Minutes of the Annual Meeting
May 6, 2009

Call to Order

President Roger Hirschland called the meeting to order at 7:35 pm at the Washington Marriott Hotel, 1221 22nd St., N.W. on May 6, 2009.

Proof of Notice of Meeting

Attendees acknowledged the disbursement of the meeting notification. A quorum was declared.

Attendance

Present were Board Members President Roger Hirschland, Treasurer John Filice, Secretary Elizabeth VanderPutten, First Vice President Dwight Clark, and Barrett Witkin, a sufficient percentage of owners in person or represented by proxy 50.431% to constitute a quorum. Also present at the meeting were Property Manager Walter Krolman; legal counsel Joe Douglass from the firm of Whiteford, Taylor, Preston; and Larry Simmons, president of the Simmons Management Group.

Reading of Minutes

Reading of the minutes of the 2008 Annual Meeting was waived by consent of Membership.

President's Report

President Roger Hirschland began by introducing our legal counsel Joe Douglass, financial manager Larry Simmons, and property manager Walter Krolman. He thanked them and the rest of the staff who make the building so comfortable to live in.

Mr. Hirschland introduced the Board members, including Barret Witkin, who replaced Jeff Wertkin on the board. Jeff resigned when he and his wife went on an extended world trip and rented their unit. Roger acknowledged Jeff's significant contributions to the board, along with those of his wife, Erin Erlenborn, who headed the redecoration committee with true commitment.

The President reported that the Lauren is in good shape both financially and physically. One highlight he mentioned was that the Lauren was reimbursed by the insurance company for $54,735 for funds embezzled by the previous management firm. This is particularly good because the courts have ruled that the insurance that Koger had was invalidated.

The President reported that the owners are, with very few exceptions, up to date in paying condo fees.

He discussed the many issues, large and small, that the board discusses. . Smoking in units is one. Unfortunately units are not airtight and often the smoke goes into other units. Owners and residents have been cooperative in this matter. The Board strongly recommends that all owners include a non-smoking clause in any rental agreements.

The building is 35 years old and sometimes shows its age. There was at least one major leak this year that caused about $18,000 in damage. The Board is trying to get the insurance to cover at least part of the costs.

There is the ongoing problem of noise outside the building caused mainly by used of the trash bins and by trash pickups. The manager continues to work with the management of neighboring units to reduce the noise to the extent possible.

The President reminded owners that persons planning parties on the roof must register and receive permission to hold the parties.

Security remains a high priority. The new signs in the lobby remind owners and tenants not to let others into the building. There are also plans to fence off some of the overhanging eaves of the building to prevent anyone from sleeping there.

The President discussed the plans to convert the roof antenna to receive digital signals. This will allow persons in the building to receive several channels without having to have a cable contract.

One major item he discussed was the audit for 2007. This was a "clean audit" and shows that the financial reports are in conformance with good financial packages.

The Board expects to sign a contract within the next few weeks to renovate the halls, lobby and elevators. This will go a long way to enhancing the quality of the building. The cost of redecorating is anticipated to be $229,000.

The Board expects to replace the old, inefficient hot water heaters and boiler with more reliable and efficient systems. While the cost is about $185,000, the expected payback is just a few years because of significant improvement in efficiency.

The President thanked the numerous persons who have worked on various committees and tasks over the year. First, he commended the staff for their excellent work in maintaining and running the building. He thanked the hard working decoration committee headed by Erin Erlenborn; Brian Larkin for his work as webmaster; Ethan Stier for his work on the smoking and energy committees; Joe Morris, for his help in preparing graphs for the treasurer's report; and Derek Drummie and Don Benedick, for contributing flowers to the front hall.

Capital reserves are strong, including the special reserves for the HVAC system so that no special assessments would be needed when these must be replaced. The HVAC system is beyond its normal life expectancy.

The full version of the President's' Report is at http://www.lauren.org/presrpt10.htm

Treasurer's Report

Treasurer John Filice thanked Walter Krolman for his work in making sure all the financial details are closely monitored. He said that this work is reflected in the "clean audit" that the Lauren received for 2007 and expected for 2008. The 2007 audit report is available on the Lauren home page at http://www.lauren.org/audits/audit_menu.htm

He announced that the original "point person" at Smith Barney left the firm. The Board decided to remain with Smith Barney with a new account manager. Our new account manager, Ted Hart, suggested and the Board accepted the recommendation that two reserve accounts be set up: one for regular reserves and one for HVAC. The Smith Barney service has resulted in a much better management of the numerous, laddered CDs that the Lauren has. All Lauren investments are insured and are less than $100,000 in any one institution.

The Treasurer presented the numbers on capital reserve plans. The two major actions planned for the immediate future are the renovations and the boiler/hot water heater replacements. The Treasurer thanked the Lauren's engineering consultant for his work that did lead to a lower bid than expected. At the end of the year, the Lauren will still have close to $1million in capital reserves.

The Treasurer acknowledged that in 2008 the Lauren was over budget by a significant amount due to large, unexpected increases in energy costs. This year we were able to lock in lower gas prices with a two-year contract.

The full version of the treasurer's report is available on the Lauren home page at http://www.lauren.org/am09b.htm

Other Board Member's Report

None

Reports of Committees

None

Election of the Board

A Board of Electors was chosen through volunteers Kate Stoddard, David Tulchinsky, and Malov Doshi.

Nomination of Officers

The President pointed out that the Board is a volunteer group with day jobs. There is a significant amount of work in serving on the Board but the work is important.

Brian Larkin nominated the current board. The nomination was seconded. There were no further nominations. The motion was made and seconded to close the nominations.

The Board members each introduced themselves.

Dwight Clark has lived in the building since 1996, purchased in 2000 and has been on the board since 2000. He works a few blocks from the Lauren for Karn Charuhas Chapman & Twohey Architects.

John Filice has lived and owned in The Lauren since 1988. John's business entails Marketing Consulting to Architects, Engineers, Contractors, and Developers who pursue Federally Funded projects. He served on the Board in the early 90's and returned to serve again since 2006.

Roger Hirschland was an editor and writer at the National Geographic Society for 22 years, then edited and wrote for the Peace Corps before retiring last year. He now freelances as an editor and writer. He has lived in the building since 1980.

Elizabeth VanderPutten, 1004, has lived in the building since 1977, before the Sunderland Apartments was converted by tenants to the Lauren Condominium. She is a program director at the National Science Foundation, supporting research on education and learning

Barrett Witkin lives in unit 913 and has been a resident for three years. He is an executive with Accenture, a management consulting and technology services firm.

Election Results

Brian Larkin moved that the nominees be elected by acclamation. This was seconded and approved. The nominees were elected by acclamation.

Other Discussion

Brian Larkin noted that virtually everything the Board does is online at http://www.lauren.org/, including copies of minutes back to 1996, audits since 2002, budgets, treasurer's reports, manager memos, board policies, Lauren FAQ sheets, etc. Anyone interested check under What's New? for most current activities and in Lauren Business for archived material. 

Aaron Tax suggested we might consider an email listserv to distribute various notices. He also mentioned that recycling guidelines need to be made clearer to make it even more effective.

Adjournment

The annual meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Elizabeth A. VanderPutten, Secretary

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