I am posting the Zoom link for Board Meeting tonight January 25, 2023 because this is one meeting you should not miss.
The Elizabeth Condominium Association, Inc.
Board of Directors’ Meeting
Wednesday, January 25, 2023
6:30 p.m.
(Please Plan to Dial in 10 Minutes Before as Meeting Will Begin Promptly at 6:30 PM)
Via Zoom
https://zoom.us/j/7648353586?pwd=c3RWOTZVeTBxcVZ3WlJxSGlHdHJ2Zz09
Meeting ID: 764 835 3586 Passcode: Lm5hmS
or
(301) 715-8592
Meeting ID: 764 835 3586 Passcode: 044470
DOCUMENT REQUIRES LINE EDITING. The proposed ECA House Rules need thorough editing to eliminate redundancy and to establish clarity. Common sense informs us that no one will read a document that does not get straight to the point. This document needs to be part of the package presented to prospective buyers and renters BEFORE they decide to invest time and money here.
DOCUMENT REQUIRES A LEGAL REVIEW.
· Has our legal counsel Jeremy Tucker read the proposed ECA House Rules? If he has, does he approve of this document?
· I think we are opening ourselves up to lawsuits by allowing children and teens to “play” in our common areas. What is our potential liability for opening our common areas for “play”?
· Who is going to serve as “lifeguard” to remind them not to run in these areas and to treat our furniture with care?
· While people who are resident owners may treat lobby furniture and decorations with care, we cannot depend on renters to do the same. Many people, including some owners, may think of this property as a hotel where there is 24/7 cleanup staff.
EXPANDED USE OF COMMON AREAS
· This will cause more wear and tear on our furniture and decorations as well as the physical plant (walls, floors, etc.).
· This will accelerate renovation schedules and ultimately increase our condo fees.
· Food in the West Lobby and on the terraces will invite rodents to our property. Rodents are naturally in our community already, but do we want to see them on a regular basis?
· I’m in favor of Association sponsored events where supervision provides an element of preservation and careful use.
NOISE ISSUES. Expanded use of common areas will increase the level of noise and reduce the quality of life at the Elizabeth. It’s guaranteed that more residents will complain putting more stress on staff and Board members. Association sponsored events are more egalitarian and will cause less complaining.
BALCONIES. Inviting any kind of birds, including hummingbirds, to our balconies is an invitation to other pests, including bats, rats, and stinging insects.
PETS
· Pets should not be allowed in our West Lobby.
· Furthermore, it is time that Board enforce pet rules established in our Bylaws and be clear about the definition of one small dog. Keeping the building clean is a huge issue since we constantly have dog waste in all our common areas, especially elevators, that the pet owners do not clean up.
· To avoid this problem, House Rules can be modified to require owners to carry their dogs in the elevators and throughout the common areas. This was in our House Rules for many years from the time the Elizabeth opened its doors. It had the added benefit of assuring that dogs met the requirement in the bylaws to be “small” and “orderly.” If they can be carried, they are small. And dogs that are carried are unlikely to urinate or defecate on their owners.
ENFORCEMENT OF OUR BYLAWS AND HOUSE RULES
· Enforcement of Bylaws and House Rules is currently weak and indicates that if House Rules are more complicated that more infractions will occur and cause more contention among the residents.
· In turn this will put more stress on the staff and on the Board who are tasked with upholding the Articles, Bylaws, and House Rules.
· Furthermore, most of the infractions against our Bylaws and House Rules occur after the Management Office is closed at 5 pm as well as on weekends and holidays. Therefore, clean up and damage are not attended to promptly. Do we expect to hire more staff as if we were a hotel to manage these problems?
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.
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.
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.
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).
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/
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.
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 …
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.
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?
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.
*********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.
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
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
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.
