Highlights from the 1/12 HOA board meeting

The official minutes from the HOA board meeting on 1/12/17 should be available HERE in the next couple weeks or so. In advance of the official minutes, below are a few highlights from the meeting, attended by all five current board members; Property Manager Matt Brown and Building Manager Karen DeGraw were on hand. Approximately 15 additional Esplanade residents were also present.


Treasurer's report:

• Board Treasurer Pat O’Donnell provided the balances in both the operating fund and the reserve fund. She also briefly discussed the HOA's insurance fund and several other expenditures of note. The HOA's finances seem to be in excellent shape, and the 2016 finances appear to be coming in slightly under budget, perhaps by 10 or 20 thousand dollars.

Committee reports:

• Finance Committee:
  Committee Chair Tim O’Donnell had no new items to report to the board at this time, although he did have a question or two about the timing of the HOA's annual audit, which is typically done in the spring.

• Safety Committee: 
  Committee Chair Pat Pound had no new items to report to the board at this time.

• Social Committee:
  Committee chair Sallie Zimmer had several questions and items to report, including:
• The Social Committee has now hosted two guest speakers in its series of "Esplanade Speaker Forums." These are not decision-making forums, but invited guest speakers. The next speaker, on 1/18/17, will be Norm Gollub, director of the Foss Waterway Development Authority, who will talk about development on the Foss.
• Sallie briefly summed up the the food drive in November and the "Toys for Tots" drive in December. Both initiatives were extremely successful and provided help to needy families in the area.
• Because of their outstanding fundraising efforts at the holiday basket auction, the committee is now holding over two thousand dollars in funds. Property Manager Matt Brown advised that a larger amount such as this should be held in the HOA's accounts, rather than in the personal account of a committee member. Matt explained that to avoid any appearances of impropriety, having the funds held by the HOA would be preferred; the committee agreed to turn over the funds, with the exception of a small petty cash reserve.
• A lengthy discussion was held concerning decor in the lobby and Community Room. For some years, the Social Committee has provided decorations for various holidays and seasons, in an effort to compensate for the lobby's relative sparseness and provide a warmer and more inviting environment. However, the board noted that such decor is a matter of personal preference, and not all will agree on its tastefulness. Furthermore, some decor poses inconveniences for cleaning and/or may require upkeep. It was decided that a separate meeting should be held to create reasonable guidelines for seasonal decor in common areas.
• The committee also proposed purchasing a card table for the Club Room, using Social Committee funds. Members of the board expressed concern about using committee funds for furniture, and also questioned if the scope of the committee's responsibilities included buying furniture. A board vote approved the purchase of the card table using general HOA funds, with the understanding that committee funds should be used for social gatherings.
• Sallie briefly outlined a planned "game night" for February 12; details will be forthcoming.

Building Manager's report:
Below are a few of the projects on which Building Manager Karen DeGraw is currently working. This is not a comprehensive list of all Karen is doing - it is merely a glimpse of a few projects.

• Poop DNA
  Karen reported that at the suggestion of some residents, she has done research regarding the costs and practicality of DNA sampling in order to identify and fine dog owners who do not clean up after their dogs. According to Karen, pet messes are a significant problem in the lobby, in hallways, and immediately outside the building. The practice of using DNA registration is becoming widespread in condo buildings, thanks to numerous commercial services such as THIS ONE. The board discussed the possibility of using such a service, but was unsure if dog owners could be compelled by rules and/or threat of fines to register their dogs' DNA. The board did ask Karen to more strictly enforce fines for dogs who are off-leash in and around the building.

• Replacing locks with fobs
  Karen also reported that she is working on gathering information and cost estimates for replacing the key locks with fob readers on some exterior doors. There would be several advantages to fobs over keys. Fobs cannot be copied as easily as keys, and there is no telling how many copies of our door keys are currently out in the world. Keys also deteriorate the locks over time - the front door lock has been inoperable on several occasions due to residents pulling the door open with their key. [For a more complete explanation of security issues in the building, please read THIS.] It has been noted that installing fob readers on a few doors might be only the first stage in a longer process of creating heightened building security.

• Heat in hallways
  Some hallways have been noticeably cold in recent days. After an attempt to repair the problem today, it was determined that another part is still needed. Hopefully the repair will be completed by early next week.

• Damage to walls in first floor hallway
  During move-ins and move-outs (which are far more frequent than many residents might realize), the damage to the walls in the first floor hallway is significant. Karen is exploring options for a decorative rail which would also serve as a "bumper" to cut down on holes on the walls.

Old business:

• General meeting and HOA board election will be 2/9/17
  On Thursday, 2/9/17, there will be a general meeting of the HOA to elect new board members. Dave Rodenbach, Debra Goodrich and Kelly DeLaat-Maher will all see their terms expire in March of 2017. Any HOA member who would like to run for a board position should contact Property Manager Matt Brown. Anyone running for a board position is invited to submit a written statement, and possibly a photo, to this blog for publication in advance of the election meeting. The board requested that the Social Committee provide hors d'oeuvres and drinks at the meeting.

New business:

• Electric car charging
  At the request of a resident, Karen has done some research and spoken with Republic Parking about the possibility of electric car charging stations. For a variety of reasons, at this time it does not seem feasible to install electric car chargers in either the upper or lower garages.

Resident questions and comments:

• A few clarifying questions were asked regarding items above, and that information has been inserted into the notes above where appropriate.
• A resident thanked the Social Committee for all of their work, but also wondered about the HOA's responsibility when serving alcohol at social events. The consensus of the board and the Property Manager was that such events would be adequately covered by the building's insurance.
• A resident inquired about the trailer that has been parked in the upper garage; Karen explained that the trailer is properly permitted for the area and the owner is paying for the space.
• Finally, a resident took the floor to staunchly declare that this is the worst-managed building he has ever seen. He was very upset about receiving a letter from management, informing him that bird houses/feeders on one's deck are prohibited. His birdhouse, he claimed, is merely "ornamental," and does not, in fact, house actual birds. Further evidence presented for management's ineptitude included: 1) Things in the building occasionally break, and 2) The elevators were shut down for three hours in the middle of a day last month for safety checks and service.