MORE COMMENTS ON NEW ECA HOUSE RULES

 

These are additional comments from Karren Alenier about the proposed ECA House Rules. Additional comments may be posted by others who contact me.

 

ISSUES AFFECTING PROPOSED HOUSE RULES

 

—Limited Resources: The Elizabeth Condominium Association (ECA) has limited resources for the upkeep of our building and well-being. We have invested a large sum of money in our lobbies and (now more than 10 years past) in our hallways. Many of the changes suggest greater wear and tear on our physical plant and more burden on our staff and contractors. Do Association members want our condo fees to increase to cover new and more frequent repairs?

 

—Enforcement of Rules: Many of the proposed changes require much more enforcement and quite frankly, enforcement is weak. Take for example the rules about pets (which come from our Bylaws—one small dog is allowed. How many residents now have medium to large dogs and more than one dog?

 

NOTE:  IN THE ECA BYLAWS: see the Declaration, pages 6-7, Section 3 regarding powers and duties of the Board of Directors.  The Board has a stated duty to "promulgate AND ENFORCE such rules and regulations.”

 

COMMENT on the overall document:

The house rules has redundant parts and needs to be thoroughly edited for conciseness and clarity.  Has our condo lawyer reviewed this document? Before people move in, they should be issued copies of the Articles, Bylaws and House Rules and made to sign they have read the House Rules.

 

SECTION 2.  RESPECT FOR OTHERS

E.         Residential Corridors, Stairwells and Storage Closets

3.         Door Decorations 

 

COMMENT: Has the committee working on house rules checked with the Montgomery County fire marshal about the safety of door decorations?

 

https://www.lashcondolaw.com/more-about-holiday-decorations/

 

…the Toronto Sun reported on a condo owner who was asked to remove a Christmas wreath from the door to his unit, as this was a breach of the condo corporation’s rules.  At a casual glance hanging a wreath on the door seems harmless.  However, in response to the article, Fred Collins, Chief Instructor at the Ontario Fire College wrote to the Sun explaining that in the event of a fire, one wreath could within seconds fill the condo corridor with toxic gases sufficient to kill all the residents of the floor who would use that corridor as a means of escape. 

 

G.        Conduct in the Lobbies and other Common Areas

2.         Eating and drinking in the Lobbies and Common

 

COMMENT: I object to allowing unscheduled people and private events to bring food into the West Lobby and on the terraces for several reasons and this includes my objection to renting out the West Lobby for private events . We have limited staff capacity to clean after such events which usually occur at night or on the weekends. Very few people who rent the party room can thoroughly up after their events. However, that area is closed off after the event. (This is good because any kind of mess is contained in one closed area.) I live on a lower floor and I am concerned that such events will attract rodents. Wear and tear on our lobby is also a factor. I think that people who want more events in our beautiful West Lobby should join the social committee to plan and execute more frequent community events for everyone.

 

3.         Playing in the Lobbies and other Common Areas

 

COMMENT: Our common areas are not set up for children to play. Allowing play is an invitation for a lawsuit. Children and teens do not follow rules easily and we have no “house lifeguards” to monitor them and their parents (who also may not be fully cognizant of their obligation to follow house rules).

SECTION 6.  BALCONIES

F.         Deterring Pigeons as a Health Hazard

 

            Pigeons are a serious health hazard.  Occupants should not feed pigeons from their balconies; or create any situation that draws them to balconies (such as feeding other birds).  Unobtrusive light-weight white or clear plastic spikes (readily available for purchase on-line) may be securely attached to balconies to deter pigeons. Residents may feed hummingbirds, which do not attract pigeons or other pests. 

 

COMMENT: Feeding any kind of bird from our balconies can encourage pests and that includes hummingbirds whose feeders can attract bats and rats, not to mention ants, wasps and bees. House owners often mount hummingbird feeders on poles away from their house.

 

https://homebirdfeeder.com/do-hummingbird-feeders-attract-rats/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 SECTION 7.  BUILDING EXTERIOR

 

COMMENT: I suggest adding a statement about prohibition of window decorations. The exterior of our building should be uniform in its appearance and that is why we mandate window coverings that are white or off-white. Holiday decorations, particularly ones that flash like a neon sign, disturb surrounding neighbors and give a commercial accent to our residence. The ECA covers holiday decorations with an annual installation of lights on the street level.

SECTION 10.  USE OF COMMON AREAS

A.        Special Events

4.         Rental of the Party Room and West Lobby Bar Area for Private Events

 

b.         Reservation Process

i.  Who may Rent

 

            An Owner or resident may only rent space on his or her behalf…

 

COMMENT: I object to renting out West Lobby Bar Area for private events as stated in Section 2. NOTE: the lead sentence is grammatically incorrect. It should read: An Owner or resident may rent space only on his or her behalf …

 

iii.  Guest List and Contractor Information Required 

 

COMMENT: While this is designed to help the  concierge with security I think the partygiver should station a volunteer at the front desk to assist with admitting invited people.

 

SECTION 14.  PLAY

 

COMMENT: Unsupervised children of any age physically playing in our common space is an invitation for a lawsuit. The Elizabeth is not set up for children’s activities. We have no activity room such as a room with pool or ping pong tables and we have no playground. I have seen teenagers using the West Lobby in ways that abuse our furniture and decorations. Would their parents allow them to abuse their personal furniture? Probably not but who is going to stop such behavior, especially after the Management Office is closed? And is it the Staff’s responsibility anyway?

 

SECTION 15.  PETS

 

COMMENT: The pet population at the Elizabeth has gotten out of control, we have residents with large dogs and multiple dogs. The Board needs to take action and be reminded that it is their responsibility to contact offending residents to resolve these issues. The Management Office should be screening newcomers to make sure they know the rules.

 

Review of New ECA House Rules

 *********ALERT

 

The Elizabeth Condominium Board will devote most of the January Board Meeting to discussing the revised ECA House Rules.

 

Whether you know it or not, Association members have been invited to send in comments to the Board via the management email:  ecamanager@elizabethcondo.com.

Joe Bucherer, our Board President, told me today (1-12-23) that you should send in your written cooments early next week. I'm going to say by Wednesday noon January 18

Where can you get the revised ECA House Rules?  Go either to BuildingingLink and find them there or go to the Management Office and ask Romaine Cureton our assistant manager to provide them to you.

Right now (without proper study of these new rules) what I am concerned about is 

1. allowing people to eat in the west lobby and out on the back patio in private parties

2. the overall issue of how the Association expects to enforce the rules.

Communal living is not an orderly affair.  People are constantly breaking the current house rules.

Our trash rooms are a mess despite the rules and signs to explain what is allowed.  Allowing people to eat in communal areas is going to increase the chance of rats invading our property. We have had a rat problem in our history so don't think it cannot happen here.

 The dog population in this building has exploded with residents breaking the rules about one small dog, We see residents with 2 dogs. We see residents with large dogs. We experience floors that have been messed on and not cleaned up by offending pet owners.

I urge you to read the draft rules and participate in the comment period.

Highlights of ECA Board Meeting November 30, 2022

 

 

Board Present: Joe Bucherer (president), Karen Bues, Bianca Coles, Francine Klein, Elisa Siegel, Jeremy Siegfried, Christopher Wemple

 

Others Present: Richard Springer, General Manager; Jeremy Tucker (ECA Legal Counsel, Lerch Early & Brewer), Jeremy Powell (Goldklang Associates)

 

ECA Audit

 

Despite $400,000 in unexpected expenses, the financial picture is not only stable but healthy. We will be paying off the debt incurred by our past window/door replacement project by April 2023 if not sooner. Among the items that caused the unexpected expense were water damage (our old pipes often spring leaks!), extremely high utility costs (e.g., use of electricity increased as well due to Covid forcing people to work from home), and increased hours for our swimming pool. Jeremy Powell commended Elizabeth Condominium Association for proactively dealing with our finances.

 

 

President’s Report

The President reported [more details in December 2022 newsletter]

—Resident owners Ted Ariev and Elaine El-Khawas died, both had contributed to ECA activities.

—ECA General Manager Richard Springer leaves our community December 28, 2022. His two years here were  productive, including the most efficient (well managed) hallway renovation. We can only hope to find and hire a manager with his skill set and his welcoming personality.

—our long-time maintenance worker Marcel Straker accepted a job at the US Postal Service and left abruptly in late November.

—Dates to note on your calendar:

·      December 16, deadline for contributing to ECA Holiday Fund

·      December 28 time TBA, West Lobby Farewell Reception for Richard Springer

·      January 1 3pm-5pm, West Lobby, Deck the Halls Party (celebrate hall renovation & holidays)

·      January 25 6:30pm ECA Board Meeting (no Board Meeting in December)

 

 

Legal Report

—State-wide mandate (as of September 2021) for retrofitting sprinkler system in high-rise building by 2033.  [This will cost up to $6 million and there are no state grants for this.] ECA is putting aside funds for this, but the hope is that sprinklers will only have to be installed in the hallways, not in our apartments as well. The installation of a sprinkler system will most likely raise our insurance premium because water damage is usually more costly than damage by fire. Additionally, we have asbestos in our ceilings and that will incur an additional cost for remediation.

—We have officially acquired several “parking spaces” on the far G-4 level which are not suitable for parking but will be used for storage after these spaces are cleaned up.

 

Manager’s Report [again check Oct. 2021 newsletter for more info.]

—Except for a few minor tweaks (e.g., specialized light bulbs in the fixtures over the floor elevators, and door adjustments), the hallway renovation is done.

—Next project will be elevator renovation.

—Survey pertaining to electric car charging stations successful.

—Notes on Electric car charging stations:

·      Care needs to be taken to ensure that these charging stations are use only for electric cars and not scooters which have caused fires at these car charging stations.

·      The cost for these charging stations will be passed to the person charging their vehicle.

·      By acting now, we will get significant rebates from government and utility organizations. (Total cost: $94,738.40 -$63.100 = $31,638.40)

 

Board Motions

—Approved project to install six charging stations for Electric Cars on G-1 level but accessed from Resident garage entrance.

—Approved Goldklang audit report.

—Approved draft House Rules which will be sent out to Association members for comment.

 

 

Note: I am concerned that ECA members pay attention to Association business now that we are in a transition as Richard Springer leaves, and we hire a new general manager. The building is suffering more incidents of pipe failures and our in-house staff can only do so much. The longer a problem goes unsolved, the more damage and cost. We also have some people living in the building who are uncooperative when emergencies occur. So, we need to work together as a community to ensure the health, safety, and wellbeing of everyone. KLA

Highlights of ECA Board Meeting September 29, 2021

 Board Present: Joe Bucherer (president), Francine Klein, Lyle Schwartz, Elisa Siegel, Jeremy Siegfried, Christopher Wemple

 

Board Absent: Makarand (Mak) Dehejia

 

Others Present: Richard Springer, General Manager; Jeremy Tucker (ECA Legal Counsel, Lerch Early & Brewer)

 

President’s Report

The President reported [more details in October 2021 newsletter]

—longtime resident owner Dr. Dewey Wiseman (unit 801) died September 12.

—Planning activities/reports are underway: Condition Assessment, updated Reserve Study, annual audit.

—Fitness Center has not only facelift but also new equipment

—Building has suffered several water leaks. He urges residents to buy and use water detectors.

—Signup for routine maintenance and filter replacement OR change filters yourself.

—Corridor refurbishment project moving along

—Residents urged to be considerate and wear masks in common areas.

—Expectation to shorten written minutes.

 

Resident Comments

Questions were raised about who can park on G1, particularly regarding long term healthcare aids. The rule is a unit can be issued a 3-day pass for a guest and beyond that is up to our general manager. There are some units with long term aids that have 2 parking spaces and rent out one of them.

 

Legal Report

State-wide mandate (as of September 2021) for retrofitting sprinkler system in high-rise building by 2033.  [This will cost up to $5million and there are no state grants for this. However, there may be some legal suits brought against this. Water damage from sprinkler systems is also a problem.]

 

Manager’s Report [again check Oct. 2021 newsletter for more info.]

—Storage Room cleanup has seen significant progress. Residents will get notice to claim things now moved to G4 as “unclaimed” items.

—Two-way radio amplification system up and running.

—Lobby level and garage level painting & repairs will be completed in 2-3 weeks.

—Hot water storage tanks will be replaced by crane on September 16. Garage access will not be impeded.

—Expect a Reserve Study presentation in November.

 

Board Motions

—G1 Parking Rules amended by unanimous Board approval.

—G1 access changes that will allow automated entry without a trip to the front desk passed by unanimous Board approval.

—Money owed to Association: actions in House Rules to recover past due condo fees, etc. are under revision and will be presented to owners for comment.

 

New Business

—Pool hours—under consideration is making pool hours run later in keeping with pre-Covid  hours.

 

Note: with the new practice of putting details about ECA business in the newsletter in a timely fashion, I’m feeling less of a need to do these monthly summaries unless there is something controversial that could use clarification. With our new general manager and president, news is getting communicated efficiently. KLA

Garage Parking Issues

 

PARKING TOWN HALL MEETING SEPTEMBER 1ST

 

            A meeting was held to discuss the proposed amendment to the House Rules for Guest Parking.  The amendment would change the way clients and customers of the arcade businesses would enter the parking garage on G!. The amendment proposed that arcade businesses would use a buzz-in system that would let these individuals enter without registration at the desk. The following issues were raised:

 

—How do we ensure that both resident and arcade owners are treated fairly?

 

—How do you implement a system that ensures security for residents if there is no registration?

 

—There have been informal arrangements with some arcade owners who get guest passes without registration being completed while others must have their clients register.

 

—Most customers/clients are short-term users and use the spaces for an hour or two and then leave.

 

—Several people mentioned that some individuals seem to have permanent permission to use guest parking every day for care givers, even when they have second parking spaces which they rent out, while caregiver uses guest parking. There was some discussion about a set aside when spaces were purchased from Arcade Parking (Bressler) for caregivers. There is no documentation provided. The owners were never informed nor was the house rules ever changed to reflect this.

 

—One individual bragged that she was smart to keep her second space when she sold her apartment, since it entitled her to use all the amnesties.

 

—Several residents use G-1 rather than parking in their own spaces because it was convenient.

 

 

It was rerecommended before any change is made that the Association modernize the entry and exit system by using a ticket machine to dispense tickets. This way entries would be recorded. This would provide a measure of security.

 

            The ECA President pointed out that the Board had not reviewed the proposed amendment, and that the purpose of the town was to generate discussion of the amendment prior to its review. The Board will review the\e amendment at the September Board Meeting in open session.

 

            It was obvious that there are several issues beyond the arcade owners access to G1 that will need to be addressed as the house rule is updated.

Highlights of ECA Board Meeting July 28, 2021

 

Board Present: Joe Bucherer (President), Makarand (Mak) Dehejia, Francine Klein, Lyle Schwartz, Jeremy Siegfried, Christopher Wemple

 

Board Absent: Elisa Siegel

 

Others Present: Richard Springer, General Manager; Jeremy Tucker (ECA Legal Counsel, Lerch Early & Brewer)

 

President’s Report

The President gave a brief report stating significant progress had been made on the corridors, work in the storage rooms has begun, and the board is reviewing the policy on guest parking. Lyle Schwartz and Richard Springer will deal with these issues in their reports. The President encouraged every to attend July 29^th town Hall Meeting to discuss the development at 5500 Wisconsin Ave.

 

Resident Comments

Resident questions were raised about guest parking and landscaping on the east side of the building.

 

Treasurer’s Report

The Budget and Finance Committee will be recommending the reclassification of certain expenses from the operating budget to the reserve operating account.  The Budget and Finance Committee has recommended a pay down of the loan of approximately 50,333.55. The Board unanimously approved that payment.

 

The work on the audit has begun. 

 

Manager’s Report

Notices have been sent and articles have been removed from parking spaces.  Bicycles were not removed (as the bike room is crowded and disorganized. The bike room will be part of the ongoing reorganization of the storage areas0.  Also shopping carts were not removed.

 

The President and General Manager have begun to clear out some abandoned items that were on the floor in Storage Room G2. Items removed from G2 are in the staging area on G-4.  This will enable current residents to review these items, to ensure no items were removed by mistake. G3-G4 contain footlockers It is anticipated that shelves can be placed in those rooms, after the abandoned or discarded items have been removed, this will make it easier for residents to use the storage areas and to review and label their boxes and other items.  Mr. Springer has labels for all residents to use to label their boxes.

 

The Compost bins on the east side of the building has been relocated.

 

One hot water storage tank ruptured and has to be replaced. It was determined that a second storage tank should also be replaced. The second storage tank is the same age and is scheduled for replacement in the near future. Driving this decision is the high cost of insulation which includes renting a crane to lift and place storage tanks ($30,000).

 

Lyle Schwartz, Committee Chair, Corridor Committee

 

The Committee and Phyllis Hartman met with potential construction contractors.  They were given the specs to prepare a bid, as part of this process a building walk through with the contractors was conducted by the committee.  Engineering staff was made available to answer questions.

 

The President indicated that there  was a proposed change to the guest parking house rule.  The Board voted to distribute the recommended change to the residents.  A town Hall Meeting on Sept. 1 will be held to review the recommended changes and to answer questions.

 

(Copies of the recommended Guest Parking change was sent out via building link today, July 29, 2021) (Other copies will be distributed under the doors).

 

 

 

 

Highlights of ECA Board Meeting June 30, 2021

Board Present: Joe Bucherer (president), Makarand (Mak) Dehejia, Francine Klein, Lyle Schwartz, Elisa Siegel, Jeremy Siegfried, Christopher Wemple

 

Others Present: Richard Springer, General Manager; Jeremy Tucker (ECA Legal Counsel, Lerch Early & Brewer)

 

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

 

Mr.  Bucherer acknowledged the horrific tragedy of the condo collapse in Florida and said the integrity of our building and its adherence to building code is in good order.

 

The RFP to begin hallway renovation has been launched.

 

He initiated the possibility of converting our pool from chlorinated to salt water, making comments that the conversion cost is not prohibitive, that it is easier to heat a salt water pool, and there are health benefits.

 

An update to the reserve study is planned for next year.

 

LEGAL REPORT

Mr. Tucker reiterated that the Elizabeth Condominium Association is following building code and that it is up to the Board to make decisions for the Association.

 

MANAGEMENT REPORT

Two-way radio amplification update: Installation of the equipment proceeding with antennae that are less obtrusive than previously imagined.

 

Composting: 150 bins have been distributed and the program seems to be working well.

 

Auto break-ins occurred at the Highland House and Willoughby  but not at The Elizabeth. People entering the garage late at night should report and suspicious activity.

 

Landscaping has been updated and every effort is being made to keep the plants watered.

 

Pool fan was replaced resulting in less noise.

 

STORAGE COMMITTEE

Pat Peyser presented a comprehensive report on what is being done to clean up storage which includes abandoned items, some of which are expressly forbidden by fire code and house rules. Check Building Link for what is allowed.

 

Ms. Peyser said that residents will be asked to visit storage and get their boxes marked as well as remove any items not permitted. Further information will be provided. Visits to our three storage rooms will be coordinated by management and identification tags to identify legally stored items will be provided.

 

OTHER BUSINESS

—Units C1-C3 in Arcade was sold to investment group making inquiry last month about fence, but it is not clear what business will occupy that space.

 

MOTIONS

Mail corridor and lobby renovations contract decided and awarded to Palmer Brothers.

 

Overhaul of chiller #2 approved.

 

Draft guidelines for approval of operating expense exceeding $15,000 as well as operation of contingency funds approved.

 

The meeting ended at 7:35 pm.