Annual Meeting -- May 22, 2003

2002-2003 - A Year of Major Projects

This past year has gone by very quickly. It has been a very productive year, with several long planned projects completed, and others begun.

Our building has reached an age where some larger projects need to be addressed in order to keep up its structural and mechanical integrity as well as its visual appeal.

One of the largest projects undertaken by the Association was the replacement of the original roofing. In conjunction with this necessary project, we took the opportunity to expand and upgrade the roof deck, one of our buildings most prized amenities. The roof deck gives our building what many people feel you have to give up living in an urban area, a safe and pleasant place to enjoy the outdoors during the day or night. There are a few small details to be taken care of, but for the most part it has been completed. I have been very pleased to see more people than ever enjoying the views and the nice weather. 

The project to make our building compliant with the "Americans With Disabilities Act." was also undertaken this year. The accessibility project includes new code compliant handrails at the side exits, a ramp from the garage to laundry room level, and a ramp from the penthouse level onto the roof deck and mechanical lift from the lobby to the first floor. These various additions and renovations allow for safe and manageable access to the building for all of the buildings residents and visitors.

This past year saw a great deal of work performed on the mechanical systems of the building. Some of these projects were due to scheduled replacement, others were due to general wear and tare or weather related damage. Last Fall the balancing of the water flow for the building heating and cooling system became more involved when it was discovered that the valves in the system were too deteriorated to allow them to be adjusted. All of these valves have now been replaced and, for what may be the first time since the building was constructed, the system flow has been balanced, which should alleviate the long history of unbalanced heating and cooling throughout the building.

In the area of cosmetic projects, the north and south stairways were given a fresh coat of paint.

Financial Status 

As for the Associations financial situation, we remain in solid shape. This year we have planed to keep capital expenditures to a minimum in order to rebuild the capital reserves. We have scheduled an update of our reserve study to be performed at the end of this month to ensure that we remain on track in the coming years

The rental market for the building remains solid and the sale value of units in the building continues to go higher.

Our insurance policy with Travelers took a dramatic increase last year and excluded claims related to terrorism. We changed our policy to Great American, which was significantly less expensive and does not have the terrorism exclusion. The insurance market remains in a state of flux and we will be keeping a close watch on our options in the coming year.

Staff

We continue to be fortunate with our wonderful building staff. We have been able to maintain a very skilled, conscientious and trustworthy staff. A great deal of the success of our association can be attributed to their diligent efforts.

Also we have many residents that contribute their time and ideas. The board would like to offer a special thanks to Brian Larkin for his upkeep of our web page, as well as contributions to various committees, to Don Benedict for his contributions to the building landscaping and to Roger Hirschland for his work on the building security committee.

Also I would like to thank the other board members, Elizabeth VanderPutten (secretary) Joe Morris (treasurer), Rebecca Kane (vice president), and Greg Kahn (vice president) and former member Ralph Domenick for their service over the past year.