Newsletter, May 9, 2010

POINT BRITTANY SIX
NEWSLETTER #1
May 9, 2010

Since our Board meeting of April 8, 2010, we received the resignation of Bob Anderson from the Board of Directors. The Board appointed an interim member, Terry Bishop, who agreed to serve until the next election in April of 2011. We wish to thank Bob for his service and wish him well. We feel confident that Terry will be a real asset to all the unit owners and to the Board. Welcome aboard Terry!

We have established a committee to assist the Board in developing a plan to renovate our hallways. This is an exciting and challenging job and one that requires significant study before we proceed. The committee has been given instructions on how to proceed and will have considerable autonomy in developing alternative plans. They do not have the authority to spend any funds. Funding is the responsibility of the Board. As a reminder, the committee will prepare a minimum of three options for unit owners to review prior to any Board action. We as a Board are obligated to proceed with this initiative and are committed to approve a plan which will be cost effective and enhance the appearance of the building. As a reminder, the previous Board approved the expenditure of funds to support this project which will require a special assessment. The actual amount will be determined once we have an approved plan. We are committed to keeping this assessment as low as possible. Unit owners will be provided a minimum of 90 days notice prior to the due date.

About a month ago I received a letter from a unit owner telling me of her dissatisfaction with the Board and accused us of finding ways to spend money. I must admit that I was not happy about the tenor of the letter but I’m truly glad she sent it to me! I promise you that I will not spend a penny of your money unless it is absolutely necessary to maintain our building and accomplish the necessary administrative tasks. Having said that, some may challenge the need to renovate the hallways. The Reserve Study advised that this project be accomplished in order to maintain the value of this property. This then becomes the fiduciary responsibility of the Board consistent with Florida State Statues.

We have had two incidents which we believe should be called to your attention, both of which have cost you money! We had a flood on the 14th floor caused by someone plugging up the drain in the sanitary tub. The tub overflowed and ran long enough so that seven floors were affected. The PB maintenance staff could not handle the magnitude of the problem so we had to hire an outside firm. The clean -up was paid for from your pocket since the person who did this did not accept responsibility. The next incident took place over a weekend. Someone, for no apparent reason, put a shopping cart in the doorway of the elevator on the eighth floor. Although the door closes automatically, it couldn’t close, so it continued to attempt to close by repeatedly hitting the cart. The cart was damaged and ultimately the controls overheated and took the elevator out of service. We had to call General Elevator to fix the problem. As it turned out, this foolish act caused other problems which had to be addressed, causing even more inconvenience to all of the residents, in addition to the expenditure of time and money.

In another incident, a relative of one of our owners decided to move her property on a weekend. We all know this violates our rules and affects the peace and harmony within the building. In addition, the elevator was not padded. If you see something like this happening, please call security. It is my understanding that they have a procedure to handle this type of situation.
We will soon be working on our budget for 2011! Please don’t get alarmed! This is an invitation for you to let us know what you would like the Board to fund in the next budget cycle. We really do appreciate input from all of you. This enables us to better address your concerns and perhaps fund a special item of interest to you to improve living conditions and our way of life at Point Brittany. If you have a computer, you can send your comments to me at cbertz103@aol.com
The Board of Directors moved to have the lock changed on the door leading to the roof. We did this for safety reasons and to protect the surface of the roof. Contractors requiring access to the roof can make arrangements with our building custodian or in the event of an emergency, our security personnel.

We are in the process of changing the elevator service contract from General Elevator to Otis Elevator. We are required to do this by virtue of a previously negotiated agreement with Otis who has the service contract for all of Point Brittany. Please be patient! I have received notice that some our residents were somewhat nasty to the contractors who were working on the elevators. Please do not do this! They are doing their best to resolve these problems.

The Board is working on a number of projects one of which is landscaping. The planter project on the upper garage is not finished. We will continue to pursue a satisfactory solution to this challenge but it will take some time until we can fix the discoloration on the garage surface. Before that can happen, we must get a solution to the irrigation system. We will keep you posted . The Board approved a request to create a flower bed at the entrance to the building, this should be completed this coming week, finally! The landscaping on the south side of the building is being addressed and hopefully you will see some progress in the very near future. As you know, most of this work is the responsibility of the PBAC. We are working with them to get this work completed.

Thomas G. Bertz, President