Fairlington Glen Draft
#3
Board Meeting
March 6, 2008
Held at Abingdon School, Media Center
Present: Bob Patrician (President), John Fuller,
(Vice-President); Jasper Thomson (At-Large)
Absent: Margaret
Windus (Treasurer); Alison Trimble (Secretary): Lynn House (Cardinal
Management) excused
Others: Peter Philbin, Attorney
(Rees Broome, PC), Ursula Koenig, Attorney (Rees Broome, PC)
Co-Owners: Sandy Heaton (Ct 6), Mike Hahn (Ct 15), Bob
Wilson (Ct 12), Jack Marshall (Ct 10), Hal Vorhies (Ct ),
Charlie Robbins (Ct 13), Carol Goodloe (Ct 10 )
Residents’ Forum
The meeting was called to order at 7:32pm by Bob Patrician,
President.
Sandy Heaton requested the Board contact the County
regarding the need for cross walk signage on 36th Street around the
traffic circle. Crosswalks are now
demarcated around the traffic circle where once they were not, and drivers have
sometimes not noticed the new crosswalks, leading to some close calls by
residents expecting traffic to stop as they use these crosswalks.
Minutes
06.03.08.01 MOTION
Move the minutes of February 7, 2008 meeting as submitted be
approved. The motion carried 3-0-0.
President’s Report
The Vice President proposed a series of motions to approve
requests and contracts.
06.03.08.02 MOTION
Move the annual request for the FINS swimming program to use the Glen pool for
one week during July be approved. The motion carried 3-0-0.
06.03.08.03 MOTION
Move the proposed carpentry work by James R. Walls Contracting Co. for wood
repair needs in Courts 1, 3 and 15, at a cost of $8,680 be approved. The motion
carried 3-0-0.
06.03.08.04 MOTION Move
the proposal from Brikwurks Masonry to repair brick
tuck work on various stoops for $2,920 be approved. (An additional list attached
on the back of the proposal are projects being undertaken by Glen staff,
not the contractor.) The motion carried
3-0-0.
06.03.08.05 MOTION
Move the proposed work by James R. Walls Contracting Co. to address the need
for a short gutter/downspout on the canopy of 4246/4248 South 35th Street
(Court 15) and the replacement of approximately 2 dozen damaged/missing slates
on that building’s roof, to be done on a time and materials basis, be approved.
The motion carried 3-0-0.
Bylaws Discussion
Bob Patrician led the assembled group in a discussion of the
proposed Bylaw changes by introducing our attorneys who have provided valuable
input and acknowledging comments already submitted by those who had already
reviewed the Bylaws. Pete Philbin opened his comments by pointing out that the suggested
changes were informed by both current changes in the Condo Act and related laws
as well as their long history of representing the Glen and how we, the Glen, have
addressed issues not informed by the current Bylaws through Board policy
statements.
The first question that arose was “what is the amount of
time that the vote can be kept open during the quest to achieve the required
75% approval?” Pete Philbin
stated they can be held open indefinitely if need be, but the longer they are
held open you start running into the issue of people selling their units and
“losing” their votes as a result. It was
suggested perhaps we could include a proxy in the resale packages to recoup
such votes if the vote does take multiple months to complete. Everyone agreed that achieving 75% will
require active involvement of the Court Reps and other willing advocates.
John Fuller presented an issue that had been raised by Ken
Kolb via e-mail about potentially duplicative provisions concerning the removal
of directors/officers, but as Pete pointed out, they are actually two different
mechanisms described in these sections, for removal of a Board Member from a
certain office title and the outright removal of someone from the Board, so no
change is needed on the draft in this area.
Bob Patrician raised the issue about the requirement to
provide keys to the management agent – a provision that had always been in the
Bylaws but never enforced. Everyone
thought it was unnecessary to require keys being held, but that it would be valuable
to have everyone’s emergency contact information in case it would make sense to
try and contact someone to gain access to a unit rather than employ a
locksmith. Many people thought it would
make sense to keep an option that the management agent could hold spare
resident keys if asked.
Jack Marshall revisited the issue he had brought up earlier
in an e-mail concerning the issue of insurance and a limit of liability. His concerns are tied to the issue of sewer
backups and the experience of his specific building in Court 10, and the
division of responsibility for damages between the Glen and Co-Owner. John Fuller observed that the Glen’s master
policy covers damage regardless of fault, and Bob Patrician reviewed the
relationship between owner’s personal HO-6 policies and the Glen policy, when
deductibles come into play on each.
After much discussion, Mr. Marshall’s main concern was that there be a
transparent declaration of owner potential liability, which it was agreed is
somewhat covered in the maintenance chart at the end of the draft rewrite of
the Bylaws.
Sandy Heaton briefly addressed the issue of water damage
that results from seepage underneath the slab/through basement walls. Mike Hahn followed up with a recap of his
concern about how pipes in walls are covered.
Pete Philbin explained how the Board recently
came to conclude that the Master Deed and existing Bylaws classified such pipes
as the responsibility of the owner whose unit they reside in, due to the plain
reading of the definition of unit boundaries (outer plane/bottom of slab). Bob Patrician covered the brief history of
past practice in this area being uneven – sometimes Ricky Solares
(former Glen Facilities Manager) would repair pipes that were owner
responsibility and this created some precedence that was not supported by the
governing documents. Pete Philbin opined that on the balance of interests it is
important to define this as it has always been basically laid out in the Bylaws
and Master Deed. The maintenance chart
is beneficial because it provides more clarity and transparency in this area..
Charlie Robbins raised an issue concerning the provisions
that allow Glen business to be conducted by as few as 3 members present, with
two being a majority – he just wanted to clarify that two members cannot alone
make a quorum, which is the correct reading.
Also raised was the language on page 18 regarding the inclusion of a
prohibition on “noxious or offensive conduct” – participants wondered if this
specific language was necessary or too vague.
Pete Philbin pointed out that while it is
“vague”, at the same time it is a standard covenant term and has case law tied
to its application.
Hal Vorhies raised the last two issues of the night – first,
that we should modify the provision concerning “proxies must be delivered
before a meeting” as this would technically disqualify a proxy delivered by a
person who showed up 2 minutes after an annual meeting had begun. He also re-raised the issue of the value of
the Glen requiring variances for interior work that must be approved (or not if
not structural/mechanical) by the County – it seemed like unnecessary
bureaucratic excess. Bob Patrician
mentioned we have tried to minimize
variance needs by issuing many blanket variances, and that it makes sense for
the Glen to continue as in the past to ensure safety, that procedures (County
permits) are being followed, and because it is valuable to the resale packages
that the Association provides.
Adjourn
06.03.08.06 MOTION
Move to adjourn. The motion carried 3-0-0.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:30pm. The next scheduled
meeting will be held on April 3, 2008.
Respectfully submitted,
Jasper Thomson
Acting Secretary
At-Large Member