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 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!

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.

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.

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).

I reported on the flood in 4923-T7 (already reported on this site), and an additional flood next to Mindy’s unit (broken water shut-off).

Financially, January showed a surplus and we made some progress in delinquencies, but I did a gas bill reconciliation and found some missed payments that need to be taken care of.  Since TTS and TTG share a single gas meter, any error may be assumed to be the other association’s fault until someone takes the time to reconcile it.  I reported that we opened two new CDs in February, replacing one that matured, but now I am disappointed to learn that the CD purchase is still in the works.  Unfortunately, rates continue to drop, too, so I am anxious to get it done.

Mindy reported that she had greatly improved the aesthetics of the on-site office, by re-arranging furniture, removing clutter, using materials found in the shed and adding silk flowers. It looks great, and not much money was spent. She also proposed a prepaid cell phone for the site office, which was approved.

I reported on the pool committee, which plans to do the necessary drain modifications and whitecoating (which has already been reported on this site.) The first pool invoices are in process.

Jason provided an extensive site management report. He:

• Reported a number of unit sales and move-ins
• Downgraded the Cox Internet service, producing considerable savings.
• Finalized cancellation of the grounds vendor and start of new grounds service (ProGrounds)
• Is planning completion of about a dozen outstanding furnace inspections
• Disposed of discarded items being held in the shed (mattresses, etc.)
• Organized unit files

He is also considering a community survey and improved welcome packages.

It was also proposed that the site office obtain pricing for routine extermination of buildings as a preventive measure.  (Note: I later learned of another association that combines extermination with plumbing inspections – not a bad idea. I’m not sure we need all those exterminations but perhaps some do.)

OLD BUSINESS

The board approved staying with the current trash contractor, who provided improved terms.  That contract, I am happy to report, has been negotiated and finalized.  We obtained additional recyclers, pickups three times per week, and one free bulk pickup per month, and so far it seems to be working well.

The board was unhappy with billing by its snow removal contractor and planned to work to resolve the issue.

I reported on the insurance issue. Our insurer had asked us to rewire the complex due to aluminum wiring. We had an electrician sample the units and common areas and found no aluminum wiring.  The insurer also was interested in our investigating exit signs and emergency lighting, which we plan to look into.

We had also drafted a new contract with our janitorial contractor and it is under review.  The maintenance contract remains to be drafted.

NEW BUSINESS

The board approved servicing of the fire extinguishers.  We discussed the terms of the towing contract and plan to finalize it.  The board plans to consider moving to full service management, as it is committed to improving service to owners and residents.  Emergency response continues to be an issue, particularly with regard to plumbing leaks.

PATH FORWARD

The next meeting will be Thursday, March 19, 2009.  The April meeting will also be on a Thursday.  In May, we will return to meeting on Wednesdays.

The 2008 season ended successfully and the association is in better financial shape than in recent years.

Plans for the 2009 season include whitecoating the main pool and the baby pool, and doing associated repairs and caulking.  Additionally, a Stingl switch will be installed at the motor, and approved frames and grates will be installed at the main and baby pool single drains.  This will provide compliance with the Baker Act, which covers drain modifications mandated by Federal law to prevent entrapment in drains.

The work will commence in March, 2009. The cost of the repairs is significant.  The association potentially deferred replacement of the diving board, which is cracked. It is possible that this may be done if we get a good price. Additional repairs will be done to lighting and plumbing, and replacement of the rope surrounding the pool.  The budget will still be tight, but progress is being made. The roof of the pool house has been replaced, the pool house has been painted, and this year the pool will be whitecoated.  Onward and upward.

I actually first got a call about the water heater having problems, but we now think that this was due to low water pressure caused by the flooded unit.  I called a contractor, who was  finishing up another job (there were many similar problems around the county).  We had to break into the unit, as we didn’t have a complete set of keys. Water was also flooding from that unit into the next condo.

He got there as quickly as he could, and discovered many pipe breaks.  He and helpers worked until 2:30 AM, and then came back the next day to finish the job.  We ripped out the sodden carpet and hired another contractor to extract water and dry out both condos.

We have not yet received the report from the insurance adjustor, but there is a lot of damage.  And this was so unnecessary.  It is terrible that some of these places sit empty when they could be rented, with the heat on!  Please, everyone, make sure your heat is on low if you are away or your place is vacant!

FY 2008 ended with a significant surplus, which is great because delinquencies continue to rise although some accounts have made progress.  The 2007 taxes have been filed, and the CD that was in Capitol’s name has been fixed. It is now in TTS’s name and TIN. The pool committee reported that it has requested that its management company get bids for necessary repairs in the spring. The pool committee will meet around Feb. 10th.

The fence near Ed Burgos’ unit has been fixed, as was the leak reported by John Sibenik.  The board voted to move forward with a change in trash contractor to AAA, but we’ve not done so yet.  PDS provided additional recycling bins in an attempt to keep us.   We decided to roll over a CD coming due in February, 1/2 for 3 years and 1/2 for 4 years to take advantage of higher rates.

The board voted to sign a contract with Pro Grounds for the grounds maintenance, for 2009 and 2010.  They will do a grounds cleanup in the spring, and we will schedule a walk-through with the grounds committee also.

The board passed a resolution reducing the move-in fee to $100 and required that it NOT be paid in cash to the site office, to provide more controls over the receipt of cash.

Owners were to be sent (and now have been sent) a new set of condo fee coupon books to correct an error on the treatment of late payments.

One important issue is that our insurance company, CAU, has written us with concerns about our wiring, emergency lighting, and exit signs.  We need to get some other opinions and bids on these items and will be developing our plan to address the issue.

The next meeting will again be on a Thursday, February 19, at 7:00 PM at the school. The pool meeting will be Tuesday, February 10, at the TTS site office.

That said, we do need to have a contract for ongoing, full service site management rather than financials-only site management. The board is proceeding in that direction.