PLAZA EAST ASSOCIATION
MINUTES OF MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
December19, 2007
(Corrected and Approved by the Board)

Mr. Tim Smith, President called to order a duly constituted meeting of the Plaza East Board of Directors on Wednesday, December 19, 2007 at 7:15 p.m. held in the Recreation Room.

Present were:, Donald Galczak, Rafick Henein, Richard Madey, Terry Marcum, Charles Packard, Allen Pell, DiAnne Shumard, Alex Soufrine, Tim Smith and John Toklucu
Absent: James Brady

Also present David Beswick, Manager and Helene Pasternak, Secretary. A quorum was established.

 APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A motion was made by Tim Smith, seconded by Charles Packard to approve the November 28, 2007 minutes. All voted Aye. John Toklucu requested an explanation as to why his name and Richard Loarie’s name were mentioned during the discussion last month regarding the payroll. Mr. Smith said it was a discussion as to when we switched over to electronic signatures. A brief discussion followed regarding the payroll procedures both past and present. John explained it changed during Willy Lopez’s tenure, however there were always checks. The Manager signed off on the master payroll sheet and the Treasurer also reviewed it as a double check. DiAnne Shumard advised she concurred that this is what she did when she was the Treasurer. The real question is how Susan Turner got complete control of the payroll process. Tim Smith is not sure how it happened. At the present time, payroll is no longer direct deposited and two signatures are required on each check.

 TREASURER’S REPORT
Don Galczak made a motion; seconded by Tim Smith to move from unallocated Reserve Interest $7,000 to Building and Mechanical Reserves and $7,000 to Concrete Reserve to balance these accounts. All voted aye.
Don Galczak made a motion; seconded by Charles Packard to approve expenditures previously not agreed to by the Board through December 18, 2007 from the Reserve accounts as per the attached. All voted Aye except for Richard Madey who voted Nay.


PRESIDENT’S REPORT
We have noticed for the Annual Meeting as per our documents. The meeting will be held on February 15, 2008.
Mr. Smith suggested to the Board that we notice Casa Conte (designer) 30 day notice to terminate our contract with him, since the Association members did not approve the design and expenditures for the Recreation room. Mr. Smith said he will dismiss the current Recreation Room Committee and put up a notice for a new committee. Ms. Shumard requested to please post this notice immediately, because we said this would be posted and wasn’t. Tim explained that David Weisman was out of town and wanted him to know what we were doing.
Tim thanked Ira Selzer for all the good work he has done in the past as Chairman of the Entertainment Committee. Ira is not well at this time, and we hope he will be able to return soon. In the meantime, we need to start a new Entertainment Committee. A notice will be posted. John Toklucu asked Tim to send a letter to Ira Selzer thanking him for all the work that he has done and that we will appoint an interim chairperson. Helen Baker suggested that the Entertainment Committee have a small budget to allow for some entertainment. We could use some “new blood” on the committee including some men.
We were contacted by Gina Cannone (15M) who is a designer. She would like to present us with her conception for the Recreation Room. She would not charge us to do a Board and will give us her 30% discount on furnishings. She would only charge us for her time. We can look at her work at www.ginacannone.com


SCREENING COMMITTEE REPORT
(To be entered into the Minutes of December 19, 2007)
Mrs. Elaine Ostrander purchased unit 5B from Eugene and Anna Cortes for $450,000.00 furnished.
She was approved by the screeners on December 13, 2007 and Board Members signed off on this screening and are on file, so the new owners could close that day.

Don Galczak left the meeting at 8:10pm due to a prior commitment.

 MANAGER’S REPORT
The complete Manager’s Report is attached.
We received a letter from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). They are requesting we sign a Consent Order regarding the outfall to the ocean. Attorney Rogers wrote a letter looking for an additional six months to comply with requirements to June 30, 2009. We have a set of plans for a new cooling tower, and a field inspection has been made, and we should receive a final set of plans within the month. We would then get permits and put bids out. The engineer, Chris Covalt of DeRose Engineering will give us his estimate of costs. Ismet Baker advised that at the Galt Ocean Meetings it was discussed that the work on the beach should begin by the end of 2008.
Richard Madey is concerned about signing the DEP letter because of fines if we don’t comply. Richard Madey made a motion to not agree with penalties from the DEP and not sign consent order. Richard Madey and DiAnne Shumard voted Aye, all others opposed. Motion not carried. We want a legal opinion on enforceability of the DEP demands. Can we negotiate penalties? It took the Fountainhead a year from beginning of planning for the cooling tower to completion. We already have plans and are only 30 days from requesting permits.

We had a meeting in November with the Manager of the Fountainhead and officials from Fort Lauderdale and Lauderdale-by-the-Sea regarding the Flamingo Avenue flooding problem. We are working on getting a partnership with everyone to fix the storm system on A1A.

We must communicate with the Owners regarding the trash pick-up. The Fire Department has cited Plaza East for having trash and recycling bins obstructing fire egress as a violation of the Fire Code. Every unit in the building was constructed with a fire proof trash chute. Owners are to be advised in writing to use the trash chutes. If the chutes have been covered and rendered unusable then the owner must either restore the access to the trash chute or bring the trash to either the trash chutes located on the G/H catwalk or to the dumpsters located in the parking garage lower level. A policy will be forthcoming in writing regarding the above including arrangements for removal by Plaza East staff of items which cannot be placed in the trash chute. Jim Brady had said he would try to work out a better resolution with the fire department. The Manager will check with Mr. Brady regarding this.

The Key Fob system should be up and ready sometime in late January.

Plaza East has been invited to participate in the 2008 Galt Food Drive. The Manager has additional information for you and this is a great time to clean out our cupboards and help the less fortunate.

A reminder to all owners doing work in their apartments that we require contractors have proof of workmen’s compensation coverage or an exemption certificate for these contractors to ensure that the building is not at jeopardy should someone be injured. Building permits are being required for more and more work.

We have found that the Recreation Room windows are not attached to anything solid at the top. It seems more prudent to install impact windows instead of the hurricane shutters since all the frames of the current windows need to be replaced. We would contact the manufacturer of the shutters to see about restocking them. We have been advised the shutters we purchased are of a standard size. Tim Smith has given the Manager six companies to get prices. Terry Marcum suggested we hire an engineer or architect to do specs for impact windows. A motion was made by Terry Marcum seconded by Charles Packard to hire an engineer/architect to do specifications for impact windows for the Recreation Room. These specs would be sent to three companies for bids, one of which would be Vico Windows. All voted aye.

PROCUREMENT POLICY
It appears that all Board Members do not have the latest copy of the Procurement Policy. Therefore discussion and approval of this policy will be postponed until the January, 2008 Board Meeting.

RENTAL/LEASING OF APARTMENTS
This issue was tabled.

 OTHER BOARD BUSINESS
John Toklucu advised that Board Members should be receiving all letters to or from our Attorney for their information. This was always our policy, but has not been done in the recent past. Tim suggested that we also give the Board Members at each meeting a package of all documents.
Richard Madey made a recommendation that before an administrative employee is hired, it be brought to the Board of Directors for review and approval. Rafick Henein suggested that salary changes of administrative personnel should be approved by the Board or three members of the Board if prior to a Directors’ meeting. Tim Smith felt there is a problem with those suggestions because if we wish to fire a manager and hire a new one, how do we do this when the manager attends all meetings. Richard Madey made a motion to have a minimum of three Board Members involved in the hiring and firing of administrative employees and any recommendation for salary changes shall be approved by at least three Board members if the approval must take place prior to a meeting of the Board of Directors. All voted aye, except for Terry Marcum and Tim Smith who voted Nay. The motion passed.


CORRESPONDENCE
Correspondence was received from a resident about a dispute between two neighbors. Unfortunately, the Association Attorney, Randall Roger, sent two unauthorized letters to the parties not in accordance with action agreed to by the Board of Directors, which added confusion to the Board’s position in this matter. The Attorney will be advised that if this were to happen again, it will result in a termination of their services. A general discussion followed regarding remedies for disputes between neighbors.


A motion was made to adjourn at 10:20 pm.

Respectfully submitted,


Helene Pasternak,
Recording Secretary