Summary of ECA Board Meeting March 27, 2018

Board Present: Zlatan Beca, Makarand (Mac) Dehejia, Monique Fridell, Al Muller, Connie Row, Lyle Schwartz, Rhonda Taller

Others Present: ECA General Manager MaryAnn Hall, Assistant Manager Romaine Cureton, Jeremy Tucker (ECA legal counsel, Lerch Early & Brewer)

President’s Report:

Unit 10—Z Beca confirmed that his mother has agreed in writing to rent the Association-owned unit 10. This created an unnecessary firestorm as documented by a letter from Steven Schattman (portions read at the Board meeting) accusing Beca and MaryAnn Hall of having given a Board member’s relative priority over other renters as well as offering a lower rental price. Schattman also called for Beca’s resignation which Beca declined to effect.

None of these accusations were true. After consulting a local relator, the ECA GM (Hall) asked for a rental price ($1800/month) above the average suggested by the realtor. While others expressed interest in the apartment, no one except Beca’s mother was willing to sign a lease agreement for an apartment which real estate agents noted had several drawbacks. Beca also pointed out that this accusation took time away from condo business as well as Beca’s time to attend to his personal business career. He said if anyone has additional problems with this matter, he or she is free to file a complaint with Montgomery County’s Officeof Common Ownership Communities (CCOC). 

Subsequently the Board voted to distribute the lease for Unit 10 to owners via BuildingLink. The rental income will also be included in future financial reports.

Party Room Use and Community Postings—Beca invited volunteers to work on a short-term Task Force to set policy for use of the ECA party room and communications within the ECA. This includes researching what policies other condos in our area employ.

Election Committee—Beca called for volunteers to work on the Election Committee which oversees such activities as the April 17 Meet the Candidates event and the annual meeting itself scheduled this year for May 2.

Anyone interested in working on these activities should contact the Board or GM Hall.

Legal Report:

ECA legal counsel Jeremy Tucker reported on a complaint filed against the ECA with the CCOC pertaining to an ongoing noise issue. The CCOC held a hearing and determined that no action was warranted and has dismissed the case.

Financial Report:

MaryAnn Hall reported there are currently 45 delinquencies pending which is a slightly higher number than last month.

Treasurer’s Report:

Connie Row reported that the ECA has turned a financial corner and has rebounded from our 2016 situation that put us on the brink of bankruptcy. (This included near loss of our Master insurance policy for the commonly-owned building components. In 2016, our reserve fund had been spent down and this caused us to lose our Master insurance. With help from our insurance broker Robin Manougian, we got insurance coverage in the much more expensive secondary market. This coverage also depended on good faith action from a new board taking action to resolve some of our pipe and water leak issues since the building had been suffering many exceptionally large insurance claims for water damage. This good faith action was the EPipe project.)

The role our general manager MaryAnn Hall has played in turning our financial situation around is substantial. (Since she was employed at the Elizabeth, she has saved us hundreds of thousands of dollars via renegotiated contracts.) She continues to help us save money most recently by assuming the responsibilities associated with such things as follow up on delinquencies. Our contract with Gates Hudson is now a Financial Only Contract. This was made possible now that we have a full-time Assistant General Manager and all our other staff positions such as Assistant Engineer are fully staffed.

Management Report:

Garage Project—March 19, two highly capable garage repair contractors—KGS and CPR—were publicly interviewed. CPR said they could begin on May 14 while KGS could not begin until June or July.

Unit Inspections—The West Tower inspections are complete and the East Side began March 26 with a planned schedule of which floors would be done when. Now that we are fully staffed, our engineers will be able to adhere to a regular schedule of replacing filers, checking for leaks, ensuring fire and smoke detectors are fully functioning.

2018 Budget—nearly complete with expectation that our more robust budget will help us with our insurance renewal in June so that we are restored to the primary insurance market.

West Tower Patio Restoration—completed.

G-1 Emergency Doors—These doors were fixed but they required special parts that had to be manufactured since they are old.

New Business:

A list of Capital Expenditures with related budgetary targets for the FY 2018-2019—was approved unanimously by the Board. This includes: retaining wall repairs ($5,000), roof repairs ($260,000), garage project ($728,000), chlorination equipment & ozone sanitizer for pool ($9,000), replace a/c in passenger elevator ($13,000), improve fire safety in hallways ($20,000), corridor renovation phase 1 ($500,000) for a total of $1,535,925.

Garage Project Contractor—CPR was approved unanimously by the Board.

In-Unit Service Program (IUSP) Charges for 2018—IUSP charges for such services as unclogging a drain, changing light bulbs, adjusting closet doors, etc. moves from $32 per hour to $50 per hour with schedule of lesser amounts for activities taking little time and other amounts for repairs that require parts. The fees are not to make money for the ECA but to cover costs. The charges will be reviewed annually to adjust for parts and labor changes. This motion was approved 5 to 2 with Al Muller and Monique Fridell voting against.

Community News:

Developers are trying to clench a deal across the street from the Elizabeth for a 9-storey seniors facility. They were dismayed that someone leaked news of this project.

Owner Comments:

Charles Bressler petitioned the Board to revisit policy on use of guest parking, particularly by the commercial side of the Elizabeth and in anticipation of the garage project. He pointed out that when the building was in its early stages the commercial side was offered the opportunity to buy parking spaces and some of them did not do this.

(The current policy which allows the Arcade owners to use guest parking for their commercial visitors was made by Jim Santos when he was our Legum & Norman general manager and approved by our legal counsel based on ECA bylaws. The Board has agreed to revisit this policy, but any change to the current policy will require a bylaw change.)