A quorum was achieved (63% in person & by proxy) and the meeting began at 8:00 pm.The board introduced themselves and the group voted to waive the reading of last year’s minutes.
Mark Levitch, the condominium’s accountant, reviewed the financial records from 2006 and budgeted amounts. With the increase in assessment, we expect the 2007 budget to be in line with projected expenses which have risen in recent years with the increase in fuel and other expenses. An update was provided on the pending appeal regarding unit 3C and back charges owed. We hope to have a decision by the Court within the coming months.
Peter Burgess reviewed renovations over the last year such as addressing the flooding experienced by 7 apartments and replacing/snaking central plumbing pipes in 134. Future repairs include pointing, repairing several roofs, including replacing the garage roof; replacing awnings on all Dean Street and Bergen Street, and replacing rotting boards on common decks. The board reiterated its priority to fund renovations addressing safety concerns first. We do hope to be able to paint and re-carpet the 2nd and 3rd floor hallways in 120 this year and will ask volunteers from those halls to come to consensus about color choices.
We discussed the balance the Board strives to meet between keeping owners’ costs down (i.e. by minimizing increases in common charges or eschewing assessments) and funding aesthetic upgrades in the buildings. We realize that there is a spectrum of views in this regard among owners, with some keen to invest in physical improvements and others whose priority is to keep costs down. Members were asked for a show of hands to give the Board a sense of their relative preferences regarding these two alternatives, but it was inconclusive.
Two board member terms were expiring; Steve Bruner and Katharine Mukherji. No one expressed interest to run for their positions so the two members were reelected by the owners present. The board accepted Jan Glinski’s resignation due to his extensive travels, and thanked him for his service. As both Jan and Juan Paez stepped down from the Board, and no other owners were interested in joining the Board, the owners voted to change the number of Board members from 9 to 7, at least for this year.
New Business
Con Ed Solutions was mentioned as a green alternative to Con Edison. Also to be ‘greener’, a recommendation was made to consider motion detectors to turn on the lights in the garage, rather than having them permanently on.
There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 9 pm.