The 31st Annual Owners' Meeting and Board election was started at 7:22 PM (eight minutes before the meeting was scheduled to start).  The meeting lasted 58 minutes and ended at 8:20 PM.  About 19 unit owners were present.  Only two Board members were present (Jerry and Joanne).  Three Board members were absent (Chris, Dan, and Nancy), and the management company representative, Rosemarie Wert, was also absent.  Jerry said that because this was an owners' meeting and not a Board meeting, a quorum of Board members was not necessary and the owners' meeting could continue.  There was a quorum of unit owners represented by the absentee ballots totalling almost 35% of the Association.

The Minutes of last year's Annual Meeting were approved.  Copies of last year's Minutes were available at the meeting.

At 7:25, the two candidates for the Board election were announced and spoke briefly to the unit owners present about the reasons they wanted to be on the Board.  There were no additional nominations from the floor.  Some owners were still coming in as this was done since the meeting was ahead of schedule.  The ballots were collected and counted by the Association accountant at 7:30.

President's Report:
The Board president, Jerry, gave the annual President's Report for about 17 minutes:
He said we have an excellent staff.  He thanked the property manager, the management company, and the building engineer and staff for the outstanding job they do.  He cited the elevator project, which was done smoothly, on schedule, and slightly under budget, though all expenses had not been paid yet.  Dave said the consultant's fee was $5,400 under budget.

He said we only had one unit sale in 2010, but then he said there were three sales that took place as of June 6, 2011:  9A for $209,000 [April 2010], 18H for $130,000 [Aug. 2010], 22L for $183,000 [Oct. 2010 Foreclosure], 24M for $180,000 [?, not in my records], 27D for $133,000 [Oct. 2009], and 3A for $125,000 as a short sale [Feb. 2011].  He said the sales were under market prices compared to 2006 to 2008, but he expected prices would go back up in the future because our building is in good physical shape.  He said we're lucky that we haven't had a lot of foreclosures or short sales, especially compared to other buildings in the city.  He said we've had a few.

He said our owner occupancy is 71%.

He said improvements completed in the past year were:
-  The security cameras project is now complete with the installation of the elevator cameras.

-  New energy efficient light fixtures for the management office and party room are complete and we received a rebate from ComEd.  He said eventually all of our light fixtures will be energy efficient and about half our fixtures have been replaced.

-  ComEd's Demand/Response program is an energy saving program we participated in and received some rebates for maybe a couple of thousand dollars.

-  ECMI building automation and energy and cost savings study was done for our building and some recommendations were made.  [NOTE:  Though it was not mentioned, the Board approved to do one of the recommendations to replace the electric heating on the second through 10th floors with hot water heating from our boiler].

-  New signage for the common elements were installed.  He said residents should tie their garbage bags before throwing them down the garbage chute

-  Parking deck repairs are ongoing as needed.

-  The required emergency one and two-way communication system has been installed and is operational, but needs to be tested and approved by the Fire Department.  The project was done on schedule and on budget.  Jerry said we did the project ahead of the mandated date by the city but it was cost-effective to do it at the same time as the elevator project, so we saved some money compared to doing it at a later date.

New projects for 2011 and 2012, per our reserve study, are:
-  Concrete deck and curb repairs, pool deck repairs, ECM building automation, pool lighting [NOTE:  The new pool lights had already been installed without prior approval by the Board].

Projects for future years, per our reserve study, include:
-  Facade inspection and repair in 2012 required by the city, pool liner and pool fence, riser replacement [the pipes that bring water up from the basement] at some point in the future as required, but it won't all be at one time.  Roof replacement - though currently in good shape.

Farther out:

-  Replace trash compactor, replace the mail boxes with larger ones [this may be required by Postal regulations], corridor air handlers and condensers, pool structural elements, and continued riser replacement.

Treasurer's Report:
Jerry read the Treasurer's Report for the Treasurer, Chris, who was absent.  [The report is prepared by Management and copies were available to owners.  The following is from the report, rounding to nearest hundred].  As of May 31, 2011, there was a year-to-date net operating surplus of $76,000, which was $83,400 better than budgeted.  Actual income was $10,800 less than budgeted [presumably because of assessments in arrears].  Expenses were lower than budgeted by $94,200. [No explanation was given for any of these variances.]  The Association's total investments were $1,624,000 at the end of May [which is $120,000 less than last year at this time, partly due to the elevator project which has not been fully paid yet].  In addition, there was $46,000 in the checking account [$61,000 less than last year].

[NOTE:  The audited financial statements for 2010 should be sent to unit owners soon.  Assuming if they show an operating surplus, the Board will approve a separate assessment later this year to move the surplus into reserves.]

Questions from Unit Owners:
The floor was open to questions from unit owners while the ballots were being counted.
-  An owner from the 27th floor asked how the new Admiral was going to affect our unit prices, especially for those on the north side.  Jerry said it would have a positive effect because they would have certain amenities that will be open to the neighborhood, such as restaurants, extra parking spaces, and possibly use of their exercise room.  Joanne made some comments.  Jerry said it would have only limited obstruction of views facing west.

-  An owner from the 21st floor asked about the new emergency communication system and is it working now.  The system will be required by city code and it is working now.

-  I suggested that they have a test of the emergency communication system for residents in the evening when most are here so we can hear what the system sounds like.  Jerry said they would ask the Fire Department about doing such a test.  I also said that management should send a letter to all residents explaining what the new system does and it's features, such as the two-way communication boxes in the stairwells.  Dave said he would send such a letter in the future.

-  The owner from the 27th floor asked about the Winona parking lot fence.  Dave said we still need to get official notice from the city that our variances and plan are approved.  We can't start the project without such approval.

-  Another resident asked whether all the new security cameras had prevented any crimes in the building.  Jerry said they're a deterrence.  Dave mentioned gang symbols scratched on our elevators had stopped after the cameras were installed.  Dave said they're helpful, that they're HD but have no sound and are recorded in case something does happen, it can be watched later.  Another resident asked if there were any cameras in the stairwells.  There has been one on the 27th floor due to someone smoking there (smoker not caught), and another camera in the 9th to 11th floor stairwell.

-  An owner from the 11th floor commented about the driveway entrance signs being hard to see and some drivers entering from the wrong direction.  Dave said he would check this.

-  I asked why the new sundeck lights were so bright.  I can see the light reflected on the building across the street.  I had thought they would be more subtle, like we used to have.  Dave said this is what the electrician recommended.

The unofficial election results were announced as follows:
Total votes were 34.95% of the Association.  Sajed [new Board member] was elected with 25.28% and Jerry was re-elected with 44.25%.  Official results from the accountant were posted the next day when received from the accountants.  The official results showed a vote shortage of less than one percent of those who voted, which is much less than in previous years.

The annual meeting adjourned at 8:20 PM and was followed by a regular Board meeting after a break of about 20 minutes.  To read my notes of the regular Board meeting, click here.