Highview Condominium II
Board of Directors - Meeting Minutes
May 25, 2010, 7:30 p.m.

The sixth meeting of the 2009-2010 Highview Condominium II, Inc. Board of Directors was called to order at approximately 7:35 p.m. by Stacey Cohen, President.  Board members in attendance:  Robert Boynton, Marjorie Cannon, Stacey Cohen, Nora Colford, Natalie Hendrix, Angelo Morelli, and Joseph Skonieczny.  Joseph Cann was absent.  Michael D’Angelo was available by phone.  Linda Romolo attended from Wentworth Property Management.  

1)   Minutes:  Minutes of the April 27, 2010 meeting were approved.  

2)   Maintenance update from super:  Chris Brighina joined the meeting to report on building maintenance items and concerns.  

3)   Financial Report:  

      a)    Unit Owner Arrears.  Status of legal actions were discussed.  

      b)   Operating and Capital Reserve Account balances:  There was no discussion.  

      c)    Audit for FY2009:  The FY2009 audit with Wilken & Guttenplan continues.  At last meeting D’Angelo requested that Romolo call auditor to help them gain access to Wentworth records.  There was no update at this meeting as to whether Romolo had spoken with auditor.  

      d)   FY2010 Budget:  A FY2010 Operating Budget of $352,197 was approved by email.  The approved budget included an Operating Expense increase of $28,000 ($5,000 increase for building maintenance, $11,000 increase in City water bills, $4,000 increase in natural gas costs, $2,100 salary increase for the super, and $3,000 for the weekend porter to work Saturday hours in addition to the current Sunday hours after the super’s contract was modified to a 5-day week).  In order to compensate for the increase in Operating Expenses without increasing the Common Charge, portions of the general building maintenance and repair budget for the building was reduced by a similar amount.  

            In addition to Operating Expenses, the building was required to add $7,000 to Operating Reserve (calculated at 25% of the previous year’s Operating budget) by 12/31/10 for a satisfactory FY2010 audit.  

            The current Special Assessment will total $67,000 by 12/31/10 and those funds will remain dedicated for increasing the Capital Reserve; rapidly increasing the Capital Reserve Fund to a minimum of $250,000 per the mandate of the General Membership meeting of October 28, 2009.  

4)   Legal Report:  

      a)    Rules & Regulations:  Management has notified unit owners and requested compliance with the new building rule requiring unit owners and tenants to provide proof of liability insurance coverage.  It was once again noted that providing management with a copy of the declaration page is sufficient proof of coverage.  Romolo reported that about 75% of unit owners and tenants have complied and a final notice that will be sent to delinquent owners prior to any additional actions required for compliance.  

      b)   Local Law 11 façade inspection (cycle 6):  Romolo still in process of re-submitting the Cycle-6 engineering report for Local Law 11.  No update.  

      c)    Unit Leases:  All leases on file with management are current.  

      d)   Management contract renewal:  Contract for Wentworth Property Management still being reviewed.  Will require board approval prior to signing by President.  There was discussion of a section protecting Wentworth from liability that needs to be removed prior to Board approval.  

e)    Laundry room contract renewal:  A two-year extension of CoinMach’s laundry room contract was approved.  Monthly income will continue at $675/mo.  The building will receive a signing bonus of $4,000 (which has already been incorporated into FY2010 budget).  The Laundry Room will be painted by CoinMach.  Washing and drying fees will increase with standard size wash increasing from $1.50 to $1.75 per load, large washer increasing from $2.50 to $3.00 per load, and dryer costs similarly increasing.  All of the machines will be converted to run on swipe card system instead of quarters.  Question was raised whether card-fund loading would be on-site and whether the currently inoperable television provided by CoinMach would be replaced.  Cohen did not wish to ask CoinMach to replace television and volunteered to replace the television with one at her own expense.  

      It was noted that CoinMach does not pay utility cost (electric and gas) for operation of the washers and dryers.  

6)   Building Repair & Maintenance Report:  

a)       Balancing of building exhaust fan system:  Boynton and Chris Brighina working with Becht Engineering.  When new system was installed, the building’s 15 exhaust fans were spec’ed at different horsepower and revolution speeds according to location.  A contractor was supposed to be brought into balance the adjustable system after installation and it appears that JAL Management did not follow through with this task.  Becht Engineering will be reviewing situation with Boynton and Brighina to confirm that fans were located in the correct locations and rheostats are correctly controlling speeds and overall balance of system.  

      b)   Semi-annual smoke detector replacements and unit inspections:  Chris Brighina reported that almost all inspections and smoke detector replacements have been completed.  He anticipates full compliance by Thursday.  

      c)    Parking lot sealing/lining and repairs:  From the September 2009 board meeting, Linda Romolo was to get bids for parking lot sealing and resurfacing for the board’s information and future consideration.  Romolo provided bid for resurfacing at March meeting, but no bids were presented for just sealing.  There was no update at the April meeting and at this meeting Romolo reported that the sealing estimates were being put off until Fall per a Board decision.  Boynton said that no such delay had been requested by the board and requested that the estimates should be completed and work completed during the summer (while traffic in the parking lot is lighter on account of vacations and the summer heat is most effective in drying the sealant).  Romolo agreed to complete multiple bids.  

      d)   Garage door operation:  Overhead door does not automatically stop and reverse when encountering an obstruction in its path while closing.  Bids requested for re-locating interior electric eye and adding additional exterior eye.  No update at this meeting.  

      e)    Entrance area tile cracks:  Crack repairs completed by super.  

      f)    Lobby ceiling:  Brighina has purchased replacements for the smaller access plates and anticipates installation next week.  Larger/custom ones not available and will require more creative solutions.  

      g)   Entrance Intercom system:  On account of the FiOS upgrades and unit owners converting to other telephone service providers, the entrance system intercom wiring has been compromised and is no longer functional for several apartment units.  The board approved $1,600 to convert entrance system to direct-dial – meaning that when guests arrive at the building and call up a unit through the entrance system, the system will dial a standard 10-digit telephone number.  Unit owners will need to provide a telephone number.  

Boynton and Morelli dissented noting that unit owners with only cell phones would be receiving entrance system calls wherever they were – including while at work or away on vacation; as well as that multiple residents of a unit with more than one cell phone would need to decide which of their cells phones would be the number dedicated to receiving entrance system calls, regardless of who was actually home.  

      h)   Carpeting replacement:  On account of budget constraints, Cohen reported that investigating of replacement of damaged carpeting has been put off indefinitely.  

      i)    Fire Escape repairs:  Romolo reported that the fire escape repairs (welding) have been completed.  

j)    Exterior water infiltration:  At previous meeting, Chris reported that several unit owners on the fifth floor have reported exterior water leaks near windows.   There had been discussion of previous lintel and brick work at the building. At this meeting, the board approved an engineering investigation of the water infiltration.  

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 9:30 p.m.

Minutes submitted by Robert Boynton, Secretary.