Highlights from the 6/8/17 HOA board meeting

The official minutes from the HOA board meeting on 6/8/17 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 four current board members; with Kelly DeLaat-Maher out for personal reasons. Property Manager Matt Brown and Building Manager Karen DeGraw were on hand. Approximately 8 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 noted some of this month's bills and payments that were made.

Old business:

• HOA board met in executive session
  The board met in an executive session on May 24 to finalize several decisions, which had been discussed at previous meetings. These decisions included moving forward on the deck-recoating plan for the summer, as well as the plan for securing elevators and strategic doors in the building with fob readers. Minutes of the May 24 executive session can be viewed on the Esplanade Documents Page, or by clicking HERE.
  

Committee reports:

• Finance Committee:
  Committee Chair Tim O’Donnell presented a written plan for transitioning the HOA's reserve funds into laddered CDARS. Per the board's request, the committee has set up a schedule for reinvestment of the HOA's reserves into higher-yielding CDs. The committee recommended a series of 3-year CDARS, "laddered" to mature every May in 3-year cycles. The new investments will ensure no risk, with a significantly higher rate of return than the current investments.
  
  The board again requested that Property Manager Matt Brown move forward with this plan to reinvest the HOA's reserve funds. It was suggested that he might compare rates for CDARS between Mutual of Omaha (where the funds are currently invested) with Commencement Bank (recommended by the finance committee). It was also noted that a portion of the reserve funds should be held out of CDARS, for more short term access. These funds should not exceed $250,000 in any one institution, so as not to exceed the $250,000 FDIC insurance limit.

• Safety Committee: 
• Committee Chair Pat Pound gave a brief report on the "confidence test" held on June 5. At that time, a building-wide test was done to make certain that emergency systems all come online when power to the building is cut. Pat and Karen reported that all systems seemed to function as expected.
• Pat also expressed appreciation for the board, and Karen, on moving ahead with several building security matters: activating fob readers in the elevators, installing fob readers on strategic doors, converting the SE stairwell door in P1 into an "emergency exit," and replacing exterior lever handles. For a more comprehensive explanation of building security issues, please read THIS.

• Social Committee: No report.
  

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.

• Deck resurfacing update
  Karen reported that the contractor has rescheduled the deck resurfacing. Scaffolding will be erected on July 6th and 7th, and deck resurfacing work will begin July 10th. The windows will be washed beginning August 7th. It was decided that pressure washing the building's exterior was best put off for a later date.

• Festival of Sail security measures
  The board has decided against the hiring of a security service during the upcoming Festival of Sail on June 15-18. Instead, the upper garage door will be closed on those days, and the traffic circle will be barricaded. These measures should help to keep festival attendees away from the building, along with "No Public Restrooms" signs to be posted on the front and side doors. However, the most crucial security measure during the festival will be the vigilance of residents in NOT allowing non-residents into the building. The board asks that all residents please refrain from allowing those without keys to follow you into the building. If you are uncomfortable with the confrontation this may entail, remember that if you see non-residents waiting at a door, you can always walk around to another door. 

• Cleaning of lower garage and decluttering
  Karen is currently working on scheduling a vacuuming of the lower garage. In conjunction with that, some "decluttering" of the garage is also in progress: Many bikes have been moved to the new bike storage room. Additional hooks for hanging bikes have recently been installed in that room, as well as in the north storage corridor. A new kayak rack will soon be installed on the wall at the north end of the P1 garage, where several kayaks are now hanging. The new rack will accommodate more kayaks, allowing them to be moved out of parking spaces.
  
  According to the building rules, residents are generally not allowed to clutter up parking spaces with storage of miscellaneous items, except in cases where special permission has been specifically granted due to unique configuration of the spaces.
  
  

• Possible drip system installation
  Karen is looking at the possibility of installing a drip irrigation system for the large concrete planters in the traffic circle.

• Ad hoc decor committee forming
  An ad hoc committee is being formed specifically to provide input to the HOA board for interior decoration updates and changes. If you are interested in participating on the committee, please contact Karen. Interested parties will be notified on the date and time of the meeting.

New business: None

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 question was asked regarding the scheduling of deck resurfacing for units with two decks.