2017 February Edition East Bay Newsletter

Transcription

1 2017 February Edition East Bay Newsletter NEXT OPEN BOARD MEETING BUDGET PRESENTATION Tuesday, February 28 at 6:30 PM The fiscal year proposed budget and long-term reserve (LTR) will be presented to all unit owners by Chet Babcock, Treasurer. The Finance Committee representing unit owners along with the Treasurer created this budget. Spirit Life Church at 9455 N. 76 th Street In the large room where we vote. Enter on the north side of the building. EBOA FINANCIALS The budget committee recently finished the final draft of the association s budget for the next fiscal year The projected increase in your monthly maintenance fee is expected to be approximately 3%. This means that with the approval of the board, the monthly increases, depending on the square footage of your unit will be about $10. We have three major increases in our expenses for the coming year. Our original snow plow contractor suddenly quit during the first big snow storm in early December and we had to find another company willing to plow us out at the last minute. He insisted on an annual snow season contract of $22,000 for three years. This obviously was a major increase in this budget item. Our State Farm property insurance was also raised to $59,413. This is what we should have paid this year but they mistakenly dropped two years of surcharges from the fires of two years ago, instead of one year. Luckily for us they decided not to charge us for their mistake. Our premium should drop to the $35,000 level next year. To mitigate this one-time increase, I moved $25,000 from the operating budget to the LTR budget so that it would not affect your maintenance fees. The third increase came unexpectedly from Time Warner/ Spectrum cable. They are now charging us an additional $ per month for fees that Charter Cable, parent company of Spectrum, has been paying the local broadcast channels (ABC, CBS, FOX) to carry their content. This increased our monthly cable fee by $2.21 per unit. We are considering our possible legal remedies to rectify this situation. The association s major operating expense categories by percentage continue to be utilities 23.1% (water & sewer, electricity and telephone); payroll 20.2% (including payroll taxes); and 18.9% for our loan payments (on the $2 million exterior renovation) which expires in July Major expenses budgeted for this coming year from our Long-Term Reserve (LTR) account include repairs to the drive asphalt, curbs and replacing a drain catch basin; sand blasting & painting the pool (moved from this last year); repairs to the buildings and building lighting and a provision to accommodate the increase in our property insurance premium. I would like to thank staff members John Habeck and Jacquie Rosenfeldt and board members Joe LaRosa and Rich Miller for their invaluable input. I would also like to thank the members of the budget committee, Rheba Currie, Melissa Lawson, Rex Nelson and Kermit Ratcliffe, for their help in putting together these budgets. Notice of the exact amount of your monthly maintenance fee for fiscal year (our fiscal year is April 1 of the current year thru March 31 of the following year), including the increased Time Warner/Spectrum cable fee will be outlined in the annual notice mailed to each unit in the middle of March.

2 Warner/Charter/Spectrum Cable Reception Issues East Bay and Wood Lake had been having cable TV reception problems since the last week in November. Intermittent poor reception issues began as these companies were having internal staffing changes which were compounded by address and phone number changes. As much as unit owners and board members called, the cable company was unable to put 2 and 2 together. All this came to ahead on Super Bowl Day. I was on the phone before and during the Super Bowl for over an hour talking to individuals located in two different states demanding immediate action to our cable reception problems. The Monday after the Super Bowl, I received phone calls from two local Warner management individuals resulting in a specialized technical repair crew coming to East Bay on Wednesday. The repair crew found damage to the part of their cable system which was located under 70th Street. There are two small underground substation connections just east and west of 70th Street near the Cattail Court entrance. Their repair crew on Friday completed the installation of a 2nd cable parallel to the damaged cable between the two underground substations. Please leave a message at the office, if you are experiencing any further reception problems and I will follow up on your behalf. I will also be looking to negotiate some remuneration or rebate for lost services which I will report on during our annual meeting on Tuesday April 25th. Dennis Barrish, Board President

3 GARBAGE & RECYCLING Garbage pickup is Wednesday through March 29. The next Recycling date is Wednesday, March 15. REMINDER If you are unsure when the next garbage & recycling dates are, please do the following: Call the Maintenance Number To view a scheduled 4 month calendar logon to and Click on the Garbage Pickup tab. OR PLEASE NOTE: GARBAGE AND RECYCLING BINS MAY NOT BE PUT OUT BEFORE 4PM THE DAY BEFORE PICK-UP AND MUST BE RETURNED TO THE GARAGE THE EVENING OF PICK-UP. Owners are responsible for all their garbage & recycling that they put out for pick-up. Make sure loose items are secured so the wind does not blow them around the grounds. It is not the responsibility of the City of Milwaukee or East Bay to clean up after us. MARK YOUR CALENDARS The East Bay Owners Association Annual Meeting will be on, Tuesday, April 25, 6PM at Spirit Life Church. We look forward to seeing you there. OPEN BOARD POSITIONS Notice that there are empty seats around the table? This April unit owners must vote for two new directors. This is your opportunity to play an integral role in your community and share your talents in human resources, finance, plumbing, heating & air conditioning, customer service. It is also your opportunity to work with your neighbors, and continue to make this Association a desirable, pleasant place to live. Please consider submitting your resume and running for one of the two open positions. Resumes should be turned in to the Administrative office or ed to eastbayowners@yahoo.com by April 3 to be included on the ballot. In addition to the information regarding the meeting being set out, nominations will be taken from the floor with voting taking place during the meeting. If you have questions regarding becoming a board member, contact Dennis Barrish, ( ).

4 HAVE YOU CHECKED THE STAIRS LATELY? If you have carpeted stairs and it has been some time since you ve seen the wood stair; you may want to consider removal. It was reported by another unit owner the removal revealed several steps needing to be replaced, and two being a hazard of falling through the support stringers. The unit had 6 of 12 stairs cracked, and two completely out of the notch in support leaving the wood and metal railing bowed from the pressure. The two hazardous stairs in question were hanging out of place, and supported solely by original nails used to attach to stringer support. Unit owners can consult a licensed carpenter for replacement whom will be versed in building structure support and guidelines. Migdalia Rivera Congratulations Matiya McCants-Patterson (9105) Please extend get-well wishes and speedy recovery to: Howie Fletcher (9145) Crystal Gilmore (8969) Carol Brink (9219) Our Sympathy Lolita Lee s (9123) mother passed away in December. Our sympathy goes out to Lolita and her family and friends. Pearl Silverstein (9035) passed away January 7, Our sympathy goes out to her family and friends. Our Condolence Maggie, beloved friend and family member of Lynn & Ron Hennecke (9109) passed away on February 3.

5 March 12, 2017 This year Daylight Saving Time starts Sunday, March, 12. The clocks need to be set ahead one hour. Salt There are containers of salt at the maintenance building. If you need a little extra salt for your area, just come and pick one up or bring your own container. When the container is empty, you are welcome to refill and reuse the container or return it so it can be re-filled for others. The blue bin alongside of the maintenance building contains the salt. If the container is empty, please let John know by leaving a note or a phone message at Winter Parking Rules Remember every vehicle left on garage aprons will be ticketed as described in the Rules & Regulations when there is a snowfall of 2 or more predicted. The plow cannot clean the aprons, yours and probably your neighbors, of snow if there is a vehicle in the way. Park your car(s) in the garage or move them to either visitor parking or on 70 th St. In addition, check with the police department for specific parking instructions for street parking. to: Please report any exterior building damage due to wind and weather Rich Miller (buildings) Maintenance Office Use the Owners Work Request Form located in the box to the left of the overhead garage door on the maintenance building or on the East Bay web page, eastbayowners.com, under Owner Login section, Unit Owner Forms. Or RENOVATING YOUR UNIT You must have approval of the Association prior to any project such as replacing your furnace, air conditioner, garage door, front door, windows, remodeling projects or elaborate landscaping. You will need to contact Rich Miller ( ) or gerard728@gmail.com, Buildings Chair, for approval of your plans. The East Bay by-laws must be adhered to regarding remodeling or landscaping by the unit owner or it can be redone by the Association and billed to the unit owner. If you are making any new electrical or plumbing changes to your condo (including replacement of an air conditioner, furnace and fireplace) you must have approval of the Association as well as city permits and the work must be performed by an insured licensed contractor. You would also need to contact Rich Miller for other exterior changes including new windows, exterior doors, garage doors, patio decking/surfacing, fencing, outdoor lighting (including Christmas decorations) as well as more elaborate landscaping. While requests are rarely denied this need for approval by the Association is in the by-laws for the protection of all unit owners.

6 COMPLAINTS We ask that everyone please follow the rules because East Bay rules are put in place to keep this a good and safe community and to keep our property value up! Please call if you have any questions: Courtney Miller ( ) or Migdalia Rivera ( ) If you have a complaint, we need the following basic information to pursue it: PARKING: Vehicle license number Make of vehicle (Ford, Chevy, etc.) Basic color of vehicle Type of vehicle (4dr, 2dr, SUV, Pickup, motorcycle) DOGS: Dog owner or unit # Dog size (small, medium or large) Basic dog color Area of complex where complaint occurred WITHOUT THIS BASIC INFORMATION, WE WILL BE UNABLE TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT YOUR COMPLAINT. ATTENTION ALL DOG OWNERS IV. PETS WHERE S THE LEASH??? The following is from the East Bay Rules & Regulations A. Residents are responsible for their pets and observance of Milwaukee Code of ordinances. B. Pets shall not be kept in common or limited common areas while owner and/or responsible party is absent from the residence. C. All pets must be kept on a leash and accompanied when outside. Pets shall not be staked out in common areas, on a tether long enough to reach common areas, or allowed to run loose. D. The pet owner is responsible for cleaning up all pet litter immediately. E. Residents aggrieved by violation of pet ordinances have the responsibility to report such violations to City of Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood Services Please keep in mind that dog owners are responsible for picking up their dog s waste, no matter where it lands, immediately. Our rules do not allow for waiting until a more convenient time, once a day, or once a week. Nor is there any exemption for fecal matter left on walks or drive areas. The immediate pick-up applies to ALL dog fecal matter. Not only is this an East Bay rule, it is also a City of Milwaukee ordinance. Fecal matter that is left can transmit diseases to other dogs, children who are playing in the area, and wildlife. Your diligence in this matter is appreciated. Thank you to those who already do! Reminder: Our maintenance department will not cut the grass where dog waste has not been picked up.

7 Did you replace one of these? Do not forget to register it with the office ( ), Courtney Miller ( ) or Migdalia Rivera ( ) We need the following information: Make of vehicle (Ford, Chevy, etc.) Type of vehicle (SUV, 4DR, 2DR, PICKUP, VAN) Color of vehicle License plate number (if different) Vehicle being replaced or added When we get this info, you will be issued a new ID sticker for the rear-view mirror and any parking permits for which you are already entitled. Please feel free to contact any of the current board members directly if you have questions or comments. The following is their contact information in addition to their responsibilities East Bay Officers President Dennis Barrish Vice President Courtney Miller Secretary Amy Guthrie Treasurer Chet Babcock The board members responsibilities are as follows: Dennis Barrish President & Legal Liaison or dbarrish@wi.rr.com Courtney Miller Vice President & Arbitration & Complaint Chair or miller.courtney24@yahoo.com Amy Guthrie Secretary or alnovara06@yahoo.com Chet Babcock Treasurer & Finance Chair or chetbab3@gmail.com Joe LaRosa Grounds Chair or jlarosa031@aol.com Rich Miller Buildings Chair or rmiller188@wi.rr.com Migdalia Rivera - Arbitration & Complaint or newtrenz@twc.com Karin Bojarski-Vella, If you need a copy of the East Bay Owners Association Inc., Master Condominium Insurance Policy for your mortgage, have questions regarding what our condominium insurance covers or you are looking for another agent. Karin is East Bay Owners Association s agent for the exterior building policy.

8 Addresses Wanted To receive the East Bay newsletter, updates & alerts, information from Alderwoman Lewis electronically and in a timely fashion, provide your address to the East Bay Office at: eastbayowners@yahoo.com We only use your address for East Bay business and will not distribute it to others. EASTBAYOWNERS.COM That is our website. Our newsletters are located there. You can read them online or print them out for leisurely reading. Or The current newsletter along with reminder flyers & other relevant information are also located on the bulletin board attached on the pool fence for emergency REFERENCE PHONE NUMBERS Milwaukee Police Department -Non-Emergency #9 for all suspicious activity Keep Them Handy City of Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood Services Complaint to report dog, parking & noise issues: IMPORTANT East Bay Phone Numbers Maintenance: Administrative Office: Continue to report any suspicious activity that appears to be out of the ordinary to the nonemergency # or 911 for a life-threatening situation