April 8 Minutes

Victoria Village Atrium Association
Board of Directors’ Meeting
April 8, 2024

Board members present: Sarah Wise, president; Larry Sagstetter, vice president;
Hank French, secretary; Ann McNattin, member at large.
Board member absent: Margie St. Jacques, treasurer.
Also present: Mike Severson, building manager.

16 Homeowners present.
I. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m.

II. Secretary’s Report: Moved, seconded, and voted to approve the minutes
for the March 2024 board meeting as written.

III. Treasurer’s Report:
a. For March 2024, the opening balance was $485,150.09 and the closing
balance was $500,828.68. This represents an increase from the
opening balance of $15,678.59. As of the end of March, we had
$62,423.33 in our operating checking account, and $438,405.35 in
reserve accounts. (Note: The reserve accounts are one operating CD
with North American Bank, a money market account with Premier
Bank, a Premier CD, an NAB CD, a savings account with Royal Credit
Union, and three CDs with Royal Credit Union.) Moved, seconded, and
voted to approve the Treasurer’s Report.

IV. Committee Reports:
a. Welcome Committee: Jane Johnson has moved out of Unit 116 and the
new owners, Michael and Denise Dunbar, will move into Unit 116 in
May.

i. The Welcome Committee met on March 22 and put together a
Welcome Packet of printed information which will be given to
new residents, including a welcome letter containing general
information about the Atrium, a resident’s directory, and
recycling guidelines.

ii. The committee also agreed on procedures for welcoming new
residents on or near their move-in date.

1. The three members of the committee will take turns
making first contact with the new homeowner(s).

2. Along with delivering the Welcome Packet, the committee
members will offer the new resident a tour of the building
and an opportunity for questions to be asked and
answered. At that time, the Welcome Committee member
will verify the correct spelling of the new resident’s name
and a preferred phone number for the front entrance call
box. Bobbi will relabel the mailbox and contact the security
company (EII) to remove the old resident’s name and
number from the call box and add the new resident's name
and number.

3. Committee chair, Bobbi French will liaison with Keller
regarding prospective arrival dates of new homeowner(s)
so the committee is prepared to welcome them to the
Atrium.

iii. The board expressed its appreciation to Bobbi French for
chairing the committee and for giving the mailroom a fresh look
by replacing the name and unit # stickers with new black on
white stickers.

b. Recreation Committee: No new events are currently planned although
committee chair Kathy Lange is hoping to plan a community event in
the near future.

V. Management Report:
a. Interest rate and term for rolled-over CD: Mike reported that the
operating CD which matured on March 17th was rolled over at a rate of
5.05%, and a Premier Cd which matured on February 24th was rolled
over at a rate of 5.1%.

VI. Old Business:
a. Fire Marshall – Fire Plan: Mike has created escape maps, in the event of
a fire or other emergency, for each floor to be posted in the common
areas. The maps have been approved by the Fire Marshall.
b. Mike reported that the Fire Marshall recommended that we encourage
homeowners to shelter in their unit if, when an alarm goes off, they can
see either smoke or flames when opening their door. The Fire
Marshall sheltering in place is a safe strategy—especially for
individuals with mobility issues—in buildings such as the Atrium that
have sprinkler systems in all common areas and in each individual
unit.

c. The Fire Marshall also recommended that we remind people not to use
the elevators should they evacuate their unit following a fire alarm.
d. Mike reported that he consulted with Nardini Fire Protection about the
possibility of increasing the volume of the Atrium’s fire alarms and was
informed that it could not be done with the present system and would
require installation of a new system which would most likely be cost
prohibited. Mike will check with Nardini about the possibility of
adjusting the present alarm system so that rather than a steady
alarm it functions as an intermittent alarm which may better
draw folks attention when it goes off.

e. Following a suggestion at the previous Board meeting, Mike checked
with EII, the company that owns and operates our call box system, to
see if the call box could be tied into the fire alarm system so that if it
goes off the call box could send emergency phone calls to each unit. EII
reported that it would not be possible.

VII. Ridwell Update: Board member Ann McNattin reported that the first
Ridwell pickup of items for recycling that Waste Management will not
recycle will be on April 10. She has posted information on what items
Ridwell is currently accepting, how they should be prepared for pickup
and where to leave them on the front entrance bulletin board and the
bulletin board in the garage elevator lobby.

VIII. New Business:

a. Trash Removal Company Options:

i. Given that there has been dissatisfaction with the service we get
from Waste Management during weeks with inclement weather,
the board is considering options going forward. Mike reported
that our contract with Waste Management does not expire until
August of 2025; therefore we cannot change vendors until then.
At that time we will consider the wisdom of switching from
Waste Management—a country wide operation—to a local trash
removal company.

ii. Mike is working with Waste Management on the possibility of
switching our current 3-yard dumpster for a 4-yard dumpster
during the winter months which would give us a greater capacity
to contain trash if a pickup is missed due to inclement weather.

b. Smoking Amendment: There was a good discussion with homeowners
who attended the meeting about the pros and cons of amending our
condo docs to make the Atrium a completely smoke free building
rather than the present rules that ban smoking only in the common
areas. A motion was made, seconded, voted and approved to prepare a
survey on this issue to be sent to all homeowners.

c. Recycling Grants: It was reported that the Ramsey/Washington County
Recycling and Energy Board (R&E) is offering grants to businesses
(which includes condominiums like the Atrium) to improve recycling
and organics collections. Mike will contact R&E and request a
recycling expert to visit the Atrium and make recommendations
about ways we can improve our recycling program and consult
with us on the possibility of receiving a cash grant to improve our
recycling operation.

d. Xcel Energy Representative: Excel Energy has a program to help
businesses save energy, thereby reducing energy costs and
strengthening the Excel Energy grid. The program includes several
cost-free energy infrastructure changes. Mike will arrange for an
Excel representative to visit the Atrium and make suggestions for
upgrades we might make to be more energy efficient in the
common areas.

e. Elevator Proposal: Mike reported that elevator 2 was cited in a recent
State inspection for an inoperable emergency telephone. Metro
Elevator, with whom we have a service contract, has proposed to
remove and replace the elevator 2 phone at a cost of $1444.00. Moved,
seconded, voted and approved to accept Metro Elevator’s proposal.
IX. Homeowner comments:

a. A second-floor homeowner reported that he noticed that two of the
three common area heat vents do not seem to be working properly.
Mike will contact the HVAC vendor that recently serviced the
rooftop heaters.

b. A suggestion box note suggested that the parking spot leading from the
main parking lot to the front of the building be painted with stripes
indicating that it should not be used for parking as it blocks easy access
to the sidewalk from the parking lot for those who park in the lot.
Moved, seconded, voted and approved to stripe that one spot.

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c. It was noted that there appear to be errors in the Atrium Directory.
Homeowners are encouraged to check their information and if any
errors are found contact Fritz at the Keller Office.
d. It was noted that the timers for the common area lights and the hot
water circulating pump have not been reset from standard time to
daylight savings time. It was also noted that it seems to take too long in
the mornings to get hot water to individual units which results in a
significant waste of water which is both a financial burden to the
Association and environmentally unsound. Mike will contact Harvey
Mechanical to get the circulating pump timer reset and explore
possibilities of greater efficiency in getting hot water from the
heaters to the units.

e. A homeowner asked when they can expect to know the amount of the
special assessment that will be needed to replace the roof and
skylights and when is the anticipated date to get the work done. Mike
responded that he is working with two roofing contractors and expects
to have that information in the near future.

X. The meeting was adjourned at 8:23 p.m.

XI. The next Board meeting will be on May 13th at 6:30 p.m. It will be a board members only meeting.

Respectfully Submitted

Hank French, Board Secretary