the residents and there would be a closed ballot … and whatever the community voted on as a whole, that’s what they would do,” homeowner Cindy Dupuie said.

Northwood Assn. Management Co. Inc. president E. John Themios and board president J.K. Smith could not be reached for comment Friday.

The timing concerns Dupuie — residents are supposed to have their proposal in by March 5, for a vote before the board’s next monthly meeting on March 21.

“To be really able to have people from different companies come out so we can compare apples to apples and do a thorough job, there’s going to need to be more time,” Dupuie said Friday. “The management company seemed to be willing to give that, and hopefully they’ll stay with it.”

Overall, residents were happy with the decision to bring more options to the table, she said.

Bernstein hopes the residents can find an alternative that they’ll all agree on.

Many residents were concerned with the board’s decision to tent all 23 buildings in Corsica Villas. A combination of owners and renters concerned with the tenting said the board was ignoring their health and environmental concerns regarding the gas, which is used to kill the termites.

Dupuie and some of her neighbors collected 71 signatures in two days — there are 121 units in the community — to show the board the number of people who opposed the fumigation.

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation has decided to list sulfuryl fluoride as a “toxic air contaminant,” department spokesman Glenn Brank said.