Category: Amenities, Building

Board Meeting July 12, 2016

Regarding our parking lot overhaul, the last board meeting included planning to approach West Palm Beach city employees with our plan to see what they would require to meet code. Our landscaper went to the city and reported back during this board meeting.

Changes will be required to the west guest parking lots as well as to our main property. Trees and a hedge for the western lot will be $12,000. The removal and replacement of trees along Washington Blvd. at about $2,000 per tree was discussed. These charges will separate from Keshavarz & Associates’ (engineers) charges.

P.R. said the manager had given him a parking lot project estimate of $1/2 million.

Some of the uncovered parking spaces on the main property will be reduced in width by six inches to accommodate required islands with trees every ten spaces. No parking spaces will be lost in the current plan.

Possible changes to handicapped spaces were discussed.

The secondary bike shed will be relocated slightly to meet code.

The area around the fountain which currently has tiles over river rock will be paved to improve pedestrian access.

The engineer wants to put in a fence surrounding the recycling bin storage area (near bike shed and south parking) to meet code. The engineer wants to put in a fence on the very east side of the property to enclose the pool from public access. This is a health and safety issue.

Email Newsletter from Portofino South Management?

There are numerous ongoing projects (the elevator out for maintenance, hallway lights selection, sauna refurb, parking lot repaving, AT&T cell tower installation, TV in social room, new pedestrian gate to Flagler) and it would be wonderful if the management would send email project updates (maybe once a week?) to inform those who are interested on progress. It also could help keep the management accountable and encourage better communication within our community.

May 17 2016-Board Meeting, Portofino South

Present:  Officers:  Martha Lee, Pam Kittinger-Fuller, Greg D’Elia, and Helen MacDonald.  Members present:  Margie Daley, by phone, Betse Gori,  Keith Gornick, by phone,  Parker Reid,  and John Schaefer, by phone.  Frank Lagalante, Property Manager and Brigette Muglia, Office Manager.

Meeting called to order at 7:05 p.m. by Martha Lee.  She called for approval of the April, 2016 meeting minutes which were approved by the Board.

Greg D’Elia gave his Treasurer’s Report

Frank Lagalante gave his Manager’s report.  1) Cooling Tower still being looked at by engineers.  He suggested postponing the project till the fall. It will cost $800 to shore up the structure itself.  Recommended to just refurbish the existing unit.  What will the total costs for this project be?  Big Expense.  Let’s get what we have to do in place.  What will the remodeling encompass versus a new tower? The remodeling would involve taking the present tower apart and rebuilding it so it would basically become a new tower    2) Asphalt Drainage site.  The survey prepared by the engineers is waiting to be signed off.  3)  Elevators.  Met with new Company (Shindler) who promised him they would pay closer attention to our elevators in the future.  Frank to stay on them. 4) Sauna:  New materials expected week of May 31st.   5) In anticipation of the Hurricane season Frank did a lot of tree trimming outside himself.  6) He mentioned that the Tower’s concrete walls are being restored. Valerie Barto asked him about the information she gave him regarding fixing the tower.

Credentials Committee:  Margie Daley said there was no report.

Pool Committee: no report.

Decoration Committee:  Barbara Tattersfield spoke on behalf of the committee, additional reports from Doug Cochrane on the acoustical ceilings and Greg D’Elia on the lighting.  She talked about the areas in the building being looked at.  1) Lighting in Hallways which are long and dark.  2) Acoustical Ceilings.  3) Elevator vestibules on each floor as well as Elevator interiors.  4)  Refurbishing the Card Room.  Different committee members looked at specific areas and came back with plans and costs.   Barbara asked a question regarding funding costs so as to be able to move forward on these projects.

Greg talked about the three lights on order at Capital Lighting.  They will be installed on the first floor so that residents can see and vote on the one they like.  Prices ranged from $155 to $210.  Want to stay in the $200 range as we will need 240 units as a total order, 212 installed, remainder as backups.  Current lights very old and we do not have parts to fix them or backups.  New ones use LED lights which burns at 6 watts, a huge savings over current costs for building lighting.

Doug showed us a larger smooth ceiling tile sample.  We will need 26,000 square feet of new ceiling for the entire building.  Betse Gori asked what else could be done at the same time.  Answer a new chair rail and baseboards.   No room for trim at ceiling levels because we have low ceilings.  Going down the hallways they are trying to do the best they can with the money we have. Both the replacement of the ceilings and lighting will increase the longevity of the building and make it more attractive along with the cost saving factor.  Money is the issue, again where does the money come from to do these things?  ADA mandates that the light fixtures themselves cannot protrude more than 4 inches from the wall.  Lighting and ceiling tiles will be done first.  Helen MacDonald said some of this is maintenance for the building.  Totals cost estimate is approximately $215,000 to $225,000 for all the capital improvements.  We will need to assess to pay for them.  There have been no assessments in for eight years.   However, we still need concrete numbers for the cost of lighting, ceiling tiles, paving and drainage for parking lot.   Residents will have time to pay for this assessment by spreading it out. Greg said the building is 45 years old, everything is original, and it needs to be maintained.  Betse Gori suggested assessing for parking lot, cooling tower and roof, painting, lighting and ceiling projects.

Once again this assessment figure is based on getting more concrete numbers for lighting, ceiling tiles, cooling tower, pavement/drainage and painting.

Meeting adjourned.

Note:  These minutes were taken by Joan McAuliffe, as accurately as possible, any omissions or mistakes in their original content is solely my responsibility.

 

 

PS Condo Meeting April 19,2016

PS Condo Meeting April 19 2016

Members Missing: MD,KG,ML

PK conducted the meeting
Our insurance agent came to give us another option to our present policy with Citizens
Which has to be renewed by this Tuesday. He apologized for the lateness but he said
He was waiting for quotes.
The other insurance policy would be with American Coastal. The yearly fee would be much less
But there would not be any guarantee that next year they would not raise it surpassing what
Citizen would charge us. We got a$10,000 raise from last year. At Citizen we are considered
A grand father client so we have some guarantees that we might not have with a new
company. The deductibles are different
The board has to decide whether to switch or stay with Citizen. Our building is valued at $29 million and the appraisal was done in2013
IL from the audience suggested that the agents should make a spread sheet of the two different
Policies. Good idea !
JM from the audience asked if he considered any other insurance companies- answer United
andHeritage declined.

Manager’s Report:
The forum on April 5th was successful and the next one is May 3rd

Cooling Tower: still on going investigation

Asphalt and Drainage the same as above

The manager is not pleased with the new elevator company. They are even more expensive. each month

Sauna – GD suggested a carpenter to do the installation. He will charge $ 1900. The board said ok except BG who abstained then changed to nay.

There was a core study of the roof and it might not have to be totally redone but only patched.

The Decorating Committee:
Has met and will be ready for the May meeting

Condo Docs are at the attorney and ready soon

A basket on the door – is my door – the discussion went on for a long time and will be reported on separately in this blog.

TV for the card room. H M proposed the buying of it by the social committee approximately $1000 for a 55 / 60 inch but the monthly cable fee is to be paid by the association-$900 per year

there was a vote and it would not have past if GD had not changed his vote from nay to yea

BG said there has to be a set of rules in place.

Condo Meeting March 15, 2016

Portofino South, West Palm Beach, Board Meeting March 15, 2016

All board members present except K G who called in around the middle of the meeting.

It was announced that the first Tuesday of each month at 7:00pm going forward, Frank the manager will hold an open meeting. He invites all condo owners to come in and ask questions or voice complaints.

Martha board president mentioned that the four white boxes surrounding the entrance fountain were removed since nothing will grow because of the wind and chemicals in the fountain.

Martha also mentioned that the board would be willing to take questions or comments from the audience after the board has discussed a topic

A letter from B L about the website was brought up by BG. She said she had not seen it before she saw it in her packet before the meeting. H M said she had received it a week ago and took it upon herself to answer it. She read her letter saying the board had chosen the least costly option and the purpose of informing the owners was achieved. BG said the website was inadequate and that it was not generating that much info. GD mentioned that they had looked at much more expensive websites and rejected them. He had not been on the website yet. BG mentioned that condo owners should be automatically notified with new postings….one service which does that is called Constant Contact. The office said they were looking in to it.

GD gave financials: two condos in arrears for two months

Pool Discussion:

The total cost of repair was around $31,000. Still holding final payment as there are four missing tiles.

BG wanted a full accounting for the pool.

Pool project is complete and the temperature is holding at 86 degrees. Seems there is no more water leaking. Before it was leaking 3 to 4 inches a day. Auto fill is working.

Cooling Tower:

As it is so old that the whole thing might have to be rebuilt, we are talking about a large amount to repair. Engineer is being sought for this project.

Redoing the parking lots:

Redoing the parking lots is complicated by drainage problems. The board was given two engineers to choose from.

As there are three coats of sealant already on it, to fix sinkholes the ground must be dug up at least one or two feet for it to be refinished. The drainage problem could be handled in two different ways either by laying new pipe or by blowing new pipes into the old ones.

The city will get involved and will demand handicap parking on this side and dividers every 10 spaces. We will have to conform to current city code. We will lose some spaces.

We will have to hire site planners and landscapers who hopefully can deal with the city

This project could run about $500,000.00. Timeline is about 4 months.

M L asked if we could appeal some code requirements. It was mentioned that is what the site planners can help us do.

WE COULD BE ASKED FOR EACH CONDO OWNER TO BE ASSESSED

Sauna:

Frank’s work to clean it up was not successful so it has to be redone. Estimates were given for the special wood and the installation which is separate. Labor would be around $ 2500 ( Designer Builder)and cost of wood ( Finlanda) is about $2525. Board did not approve the expense as only one carpenter bid had been submitted.

A guest in # 912 was interviewed as she is staying longer than a month.

Decorating committee met

The audience asked:

Do you have flip or transfer taxes in Florida?

We should have a project manager as these jobs are so large and technical. We have three large jobs to complete and coordinated.

We are lucking to have Greg doing as much as he does.

PR said if we are thinking of spending such large amounts of money we should try to get good estimates for the projects and then tell the condo owners, who might want to sell their apartments.

All these contracts must be sent to the lawyer for review. The pool contract wasn’t sent to the lawyer, as it adds expense up front.

Frank called the insurance people and the pool lighting is sufficient for extended night hours. The pool is now open till 9:30 along with the barbecue.

Hopefully people will be respectful of noise. Doorman should be called with noise complaint and to check if the grill is shut off.

Status of the Docs:

BG deferred to PA

Once the docs (containing bylaws, rules & regulations, articles of incorporation) are finished the lawyer has instructed the board to give them to the condo owners for a yes or no vote, all or nothing. They have been in the works for about three years. The rules and regulations must be in your declaration of condo by laws, not separate, or they have no teeth.

Sauna Overhaul: Some Considerations

This post was written by an owner.

It is my understanding that the Portofino South condo association board will vote March 15 on the overhaul of our sauna near the pool. I gave our management a quote I had procured from Finlandia Sauna to provide new pre-cut wood and benches for about $2,000 (Installation would have to be provided by us or another contractor). I wrote about problems with the sauna that I believe warrant its overhaul in this post last year, and I believe that the sauna suffered from improper maintenance by our staff and poor use practices by residents. Today I want to provide some considerations to the management and board before deciding on approving this expense:

  1. Staff should have scheduled maintenance of the sauna.

Although I am not an expert on sauna maintenance, I envision this maintenance would look like weekly mopping of the concrete floor and cleaning of the wood benches with a mild cleanser.

  1. Staff should research and use sauna-specific cleaners.

The wood in the sauna is not finished deck furniture. In order for the sauna to operate properly, the wood is heat-treated but not sealed. This makes the wood more fragile than deck furniture. I would recommend that appropriate cleaners and procedures for cleaning unfinished wood be researched and used instead of “whatever we have lying around.”

  1. All maintenance and cleaning staff should be informed of these procedures.

If more people know how to take care of the facility, in unusual situations such as termination of an employee, sickness of the primary maintainer, etc., others on staff will be able to care for the sauna in the correct way. Management should hold a meeting with all applicable staff members to demonstrate the techniques and provide translation to Spanish as necessary.

  1. Expectations of resident users should be clearly posted.

Before I came to Portofino, I had never used a non-commercial sauna. Procedures such as putting a clean towel down under all body parts, proper ventilation of the sauna following use, etc. should be clearly posted outside the sauna door with a permanent sign (not a typed sheet stuck in to a plastic sheet protector). Management may ask the sauna company about proper use procedures. Residents can take responsibility for proper use of this facility.

  1. A properly shutting door should be installed. Whether or not the door should be left open should be determined.

Chlorinated water spray from the pool, as well as salty ocean spray, can have negative effects on the wood, such as warping, and on the metal heating unit. Unfortunately, the sauna opens directly to the outdoors and to the pool deck. The door should be properly sealed to keep out these elements. Residents should be instructed to keep the door completely closed at all times (although, I believe the sauna has no internal vent, so perhaps the door has to be open after use for ventilation?). Management may ask the sauna company about proper ventilation procedures for our particular situation.

  1. Old wood should be completely removed before installing new wood.

All existing varnished materials should be removed prior to the installation of our beautiful new top-grade Cedar. Although it would be easier to nail the new wood on top of the existing wood, this practice would still leave sauna users exposed to the scent and potentially toxic fumes of the varnish that still remains in parts of the old wood.

 

Although the sauna is in a difficult location regarding exposure to the elements, I believe with proper use and care the sauna will be a unique, health-conscious, and luxurious amenity of Portofino South for many years to come.

Brent L

A Lawsuit by Skyler Pools

When I went to the local court house I was thinking I would find suits against Skyler Pools but instead I found a current lawsuit of them suing a present customer for non payment.

The case is a civil matter case number 2016CA000978, Skyler Pools and Spa v. Erika Regan and Paul Regan. The case concerns a residence in Wellington. It was filed on January 29th 2016.

Skyler is suing for over $100,000.00.

The clerk told me that there might be other suits concerning this company in other counties but their machines only do our county. Skyler is based in Coconut Creek that is in another county (Broward).

Also, I checked the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website.

Skyler Pools & Spas, Inc. is BBB-accredited. However, customers have submitted 12 complaints in the past 3 years about Skyler. Three of them are warranty issues and nine of them are problems with product/service.

Three complaints were resolved to the customer’s satisfaction. Nine complaints were answered by Skyler but the answers were not accepted by the customer or the customer did not respond.

You can read the complaints here (click on each of the plus signs to open the complaints):
BBB website