Additional Comments on the Grill Proposal

 

Having heard from a number of owners in response to previous blogposts, I have incorporated their points in this latest post.

 

Deeper Look at the Grill Proposal: Fiduciary Duties and Management Realities

Under the Maryland Condominium Act, our board members serve as fiduciaries. This means they have a strict legal obligation to safeguard our collective assets, protect our property, and act in our absolute best financial interests. Adding an open flame into a shared space completely fails on these counts.

Here is why this proposal is a foolish gamble for our community:

 

1.     "House Rules" Won't Clean Grills—Management Will

The committee has prepared amended house rules requiring users to clean the grill after every use. But past experience proves that shared house rules are frequently ignored.

 

Who will police this in real-time? The responsibility will fall squarely on our management staff. 

 

Management already has their hands full with the complex facilities operations and critical administrative activities that keep our building running like a well-oiled machine. Forcing them to track down messy users, scrub grease, and monitor safety compliance is an unwarranted burden that distracts from core building operations.

 

2.     It Introduces Operational Risk and Property Neglect

Just because a grill is legally 20 feet from the building does not mean it is practical for everyday community life. Our board’s primary job is to protect our homes and peace of mind.

 

Even at 20 feet away, an unmonitored, greasy grill poses a severe safety hazard in a community filled with children, pets, and residents. Risking our community’s well-being for a luxury item is a clear failure to safeguard our property. Also rodents will be attracted.

 

3.     It Drains Our Finances Without Adding Any Value

Amenities should protect or increase our property values. A shared grill does the exact opposite. It is a rapidly depreciating piece of hardware that does nothing to raise the market value of our individual units.

 

Instead, it introduces ongoing headaches that we will all pay for through our condo fees:

 

• The Nuisance Factor: Smoke drifting across the courtyard and lingering odors will lower the quality of life for the owners living closest to the patio.
• The Eyesore: Shared community grills quickly become dirty, rusted, and neglected. A stained, messy grilling area actively turns off future buyers during property tours.
• The Hidden Costs: When parts break, grease stains the patio, or equipment is ruined, the money to fix it comes out of our collective association budget to benefit only a few people.

 

The Bottom Line

We cannot afford to treat our common areas like a private single-family backyard. Individual board members have a duty of care to protect our assets, cleanliness, and security. Approving a high-maintenance, zero-return amenity that burdens our operations is a direct contradiction of that duty.

 

Take Action: Stop This Proposal

We need to make our voices heard before a final decision is made. Please take the following steps to voice your opposition:

 

• Submit Written Comments: Send your formal objections directly to the General Manager no later than June 15.
• Attend the Meeting: Show up to the upcoming June Board Meeting to state your opposition to the board directly.

 

Let's keep our community clean, our management focused, and our property values protected. Please join me in urging the board to vote "NO" on this risky proposal.

The Hidden Financial Risks of Grills

 

Why a "Code-Compliant" Grill is a Gamble with Your Home Investment

We all enjoy the idea of an outdoor barbecue, but as owners, we need to look past the smoke and see the real financial risk. Some advocate for grills because they meet the fire code and new House Rules will govern their use, but "legal" doesn’t mean "safe" for our building's bank account, and House Rules are only good if they are followed.

Here is why adding grills is a high-stakes gamble we cannot afford:

·       We Are Already High-Risk: Our building has a history of catastrophic flooding, and our return to the primary insurance market is still fragile. This is the wrong time to add a new, avoidable fire risk.

 

·       Insurers judge the whole risk picture. Approving grills tells them we are adding avoidable risk when we should be reducing it.

• A Single Incident Could Put Us Back in the Secondary Insurance Market

o   If a fire occurs due to a grill—even if the grill itself met fire code—the carrier will likely see it as an avoidable loss caused by poor oversight.

o   Having a flood history PLUS a fire claim is a recipe for non-renewal.

o   If our primary carrier drops us, we have to go back to the much more expensive secondary market, but who is to say the secondary carriers will consider us worth the risk.

 

·       Liability Exposure: If a grill fire occurs, the Association may face liability lawsuits for failing to enforce safety rules, even if they provided a designated, "approved" grill area.

• Liability for Damages: Under the proposed Maryland House Bill 449 (2025) and its 2026 session counterpart, Senate Bill 332, if a fire results from a condo unit owner’s negligence while using a common area grill, the responsible unit owner faces significantly increased financial liability for the Association's insurance deductible, increasing from $10,000 to $20,000 - $25,000.  Also, the bills require a mandatory disclosure regarding this responsibility in resale contracts.

However, if the fire is deemed a result of the Association's negligence (e.g., inadequate oversight of the common area grills), the Association may bear the full burden.

• Rules Don't Prevent Accidents—People Do: Our history shows that "House Rules" are often ignored. We’ve seen pet waste in common areas and, incredibly, a hibachi brought into the lobby that triggered the fire alarm. If we can’t ensure basic compliance now, we cannot guarantee a resident won't leave a hot grill unattended or fail to properly store the propane tanks after use. Insurance companies look at this "human element," and they expect compliance.
• Low Reward, High Risk: Unlike a gym, 24-hour concierge service, live-on engineers, or year-round swimming pool, a grill station does not significantly move the needle on property values. No prospective buyer decides to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in a high-rise specifically because there is a grill 20 feet from the door. However, they will walk away if they see skyrocketing condo fees or a building that is nearly uninsurable.

The Bottom Line: We should be focused on maintaining our building’s profile to stay in the primary insurance market, not adding "amenities" that offer minimal value while threatening our property values.

For more information, see the August 21, 2025 blog post outlining additional concerns with acquiring, installing, and using grills on our patios. https://theelizabethcondo.blogspot.com/2025/08/discussion-addressing-concerns-about.html

 

Proposed Amendment to House Rules is UNnecessary

 

Attention Condo Owners: Proposed Amendment to House Rules — Your Input Is Needed 

 

The Board of Directors is considering a change to the House Rules that would allow events involving local, county, or state officials (or candidates) to take place in our Party Room or West Lobby, to discuss matters of interest to our condominium and the Village of Friendship Heights, even if the elected officials or candidates represent only one political party. This change would bring political discussions into our shared spaces (party room and West lobby)—a shift that could have lasting consequences for our community.

 

The Board is expected to vote on this proposal at its February meeting. Now is the time for unit owners to weigh in and ensure that all perspectives are heard before any decision is made.

---

 

Why This Matters

Introducing political participation—however well-intentioned—into our shared spaces could unintentionally divide neighbors with differing views, especially in today’s highly polarized political climate. Our building is known for its friendly, inclusive atmosphere, and allowing such events to be held could disrupt the sense of community that residents value. It’s important to think carefully about the long-term effects this change might have.

---

 

Practical Alternatives Exist – This Change is Unnecessary

If the goal is to educate and inform residents on important issues, better alternatives already exist, there are effective ways to inform residents without disrupting the building's cohesion:

 

—The Friendship Heights Village Center already serves as a neutral well-established venue for political activity.

 

—The Elizabeth could invite representatives from both political parties to share their views in a balanced, inclusive manner.

 

 — The Elizabeth could invite knowledgeable subject-matter experts—for example, architects, engineers, developers, or urban planners—to share objective, non-political insights on important topics like the development of Parcel 6. This approach would provide residents with valuable information and technical expertise without introducing political viewpoints into our shared spaces.

 

These approaches allow residents to become well informed while preserving the cohesion and friendly atmosphere we all enjoy.

 

—Additionally, residents always have the option of hosting an event in their own units and inviting whomever they wish, including elected officials and candidates.

---

 

Important Questions That Deserve Answers

Before making any changes, condo owners should consider these important questions:

 

• Why change the house rules when the Friendship Heights Village Center already serves as a neutral venue for political events?
• How will the Board define and enforce ‘partisan’ versus ‘non-partisan’ events?
• How will requests from political candidates be evaluated?
• Will all political viewpoints be treated equally?
• Could hosting such events lead to perceptions of bias or favoritism at The Elizabeth?
• Could this change affect our building’s reputation or property values?

---

 

Your Voice Matters — Please Act Now 

The Board is accepting owner comments before the February meeting, and your input is crucial. Please share your views to help shape the future of our community. Silence may be interpreted as agreement, so make sure your voice is heard!

---

 

What You Can Do

—Attend the February Board meeting and speak during the Resident Comment Period at the beginning of the meeting. 

—Email your comments to the Board by February 23 to ensure they have sufficient time to review all feedback before the next Board Meeting. All responses should be sent to the General Manager, Steve Clagett, who will collect and forward them to the Board. As detailed in his BuildingLink email, your emailed comments should be addressed to the ECA Board of Directors through Steve Clagett, General Manager, at ecagm@elizabethcondo.com, and use “House Rules Amendment” as the subject line.

.

Even brief, thoughtful messages can make a meaningful difference—especially when many owners speak up.

---

 

Thank you for taking the time to consider this important matter and for being an engaged participant in shaping the future of our community.

Discussion addressing concerns about grilling

 

A few resident owners in The Elizabeth have asked me to write something about acquiring, installing, and using grills on our patios. People feel their concerns have not adequately been addressed. Below is a detailed discussion of the various issues related to the proposed grilling project.

 

LIABILITY RISKS and SAFETY CONCERNS

Condominium associations may be held liable for injuries or damages that occur in common areas, and grilling accidents are not uncommon. According to a study by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), grills cause over 10,600 home fires each year, with gas grills responsible for 84% of these incidents. The Elizabeth grilling project intends to use propane gas. The big question is who will monitor and enforce safety rules?

Currently, The Elizabeth is part of the secondary insurance market, which results in significantly higher insurance premiums compared to the primary market. Should a fire or personal injury occur, leading to substantial costs for the Association, we could risk losing the opportunity to return to the primary insurance market. This loss could also jeopardize our Master Condominium insurance coverage.

 

CLEANING and MAINTENANCE

Safety rules for use of grills begins with cleaning the grills after every use. I understand the Committee plans to draft safety rules for grill use, and cleaning. Grills require time to cool down before they can be cleaned.  Who is going to monitor that grills are maintained and properly cleaned after each use?

There is already concern regarding cleaning responsibilities within the building. For example, some pet owners do not clean up after their dogs in elevators and on marble floors, leaving these tasks to the staff. Grilling is likely to take place after work hours and on weekends, adding to the workload of the cleaning staff, who already have many responsibilities.

 

PESTS

Grills can leave behind food debris and grease.  This attracts mice, rats, insects, and birds, which increases our need for pest control, adding to operational costs, especially because not all residents consistently follow proper procedures.

 

THE COST

The estimated cost of the grilling project, as reported at the August Board meeting, is approximately $10,000. Given other pressing needs, such as replacing the front canopy (where mosquitoes currently nest due to the canopy’s age and indentations), wouldn’t we be better off financially and health-wise to take care of more important projects first?

 

NUISANCE FACTORS

We live in a smoke-free building. While the smoke from a grill may not be as noxious as tobacco smoke, it is annoying, especially to people who live on the lower floors where the smoke can enter an apartment and get into the fabric of curtains and furniture.  To people with allergies and respiratory illness, smoke from a propane grill can be a serious irritant.

In our apartments, we are all asked to use our exhaust fans when cooking.  The odor of meat cooking on a grill cannot be vented away from the building. We live in a community where some people are opposed to eating animals. I doubt that vegetarians or vegans would like to have that smell in their apartments.

 

GRILLING ALTERNATIVES

Let’s get behind opening Paige Park which is down North Park Ave and have grills returned to that site. Also, Rock Creek Park has various sites available for grilling.

 

YOUR COMMENTS ARE INVITED

Your comments are encouraged about installing outdoor grills at the Elizabeth. Send them to the full board so they can take your concerns into consideration when making this important decision.  Here are their email addresses for your copy-and-paste convenience:

 

cjsn@verizon.net

attorneykra@gmail.com

francinejkerner@gmail.com

jeremy.r.siegfried@gmail.com

Ellen@kolodnor.com

freebirdtony@yahoo.com

karin.bues@gmail.com

 

Your Disappearing Services at the Elizabeth

 

The General Manager (GM) at the Elizabeth has decreed that the Association WILL NOT

 

—recycle batteries & light bulbs

—dispose of small, broken household items like rollerbags, lamps, mops, etc. that can’t be sent down the trash chutes.

 

Instead, residents are being told to get rid of these items by themselves. This means the residents are supposed to drive these items to the Montgomery County dump which is about 40 minutes away or hire a company to haul the unwanted stuff away for them.

 

Initially, our GM said to throw the batteries in the trash, which is both an environmental hazard and, worse, a way to ignite a fire. I am the one who immediately advised our GM that this advice was a bad judgment call.

 

If we lived in a house instead of a condominium, we could call for a pick up of unwanted items. The county doesn’t do that for individuals who live in big buildings like ours.

 

How many of us are going to make runs to the Montgomery County Dump? Not me and think about how inefficient that would be for over 350 units having to drive their small number of batteries and broken items to the dump. We would be adding a ridiculous amount of vehicular pollution to our environment.

 

What can be done about this?

 

It’s time for residents to come to the board meeting and voice preferences for keeping services we have always had. OR write to the full Board now. You can do this through BuildingLink.

 

And by the way, move the batteries/bulbs recycle bins so the bins don’t sit next to the stairway. Put a trashcan there.

 

Also,  the following services have been discontinued by our GM. These are services that should immediately be reinstated. 

 

1.        Residents are now being told that the Elizabeth will no longer snake stopped up drains/toilets. Instead, residents are being told that they must hire a plumber to do this.  Another was told that the snake was not long enough to snake her pipes, yet I am told that the Elizabeth purchased a new longer snake when Barry was here.

 

2.        Since the building has existed, staff has always been willing to boost cars with dead batteries.  When Richard  Springer was here, he even purchased a new, improved hand-held battery charger. Sadly, people are being told that we are no longer providing this service.  This service has always been provided to our residents and guests, and only takes a few minutes to perform. 

 

3.        If people are putting the wrong things into the composting bins, then post a list of what is allowed in the bins AND put a memo under the doors to educate people. One board member told me that some people have been putting dog waste in the composting bins.

 

4.        Breaking down boxes is something management can ask people to do voluntarily, but there are plenty of people living in the building who just don’t have the hand strength to do it. This is a service we should continue. Our cleaning people are here to work for us.

 

Finally, our GM should NOT be making unilateral decisions about our services. It affects the quality life here in the Elizabeth and eventually it will affect our real estate values. This should be a Board decision in consultation with Association members, just like any other changes to House Rules. We pay high condo fees, and we should get the kind of services that make the Elizabeth a good place to live.

 

More on Mosquitoes

 One of our Elizabeth neighbors sent this comment:

Thank you for the note and the alert. 

 

My second professional career is as language interpreter. In this capacity, soon after I arrived with my family in the US from Australia in 1998, I went to work for a local DC language services company. One of the first jobs I was assigned to was the family of an 8 year old boy who had contracted West Nile virus as a result of a mosquito bite in their family yard. 

 

The boy was paralyzed though fortunately intellectually intact. He spent months at the (then) Hospital for Sick Children after spending weeks at Children's Hospital. A team of medical experts, nurses, social workers, hospital administrators, and health professionals, in addition to his agonizing parents met regularly for diagnostic purposes,  and held special meetings to organize the return of the child back home in DC. This required building a door to street ramp, re-arranging the inside living space of his parent's home, and getting special equipment (bed, hospital style monitors, etc.) and training the parents to clean and change regularly the artificial feeding tube he had on his tracheotomised throat. 

 

This is an extremely serious condition for adults. For children it can be crippling and life threatening. 

No-one should dismiss this and anyone seeing a mosquito should immediately alert those able to spray and control the pest. 

 

Kind regards,

Montserrat 

 

Mosquitoes

 

Some of you know that the Nation’s most prominent infectious disease doctor Anthony Fauci was hospitalized recently for six days with the West Nile virus. Dr. Fauci lives in Bethesda and he thinks the only plausible explanation for how he came to be infected by a mosquito carrying that incurable disease with no vaccine for prevention is that the mosquito bit him in his backyard.

 

How does this apply to us living here at the Elizabeth?

 

Perhaps you have noticed that we have mosquitoes flying around in our building, particularly the lobby. Just ask the concierge on duty if he or she has been bothered by these insects. Maybe you have seen them waving around a device that looks like a tennis racket—it’s supposed to help kill these insects or at least chase them away.

 

How are they getting into our lobby?

 

They come through our front doors which have significant spaces between those glass doors and because we have an electric door opening option which keeps the doors open longer than if a person opened the door manually. Furthermore, the mosquitoes breed in the flower pots  and garden areas that are outside our doors.

 

What is management doing about this problem?

 

If you ask our General Manager, she will tell you she has asked our contracted exterminator to treat the area outside the doors. Obviously, this isn’t working. AND this problem happened last year too. I wrote about this last year.

https://theelizabethcondo.blogspot.com/2023/08/mosquitoesare-you-getting-bitten.html

 

 

What else can be done?

 

Other condominiums have hired a contractor who specializes in this problem and comes more frequently during the mosquito period to ensure that the problem doesn’t persist.

 

Discuss this problem which will persist until the first frost with your neighbors to make sure everyone understands that this is a serious health problem that can be solved easily.

Highlights of ECA Board Meeting June 26, 2024

 

 Board Present: Joe Bucherer (president), Francine Klein, Bob LaRossa, Tony Ortiz, Carmine Spellane

 

Board Absent: Karen Bues, Jeremy Siegfried

 

Others Present: Lee Ann Weir, General Manager; Jeremy Tucker (ECA Legal Counsel, Lerch Early & Brewer), Two Elcon Contractors (associated with elevator renovation)

 

Elevator Renovation

 

Contractors provided a tutorial on why the garage elevator renovation came to a grinding stop and another expert contractor must be used to dig the hole required to set up the new hydraulic system required. Joe Bucherer authorized a large payment associated with this work without first calling a special meeting to get approval. The approval was accomplished in this meeting after the fact.

 

Comments from Attendees:

 

Regarding the frequent fire alarms, Al Muller suggested strongly that a $100 fine be levied against residents who cause the fire alarm to go off unnecessarily.

 

Kathryn Avdrizzone made a plea for better security in The Elizabeth after an intruder entered her unit late Saturday evening June 22. Concern was also expressed that the concierge did not act on two requests that the police be called. (Discussion ensued later in the meeting relative to the Arcade door needing to be locked at 9 pm and reopened at 5 am.) This intruder also exposed himself to a woman using the lobby level restroom.

 

Other comments included problems of birds nesting on balconies and the request to tell residents not to feed the birds. A request for board meetings to resume in person. A query about why there is only one bin for composting on each side of the building. (The GM said bins were not full and she thought it would save some money by using one bin.)

 

Legal Report

 

Jeremy Tucker discussed properties in The Elizabeth involving two units that were combined into one apartment. To sell or transfer that particular property it required approval from The Elizabeth Board. This was granted to Charles Bressler. His son Marc will gain legal ownership as his father can now transfer the property to his son. Another person asked about getting that legal designation for his joined apartments and whether Jeremy Tucker can help facilitate that for him and others who might share some of the expenses.

 

A pending issue concerns the plumber who was accused of causing the last massive water damage to many apartments in the East Tower several months ago. If a deal isn’t agreed upon, then The Elizabeth might file suit.

 

Pool Renovation

 

Without Association-wide discussion, the Board approved renovations to The Elizabeth pool that would include converting it to a salt water pool, updating the steps, and renovating the chair lift for disabled users of the pool. Three bids were reviewed. Specialty Pools was selected. Renovation is estimated to take one month and be completed before Labor Day. One question lingers and that is, why was this a priority given the worry over additional costs of our new master insurance policy?

 

Community News

The next three months expect long backups on River Road due to utility work involving Washington Gas.

 

 

This Board Meeting was attended by 72 people. It helped that the GM re-sent the link just prior to meeting time.

URGENT: Upcoming Board Decision Will Affect You!

 

On September 26, 2023, I spoke with our General Manager Lee Ann Weir to understand what is involved in the Maintenance Contract that the Board will vote on Wednesday evening, September 27.   Lee Ann explained the following:

 

·      The contract is slated for a company named Tolin.  Tolin would find and interview candidates for the engineering positions for our building. (This means the new engineers would be on contract with Tolin -- not employees of The Elizabeth. It also means that once Barry Blanton leaves, we would lose our institutional memory.)

 

·       The engineers most likely would NOT live in The Elizabeth.  (This probably means that they would be here Monday through Friday during normal working hours, but be on call evenings, weekends and holidays.)

With so many problems involving water, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, plumbing, building structure, and other issues that are part of an aging building, live-on Engineers are critical, and the Chief Engineer is perhaps our most critical position.  Please consider this:

·      Water damage, not fire, is the #1 cause of high insurance claims in condominiums.  In emergencies, response-time is critical to prevent serious damage.

·      Outside contractors mean delays in attending to critical situations. If water is pouring into an apartment, every second counts. In 30 minutes, a flood on a higher floor can wreak havoc, affecting neighboring units on the same floor and on the floors below, including the common areas. 

·      Such water damage can easily result in hundreds of thousands of dollars in insurance claims, including loss of insurance, as The Elizabeth experienced a few years ago.

·      If contract engineers are only here Mon-Fri, what happens in the evenings, on weekend, and holidays when a flood occurs? 

o   Even assuming they will respond to calls, and they can get here in 30 minutes, how much water damage will be done in 30 minutes? 

o   How many of our residents know where the water turn-offs are in their unit? 

o   Even if we explain where the cut-offs are, how many are able to get down on their hands and knees to turn off the water?
 

o   Will those with arthritic or weak hands be able to turn the knobs?

o   What about flooding that originates in an apartment whose owners are away?

 It is important to point out that not only does this position require a license, it requires a Class I Stationary Engineer License because of the size of our largest chiller. Barry Blanton has a Class I license. Breach of these requirements can result in fines and jail time. (This requirement cannot be waived.)  Refer to FAQs on Maryland Department of Labor website at https://www.dllr.state.md.us/license/stateng/statenggenlfaqs.shtml (Questions 6, 7, and 8) 

 

Please feel free to share this blogpost with others in the building who may not receive this.