The Lauren, A Condominium

Minutes of the Annual Meeting
May 9, 2002

Owners and Board members introduced themselves.

President Elizabeth VanderPutten called the meeting to order at 7:10 pm at the American Chemical Society.

Proof of Notice of Meeting

Present were Board Members President Elizabeth VanderPutten, Treasurer Joseph Morris, Vice-President Dwight Clark, Vice-President Ralph Domenick, Secretary Rebecca Kane and a sufficient number of owners in persona or represented by proxy (50.3786%). Also present at the meeting were Property Manager Walter Krolman, legal counsel Joe Douglass from the firm of Whiteford, Taylor and Preston and Jeff Koger from the Koger Management Group.

Reading of Minutes

Reading of the 2001 Annual Meeting Minutes was waived by consent of Membership.

President's Report

2001/2002: A Difficult but Productive Year

Dr. VanderPutten reported that 2001/2002 was a difficult but productive year. She explained that the Board had to grapple with what she termed, "complex projects that have financial and quality-of-life affects on owners and residents. While we would liked to have acted more quickly on a number of areas," she said, "we were also sensitive to the need to carefully study the intended and unintended consequences of our decisions."

Financial Management

Dr. VanderPutten reported that at the end of 2001, the Lauren's financial management company was bought up by a much larger organization. On March 29, the Board received a notice that the new firm had "reevaluated" our contract and was raising our rate 50 percent. They gave us 60 days to comply (the minimum allowed by our contract) or they would terminate service.

Because it might take longer to identify an appropriate firm, the Board agreed to the new contract (with a 60-day cancellation clause) and immediately appointed a committee headed by Brian Larkin to find a new firm. Based on their recommendations and the Board's own analysis, they selected the Koger Management Group, Inc. as the Lauren's new financial firm. It offered new services including credit card payment of condo fees, faster financial reporting and, importantly, significantly lower costs. "Despite a few transition issues, we think things are working out quite well," she said.

"Our major financial concern at this time is that returns on our investments have been falling as interest rates have dropped," Dr. VanderPutten said. "We are keeping a very close watch on this and have gotten an Asset Account Management firm to assist the Condominium in finding higher investment rates."

Capital Replacements

Two years ago, the Board commissioned a Reserve study. The report recommended immediate replacement of the roof to prevent structural damage to the building. The Board had long anticipated this and funding was in last year's budget. Work began in December. "People living in the building who have endured the drilling and jack hammering know how extensive the work was, Dr. VanderPutten commented. "During the process, we learned about new rules for roofs that added to the complexity of the project. We had to study and learn to deal with such things as the height of the railing, spacing between rails, the need to have flashing at the bottom of the rail. We also found out that it was difficult, if not impossible, to have a wooden roof decking so the Board, with some reluctance, agreed to concrete pavers. We have also had to decide on planters, plants, trellis and a myriad of other details. We are cautiously optimistic that the area will be open by Memorial Day, although all plants and furniture will not be ready."

Handicapped Accessibility

Another major project, Dr. VanderPutten reported, was to find a way to balance the need to make the Lauren accessible to those with limited mobility without losing too much of the lobby space or undergoing extensive and excessively expensive remodeling. The Board investigated, debated, considered and discussed an innumerable array of options. "We believe," she said, "that we have come up with an appropriate set of solutions." A small elevator will be installed in the lobby; the ramp in the basement will be installed; code compliant railings will be installed on the stairwells and the roof itself will be made accessible. Work should begin on this very soon.

Engineering Service

A third major undertaking for the Board was in the engineering services for the building. Until this year, a single individual provided these services. Dr. VanderPutten said, "Given the increasing sophistication and complexity of the heating and air conditioning system - and the age of the building - it became obvious to us that no one person could provide the range of services needed. I mentioned last year that I felt the major problem facing us was these systems." She reminded owners that last summer the air conditioning repeatedly went off during the hottest times. The Board signed a new contract with G&L, a subsidiary of Potomac Electric. "To date," she said, "we believe the service has been much better. I personally hope, as a resident of the tenth floor facing west, that things go more smoothly this summer."

Window Replacement

About twenty percent of the owners participated in the window replacement option. "As one of those buyers," Dr. VanderPutten observed, "I have noticed a reduction in noise and drafts and that our unit was much warmer last winter."

Staff

Dr. VanderPutten thanked the Lauren staff. "We continue to benefit from an excellent staff whose stability and reliability contribute a great deal to the quality of life at the Lauren." She noted that it is quite extraordinary, but the Lauren has three staff members (Cacho Salinas, Thomas Burless and Henry Ambe) who have been with us nearly or more than 15 years and four more members of the staff (Salvador, Sergio, Letta and Walter) who have been here more than five years. Dr. VanderPutten concluded, "And did you know that Walter will be eligible for his 10-year pin this August!"

"I have found it a pleasure to work with this Board," Dr. VanderPutten said. "I particularly want to thank Ralph Dominick who agreed to serve on the Board when Deborah Becker took the opportunity to go to South Africa for work for an extended period of time. Rebecca Kane has been an excellent Secretary and has really looked out for the 'livability' of the building. Joe Morris has provided excellent service as Treasurer. Given all of the architectural and engineering work done this year, we are particularly grateful to have had the expertise of Dwight Clark. To all of the members, we owe many thanks."

Special Thanks

"And finally," Dr. VanderPutten concluded, "we all owe a special word of thanks to Roger Hirschland. As I wrote to Roger last August,"

"Congratulations on getting the stop signs put up on 20th Street at N. It has taken years of work on your part, pushing and haggling, but those two signs are reality. Those signs alone should certainly reduce the number of accidents and perhaps even save lives. Thank you, Roger. I and all the other residents of The Lauren are in your debt."

Treasurer's Report

Treasurer Joseph Morris reported that The Lauren’s finances were sound, and that there was no unexpected news in the recent budget.  Income included $734,000 in condominium fees and $93,000 in other assorted areas (such as the washer/dryer income).  

Effective January 1, 2002 condominium fees were increased by 2%.  Operating expenses were down in 2001 from the previous year largely do to a large decline in legal fees and reduced utility expenses.  The major capital expense in 2001 resulted from roof expenditures ($80,000) however, the majority of the overall project cost (approximately $300,000) will be made in 2002.  Also, the other large capital expenditure in 2002 will be the accessibility project

Election of the Board

Owners Melva Caswell and Brian Larkin volunteered and were nominated to collect and count ballots.

The following candidates were elected by acclamation to serve as the 2002-2003 Lauren Condominium Association Board of Directors:

• Mr. Dwight Clark 
• Mr. Ralph Domenick
• Ms. Rebecca Kane 
• Mr. Joseph Morris 
• Dr. Elizabeth VanderPutten 

New Business

Stairwell Painting and Garage Cleaning and Painting

Owner Don Benedict requested that the Board paint the stairwells and clean and paint the garage.  The Board has budgeted for the painting of the stairwells this year, but has decided to wait until the roof project is completed.  The Board will look into the possibility of cleaning and painting the garage. 

Stop Sign on 20^th Street

The Board and present owners congratulated Owner Roger Hirschland successfully lobbying the DC government to place a Stop sign on the corner of 20^th Street and N Street.  While Mr. Hirschland reported there is currently the funding and design in place by the city for a full traffic light on this corner, neither he nor the owners present felt this was particularly desirable, as the Stop sign was working well (it was noted how much easier it is for pedestrians to now cross the street). 

Garage Bike Room

Owner Jeff requested that the Board consider cleaning out the bike room again, as there seem to be many bikes stored in the bike room that are not being used (as surmised by the continued presence of flat tires).  The Board will consider instituting a program similar to the last bike room cleanup project.

 Laundry Room

An owner requested that the dryers be programmed to accept one quarter for 15 minutes, as opposed to the current $1.00/60 minutes system.  An option to purchase dryer time at smaller intervals would be beneficial for residents who do not wish to purchase a 60 minute cycle. 

An owner requested that a wash cycle that includes a warm or hot water rinse be added to the available washer options. 

The Board will look into both of these requests. 

Kudos

The Board and owners present at the meeting recognized the contributions of the following people:

Cacho—for the wonderful upkeep of the building and the reliability of the buildings utilities.

Brian Larkin—for the great website-wonderful content and unprecedented “up” time.

Ralph Domenick—for the wonderful meeting location.

Henry, Cacho and Thomas --for their extended years of service to the Lauren (10+).

The Board members were thanked for their work.

Adjournment

The Annual Meeting was adjourned at 7:50 pm

Respectfully submitted,

Rebecca A. Kane, Secretary