A signed copy of these and all minutes going back to the 1980’s are available from the Management Office upon request.

In Attendance

Bob Pierce, President; Phoebe Helm, 1st Vice President; Sandra Goldberg, 2ndVice President; Herbert Hellauer, Treasurer; Dan Harvey, Property Supervisor; Christina Epple, Property Manager; Mavis Mather, Assistant Manager

Time meeting started (6:45 pm)

Comment regarding Agenda (Board responses in italics)

Lorraine Meyers – Previously before approving a management contract there has been a review with all residents why was there no review session for this contract? This item is not approving a new contract, it is a renewal of the current contract; all terms and conditions are the same as before. Why were there no other bids for the Management Contract? This proposal is to renew the current management contract; the Board did not solicit other offers as it is not in the best interest of the association to experience another management turnover at this time.  There is a 90 day cancellation provision in this extension.

Miriam Moss – A 90 day cancellation is against the wording of the declarations of the building. This is an extension to an already approved contract which also had a 90 day cancellation clause in it.

Ron Moss – Is this 90 day cancellation a cancellation without penalty? It is a cancellation without penalty.

Phoebe Helm – The reason for a renewal rather than to stop the contract and go out to bid is that there are many projects that are going on and it would be better to continue through these projects.  It the Board is unhappy with Management later they have the option of giving a 90 day cancellation without penalty.

Lorraine Meyers – The last management company that we had was renewed for 25 years with no resident discussion.  Will there be resident discussion during future management contracts? The Board will have resident discussion in future management contracts.

Miriam Moss – In the Board letter sent with the proposed budget it states that the budget was prepared by management, reviewed and recommended by the budget committee, but the budget committee only gave comments on the budget.  This letter also states that the Board accepted the budget.  The homeowners only had 25 days to review the proposed budget. The Board accepted the proposed budget for distribution to the owners.  The Board will formally adopt the budget in the meeting on February 12, 2007.  Next year the wording on the letter from the Board will be reworded for clarification of this process.

Marian Shaw – In the budget letter it states that there will be no fee increases other than an increase in the move guard fee, but in the agenda it states that the management contract extension will have a 3% increase in fees.  Which is it? The fees discussed in the budget letter are fees for amenities that the home owner would pay for such as laundry, parking, or health club.  The fees listed in the management contract renewal are costs that the association pays to have the property professionally managed.

Carlos Vargas – For clarification, at any given moment we can give a 90 day notice to Draper and Kramer and not have to pay penalties? Yes, at any time either party can give 90 days notice with no explanation or penalties.

Lorraine Meyers – For the MRI add-on request, what is this for and who is Sara? Sara is the part time employee in the office.  The MRI add on request would allow Sara to have access to the accounting system to help with customer service.  This system also records all the information about health club memberships, insurance, parking, and emergency contact information. Would Sara be bonded? Sara would be bonded through Draper and Kramer.

Minutes December 18, 2006

Upon due motion by Sandra Goldberg and seconded by Herbert Hellauer, the Board voted to approve the minutes of the December 18, 2006 Board Meeting.  Bob Pierce, Phoebe Helm, and Herbert Hellauer voted in favor; Sandra Goldberg opposed.  The motion passed.

Minutes January 8, 2007 Special Meeting

Upon due motion by Sandra Goldberg and seconded by Herbert Hellauer, the Board voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the January 8, 2007 Special Board Meeting.

Management Contract

Upon due motion by Phoebe Helm and seconded by Sandra Goldberg, the Board voted to approve the management contract extension from Draper and Kramer for the period of March 1, 2007 through February 28, 2010 at a three percent increase or $102,600 per year.  Bob Pierce, Phoebe Helm, and Herbert Hellauer voted in favor; Sandra Goldberg abstained.  The motion passed.

Garage Audit

Upon due motion by Phoebe Helm and seconded by Herbert Hellauer, the Board voted unanimously to approve the garage audit proposal from Nyborg & Company at $100 per hour not to exceed $5,000 and to work with her to limit the scope of work of the audit.

Landscaping Contract

Upon due motion by Sandra Goldberg and seconded by Phoebe Helm, the Board voted unanimously to approve the 2007 landscaping contract to Brickman Group, as submitted, in the amount of $12,780 to include mowing the lawn free of charge.

MRI Add-on Request

Upon due motion by Phoebe Helm and seconded by Herbert Hellauer, the Board voted to unanimously to approve adding Sara Kacheris to the user list for the MRI software with the stipulation that Sara must be bonded with Draper and Kramer.

Unit Owner Requests to Remodel

Upon due motion by Phoebe Helm and seconded by Herbert Hellauer, the Board voted unanimously to approve the remodeling of units 3305, 4105, 4207, and 5201 as submitted by the owners, following the recommendations of the Assistant and Chief Engineers 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 (Herbert Hellauer)

According to the December 31, 2006 Financial Statements the total operating funds were $296,654.15.   The total of the Max Safe account at Barrington Bank was $165,983.30.  The total of the replacement reserve funds was $1,507,373.07.   The total of all cash and investments was $1,804,027.22.  Herbert Hellauer asked what amount of reserves was still owed for reserve projects.  Christina Epple stated that there was approximately $110,000 owed on the elevator project, and $35,000 owed for the pool resurfacing that will be paid in March.

Management Report (Christina Epple)

There was a certificate of deposit at Advanta bank in the amount of $99,000 that had reached maturity.  This CD was cashed and wired to the MAX SAFE account at Barrington Bank to reach the $200,000 minimum and to pay other reserve expenses.  Total at the MAXSAFE account is approximately $285,000.  The pool resurfacing was completed; however, there are flaws appearing in the lane lines.  These flaws will be repaired when the work on the kiddie pool is started and should be finished in early June.  There are some problems with the ceramic tile installation on the spa where a couple of tiles have shifted.  We are withholding the balance due from Hart until the work is completed and the problem has been solved.  There was a leak in the spa but the wood was not warped.  Zera has preformed repairs to the drains in the garage and is holding to the warranty agreement.  Michael Rupert, head of security, attended the CAPS meeting that was held last Thursday.  Management has received two professional opinions on the state of the cooling tower liner.  Both vendors stated that the liner was in good condition and only needed minor repairs.  Three vendors have been contacted to provide proposals to make repairs to the plates in the smoke stack.  These repairs will not be able to be completed until the end of the heating season.  The real estate taxes on the park tower properties have been paid with out penalty, the next billing is due to be mailed at the end of the month.  A settlement was reached with 5445 N. Sheridan in the amount of $22,000.  The settlement funds will be deposited by the end of the fiscal year.  We do not know what our expenses are and will not know until we receive the settlement check.  We did not make money on this transaction the repairs cost approximately $30,000, the total of our other expenses is under $1,000.  Standard Parking provided a letter with the December financials that stated that per the renewed union contract the vacation fund in the amount of $12,467 was set up in a separate account.  This was previously reflected monthly and according to the new contract is done once a year and will be reflected as a variance moving forward.

Board Report (Bob Pierce)

$12,725 was contributed to the holiday fund this year.  $12,302 was distributed to the employees and $425 was contributed after the deadline and will remain in the holiday fund account until next year.  These numbers are unaudited.  On February 7, 2007 at 7:00pm there will be a meeting with Alderman MaryAnn Smith in the party room.  This is an open meeting and all residents are encouraged to attend, Alderman Smith will be discussing activities within the ward and what we can look forward to in the future.

ASCO Update (Lorraine Meyers)

There has not been an ASCO meeting since last November.  There will be a Planning and Zoning Meeting on Wednesday.  At this meeting there will be a vote on a request from the new building on Catalpa to close the viaduct under the L so that residents can easily park.  Currently this is the only other west bound street that goes through to Broadway other than Foster or Bryn Mawr.  Also being considered is a plan to make Sheridan Road three lanes, one north, one south, and one turn lane.  This would allow for bus pull off lanes.  ASCO is fighting this proposal.

Garage Committee (Carlos Vargas) (Board responses in italics)

The Garage Committee recommended to the Board that an inoperable car be removed from the garage.  To date this car is still in the garage what is the status? The Board had requested that this car be removed at the end of the extension date.  This car will be towed.

Open Comments and Questions (Board responses in italics)

Carlos Vargas – It is detrimental to only have four Board members.  At one time the Association considered having seven members on the Board.  Previously when a member left the Board a new member was appointed without unanimous approval. According to the declaration there must be unanimous approval for a member to be appointed during a vacancy.

Betty Terry-Lundy – Is there any update on the leak and puddle in spot T-17 of the garage?  The puddle is larger when it snows. Zera came out to the building and preformed water tests and were not able to replicate the puddle.  We will have Zera come out again to look at that spot. If homeowners replaced the pipes within their walls to copper in the past how does this get recorded with the work that is currently being completed? If you bring the blue prints from your construction time that show the pipes being replaced with copper to the management office your unit will be added to the branch line replacement list.

Marian Shaw – Who was requesting the 30 day extension and for what? The 30 day extension was for a rule violation regarding an inoperable car. There was an email sent by ASCO about the revamping of the building on the west side of 5455 N. Sheridan Road stating that this work was being approved, what is going on with this work? Lorraine Meyer stated that this approval is still in progress as 5455 is objecting to the proposed work and this is going to the City Council for approval.

Don Yurkovic – Comment – I am glad that the Draper and Kramer contract was renewed for another term. What is a riser? There are three different sets of risers, a waste line riser, HVAC risers, and kitchen and bath water risers.  We are mostly concerned with the hot water risers because of the corrosion that has been found.  These risers are all 25-30 years old. Why are we replacing the risers during construction? The risers are not always replaced during construction risers are only repaired if they are seen to be in poor condition.  When unit owners open their walls we are telling them that they must allow us access to change the branch lines to copper piping and inspect the risers. So we might have to go back in later to change out the risers? Yes.

Miriam Moss – There was a resolution that was passed years ago to have seven members of the Board rather than just five.  This resolution was mailed out with another resolution that was passed, why would one motion have passed and not the other?  We amended the Bylaws to express that the Board memberships would be alternating in expiration dates and this idea of seven board members was also to have been recorded. Please provide a copy of this and we will research this further.

Vince DiFruscio – Because of all of the mail problems that we had been experiencing recently when the postal service lost a piece of certified mail I notified Christina.  She was able to bring in a liaison to the post office and they were able to find my mail.  Thanks for the extra help. We will continue to bring in representatives of the post office until the mail situation has been corrected.

Beverly Stormont – I would like to say thank you to Jan Schakowsky for trying to help keep the electric rates down.

Lorraine Meyer – Garage coupons used to be good for 6 hours or two coupons for overnight.  Recently I was told that one coupon was good for overnight.  Shouldn’t the rates be the same for everyone? The garage coupons are set with the garage where one coupon is good for 6 hours or two are good for overnight.  We will make sure that all employees are following these rules.

I recently used the Party Room and was charged for clean-up fees to wash the floor, vacuum the carpeting, remove the garbage, put away the chairs and clean the oven.  I was originally going to be charged $95 for the clean up and I see that it was reduced to $40 for the cleaning of the stove.  Why am I being charged when it is a self cleaning oven?  I thought that the cleanup of the party room was included in the $80.00 fee that you pay when you reserve the party room.  I could have rented a room at a hotel for $100 and the hotel room would have been cleaned before and after the party.  I will never rent the party room again. The $80.00 fee is only for the use of the room it does not cover the cleanup fees associated with the room.  We had you come to the office and meet with the maintenance person who cleaned the party room and she explained to you that she was not able to self clean the oven due to the liquid that was spilled inside of it.

Phoebe Helm – The staff is working on a new party room application so that everyone knows what the costs are that are associated with the rental of the room and what the expectations are for how the room should look at the end of a function.

Sandra Goldberg – When did you start implementing a clean-up sheet and start charging people for cleaning up the party room?  I had rented the party room in the past.  The previous procedure consisted of the security guard checking the room prior and after the event.  I was never charged for vacuuming the carpet or emptying the garbage. The forms that are being used were created in 1992 and 1996.  We have not created or used any new forms for the Party Room.

Approval Closed Session

Upon due motion by Phoebe Helm and seconded by Sandra Goldberg the Board voted unanimously to suspend the January Board meeting to allow for an executive session of the Board of Directors to discuss personnel, litigation, and/or rule violations.

Results Closed Session

Upon due motion by Phoebe Helm and seconded by Sandra Goldberg the Board voted unanimously to approve the following: A: no action, B: deny request for waiver, C: no action, D: proceed with a lien, E: deny request for waivers, F: no action, G: management to proceed with a breach of contract suit, H: no action, I: approve repair expense up to $12,000 and have apartment ready to rent until Board determines a long range plan, J: no action.

Adjournment

Upon due motion by Phoebe Helm and seconded by Sandra Goldberg the meeting adjourned at 9:10 pm.

Bob Pierce, President

Phoebe Helm, 1st Vice President