Highview Condominium II
Board of Directors - Meeting Minutes
August 28, 2012 7:30 p.m.
The sixth regular meeting
of the 2011-2012 Highview Condominium II, Inc. Board of Directors was called to
order at approximately 7:30 p.m. by Stacey Cohen, President.
Board members in
attendance: Robert Boynton, Stacey
Cohen, Marjorie Cannon, Nora Colford, David Cutler, and Natalie Hendrix.
Michael D’Angelo participated during part of
the meeting by telephone. Board
members absent: Joseph
Cann and Joseph Skonieczny. Kristen
Teichfuhs attended and was introduced as Wentworth
Property Management’s new representative to Highview II replacing Will Boyce.
1)
Minutes: Minutes of
the June 26, 2012 meeting
were distributed by email in July for approval, but have not been approved by
the Board.
2)
Water infiltration: Engineering
report was received by Highview II once payment was received by Becht
Engineering. Contractor bids have
been received from Lewis-Graham and K.E.S. Construction.
Bids were reviewed at this meeting. Kirsten
was asked to have them revised for additional detail. Kristen
also asked to get a third bid which is the Board’s policy for major projects
such as this.
Maintenance
update from super: Chris
Brighina joined the meeting to report on building maintenance and concerns.
3)
Building Repair & Maintenance Report:
a) Entrance area
repairs: At May meeting, Boyce
requested to get estimates for entrance area crack investigation and threshold
repairs. Carryover from November
request to Romolo. Brighina reported
active termite damage to his unit in the area near building entrance.
Noted that in addition to masonry cracks (both vertical wall and floor
tile), the exterior cladding is coming loose and possibly water infiltration
along with the insect problem. No
update. Kirsten will report at next
Board meeting.
b) Repairs to
super’s apartment: Insect
damage will require repairs to wood floors in super’s apartment.
Discussion of the unsupported/hanging cinderblock wall between super’s
kitchen and living room requiring addition of header support.
At May meeting, Boyce was asked to investigate.
At June meeting, super volunteered to make header repairs before end of
August. No update at this August
meeting.
c) Water supply
filtering: Two bids received.
Kristen Teichfuhs will be familiarizing herself with the situation and
get additional bids by next Board meeting.
d)
e) Landscaping
maintenance: No update on
inadequate shrubbery trimming by Prime Landscaping.
Cohen suggested Boynton contact Prime.
Boyce was to get copy of current contract to Boynton for review and then
Boynton would meet with Prime. Management
has been unable to locate contract signed by Cohen and is requesting copy of
contract directly from Prime.
f) Lobby-level
stairwell door damage: New fire
door has been installed and cost passed along to unit 3-A.
g) HVAC system
cleaning: Chutemaster completed
cleaning of the building ventilation system in July.
The work included cleaning roof fans, as well as duct work down from the
roof and inside all apartment units.
h) Snow Blower:
Brighina noted that snow blower’s lower edge is rusting out.
Skid plate was replaced last year but rust and wear damage was noted at
that time to be more significant. Board
agreed to replace snowblower. Boynton
will work with Brighina to select replacement for Board approval.
4)
Financial Report:
a) Monthly financial
reporting: Distributed reports still do not reference FY2012 budget for
Board’s remaining FY2012 planning.
b) FY2011 Annual
Meeting: Tentative annual
meeting date from February Board meeting was May or June, pending completion of
audit. Then Boyce was to email board
with update from Wilken & Guttenplan in June.
Latest report from Cheryl Ruiz indicated early July.
Board has still not received draft of FY2011 audit for review.
No update from Treasurer D’Angelo.
c) Past-due bills:
Discussion of outstanding payments due Alarmingly Affordable, Becht
Engineering, Minkel Locksmiths. Alarmingly
Affordable will no longer provide service without payment in advance.
Several plumbing contractors used by Highview in the past have declined
to bid on recent projects and indicated poor payment record of Highview as
reason. Board discussed that
Operating Account is adequately funded for immediate payment of all expenditures
and asked why some bills are going unpaid beyond 90-days.
Questioned whether the unpaid bills from 2011 were included in the FY2011
audit. Kirsten will investigate.
d) Unit arrears:
Legal action recommended against several unit owners.
e) Special Assessment
discussion: With current bids
from contractors for exterior repairs at approximately $80,000, the question was
called how the building would be paying for this work.
Boynton asked whether Capital Replacement Reserve has reached the
$250,000 total agree upon and reminded board of vote by unit owners at the
October 2009 General Membership meeting to increase Capital Replacement Reserve
balance to $250,000 and maintain at that level into future with special
assessments as withdrawals are made for Capital Replacements.
Boynton noted that the Special Assessment conducted in FY2010 to build
the reserve to $250,000 was suspended at $180,000 with the understanding that
$37,000 per saving in FY2011 and $37,000 more as a budgeted item in FY2012 would
yield the target by end of FY2012 with a closing balance of approximately
$254,000 in the Capital Replacement Fund. Board
agreed to review balances at close of FY2012.
Noted in discussion that the Operating Reserve, separate from the Capital
Replacements Reserve, is calculated as 25% of previous year’s operating
(excluding replacement expenditures of those items anticipated by savings as
listed in the Capital Replacement Study of 2010).
5)
Legal Report:
a) Local Law 11 façade inspection (cycle 6) and Local
Law 11 façade inspection (cycle 7): Expediter
has submitted Local Law 11 - Cycle 7 to City.
Expediter’s submission was delayed on account of check requested from
Wentworth. No update at this
meeting.
b) Update on incident
of 04/13/12: With completion of
the lobby-level fire door replacement, fines and cost of repairs have been
billed and will appear on the unit owner’s 09/01/12 statement.
Summarizing the determination of fines and responsibility for damage.
Evidence included review of video surveillance showing various residents
traveling through lobby at time of incident and individual punching fire door
and swinging door open with force beyond normal range of travel.
Letters were sent by management to all residents passing through the
lobby during the time period requesting that they each provide a written
statement of what they witnessed. Statements
were received from residents of six apartment units and all statements indicated
that the damage was caused by a single resident, John Mangione of unit 3-A.
The only resident appearing in security video who did not reply to
management’s letter requesting explanation of what they witnessed was John
Mangione. Noted by management that
Mangione did go to Wentworth’s office to discuss the letter he received, but
declined at that time to put anything in writing for Wentworth Management or the
Board to consider as mitigating evidence.
In addition to cost of replacing damaged door, a $500 vandalism fine was
issued and a $500 noise disruption fine. It
was noted that the Building Rules specifically state that a $500 Vandalism fine
is in addition to cost of all repairs resulting from the vandalism.
And although an initial noise disruption fine is $100, the violator had
previously been warned in writing and fined for this type of offense and the
Building Rules state that a second or later violation is $500.
c) Parking garage:
Complaint presented to Board on 05/24/12 that exit door is being
illegally blocked by owner of space # 5. Board
reviewed that doorway (egress) is 35” wide and
d) Water damage to
apartment unit from sprinkler system: A
pipe from the lawn sprinkler system broke, resulting in water sprayed into lobby
level unit L-H through a living room window.
Carpeting was soaked and removed to dry out by super, however wood
flooring has warped and is raised as much as 6” in the living room and dining
area. Repair will require extensive
removal of all living room and dining room flooring.
Estimates for repairs reviewed by Board.
Estimates did not include costs of moving and storing furniture and hotel
expenses. Board questioned building
insurance issues, insurance deductible, and whether to seek insurance claim or
make repairs out-of-pocket according to building’s responsibility per Bylaws.
Kirsten will review situation and building’s insurance.
e) Leases: All
unit owners with rentals are required to provide management with a copy of their
current lease and related information required.
There is a $500 fee for new rentals and $300 fee for annual renewals.
At June meeting, Boyce was checking whether all rental units were
up-to-date and complete, whether both FY2011 and FY2012 fees were billed and
collected, and Boyce would then provide documentation to Board secretary for
files. No updates were received from
Boyce and Secretary (Boynton) is now working directly with Maureen Gentile at
Wentworth to verify the situation.
f) Insurance:
All unit owners are required to provide management with a copy of their
current apartment insurance (declaration sheet only).
At the June meeting, Boyce was checking whether all units were in
compliance and would be providing documentation to Board secretary for files.
No update at this meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at
approximately 9:30 p.m.