The Talltree South Board met on June 10, 2009, and had a very productive meeting.  June was the first month that we had financial reports from Cardinal.  Delinquencies are up due to the transition; we will need to monitor the situation.

A request was made that management review signage on the property, to make it easier for people to find the correct address.  This includes signs showing the unit numbers on the back / terrace level, to better identify the office as 4903-T5 Americana Drive, and to provide directions to individual buildings.  If we fix that, it will be fixing a problem that has persisted for many years!

A new Action Request Form has been instituted.  It can be used for reporting a problem or anything that needs to be done.  The board approved putting holders for these forms in the laundry rooms, so everyone can find them when they need them, fill them out and put them into the office mail slot. This way, we will keep better track of things that need to be done.  A notice should be put on the bulletin boards so that people know where to find the forms.

The board considered painting bids, and made the decision to go with Ploutis.  (Note: since then, their entire schedule has been delayed due to the rainy weather; now it seems that the actual painting will start in August.)

A contract was also approved for cleaning the downspouts and gutters, including removing and cleaning out all elbows.

The picnic table purchased in the fall has been located and will be installed. In addition, the tree slices in the back will be removed, as will some dead trees and branches.

The finance committee planned to meet on June 20th to review investment plans.

The May 27, 2009 meeting was later in the month than typical due to scheduling issues.  Starting in June, 2009, Board meetings will be held on the second Wednesday of each month.

The May meeting was the first meeting with Rick Balzhiser, our new property manager from Cardinal Management Group.  He produced an wonderfully complete board package and distributed it by e-mail ahead of time as well as providing hard copies.  Despite operating on emergency lighting (lights were out in Annandale for some reason), the board meeting progressed pretty much as normal.  Minutes of prior meetings were approved, financial reports from Armstrong were reviewed, and a preliminary administrative calendar was discussed.

Talltree South is running in the black, even though a number of invoices have not yet come in or been processed.  We are making slow, steady progress in reducing delinquencies, at least holding our own.  We will know more after the financials are transitioned to Cardinal this month.

In the Owner Forum, it was noted that an antenna repair may be necessary in 4905.  The site office has instituted a new Action Request form to encourage documentation of requests for repairs, recording of incidents, and noting violations. The new forms will be available in the site office and in the laundry rooms.

A representative from CertaPro painters made a brief presentation to the board.  Several bids were received and additional bids are forthcoming, so the Board deferred its decision on exterior painting until the meeting on June 10, 2009.  The site office will check references and prepare an analysis of the various bids.

The board passed two adminstrative policy resolutions updating prior resolutions:  (1) synchronizing our collection policies with Cardinal’s practice, and (2) updating our policy on patios and balconies to be more explicit. These policies will be sent to owners shortly, but contact the site office if you need a copy right away.

The board decided to change its master insurance to coverage recommended by John Manougian Insurance. This change results in better coverage for a lower price than our prior carrier.

In addition, the board approved a proposal by Virginia Contracting to install dryer vent covers to keep out squirrels, and raised an issue with regard to getting the new picnic table installed. The finance committee will also meet to discuss re-investing the CDs maturing in July and August.

The meeting ran a bit late, but hopefully we will do better next time.  Onward and upward!

Insurance Presentation

At the April 16, 2009, the first part of the Talltree South Board Meeting was a presentation by John Manougian of Manougian Insurance Agency, Inc. made a presentation on condominium insurance and answered questions. He had a great deal of experience in the condominum insurance business.

Items he mentioned that I found interesting included the fact that more than half of condominium owners do not carry insurance on their individual units.  I found this rather shocking, as I always make a point of having insurance on my unit and want my tenants to have renter’s insurance as well.  I remember when we had the fire in 2004 and discovered that many owners and renters did not have insurance, and wanted the board to put them up.  Had they had insurance, that could have covered them. Without it, all we could do was refer them to the Red Cross.  Even though they could not live in their unit, and many lost their possessions, they still had to pay their mortgage and condo fees. That’s not a good position to be in, particularly when insurance is not very expensive to begin with.

Mr. Manougian also stated that effective March 1, 2009, FNMA was requiring owners who purchase or refinance to present evidence of insurance.  We really should have him explain this in a newsletter article in the near future.  FNMA also has requirements in terms of the number of rental units vs. owner-occupied units; we need to check on the exact ratio requirements.

President’s Report

The move to Cardinal Management Group will be effective May 1, 2009.  New coupon books will be issued. The site manager will stay Jason Smith, but he will be augmented by Rick Balzhiser, who currently also manages our sister property, Talltree Gardens. We are already using their emergency phone number.

Financial reports were received just prior to the meeting, so had not been analyzed in detail, but the association was within budget. Delinquencies were holding steady, but at least not climbing.

No minutes have been received so none were reviewed and approved.

Pool Association

The whitecoating and pool repairs have been completed. New pool furniture has been ordered. The new pool rules were discussed, including limiting the number of passes per unit and reducing the price of guest pass fees. The next pool association meeting will be June 9, 2009.

Grounds Maintenance

• The bench near the tot lot will be replaced by a new bench purchased last fall.  Tumbled wood chips should be installed soon if they have not been already.
• Some dead limb and tree removal should also have been done by now.
• The trash enclosure nearest the pool will be replaced.

Site Manager’s Report — Jason Smith

• Fire extinguisher inspection and maintenance has been performed, under budget. Furnace inspections are still coming in and those remaining will be handled as violations.
• “Tips to avoid towing” signs have been posted in all buildings as of a few weks ago, and they direct new move-ins to the site office to get tags and stickers. Fewer people are being towed.
• The storage room door of 4915 was secured promptly.
• Approximately 30 violation letters have been sent and will be followed up on. Additional ones are in process. An official “complaint” or “incident notice” form has been drafted and will be finalized and distributed.

New Business

• Street sweeping — the bid by ProGrounds to sweep the streets was approved. Street sweeping will be done in early May.
• Bids for exterior painting will be obtained in the coming month, including painting and necessary repair of balconies, window trim, furnace room doors, and exterior doors. It will include glazing, framing, caulking, etc., and will be done one building at a time.  It will include separately priced vent repair and painting, and railing painting. We will get about six bids and select the best.
• Pool pass applications, guest pass applications, and pool rules will be distributed. When pool passes are received, they will be distributed to residents whose units are current on their condo fees, up to 5 per unit. Additional pool users may purchase guest passes. No passes will be for sale at the pool.
• Concrete repairs will be considered.
• Move-in fees will be invoiced on units that are sold.  We will amend the move-in policy to incorporate this.
• Our collections policy will be revised to be synchronized with the shift to Cardinal Management Group.
• We will develop a policy of no smoking in hallways, storage rooms, and laundry rooms.

The next board meeting will be deferred to May 27, 2009, due to schedule conflicts. Subsequent meetings will be the 2nd Wednesday of each month.

On April 7, 2009, the South Fairfax Heritage Recreation Association B (”Rec B”, also known as the Pool Association) met at the Talltree Gardens offices.  Attendees included Dorothy Firsching, representing Talltree South (TTS), Ed Smith representing Talltree Gardens (TTG), Bob Shannon of TTS, Mindy Culver of TTS, Jason Smith, the TTS site office manager, Kathy DeLaney, the TTG site office manager; John Termini of Hadrian Management; Jenn Jespersen of Continental Pools, and Jason Lockard, aso of Continental Pools. Susan Neff of Maplewood was absent.

Over $25,000 of repairs and replacement parts have been approved to date, and the white coating of the main and baby pool, installing trim and transition tiles, redoing the expansion joint, installing the Stingl Switch, etc. have been completed.  Initial payments have been made. Replacement of the diving board has been deferred to next season due to lack of funds. Some electrical and plumbing repairs have been made to the pool house. As of the meeting, the foot shower near the pool house was still leaking, but will be repaired.

Existing pool furniture has been evaluated and broken furniture has been either discarded or stored for re-strapping. Purchase of the budgeted amount, $2000, of new commercial-grade pool furniture was approved, including tables and umbrellas and a few chairs, and a lifeguard umbrella. We have usable chaises; more will be replaced or added next year.

Pool pass rules were discussed and updated. For the 2009 season, adults will be age 18 and up; teens will be ages 14-17, and children up through age 13.  Each unit will be limited to five pool passes; any remaining pool users for that unit are welcome to purchase guest passes.  Guest passes are $20.00 per 10 visits. Units that are current may purchase an unlimited number of guest passes.

Updated pool rules were discussed and will be posted at the pool in English and Spanish.

Complete minutes of the meeting, pool pass applications, guest pass applications, and pool rules are available at the TTS and TTG site office, or the Maplewood pool representative.

The next pool association meeting will be June 9, 2009.

At the March 19, 2009 board meeting, we announced that we were moving back to full service management as of May 1, 2009. The contract is being finalized.  New coupons should go out in April.

It looks like we may have turned the corner on delinquencies, and we are running a small surplus before catching up some old unpaid bills.

The whitecoating of the main pool and baby pool have been completed, as have some pool repairs, so the pool should be sparkling this year.

We are holding a volunteer clean-up on Saturday, March 21, at 10:00 AM.  Meet at the site office, and bring your gloves and trash bags. Pizza afterwards with your neighbors.  ProGrounds has already done some spring clean-up and mulching and it looks good.  They will also be adding wood chips to the tot lot and cleaning up some tree limbs.

Fire extinguishers are being serviced, the towing contract has been signed, and a new trash contract has been signed with PDS.

Next month, we will consider painting and insurance bids, and updates to our collections policy and leasing policy.  It’s looking pretty good.  The next meeting will be Thursday, April 16, 2009, and then we will be shifting back to Wednesday meetings (or as agreed with the new management company).