Unit Owners' Forum:
The unit owners forum started at 7:14 pm.
- A unit owner who owns several units commented about the Winona
parking lot lights, which are on too long after daylight and come
back on too long before dark. He said he had filled out a service
request six months ago to get this fixed, but nothing had been
done. Dave said he would follow up with Robert, the building engineer,
the next day and it would get fixed. Jerry said work orders
are generally for work that needs to be done in your unit, not for the
common areas. He said problems with the common areas should be put
in writing to Dave. I commented that whenever I see a light out in
the hallway, or the smoke alarm is beeping, I fill out a service request
to let maintenance know and the problem is taken care of right away. They
said that was OK. I also agreed with the unit owner that the Winona
lights are on way too long during daylight and had mentioned it to Dave
previously. [Note: Several days after the meeting, I noticed
the timing of the parking lot light was fixed].
- I asked whether we had finished paying for the elevator and communication system project.
I asked because our reserves are $1.5 million and I thought after paying for the
projects our reserves would be much lower. Management
said they had made the last payment in August or September.
Board member Chris said the elevator project cost significantly
less than the budget or reserve study. [Note: Our reserve study
projected we would have $582,000 in reserves at the end of 2011
after paying for these projects, so we appear to have almost
a million dollars more than that.]
- I asked about the new emergency communication system and whether
management could use it to let residents know when there is a problem,
such as when the power went out for several hours and many residents didn't
know what was going on and couldn't come down the stairs. Management
said the system can only be used by the Fire Department and that residents
can call the doorman to get information. They also said they are
working on a new system that will allow them to contact residents during
future outages or problems [by phone, I think].
The Board president, Jerry, said they had talked about having a fire safety
seminar again. Dave said he contacted the same company that was here
last time. Management said maybe we should try the Fire Department
again to see if they have started doing the safety seminars again. I
said that I attended the last fire safety seminar and that I didn't think
it was worth the $1,200 we paid, and that only 20 residents attended the
three hour seminar. Jerry said money is not an issue when someone
might lose their life or get injured. I said everything that was
covered was basic information. Management said they would try to
find a way to get more residents to attend the seminar. [Note: Residents
can get a free Fire Department DVD from the property manager with information
on what to do in case of fire in a high-rise building. Every unit
received this DVD along with evacuation instructions this past June.
The video is also available online on YouTube. Further, the new communication system allows the Fire Department
to instruct residents on what to do in an emergency, such as stay in your
unit or evacuate to a specific floor.]
- The unit owner who owns several units commented that a lot of new
residents are not being given an orientation by management, so many of
them are not following the rules. Jerry said we've had an increase
in renters compared to what we had a few years ago. He said the unit
owners needed to be more responsible for their renters, and that the renters
can't be forced to attend an orientation. Dave said he contacts every
new resident when they want to schedule a move-in date and gives them a
welcome packet and his card and tells them they can call him any time if
they have any questions He said most times orientations do happen,
but sometimes time conflicts prevent it. Board member Joanne suggested
we have an orientation meeting once a month and it can be in the evening
and everyone who moved in that month is invited and they can attend if
they want. I mentioned that we used to have a welcoming committee
to meet with new residents. Management said if we could have some
volunteers, that would be lovely.
There being no other questions, the Board meeting was started at 7:36 pm.
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Board Meeting:
The Board meeting started at 7:36 pm and ended at 8:58 pm (an hour and 22 minutes). All Board members, the property manager, and management company representative
were present. There were only 7 unit owners present.
The Board Minutes from the August 2011 meeting were approved.
Management Report:
- Dave said the final elevator inspection was done and the elevators passed.
- The next window washing is scheduled to begin on October 17, weather
permitting. Dave said he's trying to get bids for window washing
for next year, but some companies don't want to bid because our screens
are too hard to clean from Boatswain's chairs.
- The Building Automation project proposals have been received and
are being reviewed by management. [Note: I'm not sure, but I
think this has to do with the proposed change to hot water heating
for the lower floor hallways. It's supposed to save us money, but
I'm not sure why it's called building automation].
- Dave sought bids to provide cable TV to the building because our
contract with RCN is expiring soon. Only the RCN has replied and
is leaving it's price unchanged. AT&T provided a bid for it's
new U-Verse products, but then said they're restructuring their pricing
and will change their bid. Management said there is not a lot of
experience with U-Verse. Comcast apparently won't bid because their
system would require an expensive replacement of the current cable wiring.
There was a long discussion about cable options and problems,
etc. by the Board and management. Joanne commented on RCN removing
channels that used to be included in our plan and that we need to talk
to them about that when we renew. The management company rep.
said RCN's pricing is the same or lower than Comcast. She said the
buildings that went with satellite have been very unhappy. They said
maybe they would ask an RCN rep. to come to the building to meet with any
Board members who might be interested in discussing any issues.
- The contract for the interior plants is expiring in December. Dave
said he had gotten compliments on the plants in the lobby and the party
room. He said he is getting bids from other providers. [Note:
I don't know why we need live plants in the party room that gets
no natural light and requires us to leave the room lights on all the time
so the plants don't die.]
- The new maintenance employee, Joe, resigned but mentioned
that his brother had maintenance experience and was looking for
work. The brother, Jeff (?) was hired on a probationary
basis.
- The plans for the required new Winona parking lot fence and landscaping to comply with City ordinance
were approved by City Zoning and Landscaping. Dave is securing
bids to do the work. Dave said he's looking for alternative places
for residents to park while the work is being done. This would be
for short periods as they work on different sections of the lot. We
will be permanently losing 7 or 8 parking spaces as a result of this project.
The Board plans to have a special open Board meeting on October 24
to approve the bids. This should be posted in advance.
- Dave said work orders are being done promptly on a priority basis.
- The waste water riser for the A and B tier around the 2nd floor
was clogged and cracked and a plumber was hired to repair it. [Signs
were put up reminding residents not to pour grease into the water drains.]
- The pool heater igniter broke and a new one was purchased and installed
on September 12.
- The pool was closed for the season in September 22.
- Dave read the list of sales and leases for the Board to approve.
The sales were: 6H for $75,000, 8B for $184,000, and 13C for $61,200.
[Note: The buyer and seller of 8B had the same last name, so
I don't know if this was an open market transaction. Also, I
think units 6H and 13C were foreclosure sales.] The owner
occupancy is 70%.
The leases were: 6K $1,100/mo., 7L $1,400/mo., 10B $1,520/mo., 10J
$950/mo., 23G $1,000/mo., 25G $900/mo., 26L $1,495/mo.
Before approving these sales and leases, Jerry commented that the Board
has always automatically waived its right of first refusal on sales, but
he feels that units prices are bottoming out around 50% of what they sold for
three or four years ago and we may be missing an opportunity
to purchase some of these units for what he considers
"a song." He asked for comments from the Board. Management
said the Board would need approval of the Association [66.7% of the ownership]
to purchase any unit. She suggested if the Board really wanted to
do that, to get approval in advance. Joanne said purchasing a unit for a low price
would help us get space for an exercise room for the residents. Jerry
said given the low prices and what rental incomes are, we would make money
instead of letting someone else make money, and it's something we should
consider, though there's always a risk. Board member Nancy said it
had been discussed before that we might have to buy a unit to get an exercise
room, which we really need. Jerry said at the former prices, it would
have cost us close to $400,000 to buy a unit and turn it into an exercise
room [I don't know where he gets these numbers], and that if you turn a
unit into an exercise room, you're probably not going to have enough income
to offset the expenses. Board member Chris asked about the new law
that Boards can't exercise their rights of first refusal related to FHA.
Management said you can't use the right of first refusal to discriminate against
someone who wants to buy a unit using an FHA mortgage, but she
was going to check.. The Board approved the sales and leases.
Treasurer's Report:
The Treasurer, Chris, read the August 2011 report prepared by management.
Copies of the report were available at the meeting. For the
month of August, income was $892 above budget and expenses were $2,607
below budget, so the net operating surplus for the month was $3,499. Year-to-date
for nine months, income was $2,093 (0.2%) above budget and expenses
were $125,204 (11.4%) below budget, so the net operating surplus was
$127,297. The total investments as of the end of August totaled $1.57
million.
New Business:
- The annual "separate assessment" to transfer last year's
operating surplus of $34,538 into reserves was read and approved. Unit
owners had gotten a copy of this proposed assessment prior to the
meeting.
- Audit for 2011 and 2012. Our current accountants proposed
doing our audit (and taxes) for 2011 and 2012 for $5,000 each year. Board
member Sajed asked if we had gotten any competing bids for the audit and
did the Board feel it was necessary to do so. He was told Picker
has always done our audit. Management said the price was the
same as last year, [but I seem to recall it was $4,700 last
year]. Board member Chris said he thought they did a fine job for
the price.
- Concrete repair proposals. The areas needing repair are a
problem area with water infiltration in a 26th floor unit, and the north and
south ramp entrance areas and curbs. The current bid is a year old.
Dave said Robert said the work can be postponed until 2012. Since
the next facade inspection is in 2012, it was suggested it might make sense
to do all the concrete work done at the same time. The Board agreed
to postpone the work and get new bids in 2012.
- Jerry was about to go into Old Business, but Sajed said he had a motion
of New Business to change the roles [officers] of the Board. He
nominated Chris to be the new Board president, and Nancy seconded his motion.
This lead to a somewhat heated discussion lasting about 25 minutes
regarding the proposed changes and whether the procedure
was valid. [NOTE: If you are an owner at 5100 and want to read
my expanded notes on this discussion, please email me with your name and
unit number and I will email them to you.]
Eventually, Sajed made the motion again to make Chris the President.
This was approved with three votes. Jerry and Joanne abstained from voting.
Sajed made subsequent motions to make Nancy Vice President, Sajed Treasurer,
and Joanne Secretary. However, Joanne said she didn't want to be
an officer, so the motion was changed to give that title
to Nancy as well. Each of these motions was approved with three votes
and Jerry and Joanne abstaining. Jerry and Joanne are now
directors at large.
[Note: A couple of owners asked me what the difference is between
a Board member and a Board officer. I told them all five members
of the Board of Directors are directors, and only the President, V.P.,
Treasurer, and Secretary are officers with duties described in the ByLaws.
However, every director has one vote and every
director's vote counts the same as every other director, regardless of whether they are
the president or a non-officer.]
- The Management company rep. said she wanted to schedule
a Board working session in October to go over the bids for the Winona
lot and also for the 2012 budget. She said they could have a
open meeting on the 24th to vote on any issues that come up. The
date for the working session will be determined later.
Old Business:
- There was no Old Business.
Ratifications:
- There were no ratifications.
Adjournment
The Board meeting adjourned at 8:58 pm.
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