Fairlington Arbor
Board of Directors' Meeting

September 23, 1999

Board Members Present: Judith Greig, President; Tom McQuillan, Treasurer; Jincy Boerner, VP Grounds; Desiree DiMauro, VP Community Affairs; Gus Wescott, VP Buildings

Management Present: Mike Maloney, CFM Management Services, Inc., and David Pollard, Facilities Manager

Call to Order

Ms. Greig called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. It was announced that 34.337% of the membership was in attendance or represented by proxy.

Roll Call

Ms. Greig requested a waiver of the reading of the roll call. On a motion duly made, seconded, and carried by a show of hands, the calling of the roll was waived.

Proof of Notice

Ms. Greig reported that the notice of the Annual Budget Meeting of the Council of the Co-Owners of Fairlington Arbor was mailed to all owners, in accordance with the Bylaws.

Minutes

A motion was duly made, seconded, and carried by a show of hands, to waive the reading of the minutes from the previous community meeting and to approve the minutes as submitted.

Treasurer’s Report: Presentation of the Budget

Mr. McQuillan thanked the Budget Committee, the Board, and David Pollard for their help in preparing the FY 2000 budget. Mr. McQuillan reported that, for the seventh consecutive year, the condominium fees would not be increased. He attributed this to conservative investments and to the on site facilities manager, David Pollard. The proposed budget showed very little change from last year. Mr. McQuillan took questions from the audience. He was questioned as to how the purchase of the unit would affect the budget and how the co-owners could approve the budget if this matter was not resolved. Mr. McQuillan explained that the unit would be purchased from reserves, not from the operating budget on which co-owners were to vote, and would be added to the balance sheet as an asset. Mr. McQuillan along with the Finance Committee feel that it will not be necessary for any revisions to be made to the budget if the unit is purchased. After further questions concerning the purchase of the unit and its effect on the budget, Ms. Greig called for a motion to vote on the budget.

Mr. Frank Benson moved that the Budget be accepted as submitted. The motion was seconded by Ms. Vicky Langbein. On a motion duly made, seconded, and carried, the vote was conducted and the budget approved.

New Business

Ms. Greig explained that the Board was investigating purchase of a unit at Fairlington Arbor to be used as an onsite facilities office. She explained in detail the reasons why the Board felt this would be in the best interest of the community. The Association has run out of storage space. The current office is not a suitable atmosphere to conduct business. It has poor ventilation, inadequate heating, and is not a positive work environment for the employees of the Association. Ms. Greig explained that the Board had looked into the various options available. They had considered the possibility of building an office; however, the cost to build from scratch would be very high, and not a good investment of the Association monies. It was also determined that it would compromise the common grounds and would be disruptive to co-owners. The Board felt that purchasing a unit was the best solution. It was further noted that the unit would be capable of accommodating future expansion of the onsite office facility and would provide a possible location for Board or committee meetings. Ms. Greig said that the Board had consulted with counsel and Arlington County to confirm the legality of the purchase and use of the unit as an onsite office. Ms. Greig opened the floor for discussion.

Discussion

• Several homeowners voiced their concern with the short notice given to the community of the possibility of such a large purchase. Ms. Greig explained that the Board had learned only two days prior to the Budget meeting from counsel and the Arlington County zoning Board that it would be legally possible for the Association to locate the onsite facilities office in a unit in the Arbor and so up to that point, the viability of pursuing the idea had not been confirmed.
• A co-owner asked whether homeowners would vote on the purchase. Ms. Greig explained that co-owners were not required to vote on individual expenditures and had not done so on past, larger capital expenditures, such as the fence and roof replacement programs.
• A co-owner questioned the authority of the Board to make such a purchase. Ms. Greig responded that the Bylaws give the Board the authority to act on behalf of the co-owners and that the Board had confirmed this with counsel.
• A co-owner asked whether using the unit as the Association’s onsite facilities office would set a precedent for other businesses to locate in the Arbor. Ms. Greig explained that the Association’s attorney had informed the Board that the Virginia Condominium Act makes provision for associations to use a residential unit as an office as a special case and that the opinion of counsel was that it would not set such a precedent.
• There were also questions on the possible additional cost to the Association to maintain the unit, and the Board responded to all of the questions.
• Several co-owners expressed support for the purchase of the unit, citing the need to provide employees with up-to-standard workplace facilities and pointing out that building would be more costly than purchasing an existing property.
• The Board was questioned on the progression of the roof repairs, and responded to all homeowner questions.

Ms. Greig closed the open discussion by saying that the Board would keep the co-owners informed of the progress as time allowed. She said that the Board had not yet voted to purchase the unit and would proceed only if additional information the Board was in process of gathering confirmed that the unit purchase would be in the best interest of the community.

Drawing

The drawing was held for the one-month free condominium fee. The winner was Mrs. Pearson of 3476 South Utah St.

Adjournment

Having no further business, on a motion made, seconded, and carried by a show of hands, the meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Linda Meelheim Draper, Recording Secretary

ADDENDUM

On September 24, 1999, the Board voted to continue gathering information that would enable the Board to make an informed decision on the purchase of the unit: 5-0-0 (for-against-abstain).

On October 1, 1999, with final information in hand that supported the decision, the Board voted to purchase the Barcroft unit and to make the seller a formal offer of $135,000.00: 5-0-0.