Board Present: Sharon
Bobb, Patricia Batey, Clifford Cohen, Peg Downey, Jim Jones, John McNerney,
Steven Schattman
Others Present: Gates Hudson Interim General Manager David
Ostrander, Gates Hudson
Vice President of Operations Larry Hirschman, ECA Legal Counsel
Jeremy Tucker, Walter Mendoza (Mendoza Ribas Farinas & Associates), Robin Manougian (Insurance)
President’s
Report (clink link for all details of President’s report) Here are
highlights of the Report:
President (1) explained that the
Board had decided that on-site residency should be a condition of employment to protect the Elizabeth property and residents because of catastrophic emergencies that have happened, especially the
flooding in past months. It is a pro-active step to protect the
residents and the Association;
(2) announced selection of Goldklang Group, the
transition audit firm;
(3) reviewed procedures for having
work done in units;
(4) introduced Reciprocal Aid
proposal with 4620 and the Carlton so the three condominiums agreed to shelter
temporarily residents during fires and other emergency evacuations—more
comfortable than being sheltered in buses;
(5) commented that it was
“particularly troubling” for the ECA to try to achieve savings through a line of
credit while, at the same time, spending down the reserves and asked Board and Finance Committee to
focus on building a sufficient reserve fund. The President asked Larry Hirschman to prepare a financial plan and
draft budget sufficient to fund all of our requirements and to include
replacement reserves so as to place the Elizabeth on a sounder financial
footing.
Legal Report: Jeremy
Tucker reported that there is progress on collections. He reminded
the community that the Board meetings are for conducting Association business and discussion
needs to be among the Board members. Residents' comments will
now be heard after the Legal, Financial, Treasurer’s, and Management Reports so
residents will have all the information needed on which to
comment. Counsel stated that the auditor has informed him that
L&N needs to comply with furnishing documentation for the audit and also
that the auditor has caught some things that the previous audits did not see.
Financial & Transition Report: Larry Hirschman stated that the January
financials have still not yet been received from L&N but expect them
shortly. The Gates Hudson plan is to provide the monthly financials to the
Budget Committee a week ahead of their budget meeting to provide ample time for
review.
Management Report: Dave Ostrander stated he will review candidates to fill the
two Concierge vacancies to avoid more overtime from regular Concierge employees
on weekends. He did not comment on the items in the Management
Report that was made available to attendees. Copies of this report and Hirschman's Financial Report are available at the Concierge Desk.
Treasurer’s Report: John McNerney stated that the Line of Credit acts in place
of a reserve fund and has saved us in interest payments. He noted
that the financial statements from L & N are expected by Feb.
29. And that the budget process would begin soon.
Resident Comments: Molly Frantz noted that contrary to what was in BuildingLink, there was no Conversations with the Board last month. She also
inquired about acid smells that some residents have noticed. Al
Muller suggested that during the budget preparation process, if an item is
added, perhaps another item can be reduced or delayed. Two residents
brought up flooding in their apartments and wanted to know to whom to address
these issues: the answer is go to the Onsite General Manager.
Budget & Finance Committee: Pat Peyser noted that past audits were always
late and that the former management company did not provide ample
information. She is pleased that the financial information to be
provided by Gates Hudson will be matched across reports. Her committee asked
Gates Hudson to develop a five-year financial and management plan to avoid further
deterioration in our building.
Design Committee: Alex Kielty reported that there will likely be a town hall
meeting on March 14 to see the finalized hallway design to be recommended to
the Board by the Committee and Hartman Design.
Fitness Committee: Steven Schattman reported on a request to install wi-fi in the
gym.
Cliff Cohen apologized for any
misunderstanding about Conversations
with the Board and said they had been suspended for a couple months but
would be resumed on the second Monday evening of each month at 7:00 p.m.
Peg Downey reported that the Village Council Mayor has resigned and
one of the potential builders to develop parcel 6 across the
street is no longer interested. Al Muller added that one builder
with 40% holdings is trying to obtain another 20% so that a development plan can go
forward.
Walter Mendoza
reported that there are several ongoing projects in the
building—the chilled water for the free cooling system, which would allow us to have air
conditioning on warm days even in winter, is 80% complete. He
is getting a permit from the county for the new phase 2 fire alarm system, but
the contractor has already started work. The new
design for proper ventilation of the corridors is 80% complete.
Mendoza also spoke about the domestic water pipes and pinhole leaks. He
passed around samples of copper pipes with ceramic coating that are on the
market: ePipe and Curaflow. Mendoza used ePipe in his
offices. Curaflow takes longer to dry. EPipe is less
expensive and also faster to dry and is ready for use sooner. These
systems have been used in Europe for many years. He suggested that
this epoxy is a possible answer to our domestic hot water pipe problem of
pinhole leaks and is not sure we have to do anything with the domestic cold water pipes
at this time. He also stated that this epoxy will fix everything and
not have problems in the future, whereas if we fix pipes in one part of the
system only, problems will appear in another part of the building.
He also noted that the pipe which
failed in December on the 18th floor in the East Tower was for the building
heating system and that piping is quite damaged. The bad news is
that asbestos is present in insulation and needs to be removed before work
can be done on any pipes. He will obtain proposals for asbestos
abatement, then carry out visual observation of pipes, mostly in
corridors—hoping he won’t have to enter any individual unit.
Molly Frantz asked him about the
link between the corridor ventilation and the impact on individual fan coil
units. He responded that there is a very close relationship between
the corridor ventilation and apartment humidity: if there is not proper
ventilation in the corridor, it is impossible to maintain a 50% relative
humidity in the apartments.
Robin Manougian reported on the insurance claim of $320,00 from the December
flooding and said that our current company, Greater NY Insurance Company, is
paying out more claims than it is receiving in revenue. She stated
that Walter Mendoza’s items are our priorities now, that the infrastructure of
the building is beginning to fail. We need to have higher
deductibles and probably increased premiums. But we need to fix the infrastructure problems to get the deductible down and she is looking for carriers that will
want to insure us. She suggested that Mendoza outline a plan of
repair and give his proposal to the Board and to her--so that she can present
this proposal to insurance carriers for renewal of our policy in
May.
A resident asked Mendoza what has to
be done before the corridor renovation and Mendoza responded: everything.
There were 4 motions put before the Board and all were approved:
—$15,000 to Mendoza Ribas Farinas & Assoc. to provide design & construction adminstration services for 2 new corriodr ventilation, dehumidification, heat and air conditioning units.
—Approved Otis Elevator Co to complete MD DLLR Punch List items by repairing one elevator per day during the mid-day hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at no additional cost to the ECA.
—$28,134 to Otis Elevator Co to install 70 escutcheon tubes on 4 passenger elevators as mandated by the MD DLLR.
—Approved agreement among Friendship Heights Village high-rise residences to provide mutual aid in emergencies.
