Please take notice that, except as set out below, owners and renters of garage units at Skytrack are not permitted to use the condominium’s electrical lines and outlets to charge their vehicles or for other uses in the garage.
If an owner or renter of a garage unit has an emergency, such as a completely dead battery, not just a battery with a low charge, and it would be safe to do so, the owner or renter may address that emergency by using the garage’s electrical lines or outlets but only if the board of managers is notified before any such use and grants permission to do so. If such permission is granted, the owner of the garage unit is responsible for:
determining whether the proposed use of the garage’s electrical lines and outlets would be safe;
ensure that only a level 1 charger with a maximum 120 v. and 20 amp. draw is used;
inform Val Boleviq and/or Patrick Knights of the intended usage and allow them to check the draw capacity of the level 1 charger to be used;
Ensure that only one plug is in each electrical outlet, located at both ends of the garage, before the charger is inserted into the outlet.
The owner will be charged fifty dollars ($50.00) per day for each such use, whether the charger is used for the entire day or only part of it. For this purpose, the day will run from 12:00 am (midnight) to 11:59 pm on the date of use. This fee is to be paid to Skytrack Condominium.
The owner of a garage unit is responsible for any damage to the garage’s electrical lines or outlets, or to any other portion of the condominium’s property or the property of any owner or renter of a garage or residential unit, resulting from the owner’s or renter’s use of the condominium’s electrical lines or outlets in the garage, whether or not the board grants approval for the emergency use.
The owner is responsible for informing the renter of all of the restrictions and requirements set forth above, and the owner, not the renter, must request the board’s approval for each emergency use of the garage’s electrical lines or outlets. It is up to the owner whether to seek reimbursement from the renter for any fee for such use.
The Skytrack Board needs your help. Please read the attached request to see how you can help the condo reduce its energy usage and prevent hefty fines for excessive greenhouse gas emissions. Every owner has a direct financial interest in reducing our buildings’ carbon footprint. Thank you.
As described in the minutes of the September 2024 board meeting (excerpt set out below), beginning in 2030, Local Law 97 (LL 97) will expose Skytrack to burdensome and accelerating annual fines for excess greenhouse gas emissions (GGEs) unless, at great expense, it replaces or retrofits its existing energy-consuming systems. The board has begun to address these issues by taking initial steps that are relatively inexpensive and initiating long-term planning to achieve a cost-effective mix of improvements and penalties. To maximize the value of this planning effort – and reduce the owners’ cost of meeting LL 97’s requirements – the board needs several types of help from Skytrack’s owners at this time.
First, the board seeks the owners’ ideas about how to reduce the condominium’s GGEs. Compliance is assessed based on the GGEs produced by both the common elements, including heating and hot water systems, and the individual units. If you have suggestions, please contact the board at skytrackboard@gmail.com.
The board also asks all owners who are knowledgeable about the technical or financial aspects of reducing Skytrack’s carbon footprint to volunteer to advise the board on these issues. If you are willing to do so on an ad hoc basis or as part of an advisory committee, please contact Rose Firestein at firesteinre@aol.com, as she is the point person on LL 97 issues.
Second, because individual units’ energy expenditures, primarily electricity and gas for cooking, contribute to the condominium’s GGEs for LL 97 purposes, the board encourages all owners to increase their awareness of how their unit’s equipment and their own habits result in unnecessary energy usage and, consequently, excess GGEs. A couple of examples might be useful in identifying these remediable situations:
A unit’s thermostat is defective resulting in an overheated apartment. A window might be opened or, if that doesn’t work, the AC is turned on, creating two opportunities for wasted energy usage, increased utility bills for the owner and increased GGEs for Skytrack. A new thermostat or heat-cutoff valve would eliminate this waste, but it is the owner’s responsibility to make this repair, even though the condominium as a whole is penalized if it is not done.
A unit has large, energy-inefficient or ill-fitting windows, especially a patio or deck door. If the window allows heated or air-conditioned air to escape, there is unnecessary utility usage. Weather stripping, window-lock repair or replacement or window replacement could eliminate
the problem. Again, the repair or replacement is the owner’s financial responsibility, but ignoring the problem penalizes all owners.
A unit continues to use incandescent bulbs or regular fluorescent tubes. The bulbs and, if necessary, the fixtures need to be replaced with LED lighting.
While the Bylaws currently prevent the condominium from paying for improvements to individual units, it may be possible for management to negotiate favorable terms with retailers and contractors if enough owners want to make similar improvements to their units at the same time.
Individually and as a condominium, we need to start the process of reducing our GGEs now because doing so will take time and ultimately, we will either pay to fix the causes of excess GGEs or pay the penalties for failing to do so. Please participate actively in the effort to lower Skytrack’s GGEs, including volunteering your expert advice on technical and financial issues arising from LL 97’s mandate to reduce our carbon footprint.
Excerpt from September 2024 Board Meeting Minutes
Local Law 97: The board discussed and selected the preferred approach to addressing Syktrack’s obligations under Local Law 97, part of the city’s Climate Mobilization Act. LL 97 sets increasingly rigorous standards for greenhouse gas emissions at five-year intervals and imposes significant penalties on covered buildings that do not meets these caps. The relevant emissions include those generated by any type of energy usage, including electricity, fuel oil and natural gas, and the usage within individual units, in addition to common areas, counts toward the building’s total emissions. Failure to meet the emissions subjects the condominium as a whole to the statutory penalties, regardless of whether the excessive emissions emanate from individual units or common areas.
The emissions standards were effective as of 2024, for reporting in 2025. It is estimated that Skytrack will be in compliance from 2024 through 2029, but not thereafter unless remedial actions are taken or the standards change. Relative to the 2030 limits, Skytrack scores 19 out of 100 points, and the city estimates its annual penalty for 2030-34 will be $21,000. This amount escalates exponentially beginning in 2030 if no changes occur.
Given the increasingly stringent emissions standards and the extremely high cost of the retrofits and replacements that would have the greatest impact on Skytrack’s emissions, it is unlikely that the condominium will achieve full compliance by 2030. The Board will initially focus on less expensive steps to reduce its emissions and post-2029 penalties, seeking a balance between the cost of these steps and the estimated penalties against the reductions in both energy costs and penalties stemming from the remedial actions.
Reminder that the Annual Meeting will take place by Zoom next Wednesday, June 26, at 8:00 PM. Please register for the Zoom conference by following the link on the Skytrack website.
Please be advised that the Board has unanimously voted to impose an assessment of $1,000 per percentage of Condo ownership to cover unanticipated expenses and to rebuild reserves. Please see attached Notice linked at the link below for more information (hard copies are being distributed as well). You may contact EM Holding with any questions.
Please be advised that our management company, EM Holding, will be emailing out Common Charge statements each month going forward using the following email address: emhbilling80@gmail.com. Please add this address to your “safe senders” list / “whitelist” so spam filters do not intercept statements. Please note that EM Holding does not monitor this email address so no replies will be accepted.
ACH auto-debits will remain in place for those who have enrolled previously.
If you have any questions please contact EM Holdings.
An additional repair has to be made on the boiler. The system was just shut down. It should be up and running later this afternoon. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Heat/hot water has been repaired. A motor for the boiler failed and was replaced. It may take a bit of time for heat and hot water to return to normal. Thank you for your patience.
We are aware that there is currently an issue with hot water and heat. The Super is working on the issue and a plumber will be at the condo by 11 AM to address this. We apologize for the inconvenience.
This is to advise all Skytrack community members about two recent incidents that must not happen again..
First, recently the garbage chute at 120 Boerum became entirely clogged with what appeared to be shelving and other sections of wood from a piece of furniture. The chute became unusable during that time and it took Val significant effort to unclog the chute. Worse, his hand was cut up in the process. Therefore, ensure all household members, tenants, nannies, cleaning people, guests, contractors, and everyone else knows to NEVER use the 120 Boerum garbage chute to dispose of bulky items. Larger items (e.g. pizza boxes, large pieces of styrofoam, etc.) can be left by the recycling areas in an orderly fashion, and you must coordinate with the Super for proper disposal of things like furniture, mattresses, etc. The Board will consider taking the chute out of service entirely if this happens again, and fines will be imposed on offending parties.
Second, recently the building sewer line at 134 Boerum became clogged with wipes that originated from inside that building. This caused a backup which was entirely preventable, and cost us money to be remedied. This will happen again at 134 Boerum or any of the other buildings if prohibited items go down drains/are flushed down toilets. Therefore, ensure all household members, tenants, nannies, cleaning people, guests, contractors, and everyone else ensures that they DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES put anything down toilets or drains that should not go down, including cleansing wipes (including “flushable” wipes which are still prohibited), paper towels, makeup pads, feminine hygiene products, Q-tips, grease, napkins, etc.
