Highview Condominium II
Board of Directors - Meeting Minutes
June 11, 2002, 7:30 p.m.

The June 11, 2002 meeting of the Board of Directors started promptly at 7:30 p.m. A quorum of five members was not reached until after 8:00 p.m., but no binding votes were taken until that time.

In attendance were Board members Victor Bellini, Robert Boynton, Stephanie Greenberg, Carl DiLorenzo, and Bob Malta. Also in attendance was J.A.L. Diversified Management representatives Jennifer Ogman. Absent from the meeting were Board members Vincent Alfano, Bill Geary, Frank Mattera, and Miriam Montalvo.

Minutes: The Minutes from the May 14, 2002 Board meeting were approved without changes.

I. Finances

1) DeSantis & Shall continues working on our annual audit. They have encountered difficulty in compiling records from Maxwell-Kates. An example being that their own bill to Highview II for last year's audit was never recorded by Maxwell-Kates in Highview's financial records (since recorded and paid by J.A.L.)

2) The date of the annual meeting was discussed and has been tentatively rescheduled with DeSantis & Shall for July 16th. This is still a tentative date, pending completion of the audit. The date would also have to be available for the Highview attorney's annual attendance.

II. Legal

1) Three owners are currently past ninety (90) days in payment of their common charges. All are with Michael Swaaley for legal action.

2) Coinmach, supplier of the building's washing machines and dryers, was sent a third and final certified letter by attorney Michael Swaaley. The letter states that Highview II will commence an action for fraud and breech of contract in ten (10) days if there is no response to discuss resolution.

3) Unit owners in breech of Bylaws (conditions of leasing): Attorney Michael Swaaley has indicated on several occasions that the building has a liability exposure in this area due to unit owners not complying with the Bylaws in their rental arrangements. The Bylaws are quite specific about the conditions that must be met in order for owners to lease their units (type of lease, minimum term of lease, and specific conditions that the lease must contain to protect all other unit owners).

Added to this, a recent addition to NYC Building code now requires the building to maintain a file proving that all residents have received a copy of certain documents (relating to fire safety, evacuation procedures, and the particular building's burn characteristics) and that no owner (or tenant) can be allowed to move into the building without first signing a document that the building has provided these documents. The new code notes that if a City inspection of this acknowledgment file shows the file to be incomplete, the building is subject to a substantial fine.

Nine (9) units in rental currently have no lease on file and ten (10) additional units in rental only have expired leases on file. These unit owners have all received three warning letters without response. Accordingly, these cases will be forwarded to Michael Swaaley for legal action in addition to imposition of fines according to Highview Rules & Regulations.

III. Apartment inspections for water infiltration: Jennifer Ogman reported that since the super's inspection report had been found to be substantially inaccurate, she had included a request for self-inspection in this month's common charge billing to owners. Replies indicate that there are an additional 10-15 apartments in need of work for external water infiltration (bringing the total to about 30 units). It was noted by the Board that not every owner will recognize the early signs of water infiltration, however it is clear that management is making a serious effort to identify every instance of water infiltration and plan repairs.

IV. Maintenance & Repair

1) Garbage enclosure: Updating from the last Board meeting, Jennifer Ogman reported that the super indicated that he was unable to obtain materials for the repairs (chain link fence in less than a full role, several poles, paint, etc.). She asked a super from one of her other buildings to pick up the supplies and the supplies were delivered to the building. The super then indicated he did not have the tools to make the repair. So Jennifer had the other super assist him in putting up the piece of fence. The last part of the job was painting the poles and Jennifer left paint for the task. She explained to the Board that the painting should have only taken ½ hour, but two weeks later is has not been completed.

2) New Compactor: Jennifer Ogman reported that the new compactor is operating without problems according to the super. The vendor came to install the optional deodorizer unit to the new compactor, but the super refused to allow the installation and sent the repairman away. Jennifer cited this as another instance of the super making decisions without management's authorization and that she only learned that the installer had been turned away when called by the contractor.

3) Foundation crack repairs (rear wall) and grating replacement: The new entrance grating was installed. The contractor will be returning for finishing work on the blacktop. The rear wall foundation cracks are scheduled for repair at the end of June. Front wall repairs will be authorized by the Board as soon as the landscaping excavation/replacement costs are known.

4) Roof exhaust fans: All roof exhaust fans are now repaired and operating. Jennifer noted that the contractor had problems gaining entry to the building. Jennifer will distribute a memo to all residents indicating that the full system is in operation and that residents should contact J.A.L. if they believe it is not working in either their bathroom or kitchen. (Apartments with windows in a bathroom or kitchen do not have a exhaust fan in the room.)

5) Staley Elevator estimates that rebuilding the elevator floor will cost ~$600. The current carpeting and underlayment are not allowed by building code. The Board approved replacement. Jennifer Ogman will provide a sample of the material to Stefanie Greenberg and an advisory email will be sent to all Board members to stop by her apartment and review/comment.

6) Hallway smoke detectors: Estimates for the hallway smoke detectors were not available at the meeting, however there was substantive discussion of the Board's concern for fire safety in the building. The building is not fireproof vertically and the major fire in the building next door year ago was mentioned.

7) Rooftop storage building: Repairmen were scheduled on several occasions, but were unable to gain entry to the building. Jennifer Ogman reported that the super did not return beeper or answering machine calls and repairs to the rooftop building (bulkhead) had to be rescheduled.

8) Apartment L-C damage: Jennifer Ogman reported that the owner of apartment L-C expressed his concern to her that the hole in his wall had not been repaired. Jennifer Ogman stated that she had been under the impression that it had been repaired since the building super had already billed Highview II a month ago for making the repair himself as a private job after hours. She has withheld the check and Miguel will be expected to complete the repair this coming week.

V. Personnel

1) At the May Board meeting, Jennifer Ogman presented the Board with the super's job description and annual evaluation forms. No responsibilities were added since his original hiring by Maxwell-Kates in October, but J.A.L. and the Board felt that J.A.L.'s description was more detailed and might clarify our expectations prior to any annual review.

These documents were reviewed by the Board in the following week and all responding Board members agreed that the document accurately reflect the job (there were no dissenting comments and the majority of the Board was represented by their feedback). Minor amendments were suggested as "improvements" to the job description, such as the agreement to provide training whenever new maintenance equipment is introduced into the building. Jennifer Ogman indicated that she had intended to sit down with the super last week to review the outline completely with Miguel, answer any questions or concerns he might have, and obtain his signature on the document as an understanding of the nature of his job; however a mutually convenient time was not found and she anticipates going over it with him later this week.

2) Maintenance Logs and Reporting: At last month's (May) Board meeting, Miguel Gonzalez sat with the Board and J.A.L. and all present affirmed an understanding that the building super reports directly to the managing agent in his day-to-day activities. All Board requests and suggestions for the super should be channeled through the managing agent to avoid any misunderstandings that might lead to conflicting requests. There was specific discussion of the maintenance and resident request log that is to be kept by the super, made available to the managing agent on a weekly basis, and incorporated in the monthly management report. The log also requires that residents sign-off when repairs are completed. This log was not being kept and had been requested by J.A.L. of the super repeatedly since January when the process was explained to the super. At that time, he agreed that it was a good process and one that he had been expected to maintain in other buildings. With the log reaffirmed at the May meeting, Miguel was asked if he had any additional issues he wished to raise with the Board or with management. He indicated that he had no other concerns or reasons for being discontent in the future. Miguel apologized for not providing the log information and agreed to immediately begin doing so.

At this evening's meeting, Jennifer Ogman reported that the super has not provided a weekly log this month and has been unaccountable to management in most other respects as well. There was substantial discussion of particular incidents of the past month. The Board, J.A.L. and the super had unanimously clarified and agreed to route all maintenance issues through Jennifer. Jennifer indicated that the super does not return telephone calls to management for more than 24 hours and it is a serious management problem for J.A.L. when a super is reporting to no one.

Jennifer reiterated situations of contractors coming to Highview fr common-building work who were unable to locate the super and forced to rescheduled their work, a contractor reporting that the super left an access key in a hidden location for him (instead of being present as requested by J.A.L. to supervise the contractor's entry), and his not responding to either beeper or answering machine for periods in excess of 24 hours (in one case when there was a building emergency in progress during his normal work hours), and declining to provide his home telephone number for contact.

3) Painting projects: There has been no progress on painting projects. The soffet in front of the building, a hole in the lobby ceiling, the railing at the service entrance, the garbage enclosure's new section of fencing, chute rooms on each floor, and the scuff marks on the ceiling by the elevator were all mentioned. Some of these projects are major, while others only take a few minutes. But none of these projects showed any progress in the last month and there was no work log presented to indicate that other work in the building was preventing him from progressing on these projects.

4) After lengthy discussion, the Board reaffirmed its position that the building super reports to the managing agent in his day-to-day activities. The super will need to abide by his job description and accept management's guidance. It is up to management to document problems and make formal recommendations to the Board as needed.

VI. New Business:

There was no new business.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 10:30 p.m.