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.
