Summary of ECA Board Meeting December 2, 2015

Board Present: Sharon Bobb, Patricia Batey, Clifford Cohen, Peg Downey, Jim Jones, John McNerney, Steven Schattman

Others Present: ECA General Manager Terry Lee, ECA Assistant General Manager Wanda Powell, ECA Legal Counsel Jason Fisher

Meeting preceded by wine and cheese

Opened with President’s report:

·         Ruptured Heat Line: The heat line from the boiler (not the domestic water line) located in a common space located above the ceiling in unit 1814 (East tower) ruptured December 1, 2015. This space provides for the common plumbing and mechanical distribution to the risers.  The pipe has been repaired, but several apartments were damaged. 

·        Board process of selecting new Management Company:  The Board met in Closed Session on Nov 2, 3, 10, 11, and 12, to interview, and to discuss the results of our vetting.  At the November 17 meeting, the Board unanimously selected Gates Hudson Community Management as the new professional property management company.  As part of that decision, all staff will be employed directly by the Elizabeth Condominium Association: General Manager, Assistant General Manager, and Chief Engineer will join Hollis, Marcel, Kevin and Bouchra as our employees. The Board believes this is in the best interests of the Elizabeth owners and residents.

·        Gates Hudson Community Management will begin work here on February 1, 2016, and Legum & Norman will remain on staff until that time.  In the interim, Gates Hudson will be working on the transition. Owners and residents can expect to hear from Gates Hudson prior to February 1.

·        The Secured Access System of the building and property (the system that controls the key fobs) failed and on Nov 12 meeting, the Board unanimously approved the proposal from Electronic Security Services, Inc. to replace the software control panels for $26,720. 

·         Pool Temperature: the October Conversation with the Board was dedicated entirely to pool temperature and hours.  The Board has authorized a survey to all residents, and non-resident owners.  Board President, Sharon Bobb suggested that Management should handle this matter in coordination with interested residents and our pool contractor, Winkler.  The survey results will be turned over to our new Management staff, and it will be our new Management’s responsibility to work with all interested parties toward a solution.

·        Library Bench: A new bench has been installed in the library, with attractive baskets underneath for children’s books, returned books, and new book donations.

·        Card Tables Alteration: In response to complaint that the tables in the card room are too high. Phyllis Hartman worked with the Design Committee and our furniture repairman, Bob Licurgo, to lower the tables several inches. 

 Partial list of accomplishments for the year:

·      KeyLink was installed and all emergency keys and keys for recurring visitors were loaded

·      Approved attendance at Board meetings via electronic media.

·      Established Conversations with the Board, an open monthly forum for residents to speak directly with Board members about any and all matters of concern, without time constraints

·      Established a Committee for the Competitive Recruitment of a Property Management firm. 

·      The agendas for our monthly meetings are more transparent and in greater detail. 

·      Approved the purchase of a new bench for the Library .

·      Approved a Board of Directors Code of Professional Ethics

·      Approved draft Elections Policy and Procedures to amend the House Rules for comment by the owners. 

·      Approved proposed amendment to the House Rules (4.D.1.a.) regarding increasing Moving Fees which would bring the Elizabeth more in line with neighboring buildings. 

·      Arranged for the Mayor of Friendship Heights to be a guest speaker at the July Board meeting

·      Arranged for Robin Manougian, our insurance agent, to make a presentation at a Town Hall meeting July 23  to discuss insurance coverages, claims, and the coverages owners need to carry. 

·      Arranged a Town Hall Meeting October 6 to educate our community regarding concerns for pipes in aging buildings, and the methods available for sealing domestic water pipes

·      Arranged two Town Hall Meetings to discuss the Request for Proposal (RFP) for a Property Management firm so that the community could share its thoughts with the Board.

·      Approved replacement of the original fire pump to comply with a county requirement

·      Approved the proposal from Wiss, Janney, Elsner Associates to complete a review of the interstitial spaces incident to the Fitness Center and the indoor pool for evidence of distress, uncontrolled water penetration/leakage and evidence of microbial growth.

·      Approved a motion to contract with an engineering consulting firm to conduct a study focusing on mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) equipment and operations in order to address leaks and other water-related damage .

·      Approved AmeriClean to clean common area ducts

·      Approved the purchase of notepads for the engineering and maintenance staff.

·      Appointed a Smoking Exploratory Committee to gather information on the issues surrounding second-hand smoking in a residential high-rise building and approved a survey questionnaire for issuance to all owners.

·      Appointed Barbara Pollack, as a Committee of One, to research the issue of condominium fees in the Friendship Heights neighborhood.  She reported her findings to the Board and the community at a Board meeting, and issued statistical findings that show that the Elizabeth is “in the ballpark” when it comes to condo fees – not the highest nor the lowest in the neighborhood.

·         Lerch Early & Brewer Legal Report. Jason Fisher discussed Election Rules and Procedures and distributed a marked-up copy showing the proposed changes as a result of member comments on the previous Rules and Procedures.

·        Resident Comments: Discussion of Holiday fund distribution proposal.

Treasurer’s report

·        Management Report: Further discussion of the burst hot water pipe.

·        Peg Downey reported that the design committee had determined that replacing the existing doors with wooden doors, trimmed to shape in each doorway was least likely to result in damage to resident apartments during the renovation project. The question of whether the thresholds would be modified to be flat, as they had in the west lobby area was raised.

·        After the book give-away, which took place before and after the board meeting, the remaining books would be given to an organization that assists veterans. 

 Old Biz: Motion to amend the House Rules to raise the move-in/ move-out elevator usage fee to $500 for moving in and $200 for moving out ($75 refundable if no damage) to be more in line with other buildings. Motion amended to specify that owners would be responsible in the event that a renter failed to pay.

 New Biz: Motion to approve the completion of Phase II of the Fire Alarm installation $220,295. This is a project that must be completed. There was discussion about the installation of Strobe Lights in the hallways to comply with ADA specifications. Some people mentioned that Strobe Lights can cause seizures among those who have epilepsy, but there is no choice in the matter.

 Motion to approve WJE to develop exterior restoration design for main entrance, including new canopy for $40,000, with a $3,000 expense allowance.  There was an objection to sole bidding and questions about why the work should be done now when it is not scheduled until 2019 in the plan. Motion was tabled.

Thanks to Jackie Lapidus for taking these notes!

Highlights from the Town Hall Meeting on Selection of New Property Management Company

Board Members present: Sharon Bobb, Pat Batey, Clifford Cohen, Peg Downey, Jim Jones, John McNerney, Steven Schattman

BACKGROUND:

On November 30, 2015, the Elizabeth Condominium Board of Directors held a town hall meeting to discuss the selection of a new property management company. This was the result of months of work including development of a request for proposal, answering questions from owners and from applying property management companies, development of evaluation criteria, evaluation of submitted proposals, town hall meeting on the subject prior to this one, interviews of prospective property management companies, checking references and other methods of vetting the prospective companies.

In a unanimous decision by the Board, Gates Hudson Community Management was selected on November 17, 2015. Owners were notified on November 25, once a contracted was signed.

WHAT THIS MEANS

We have hired a new property management company to oversee the business of the ECA. This includes preserving our assets; maintaining and enhancing our property values; providing fluid communication between owners, residents, management, and the ECA Board; and providing professional assistance in the management, governance and financial matters.

The entire in-house management team will work directly for the ECA including the general manager, assistant manager and chief engineer as well as other staff currently on board. The new Chief Engineer will live on-site.

Legum & Norman will remain on staff until February 1, 2016. Meanwhile Gates Hudson Community Management will be working behind the scenes on transition tasks, including transfer of all personal and financial data, setting up bank accounts and much more. The new management company will assist in the hiring of our in-house management team and if these staff members are not on board by February 1, 2016, Gates Hudson Community Management will provide temporary employees.

The Gates Hudson Community Management executive team assigned to oversee ECA business is Lynn M. Kiley Executive Vice-President of Operations, Carty Massey, Chief Financial Officer, and Larry Hirschman, Vice-President of Operations. Their biographies can be seen the November 2015 Special Edition of The Elizabeth Condo Newsletter edited by Jackie Lapidus. Our community manager Larry Hirschman, who lives in Bethesda, will only be overseeing only one other building.

The contract is for one year with renewal possible for four times at one year contracts. There is a 60 day cancellation clause (the same arrangement made originally when ECA hired Legum & Norman).

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS FROM THE TOWN HALL MEETING

Q:  Will new coupon books be issued?

A:   This will be part of the transition effort. Pay attention to paper mail correspondence to stay on top of communications from our new property management company.

Q:  What happens to staff associated with our concierge services, pool management, and cleaning staff?

A:   These are all separate contracts and the staff for these services will remain in place.

Q:   Will Gates Hudson Community Management being using BuildingLink?

A:   Yes, our new management company uses BuildingLink in other properties that they manage and will help us enhance our own use here at the Elizabeth. Residents should continue to use BuildingLink to request maintenance services. There is also possibility that some residents who speak other languages may be able to receive communications in their language. This feature of BuildingLink is something we have not yet explored here at the Elizabeth.

Q:   Why wasn’t the decision to hire Gates Hudson Community Management done at a public meeting of the ECA Board?

A:   The decision involved matters involving contract negotiation, high-level personnel matters and proprietary information from other property management companies not selected so it is not possible to hold this kind of public discussion. Moreover, a former Board member who was on the Board that selected Legum & Norman said that the process they used was much less transparent and matters were debated and decisions made in Executive Session.  Furthermore, the situation at that time was entirely different, in that the Elizabeth were not changing management companies, but considering going from being self-managed to contracting out its property management responsibilities.  Two former ECA Board members stated that they thought the sitting board had been very transparent and commended them for holding other town hall meeting, regularly communicating the status of the activity, and going out for proposals for property management companies.

Q:   Will the ECA be using Gates Hudson Community Management’s sister company which offers a variety of services including engineering services, handyman services, and much more?

A:   ECA will continue to send out Request for Proposals as needed. Whether we use the Gates Hudson Community Management’s sister company remains to be seen. Gates Hudson Community Management is not pushing this option but has just let us know that it is available and offers certain discounts and timely services to the Association as well as to our residents.

Q:   What other buildings do Gates Hudson Community Management manage?

A:   The Gallery at White Flint in North Bethesda, the Victoria at Rockville Town Center, and Essex House in Washington, DC are three nearby buildings they manage. Sharon Bobb and Pat Batey visited The Gallery at White Flint and the Essex as well as some others managed by other companies to see how well they were managed and were satisfactorily impressed with Gates Hudson Community Management.

Q:   Why can’t we keep some of the Legum & Norman staff?

A:   The L&N parent company Associa does not allow waiver of the employee non-compete clause. This means L&N employees do not have the option of leaving L&N to work for the ECA.

Q:   Why couldn’t we keep Legum & Norman until the end of their contract?

A:   The ECA Board is elected to act in the best interest of the ECA members to protect and enhance their investments. The contract with Gates Hudson Community Management was signed on November 25, and notice had to be given by the end of the month in order to have a February 1 start date.  Pricing offered was only good until December 1. 

Terry Lee, Wanda Powell, and Keith Huey are employees of L&N and as such will remain their employees even after the contract is terminated.  It is the responsibility of L&N to place them elsewhere at the expiration of the contract. This also might mean that current L&N staff could be moved sooner than the February 1 transition date.

Q:  Will this new combination of outside property management company and inside staff cost the ECA more money?

A:   The Association is already saving a significant amount of money insofar as both the management fee and payroll processing costs are concerned. The actual savings depends on what salaries we pay our new in-house management team.

Closing remarks praised the Board for reading all the property management proposals and acting as a team to make this difficult decision as well as for the Request for Proposal team who spent many long months of work that made it easier for the Board to proceed.

Highlights from Town Hall Meeting on Smoke-Free Housing

Highlights from Town Hall Meeting on Smoke-Free Housing
November 10, 2015

The Smoking Exploratory Committee invited William Tilburg, JD, Deputy Director of the Legal Resource Center for Public Health at the University of Maryland Carey School of Law to speak about Smoke-Free Housing: Legal Issues and Implications.

Mr. Tilburg came right to the point—condominiums depending on their articles and bylaws are within their rights to impose an entirely smoke-free environment.

This means in the best case scenario:
—The condo association has a bylaw prohibiting smoking within the individual units (if so desired) and/or on balconies (if so desired). Maryland state law already prohibits smoking in common areas like hallways and lobbies.
—A smoke-free environment can be established through house rules but this is not the best method since it would be much easier to overturn the rules. The Elizabeth has a bylaw that addresses noxious odors but this is not sufficient.
—In a law suit, a condo has these conditions to back up imposing a smoke-free environment: second-hand smoke is a recognized health hazard and smoking is a leading cause of fires.

In the last year, there are already two condo associations within Maryland that have imposed a totally smoke-free environment. One has grandfathered several unit owners to avoid prolonged lawsuits. The estimated time for establishing a smoke-free environment is about one year.

And for the record, there is nothing in the U.S. Constitution that guarantees the right to smoke. Prohibition of smoking is not covered under the laws governing privacy.

This Town Hall meeting was attended by approximately 35 people. Mr. Tilburg said he would be happy to return for any further educational purposes. The essentials including his talk and a Q&A ran about one hour. Kudos to the Smoking Exploratory Committee for an informative well run meeting.