``````````````saturday thoughts``````````````````

Saturday--

I am in NY until the 15th.   So there won't be much on the blog.  When I get a chance I'll make a few remarks (provided that my grandaughter lets me use her computer.)-- in the meantime:

Monday the officers will be elected.   I hope that this Board will be a nine member board with each member participating with honesty and sincerity.

And, as i said in my last post:

The Board would like to bring peace and tranquility back to Southpoint.  It is our home and a peaceful atmosphere is desired and hoped for. 


We hope we will live up to the expectations of those who voted for us, and will prove ourselves worthy to those who did not. We'll all try our best.

Michael E Katz

Director

Southpoint

954-563-0959 home

katz8356@comcast.net 

www.Southpoint-Condo.Blogspot.com  

~~~~~~~Southpoint Election of Directors~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks to all who voted and participated. Thanks to Emma Popolow, and her committee.  





The result of last night’s election of Directors is:

*Tony Peccia              175

*Michel Beberman     154

*Michael E Katz          133

*Elaine Jaffe               118

_______________

Marty Howland        105

Lenny Champagne   98

*The top four are members of the Board.

The carry-over members, fulfilling the second year of their term are:

*Vincent Varbero

*Robert Gast

*Donna Reynolds

*Lynn Weinraub

*Lisa LaMarca    

·         *Members of the 2012 Board.

As the old Board had decided not to hold an organizational meeting immediately upon the election,

the Organizational Meeting will be held on this coming Saturday.

It will be posted this morning (Wednesday.)

Although there was no election of officers, the newly elected Board Members expect that no actions will be taken by the officers of the old Board until an election is held.

This would include signing agreements or contracts, issuing checks, hiring or firing employees, and any other actions not mentioned.

It would be unseemly for a lame duck Board to take any actions during the last days of their holding office.

Any advice or counsel that you see fit to offer will be welcomed.

The Board would like to bring peace and tranquility back to Southpoint.  It is our home and a peaceful atmosphere is desired and hoped for. 


We hope we will live up to the expectations of those who voted for us, and will prove ourselves worthy to those who did not. We'll all try our best.


Michael E Katz

Director

Southpoint

954-563-0959 home

katz8356@comcast.net 

www.Southpoint-Condo.Blogspot.com  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Election Day~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello Southpointers!  


Let's get moving on the projects that we listed a few days ago.. I hope that the new board, whether or not I am elected, will act like we've been acting the last two Board meetings. Those meetings were a prime example of what we'd like to see for the next year.


Good luck to all the candidates, and I mean that. I think that we've all come to see that open meetings are a possibility, and that Southpoint can do business under the eyes and ears of owners who are willing to attend meetings.


The new Board should schedule regular meetings, perhaps on a weekly basis.  I know we can work out a system where ideas and projects are formulated in the office in conjunction with the Property Manager  --  and then, discussed and voted on in public by the Board. 


We should introduce a better communication system between Owners and the Board--and the office too. If elected, that will be one of my priorities.


Your "Brevity is the Soul of Wisdom" blogger,


Michael E Katz
Director
Southpoint


Katz8356@comcast.net


      

• www.southpoint-condo.blogspot.com

----------------Financing Assessments ----------------

Hello Southpointers!

Many people asked for my election selections. If I didn't send them you my "picks" just let me know and I'll send them to you. So many people asked yesterday that I may have skipped a few. Ask again.

Today I am going to write about a possible way for Southpoint to finance the large number of projects that may have to be assessed during the next two or three years.

  The numbers below are only examples--we have no bank commitment yet.

If we have a million assessment and Owners paid it in full the amount for each unit would be the same as it was for the HVAC. 

But, if we financed $1,000,000, for ten years, the Association would pay about $11,000 per month, for ten years; and the average unit owner would have an addition $27.00 per month added to their quarterly maintenance. That's about $91 per quarter. 

$91 would be the average, some units (the one bedrooms) would pay less, others would pay more.

This is only an example, and at this time we have commitment at all for financing. Owners who want to avoid the interest would be able to pay up front.  

.mike

___________Someone Loves Southpoint~~~~~~~~~~~

People are making my job easier.   Here's what someone wrote to me last night.

Southpoint

Dear Michael

After reading your blogs, I find that I’d like to add a few thoughts to the mix.  I’ll try to be brief.

When I bought in Southpoint, I was so happy to be living as I had wanted for many years:  ocean, pleasant building, great location.  I love waking up for a quick glance to the sea, or watching city lights, or seeing teenagers play at with bicycles or skateboards on the street, even during the night.  Safety, beauty, comfort, amenities.   Such simple sounding but rewarding things.  Luckily, from my apartment, all of this and more can be seen.  Along came Wilma, and the building actually got better, even though there were severe problems.  The people of the building brought food from their refrigerators, and many cooked on the barbecue sharing what we had and delivering to those who could not get down the stairs.  This did not require deep friendship nor strong connections except for being human and a basic desire to use what we had and to help others.  This building could still be like that in every way, and Wilma seems a good metaphor.   

Now, we are in  a campaign storm with great disruptions and major feelings of loss for many, a fear of something, although perhaps unarticulated.  Many of us have striven all of our lives for this.  The result of Wilma could have been more negative behavior, or better behavior.  The people chose to do better things.  When the people have a basic goodness, they open up to others without rancor to find common ground based upon concern for others.  They help with understanding, not from ego nor greed.   

 I hope that the people of the building choose to remember others as well as remember the joy they had when moving here.  This is a small thing to ask, respect.   It is a good building, but will remain good only if pleasantly run.  Perhaps if we knew the stories of others, we’d all be more understanding.

 The next Board, whether or not I am elected, should think about the person who wrote the above "love" letter.

 ****************************************************************************

Below is another take on the Balconies from a discussion with an owner. I have tried to report his remarks and idea accurately:

We could have our engineer, Bruce Bromley, re-inspect each balcony and grade them "A," "B," or "C." Those balconies graded "C," would be repaired immediately. The other repairs could be delayed. Of course, surfaces of all balconies that have had their tiles removed would be re-surfaced. The owner believes that the cost for these repairs would be one-half of what we are presently facing. 

********************************************************************************

 I  placed this email on yesterday's Blog, but I put it up after many readers may have read the Blog, so I am repeating it here:

Dear Director Michael E Katz, and

Hi to the very respected board members of Southpoint condominium and all neighbors.

We all spend money to repair common areas for instance, the lobby, elevators, gyms, our pool, but balconies are not common, not public areas, balconies completely private owner's areas.

We are not trying to replace kitchens or repair a California closet. 

To take care of the balcony is the responsibility of the unit owner, if the balcony is in bad condition it is the unit owner's negligence. 

If in any bathroom water leaks on floor and stays there will also  tile damage and if for  a long period water will damage  concrete  and metal rebar could show up. Does it mean condominium must repair this bathroom? No.

Southpoint office could help to set up repair but will bill unit owner for the repair cost. 

Must tiles on the balconies  be the same? No, it could be different or even no tiles. 

Shape of the balconies and color must be same, but tiles could be different. We have different balcony doors, we have different furniture. 

So, I don’t see any reason to replace our balconies.  And glass on the balcony will not add value to property,  beautiful lobby, yes,  nice gym with sauna, yes,  spa and jacuzzi at the pool, yes,  full service beach area, yes.   

But glass on balconies adds very little, not in relation to very high price. And it is very hard to expect glass could stop wind. 

This is my opinion, all of us unit owners have to make a decision. Thank you very much,

Andrey Koroshikh unit owner 2103N.    

********************************************************************************************************

Please remind your friends to check the Blog.  thanks!   

.mike

Michael E. Katz

Southpoint

Director

 954-563-0959

Katz8356@comcast.net 

www.Southpoint-Condo.Blogspot.com

        

 

   

+++Let'sTalk some more about the Balconies+++

Question:  Hi Mike. Your blog of Friday  March 2/2012:   I have one question for you:  where do you stand on the issue about the balcony?

Thanks for the question:  it will give me something to talk about in today’s blog. 

Basically, here’s where I stand:

 We will choose a contractor within a week. Maybe Monday, (which I think is unseemly, because the Board may change in only a few days; and a new board should not be bound by a decision made at the last minute by  the old board.) 

 But, the old Board does have the right to vote—so, we’ll have to wait and see what plays out on Monday night at six.

We expect our engineer to come to the meeting with some new information on the cost differential between taking the balconies down completely, and repairing them

 Be there, if you can! 

  

That said:  I want to get the work rolling immediately. Preparation by the contractor starting now. Actual work ASAP. 

The question of the railings:  I saw at the meeting that one-half of the room wanted glass and the other half wanted to save the money and keep the existing railings. The Condo Association  seems to be equally divided. I’d like to poll the entire membership – and let them know what the additional cost will be for glass.

One thing that I want to avoid is making any aesthetic decisions.  If we go to  glass we would need a designer to make renderings. The glass decision does not have to be made immediately. We would have a few weeks while the balconies are taken down,   to make that decision. 

But, I do not want to be any part of any decision involving aesthetics. There will be four hundred different ideas for the glass. I leave that decision to smarter heads.

 As there is more work down the road, we should discuss financing. There are a few alternatives:

• A loan taken out by the Association. Payments would be much smaller, but payable over a period of several years;  
• A large, one time assessment;
• A series of assessments over the next few years;
• A combination of the above. 

 Owners may come up with additional ideas. 


Here's a list (in no particular order) of future projects.  

• Pavers and waterproofing around the pool.
• East wall and stairway,  pool to promenade. (related to above)
• Pavers and waterproofing around the building.
• Concrete restoration in G-1, and G-2.
• Final repair of North and South Roofs, (possible payment by insurance)
• Southpoint Owner to Management Communication system.
•  Improvement of South and North lounges
• Improvement of Card Rooms
• Beach and pool furniture changes
• Replacement of carpeting in hallways
• Painting of hallways 
•  
• 
  

I left two bullets open -- I am sure that I've left something out. 


We will get estimates for each of these items, then we will prioritize the list, deciding what should be done first, second and so forth. 


I hope that I've answered your question. Thanks again!  

After I posted the above blog, an owner commented. I'm adding it today, and I'll repeat it tomorrow.  As you can see, he doesn't agree with me--but he has good arguments that are worth thinking about.

Dear Director Michael E Katz, and

Hi to the very respected board members of Southpoint condominium and all neighbors.

We all spend money to repair common areas for instance, the lobby, elevators, gyms, our pool, but balconies are not common, not public areas, balconies completely private owner's areas.

We are not trying to replace kitchens or repair a California closet. 

To take care of the balcony is the responsibility of the unit owner, if the balcony is in bad condition it is the unit owner's negligence. 

If in any bathroom water leaks on floor and stays there will also  tile damage and if for  a long period water will damage  concrete  and metal rebar could show up. Does it mean condominium must repair this bathroom? No,  

Southpoint office could help to set up repair but will bill unit owner for the repair cost. 

Must tiles on the balconies  be the same? No, it could be different or even no tiles. 

Shape of the balconies and color must be same, but tiles could be different. We have different balcony doors, we have different furniture. 

So, I don’t see any reason to replace our balconies.  And glass on the balcony will not add value to property,  beautiful lobby, yes,  nice gym with sauna, yes,  spa and jacuzzi at the pool, yes,  full service beach area, yes.   

But glass on balconies very little, not in relation to very high price. And it is very hard to expect glass could stop wind. 

This is my opinion, all of us unit owners have to make a decision. Thank you very much,

Andrey Koroshikh unit owner 2103N.    

 A few people have written and asked for my election picks. I don't think that this blog is the place for electioneering. I'll be happy to tell you in person, or by email or phone. Just ask.  

Whether I win or lose, I'll be continuing the blog, and I hope you'll continue to check it. Please tell your friends.


.mike

Michael E Katz

Director

954-563-0959

Katz8356@comcast.net

www.Southpoint-Condo.Blogspot.com

--------------------------Sticker Shock !

Wow!   Peace and Harmony at Southpoint.  It is possible, after all.    

The Special Meeting held last night was a prime example of how a good meeting can be held, even at Southpoint, with many diverse views.  Congratulations to the audience for their good behavior.


Although not everything was to my personal liking, for instance I did not think that we should have approved of the minutes without having a chance to point out errors.  However, there was discussion.  A vote was taken. I lost.  -- As long as there was discussion and as long as the Board voted, I am satisfied.

The rest of the meeting was as close to perfect as anyone could desire. We met the contractors. Bids were opened. All Members of the Association (Owners) who were present had a chance to speak their mind. Questions were asked and answered.   Ideas were shared.

As the discussion continued did you notice that a consensus started to form.?  Although the Members were about equally divided on the issue of glass railings, all of us began to understand the problem of the balconies.  There was "sticker shock" on the part of many -- (me included.)

Sticker Shock: The three bids were in the same area:  $1,558,000  to   $1,785,000.

 That would mean an assessment about 60% larger than the assessment you paid for the HVAC. 

Bruce Bromley, our engineer explained that his specifications were quite conservative, in the sense that he tried to cover every eventuality, He thought that most likely, the contractors would not actually expend as much as their bids;   and that the likelihood of extras was reduced because of the all - encompassing nature of his bid sheet.

But:  there is also the possibility that taking down all balconies and building new ones from scratch would be cheaper in the long run. I asked Bruce how long it would take him to come up with numbers for that possibility. He said he could have them by Monday.

One Member in the audience, Michael Abelson, suggested that we completely re-do the balconies and add glass enclosing railings. There was some discussion, and without knowing cost, about half the Members liked the idea.  The balconies facing the pool on both sides are in what sometimes becomes a wind tunnel. They would get less wind and balcony sitting would become more pleasant.  The glass would upgrade the look of the buildings and would add value to the building.   I would suggest polling all the Members about the glass railings.

Here is what Emma Popolow had to say about the meeting:

"The information received at last night's meeting was very helpful. I think at this time the smartest, most prudent thing to do is to completely remove all of the terraces and do it right. This way we will also get our money's worth of work. Who can tell if the charges for patch-work, a foot here, a foot there, are correct. Nobody from the building will be able to figure what is what.

To me, Carousel is the only way to go. The other 2 companies talked a lot about painting and paint and not about replacing terraces.

I am for the glass railings. I know some of the people are concerned about all of the money for the assessment. I too, do not want to spend a dime unless there is some good reason behind it. I think this the right way to go about this project and we will reap the rewards in the future. We will have balconies that last us for another 30+ years.

In order to give the people the true cost of the job, let us not forget to deduct the cost for reconditioning and repainting the old railings and also give the people a ball park figure on what we will get back for selling the old railings. In today's commodities market these railings are worth something. Good negotiating can help here.

Also, Carousel talked about financing plans they can help us with. Let us check them out if we use them.

One never knows, they might be terrific.  

Constructive input is appreciated."

Emma Popolow

1709 S 

Last:  the purpose of this blog is to discuss Southpoint matters in a rational, fair-minded way.  Attacks on people are regrettable (and I apologize for any of my own); but discussions of issues are fair and are desired. 

For instance, I shouldn't say that John Doe is a dope, and doesn't know what he is talking about, and that he is a crook on top of everything else. But I might say, that John Doe's idea for a permanent raft to be anchored in the ocean  in front of Southpoint, is unpractical and too expensive. 

Michael E Katz

Director

Southpoint

954-563-0959  

katz8356@comcast.net

www.Southpoint-condo.blogspot.com