Highlights from the 12/11 HOA general meeting

The official minutes from tonight's general HOA meeting should be available on this blog in the next week or so. In advance of the official minutes, below are a few highlights from tonight's meeting, attended by four board members (Rodger Morris not present), approximately 30 other residents, and property manager Claire Scott.

Preliminary announcements made:

• Garbage and recycling continue to be a problem. A few residents are dumping garbage down the chute that is either unbagged, or in paper bags, and these materials are creating an enormous mess in the compactor room. The board implored residents to follow the correct procedures for garbage and recycling.

• The HOA board is "engaging in talks" with the sales company to remove sales-related materials from the SE corner of the lobby (including the model of the building) and from the back portion of the community room. The hope is that once all of the sales materials are removed, plans can get underway for making those areas more amenable for resident use.

• The "Toys for Tots" drive has seen almost 100 toys donated from the building so far!

• The building manager and members of the parking committee will soon be directed to stop placing stickers on cars parked in unauthorized locations. Instead, the board will direct the building manager and committee members to place tickets from Republic Parking on these cars. The board wanted to make it clear that the building manager and committee members have always allowed cars a small amount of grace time after the 20-minute limit in the roundabout, before placing stickers or tickets. Remember, your car is being recorded on time-stamped video, so there is always a record of how long you have parked there. For background information on parking at The Esplanade, click HERE.

• The board recently met with the company responsible for cleaning the common areas of the building, and conveyed some resident concerns. If residents have further concerns about cleaning, please do not attempt to address these with the cleaners; contact the building manager or the property manager with your concerns.

• The board wished to convey that when communicating with the building manager, the property manager, or board members, either electronically or face-to-face, to please be courteous. The board noted that residents are unlikely to see positive results if they are abusive.

• A report was made by the Safety Committee, which will be addressed in more detail in a separate, upcoming blog post.

Notes on the ratification of the 2015 HOA budget:

• Regarding the proposed 9% increase in HOA dues for 2015, the board's position was that prudence would be best, and any less of a dues increase could put the HOA's reserve funds in jeopardy. The board weighed a variety of factors, including a $33,110 deficit from the 2014 budget; the need for several major upcoming expenditures (air conditioner repair, etc.); and budgetary advice from Association Reserves, Inc. (the company contracted to provide the building's reserve studies). Click HERE to see a summary of The Esplanade's reserve study.

• Some members of the board's Finance Committee (and other residents present at the meeting) voiced objection to the 9% dues increase. The Finance Committee calculated that a 4% increase in dues would be sufficient, with the option of increasing dues in future years left open if necessary. The Finance Committee pointed to the fact that current reserves equal 110% of the recommended amount, and argued that the association could safely allow those reserves to fall closer to 100%. Members of the Finance Committee also asked why their committee had not been allowed to give this input to the board prior to tonight's meeting, contending that they had made repeated, unacknowledged requests to meet with the board to discuss the budget. Click HERE to see the Finance Committee's calculations.

• Board members replied that they had read and considered, though not responded to, the Finance Committee's communications and suggestions. The board expressed appreciation for the Finance Committee, and said they simply did not feel there was enough time to fully explore the committee's suggestions before the ratification deadline. The board acknowledged that in the future, the Finance Committee should be more involved with budget planning, and their hope is that this will occur over the next year for the 2016 budget. For 2015, the board preferred a "better safe than sorry approach," and reluctantly opted for the dues increase of 9% as recommended by Association Reserves, Inc.

• One resident suggested a "middle ground approach" of increasing the dues by 6.5%.

• There was very brief discussion of other budgetary issues, with ultimately no changes made.

• After approximately 90 minutes of occasionally heated discussion, Board President Jose Rivera called for a ratification vote on the budget, as proposed, with the 9% dues increase. All present generally acknowledged that the vote was a moot point, as the budget would pass automatically without 82 "no" votes, and far fewer than that number of residents present. Click HERE to see the final 2015 HOA budget, and HERE to see the current balance sheet.

Please email the blog editor, or use the comments section below, to correct or amend any information in this blog post.