Highview Condominium II
Board of Directors Meeting
April 18, 2001 ** 7:30 p.m.
Meeting Minutes

The Board of Directors' April 18, 2001 meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m.

In attendance were Board members Vincent Alfano, Robert Boynton, Paul Chelsen, Stephanie Greenberg, Judi Kepics, and Frank Mattera. Also in attendance was Maxwell-Kates representative Gene DeGidio. Absent from the meeting was Board members Victor Bellini, Carl DiLorenzo, and Miriam Montalvo.

The Board was reminded that the Annual Meeting will take place on Wednesday, May 23, 2001, at 7:30 p.m.

Judi Kepics offered the Treasurer's report. The condo's long-term saving is being moved from Citibank to Chase Manhattan. Judi detailed the amounts in each of the building's current accounts.

Bob Boynton explained that the website committee met on April 4, 2001. Rich Re (4-C) is designing the site. On Thursday, April 5, 2001, the Board voted approval and funding by email for the website at a cost of $250 and $25 per month. (Five votes in favor were necessary. Seven positive votes were received from Alfano, Boynton, Bellini, Chelsen, Greenberg, Montalvo, and Kepics. No email response/vote was received from Mattera and DiLorenzo.) The address will be www.highview2.com and the site should be operational for testing in 2-3 weeks. The website will be password protected and will include a copy of the Bylaws, Rules & Regulations, a means of communicating concerns and suggestions to the Board, as well as communicating repair requests and any questions to our managing agent. Owners without computers will still be able to communicate with the managing agent by telephone.

Bob Boynton reported that there was a meeting of all dog owners on April 17, 2001. In attendance were Rob Miele (Chip), Rich Re (Spot), Bob Boynton (Mollie), Victor Bellini (Bailey), and Mike Luciano (Duke). With the increased number of dogs in the building, the group met to agree on dog walking guidelines to eliminate possible damage to landscaping and unsanitary conditions. Although the woods across the street appear to be the logical place for dogs to be walked, owners had been reprimanded by the Wagner College groundskeeper to stay off their property (including the woods) with dogs. It was agreed by the group that dogs should not be wetting around the entrance area or on the shrubbery, excrement will be picked up without exception. If dogs are escorted on the sidewalk along the building, they will not wet until around the corner. If, after an extended period of confinement, an owner is uncertain that the dog can wait until getting around the building, the dog should be escorted down the driveway. Wherever dogs are doing their business, owners, as a group, will be expected to monitor the condition of the property. To encourage good behavior by owners, the Board will have a litter receptacle installed at the rear corner of the building for their convenience.

The next topic was the building ventilation fans. At the last meeting, Board members noted that they thought the system was not functioning correctly. Sixth floor residents noted that the fans were making quite a bit of noise. Since the last Board meeting, Maxwell-Kates' investigation found that the super had not been maintaining the system. A number of fan belts were loose (making noise) and in addition, several fans were in need or repair. Although the repair parts and belts have arrived, they have not been installed while the super is on vacation for a month.

Gene DeGidio reported that Val's Exterminating has agreed to the Board's request and will begin alternating their pest control service between Saturdays and Wednesdays in an attempt to provide service when tenants are home to let them in. Val's schedule will be: 1) the usual Saturday morning service on the first Saturday of each month, and now 2) Wednesday evenings on the third Wednesday of each month between the hours of 7:15 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Val's Exterminating will post a sign this month to advise the residents of the change.

The new awning for the front entrance has been ordered and should be installed in about 3 weeks. Lighting mounted on the awning frame will be updated at the same time.

There was continued discussion on upgrading Fire/Smoke detection in the building. Review of options and contractor estimates continue. In the short-term, it was agreed by the Board that Highview II will begin offering a free battery replacement of all smoke detectors twice annually to assure the safety of building residents and 100% compliance with the law. If 100% compliance becomes difficult to achieve, capital expenditure for a central system may become a higher priority for the Board to consider in order to assure the safety of all residents.

There was continued discussion of the few owners who have failed to comply with tenant-lease records. Bylaws require owners to file a completed lease in case of all unit rentals. Rules & Regulations indicate that a $500 fine is to be imposed for non-compliance. Maxwell-Kates reported that only two owners are currently out of compliance and fines are being issued. Both the building's attorney, Michael Swaaley, and our managing agent have advised that compliance of owners on this issue should be of great concern as a liability issue for the building.

The Board discussed plans for improved garbage storage. On April 4, 2001, Mxawell-Kates arranged for Victor Bellini and Bob Boynton to meet with Walsh Brothers Landscaping. Bob Boynton reported that Walsh Bros. will be submitting an estimate for construction of a garbage storage enclosure adjacent to the Martha Street wall of the outdoor parking area (beyond the parking lot). (Keeping garbage at the curb is subject to a NYC fine. But, there is currently no acceptable place inside our building to store it without encouraging pest problems.) Although there were more convenient locations for storage, it was critical that storing garbage outdoors should not be anywhere near residents' windows.

There was discussion of the superintendent's May 31, 2001 retirement. On March 26, 2001, building superintendent Humberto (Carlos) Otey, signed a retirement agreement. According to the agreement, Carlos will be retiring effective May 31, 2001.

Gene DeGidio has begun advertising for the superintendent's replacement. Several tentative dates in May were selected for the Board to interview candidates. A Board committee will work with Gene on this. Once a finalist has been chosen, the full Board will meet this individual before they are hired. Once hired, there is an initial probationary term. After that, the probationary term can be extended or converted to permanent status.

A log of owner/resident calls to Maxwell-Kates, along with repairs and complaints was provided by Maxwell-Kates prior to the meeting. Complaints included noise from the ventilation fans on the roof, the intercom system not working correctly, garbage accumulating, and water damage possibly from apartments bathrooms above.

Gene explained that Firestone's re-certification of the roof warranty has been completed. The re-certification was required by a provision of the Firestone contract relating to the installation of VoiceStream's antenna equipment on the roof.

Exterior building repairs including foundation cracks, exterior brick-work and lintels, replacement of the garage entrance drain, and various related repairs will be in process by June according to Maxwell-Kates. Contractor estimates will be completed in the next month.

Replacement or substantial repair of the security/intercom systems for the building entrance is still being reviewed. The Board agreed to meet with a couple vendors to discuss specific concerns. Key ingredients include replacing the key and touch-pad code system with a magnetic card, logging entries by code, easy changing of codes, and dependability.

The security system's need to connect to the telephone company's wiring was discussed. Operational problems with the intercom have been repeatedly labeled by Verizon (telephone company) and Alarmingly Affordable (our security system provider) as caused by the other one. Both charge approximately $100 for service calls, both continually note the problem is not with their equipment, and each one often leaves the building without intercom service being restored.

Whenever they do fix a problem, the question still remains as to why established residents should pay either/both vendor for a problem created by vendors establishing service for new residents. There was also discussion of the changing communications/telephone technology. Some residents are using their telephone line for computer data (and not being able to answer their telephone while on-line doing downloads). Other residents have eliminated their normal telephone service entirely in favor of a cell phone.

The new contract with the laundry room equipment vendor was discussed again. The current proposal is for a 6-year contract, new machines (not reconditioned ones), the up front payment to the building has increased from $4,000 to $5,000, the 25 cent increase for washing machines was eliminated and there will be no increase over the term in washing machine fees, and a monthly space rental fee of $700. In addition to the monthly rent, the vendor would pay the condominium 85% of all gross income from the machines in excess of $1,200 per month. Maxwell-Kates will continue negotiating with the vendor. The use of a magnetic card system rather than coins was eliminated from the negotiation.

There was a discussion of adding a bench, outdoors, in front of the building. The discussion initially included utilization of the back and side lawns. But, security, maintenance, vandalism, lighting, and liability concerns limited ideas related to these areas. The group agreed to consider an outdoor bench similar in style to the current indoor lobby benches. If a bench of suitable design can be located soon, approval by the Board can be completed by email.

Continued problems with residents and visitors parking for extended periods in the driveway was discussed. Several weeks ago, several cars waited during heavy rains while an offender left his car under the canopy for a half hour. Last week, a resident in a wheelchair had a similar delay. As was noted by the Board several months ago, residents should not be parking in the driveway any longer than they would personally be willing to wait in their own car for a parked car ahead of them to move.

Maxwell-Kates will begin enforcing the parking rules to avoid confrontations between residents. This will include large notice stickers on car windows (already kept by the super, but not currently being used) followed by towing without warning - for which the building has an active contract arranged by a previous Board of Managers. (The towing contract allows Staten Island Towing Service to tow any car they find parked in the driveway. The current contract includes a specific request for "random patrol". Once the vehicle is attached to towing apparatus, the towing fee is $50+ tax. The fee is $100+ tax once the vehicle is removed from the property. The contract indicates that "no one is authorized to request that any vehicle be released for free."

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 10:15 p.m.