Minutes, Management Committee, Tuesday, October 15, 2024, 7:00-9:35 pm

Topics: Laraine's heat pump, putting decks back on

Present: Ben, Cheryl, Kerry, Jorge, Joe (until 9:30), Kay (notes), Laraine (until 7:45)

Decision: Replace east hall furnace; don't do heat pump at this time.

Action Items

• Laraine will make appointment for her contractor to meet with Management.
  
• Ben will send the link to the budget draft to management members. 
  
• Jorge will work on year-to-date report.
• Jorge will send Ben year-to-date and estimated year-end reserve expenditures.
• Have a skeleton budget draft to present at 1st meeting in November.
• Get two more bids for furnace.
• Cheryl will compile list of projects for coming year.

Vinnie is stepping down from convener as Maintenance Committee.

Stucco alternative contractor wants to know the estimated square footage of the other bids so they are bidding on the same area.

Laraine's heat pump

Laraine's heat pump cooling system cut out five times during the peak heat.  Jeremy came out every time & finally figured that its exhaust was bouncing off the eaves & being sucked back in, and it's in the sun. He suggests it be put under the window of the utility room. It needs two feet clearance all the way around.  They will move it for free.

Field trip to look at the space. Also looked at space around Joe's unit. Discussed options. Moving it to the far end of her space means running the pipes all the way.  Moving it outside the fence would require ripping out some bushes, doable but undesirable. Moving the gate would be a lot of work & the HVAC company probably wouldn't want to do that.

Make an appointment, Wednesday or Thursday if possible.

Gutter Warranty

As gutters were being replaced unit owners who have gutter guards were asking if they would be reinstalled.  Vinnie says screwing anything to the gutter voids the warranty -- check this with the gutter company. Seems unlikely or gutter guards wouldn't exist. The guards that Ben & Cheryl checked weren't angled correctly.  The previous gutter work pulled them all off and had to be forced to put them back on, probably not correctly. If we allow gutter guards, we should probably specify a brand & contractor.

Putting the decks back

Is the Association responsible to put the decks back on or the owner?  Owners are responsible for the deck; the stringers/strusses/joists are structural removing the decks was required by the association. Some of the joists are not in great condition. 

The assn will modify any joists that have to be to fit, since it would be necessitated by the change in roof material. 

While reassembling them, take step by step pictures.

Storage Bin.  The owner is responsible for the boards; the association is responsible for the membrane; who is responsible for the joists? When discussing changes to CCR next year, decide who is responsible for deck joists, that is, the board supporting the deck. 

Budget Review & Book-keeping

Most committee have not submitted budget requests, which Is Not Helpful.

• Project reserve expenditures at least next year, ideally over ten years
  
• Where we are year-to-date with expenditures, under or over
• What to do do about pay or play
• Tally of guest room fees ($990 so far)
  
• Tally of fund-raising

The change to a reinvestment fee was budgeted this year but didn't happen

We've had one title company that objected to savings being included in the budget, but that was one case out of maybe a hundred sales. 

Q. Is Fund-Raising likely to sustain its momentum? A. Kerry:  They've got a lot of plans, so yes.

The last person to use the TV set it to show a keyboard on screen, and we don't know how to get rid of it.  :(

Ben will send the budget draft to management members.  Don't edit the percentage field; it is a formula that calculates fees to match expenditures.

Jorge will work on year-to-date report.

Last year used $8K from the float for the reserve rather than including the full $60K in the budget. That isn't sustainable year after year.

QuickBook charge 1% on incoming payments. Doesn't apply to all income; 2 households pay by check.C Make that a line item in the budget? Find an existing line it fits?

Pay or Play

Could we have pay or play be an honor system, with no reporting? That's how we did it for ten years, and there was considerable feeling it wasn't working well.  Our current consensus agreement is that it is required, and going back to an honor system would require new consensus.  We need to be issuing invoices.

Eighteen units have failed to report hours at least one month in the past year. Joe is currently tabulating participation.  Ben has a new spreadsheet he is working out.

Suggestion:  Do invoices from the first of the year.  Allow people to petition that they did do work.  After that if you don't log your hours you owe. Or allow late reporting within the thirty days following the invoice but not six months later. 

Just like with late fees, it could still be waived if you persuade Management you had a good reason. 

A lot of people's fees are auto-pay.  Would pay-or-play fees be automatic? No, a check. Only households that know they will always pay would want it set up to be automatic.

Furnace

HVAC contractor who gave us a quote for a heat pump in the east hall recommends a furnace as backup for very cold weather when the heat pump can't keep up.  Get two more quotes; don't do heat pump at this time.