Additional Meeting to The Additional- Hallways and Assessment

April 4^th Meeting:

The meeting was about rescinding a motion and put another motion on the table. A lot of procedure language. ML put a new motion of the exact prices of the redo of the hallways, ceilings, lights and the ceilings above the elevators. Thus, they then could vote on an assessment.

Some members want a small assessment for only this project, some want a larger assessment to include the parking lot and the cooling tower. They discussed a single assessment or many assessments. Some wanted to wait two weeks when we have an estimate for the parking lot where there is a great deal of confusion about the estimated total cost of this project.

Some members are more realistic about doing the hallways first as we have no money and a large loan. No financial planning has been discussed or a payment schedule for these assessments. We need to prioritize projects for their importance. there was a motion to table the hallways but it did not pass.

This board with its new president does not come to the meeting with a clear agenda or a strategy. There were also few condo owners in the audience and the majority never speak up or raise a question. THESE ARE VERY IMPORTANT ISSUES FOR EVERYBODY THAT LIVES IN THE BUILDING  SHOULD BE PARTICIPATING.

 

 

Condo Docs revised:

I received the new copy but cannot see the changes. They were not bolded or underlined.

I still have questions and comments on the original and the new version. They are below. (they are mine and not be construed that others should feel they way I do )

A5- 7 pages are not in the new packet

B1- 19 pages are missing

p.D2-point 2.9- we should add a visible list of committees- not in this definition

p.D4-point 2.25- they should add internet

p.D9- point 7.2-problem with language “ without regard to whether”

p.D12- point 8- you renewed the card room without the vote from the association which this point specifies

page D14 point g iii-add old carpeting with worn out padding

1. D15 point (iv) kitchen exception

p.D19 (g) retain records of all alterations and contractors that do them for a period of 2 years-these records are not maintained now.

On assessments- condo owners are not protected by the board from issuing any assessments that the majority of condo owners do not want or approve.

p.D24- point 13- Insurance-not strong enough management should know who has or does not have insurance.***

p.D26 point 13.4 (b) I – why it would  be determined by the association -I think it should read the insurance company not the association.

p.D30 point 15.5- discretion of the board – no we need an outside opinion

p.D30 point 15.5 (a) think the order should be mortgage company, then condo owner, then association

p.D32 point 16.1- currently we have a group of Filipinos domestic help that works on the island and we have young men in 1007 that are not related . Do they go when these rules go into effect?

p.D33 2^nd paragraph- at the end records should be kept for a minimum of 1 year of guests-retention of records is legally correct-retention of records

1. 34 (c ) do we keep this info and do we ask for a renewal

(f) not patrolled

And finally, the parking Exhibit A does not follow the original condo docs which I have a copy of.

I do not know who revised it but it was never discussed in a board metting nor was there a committee appointed.

I also want to know if an absent vote is a no vote?

 

 

Condo Monthly Meeting- March 21 2017

Condo Meeting Minutes- March 21, 2017

All members present

Minutes from the 2/23 and 3/1 meetings were approved

On April 14^th there will be a walkthrough of the parking lot project

April 22 is the farewell party for the building

Treasurer’s Report by G.D.

The card room remodel was taken out of operating expenses

There was an added expense this month involving plumbing- main line

There was a corroding pipe in the 9 line and it was leaking into the first floor apartment

Apt 110 was also cleaned out

H.M. thanked Anne for her beautiful presentation of her China trip to the condo owners in the card        room

Manager’s Report:

He worked with the decorating committee to get more bids for the hallway renovations

He met with FPL through the introduction of Lucia about the outages in the building                         He said it was line problems

Channel 5 will take space on our roof and pay $450 a month. He has committed to a 5 year   contract

He will buy a new dumpster as we fill the one and only one too quickly and the maintenance

People have to walk it over to the dumpster that is  for the large pieces

B.G. felt that there is a lot of owners using the dumpster for construction garbage and they

should pay us for this. All construction debris is supposed to be taken off the property by the   contractors.HM asked that our dumpster on the south side should be pushed back out of sight.

Discussion of a fining committee?

We have more trash than ever

He surveyed the windows and feels that there are 74 windows without impact windows or      shutters ( I do not think you can tell from the outside)

we have a new sound system for the board meetings …if they use the microphone

VR mentioned that more people should fold their boxes and cause less bulk in recycles

Decorating the Hallways:

New Lights will be $25,000 +, they are ADA compliant

Freight will be $1200 ,pallets $150 and installation $4675   Total: $31,000 +

We need 240 fixtures with 25 extra for the future

New Ceiling Tiles: They have two bids

The grid has to be replaced also ,they showed the new tiles to the board not to the audience

2x 2 feet tiles for a total of $80,000 plus

GD questioned if they would line up straight?

BG asked what’s up there – are there any known problems up there  (cable, Water line)

Frank does not see any foreseeable problems or any extra cost, the air conditioning ducts        have        to be rehung.

VR asked if they knew the wattage, if they had LED  bulbs of the new lights- no one knew. She        questioned        If the hallways would be any brighter.

R S from the audience asked if any new fire laws would affect our new ceiling

Total of $137,736.88 for the total remake and they suggested an assessment to pay for this.

They took a vote to the assessment and to go forward with the project and the vote was a tie

Thus as of now the project is on hold and no assessment for this

Old Business:

Trimming the mangroves – Frank had two estimates one from Jason’s Arbor Care and one from

Green Spaces- initial trimming, maintenance trimming and new planting

Annual trimming about $3500 plus permits

If any new plants are added they have to be watered for two weeks by us

VR expressed that we should not do anything as the bridge is going to be adjacent to this area   for maybe 4 years – it is going to be a mess

GD also did not want to plant anything new but just trim and get invasive species out

It might bring it down to $2500 plus permit.

One board member opposed  7 approved

Portofino South February 2017 Board Meeting

President PK welcomed all condo owners in the audience and welcomed their ideas  and wanted

To keep the communication open.

 

She welcomed LB as a new board member and who will head the communication officer- she spoke at the end of the meeting and said she was planning on producing a monthly news letter and she had 90 email addresses to send it to. (in the past I thought we were not allowed to publish condo owners telephone numbers but email addresses are okay?)

 

Secretary GD said all accounts are current

BG asked if he was using the reserve funds which she thought needed a vote but he said he was only using them for the projects they were put away for and that did not need a vote.

 

He emphasized that maintenance has stayed the same for 5 years except the extra $2 for Comcast increase.

 

Ihor from the audience asked about the new structures on the roof of the condo to our south and Frank answered that they were the three other companies that were not on our roof. We have AT&T and earn $26,000.

 

Manager’s Report:

Frank gave the board estimates for the paving and drainage of the parking lots there are two contracts and he encourage that the board should sign one asap in order to get the project going May 1.

Mangroves near the edge of our property should be trimmed and cleaned out. He said that during the last demonstration lots of garbage collected there. He also advised there were some bald spots and we should fill in. LB asked if there was proper signage there so people are aware it was private property?

Frank said there was. But emphasized they should be trimmed which needs to have a federal permit. LB said maybe we should delay as there might be a new descision about the redo of the Southern bridge.

The initial cutting will be $3500 and then $800 each quarter. This is not in the budget and does not have to be done right away. (I went to see the area today and there is garbage there but it is not new garbage from protesters but mainly plastic bags from the water and boats. Also the next door Yaught Club has cut theirs down like a hedge and it looks good. But the empty spaces are good as there is less trash in those areas. Also we do not have proper signage in the grass area there and the no trespassing sign on the gate to the dock is all faded away)

Back to the parking lots. There might be as many as 10 contractors involved in the project. Frank said we should get a contract manager or an oversearer as the engineer that we are paying will not supervise the job. Our engineer lives in the building and is being paid. The project will take approximately 5 months. The lots have to be brought up to current city code.

The Decorating Committee By GC

There was a new bar in the room and said that it could go back if people did not like the committee’s choice. But the next morning a condo owner that does a lot of the parties in that room did not think it functioned but was told we own it, priced at $1299. New sconces and a fresh coat of paint (donated by Doug) as someone did not like the light blue. It is now beige.

GC showed pictures of new ceiling tiles for the hallways and lights. The price for the light were $109 . But the other prices he was not very clear about so it was tabled. So one suggested getting rid of the tile areas in front of the elevators. (when Comcast recently came to fix my cable he had to trace my cable out of my apt through the hall ceiling in front of the elevators. It was easy as he could mob=ve the tiles off the grid but they should be careful to make it harder to get up there for Comcast, Plumbers, and maybe fire)

Orientation:

They interviewed I renter in 1002, one guest in 601, and 304 a renter.

Social Committee:

No report

Guest to the Meeting: Andrew Wilson of Epic Wireless

He spoke about bringing our own fiber optics to the building. He is a reseller of cable. But the board asked him to just estimate to bring wi fi to the common area only.

(We do not know how many people in the condo have internet service and who uses Comcast or AT&T. But I know that Comcast is interested in trying to get the exclusive for our building and with that they will throw in free wi fi for public areas) I gave the person Franks email.

LB has said she will do a newsletter for the building and it will come out monthly.

note: the words and thoughts between parentheses are those of my opinion 

 

Manager’s Mtg. February 15

Manager’s meeting, Portofino South, February 15, 2017

In attendance: association’s building manager and residents

Paving Project: The project is currently at the stage of beginning permitting and hiring of a construction manager. It was noted that finding enough parking space during the project may be a challenge.

Decorating: Lights for the hallways to be proposed to the Board are on display on the fourth floor near the entryway to unit 403. The decorating committee will present updates on their projects next Tuesday at the board meeting.

Power Issues: Power outages and/or surges have been occurring 1-2 times/week and are causing issues with the association’s common property (mechanical/computers). Manager plans to schedule a meeting with representatives of FP&L to discuss.

Internet: A vendor of building-wide Internet services will present Tuesday at the board meeting.

PS Condo Meeting on January 17th 2017

– January 17^th 2017

(Please forgive me for missing info as it is now very hard to hear in the new card room and the microphone is old)

All Board Members were present and the new board member Lucia Bonavita joined for the first time.

PK made an announcement that the November meeting minutes were not ready and also the December meetings minutes. (you can view both on this blog)

PK introduced herself and made a speech about her thoughts for her new presidency and how she would like to run things.

She announced that there will be basically only two committees: decoration and orientation.

GD- Treasury Report

We are $80,000 over last year but that includes the repair of the pool and card room that came out of operating moneys.

There are no delinquent accounts

From the audience, a question was asked by PR about the budget. He mentioned that there was a line item of a raise to the doorman and he had asked a few of the doorman and they had not been given raises. GD and Frank answered that raises are usually given on the anniversary of the person started working here and then the raises are given- PR reiterated that their salaries are very low and might leave before they get raises.

BG wanted to qualify when the audience can ask questions- PK said that the condo owners can ask questions or comments before the board votes on an issue. But only on agenda issues on that particular meeting.

Some discussion about The Sunshine Law about what the owners could discuss…did not hear also about a quorum which I also did not hear.

Frank said we used to have an open forum at the beginning of the meeting where owners could talk about different subjects. ( I think we should be able to speak before the meeting and during the meeting. This is our building!)

The Manager’s Report

The paving will start May 1 and the office has started calling people that do not stay here during the summer what their plans are for their cars.

The Cooling Tower:

Frank wanted to buy the tower which takes about 7 to 8 weeks to be delivered. We would purchase it ourselves at the cost of $83,000.00 and then bid out the companies that were going to install it. It seems that the architects /engineers/ contractors do not supervise the work. The installation should be about $120,000.00. He wanted to start this project this March but the board voted to start it next January 2018. The money will come from the loan that we took out. The majority of the board was not comfortable with buying the cooling tower and voted not to do it. Motion defeated. BG was the only vote opposing the board.

There is some new code that the fire dept wants to implement and have approached a list of 13 WPB condos. But what they are demanding would be incredibly expensive for old buildings to do so there is a lobbyist being hired to fight this in Tallahassee and the board voted to join the group and pay Poliakoff law firm up to $5000 to fight this new code. We were contacted by the Rapallo about this issue who saw our name on the list. The office said they never received the first notice. I think the lobbyist mentioned was named Donna Berger.

The window and door change:

Frank said that he received 20 inquiries that they would like to change their windows. ( See other post on the windows)

Our new Rule Documents will be ready soon for the condo owners to look at and read. They will have to sign an affidavit when they get the documents and if they are not in residence they will send the paper work by certified mail. There will be a meeting on Feb 13^th with the building’s attorneys to answer any questions about the new rules.

Dock Key- new one is available at the office for anyone that wants one.

Orientation Committee- By M.D.

One new owner in 808, I renter in 203 and a boarder???

 

 

 

 

 

Manager’s Meeting – Portofino South Jan 11, 2017

7PM meeting attended by Frank Legalante and residents/owners.

-Window/Door Replacement
Manager sought quotes for owners wishing to replace all their outdoor unit glass with “hurricane glass” i.e. impact-resistant glass. Quotes were obtained and passed out during the meeting for four companies, who were promised at least 15 owners would buy. Manager recommended All American Windows, which had prices ranging from $8-17K for complete unit glass replacement. This contractor participates in PACE financing, which allows principal and interest to be paid through the property tax bill. Current owners who have replaced the original glass (1971) said they had seen benefits including less A/C usage and less ambient noise getting in to the apartment. A quote was also obtained for new shutter installation ($2.5-5K per unit), but glass replacement was recommended by manager.

-Cooling Tower Replacement
Replacement is scheduled to take between 2-3 weeks and will commence in March. No units will have A/C during this time. Bids for this project are not yet in.

-Parking Lot Replacement
Replacement is scheduled to take 4 months and will commence in May. Bids for this project are not yet in.

-Possibly, the two above replacement projects will be financed through loans the association already has.

December 7, 2016 Condo Meeting

Regular Meeting:

Margie Daley reported that she interviewed  5 sales,1 renter, and 3 roommates this month.

Ballots for the reserve question were counted and the result was 17 not  and 63 yes (to not fund the reserves)  80 votes in total but 2 were handed in at the meeting but not counted in this figure.

The board adopted the budget with no discussion

Lucia Bonavita,unit 704,was appointed to the board to replace Parker Reid,and Keith Gornick( who sold his apartment).

Someone asked from the audience when will the parking lot project start and Greg answered either May 1 2017 or June 1 2017.

Organizational Meeting: 

Officers were picked for the next year.

Pam Kittinger – President

Margie Daley- Vice President

Greg D’Elia- Treasurer

Helen MacDonald- Secretary

Condo meetings will remain on the Third Tuesday of each month from September thru May at 7:00 pm

and the first Wednesday in December for the annual meeting  at 7:30pm

Bank Signatures will be Pam,Greg, Margie with Martha as an alternate

and Frank is the emergency signer. Two signatures are required.

The board thanked Martha Lee who has served 18 years on the board.

 

Condo Meeting Minutes- November 16, 2016

Condo Meeting- November 16,2016

All Board Members Present except P.R. and  M. M. on the telephone

Budget Report:

We had a financial loss this period but because of the redo of the pool and the redo of the card room

There are only two units that are 15 days late

Manager’s Report:

Parts for inoperative elevator are due the first week of December

There was damage during the past storm, the fluctuation of the electricity during that day was the cause. Insurance does not pay.

Someone from the audience questioned if FPL was contacted and then another person suggested to put together a meeting with FPL and to see if something could be discussed.

Cooling Tower Project is in motion- when it starts it should take about 3 weeks if all goes smoothly- units will not have air conditioning during this period- hopefully it will be cool outside.

Generator -part has been repaired

Redoing all the sliding doors in the apts- all done there will be a discount-(this is new to me)

The building manager brought up that a unit owner had a problem with a leak from another apartment-the board assumed that most people have home insurance. It was a rule in the past but for some reason it slipped through the cracks and there is no rule. The board suggested that they check with the lawyer to see if it is legal to require home insurance. Everyone agreed that all units should have home insurance.

Someone from the audience mentioned that people should have liability.

A new unit owner was interviewed for unit 309

Decorating Committee Report:

G.D. the only person there from that committee

No one liked the first attempt at changing the hall light samples

So they have ordered new samples to choose from.

Old Business:

B.G. discussed the reworking of our condo docs, there were some new qualifying items brought up by the lawyer. There will be a total unit meeting to explain the new docs before they are officially sent out. If the unit owner is here they will be able to pick a copy at the front desk.

It is a “yes or no” vote only which will take place sometime in January.

The topic of home insurance should be in the docs- they will add them.

Discussed that there will be a moratorium of construction between Dec 15^th and March 15^th. But will not start this year but next.

Budget:

$2 increase in cable which should be added to unit’s maintenance

Gas for the heater on the roof has become very expensive so if it is very cold and heat is required our bill will be very high.

We do not have to redo the roof it has another three years…a nice saving.

Parking lot repair will be a big number

Exhaust fans on the roof might have to be replaced about $24,000. We should start putting money in a reserve for that project.

A discussion about not funding the reserves and the emergency fund

Washing machine income should be kept separately and used to buy replacement machines.

Motion: the unit owners should have new revised docs 14 days before annual meeting

No New Business- Meeting Adjourned

October 18, 2016 Portofino South Condominium Association meeting

Present: ML, PK, GD, BG, KG (by phone), HM (by phone), MD, JS (by phone), also manager and office assistant

Absent: PR

ML gave president’s report commending preparations by the staff prior to Hurricane Matthew.

GD gave treasurer’s report stating there were no delinquencies.

Manager’s report stated staff closed 60 percent of owners’ shutters and that he “felt responsible” to help with closing them. He requested a solution to remove injury liability of staff closing owners’ shutters. He suggested bringing in a company twice a year to maintain the shutters and charge owners. BG and GD agreed something should be done to ensure all units’ hurricane shutters are maintained.

Manager quoted $1200-1500 to re-build a fence and gate to keep pool inaccessible from the street and $300 to repair wooden fence in guest parking lots damaged by the hurricane.

Manager discussed some dis-ease over the current elevator maintenance company and said damage to the drive on one of the main elevators may have to be paid out of pocket (over $10,000). The elevator is inoperable and was damaged by the generator used to run it during the hurricane-associated power outages.

Manager asked board for local bank recommendations to put reserve fund ($180,000). Reserve fund previously held by Morgan Stanley.

MD gave credentials committee report and stated she had interviewed the occupants of unit 212.

Pool committee chair stated she thinks the committee is not currently needed and should be disbanded.

GD spoke for decorating committee and showed samples of chairs and pictures of tables as possibilities for the card room furniture. Motion to proceed with purchasing the chairs and tables at about $6000 was passed.

GD gave the committee’s ideas for counter, bar, refrigerator, and sink to be installed in card room.

BG proposed to send two changes to the Declaration of Condominium to the lawyers. The manager suggested sending the new Declaration of Condominium to owners in November. The Declaration must be approved by unit owners before it takes effect.

Manager presented 2017 budget, stated it was very similar to last year with some changes in insurance, gas, and replacing exhaust fans on the roof. Income from antenna leases will be about $31,000. GD suggested special assessments for ceiling tiles and lighting in two to three months and for painting and restoration in eighteen months, with the parking lot project being included in the budget. BG opposed paying for the parking lot project out of the budget and stated it should be a special assessment. BG and GD noted that our current budget does not fund reserves and so special assessments are necessary. Budget was not voted on.

Portofino South Condominium Association Board of Directors Meeting September 20, 2016

Martha Lee called the meeting to order at 7:00pm

Roll Call-Present

Martha Lee – President

Pam Kittinger – Vice President

Gregory D’Elia – Treasurer/Secretary

Margie Daley

Parker Reid

Betse Gori

Helen MacDonald–phone

John Schaefer–phone

Keith Gornick- absent

Betse Gori made a motion to waive the reading and approve the minutes of the May 17th board meeting.  Gregory D’Elia seconded the motion.  Helen MacDonald requested that the minutes be amended to change the discussion of the TV rules and regulations until the October meeting.  Motion carried unanimously.

No president’s report

No vice presidents report

No secretary report

Gregory D’Elia gave the treasurers report with the recommendation that we look into the proper allocation of the cost of the pool remodel and the card room remodel since neither of these projects were in the 2016 budget.

Frank Lagalante gave the manager’s report—see attached

Barbara Tattersfield gave a report on new furniture & tables for the card room.

Pam Kittinger made a motion to give the decorating committee a budget of 25K to present a proposal to finish the room with tables, chairs, sink, bar, and refrigerator and anything else needed.  John Schaefer seconded the motion.  Motion carried unanimously.

Helen MacDonald made a motion to distribute the revised “Declaration of Condominium” to the unit owners the most economically and legal way possible.  Margie Daley seconded the motion.

A discussion regarding the issue of “airbnb” and have we properly addressed this in our revised documents.

Motion carried unanimously.

Betse Gori made a motion to approve the additional expenses submitted by Keshavarz Gregory D’Elia seconded the motion.  Discussion: Parker Reid requested that the contracts to go to our attorney for review.  No other board members felt that was necessary.

Martha Lee, Pam Kittinger, Gregory D’Elia, Betse Gori, John Schaefer, Helen MacDonald and Margie Daley were in favor of the motion.  Parker Reid opposed the motion.  Motion carried.

New business:

Geraldine McNamara spoke to board and those present to thank everyone for their support on Dede McNamara’s passing.

Valerie Barto requested that we hold a meeting in the summer to keep the community informed.  She was told that if anyone wanted information they should contact the Office for details on any projects that were being done.

Frank Lagalante requested that the board dismiss the current engineer FAE for the cooling tower and chillers project and replace them with KAMM Consulting.

Gregory D’Elia made a motion to dismiss FAE Engineering and retain the services of KAMM Consulting Inc.  Margie Daley seconded the motion.  Motion carried unanimously

Gregory D’Elia made a motion to adjourn the meeting.  Pam Kittinger seconded the motion.  Motion carried unanimously.

______________________________________

Gregory D’Elia, Acting Secretary