Posts under ‘Board Meeting Minutes’

Washington’s Headquarters Homeowners Association

Board Meeting

August 17, 2010

Present
Gary Zimmerman, Mick Cartwright, Toni Schoen, Ann Tannenbaum

Apologies

Eli Cohn, Sabin Meyer, Bernice Giscombe

Visitors
Cristina Bloise – Impact Management

Issues for the board or the management company can be emailed to board@washingtonshq.com, or telephone 914 512 8129.

The next meeting is the AGM, scheduled for September 14th, 8.00pm and will be held at the Dobbs Ferry Library.

The primary purpose of the meeting was to review the proposed document to provide clarifications to the by-laws to be presented at the AGM.  In addition to this the following topics were discussed.

Driveway

Toni presented an alternate blacktop repair technology that had been recommended to her.  Given that it is relatively new technology the board voted to proceed with the planned repairs using known technology instead.

The repairs will be carried out on Tuesday 24^th August.  There will be short periods when small areas of the driveway will be cordoned off, and you will need to avoid these.

The sealing work will be carried out on Tuesday August 31^st, with the potential for it to carry on into Wednesday September 1st.  During this time and for 24 hours after completion of the work, no one will be able to drive on the property.  We will need to plan in advance to park cars if they are needed on one of the surrounding streets.

As the sealant is applied, we need to avoid walking on the newly applied, still wet areas.   This will prevent you from getting the sealant onto your shoes and tracking it over flagstones, or into your house/car.

Please note also that the sprinkler system will be turned off from Sunday August 29^th for a few days to accommodate the work.

Gardening

When the fronts of some units were re planted following the losses suffered during winter 2009-10, Unit 5 was missed.  Anne will chase Carlos regarding this.

Snow Clearing

We will review the contract with Civitano to ensure that Calcium Chloride is used rather than the more damaging rock salt.

HOA Officers

Ann Tannenbaum was appointed as secretary to replace Rob Parke.

Any Other Business

All remaining item follow ups and other business was held over to the next meeting to allow time for discussion of the proposed document to provide clarifications to the by-laws to be presented at the AGM

Respectfully Submitted,

Mick Cartwright

Washington’s Headquarters Homeowners Association

Board Meeting

July 27, 2010

Present
Eli Cohn, Gary Zimmerman, Mick Cartwright, Toni Schoen, Ann Tannenbaum, Sabin Meyer,

Apologies

Bernice Giscombe

Visitors
Cristina Bloise – Impact Management

Issues for the board or the management company can be emailed to board@washingtonshq.com, or telephone 914 512 8129.

The next meeting is scheduled for August 17th, 8.00pm and will be held at unit 5.

Previous Minutes:

The Board approved the minutes of the last meeting.

Financials

We remain in a good position financially, but need to remain conservative in order to build up reserves in anticipation of future projects

Accompanying these minutes you will see the year end financial statement (our year runs to 6/30).  If anyone would like to examine the full details, please contact Eli Cohn for further information

Swimming Pool

Anyone still without the new key should contact Mick Cartwright (917 442 5366) to arrange to pick one up.

There are a number of drain covers around the pool surround which are rusted and need replacing.

ACTION:  Sabe and Cristina will chase H20 to replace these.

The lower removable windows have been replaced by screens, the upper ones still need doing.

ACTION:  Cristina will ask Sid to attend to this.

The thermostat controlled windows in the roof are not working.   Similarly the manually controlled side of the roof does not work.

ACTION:  Christina/Sid will check that all batteries etc are fresh on the thermostat and if this does not resolve the problem, will call in the repair company

ACTION:  Christina/Sabe will take a look at the manually controlled side and if necessary, call in the repair company.

The front door is showing signs of rust.  Mick will check in the records of the recent renovation work and contact the people who did the work to rectify this.

ACTION:  Mick

Sign In Book:  All residents are reminded that they must sign in using the book in the changing area when using the pool.  This is an important part of our permit to operate the pool without a lifeguard and may be checked on by Westchester County.

Tennis Court

The tennis court is now open.  As a reminder the combination lock is 18-20-6

We are investigating having the sprinklers cover the tennis court more frequently to avoid the surface deteriorating.

ACTION:  Mick

Gardening

Carlos and his team have been spoken to a number of times regarding our concerns and the service appears to have improved.  We will be reminding them to put furniture back in place after they have moved it to clear around it.    If anyone has any concerns please contact Anne (674 1117)

Furniture:  Two new benches will be ordered for the garden.  The existing furniture will be disposed of.

ACTION:  Mick

The tree from behind unit 19 has been removed, and the tree in front of unit 2 has been trimmed.  Before paying the invoice, we need to confirm that the trimming was done well enough.

ACTION: Cristina

Sabe mentioned that he may have details of a company based in Northern Westchester who may be a better alternative for future tree work.

ACTION:  Sabe to get contact details.

Anne got quotes for additional sprinklers to cover the area behind the tennis courts.  The cost is prohibitive and we are investigating whether existing sprinklers could be switched from directional to 360 degree to cover the area, or whether alternate ground cover could be used that does not need sprinklers to survive.

Drains Repair

The drainage behind units 9 – 13 has been repaired.

Outside Lighting

We continue to investigate the outside lighting to improve the illumination in the common areas.

ACTION:  Cristina to meet with electrician

ACTION:  Cristina/Sid to check all light bulbs.  Known as out are the lights by parking spaces 8/10

By Laws Review

All board members are requested to send additions, corrections and changes to the draft submission to Mick.   Mick will then compile and circulate for discussion at the next board meeting.

ACTION:  All to send notes to Mick

Driveway

We will be moving ahead with Tri State Asphalt.  Two speed humps will be installed as part of the work. The work will require us to park off site for a 48 hour period.    We will give as much notice as possible of the dates affected.

ACTION :  Mick to schedule work with Tri State.

We will be moving the sign for 4/5 parking to the area beside the swimming pool and putting up a visitors parking sign in the spaces freed up.

ACTION: Eli/Cristina to find out who supplied the old signs.

Front Wall

We continue to meet with engineers to develop a plan of action for the wall.

ACTION:  Toni to attempt to contact contractor that replaced the section of wall near the stream

Any Other Business

There is often garbage left around the bus stop near the exit.  We will try and find out who would be responsible for placing a garbage can there.

ACTION:  Cristina to contact the bus company and Dobbs Ferry town.

Annual General Meeting

Tentative date, Tuesday September 14th.

Respectfully Submitted,

Mick Cartwright

Washington’s Headquarters Homeowners Association

Board Meeting

June 22, 2010

Present
Gary Zimmerman, Mick Cartwright, Toni Schoen, Ann Tannenbaum, Sabin Meyer,

Continue reading →

Washington’s Headquarters Homeowners Association

Board Meeting

May 18, 2010

Present
Eli Cohn, Mick Cartwright, Toni Schoen, Ann Tannenbaum, Sabin Meyer, Bernice Giscombe Continue reading →

Washington’s Headquarters Homeowners Association

Board of Managers Meeting

April 13, 2010

Present
Eli Cohn, Mick Cartwright, Toni Schoen, Ann Tannenbaum, Sabin Meyer, Gary Zimmerman

Apologies
Bernice Giscombe, Rob Parke

Visitors
Christina Bloise – Impact Management

All issues for the board or the management company can be emailed to board@washingtonshq.com, or telephone 914 512 8129.

The next meeting is scheduled for May 18^th, 8pm and will be held at unit 18.

Previous Minutes:

The Board approved the minutes of the last meeting.

Board Changes

Rob Parke has resigned from the board due to outside commitments.   We would like to thank him for all of his work and contributions over the years.

Gary Zimmerman volunteered, and has been appointed pro tem in Rob’s place.

Financials

Eli presented the latest statements.  We remain in a good position financially.

Insurance Audit

Our insurance cover was audited and the initial report assessed us for $8,800.   Eli undertook to investigate and contest this and believes that we do not actually owe anything.  (There was appropriate workers compensation insurance in place whenever we had work done.)  We are now waiting on the result of his submissions.

By Laws Review

The purpose of the by laws review is to clarify the maintenance responsibilities of the home owners versus the responsibilities of the Homeowners Association.  We will draft an addition to the by laws for review at this year’s AGM.

Swimming Pool

• We have the permits from Westchester County and From Dobbs Ferry and have completed the electrical inspection.
• The pool can therefore be used as from April 14^th
• The thermostat control is broken (but just useable).  Sabe will have this repaired or replaced as needed.
• Gary noted that some of the drain covers around the pool are showing signs of their age.  Sabe will check these and we will replace them as needed.

Tennis Court

• The tennis court should be open on May 15^th

Snow Removal

• The various areas of curbstones damaged during the winter by the plows have been repaired.

Gardening

Sabe and Gray will investigate new furniture for the communal garden to replace or supplement the existing benches.

Anne and Toni will conduct a walk through with Carlos to ensure that he is attending to all areas of the communal garden and to look for solutions to a number of issues.  These include:

• The area between the tennis court and the drive to unit 1 should be included in the mulching and planting
• The area in front of unit 2 should be included in the mulching and planting
• The box hedges in the central area of the garden suffered in the recent storms.  Some are leaning over and others have the roots exposed posing a trip hazard
• The hedge behind unit 5 suffered damage to the middle of the three bushes during the storms.  The hedge itself is old and was not trimmed to shape when it was put in and growing and may warrant replacement.
• The area to the North of the tennis court (where the tree fell last year) is now bare earth.  We need some form of ground cover to improve the appearance and to prevent erosion
• The tree beside unit 14 is leaning over – it used to be secured to unit 14.  (If Carlos cannot attend to this we will ask Rayal Tree Care to visit.)
• The area beside unit 9 under the rhododendrons is often muddy.  Some form of ground cover may help this and improve the appearance.
• The plants in front of unit 5 were removed last year and never replaced.  The Japanese Maple in front of unit 16 may not have survived the winter.  During the walk through we will check the beds in front of all of the units.

Outside Lighting

We have a number of issues with the outside lighting – the lights around the first circle do not seem to be reliable, one of the lights by unit 1 does not work, the light outside the pool is not on at the right times and there is no light in the second circle.  Gary volunteered to pursue solutions to this.  Initially:

• Mick will show Gary where existing/known timers are
• Mick and Gary will investigate where power is run outside
• Gary can check with the previous electricians, switch electrical for additional details before seeking quotes for work to resolve the issues.

Garden Dumpsters

The garden dumpsters are in a poor state of repair.  (The bottom of one is rusted through; the other is not far behind).   Similarly the fence surrounding these has deteriorated recently.   Dobbs Ferry public works confirmed that they pick up gardening waste (in brown sacks or for larger items, tied in bundles, with the Thursday trash pick up.  With this in mind:

• The dumpsters will be donated to the Dobbs Ferry Fire department who said they would be happy to take them away.
• The green fence will be removed.
• The concrete stand that the dumpsters are on will be left in place for the short term while we see how things go.
• All residents should put any garden waste out with their normal Thursday trash collection.   Please do not use the dumpsters going forward, or leave anything in the dumpsters area.
• The landscaping contractor removes all debris as part of their contract and so no change is necessary with Carlos.

Oil Contract For Swimming Pool Heating

We will address this in September for the 2011 season when prices are more conducive to negotiating savings.  For the time being we will keep the existing arrangements with Robison.

Front Wall Repairs

We do not yet have adequate quotes for the repair work and this is held over until the next meeting.   Gary pointed out that there is currently no provision for drainage through or from the wall.  We will include this in the repairs.

Driveway Repairs

We do not yet have adequate quotes for the repair work and this is held over until the next meeting.

While discussing the driveway repairs we also identified the need for a better solution for speed control than the old removable speed humps.  The board is looking at various options that can be implemented at the same time as the driveway repairs.

Other Business

• The concrete apron in front of unit 16’s garage needs repair.  We have one quote and are seeking others before having the work done.
• Gary has contacts for a number of contractors that may be useful for the condominium’s projects.  These will be added to the directory on the website

Respectfully Submitted,

Mick Cartwright