PLAZA EAST ASSOCIATION
MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
November 2, 2005



1. CALL TO ORDER AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

President Terry Marcum called to order a duly constituted special meeting of Plaza East Board of Directors on Wednesday, November 2, 2005 at 7:00 PM in the Recreation Room. President Marcum led the Pledge of Allegiance.

2. ROLL CALL

Present: Ismet Baker, James Brady, Charlotte Gazzana, Jerry Marcial, Terry Marcum, Allan Pell, DiAnne Shumard, Tim Smith and John Toklucu. Also present were Willy Lopez, Manager and Richard Madey, Secretary,(who arrived at 7:30 PM)
Absent: Richard Loarie.
 Quorum? Yes.


3. STATUS OF BUILDING AFTER HURRICANE WILMA AND PREPARATION OF AN ACTION PLAN ; QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS


This Special Meeting of the Board of Directors was called to address building problems and issues raised after Hurricane Wilma. The attached (10/31/05) memo to the Board of Directors resulted from the (10/31/05) meeting owners. This memo listed 17 issues for the Board to address. Attachment 2 are responses by Director James Brady to the 17 points. President Marcum led the discussion through the 17 points.

 Point 1. STRUCTURAL DAMAGE?
Unit Owners are to inform the office of lost walls and cracks so that a structural engineer can review and advise the Board if these problems caused structural damage to the building.

Point 2. INSURANCE
Bill Hurlman, Chair of the Insurance Committee, said that the Association’s insurance policy carries a deductible of $833,000, which is 2% of the building value of about $41 million.. The Association deductible applies to Hurricane damage. Usually, a policy holder chooses 2, 3, or 5% of the building value for the deductible. Hurlman recommended that each owner list all hurricane damage, take pictures of the damages, and state why it is hurricane damage.
There are two separate policies for windows: one for the common area, and one for the 266 owner units. A $75 payment is available to board a window when the glass has been broken.

Q. Do you think we have damage amounting to $833 K?

A. Hurlman: Personally, I think not.

Q. Rothenberg: A, H, P units have old windows, which can’t be fixed. What do we do?
A. Hurlman: Homeowner’s policy does not pay. Windows are part of the structure. It is my opinion that original windows are part of the building.

Q. If a picture window blows out, who pays?
A. Insurance company said they would pay.

Pasternak: Insurance company would not pay for window damage. According to recent Florida Legislation, it appears that if the damage is caused by a hurricane, then the Association’s insurance should pay. The Association’s insurance covers windows (but not the glass) if damage by a catastrophic events; the deductible applies.

Point 3. RTI

Marcum: Discussion regarding recaulking windows after Hurricane Katrina was held. Estimated price to recaulk approached $100K.

Pasternak: Recaulking of new windows is responsibility of RTI.

 Point 4. Generator
The cooling system for our generator requires city water. The lack of city water caused us to lose power from our emergency generator. The cost to replace the generator is estimated to be 30K to 40K. Can we improve our generator by adding a radiator for cooling?

Smith: The solution to this problem is one of immediate urgency. We can’t have handicapped people trapped because there are no elevators.

Brady: There is no fail-safe system. A radiator system, or a gasoline or diesel-powered system will have problems (e.g., if can’t get gasoline). We need a simple study that gives us the best solution. This is a life safety issue. The Board must decide how to proceed.

Q. Jeanne: What about Fountainhead’s drain issue?
A. Marcum: Plaza East was served by Lauderdale-by-the sea stating that the drain issue was our problem to solve. We have documentation back to 1984. I spoke to our attorney and he is drafting a response.. We are trying to resolve this issue.

 Brady: Based on letter from the city attorney, we may end up in Court. The out flow was blocked off because Feds said that we couldn’t run our water into the ocean. Since then sand blows into the drain in the middle of the road, clogging it and water builds up.

Marcum: We are working on this problem. The city was supposed to clean the drain weekly, but didn’t.

Q. How about installing a fence to prevent beach sand from blowing into the drain?
A. Marcum: We are looking at regrading the beach to prevent sand from blowing in.

Q. Unit Owners received a notice from Lauderdale –By-the Sea.
A. Lopez: Fountainhead wants to put in a chilling tower for the A/C system. Because it can’t be put on the roof, it must be placed somewhere on the Fountainhead property. Because the tower makes noise, neighbors within 300 feet must be notified. The hearing is next week. Plaza East has the same problem with our heat exchanger. Because we can’t put it on the roof, it must be located on the Plaza East property.

Q. Do we go to the meeting?
A. Brady: This issue is a set back issue, which needs a variance. Fountainhead is not entitled to a variance by law. We should ask the city clerk for a copy of the application filed, which must be given to us by law. [The charge is 17 cents /page plus personnel time. If any page is larger than the copying machine capacity, they send it to Kinko’s and charge $7.50/page.] After we receive this information, we should decide whether or not to oppose the variance --- recognizing that Fountainhead is a neighbor.

Marcum: Tomorrow, we will ask for a copy of the application. The Hearing is 6:30 PM on November 16th.

Point 5. RECAULKING APARTMENT WINDOWS
 Discussed earlier under point 3.

Point 6. LOBBY WINDOWS
Marcum: We never had hurricane shutters for the common lobby on the west side. The other shutters were make shift from abandoned unit owners shutters. The cost for hurricane shutters is estimated at $150K for lobbies (all sides) and recreation room (both sides)..
Lopez: We will have a cost estimate in 1 or 2 weeks. These new estimates will refine a ballpark estimate of $100-150k from another company. Also all individual unit shutters are not up to code.

Point 7. OUTSIDE LANDSCAPE?
Lopez: Called a few companies. They are very very busy. Dumpster for debris was promised in 15 days.

Point 8. FOUNTAINS?
 Marcum: Probably, we can get rid off the badly damaged fountains now.

Point 9. CABANAS? CANOPY?
Lopez: The only time we remove the cabanas and the canopy is when we get a mandatory evacuation order. Wilma was supposed to be only a category 1, but it wasn’t.

Brady: I don’t recall a written policy on cabanas.

Marcum: We shall readdress this issue.

Hurlman: Who is responsible for cabanas? About 17% of owners have a right to place cabanas on beach. Cabanas are not used much. If the Association owns cabanas, then the responsibility belongs to the Association.

Gilman (unit 4C): I lost a Cadillac Deville. Cabanas are not as important as other issues. Why are shutters not mandatory?

Pell: Each individual has the right to do what he/she wants with his/her own apartment.

Marcum: Shutters are not mandatory.

Gilman: When I asked if my second car can be brought into the garage, the answer was “no”. The Association should own the cabanas.

Marcum: The Board will look at the policy regarding second cars if spaces are available.

Marcial: About 70 units do not have shutters. It has been optional. It is not up to staff to close shutters. Plaza East has a program (@ $20/Mo) for staff to look after an apartment.

Smith: Several issues have gone unresolved over the years because of no serious prior damage. We should setup a Committee for owners to submit issues to the Manager. Perhaps, we should require new owners to upgrade their units by putting in shutters.

Don: We should have a policy regarding second cars. There are about 40 second cars. Perhaps they should be brought into the garage and be parked in lanes, if necessary, during an emergency.

 Jane: Committee should meet and develop procedures. (Procedures do not have to be policies)

Smith: Despite people living in Florida for many years, many people ignore preparations (e.g. filling the bathtub with water).

Q. Locks to exit doors to catwalk need to be removed. The keys do not fit.


Point 10. SECURITY
Outside doors were not secured soon enough after regaining electricity.

Point 11. LAND PHONES
Phone communication with the office and the security room was unavailable when the electricity was off, because land lines were not in use.

 Point 12. CARPET IN RECREATION ROOM
This carpet needs to be removed to avoid further mold.

 Point 13. POOL
 Q. Marcum: How will we remove sand from the pool?
A. Lopez: The pool was at the bottom of our priority list, because the insurance company said to make the place safe to prevent accidents. We picked up two pumps to empty the pool water and shovel the sand. It will take a few weeks to open the pool.
Point 14. OUTDOOR LIGHTS
 We need to obtain two or three quotes to replace outdoor lights with Hurricane Impact lights.
 Point 15. PLYWOOD
 Lopez: We will save plywood that was cut to board broken glass windows in about 100 apartments.

 Point 16. OWNERS’ COMMITTEE
 Marcum: Perhaps each stack will have volunteers.

Point 17. HURRICANE PLAN
The Hurricane Plan, which was based on mandatory evacuation, needs to be refined to deal with Wilma-like situations. A Committee will refine the Hurricane Plan.

 Q. Smith: How will the issue of non-operating elevator affect our insurance in the future?

 A. Hurlman: If we know about an issue, and we don’t fix it, we are liable.

Smith: We may not have coverage for furniture damages. We need to check. Will our insurer maintain the same rate or provide a minimum increase if we don’t respond properly?

Hurlman: Next year, we can expect an increase of 30% eve if we don’t file a claim. The increase in property value will drive up the cost.

Lopez: Only a few units lost window frames. Several lost glass. We have coverage for glass, and there is no deductible for this glass coverage.

Q. Gilman: How can I get a reliable opinion if my window needs changing?
A. David: I will coordinate.

Q. Neysa: Is this a good time to discharge Comcast?
A. Lopez: Comcast says about one-half of Broward County has no service.
A. Marcum: We just signed a new long-term contract with Comcast.
Pell: Two buildings on the Galt have Comcast TV.
Rothenberg: We are allowed to deduct the cost of no TV per day.
ADJOURNMENT
MOTION 1: Brady (Marcial) moved (seconded) to adjourn at 9:15 PM. Passed unanimously.
Respectfully submitted




Richard Madey
Secretary