Summary of ECA Board Meeting January 22, 2020

Board Present: Lyle Schwartz (president), Zlatan Beca, Francine Klein, Makarand (Mak) Dehejia, Elisa Siegel, Christopher Wemple

Absent: :  Jimmy Whalen

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

Highlights of the meeting:

President’s Report:

—Garage Project: Latest projection is that jackhammering ends February 7 but painting will go through the summer and cars will have to be moved. There was an incident with unauthorized painting in the garage, which damaged several cars. CPR is taking full responsibility.

—Corridor Renovation: Hartman Group has put the project back on track since it was interrupted in 2012. The Board is waiting for additional information from the Hartman Group. Further discussion will occur at the February meeting. It was announced that the project cannot go forward until CPR (of garage project) leaves the building.  

—Roof resurfacing: Last time this was done was over 16 years ago and now needs to be undertaken.

—Elevators: Are ok as is until 2022.

—Next Five Years: There is a need to update FEA Reserve Study.

—Annual Meeting; set for May 6. The Nomination Committee will be announced in February. People should start thinking about running for the Board.

Management Report:

(You can request a copy from the Management Office to get more details.)

Garage Project: Three dates to note:

2/7    Jackhammering ends

2/10  Painting begins

7/22  Projected completion of total project

FHA Recertification: The Elizabeth is up for its three-year recertification. The rules have changed and additional information is required including our legally filed Amendment on No Smoking.

Pool Renovation: Note these dates:

1/27   Pool closes for substantial repairs.

2/6     Pool reopens at usual Thursday schedule

Condo Checks:

The Elizabeth’s Union Bank has been experiencing processing issues and that has delayed condo fee payments from some owners. Contact Management Office if you are charged a late fee erroneously and the GM will reverse the fee.

Movement of Management Box:

Without  approval of the Board or the Design Committee, the General Manager unilaterally decided to move the Management box from the Business Center (where house copier is located) to the wall outside the Management Office. Apparently, people were leaving cash and checks at the concierge desk, and the rationale was that relocating the box was the appropriate solution to that problem. The purpose as stated by the GM is to better accommodate checks that have been dropped at the Concierge desk and then misfiled. 

The question then arises: why was the location of the box identified as the cause of the problem? The problem could have been solved simply and without cost to the Association by taking two steps:  (1) telling the concierge not to accept checks or cash, but rather to refer people to the box in the Business Center or the management office; (2) for management to send a communication on BuildingLink and by memorandum to all owners/residents not to leave cash or checks at concierge but instead to either mail checks in; take cash and checks to the management office; or leave them in the box in the Business Center.

Acquisition of Radio Antenna:

The Fire Marshal has cited the Elizabeth for poor emergency responder radio coverage within the building. The problem relates to new high-rise buildings causing signal interference according to the Fire Marshall. The cost of equipment and installation which affects every floor of both towers and the garage is between $188,000-$250,000. The problem is serious. Nonetheless, management or the Board should check with other Friendship Heights buildings to see if they are experiencing the same problems.

Engineering Emergency Services:

The General Manager reported: there has always been a list at the concierge desk limiting after hours emergency services, saying that the list was at the desk when she arrived.  She claimed to be following Elizabeth policy and that it was standard practice at all the condos.

All of the GM’s claims were refuted either immediately or during the open comment period from the floor. Sharon Bobb, a past president of the Board, offered background on what materials and training MaryAnn Hall was given when she arrived here, including instructions that all after-hours emergency calls are immediately passed through to the on-call engineer. This has always been the policy and practice at the Elizabeth.  Other residents who spoke confirmed her comments. The bottom line is that if the GM found such a list at the concierge desk when she arrived, she should have immediately alerted the Board and pulled the list.  Only the Board makes policy, and all House Rules must be circulated among the residents for a 30-day comment period, after which time they are discussed at an open Board meeting and voted on by the Board.

Committee Reports:

Fitness Center: Joe Bucherer provided a detailed report on what changes and suggestions are being made in the Fitness Center to improve the use of the space and the equipment. Painting within the Center will be done at the same time as the pool painting is done.

Storage Committee: Layo Fabunmi stated that the committee has been frustrated in their attempts to make progress. The Committee had a meeting with the General Manager five months ago.  Action required of the GM was to obtain legal approval of a letter she was to  send out to the owners/ residents on actions the Committee would be taking. The first of such action was to remove all flammable material from the storage. If the GM sent such a letter to the attorney, why didn’t she follow up with him when there was no response? In the meeting, our legal counsel said he received no such letter. The Committee was also angry that the GM took credit in the Action Item List for work done by the Committee.

Community Report:

Al Muller provided an unofficial update on the closing of our Giant Store and the possibility that Amazon might open some kind of lower cost grocery store other than Whole Foods. He said there is still in effect a 40-year agreement with Chevy Chase Land Development Company that requires a grocery store in that location and that some kind of transportation to such a grocery store in the interim is their obligation as was done in the late 1990s when that entire shopping center was undergoing renovation. We might need to check with the Friendship Heights Village Center to find out if there is transportation, possibly on the weekends, available now.

Comments from the Floor:

Engineering Emergency Services: (Highlights)

—Peg Downey clarified that she was specific about her emergency contact with the concierge that involved sewage coming up in three locations in her bathroom, only to be told by the concierge that she could either call for a plumber herself or wait (since she had more than one bathroom) until the next business day. This is not to blame the concierge who was only following orders from the GM. However, the concierge appeared to have watered down the information passed to the on-call engineer, who initially thought it was a problem that could wait.

—Pat Peyser shared some information that she gathered from our neighboring buildings, regarding after-hours emergency services. Two buildings, the Willoughby and 4620, had live-in maintenance staff. Two did not, the Carlton uses contract services, the resident contacts these services after hours. 4615 has two non-resident staff on call; all calls are put through to the engineer by the concierge.

—Karren Alenier provided the Board (and others assembled for the meeting) a statement from a past Board member who had also been involved in training MaryAnn Hall about how to handle after-hours emergencies. Ms. Alenier suggested that the solution to this problem was simple. Just go to the Concierge desk and tear up the list regarding after-hours emergencies.  Because we never had a list and the owners and residents do NOT want a list.  They want access to the engineers, i.e., the concierge gets in touch with the engineer when an owner/resident calls with an emergency and the engineer immediately calls the resident/owner.

—General comments came from others as well on this topic and the consensus was that if a resident called for emergency help, help should be provided to ensure the safety, health and quality of life for everyone. After all some problems may affect more than the apartment of the caller.

Building Maintenance:

Judy Gann who was a member of original Design Committee pointed out that the building has deteriorated over the past 3 years. There are various eyesores and problems in the building that are happening under our current GM’s tenure.

—Movement of the Suggestion Box from the Business Center (house copier room) to the wall outside the Management Office was done without approval of the Design Committee. It’s an eyesore that needs to be restored to the Business Center. It’s also unfortunate because it will deplete our stock of expensive wallpaper purchased for emergencies.

—Recent signage around the building has been done on the cheap and, in addition to inaccuracies in fire exit maps, does not meet our overall design standards. Ms. Gann hopes that the “No Smoking” signs will be more tasteful.

— Our beautiful marble floors that the Hartman Group told us to keep when our lobby renovation was done, have been given inadequate care by the unsatisfactory contractor who was hired three years ago. Yet, this same contractor has been asked to provide a bid for restoring them. We need to go back to the original contractor who kept our floors in like-new condition.

—Furniture in our lobby needs regular maintenance by a qualified contractor. Our lobby is looking shabby as we are moving into the Hallway Renovation project.

— Overly large dogs are being allowed into our building as well as owners with more than one dog, in violation of our bylaws. What has happened with enforcing our bylaws and house rules, which is an obligation of the GM?

Fire Communications within the Elizabeth:

Pam Dillon, a past Board President, asked if the Board has spoken with the Friendship Heights Village Counsel and other condominiums around us about the Fire Marshall’s demand that we install a roof radio antenna and repeaters throughout the towers and garage. She feels we may learn something like the problem may be with the equipment the fire department is using. What the fire department is asking for is very costly and may not be the only solution.

ECA Action Item List:

The addition of an action list to the Manager’s Report is helpful. It is recommended that it include a dates due.  The list should be closely monitored by the Board to ensure that the actions reflect the priorities of the Board and the condominium.