Washington’s Headquarters Homeowners Association
Annual Meeting, August 3, 2006 at 8:00 p.m.
Doubledays, Dobbs Ferry
Attending: Eli Cohn, Elly Cohn, Ray Fattorini, Anne Tannenbaum, Cheryl Leban, Catherine Louca, Ellen Meyer, Sabin Meyer, Lauralynn O’Halloran, Martha Parke, Rob Parke, David Schoen, Anne Winston, Stan Winston, Donna Zimmerman, Gary Zimmerman, Connie Vegaga, David Palaia, Fred Gottlieb, Bernice Gotlieb
Steve Fanelli – Bay Management
Proxy Statements: Dale Greenwald, Herbert and Mary Donavan
Board President: Lauralynn O’Halloran presided.
The air-conditioning was not working in the Library so the meeting was reconvened in Doubledays which was significantly more comfortable.
Minutes: The minutes for the 2005 Annual Meeting were approved as circulated.
Annual Report
Lauralynn O’Halloran discussed upcoming maintenance on the property. She said that the exteriors off the all units would be painted in the fall. Bay Management currently had 3 bids to repair the woodwork and redo all the white paint areas. Currently she is not expect that the painting would include the areas of black paint but the Board would reconsider this based on recommendations by Bay management after a walk through of the property. She encouraged homeowners to bring to the attention of Bay Management any areas on the exterior of their unit which would need particular attention. She said that Bay Management would notify homeowners of when to expect the painters in their unit.
Gary Zimmerman said that he would provide names top Bay Management of painters so that they could solicit additional bids.
David Schoen urged Bay Management to carefully check the references of the painters to ensure that we got a quality job. He said that price should not be the sole consideration for choosing the contractor.
Ray Fattorini said that the shingles on the mansard roofs of most units would need to be replaced soon. . These were the responsibility of the homeowners but he was investigating options for homeowners to have this done as a group. David Schoen urged the Board to issue guidance on the minimum requirements for replacing the shingles so that if an individual homeowner decided to undertake replacement that a consistent standard and appearance was maintained. Ray said he intended to send this to homeowners.
Steve Fanelli said that because of changes in workers compensation insurance coverage the landscapers no longer cleaned out the drains and gutters. This was obviously important and he was getting quotes from contractors that would undertake this on a regular basis.
A number of homeowners complained about the quality and expense of the landscapers. Lauralynn said that Bay Management was investigating alternatives.
Lauralynn said that the Association was waiting for approval from Dobbs Ferry to remove the tree along Broadway along the tennis court fence. Once this was received Rayol Tree service would be on the property to remove that tree, the stump in the circle near the exit and another tree near unit 1. Fred and Bernice felt that the tree near unit 1 needed to be trimmed and not removed and would contact Bay Management with the name of another tree care company. The town was meeting by mid August so it was important that they did this quickly if they wanted the tree to be considered for trimming instead of being cut down.
Swimming Pool
Lauralynn said that the pool and pool buildings were in need of major repairs and that many homeowners felt that it was important to maintain the pool in prime condition. To address this the Board had appointed a Pool Subcommittee had been formed which include Cheryl LeBan, Sabin Meyer, Dale Greenwald, Lauralynn O’Halloran and Catherine Louca. The subcommittee had met on a number of occasions to develop a plan for repairing and upgrading the pool. Catherine Louca reported that Subcommittee decided that this was a large job and should be approached in phases.
Phase 1 – repairs to ensure that homeowners could continue to enjoy the facility in the near term. The existing pool structure and drains were sound but the deck and pool surface were in extremely poor repair. The first phase would include gunnite to the surface of the pool and, repairs to the stairs, decking and drains. This phase would cost approximately $70,000.
Phase 2 – address the structure, the iron work, mould and humidity.
Fred Gottlieb said he would join the Pool Subcommittee.
It was expected that the Board would come with a detailed proposal to homeowners in October requesting an assessment to cover expected costs so that Phase 1 could be completed before the end of the year and the pool would be ready for use next season.
Financial Report
Homeowners discussed the financial report and budget that Eli had sent to homeowners. Eli noted that there had been a significant increase in condominium expenses in the last year, particularly utilities, and with the current level of common charges the Association is not contributing to the reserve fund.
Rob Parke said that the property was now of an age that many of the Associations assets would need attention and limited provision had been made for these costs in the past. He had done some rough calculations and estimated that if the Association had a “fully funded†reserve fund it would currently amount to approximately $500,000. The reserve fund currently equaled approximately $50,000.
Homeowners discussed the relative merits of higher common charges and regular assessment. Bernice said that as a realtor she believed that continuing assessment were less desirable that higher common charges.
The Board asked for guidance from homeowners at the meeting about where to set the level of next years common charges. A vote was taken and there was a significant majority of homeowners that believed common charges should be increased by 15%. This was higher than the 10% already suggested by the Board but most homeowners felt while assessments are expected in the short term that larger annual increases would help mitigate the need for possible future assessments.
Laurlynn said that because of repairs to the swimming pool that had been discussed earlier she expected that the Board would be seeking homeowner’s approval for an assessment of approximately $70,000 later this year. At that point homeowners would be provided with the specifics of the repairs on the swimming pool.
Elections
Elections were held to fill the seats of two board members whose terms had expired (Lauralynn O’Halloran and Dale Greenwald). Lauralynn O’Halloran and Mary Donovan were elected by acclamation
Board Meeting
The Board met briefly after the homeowners meeting to appoint the slate of officers. For the following year these are:
President – Lauralynn O’Halloran
Vice-President – Cheryl Leban
Treasurer – Eli Cohn
Secretary – Rob Parke
Based on the guidance received from Homeowners the Board agreed to increase the common charges by 15% effective September 1, 2006.
Respectfully submitted,
Robert N Parke