PRELIMINARY DRAFT 

This “Preliminary Draft” may differ in some particulars from the official minutes (PDF icon at upper right-hand corner of this page).

In Attendance

George Pauley, President; Carlos Vargas, 1st Vice President; Lorraine Meyers, 2nd Vice President; Sandra Goldberg, Secretary; Laura Cossa, Treasurer; Tom Taylor, D&K Senior Vice President; Tim Patricio, Property Manager; Mavis Mather, Assistant Manager Business Operations; Jacquie Smith, Assistant Manager Security Operations

Absent

Steve Hanna, Property Supervisor

Call to Order 8:47 pm

ASCO Report (Lorraine Meyers)

It seems as if every Wednesday and Thursday are reserved for meetings in the 48th Ward.  There was a special meeting on Wednesday and it was concerning the proposed new Dominick’s.  This meeting was held at the Alderman’s office and there were three representatives from ASCO along with other organizations from Roger’s Park as well as Edgewater.  All the organizational representatives are concerned with the traffic conditions that the plan will cause along with the present problems left unanswered.  Most of the people were from Roger’s Park; they were concerned because they don’t want ten to twenty minutes added onto their travel time from Downtown that would be caused by the reroutes to Broadway and Berwyn where the drivers would pick up their busses from, at the new depot.  ASCO wanted a bus turnaround behind the new Dominick’s where the 151 and the 147 could park instead of idling on Sheridan Road while waiting for a new driver.  I was concerned about Foster Avenue where there is no truck traffic allowed on Outer Lake Shore Drive or on Marine Drive.  However, there would be an entrance to the Cycle and Saddle parking lot.  The new Admiral which will have underground parking for at least 150 cars, and the delivery trucks across the street for deliveries and exits from three loading zones on the new Dominick’s.  It will be a traffic nightmare.  How is anyone going to exit on Foster and the Drive?  If there is not a bus turn around then the busses will have to continue to line up on Sheridan Road even though the city claims that it only has a few busses that have no fumes while idling.

The following Wednesday was the Planning and Zoning Committee meeting.  The Alderman gave her report. Nookies is still planning on opening this summer.  The stimulus money will be used to remodel 5040 Kenmore, the Fischer Building, public transportation, and early intervention for education.  The Promroy is the senior building located at Kenmore, and will be completed with the stimulus money.  The dumpster tax has been delayed until May 1st because the city had estimated that there were 40,000 dumpsters but as of last month they have counted over 80,000 and they are still counting.  It looks like we may be exempt from the tax because all of our dumpsters are in our building and not out on our property.  I don’t know if that holds true for the dumpsters that the store uses, because that is out on public property as well as our big one that we use for construction debris.  Somerset nursing home located at Sheridan and Argyle has 452 beds, and the Illinois Department of Health is threatening to close it.  The medicare funds are needed to remodel it and staff it correctly or it will be closed.  There have been numerous problems and if you have gone by there you see them lying out on the sidewalk in front because there is no place for them to go.  A brickollage on the walls of the viaduct at from the outer drive at Foster will begin this summer.  It will depict the culture that existed in this area 100 years ago.  The Field Museum and the American Indian Center are involved in the plans.  There was a small Indian village near Foster and the Indian burial site was on Kenmore.  Some of the tiles used in the brickollage will be made on Earth Day at Loyolla University, which will be held on Saturday April 25th from 9AM to 4:30PM.  It is worthwhile to go to, I went to it last year and I intend to go to it again this year.  It is very informative.  All the viaducts under the ‘L are in bad shape.  Watch for the notices for when the streets will be closed for the work to repair the viaducts progresses.  MidAmerica has submitted proposals for the affordable housing in Edgewater, which does not include high income.  30% of our population is dependant and needs low income housing.  They will put the results of that for the 48th Ward online.  Again there is the push to have permit parking in Edgewater.  Most of the push comes from the community to the West of Broadway.  The area pushing the hardest is from Foster to Bryn Mawr and Magnolia to Glenwood.  Wednesday April 15th at 7PM the Dominick’s has a special meeting concerning their store that is going to be erected.  The meeting will be held next door at the Breakers at 7PM and we are all invited to it.  There is a new restaurant opening at 6474 N Sheridan called Burgers and Fries.  Wednesday at 10AM they are having a tribute to Lincoln at the Sen Park statue of Lincoln.  It is in remembrance of his death on April 15th and they are going to lay a memorial wreath and everybody is invited.  The Sen ROTC color guard and the Naval Academy band will be playing and they will be reading Lincoln.  Also there are summer jobs now that are going to be available with city agencies businesses and community based organizations for youth ages 14 to 24.

Health Club Committee Report (Sandra Goldberg)

I would like to thank Jacquie who sent out the letter the members who had the three month memberships explaining that they could renew at 6 months or 1 year terms and instructed how to go about doing that as there seemed to be a lot of confusion.  A new scale has been ordered for the health club and delivery is expected in about ten days or less.  Also Jacquie had ordered pins for all the weight machines.  A new bike is in the process of being ordered because the cost to repair the existing bike in the weight room was just about as much as to purchase a new one.  There is a health club committee meeting this Thursday at 6:30PM in the party room for anyone who wants to come.

George Pauley asked if there was a new chairman yet for the committee.

No there is not.

George Pauley announced that we were looking for a new chairman for the health club committee if anyone wants to volunteer.

Approval of Motions from Closed Session

A1.  Upon due motion by Carlos Vargas and seconded by Lorraine Meyers, the Board voted unanimously to approve 84 insurance fines. A2. Upon due motion by Lorraine Meyers and seconded by Carlos Vargas, the Board voted unanimously to ratify a $350.00 fine for a move violation.  B. Upon due motion by Carlos Vargas and seconded by Lorraine Meyers, the Board voted unanimously not to re-review a residents request.  C. Upon due motion by George Pauley and seconded by Carlos Vargas, the Board voted unanimously to agree to terminate the lease contract for unit 511 when a new renter is found meeting the same terms as the current lease; further, any fees that are accrued through searching for a new renter will be deducted from the current security deposit and the tenant will be responsible for any cost in excess of the security deposit.  D. No Action.  E. No Action.
Minutes March 9, 2009 Board Meeting

Upon due motion by Carlos Vargas and seconded by Lorraine Meyers, the Board voted to approve the March 9, 2009 Board Minutes with corrections.  George Pauley, Carlos Vargas, Lorraine Meyers, and Laura Cossa voted in favor; Sandra Goldberg voted against; the motion passed.

Building Insurance Policy

No Action.

Handicapped Accessibility

Upon due motion by George Pauley and seconded by Carlos Vargas, the Board voted to approve the proposal submitted by JLJ Contracting for handicapped improvements in an amount not to exceed $30,000.00 with the removal of the second receiving room door.  George Pauley, Carlos Vargas, Lorraine Meyers, and Laura Cossa voted in favor; Sandra Goldberg voted against; the motion passed.
Window Cleaning Contractor
Upon due motion by Carlos Vargas and seconded by Lorraine Meyers, the Board voted unanimously to approve the window cleaning contract to ClaCe in an amount not to exceed $14,400.00

HVAC- Thermostats

No Action.

HVAC- Coil Cleaning

No Action.

Garage Power Washing

Upon due motion by Carlos Vargas and seconded by Lorraine Meyers, the Board voted unanimously to approve the annual power washing contract to Skyline Building Services, as submitted, in the amount of $4,100.00.
Gas Purchasing

Upon due motion by Carlos Vargas and seconded by George Pauley, the Board voted to approve Prospect Resources for a three year contract minus clause number five and with an amended clause number three.  George Pauley, Carlos Vargas, and Laura Cossa voted in favor; Lorraine Meyers and Sandra Goldberg voted against; the motion passed.

Fine Posting

Upon due motion by Carlos Vargas and seconded by Laura Cossa, the Board voted to continue with posting fines approved from closed session.  George Pauley, Carlos Vargas, Lorraine Meyers, and Laura Cossa voted in favor; Sandra Goldberg voted against; the motion passed.

Construction Requests
Upon due motion by George Pauley and seconded by Sandra Goldberg, the Board voted unanimously to approve the remodeling of units 1911, and 2202 as submitted by the owners, following the recommendations of the chief engineer as outlined in their written specifications and in accordance with the Rules and Regulations and remodeling guidelines of the Park Tower Condo Association.

Treasurers Report (Laura Cossa)

Upon due motion by George Pauley and seconded by Carlos Vargas, the Board voted to ratify the transfer of the CD from Centennial Bank to International Bank of Stone Park for 12 months in the amount of $98,000.00 at a rate of 2.97% with proceeds of $248.68 deposited into the MAX SAFE money market account at Barrington Bank.  George Pauley, Carlos Vargas, Lorraine Meyers, and Laura Cossa voted in favor; Sandra Goldberg abstained; the motion passed.

As of February 28, 2009 the total operating funds were $57,058.51.  The reserve account at Barrington Bank totaled $237,765.63.  The total replacement reserve funds were $1,065,800.68.  The total of all cash and investments was $1,124,372.28.

Board Report (George Pauley)
There is no Board Report for this month.

Management Report (Tim Patricio)

Management has been doing a lot of stuff.  If the Board has any questions about the information in the Board packets, please let me know.  I was very happy to sit down with Lorraine yesterday; she stopped by and had lots of questions about the project list.  Feel free if you ever want to go through those things, there is a lot of detail there.  I don’t like being micro managed, but if you have questions stop by the office or make an appointment with me and I will be happy to spend as much time are you have.

Lorraine Meyers asked since the plan was to switch over to the intercom system instead of the doorbell, but many people in the building only a telephone, but have the internet connected to the phone line so that you would always get a busy signal.  What happens to those people when a visitor comes?

George Pauley stated that he would suggest that they get call waiting.

Lorraine Meyers asked how much extra that was a month.

George Pauley stated that his was free.  In my two plans it is free, but if you have AT&T, who I dropped, then they charge you an arm and a leg for it.

Laura Cossa asked who George Pauley’s provider was.

George Pauley stated that he had RCN for one plan and T-Mobile for the other.  They are both voice over internet and include all the features.  T-Mobile is $9.99 per month for unlimited nationwide and all features are included.

Carlos Vargas asked if there was any Board action required for this change over from the intercom system.

George Pauley stated that the Board has already voted on it and no further action was required.

Lorraine Meyers stated that they would need to tell everyone that has the internet and uses their phone for it that they will have to change it.

I will make sure to include those residents who have a modem.  Mavis has drafted up some sample notices for me to put out so we will add this to the notices.

Laura Cossa stated that she would like to do a 360 review of the Board.  Many people do not know what the Board does, we sit here for two or three or four hours, but people do not know what we do.  I am not doing this because I am not thinking of applying again, but I would like us to be evaluated by the management and by each other.

Lorraine Meyers stated that she did not understand what Laura was saying.

Laura Cossa stated that if she were not happy with Lorraine’s performance I would like to review it among all of us.  If Tim is not happy with us for a number of reasons, I hope not personal, I would like that to be open.

George Pauley stated that it would put Tim and management in a very bad situation to evaluate their boss.

Tom Taylor stated that he would like to offer a suggestion.  George is going to hit me because I brought this up a gazillion times, but Draper and Kramer does, not a Board evaluation, but a Board orientation.  It gives everybody an opportunity to talk about procedures and expectations, what works well and what doesn’t work well.  We have offered to do this numerous times, the only thing we ask is that the whole Board attends.  Whenever the five of you can find time, we can shorten down the time; it takes at least an hour, usually about an hour and a half sometimes a little longer to two hours.  But we can shorten it.  Just find an evening and we will do it.  I think it would help you come a really long way, its not critical of anybody; it just gives a lot of good suggestions.  All you have to do is find a time to do it.

George Pauley stated that he has asked Tom to do this numerous times, they have prepared for it and we could never get five people to agree on a time for all of us together.

Laura Cossa stated that her point was that she would like the Board to be evaluated every month, but I understand your position.  People should know what we do.

Carlos Vargas stated that people don’t care.

Paul Groeninger asked if he could comment.  As an exBoard member you will find that if someone is unhappy with what you do, this room will be packed.

Lorraine Meyers stated that there were two more things that she would like to bring up.  First of all I had a leak that I was watching for two months, it was the pipe coming out of the wall and going to the toilet tank.  I came downstairs and I told somebody and they sent up the repairman.  He came up the next day, looked at it and said that he would charge me $15.00.  I told him no and to not touch the damn thing, let it leak.  I said that I thought that all the water repairs were to be done free.  This was the original toilet and I had not replaced it, and what it was is that the toilet, the thing was overflowing and running all the time and the pipe was condensing and turning black and that is why I had a piece of paper underneath to catch it.  I said I am not paying $15.00 for that.

George Pauley stated that running toilets and dripping faucets are the responsibility of the Association and have always been a freebie.

Lorraine Meyers stated that was what she thought and yet he wanted $15.00.

Tim asked if he wanted her to pay him $15.00.

Lorraine Meyers stated that he said that he would have to charge her.  She stated that she thought it was free and would not pay for it.

Mavis Mather stated that there would only be a charge if they had to replace the valves inside the toilet and that would only be a part charge, no labor would be incurred.

Lorraine Meyers stated that he did not have to replace anything, all he had to do was make an adjustment.  I didn’t even know that it was flowing over.

Tim stated that there was nothing labor-wise that they would charge you $15.00 for.  The minimum labor charge would be $35.00.  We will look at the ticket and try to find out why they would have told you that.  I can’t think of anything that they would have charged you $15.00 for except a part.

Sandra Goldberg stated that she thought that the question was if there is a water leak and they need a part are they to be charged?

Tim stated that yes, it was your material and you would be paying for a replacement material, but no labor.

Lorraine Meyers stated that then the condo was paying for the water that was going into the john.

George Pauley stated that he was under the impression, same as you and Sandra, that since they don’t charge for the ceramic cartridges and the washers or anything.

Carlos Vargas stated that they do charge for cartridges.

Mavis Mather stated that they do not charge for the aerators or washers.

Tim stated that there was a specific list in your rules.

Lorraine Meyers stated that since it was to our advantage that the leaks were stopped that we should fix it for nothing.  It doesn’t make since to me.  I didn’t pay him and he still fixed it and left.

Sandra Goldberg asked if the homeowner should pay for a new part that would prevent the water from leaking.

George Pauley stated that this was a topic that should be placed on the next agenda.  I was under the impression that when it involved leaky water it was repaired for free provided that it was an original fixture to the building.

Sandra Goldberg stated that if the faucet was different than you should have to pay.

Tim stated that the line was drawn in the rules and they even listed certain parts such as the aerator.

Lorraine Meyers asked her second question, I went down to the pool and was shocked to see how dirty the pool was.  Don’t the attendants ever clean the tops of the drains?  It is filthy.

Sandra Goldberg stated that she thought that the procedure was that when maintenance takes a work order they go to the unit and then bring the work order back to the office for someone to then tally up the charge.  I didn’t think that the maintenance staff determined what to charge the homeowner.  That should have been stopped when Christina was here, we went through this.

Mavis Mather stated that they do not determine the charges, they write down the amount of time and the parts that they use.  The costs are all off the charge sheet.  John will write them out and I check them when I charge the units for the services.  I am the one who charges the homeowners up.

Sandra Goldberg asked if they wrote the prices.

Mavis Mather stated that they write the work that was done, the time they took, the parts and the prices.  I check them against the sheets.  Maintenance writes them on the work orders and then I check them against the list that was reviewed with Chuck for the pricing.

Sandra Goldberg asked if each maintenance member had a copy of the list.

Mavis Mather stated that the maintenance members that do work orders all have a copy of it, and that there was also a copy posted in Chuck’s office and a copy posted in the supply cabinet.

Sandra Goldberg stated that when Christina was here the work order was supposed to be written out, the maintenance was only supposed to write the time and the parts and then the office staff was supposed to write the charges, not the maintenance department.  The office is to tally up the charges.

George Pauley stated that realistically maintenance know approximately how much it is if the homeowner wants an estimate I don’t see any reason for this.

Laura Cossa asked what happens with minor damages from when the maintenance staff comes.  Let’s say there is a leak in the faucet, and the staff doesn’t realize that the faucet was $700 and puts a metal clamp and turns it and the faucet is full of scratches.

Tim stated that it would be the Association’s responsibility.

Paul Groeninger stated that it was the homeowners responsibility, we only take responsibility for the faucets that the building supplies.  If you put in your own plumbing and we come in to repair it and it gets damaged, it is your fault.

Tim asked if this was in the rules.

Tom Taylor stated that was correct, but if the association’s employees did something to the faucet than the association should replace it.

Tim stated that what the attorney would tell you is that if we did something and it was poor work or negligence then they will find the Association responsible.

George Pauley stated that Paul said it was the homeowners responsibility

Paul Groeninger stated that the thought was it is not the Associations plumbing and we are not responsible for work done to plumbing that we are not familiar with.

Laura Cossa stated that when it happened to her she was told that the Association would replace it with what was in stock, but that they would not go out and purchase a new faucet.

Tim stated that he agreed with that.

George Pauley asked about other damage, a hole in the wall, ripped wallpaper, a spill on the carpet, those sorts of things.

Tim stated that the Association would repair or spot clean the damage.

Paul Groeninger stated that he agrees with Tim’s statement, if he had a mirror wall and it needed to be taken down then the Association would not be responsible.

George Pauley stated that he was only talking about negligence.

Garage Report (Jacquie Smith)

No Garage Report was given.

Adjournment

Upon due motion by Sandra Goldberg and seconded by Lorraine Meyers, the meeting adjourned at 11:15 pm.

Signed (as seen on pdf, clickable at upper right corner of these minutes)

George Pauley, President

Sandra Goldberg, Secretary