Management Committee
Topics: Topics: Maintenance, garden water, budget
Management Committee
Decisions: Decisions: - Kathy will arrange visits from tree companies to get bids. - Amy will get bids for sprinkler repairs & see about getting SL Corp to check water. - Shut off all water in garden for several days & watch meter. - Dispose of broken ice maker from c.h. kitchen. - Get Zack Noorda's SSN & double-check Matt's. - Matt reports his jobs, hours and start/stop times to Mary, on those occasions she isn't directly supervising/working with him.
Topics: Topics: trees, maintenance, water bill, roof #8, dog run behind east carports
Management Committee
Topics: Topics: Crown, budget, trees & irrigation
Management Committee
Decisions: Decisions: Accept Ron Case's bid for reroofing #3 and #9
Topics: Topics: Watering, Trees, Roofs #3 and #9, Finances
Management Committee
Management Committee
Topics: Topics: finance
Management Committee
Topics: Topics: noises at night, solar, covering vents, irrigation
Management Committee
Topics: Topics: appraisals, sprinklers
Management Committee
Decisions: Decisions: There will be a compost pile south of the Noorda workshop and west of the orchard, to be managed by Hob. The broken fence behind the common house will probably be removed and not replaced.
Topics: Topics: property values, broken fence, landscaping & composting
Management Committee
Topics: Topics: property values, broken fence, landscaping & composting
Discussion: Decisions: A compost pile south of the Noorda workshop and west of the orchard will be managed by Hob. Remove broken fence behind the common house, probably not replaced.
Management Committee
Decisions: Decisions: Susan is in charge of dealing with the lawn company. Community will reimburse cost of repair to #6's window, and put screens over wall vents (kitchen etc.) on all units to stop birds nesting.
Topics: Topics: lawns; maintenance broken window, gutters, vents; transfer fee
Management Committee
Topics: Topics: maintenance, meeting schedule
Discussion: Decisions: Approved maintenance jobs for Matt. Management Meetings will be the first Wednesday and the third Tuesday.
Management Committee
Topics: 7:00-8:50 p.m.
Discussion: Topics: policy about common house events that charge; letter for Angelastro's insurance; catching up book-keeping; landscaping; contract policy; contractor W-9s
Management Committee
Decisions: Decisions: close Crown checking account, send reminder about special assessment fees starting soon
Topics: Topics: purchasing AmEx's share of Crown, tree planting & pruning, maintenance, Wasatch Elders, special assessment
Management Committee
Decisions: Decisions: Contracts must be read by multiple members (preferably all) of Management. Change orders over $1000 must be approved by all of management, not just the person liaising with the contractor. In an emergency at least one other member must be consulted.
Topics: Topics: #15 repairs, landscaping, process of decision making on management, contracts & change orders, roofs
Management Committee
Topics: Topics: Tree work, maintenance, Crown, mortgages, replacing bookkeeper, budget, water conservation
Management Committee
Discussion: Topics: Budget, maintenance, gutter covers
Management Committee
Decisions:
Topics:
Discussion:
Proposal:
Proposal File: ../ proposals/
Joel is interested in putting shelves where the icemaker used to be and suggested Matt could help. Covering kitchen & dryer vents isn't finished. #9 John & Linda's still has open holes under eaves. Wait until leaves come down before cleaning gutters.
Downspout on SW corner has disconnected from the gutter on Mark's unit. Something similar with Vaughn's?
When Hob & Kay checked the meter at Cheyenne St, it slowed when the stop-and- waste on the garden side was shut off, and stopped when the south berm stop-and- waste was also shut off.
B&L Waterworks checked for underground leaks in the garden and couldn't find any.
Hob met with him (ran into him while he was here). Do we want to have someone else come check it?
:: Kay will send B&L's number to Amy. Amy will contact one of the companies she looked up on Angie's List.
B&L hasn't sent an invoice yet.
Putting a bib at each bed would improve convenience and let us quit using so many gang valves (with consequent leaks at connections), but also expensive & might not solve leak.
The faucets ("yard hydrants") behind the common house are self-wasting (they drain each time they are turned off). Hans thinks yard hydrants are about $250 each; replacing all four would be $1K plus the cost of installation.
Since we don't know exactly what the problem is, it would be wise to start with small less-expensive steps than doing expensive things we can't be sure are related.
$579 Matt Noorda, landscape & maintenance transfer to reserves
Line item "unapplied cash payment income" (negative amount) is monthly fees that have been paid early.
Raise reserve amount 5%. Increase insurance premium $1K.
Amy will check whether Ted Hill has the software yet to do the 2015 Crown taxes.
Dead tree in the corner of the property by the southeast carports, over the neighbor's storage shed. A live tree has branches over his motor home. Mike requests to know beforehand what live branches are being cut. Dead Russian olive at northwest corner by Utah Street.
Hiring an arborist to evaluate the trees would ensure an opinion from someone who isn't just trying to make money, but is an extra expense.
Always cheaper to get a day rate than a per-tree rate. Last year a seven-hour day
(winter rate) was $1200.
Amy checked Angie's List and emailed info on several of the well-recommended tree companies. She will resend.
:: Kathy will get a couple of companies out to give bids. We want at least two people to meet with them Mary and someone else. Linda W is interested but doesn't feel knowledgable enough to be the decision-marker.
Ask Matt to report his start-stop times to Mary rather than to Kathy. However, Mary will be away for three weeks ~Oct 20-Nov 10.
Isabella #1 doesn't want her deck unusable longer than necessary. Matt needs to let her know the day before he will do the work. Hers is the last deck to be cleaned.
More to be done on path bricks. More cages on unit vents.
Shyra and Matt are both interested in doing swamp cooler shutdown. Matt has a sign- up sheet posted in the mail room.
:: Pull out broken ice machine in common house kitchen, and dispose of it. Maybe put shelves in empty space.
Letter from IRS Social Security # supplied by Matt is wrong. Want to get that straightened out before we pay him again. Also need to get his brother's SSN. Matt's computer invoices aren't always clear. The handwritten ones gave better info.
Chase Bank balance $14,632.57. ~$4K needs to be transferred to the reserve.
~$45K in WCCA reserve.
Crown balance $10,262.48, from the Crown reserve. UHC is calling this interest'.
:: Hans, Amy, & Marci will meet to go over the Crown finances.
Autopay
Water bills are still extremely high compared to previous years.
One day a couple of weeks ago Mary found a hose on the berm running, with the water just going into the drain. Might be a contributing factor to that particular bill.
:: Amy will contact the water company about getting the pipes checked for leaks.
:: Amy will get bids for irrigation repairs/maintenance for west berm & elsewhere.
:: Shut off all the water in the garden for a couple of days and see if the meter moves.
Put out an email, take away the faucet keys, and put up notes to let gardeners know the water will be off temporarily.
Mark's roof is leaking near the swamp cooler. Matt has tried unsuccessfully to seal it. If the leak is due to the cooler opening, it is the home owner's responsibility; if not associated, it is the HOA's.
When roofs are being replaced we've asked other home owners to reimburse the community ~$400 (check previous minutes) to cover the cost of the pedestal for the cooler. If Mark replaces the cooler, Linda & John recommend hiring someone besides
Ron Case Roofing to hook up the new one; they had to hire somebody to fix things after Ron Case attempted it.
Mary has a fence panel that will close off the gap between the two blocks of carports on the east side, so the full length can be used for chickens or for an exercise run for dogs (supervised). Mary will get this okayed at an ACM.
Shyra wants about four chickens. The chicken house should be made more secure against raccoons before it is used again although the raccoons were killing chickens even during the day.
Five decks have been cleaned under, four from the original construction, #20, 21, 23, 25, plus #22 since it was getting a new tenant. The mother squirrel retrieved one baby from the nest under one deck, don't know about the other.
Taxes are filed for Crown. Hans thinks he has a strong case that the 40% equity is not interest. UHC calls it interest some places and not interest elsewhere. The taxes show a loss overall for 2014. Ted will help with the dissolution of Crown.
Want to get the budget done in December instead of January. Now set up to do the budget in QuickBooks.
All committees should submit committee budget requests. Breakdown of expenses and timelines. Committee members names. Deadline October 31. Hard copy in the management folder, and email.
To appeal property taxes, need appraisals or MLS listings for comparables. Utah is one of the few states in the U.S. in which property sale prices are not public information.
Hans has copies of the appraisals for Crown.
Problems with Diamond's billing last year. Amy has an Angie's List subscription and will look up tree company reviews.
Find out hourly rate for B&L Waterworks and the person Amy knows.
Should common house usage policy be revisited? Most management members are inclined to say that the length of April's stay should be regarded as an exception to policy, setting no precedent, and no policy change is required.
The common house lawn sprinklers have been coming on erratically. Mike replaced sprinkler control box B Sunday. Mary, Linda & Carol aren't sure whether they've observed the behavior since then. Monday or Tuesday Mike will test the system during the day (he's out of town for a few days before then).
Find out if/when the company Amy & Hob had will be coming back. Alex has a friend who has done some work on the orchard water system. Check with him how much he would charge?
Richard will check with Susan (out of town) what arrangements there are, or need to be made, to mow the north field and the west garden.
Watering systems have been done piecemeal by different companies (or in one case, by the community). All different brands. Don't have a single record mapping all of them.
Should put one together.
Ideally should have at least one person in the community who knows all the systems.
Failing that, better communication. Maybe put a notebook with each box to record all changes in programming.
Amy's roof #3 has a leak. Becky's home inspector said the roof on #9 should be replaced. Photo was of east-facing roof. Hans emailed the bids from Ron Case for those roofs. $10,000 for #9; $9,400 for #3.
The front/west roof of #9 isn't in too bad shape. However, only doing one roof increases the difficulty of keeping track of which roofs have been done.
The bid doesn't break out the cost of the pedestal for the swamp cooler. (The reason for the pedestal is that the higher flashing decreases the maintenance required to keep it from leaking.) Mike A's was about $350. The Wasons donated $350 to the community for theirs (since the invoice didn't bill it separately). With rebates, a high- efficiency swamp cooler will cost, net, about $100. Ask Becky to donate $350?
[8/15/2015 Becky said she couldn't afford to; in any case the unit has been sold. Address matter with new owners.]
When filing rebate, say you installed the cooler yourself. Ron Case Roofing isn't on the
RMP's approved list of installers for the rebate.
Bid says $250 per run for swamp cooler ducting. Amy would like further details before making a decision on having hers rerouted.
#9 has a gutter topper in front. Make sure it is replaced during reroofing.
When Matt was calking the leaks in gutter ends, he commented that the gutters Ron
Case has installed are solid at the end, rather than having a piece that closes it. They won't develop leaks.
:: Hans will contact Tammy at Ron Case Roofing to give them the go-ahead on both roofs. He will tell them Amy will be contacting them to ask about ducting.
Diamond Tree finally located the record of Mary's payment. They have refunded the community's payment.
Diamond had lost a court case regarding overtime pay, then told the crew they had to pay it back or be fired. Ended up back in court. Mary talked to Diamond's tree crew, and they said they are getting correct pay now.
Should plan several thousand in next year's budget for tree work.
The Russian olives that were cut down in the north swale are resprouting. Will require very consistent cutting back until the root system gives up.
Amy is working with Lynda to follow up on remaining special assessment balances. Four households. Amy hopes to have it calculated this weekend. Start charging the $5/month surcharge in September.
Amy presented the Budget vs. Actual for Jan-June 2015 (linked below). Unapplied
Cash Payment is payments for HOA that people sometimes pay for the whole year that have not yet been applied. Becky & Steve's units will be sold there, so Assessment will be paid soon. Still a few Journal Entries that need to be made. Process plans to spend their budget on retreat. Hans asked about which assessments are behind; these were entered in 2014, so don't show up here. HOA fees we are down about $1000.00; some people have not yet updated their automatic bank payments to reflect the current fees.
Crown Tax returns will be completed this week.
Naomi: We have verbal agreements that buyers will be introduced to the Community before a sale; this is not being adhered to; what are we going to do about it?
* #5 Steve Sternfeld buyers came to potluck on Sunday; it was sold to a couple for their son; only the son will live there while he is going to college; Vicky has tried for a month to engage the couple, but it has no effect. The woman was here Sunday; they live in Las Vegas and apparently they have not been here. The agent (Amber Green) has tried to help us stick to the agreement, but she hasn't been able to get them to comply. Perhaps Amber could come for question and answer;
* #2 Kelly has been here for pot luck
* Solutions o Talk more to the owners o Have at transfer fee; adjust it according to whether or not people have attempted to get to know the community
? Amy: Realtors have expressed to her shock that we don't have a transfer fee.
? Hans suggests $1000 unless there has been community education; then $500. o Have meet and greet before or after potluck. o Should also require attendance at ACM. o Mike P read the education requirements from the bylaws.
Who takes care of empty properties? This could be part of the transfer fee.
With regards to maintaining good relations among ourselves as a committee
* Everyone needs to accept the role of keeper of the heart
* When things begin to get out of hand, we need to call out "stop" and remind each other that our most important job is to build a loving, caring community.
* Focus on issues instead of people; if something needs to be done we can focus on that without talking about what people did or did not do.
* You don't know what co-housing is like until you are in it.
* It takes time to get involved and feel a part of the community.
* Divert some discussions to smaller meetings outside the big meeting.
* Take a few minutes at the beginning of the meeting to call for agenda items and set a time for each.
* Designate a facilitator at each meeting perhaps invite a non-management person to facilitate.
* Amy's (# 3) roof is leaking into an upstairs closet; no musty smell in attic, but water tracks are evident. Estimate: $7280.00 plus re-sheet (plywood) $3000 for the whole roof on #3 50 year warranty on the shingles.
* We need to re-roof in the next 5 years; which to do first?
* We now have $60,000+ in reserves; we can plan to do roofing slowly enough to keep assessment from going down.
* Re: #3-How long was it there? Only noticed 3 weeks ago.
* Ron Case as our roofer Mike P said in his former roofing career they hardly ever replaced the plywood you can go up to 3 sets of shingles on 1 roof price seems really high.
* Mike A's place was around $7K and new plywood was put on top of the old.
* Becky's (#9) unit is under contract; home inspector said there were issues from the roof;
Ron Case will inspect that unit tomorrow; need to see what the inspector is talking about buyer and seller can work this out; perhaps let the buyer know that this roof is #
? on the list.
* Carol (#19) wants to put in a solar tube; roof replacement estimate $8800; Carol doesn't need this to happen right now; is this an external change that needs to be considered by
Management before it is done?
* Lydia having leaks around the swamp cooler; Matt can take care of that (add to repair list); this is the owner's responsibility.
* For curb appeal it is a good idea to keep the porch roofs looking good; #22 needs to be replaced.
* Stucco missing patch (Angelastro's) will always looks patched; better to do the whole section; estimate: $400.
* Stucco on the back of Sternfeld's (# 5 ) house looks different will fade in time with the other.
Mary asked that 5 fire alarms in the common house be replaced; Paul Wason is willing to do it on Thursday; the alarms cost $15.95 each plus replacement charge of $5 for low ceiling and $8 for high ceiling. We agreed to ask Paul to do this.
Linda P said the tube from the Common House swamp cooler is leaking; we had a little field trip to inspect and found that it is spraying up high and there appear to be several holes in the hose from the water faucet to the cooler. We will ask Paul if he is able and willing to do this job right away.
Getting set up to look at QuickBooks. Kathy was able to access it. Kay wasn't; evidently set up in 2013; can't reset password because security question is apparently
Mike A's. Amy will see what she can do.
Went through monthly assessments for all units.
Year grace period for special assessment has ended; now $5 per month fee until balance is paid. Amy will talk to Lynda about hand-delivering monthly invoices to households that haven't finished special assessment.
Crown deposit was put into WCCA $2800 last November; check to reimburse.
Reserve checks to go to credit union.
Catalyst ad, one third paid by us, two thirds by Sage Hill
There will be a refund to Maxine. Her rent was paid in full for March then closed on the
5th, so it wasn't pro-rated. For legal reasons it doesn't work to apply it to her monthly fees.
Remind Matt to turn in time sheets to Kathy. Kathy will then give to Amy the Sunday before a Management meeting for check preparation.
Notice from US Bank that our address has been changed. Hans will investigate.
Have Matt clean the gutters where Ron Case will be reinstalling covers.
Susan & Richard want to stain their deck. Clean underneath first.
South bedroom closet in Amy's (#3) has mold. Ask Mike W if he will look in the attic to check for water damage.
Sound protection earmuffs we have are too big for some residents. Mary got a set sized for small adult, placed in garage for use.
Please report any places where stucco has come off.
Finance meeting on Friday, 2:00 p.m. at Kathy's house. Discuss Crown close-out; how everyone can access QuickBooks.
Accountants haven't been paid since 2013. Their calculations had us owing taxes which as a condo we don't. Amy has been trying to get it straightened out.
Mark has been having his doorbell rung and knocking on his north wall at night. He's installed closed-circuit cameras. Matt has been sleeping in Rebecca Fattah's loft (#9) while he paints the house, and he has also heard knocking on the north wall of the loft at night.
When Mary looked into security cams about five years ago, the cost would have been about $5K, and it would only have covered the parking lots, not any of the units or the path. checks reimbursement Linda P, furnace filters
$130 Salt Lake Lawn Service for April & May ($65/visit)
Marci bookkeeping Oct-Apr $768 & $480 crown accountants $1414 crown, wcca $429.29, wacoho $250. reimbursement Vicki Wason, c.h. garbage bags
There will be a press conference July 8 Wednesday 10 a.m. in the west parking lot regarding solar power & RMP's proposal to charge a special fee on net metering. Tidy up beforehand so it looks nice on camera.
During the winter months the community facilities consumed more electricity than the solar panels produced, but we still had a credit from last fall. In the spring the panels produced more than we used.
The mesh over dryer vents catches lint. It needs to be emptied periodically. The bird cage style will make the need to be cleaned more visible.
:: Put cages over dryer vents and mesh over kitchen vents on all units.
Matt & Mary got the metal edging lowered at the intersection of the sidewalk and central path, where a couple of people had injured feet. Tree roots had grown under it and around it.
There's a patch of stucco spalled off on Lynda's wall. On Susan's unit there is water seepage at the foundation under the bedroom wall.
Kathy will call around to tree companies to see if they will bring a chipper and chip branches. Mary's experience is that they won't. It's against city ordinances to keep piles of branches.
The person Amy hired, Brian, repaired the irrigation on the west berm. He can't come back until August. The east berm water has been turned on.
The orchard water needs more work. Alex and the other farmers have been hand watering the orchard.
Despite the work that was done, the bushes Mary planted aren't getting water and are still getting more stressed. Some have died, despite Mary & Matt hand watering them.
Mary dug one of the dead ones up and the soil was totally dry.
The water on the lawn by #14 has been coming on erratically at night, sometimes a couple of times.
Discussed communication problems.
Field trip to look at stucco etc.
Mike will look for some screen to give to Matt for use in covering kitchen vents.
Matt told Kathy a couple of other people had asked him to text them when he starts/finishes on community work Linda P, Susan. Probably related to landscaping for Susan. Check with Linda P why she asked?
Kathy will continue as the point person for Matt to check in with. She'll arrange for a substitute when she is out of town.
Kathy reminded Dean to send us his W-9.
The person from the state appraisers office, and the person from the appraisers association, both said much the same things. Appraisers aren't required to take into account the fact that sales are of distressed properties, and in case #8 was apparently sold at market, and they are expected to use any sales of units from the same project. If Laraine gets close to her asking price, that will be a higher & newer comp for a new appraisal.
Amy has someone coming Friday to look at the sprinkler system around the common house, which has some broken areas. The farmers reported that there are breaks in the orchard. Could the person also look at the orchard watering system?
Field trip: Kay demonstrated how to program the sprinkler timer in the garage.
Available pay-or-play work: Need someone to calculate how many gutter splash blocks are needed. Walk around the community and count all downspouts (to the ground) on all units plus the common house. Notify Management of the total.
Salt Lake Lawn came Monday and did the c.h. lawn & the lawn on the north end of west carport. He is supposed to provide Susan an estimate to clean up on the berms.
Mike Polacek gave Hans a bill for $322 for the repair of his window, which the community is assuming was due to community work.
Kathy talked to Dean. He will be happy to sign the W-9. He is out of town currently, but will email it to Kathy next week.
The package sent here by error for Vivian was taken back by the mail carrier and will be forwarded to her.
Need to purchase cages to go over vents for Matt to install, and splash blocks for gutters.
Mike P.'s appraisal came in at $150K. He's asking $195K. He asked why it was $9K lower than last year, and was told, because of the sale price of #8, which was listed at
$130K. Mark bought it at $135K, to beat out another bidder.
Mark's income exceeded the threshold described in the paperwork, but that didn't inhibit the sale. Thus, not a low-income sale at all?
UHC had Hans sign an agreement in August removing #8 from the Land Use
Agreement that required it to be a low-income unit. UHC didn't warn Hans that this negated absolutely everything they had told us about the sale price not impacting everyone's values.
Hans's understanding is that there is a pool of board-certified appraisers, and the banks hire one selected by lottery, rather than having their own appraiser. Did the appraiser know the unit he was using as a comparable was low-income? Mike P had explained about some units being low-income, and afterwards wondered if the appraiser thought all units were low-income (and thus a low-income unit would be a suitable comparable).
The information we got from UHC was that #8 would not be used in appraisals of other units. It was listed on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), not designated as affordable housing, so it is being used in appraisals. Scott Harmon of Utah Housing was also the realtor who sold unit 8. Scott is saying once it's on the listings it cannot be removed.
If we appeal property taxes to the city, they can do appraisals of all the units, which might raise the appraisal closer to the asking prices of the for-sale units. On the other hand, it would raise everyone else's property taxes.
The appraisal on Laraine's will be June 6.
Hans will contact Scott's supervisor at UHC. Kathy will contact the appraiser to clarify his knowledge of #8 but not #6 being low-income. Kathy will contact Laraine to ask if she is willing to let us see her appraisal.
Field trip to look at weed piles, broken fence, gutter extension on Susan's unit.
Part of the fence between the c.h. and the Noorda house has fallen. The rest of the fence is likely to fall once Mary & Kay's stock rack isn't holding it up. Matt N will be continuing to clean up the property, so the appearance will get better. Replacing the fence probably doesn't make sense. Matt will be getting a dumpster; probably the whole fence should go into it.
Naomi has been having the person she hires to weed the berms leave what he pulls in heaps. She doesn't want him to put them in the dumpster.
By Salt Lake ordinance it is as a class B misdemeanor not to immediately bury or remove weeds removed by the roof. Weeds can be no higher than 6". If a property owner doesn't deal with a violation, the city will do it, and bill the property owner for the work plus at least $100 administrative fee.
The heap behind the garage was unsightly and a fire hazard and never got hot enough to sterilize weed seeds. It took years to break down even partially. As the farmers pulled out the composted material this spring they piled the uncompostable material along the wall to the garage. Four people worked two hours each taking wheelbarrow loads of branches, sunflower stalks, and trash to a pickup truck and then out to a pile for the city pickup.
If we are going to compost, it needs to be managed. It should have only materials that will compost easily. Kept damp, it will not be a fire hazard, will break down much faster, and not be such a huge pile.
Decision: The area south of Noorda's garage will be used to collect compostable materials such as weeds. Hob agrees to manage it as a compost pile. Keep the pile damp and away from the pine tree's root zone. Naomi will be asked to have her worker put what he pulls there. Hob will post a sign on acceptable materials: vegetable materials only. No branches, no woody stalks like sunflowers, no animal bones or meat scraps, no plastic or other synthetics, no treated paper such as food containers.
Available pay-or-play work: Need someone to calculate how many gutter splash blocks are needed. Walk around the community and count all downspouts (to the ground) on all units plus the common house. Notify Management of the total.
Salt Lake Lawn came Monday and did the c.h. lawn & the lawn on the north end of west carport. He is supposed to provide Susan an estimate to clean up on the berms.
Mike Polacek gave Hans a bill for $322 for the repair of his window, which the community is assuming was due to community work.
Kathy talked to Dean. He will be happy to sign the W-9. He is out of town currently, but will email it to Kathy next week.
The package sent here by error for Vivian was taken back by the mail carrier and will be forwarded to her.
Need to purchase cages to go over vents for Matt to install, and splash blocks for gutters.
Mike P.'s appraisal came in at $150K. He's asking $195K. He asked why it was $9K lower than last year, and was told, because of the sale price of #8, which was listed at $130K. Mark bought it at $135K, to beat out another bidder.
Mark's income exceeded the threshold described in the paperwork, but that didn't inhibit the sale. Thus, not a low- income sale at all?
UHC had Hans sign an agreement in August removing #8 from the Land Use Agreement that required it to be a low-income unit. UHC didn't warn Hans that this negated absolutely everything they had told us about the sale price not impacting everyone's values.
Hans's understanding is that there is a pool of board-certified appraisers, and the banks hire one selected by lottery, rather than having their own appraiser. Did the appraiser know the unit he was using as a comparable was low-income? Mike P had explained about some units being low-income, and afterwards wondered if the appraiser thought all units were low-income (and thus a low-income unit would be a suitable comparable).
The information we got from UHC was that #8 would not be used in appraisals of other units. It was listed on the Multiple Listing
Service (MLS), not designated as affordable housing, so it is being used in appraisals. Scott Harmon of Utah Housing was also the realtor who sold unit 8. Scott is saying once it's on the listings it cannot be removed.
If we appeal property taxes to the city, they can do appraisals of all the units, which might raise the appraisal closer to the asking prices of the for-sale units. On the other hand, it would raise everyone else's property taxes.
The appraisal on Laraine's will be June 6.
Hans will contact Scott's supervisor at UHC. Kathy will contact the appraiser to clarify his knowledge of #8 but not #6 being low- income. Kathy will contact Laraine to ask if she is willing to let us see her appraisal.
Field trip to look at weed piles, broken fence, gutter extension on
Susan's unit.
Part of the fence between the c.h. and the Noorda house has fallen. The rest of the fence is likely to fall once Mary & Kay's stock rack isn't holding it up. Matt N will be continuing to clean up the property, so the appearance will get better. Replacing the fence probably doesn't make sense. Matt will be getting a dumpster; probably the whole fence should go into it.
Naomi has been having the person she hires to weed the berms leave what he pulls in heaps. She doesn't want him to put them in the dumpster.
By Salt Lake ordinance it is as a class B misdemeanor not to immediately bury or remove weeds removed by the roof. Weeds can be no higher than 6". If a property owner doesn't deal with a violation, the city will do it, and bill the property owner for the work plus at least $100 administrative fee.
The heap behind the garage was unsightly and a fire hazard and never got hot enough to sterilize weed seeds. It took years to break down even partially. As the farmers pulled out the composted material this spring they piled the uncompostable material along the wall to the garage. Four people worked two hours each taking wheelbarrow loads of branches, sunflower stalks, and trash to a pickup truck and then out to a pile for the city pickup.
If we are going to compost, it needs to be managed. It should have only materials that will compost easily. Kept damp, it will not be a fire hazard, will break down much faster, and not be such a huge pile.
Decision: The area south of Noorda's garage will be used to collect compostable materials such as weeds. Hob agrees to manage it as a compost pile. Keep the pile damp and away from the pine tree's root zone. Naomi will be asked to have her worker put what he pulls there. Hob will post a sign on acceptable materials: vegetable materials only. No branches, no woody stalks like sunflowers, no animal bones or meat scraps, no plastic or other synthetics, no treated paper such as food containers.
William's quote was $45 common house lawns; $65 for lawns, berms, and field. Should clarify with William's lawn company regarding how many hours they will do for the money.
If community members are doing mowing, clarify who is responsible for what area and if they can commit to doing it regularly. Also, is this in addition to other community work, or do they plan to do this instead of what they would otherwise have done?
Lawn care is easily hired out; many other things aren't.
The workers need to know before they come what they will be doing, rather than being asked to do certain areas once they get here.
:: Susan is approved to take charge to dealing with the lawn company.
Matt installed replacement lights on carports, fixed workshop doorknob, cleaned c.h. dryer vent. He has been working on swamp coolers, so he hasn't gotten some of the other things started.
Management has often said that some maintenance issue is the responsibility of each unit owner. The result is it doesn't get done on most units with higher costs to the community later when a repair is required for lack of maintenance. If Management deals with the issue on all units, it's the same financially as if every owner does it individually, and it actually does get done.
Broken window. Stephen heard a noise; found a crack in his window (#6). Likely a rock thrown by a weed eater or mower; Mary was mowing and one of farmers was weed-eating the alley. Stephen is getting the window repaired and will submit the bill to
Management.
:: Approved to be paid.
Gutters. Ron Case told Hans he wants to put the edge of the gutter cover under the shingles when he reinstalls them. That requires the shingles being soft, which means waiting for hot weather, not merely warm.
Gutter maintenance is a priority, given the rain we have been having (and apparently will continue to have this summer, according to some forecasts).
Accordion tube on end of gutter will divert water away from the foundation. Susan will try it on hers. Once we see how it works, we will consider doing it on the rest of the units.
Vents. There are three wall vents on each unit range, bathroom vent, dryer vent.
They are on the outside of buildings, thus arguably the community's responsibility.
Maybe wait a week or two to let baby birds fledge and leave.
:: Approved to put mesh/cages over vents on all units.
Vicky spends a fair amount of time answering questions to prospective buyers, lenders, realtors, etc. and would be happy if the community got something for it.
Given how often they ask what our transfer fee is, transfer fees are apparently common. A variation is a move-in fee; Mary's condo charges $100.
If a transfer fee is part of the closing costs it needs to have some legal basis. Does the transfer fee need to be in the Declaration or can it be in the bylaws?
Hans's understanding is that changes to Declaration need to be approved by the lenders when a change affects ownership, such as the undivided interest, and otherwise not. If true, we could do the change in undivided interest as just an amendment; get that approved and file it; then do the rest of the revisions without needing to resubmit to lenders.
Banks approving the Declaration appears to depend on who reads it for them; one lender approved it for one mortgage but not another.
:: Resend the Declaration to the lenders who didn't approve it.
Maybe wait until Amy is caught up with the Crown finances before asking her.
Ask Amy when we can get a printed report showing who has paid off the assessment and where the remaining owners stand.
Kay send Dean's contact info to Kathy.
Ask Lydia to call Mike W to discuss swamp cooler. telephone conferene with Amy.
Ask Susan to give us an update on what is going on with the landscaping company and the c.h. lawn. They came today and did the back lawn and the field.
Mary brought a list of the maintenance tasks she had planned before she resigned from maintenance. Discussed first few and approved for Matt to work on (or submit bid) this week.
The fixtures are here to replace the ones with bad ballasts in the carports. Steve Harris
(electrician) would do it at $25/hr.
:: Approved $25 for Matt to replace four light fixtures in carports.
Matt will check his records on how long it took to clean gutters last year, and submit a bid.
Gutters that need caulking: Laraine #2, Susan's, Kathy #17.
:: Approved.
Several people have fallen over or cut feet on metal edge on side of bricks along central path, where walk from west p' lot joins central path. Pounding it down has been attempted and was unsuccessful.
:: Approved: Dig out and lower. Difficult to estimate time it will require.
Pound in raised walk edging with sledge, while ground is wet.
:: Approved.
Buy cement splash blocks and position under downspouts.
:: Approved.
Put screening over dryer/kitchen vents and holes on c.h. porch that birds are nesting in; hole in Carol's.
:: Approved.
We need to enlist at least one, better several, people to walk the community on a regular basis looking for maintenance that needs doing.
Hans will call Ron Case about the status of the gutter covers.
Ask Matt to check in with Kathy or Linda P when he arrives to start working on a job and before he leaves.
Amy has been making out a check when Matt turns in his time. Issuing them on a regular basis would simplify the bookkeeping. Guessing Matt would prefer a check twice a month rather than once a month. Maybe, a check will be available the day after a management meeting?
:: Kathy will talk to Amy about what will work best for her.
Amy & Marci have been meeting every other weekend for about six weeks. All the
Crown home sales have been recorded in QuickBooks. Amy has a request in to
QuickBooks about how to download and store data from Crown in a format that can be accessed if necessary. Automatic transfer of $50 from Crown checking to savings needs to be canceled next time Hans talks to Chase. Amy emailed statements on condo fees. Most (not all) of the people who haven't paid off the special assessment are making payments.
Couple who are looking at one of the units (#5 or 6 maybe?) have twice asked about having a fence. The limited common area is only the porch, patio, & carport, so the condo association has the right to say no fences except where pre-approved.
The community council meets on the third Wednesday of each month, which prevents
Management members from attending it. The fourth Wednesday will often be only a week from the first. A Tuesday or Thursday might allow residents who have conflicts on Wednesday to attend Management.
:: Management meetings will be the first Wednesday and the third Tuesday.
Kathy found a box containing what appears to be the cover that was bought for the sandbox. It was her understanding it didn't fit and was supposed to have been returned. Mike measured it and the sandbox; he said it's big enough. (Didn't compare directly because it is raining heavily.)
Amy won't be here tonight due to a coworker being injured at work.
Vaughn would like to use the common house for a permacuiture course. The course would charge a fee. We have rarely (but not never) had events that had a charge.
Renting the common house would involve legal liability, taxes, etc. so our habit has been to ask for a donation to cover costs of power usage, cleaning.
Maybe ask the insurance agent if there are differences in liability among holding (for instance) community council meetings, fundraisers, or paid workshops.
Some community members have expressed unease about commercial use of common areas, but it has been allowed a few times for instance, when it was educational components or supports activities in line with community values.
Jennifer would like a decision fairly soon so she can give the location in advertising.
We could allow this event with the understanding that future events will be expected to meet guidelines we come up with.
Three guidelines might be:
Linda A's insurance will cover the cost of replacing the deck, since it was to prevent further water damage. She needs a letter from WCCA that she has been assessed $2K as her share. (She has a $500 deductible, so they will pay her $1500.) The draft letter currently says "deductible", but WCCA didn't file an insurance claim. Our deductible is ~$10K (per incident?). The cost was
$12,922.
:: Change deductible' to assessment.' Hans will sign.
There's a lot of frustration about not getting statements. Discussed whether there is anything Management can do to help get the books caught up.
Hans had thought when he sent his email yesterday that there was an issue with the landscaping company, but they came this morning, so either he was mistaken and/or it was resolved.
Susan asked landscape workers to point blowers down instead of carrying them so they kicked up dust without moving it usefully. Kathy's understanding is that the landscape company has been asked not to use blowers.
Discussed status of various projects.
Management came up with some guidelines on how contracts should be handled from now on. Kay is concerned that policies adopted by the current management won't necessarily be binding on future managements. She will draft a proposal to be discussed at ACM.
UHC won't reimburse the repairs Dean Petaja did on Maxine's unit unless they have his W-9. Dean has said he won't provide one (email to
Hans). Management's policy has been that all contractors must provide a W-
9. We won't be able to hire him for future work for the community without one.
:: Kathy will call him to see if this is a misunderstanding.
AmEx supplied a template based on the separation agreement they used with another crown project. It includes the $1 sale price that they offered Hans last spring.. Hans &
Kay went through it and inserted our company names and document dates. Hans has sent it to Karla Valentine for her approval. Hans suggests waiting until we see any changes from UHC and AmEx before we decide if we need to run it past a lawyer.
The Crown checking has a $12/mo fee. We shouldn't need any more Crown checks.
:: Hans will talk to the bank about transferring the checking balance into savings and close the checking.
Once the bookkeeping is caught up we will close Crown's QuickBooks account.
Letter from Salt Lake County demanding data on our operation of low-income housing, due April 30.
We want to plant new trees where the elms were on the east berm. Need to get the disks of trunk moved; at ACM all the disks were spoken for. If there are any left unclaimed, Kathy would like to put them by the play-ground.
It's the wrong time of year to move the tree planted under the power line; it should be root-pruned so it will be growing a compact root ball.
Hired John Norburg (friend of Bells') for one hour to prune plums in orchard.
William is okay with billing once a month for lawn care, weed-eating etc.
Water is dripping out around dishwasher door. Mary will treat it with vinegar. If that doesn't solve the problem we will want to get it serviced.
Steve will be pulling a wire from the west carport breaker box to the common house in order to separate
Hans has been meeting with the architect, Cindy Turnquist, and others regarding planning for a building of units for senior housing.
Hans will be proposing to trade an equal amount of land with the community. He would like a triangle along Utah Street to put a corner of the senior building on, and trade the community an equal sized strip from the orchard behind the south east triplex and fourplex.
Vacating the alley would make the orchard officially landlocked (it already is, de facto).
Combining it with the Noorda property would give it street access, but would make it a bigger parcel than is allowed (?).
(Hans has given John Noorda notice to move out in 30 days.)
Made the special assessment official last April. No interest/fee for first year; anyone owing at the end of the first year is required to pay $5/month.
:: Send notice to owners that still have a balance, reminding them and giving them a last chance to pay off before the fee kicks in.
Because we were locked out of QuickBooks, the new fee amounts hadn't been entered.
When Amy finally got in, all the automatic entries autopopulated with the wrong amounts. Amy is having to hand-correct the entries.
Amy would appreciate volunteers to visit/call the owners who are behind on monthly assessments.
She is hoping to be caught up with updating assessments by Friday.
Hans got the remainder of the reserve money from Oppenheimer Moved to the credit union.
Corporate domestic license $10 to be paid.
Reimbursement check for mistaken ACH payment on Crown account.
Problem with Republic not stopping autopayaments hopefully straigahtened out.
Mary has turned the water on in the garden. She will make add some extra to the payment she makes for water for her field.
Wiggio is being unsatisfactory. Kathy asked for opinions on whether to proceed with changing to another service. She will talk to Shira.
Maxine got a refund of the security deposit from UHC. The refund for the repairs has not come from UHC yet. UHC wants to know what the amount being transferred monthly into Crown savings was. The $10/month/unit transferred into crown savings was supposed to be changed to $15 a couple of years ago, but that never happened.
For a while Crown was paying for any repair over $50. Hob changed it back to the
$200 it was supposed to be.
The broken cabinet door hinges in the other units were repaired two years ago out of crown funds. Maxine still feels the hinge repair and the fridge servicing should be reimbursed by Crown; Hans is opposed; Kay & Linda would be in favor of reimbursing the hinges but not the fridge, contingent on us getting any money back from UHC;
Kathy feels we should stay with the decision from last time.
This raises a process issue. Last meeting, Hans expressed his opinions of what the decision should be. None of the other members expressed an opinion. They didn't feel strongly enough to speak up in disagreement or support. Kay pointed out that the community's consensus style has followed the Quaker rule of "silence is consent" rather than the Native American "silence is disagreement" and a couple of people present said they weren't aware of that.
:: Previous decision, not to reimburse, stands.
What can we learn from this? Remember to solicit the opinion of silent members of a meeting, particularly when a decision is being made.
Rails for the closet doors were ordered for all five units. They were never installed in
#8. Where did those end up? Does Kevin have them?
Matt will burn the cracks in the bricks. Currently it is mostly broadleaf weeds; there isn't a lot of grass. Any grass will come back and will eventually need to be sprayed.
William will be here tomorrow to aerate. Mary needs a check for him. Mary will get compost from the Oquirrh facility (sewage treatment) and will need a check for that also. A work party will be scheduled to spread it on the lawn.
If the weather this spring indicates anything about what to expect this summer, it may be dryer than normal. Might need to supplement the trees on the north end with additional water. The trees near the bathtub are twice the size of the others further away.
Re Diamond Tree charge: The person in the Diamond Tree office who took Mary's card number over the phone Friday said it would be run on Monday. Mary's card statement didn't come while she was gone. She will go to her bank to get a printout of charges this past month to make sure they didn't charge her card and then ask the community to pay the same bill.
UHC is still deducting mortgage payments from the Crown checking. They said to tell our bank to stop it. Our bank says they can't because it's an ACH. Hans talked to Carla
Valentine. Once the ACH has been stopped, Amy will need to see what we were overcharged and request it back (send UHC an invoice).
The Crown home sales (four last year, one this year) are taxable events. We're waiting for Marci to finish the books before we can file the taxes. She hasn't been able to work on it while we didn't have access to QuickBooks after Mike's death. Check with UHC what reports we might need in the future, saved before we archive the Crown
QuickBooks data.
Hans proposes that we purchase American Express's share. AE supplied a template of the agreement last year, although they recommend it be prepared by a lawyer. The template is in Word. Kay knows Word and can insert the necessary text. Once the template is edited, have a lawyer look at it.
Amy got access to QuickBooks finally last night.
We've gotten the second half of the bill from Ron Case for Angelastros' deck. We've got the first half of the bill for Hob's.
Back of gutter on #15 is against another wall. Water runs over edge and down the wall. Hans asked Ron Case how to fix problem. He recommended shortening the gutter by an inch so it doesn't contact the wall. It would cost about $300. Mary suggests a cheap interim fix would be siliconing a piece of flashing in place.
RC says he is waiting for warmer weather to put the gutter covers back on.
Report by Mary. Diamond Tree sent a new estimator for the bid. Option for day rate
$1200, could maybe do all the trees in three days. Cheaper than prices tree-by-tree.
A full day for trees along path. Removing the 2 southern branches over Hob's house,
$300. Remove tree in front of Michele Frandsen's. Can't do stump removal along path; would treat stump with herbicide. Two options for tree leaning over Hans's. East drive, from Cheyenne, $1200, $1800, $1200 (trees numbered #4, 5 and 6 on bid)
Mary & Kay want to remove the big elm northeast of #11 (bugs! gah!). Per-tree bid
$1200. At day rate, Diamond estimates an hour left for other work. M&K would reimburse $1K of cost if included in day rate, and next spring replace with a new tree.
Might take less time if truck can approach through wild area.
Estimate a day & a half to remove trees on east berm, or one day to take down to 15- to 20-ft high stumps. Could probably get the rest down by someone cheaper. Scott
Dixon might be interested once the power lines aren't an issue, just to have the wood.
Warn residents to park on east when Diamond is working. Might not be able to get vehicles past their trucks while they working on east berm.
Workers came to do repairs on #13. Removed wallboard, put up heater to dry inside of wall.
The warehouse where Steve-the-electrician worked closed; that was the only phone we had for him. Dean Petaja may have contact info.
Inspection on Maxine's found dead birds in attic and in stove vent. Unscreened hole in attic. Figure out where that is Mary thought everything had been done.
A few home owners have replaced flaps on outside of stove vent with screen. Birds push flaps open to get inside. Hire Matt, under Mary's supervision, to do the rest?
Mike A's deck is almost finished. Boards were redwood; Mike A will have them replaced with trex. The same defect as the north-facing decks have, but unlike them not a lot of damage. The main expense for the north decks was repairing the wall underneath. Will check Hob/Sandra's deck next.
Dimmer switch upstairs in workshop keeps getting left on. Mike A will replace with a switch.
Amy has asked William (SLC Lawn ) to wait until we have about 5" of snow before coming to plow.
Maxine asked about getting certain things from the inspection repaired. Other Crown units were sold as-is, not fixed up.
Typically banks ask if there's been an assessment in the past year. Sometimes just need to wait that out before people can get mortgages.
Vicky's research on FHA requirements indicates that FHA doesn't like fees for use of facilities.
One of US Bank's stated reasons for declining Maxine's mortgage application was the claim we didn't have fidelity insurance. Our fidelity insurance isn't a separate rider, it is part of our overall insurance policy,
Amy talked to Marci. Her reasons for quitting weren't unhappiness over working for us, just general inadequate time and needing fewer obligations.
Amy has left multiple messages with Republic (waste company) with no response.
Set up a bookkeeping or audit committee and divide the work? Good to have more people familiar with jobs, aware of what each other are doing.
Kathy could work on auditing and reconciliation. She does books for Peaceful Uprising.
Isabella is interested; Amy will contact her.
Once Crown closes out, shut down the QuickBooks account and move it into Excel. Will save ~$50/mo.
Income in QuickBooks reports doesn't include Naomi's fees because they are deferred as loan repayment for solar.
Water is a huge portion of the budget. Can we use less?
Mike A is reluctant to decrease water use on lawn; he is following expert recommendations, and the lawn's appearance is important.
The bug farmers and slam ranchers used about $1K of water on the north field and both backyards along Cheyenne (Hans's water bill), an area similar to that watered by the workshop and east meters and heavily planted. Better conservation habits would help with the community's garden water costs. Replace head on northwest bib that leaks. Mary has been talking to the gardeners, and most are okay with the idea of making an annual donation toward the cost of garden water.
East berm still has its original overhead spray. Has never been converted to drip. Drip does require a lot more monitoring and maintenance than overhead spray.
Amy's calculations during the last meeting were a little too rough. More adjustments are needed.
Drop maintenance budget to $2500. Will need to be careful, and watch expenditures closely.
Ask if people are willing to make donations toward cohousing org donation and retreat, allowing us to use those funds for maintenance instead.
An 11% increase would allow fully funding the retreat, the increase to the reserve, and the donation to cohousing.org. Steep increase, but may be doable.
Reminder: Anything being installed on a roof must be cleared through management.
Recommendation to all residents/owners: Check where the condensation line from the water heater was installed and if it drains properly without wetting the wall. Look for water damage on the nearby baseboards.
(7:10-7:20)
[$90K in budget draft is an Excel formula error. Whew!]
The three line items for water, the common house (including lawns), east side (including garden), and workshop (including orchard) add up to almost $5,600. Two of them are irrigation pricing with no sewer charge.
Cut c.h. water from $2100 to $1800 and figure out later how to achieve that.
Put common house repairs at $600.
The bid for tree work is $3K mostly branches over roofs.
Line item 8230, landscape supplies, mostly compost, $1K. Gets used to landscape around the community sign and cover garden paths.
More work to be done on declaration, but hopefully won't require as many hours from the lawyer. Budget $3K.
Marci has given notice. Amy has some leads on a couple of possibilities to replace her.
Her fees were low for a bookkeeper. Amy estimates that Marci has been doing about five hours a month. There are certain advantages if we can get someone internal to do the work, so long as we maintain protocols for handling the money.
For later discussion: what do we tell the person plowing regarding how much snow should fall before he plows? Do we want him to spread snowmelt on east parking lot?
Amy will research waste companies to see if we can get a better deal.
East/workshop water: Call a meeting of all gardeners and ask if everyone would be willing to contribute something towards the water bills. Ask a sliding scale of $10 to $50 per bed.
Could probably cap the sprinklers along the side of #25 (Hans/Matt M) and the south island. Those are on community water. Matt will not hand-water. However, the trees were getting along without watering for quite a few years (note those trees are smaller than the ones on the north). The north island is on the Wasons' water bill.
Workshop improvements & repairs: Cut to $50 for repairs.
Process has held off contacting the outside facilitator they want to get for a retreat until they saw how the budget works out.
Donations from guests staying in the common house or from residents having family parties are booked under "receipts to offset CH expense".
Need $4K increase. Make it 10% and increase amount into reserve, $22K rather than $20K.
Mary will call the tree company to schedule. The bid included taking out the Russian olive south of Angelastros. Not doing that. Get one day at day rate (winter rate if possible). If there's any time left, take out one of the trees on the Cheyenne berm. Tree removal is fast (thus cheap); branches above roofs are time-consuming to remove.
#11 (M&K) had water coming under the adjoining wall before Christmas. Mary checked with Shira & Aitch, who called their property management, who had an independent contractor inspect. The condensation line from the water heater comes down next to the wall, instead of next to the drain. The water was running under the drier and under the wall, and had totally soaked the baseboard. The property company told the contractor they would do the work themselves "on Monday" two weeks ago. M & K should contact Lydia.
Mike & Linda and Hob & Sandra will both pay $2K themselves for the reroofing of their respective deck areas, similarly to other deck owners.
Vaughn's son installed satellite dishes on his roof. They will need to either be removed or be moved to the back of the roof. The son will be leaving in March, and Vaughn has said he "will deal with it."
Amy is working on dealing with the two unregistered cars in west parking lot.
Three owners on the south side paid to have covers installed on their porches about ten years ago. Ron Case claims that gutter covers cause gutters to clog. He says they were installed in a way that compromised the roof. Mike A told the roofers not to reinstall the covers and to haul them away.
Mary's observation from many years of cleaning the community gutters is that the gutters under the covers have stayed clear of debris & free-flowing. She will try to retrieve the covers from Ron Case Co. We can discuss later whether to reinstall the covers, reimburse the owners, or whatever.
Question: Did Ron Case's comment refer to this particular brand, or to gutter covers in general? Hugh had a different style of covers, which clogged badly. Is his objection specifically to how they were installed, in which case it can be resolved by his reinstalling them the way he likes?
Mike A will contact Ron Case to arrange a meeting to discuss the gutter covers. Mary would like a Gutter Toppers rep there also.
The roofing contract had some things that Mike A didn't spot Wasons' porch didn't need to be done. In future: Contracts need to be reviewed by the entire management committee.
When a contract change needs to be made due to new information, entailing substantial additional cost, notify ALL of management.
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