March 17 Meeting

Attending:

Corinne Getchell (MA) --Modica Associates

Yelena Chigirinskaya (YC) --Trustee, Queensberry Condominium Trust

Douglas McClennen (DM) --Trustee, Queensberry Condominium Trust
Bill Gentz (BG) --Trustee, Queensberry Condominium Trust

Distribute to:

Kristen Lipstreuer (KL) --Trustee, Queensberry Condominium Trust

David Sherf (DS) --Trustee, Queensberry Condominium Trust
107 Mail Room for general information
111 Mail Room for general information

Structural Needs Assessment Report
An independent engineer provided a report on the masonry work. In general everything was done well. Dave Modica will review the report and email the board his comments. The report points out a few oversights (e.g. page 10, photo 6, shows that the 111 Jersey entrance cornice has not been repaired). Chicarelli & Pires was paid all except $10,000. MA will continue to withhold the $10,000 until the items pointed out by the independent engineer’s report are fixed.
MA to check on when we last looked at the building settlement points.

Second Means of Egress
Same.

Window Replacement
Still waiting on refund from Hadco. Logan Grates will fix the grids.

107 Laundry Room Floor
ALS (Automatic Laudry Services) came and looked at the floor. ALS will give us $750 to fix the floor. When the floor is removed, we will need to investigate the drain pipes underneath to see if larger pipes have to be installed.
Our contract with ALS does not expire until 2014. Laundry breakdown: 55% to ALS, 45% to QCT.


Bad Smell in 107
The smell is still there, but not as bad. In February, John’s Sewer snaked the main sewer line in 107. The line has a few dips where water holds and at 83 feet line is possibly rotted at bottom. Also the 3 stacks on the roof were video inspected. The stack on the right has a small hole at about 48 ft from the room. Clean out is at 51 ft (white color). Doug inspected the Is the hole in the stack a possible cause of the smell, and can the hole be fixed? Inquire the drain companies. MA to ask Dave Modica and a plumber take a look and provide feedback on the video? Inquire about the possible rotted sewer line. After reviewing the video, DM thought that the middle pipe might also not be draining properly and maybe the cause of the smell.


Dead Tree in Front of 107
Same.

Torn Carpet in the Basement
AJ Rose Carpets will look at the problem this week. MA to ask them for a recommendation to possibly tear out that section of the carpet and replace it, or cover it with a “throw” type carpet matt.

2008 Financials
Bill is working with Modica's accountant to straighten out and simplify our financials. MA to send out the trustee ballots to the owners by mail (no quorum at the annual meeting), together with the financials in about two weeks.

Landscaping
The board is again reviewing the landscape design.

These minutes are written to Yelena’s best recollection. Please notify her of any discrepancies immediately.

Entrance Lobbies

Suggestion to restore the front lobbies: replace the aluminum doors with wooden ones similar to the ones that were there originally; remove the wooden side panels.

Security Cameras

Suggestion to install security cameras.

(05/19/2009) A system can cost anywhere between $4000 and $15000. Some of the variables are whether the system is digital; how an incident is handled; who would review the recordings. Once a system is installed the options are to sign up for a maintenance plan or to pay a fee to review the recordings when an incident occurs. Further investigation of cameras installation will be put on hold until the 107 laundry room floor issues are resolved.

(06/16/2009) Doug to investigate WiFi camera.

(08/18/2009) Doug did some investigation on the cameras, and found that the association can get 5 WiFi cameras for about $500. Anyone can access the cameras if he/she knows the IP address and the password. The ongoing cost would be electricity and IP address. This is not a high priority, so the item will be moved to the Long Term projects list. This project may be coupled with redoing the front doors.

Gas Furnaces

There are 2 different gas furnaces. They heat the basement units and the water for the building. Both are over 30 years old—over their life expectancy. They are serviced twice a year (beginning and end of the heating season). These can possibly be replaced with one large more efficient furnace.

February 24 - Annual Meeting Of Unit Owners

Financial Review (at close of January 2009)

Operating : $ 444.94

Reserve: $56,077.90

A/P: $62,274.79 ($50K payable to Chicarelli & Pires and $12,274.79 to the Reserve Account)

- details will go out to the owners after the board reviews





2008 Year End Figures

- owners (Paul) request a revised/decipherable YTD Actual/YTD Budget that reflects 12 month totals (collected/spent/etc), not the 18 month project (How much expected to come in? How much actually came in, etc?)


Other questions on the financial statement:

- Transfer to Reserve-Assessment line --> confusing
- From Reserve
- Other Income

- Suggestion to separate out regular budget from the temp. fee increase and masonry costs



2009 Budget

- March is the last month of the temporary fee increase
- The condo fees go back to their original levels--no fee increase for 2009

- Q: Who pays for the water used by the laundry machines
A: The association does.

- Q: What kind of warranty (# of years) does Chicarelli provide on their work?
A: The information is in the spec--what kind of mortar was supposed to be used, etc.


- Bank Charges should be $0, because we switched banks
- Insurance was locked in for 3 years

- Q: When were the boilers replaced? Teddy thinks about 10 years ago. Doug thinks that information is noted on the boiler.

- Q: What is the breakup between water and sewer
A: Sewer is about twice as much as the water

- Q: What is the purpose of having a higher reserve
A: Emergency funds, guidelines for associations

- Q: What is the projected reserve total for the end of the project/temp. fee increase (end of March)? What is the projected reserve total for the end of 2009? What was the reserve prior to the temp. fee increase?



Masonry Project Review

- Engineer did a walk through, the board just received the report
- The report will go out to the owners with the minutes from this meeting
- From all the work that was done, we only had one add-on for $3600 (fire escapes)



Old Business

Window Grids on Garden Level Bedroom Windows have been fabricated and are ready for installation, weather permitting. Access to units will be required to ensure safety lock operates correctly. Cost is $3,150.00 installed.



New Business

- Heat
-- What happened with the heat in December?
-- Strange, that only one person complained

- 107 Laundry room floor
-- We are aware of the problem with the floor, and the laundry company is working with us to redo the floor
-- Q: Are dryer connections up to code?
-- The laundry company services the machines, but the management/association has to clean the dryer vents

- Drain in the courtyard in the wrong place, and the courtyard tends to flood

- Max noticed the 107 smell (107-11)

-- 107-7 owner also noticed the smell

- Max noticed an infestation of mice in his unit (107-11). He set out some traps, and the mice have gone away. If the problem reoccurs, Max will notify Modica for the unit to be treated.

- Need to add the TO DO list to the blog



Election of Trustees

Board Members Douglas McClennen, Helen Chigirinskaya, Bill Gentz, Kristen Lipstreuer and Dave Sherf have all volunteered to serve another one-year term. Modica did not receive any trustee nominations.

- Teddy volunteers to be a trustee