Highlights from the 4/11/19 HOA board meeting

The official minutes from the HOA board meeting on 4/11/19 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 four of the five board members, with Kelly DeLaat-Maher out for personal reasons. Approximately 25 additional Esplanade residents were on hand.

Treasurer's report:

• Board Treasurer Denice Faust provided the balances in the operating fund and the various reserve funds.
• Denice also addressed at length some recent homeowner concerns regarding the HOA's investment strategies. She pointed out that the board adopted an investment policy in 2016, which must be adhered to. The board discussed various pros and cons of changing its current investment strategies, and will consider resurrecting its finance committee to provide advice. Currently, the HOA's investments are administered by Condominium Management, which avoids some complications which might arise if board members themselves administered the investments. Also, changes to investments would need to be phased in, as the HOA's various CDARS come to maturation.

Committee reports:

• Safety Committee: No report at this time. The committee has not met in some months, and will be soliciting new members in the near future.

• Esplanade Outreach: This label will be used for the time being as an "umbrella" for various building efforts to improve and interact with the local neighborhood.
• The "Esplanade Neighborhood Litter Patrol" will meet this Saturday, 4/13, to clean up the area directly across Dock Street from our building (between the railroad tracks and Hood Street), as well as the A Street sidewalk leading up to the locomotive sculpture. Meet on Hood Street at 9 a.m. For more information, contact Lynn at lynnrdutton@aol.com.
• The "Friends of the Foss" neighborhood improvement group (not to be confused with the "Friends of the Foss" gardening group) is represented in our building by Tom Ebenhoh and a few others. Tom mentioned some activities this group is doing to improve the neighborhood, including free concerts on the esplanade this summer. The group requested a donation of $500 from our HOA. However, $700 of the HOA's $1,000 miscellaneous fund was recently spent to digitize the paper-only plans for our building. The board did, however, authorize the remaining $300 be donated to the FOF group.

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. (Report provided by Board President Margo Holm, in Karen's absence.)

• A Goodwill drop-off box is now located in our lower garage, on a trial basis. Residents are strongly advised to adhere to the guidelines for donations, if they wish the box to remain.
• Construction on circular driveway: Construction is currently suspended due to rainy weather, as well as the need for bids to install drains and waterproof covering. All attempts are being made to get to the concrete-pouring phase as soon as possible, however it is important that the underlying layers are installed properly and cost-efficiently.
• Parking in concrete circle: Eventually, cars will once again be allowed in the circle. At that time, enforcement of the parking/loading zone rules will be necessary. Karen has researched a device called a "parking barnacle," which may be used to fine offenders. You can see a video about how the barnacle works HERE.
• The water storage tank located under the entrance ramp to the upper garage has been cleaned, after a delay caused by overfill spillage.
• Exterior window washing: Normally we would be approaching the time for exterior window washing. However, it was found that the tie-downs used by the window washers for their ropes must be inspected every 10 years. Once the inspection is done, window washing can be scheduled.
• Once again, residents are reminded to please familiarize themselves with trash procedures in this building. For a comprehensive review of garbage and recycling at The Esplanade, click HERE.
• Also in the Building Manager's report: The recycling bin in the mail room was removed after a resident tripped on it, and it was determined to be a potential hazard. The padded elevator will be keyed to the first floor almost every weekend for move-ins and move-outs. A newspaper rack is now located in the lobby, to avoid the previous newspaper clutter.

Correspondence to the board:

• Letter from resident Tammi Jordan requesting the rooftop air conditioning unit be run during cooler weather. Currently the building's air conditioning is only on when the outside temperature is warmer. Tammi explained that it is difficult to cool their condo below the low 70's, which is not comfortable to them, and opening windows allows too much moisture and grit to enter. A discussion ensued regarding building-wide temperature settings; the expense and wear/tear of running the air conditioner for only a few units during the winter; etc. A few suggestions were made back and forth, although the matter was not resolved.

• Letter from resident Dennis Murray regarding the decorative rocks and other issues with the lower rooftop. Dennis had been commissioned by the previous HOA Board President to research solutions to the deteriorating, unsightly rocks. However, after contacting the board more recently, Dennis' services were apparently unneeded. At tonight's meeting, the board initially indicated that improvements to that roof in the near future would be too costly, particularly in light of all the money being spent on the concrete circle. Dennis made a few points in reply, including:
  
  > His research found that the board's preference for an epoxy coating would be ill-advised. It would be more costly than some better alternatives, and would cast heat and glare into residents' windows.
  
  > The delays in improvements to that roof have now spanned four board presidents, and keep getting pushed to the future in favor of other projects. Dennis warned that further delays could result in escalating repairs to that roof.
  
  After hearing Dennis out, the board reconsidered. Board President Margo Holm apologized for the misunderstanding; it seems that some on the board had thought that Dennis was seeking only aesthetic improvements, and had not understood the whole scope of his research on this project. The board agreed to meet to hear more about his research and proposals, and consider accelerating funds from reserves to address these issues.

New business:

• New HOA Board email address: [New business item brought up a meeting's end.] After several requests that homeowners have a more direct route of contact, an email address has been created specifically for the Board of Directors. Esplanadebod@gmail.com can now be used to contact the board. [See additional esplanade contact information HERE.]

• Recycling: Board member Pat Pound noted that in many cities nationwide, recycling programs are being scaled back, due to the lack of a market for selling recyclables. He raised the notion that our HOA may need to start considering alternatives, should the City of Tacoma follow suit. For example, will we need an additional compactor bin to handle more garbage, should recycling be scaled back by the city?

• Water meters for commercial units: The board would like to begin putting all four commercial units on their own water meters, rather than having those units using the common HOA water account.

• Pilera: It came to the attention of the board that at first glance, it appears on Pilera as though the most recently-updated meeting minutes and financial statements are from many months ago. In fact, minutes and financial statements are uploaded much more frequently. Homeowners must go to the "Community" tab, and click on "Document library" to see these items. The board is working with the Pilera webmaster to make the site more navigable.

Old business:

• Fines for garbage/recycling violations: The resident who was dumping trash in the P1 elevator foyer was recorded on video and has been fined. The board would like to discuss raising fines for garbage/recycling violations to $50 on first offense, $100 on second offense, and $200 and $300 on third and fourth offense.

• Holiday decorations: The board approved a previous request regarding changing, for next year, the date on which holiday decorations can be displayed - from "December 1" to "the day after Thanksgiving."

• New house rule regarding estate sales: A new house rule has been added prohibiting estate sales in the building. Individual items may still be sold by posting notices on the community bulletin board, but full estate sales must be moved to an off-site location. [Note that the "house rules" differ from the CC&Rs. The house rules are the board's interpretations of the CC&Rs, and can be changed by a simple board vote. Alteration of the CC&Rs requires a vote of all homeowners.] 

• Decorative dome/planter in circular driveway: [This has been an ongoing discussion at board meetings for some time.] Many residents have advocated for and against the silver dome's permanent removal. Some appear to believe the dome is aesthetic and classy, while others dislike its look, and have seen it attract skateboarders and bikers. It was noted that the dome could be judged an "attractive nuisance," which would make the HOA liable in the case of an injury sustained by a skateboarder.
  
  A previous suggestion which held some promise was that a concrete planter be constructed some feet off the ground, and the dome could be placed in the middle of the dirt, with plantings around. This might deter skateboarders, as well as satisfy those who want a planter as well as those who want to keep the dome. However, it is now believed that such a planter might need to be over four feet high to truly deter skateboarders - a height that seems both impractical and unaesthetic.
  
  Other recent suggestions have been made to put a flag pole in the center of the circle, or decorative metal art.

• Height restrictor for concrete circle: Consultations with the City of Tacoma have determined that in order to anchor a typical height restrictor, footings would have to be dug into the ground. However, no such footings are possible, since the area sits above the parking garage. One solution might be to consult with the metalworking departments of local technical colleges, to design a height restrictor which might be bolted to the concrete. Another possible solution might be a width restrictor rather than a height restrictor. 

Resident comments and questions:

• A few clarifying questions were asked, and discussion followed, regarding items above. That information has been inserted into the notes above where appropriate.
• One resident noted that the commercial unit(s) have been guilty of putting inappropriate items in the large recycle bins (even producing a box full of bubble wrap as evidence).
• Another resident informed the group that the city was considering disabling the elevator on the Murray Morgan Bridge during the late night/early morning hours, to discourage misuse.
• A resident informed the board that there seemed to be an inordinate number of birds roosting on the south side of the building, and inquired about plastic "spiky things" to discourage birds.