Newsletter, July 8, 2010

POINT BRITTANY SIX NEWSLETTER

NEWSLETTER 3 JULY 8, 2010


The Board received a suggestion to provide a spill clean-up kit to facilitate the clean-up of waste materials in the building at times when our maintenance staff is not available. Anyone who wishes to assist in this type of activity will have access to the kit by calling a member of the security staff who will provide entry to room 105 where the kit is stored. We have prepared a poster and placed it on the bulletin board in the mail room. If you are personally responsible for a spill or are willing to assist in the clean up of a spill, this kit will be quite helpful. As always, we appreciate the efforts of our owners and guests in helping to keep our building clean and sanitary. I would like to extend a personal thanks to Ceil and Ruth Lasher for their suggestion and support.

The Board has appointed a Landscaping committee. We have made many attempts in previous years to work specific landscaping issues with some success and some not quite what we wanted. This committee will address all of the landscaping issues in our area, essentially the area from Leland Street East. They have been tasked to develop a comprehensive plan addressing all the landscaping issues regardless of whether it is a PBAC or building six responsibility. We envision this to be a standing committee that will provide reports to the owners and the Board at scheduled meetings. For more information please review the appointment letter posted to the bulletin board. The Board wishes to extend our appreciation to the members of the committee who volunteered to work on this project.

We have been advised that the fire doors in the lobbies must remain. We had a Fire and Safety inspection of the building and are waiting for the final report. However, the door issue was discussed prior to the inspection. We were advised that they must remain because they serve a dual purpose. First, they are fire doors and secondly, because of the age of our building and the construction of the elevator shafts, they function just as importantly as a smoke inhibitor. Newly constructed buildings are designed with a system which prevents the build-up of smoke in the elevator shafts and therefore are not required to have doors similar to ours. We are disappointed about this decision but it is for our safety that we must keep them.

As you may have noticed, the light fixtures on the upper garage have deteriorated significantly. They had a one year warranty on them so if they were to be repaired it would have to be at our expense. We made contact with the company who supplied the original fixtures and they agreed to replace them at no cost to us. That’s the good news. The not so good news is that we have to pay to have them installed. The decision had to be made whether to repair five year old fixtures or install new fixtures. The costs were very similar. We have made arrangements to have the new fixtures installed. The installation should be accomplished later this month or the beginning of August.

The Board continues to be asked the question “what do we get from PBAC?” We pay 30% of the overall costs of the Point Brittany operation, what are they doing for us? The other question which goes with this is “why don’t we just sever our ties with PBAC and hire our own management company?” Last question first. If we were able to get 100% of our owners to agree to opt out, we could go to the other buildings and ask them to join us and if 100% of those owners agreed, we could get away from the PBAC. There is literally no chance that this could happen. Now for my attempt to explain the first question. When we bought our units at Point Brittany, we bought the whole thing, that includes all of the amenities, regardless of whether or not you planned on using them. If you obtained a mortgage, these amenities factored into the application/loan process. That’s condominium living. Even if you use little or none of the amenities, you are required to assist in the up keep and maintenance of them. I think it would be appropriate to ask what would it be like to live in Building Six and not have access to the club house, the main pool, the docks, the walk way, the tennis courts, etc. Ok, yes I do get a little concerned that we may not be getting all that we want from PBAC. It is our job to advise them as to what we want them to do for us! I think our primary concern should be to look at the common area surrounding our building and present our plan to them for action. That is one of the main reasons we have appointed the landscaping committee.

We have been asked to address the issue of infants at our pools. If you have guests visiting you who have infants that are in diapers, they must be advised that the baby may not be in the pool. The simple explanation for this is that a babies waste contains a high level of bacteria which is harmful to anyone, especially older people.

Owners who wish to allow family members to use their unit in their absence may do so. The administrative office should be notified as to who will be in your unit and the time frame. They should also obtain a parking permit for the length of their stay. This should be accomplished upon their arrival or as soon as possible. We must do this for security purposes to protect your interest and that of your neighbor.

As indicated in our June 7, 2010 Newsletter (2), we were scheduled for an inspection of our balconies on June 17,2010. The inspection was conducted in order to be sure that the Cathodic Protection System was functioning correctly and that the balconies were in a good state of repair. The on site inspection was very promising in that there did not appear to be any major challenges. We anticipate that we will receive a detailed report by the end of July. Upon receipt of the report, the Board of Directors will have the opportunity to determine what if any action needs to be taken and of course, we will keep you informed.



THOMAS G. BERTZ
President, Building Six Board of Directors