Highlights from the 10/12/17 HOA board meeting

The official minutes from the HOA board meeting on 10/12/17 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 four of the five current board members, with board President Kathryn Vernon out for personal reasons. Property Manager Matt Brown and Building Manager Karen DeGraw were on hand. Approximately 12 additional Esplanade residents were also present.

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.

• Repairs to hot water boiler
  Discolored hot water in the building this week was the result of sediment in the hot water boiler. Emails were sent to all residents keeping them updated as inspection and work occurred. To facilitate the repair, ALL water will be shut off from Monday, October 16th at 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. Tuesday morning. Residents will have NO water during this time and may want to keep some buckets of water handy, or put some in the tub, to use to brush teeth, flush the toilet, etc. Once the repair is made, water will be restored, but there will only be COLD water at that point. The boiler will then be drained, cleaned and refilled, which will take most of the day Tuesday. Hot water will hopefully be restored sometime Tuesday evening.

• Sidewalk repair on Dock Street
  Tree roots have pushed up some of the concrete slabs on the sidewalk outside the building on Dock Street. The hazardous slabs have been painted and taped off. Karen is in contact with the city regarding repair, the cost of which must be borne by the Esplanade HOA. Karen is finding that repairs to the sidewalk are complex, with many permits and entities involved. Current plans involve removing the northernmost tree by the bus stop, and replacing the southern tree by the driveway.

• Fobs
  Activating the fob readers in the elevators (during certain nighttime hours) is planned, but the work is not budgeted for this calendar year and will not happen until after January.

• Beautification of lower rooftop
  Karen is looking into different possibilities for cleaning the rocks and/or other beautification ideas of the lower rooftop. The rooftop is not accessible to residents, so any beautification would be purely aesthetic, not functional.

• Other miscellaneous work
  Additional tasks in progress include getting bids to paint trim/millwork in hallways; measuring for blinds in the Community Room; continued investigation into the water pooling in the SE corner of the P1 garage (this has been an issue for years, and many solutions have been tried - Karen believes she may have a solution); pressurization of a stairwell to meet fire suppression standards; etc.

Treasurer's report:

• Board Treasurer Pat O’Donnell provided the balances in both the operating fund and the reserve fund, noting some of this month's bills and payments that were made. Pat also reported that additional HOA reserve funds will mature next month, and will be ready to incorporate into the HOA's new laddered CDARS investment plan. (Per the board's request, the Finance Committee set up a schedule for reinvestment of the HOA's reserves into higher-yielding CDARS, "laddered" to mature in 3-year cycles.) Pat and Property Manager Matt Brown also reported that a draft of the 2018 HOA budget is in the works, and should be available to owners in the next several weeks.

Committee reports:

• Finance Committee
  No report at this time, however a Finance Committee meeting is scheduled for Thursday, 10/19 at 6:00 p.m. in the lobby. Anyone interested in serving on the committee is encouraged to attend.
  

• Safety Committee: 
  Committee Chair Pat Pound reported that the annual fire drill is planned for this Saturday, October 14 at approximately 9:30 a.m. For complete information on the fire drill, click HERE.
  
  Pat also reported on three other issues the Safety Committee discussed: 1) Requesting that Pierce County install a "lahar warning siren" somewhere closer to the Foss Waterway. Apparently existing sirens were installed before high-occupancy residences existed on the waterway, and while the Esplanade is in the danger zone for a lahar, residents cannot hear the nearest siren. 2) After some discussion regarding the emergency meeting point outside the building, the committee decided to leave the meeting point in the parking lot under the 15th Street Bridge, with the understanding that during an earthquake this is not the recommended evacuation spot. 3) Finally, there have been requests to install AED units (portable defibrillators) on every floor of the building, in addition to the one currently outside the manager's office in the lobby. In addition to cost concerns (approximately $1,200 for each unit) the committee is interested in knowing if the HOA bears any liability should a unit fail for any reason. [Editor's note: Some residents have asked about the operation of these units. They are astoundingly automated and self-correcting. To watch a brief video on the use of the AED, click HERE.]

• Social Committee:
  The Social Committee reported on a long list of plans for social events in the building. For an UPDATED list of tentatively planned events, click HERE. All social events can also be seen on the Esplanade events calendar, which can be seen HERE. Some upcoming social events include:
• 10/26 - Pumpkin carving party. Bring your own pumpkin(s) and tools, snacks and cider provided.
• 12/9 - Annual building Christmas party. There will be no auction this year, but plenty of food, drink and socializing.
• 12/12 - Christmas movie in the Community Room.
• Canned food drive in November and Toys for Tots drive in December.
• 1/17 - "Ladies Who Lunch"

Old business: None

New business:

• Residents encouraged to call 311
  Esplanade residents are strongly encouraged to call 253-591-5000 if any homeless encampments are seen in the neighborhood. [Also, there is a list of contact information regarding homeless encampments, graffiti, esplanade maintenance, etc. on the "Esplanade News" contact page, which can be seen HERE.]

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 ballots mailed out regarding a language change to the building's CC&Rs. (The change is to more specifically state the responsibility of the HOA's insurance policy and requires a vote of all homeowners.) Property Manager Matt Brown agreed to follow up with the individual homeowner who asked the question.