Highview Condominium II
Board of Directors - Meeting Minutes
September 10, 2002, 7:30 p.m.
The Tuesday, September 10, 2002 meeting of the Board of Directors began at 8:15 p.m.
In attendance were Board members Victor Bellini, Robert Boynton, Carl DiLorenzo, Bob Malta, and Marg Cannon. Also in attendance was J.A.L. Diversified Management representative Jennifer Ogman. The building's new super, Rob Besser was present, having been invited to atted for the first 10 minutes of the meeting in order for the entire Board to welcome him. Absent from the meeting were Board members Bill Geary, Stephanie Greenberg, Frank Mattera, and Miriam Montalvo.
I. Minutes: The Minutes from the July 9, 2002 and August 13, 2002 Board meetings were not available for approval, but will be completed and approved prior to next week's annual meeting.
II. Financial:
a) On September 10, 2002, the operating account balance was $9,477.06. The Reserve accounts totaled $103,706.53.
b) Desantis & Shall has completed their audit. John Shall will be attending the annual meeting to explain the audit and answer owners questions. They anticipate having copies of the audit available this Thursday for J.A.L. to distribute to owners in advance of the annual meeting.
c) A letter received from John Shall was read (attached to these Minutes). The letter indicated concern for the building's possibly inadequate reserve funds. Shall suggested that a capital reserve study should be performed for the building. The Board noted that the last capital reserve study was performed in 1993. In the 1993 study, it was noted that the building's savings program was inadequate and calculated to be approximately $30,000 behind anticipated system-life replacements. Jennifer Ogman will provide proposals for new capital reserve study at the Board's next meeting. A copy of the previous study will be made available at the next meeting for all Board members to review.
III. Legal:
a) Coinmach washing machines: Through our attorney, Coinmach has made a new offer. The new offer includes all new machines, $675/mo rental income for Highview, and $5,000 signing bonus for Highview II. A copy of the offer was attached to J.A.L.'s report and was discussed at length. Although a great improvement, several issues were still not adequately addressed to the Board's and J.A.L.'s satisfaction. Negotiations with CoinMach will continue.
b) Unit owners in breach of by-laws: Non-resident unit owners who have not provided copies of their leases to management have been sent final warning letters concerning their breach of the bylaws. There have been three warning letters previously sent to these owners without positive response. For those not in compliance by October 1, 2002, they will be fined $500 and their cases referred to the building's attorney for a 10-day notice of legal action (Bylaws Article VII, Section 1-b and Building Regulations 2,3,and 8).
c) Building Superintendent: Miguel Gonzalez' has moved from the building. At the August 28th, 2002 court appearance, he turned in his keys and there was no further action.
d) The building's new refrigerator was returned by John Mangione (3-A).
e) The building's attorney, Michael Swaaley, will attend the annual meeting as usual. Owners will have the opportunity to ask any questions related to the building's legal affairs. Swaaley will lead a discussion of the building's liability issues.
IV. Building Super:
a) The building's new super, Rob Besser, has moved into the building's super apartment, L-K. The apartment will require some finishing work in the kitchen (base cabinet, counter top, and sink placement/plumbing). Replacement of the living room air conditioner was previously authorized by the Board, but held pending access to the apartment by management.
b) At this meeting, Rob mentioned several garbage/recycling problems including residents throwing carpeting out a window, the considerable quantity of garbage being deposited in the recycling area instead of coming down the chutes directly into the compactor, and residents leaving furniture at the curb instead of the garbage enclosure (exposing Highview II to possible City fines).
c) There was discussion of the need for Alarmingly Affordable and Verizon to work jointly to assure that resident entrance intercoms are not disrupted when Verizon performs their regular service calls. Verizon has repeatedly (and inadvertently) disconnected intercom lines while working in the building's terminal box. As noted in the past, the terminal box services both 850 and 830 Highview Ave. buildings.
V. Maintenance:
a) Apartment inspections: A list of apartment inspections and owner reported internal/external water leaks was reviewed.
b) Elevator Floor: Stefanie Greenberg was not present to report on the status of the elevator committee's efforts. Victor Bellini offered the Board a sample of the flooring Jill Bellini provided to the committee (ADA compliant, NYC code compliant). He also provided a picture showing the sample floor covering in an elevator with trim and walls the same colors of Highview's. Board members thought it a good choice, but await guidance from the committee (Stefanie Greenberg, Sanchie Bobrow, Tamara Keshecki, and Jill Bellini). In the meantime, the Board agreed to post the samples in the mailroom display box for resident comment.
c) Repair of the front wall foundation leaks was authorized to proceed. The work will require excavation in front of the building. A landscaping committee will be recommended at next week's annual meeting to make a final recommendation on whatever replacement landscaping is required. Since the landscaping would be disrupted, authorization had been delayed earlier in the year pending end of the NYC draught emergency.
d) J.A.L. will have the carpets cleaned at the end of October.
VI. Miscellaneous: The annual General Membership Meeting will be held on September 17, 2002. The building's attorney and auditor will both be in attendance.
VII. New Business:
There was no new business.
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 10:00 p.m.
Board of Directors
c/o Mr. Robert Boynton, President
Highview CondominiumII
850 Howard Avenue
Staten Island, New York 10301Dear Mr. Boynton:
Per your request, I am writing to clarify the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) required Supplemental Schedule of Future Major Repairs and Replacements. The purpose of this required study is to provide owners with an estimated time frame for fixture repairs and replacements so that the necessary funds can be reserved.
A study would especially assist the condominium association since it does not have the ability to obtain financing for major repairs and replacements because the items needing repairs and/or replacements are not owned by the condominium association. Rather, they are owned by the individual owners, thus requiring them to personally raise the monies for capital assessments. The overall benefit in having a study performed is so that adequate plans and preparations may be made for future capital replacements.
If you have any questions regarding the above information, please contact me.
Very truly yours,
John M. Shall, CPA
1675 Richmond Road, Staten Island. N.Y. 10304 Tel: 718-351-2233 Fax: 718-979-2425 Email: info@dkscpa.corn www.dkscpa.com