Present at the meeting: Alexandra Kielty, Judi Barth, Charles Bressler, Molly Frantz, Monique Fridell, Seth Levine, Al Muller, Jason Fisher, Scott Murdoch, Jim Santos, and recorder of meeting minutes.
JANUARY MINUTES: Approval of the January minutes was tabled until next month because the ECA Secretary was unable to perform this job in a timely manner. This is not the first time this has happened under his assignment as the ECA Secretary. The approved meeting minutes are important for setting the record straight and if they are not delivered in a timely fashion, we Association members are at a terrible disadvantage, especially when problems occur and we need to refer to what decisions have been made by our Board of Directors.
LEGAL DETERMINATION: The ECA condo lawyer Jason Fisher was present for this particular meeting. He was invited to comment on two large projects: the replacement of (1) windows/balcony doors and (2) the McQuay heating/cooling units. What he said was the responsibility for replacing windows/balcony doors falls to the Elizabeth Condominium Association. However, the responsibility for replacing the McQuay heating/cooling units that reside in individual units must be paid for by the owners. None of these projects are simple.
REPLACEMENT OF WINDOW & BALCONY DOORS: Replacement of windows/balcony doors will require the ECA to borrow money. According to our treasurer Monique Fridell, we are positioned to borrow, though more data and decisions are needed before the Board moves on this. According to our house manager, if the Board decided to move ahead and procured the necessary loan now, then it would be possible to start the project as early as July 1, 2011.
REPLACEMENT OF HEATING/COOLING UNITS: Replacement of the McQuay heating/cooling units is much more complicated. The Association would have to replace and fix the infrastructure that supports the individual McQuay heating/cooling units before any individual McQuay units could be replaced. Replacement would logically proceed tier by tier and not floor by floor. The average estimated cost per unit (don’t forget some units are much larger than others and have more than two units) is somewhere between $6,000 to $12,000.
BYLAW ISSUE: As it stands right now, it would be up to the unit owner to voluntarily cooperate with the project. According to our house manager, if every unit owner cooperated, the project would take two to three years to complete with the minimal amount of disruption for all involved. If a majority of unit owners failed to cooperate, the project could take 10 or more years to complete with untold hours of disruption of water, heat and cooling services for many residents. Therefore, our lawyer suggested an amendment to the ECA Bylaws that would allow the ECA Board to have more control over projects that are for the good of the entire Association. Any changes to the Bylaws will require agreement of 66 and 2/3 percent of the Association to amend the Bylaws. This means unit owners need to be made aware of the critical nature of fixing the heating and cooling system, which is so overdue for replacement that it’s a train wreck waiting to happen.
HALLWAY REFURBISHMENT: To further complicate this discussion, there are actually three large projects on the ECA table. The third project is renovation of the hallways. At this time, design work is being done by The Hartman Group on the hallway renovation. All discussion about design costs at the February Board meeting pertained to this new phase of work for the hallway renovation. The lobby renovation work was completed and, according to the Board, it was completed under the projected and approved budget cost of $1.5 million.
SEQUENCING OF BIG PROJECTS: At a working meeting of the Board that took place a number of weeks ago (they discussed budget planning, including the 5-year plan), our house manager made it clear that these three projects cannot be accomplished simultaneously. He suggested that the priority be: (1) replacement of windows/balcony doors, (2) replacement of the McQuay heating/cooling units, and (3) renovation of the hallways. The importance of this order is to realize immediate energy savings, avoid costly interim repairs on failing equipment, and avoid damaging newly refurbished areas (hallways).
FOUR-PIPE SYTEM REFUBISHMENT & WINTERIZATION OF THE COOLING TOWER: Also feeding into the discussion of fixing the heating and cooling infrastructure, the house manager requested a decision on making immediate repair to something called the four-pipe system and winterizing the cooling tower. The four-pipe system, which was installed when the building was built, allows for the spring-fall situation when some units in the building require heat while other require air-conditioning. The house manager said we have always been set up to accommodate these opposing needs but the system has been in disrepair for quite some time. The Mendoza Engineering Study recommended fixing these infrastructure systems. Therefore the Board decided to move ahead with both repairs. The four-pipe system involves pipes exposed to weather that sit on our roof and need replacement which will cost $13,000 and the other, the enclosed cooling tower refurbishment, costs $32,000. $50,000 had been budgeted for this project so this expenditure appears to be well within that limit. There are some energy implications that also need to be managed.
COMMITTEE & COMMUNITY UPDATES:
The Landscape Committee reported on the status of its activities, including a public event for owners and residents on March 3 to update Association members on project work to date and to solicit ideas, comments, and questions. To get advance information on the project, visit the official Elizabeth website.
An elections committee was named and announced.
On Saturday March 26 in the West Lobby from 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm, the family of long time resident Helen Soderberg will commemorate her life. Those wishing to attend need to RSVP. Consult the flyer hanging on the bulletin board in our mail corridor for more information, including how to notify her family that you would like to attend.
PIANO CONTROVERSY: A contentious discussion about the piano that was procured as part of the refurbishment budget took up a big chunk of time during this meeting. Refurbishment Committee members (an ECA Board-led group) asked Al Muller, who had been a concert pianist, to research a piano to meet the requirements set by the Hartman Design Group as well as find a piano that would be an asset for generations to come who live in the Elizabeth. Dr. Muller consulted with Alexandra Kielty on the piano, which met all the requirements, and asked for permission to purchase the piano which was a year-old instrument being sold by the Kennedy Center. She said yes and he purchased the piano using his credit card since the nature of the sale required immediate action.
At this February meeting, the treasurer Monique Fridell stated she was unwilling to sign a check for something over $19,000 to reimburse Dr. Muller for the piano. Ms. Fridell felt this was not an approved expense and tied it to comments from the ECA auditors. Charles Bressler tried unsuccessfully to state a motion to deny reimbursement to Dr. Muller. Jason Fisher clarified and stated that first a motion must be brought to the Board requesting retroactive approval of the purchase of the piano. What was not entirely clear was that if the purchase of the piano was not approved then Dr. Muller could not be reimbursed for the cost of the piano. Ms. Fridell proposed the motion for requesting retroactive Board approval for the purchase of the piano. Fridell, Bressler, Molly Frantz, and Seth Levine voted against this motion with the balance of the Board, Kielty, Muller and Judi Barth voting for. Seth Levine then proposed a motion to reimburse Dr. Muller at which point the ECA lawyer intervened saying this was not possible if the purchase had not been approved. Dr. Muller stating Robert’s Rules of Order suggested that someone who voted against the motion could then call for a new vote on the same topic. After some discussion, Levine, realizing this situation opened up the prospect of a lawsuit against the ECA, reversed his first vote and then orchestrated a new vote requesting retroactive approval of the purchase of the piano. In the second vote, Fridell and Bressler voted against approval and Kielty, Barth, Franz, Levine, and Muller voted for. This cleared the way to reimburse Dr. Muller.
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