JUNE 2003
BOARD MEETING
After open discussion with the owners, the meeting of The Regency Tower Board was called to order at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday, June10, 2003 in the Meeting Room of The Regency Tower by the President.
Roll Call: The roll call showed the following board members present: Iris Anastasi, Eric Berkowitz, Henry Kaplan, Dott Nicholson-Brown, Fern McBride, and Pablo Verol. Louise Collins was absent.
Reading of Minutes: The minutes of a regular meeting of The Regency Tower Board of Directors held on April 10, 2003 were read. Pablo Verol made a motion to approve the minutes as read, seconded by Eric Berkowitz, unanimously approved. Minutes of a special meeting of the Regency Tower Board of Directors held on May 23, 2003 were read. Iris Anastasi made a motion to approve the minutes as read, seconded by Eric Berkowitz, unanimously approved.
Treasurer’s Report:
The
Treasurer, Rafael Alleguez, reported
the
following:
The total of all bank accounts as of May 31, 2003 can be found in detail on our bulletin board in the mail room.
Let me take this opportunity today to explain that as Treasurer of the Association since October 17, 2002 I have concentrated my efforts mostly in these areas:
1. Reduced the number of bank accounts. The purpose was to reduce the amount of paperwork and improve the interest return.
2. We moved all accounts from Bank of America to other banks where attention, service and interest paid are significantly better.
3. Much time has been dedicated to monitoring the different account performances. We have improved the flexibility between our checking account and the operating accounts (money market) with better results and productivity.
4. All the Treasury “Records” and files are under strict control and well organized.
5. We have established new procedures to handle our “Accounts Payable” - strict level of approval for bills and invoices is being followed. No bill or invoice is approved for payment unless signed by the responsible employee, committee chairperson and/or a Board Member, in addition to an explanation about the purpose of the expense.
6. Delinquent Accounts: This area is being monitored very closely. Our “Customer Balance Summary” (issued every month) is reviewed and analyzed in conjunction with our Bookkeeper/Office Manager. Fortunately, we have what I consider a very healthy situation in our condominium. At the end of last May, we had only four delinquent owner accounts, all of them in our attorney’s hands. Two are delinquent for the “Driveway Assessment” payment and two for the “Quarterly Maintenance Assessment.”
All these innovations and improvements are successfully working at this time. We hope that the systems and procedures implemented will stay in place regardless of future Boards handling the Association management.
In future meetings I will cover other subjects, such as: (a) handling our condo insurance, and (b) protecting important documents against unforeseen disasters.
Dott Nicholson-Brown expressed appreciation to Rafael from the Board for the hard work he has done in getting our accounts in order, our treasury in order and our reporting procedures in order.
A motion was made by Henry Kaplan to accept the Treasurer's Report; seconded by Pablo Verol; unanimously approved.
ADJOURNMENT: A motion was made by Iris Anastasi and seconded by Pablo Verol to adjourn the meeting at 8:00 p.m.; unanimously approved.
Fern
McBride, Secretary
PRESIDENT'S REPORT
JUNE 2003
Alo
ha
– I begin with two cautionary items for you
this month. One is humorous. The other is
sad. The first concerns your balcony doors.
Quite a few of us had new balcony doors
installed during the past year or so. If you
have the handle lock rather than the knob
system, and your door slams shut, the door
may lock. Last week I went out to the
balcony to water my plants, the wind blew the
door shut and it locked. I couldn’t even get
a pin under the new air tight hurricane
windows to raise them although they were
unlocked. Lucky for me, Bill Tennenbaum was
relaxing by the pool. I yelled down “Bill,
call security, I’m locked out!” He yelled
back “who’s locked out?” (I guess he
couldn’t imagine Board Members who frequently
rescue other “lock-outs” could lock
themselves out). I yelled “me.” Through
much laughter, he made the call. I think
he’s still laughing.
The second tale involves remodeling your unit. The Board wishes to caution you to be sure to use licensed contractors who obtain permits for all work. This includes work done by you. Because of one disgruntled owner, the entire Association is being monetarily penalized for any non-permit modifications accomplished throughout the building during the past 33 years. As a consequence, the surprise improvements promised in the previous newsletter are being delayed. “Ridiculous!” you say. We thought so too. But, sadly, it’s true.
On a brighter note, the Association was fortunate indeed to hire Marvin “Shorty” Strong as Maintenance Supervisor when John Sala resigned. He is doing an excellent job as you will read in the Maintenance report. We plan to feature him in an “Employee Profile” in the next newsletter.
Ro
und
Table
– The Round Table held their May meeting on
May 8th. Present were Joe
Anastasi, Victoria Fournier, Tom Griffin,
Howard Hirschman, Shirley Hopkins, Dee
Lanzillo, Joshua Parker, Nick Petroe, David
Tinsley, Elaine Welzel and Dr. Morris
Wiener. Rafael Alleguez, Martha Sellas, and
Ray Zabal were excused. Victoria suggested
that the cabanas have a uniform color. Dee
mentioned Pam Cavka’s concern regarding
strangers walking through the North parking
area, climbing on the exhaust and jumping
onto barbecue/beach area. Joe suggested
fencing around the air duct. We will hold
off until the driveway project is completed.
Dave suggested the name of our condo be
placed on the sea wall of our building. The
Board readily agreed as we were not aware the
sign was no longer there. (The sign has
since been replaced). Shirley suggested the
regular hours for the Pool Attendant on
weekends as people are out longer than 2PM.
(Jim has returned to a 7AM – 3:30 PM shift).
The June meeting was held on
June 5th
with Rafael, Joe, Shirley, Joshua, and Nick
present. Excused were Tom, Dee, Martha and
Ray. Josh had nothing but good things to
say. Tom sent suggestion via Rafael that the
Board consider putting a cap of about 15-20%
on rentals. It was pointed out that at
present we have 15 rentals which is a little
over 7%. Also suggested that we look into
improperly installed dryers which bring
humidity into our environment. Rafael
mentioned the problem that a few owners are
having with Comcast. Eric will check into
it. Joe suggested that instead of painting
arrows on the driveway, we should have the
contractor make them with the pavers.
Everyone agreed. Shirley discussed owner’s
private cabanas being used by others. The
sign indicating private ownership is
missing. We will order a new sign that
states “Cabanas are Private Property.”
Everyone agreed that our building is humming.
Hurricane
Season
– Hurricane Season runs from June 1st
to
November
30th. The Board placed “Emergency
Hurricane Procedures” booklets in every unit
last may. Although the National Hurricane
Center has launched a new system of giving a
5 day forecast as opposed to the 3 day
forecast, we need to be more vigilant than
ever, in my opinion. If you do not have
hurricane impact windows, you must have
hurricane shutters which meet the new
pressure requirements. Storm waters entering
one apartment endangers the entire building.
If you are away between June 1st
and November 30th, all furniture,
plants, etc must be taken off your balcony.
Even a pebble becomes a missile in high
winds.
For in-house owners: DO NOT wait until the last minute to bring in your furniture, plants and request the installation of shutters. Our employees will be busy securing the common property inside and out. After securing the property, employees will be sent home to prepare and protect their homes and families. If an evacuation order is given and we are ordered to leave the building, be aware that due to living in an evacuation zone we must comply. Remember, there will be no medical or fire services available; the building may lose electric, water and telephone service; the garage will in all probability, be flooded. The No. 1 cause of death in hurricanes is flooding. Please do not expect any of us to risk our lives in mid-storm because you failed to read your hurricane booklet and follow instructions. If you are a new owner and do not have a copy, please call the Administration Office. Also, if you will need shutters installed, please call the office to be placed on a first-come, first serve list if there is time after securing common property.
Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) – The Board presented a short demonstration of an AED to all employees, Board Members and any interested owners on June 5th. It was shown how simple these devices are to use as a computerized voice gives instructions. There is no decision to make. The machine determines if the person in cardiac arrest has a “treatable rhythm.” Broward County Fire Rescue recently received a National Award for its efforts in endorsing the distribution of heart defibrillators. Broward County placed their first AED at the Ft. Lauderdale airport in 1998 and it has saved lives. At Port Everglades a life was saved when a stranger grabbed one off the wall and used it on a passenger. The Regency appreciates this gift from Robert Derham of unit 810. The Board now plans to have a combination training class in both AED and CPR for all employees, Board Members and any interested owners. You must inform Cindy if you are interested as she needs the total number of persons who will be attending.
Disab
led
List
– If you wish to be placed on the disabled
list for the Fire Department, please call the
office
and give your name to Cindy.
This list is
only for those unable to go down stairs in
the event of a fire. It is
NOT
for a hurricane emergency. Everyone is
expected to evacuate when ordered by the
authorities. The Fire Department will not be
available for hurricane evacuations. The
Disabled list for the Fire Department is
updated each year.
Cabanas – It would be appreciated if anyone purchasing a new cabana would attempt to match our pool chaise lounges, chairs and umbrellas so as to eventually have uniform colors through attrition.
K
eys
– We plan to change our Medeco Keys over the
summer. Our Security Chair, Joe Anastasi is
checking into three alternatives: a new
Medeco key, a key card, or a fob. Everyone
will receive a replacement for each key
turned in that was purchased and/or assigned
through Administration or previous owner. We
have a list of all keys which have been
assigned over the past 30 years.
I’m signing off for a couple of months. Although the Board will not hold meetings during July and August, the Administration, Maintenance, Security and Board will be very busy. Those absent owners can be happy that you won’t be here during the Summer and Fall while driveway restoration is proceeding. What a mess! But keep in touch via e-mail and/or phone.
I send a warm thank you to all who give us words of encouragement and appreciation. Those words truly help. For as my son would say, “It ain’t easy!”
So, until the Fall,
Aloha
Dott Nicholson-Brown
COMMITTEE REPORTS
JUNE 2003
Beautification
-
Louise Collins
sent the following report:
There
have been several project completed since our
last meeting. The Laundry Room has had
a face lift with a coat of ice blue paint,
new ceiling tiles and new signs installed.
The Receiving Room in the garage is also
undergoing some sprucing up. The
Meeting Room entrance area greets you with a
tiled floor that enhances the entire area.
All these projects were performed by our own
capable Maintenance Staff. Thanks for a
job well done! All other projects have
been worked on and are in a holding pattern
for the time being.
Cable
-
Howard Hirschman
reported that in response to
complaints
about cable problems, a call was placed to
Comcast. The fiber optic upgrade is a
two year job. Work on the Galt Mile
should be completed by October 1, 2003.
A commitment by Comcast to the City of Fort
Lauderdale is that while there will be
interruptions of service during the normal
work day (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.), the system will
fully function outside these hours.
Erratic performance with these hours is to be
expected. Please do not call for
service for these outages. There have
also been several complaints that some units
never receive certain channels since the
upgrade that they did receive prior to the
upgrade. These problems can only be
corrected by a call to Comcast service.
The telephone number is available in the
office.
Construction -
Eric Berkowitz
reported the following: The
Driveway
Project that has preoccupied The Regency
Tower for the past five months is underway.
A voluminous amount of preparation by the
Board of Director, the Construction
Committee, the Beautification Committee, the
Finance Committee, and Maintenance has truly
made this a joint effort.
After the contract was completed, the appropriate electrical, structural, and plumbing permit applications were submitted to the City of Fort Lauderdale for approval. The City requested certain additional information, which they received. Our consulting engineer advised us that we would not save time by allowing the construction equipment to clog up our driveway before all the pieces of the permit puzzle were in place.
We arranged for additional parking to alleviate the possible shortage of available spaces. We negotiated with Danebelt Management, the owner of the large lot directly across the street, to allow Regency Tower residents to park there. A sheet identifying the vehicle as belonging to a resident should be placed on the dashboard and be visible through the windshield. The identification sheets can be obtained at the office only by our residents. Should you park there without the benefit of this identification, you risk being towed.
Immediately prior to the beginning of demolition, windows on the first floor will be boarded up for a few days as protection from demolition-related flying debris. During the construction, there will be a period of roughly three weeks in which the front entrance will be inaccessible and residents will have to utilize the north, south, or either of the garage entrances to the premises. By beginning construction on the south side of the building, we avoid the possibility of blocking access to the pool and beach if the construction is not complete by the beginning of the season. Each side should take about three months to complete. As construction moves from one side to the other, temporary Handicap parking will shift accordingly.
At each side of the building, demolition will
start at the east end of the property, work
its way down the ramp towards the street, and
swing around to the entrance of the garage.
Once cleared, resurfacing will commence in
front of t
he garage, across the lower
driveway and, after waterproofing, up the
ramps. Only half the entrance to the garage will be accessible to traffic at any given
time. While active construction is taking
place at this narrow entrance, a flagman will
be posted as a safety measure to help direct
traffic during daylight hours.
Our original intention was to resurface the driveway with a combination of pavers and colored concrete due to the cost factor. SPS has offered to resurface the entire driveway with pavers for the same price as the combination of surfaces. They explained that while the material costs were roughly 5% to 10% higher with the combination, their labor costs would plummet by 40% using all pavers. The combination of concrete and pavers would require two separate crews. By limiting the job to pavers only they would pay only one crew.
We are partners in an important investment. The success of this investment hinges upon the continued high level of cooperation among our consultants, our contractors, the Board, and you.
Iris Anastasi made a motion that in accordance with the report by Construction Chair and Board Member Eric Berkowitz, which states that the contractor will resurface the entire driveway/parking area for the same price as partial pavers, she hereby rescinds her previous motion of October 17, 2002 and now moves that we install Pavers over the entire driveway/parking area. Motion seconded by Fern McBride and unanimously approved.
A motion was made by Fern McBride that the due dates for payments #2 and #3 for the Driveway/Parking Restoration Project be changed from May 1st and August 1st to June 1st and September 1, 2003. Eric Berkowitz seconded the motion; unanimously approved.
Housekeeping - Louise Collins sent the following report: The Housekeeping Department is running smoothly and seems to have a schedule well worked out. We appreciate every one cooperating with keeping the building clean. Remember, this is your home!
Laundry
-
Ofelia Alleguez
gave Martha Sellas’ report: In the
absence
of Chair Lazlo Bandi, she was pleased to
report moneys were deposited from the Laundry
Room receipts on May 29, 2003. The Laundry
Committee is appreciative of the new,
simplified procedure Rafael Alleguez has
arranged for making future deposits wherein
we no longer have to roll the quarters. This
will save a good amount of time for the
committee. Further, the Laundry Room has
been refurbished with a fine coat of paint,
ceiling tiles replaced, and new carts
ordered. Overall, a bright room making a
chore a pleasure!
Maintenance
- Pablo Verol
reported that the Maintenance
Department,
with Marvin “Shorty” Strong at the helm, has
been very, very busy. Some of the
projects completed are:
1. Installed tile at entrance to Meeting Room.
2. Installed new drinking water fountain at pool area.
3. Painted Laundry Room; installed new ceiling tiles and new information signs.
4. Installed new hand railing at North entrance to garage area; repainted all hand rails.
5. Repaired wall at Barbecue Area.
6. Installed 3 new sump pumps, cleaned out drainage in front of garage and line to city drainage.
7. Repaired sprinkler line and shut-off valve at N/W corner of parking lot.
8. Replaced valve on shower at entrance to beach.
9. Reorganized and cleaned out Maintenance Shop. Set up maintenance equipment and supply system for ready access.
10 Installed mirror at front of Receiving Room for residents to have safe view when entering and exiting.
11. Repaired turbo vents on roof.
12. Painted fire exit doors to North stairway.
13. Replaced old Recycle Signs with new updated ones in Trash Rooms on all floors.
14. Cleaned and reorganized basement level Compactor Room.
15. Cleaned out all vents around exterior of building.
16. Installed gate switch in Receiving Room.
17. Installed new building location sign at beach entrance.
Screening
-
Iris Anastasi
reported that since our last Board
Meeting we
have had two leases and four sales.
(See
"New Residents")
The Board extends a hearty welcome to our new residents and hope they will have many happy years at The Regency Tower.
Security
-
Joe Anastasi
reported that he met with security
personnel
after the AED presentation on Thursday, June
5th. Items discussed included electrical
safety/extension cords in common areas;
anyone entering building who is not a
resident but has a key must be on authorized
entry list; certified mail - owner must fill
out form if they want security to accept.
(Check with Security at Lobby Desk for more
information or to obtain forms for Authorized
Entry and/or Certified Mail.)
The President thanked Joe for the fine work he does with the Security Committee.
We Care
- Ofelia Alleguez
reported the following for the
months
of April, May, June:
APRIL:
Mrs. Jean Vietch (#1402) was in hospital; note on bulletin board, card sent, plant on her return home.
Mr. Ted Parker (#1502) had surgery at Imperial Point Hospital; note on bulletin board, card sent.
Mrs. Thalia Parker (#1502) is out of the hospital and in rehab in Boca Raton.
Mr. Ralph Ellis (#1410) passed away; note on bulletin board, card sent, trees to be planted in his memory.
MAY:
Ms. Ethel Gianoulis (#802) had surgery, knee replacement, note on bulletin board, card and flowers on her return home from rehab.
Mrs. Martha Sellas (#802) had surgery, note on bulletin board, card and chocolates sent.
Mrs. Dee Lanzillo (#610) had surgery in New York, note on bulletin board, card and gourmet basket sent.
JUNE:
Mrs. Rosemarie Miceli (#1704) passed away June 1st in New York. Information posted on bulletin board, card sent, and a donation has been sent in her memory to American Cancer Society. The Board would like to extend their deepest condolences to the Ellis and Miceli families. They will be missed.
Ms. Karen Johnson (1108) resigned from the committee due to personal reasons. Need more volunteers. Vickie Fournier (303) volunteered. Thank you, Vickie!
Welcoming - Howard Hirschman reported that during the past month one new owner was given the welcoming tour: Ronald and Geraldine Lenzi, Apt. 1010.
Announcements
• As a follow-up to the AED demonstration on June 5th, plans are being made to arrange training classes in CPR and AED. Owners are welcome and encouraged to sign up - see Cindy. All employees and interested Board Members will attend the classes.
• Regarding the driveway project, no
moneys have been paid to the contractor; no
down payment has been paid. Payments are not
made until our Engineer inspects and approves
work after it is done. This is how our
contract was negotiated.
• If you have TV channels missing that were not missing before the re-wiring took place, please contact Eric Berkowitz or Security.
• Joe Anastasi is investigating new Medeco keys, as well as other entry systems. No decisions will be made until costs and advantages/disadvantages of options are considered.