May 13 Minutes

 

Victoria Village Atrium Association Board of Directors’ Meeting May 13, 2024

Board members present: Sarah Wise, president; Larry Sagstetter, vice president; Hank French, secretary; Margie St. Jacques, treasurer.

Board member absent: Ann McNattin, member at large. Also present: Mike Severson, building manager.

I. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 6:28 p.m.

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

a. For April 2024, the opening balance was $500,828.68 and the closing balance was $507,999.42. This represents an increase from the opening balance of $7,170.74. As of the end of April, we had $56,805.79 in our operating checking account, and $451,193.63 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.) Questions were raised on the following: a BEI invoice for work to be done on a second-floor unit and whether we move money from our Premier Money Market account to another CD to make more interest. Regarding the BEI invoice, it was advised that the invoice was for a $250 trip charge as the contractor was unable to access the unit where the work was supposed to be done. Mike has an email into BEI regarding this invoice and will confirm whether this was indeed a trip charge or not. It was discussed and agreed that we move $75,000 of the money in our Premier Money Market account to another CD to gain more interest since we are not making much money in interest in our Money Market account. Mike will research current interest rates and advise. Moved, seconded, and voted to approve the Treasurer’s Report.

III. Committee Reports:
a. Welcome Committee: No current updates except that Mike and Denise

Dunbar, new owners of unit 116, have been welcomed by the

Welcoming Committee ahead of their move-in date later this month. 

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

IV. Management Report:
a. Roofing Vendors – Mike has scheduled a meeting with United Roofing, one of the vendors our Reserve Study company (RCI), for a walkthrough of the roof for Thursday, May 16th. The vendor already took measurements of the roof ahead of the meeting and they will get a core sample to estimate how much time we have before we absolutely must replace the roof. Mike will follow up with how the meeting with United Roofing went and provide us with ballpark estimates of how much the roof replacement will cost.

b. Water Recirculator and Pump – Mike spoke with Ben Harvey at Harvey Mechanical about improvements to the hot water recirculation system. Unfortunately, there is no easy solution to improve how quickly folks can get hot water. To improve the system, it would require plumbing work to be redone and it is extremely expensive to do.

V. Old Business:
a. Recycling Grant – Mike, two board members, and one Atrium recycling volunteer met with the county’s recycling grant program representative in early May to discuss ways that this grant can help eliminate waste issues at the Atrium and improve recycling overall. Some of the ways include new signage on what and how to recycle; recycling bags for each unit; disposal of bulky items; education; and infrastructure for the Ridwell pilot project. Next steps are for the county’s recycling grant representative to drop off recycling bags and bins for each unit and to be in contact with Ann McNattin, member at large and Ridwell initiative leader, to see what is needed from the county to fund the Ridwell project.

b. Electrical Audit – Mike is currently waiting to hear back from Xcel Energy to see when a representative will be able to come to the Atrium for a walkthrough to see where in our shared areas we can save on our building’s electric bill via the Energy Smart program. It is estimated the walkthrough will be done by mid-June.

c. Smoking Survey – Hank French, secretary, has completed the Smoking

Survey form as a response to the Smoking Amendment issue mentioned at the April meeting. The survey will be sent by mail to all homeowners within the next week.

d. Waste Management–Mike reached out to Waste Management to see how much it would be for us to get a 4-yard dumpster for the Winter season in case they are unable to pick up due to icy or other winter weather conditions. To obtain a 4-yard dumpster, it would cost the Atrium an additional $150 per month. It was then decided that we table this discussion and revisit this topic in the Fall to decide to proceed with getting the dumpster or begin looking at other trash removal companies.

VI. New Business:
a. Handyman Issue – There has been concerns from the Board that our current handyman, Doug, is not performing up to expectations when asked to do tasks on our behalf. Mike will have a discussion with Doug and follow up with the Board.

b. HydrangeaPlanting–The Board received a reques tfrom a homeowner to plant a Hydrangea plant in the location where one of the bushes near a first-floor unit bay window died. Moved, seconded, voted, and approved for the Hydrangea plant to be planted.

c. Vacuum Cleaner – It was reported that one of the vacuum cleaners that the cleaning crew uses to vacuum the shared areas with was not working properly. Additionally, the Board had a discussion as to whether we should buy a cordless vacuum for the cleaning crew to use. It was decided that we fix the broken vacuum cleaner and potentially buy a cordless vacuum. Larry will bring the broken vacuum cleaner to A-1 Vacuum to have repairs done to it and research which cordless vacuum to buy.

d. Sump Pump(s)–Larry Sagstetter, vice- president, discoveredt  the sump pumps were not working properly as there was ponding outside the garage during an April rain event. He got the sump pump near the garage to work after separating two fuses that were close together and was able to get the water to drain properly. It was discovered that the sump pump was running continuously after the rain event. Mike presented a proposal to replace the sump pump for $500. Moved, seconded, voted, and approved to accept the proposal to replace the sump pump. 

e. Window Washing – Margie St. Jacques, treasurer, presented an estimate from Clean & Clear to clean the indoor shared area windows. Moved, seconded, voted, and approved to accept the proposal for Clean & Clear to wash the shared area windows. There will be sign up sheets posted for Clean & Clear to wash unit windows soon, so if a unit owner wishes to have their windows cleaned this year they can sign up.

VII. Homeowner comments:
a. A second-floor homeowner noticed electronic keypads on two first floor unit doors and asked whether it was okay to have those on the unit doors; the Board approved the first-floor unit owners in question to have those keypads. If a homeowner wishes to have an electronic keypad on their unit doors, they must seek Board approval prior to installation.

b. Another second-floor homeowner has requested book-ends to reorganize the Activity Room library. If a homeowner has a book-end to donate, please let the Board know so they can relay the message to the homeowner in question.

9. The meeting was adjourned at 7:37 p.m.

10. The next Board meeting will be on June 10th at 6:30 p.m. All homeowners

will be invited to attend this meeting.

Respectfully Submitted,

 Sarah Wise, President On Behalf of Hank French, Secretary