Washington's Head Quarters Townhouses

Washington’s Headquarters Homeowners Association

Board Meeting

June 22, 2010

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

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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

Just for everyone’s information, we have been informed that one of the gas supply lines into the property runs along the fence/wall line around colonial/broadway.

Before any work is carried out there we would need to liaise with CoEd to confirm the routing of the line.

Washington’s Headquarters Homeowners Association

Board of Managers Meeting

March 2, 2010

Present: Eli Cohn, Mick Cartwright, Toni Schoen, Ann Tannenbaum

Absent:  Sabin Meyer, Bernice Giscombe, Robe Parke

Visitors: Christina Bloise – Impact Management

Previous Minutes:

• The Board approved the minutes of the last meeting.

Management Company:

• Impact management gave a verbal report of the activities during the month.   Going forward Impact Management should copy board@washingtonshq.com on all email correspondence.
• All issues for the board or the management company can be emailed to board@washingtonshq.com, or telephone 914 512 8129.
• It was agreed that we would not employ Sid (general maintenance) directly, rather he will continue to work for Impact and they will bill us for his time.
• Christina has a monthly check list for Washington’s Headquarters (from Bay Management) which she will share with us.

Financials

• Eli presented the latest statements.  We remain in a good position financially ready to take on the black paintwork.  We are however also seeking quotes for the driveway repairs and front wall repairs.
• Eli received the contract for the sale/purchase of Unit 20.  The board will not exercise the right of first refusal.

Maintenance – Driveway

• Driveway- Impact will look for quotes from contractors to repair the damage where the speed bump had been. Estimate should also include other necessary maintenance to the driveway.   (Carried over from last month)

Maintenance – Paintwork

• Black Trim Paintwork.  Three quotes (from Rolande Sandoval, Nick’s Paint and Paper and Sean O’Connell) were reviewed.
• The board voted to accept the quote from Rolande Sandoval.   The work will begin as soon as the weather permits.
• Prior to work starting we will ask Rolande to quote to put an additional trim piece across the base of each garage door, similar to that installed on unit 18.

Swimming Pool:

• Impact are obtaining the Westchester pool permit
• Impact are obtaining the Dobbs Ferry pool permit
• Impact will get a quote from an alternate company (Aqua Pro) so that we can compare before we just re-sign for another year with H20 Pool Maintenance.  Whichever company is selected will be asked to certify our pool paperwork
• The pool should be open, as in previous years, by April 1 (to be confirmed).

Gardening:

• Anne reviewed Carlos’ contract for the coming season and all looks to be in order.  The contract was signed.
• Rolande Sandoval came in on Friday Feb 26^th to clear the tree that fell over some parking spaces.
• There are a number of broken branches around, some still resting up in the trees.   Rayal will be asked to quote to clean this up as soon as possible.
• Residents are reminded to exercise caution in the garden when walking under any of the trees, some of which may have loose branches.

Snow Removal:

• Civitano’s will be asked to plough snow toward the garden rather than toward the cars and garages whenever possible.

Insurance:

• Eli and the state representative reviewed our insurance and all was in order.

Miscellaneous:

• Home owners had asked about snow removal from the roves of individual units.   A number of points were noted:
  • Individual roof maintenance is each homeowners responsibility and so the HOA would not pay for snow clearing from the roof
  • Although a matter for individual preference, it is not believed to be necessary to remove snow from the roof – indeed the additional weight placed while removing the snow may cause more damage than simply letting the snow melt
  • Eli referred to Fred, the architect, who was questioned on this in the past, who also recommended letting nature take its course.
• We were advised that there is no point financially in seeking a long term gutter clearing contract, rather that we should simply book the work on an ad hoc basis as needed
• Basement water leaks.  One unit owner inquired where the boundary lay between individual unit owner and HOA responsibility for work on the patio and basement walls in the event of water leaks or similar.   The board clarified that all such work is the individual unit owner’s responsibility.  In the past various unit owners have undertaken work to repair or improve their patios at their own expense, and similarly various unit owners have undertaken work to improve the waterproofing of their basement walls, again at their own expense.

Respectfully Submitted,

Mick Cartwright,