January 13, 2025

Victoria Village Atrium Association

Board of Directors’ Meeting

November 11, 2024

Board members present: Sarah Wise, president; Larry Sagstetter, vice president;

Margie St. Jacques, treasurer; Hank French, secretary; Ann McNattin, member at

large.

Also present: Mike Severson, building manager.

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

II. Moved, seconded, and voted to approve the minutes

for the September board meeting as written.

III. Treasurer’s Report:

a. For October 2024, the opening balance was $545,529.53 and the

closing balance was $442,390.82. This represents a decrease from the

opening balance of $103,138.82. (The decrease resulted from initial

payments for roof and skylight replacement scheduled for this

summer.) As of the end of October, we had $90,967.34 in our

operating checking account, and $ 351,423.48 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: There have been no new residents since the last

board meeting.

b. Recreation Committee:

i. Nothing to new to report.

ii. It was agreed, as discussed at a previous Board meeting, to

purchase three new light-weight tables to replace the current

heavy and difficult to move tables for use in community events.

Pricing for the tables is being explored and the Board will

formally vote on the replacement once the cost is known.

V. Management Report:

a. Mike reported that he has a meeting with representatives of both

United Roofing and W. L. Hall on November 12th to discuss

coordinating the roof and skylight replacement projects which are

being scheduled for this summer.

VI. Old Business:

a. Smoking Amendment Process:

i. As noted in last month’s meeting minutes, at its September

meeting, it was moved, seconded, and voted by the Board to

pursue amending the Atrium’s governing documents to state that

smoking is banned throughout the Atrium, including withing

individual units, with the exception that those who purchased

their unit when smoking was allowed in individual units will be

exempt from the ban. Which is to say that, if the amendment is

passed, anyone purchasing a unit after the amendment is passed

will be subject to the ban.

ii. At this meeting it was moved, seconded and voted to hold a mail-

in vote on the proposed amendment in January. Ballots will be

mailed to all homeowners, who are encouraged to vote on the

proposed amendment and return the ballot to Keller Properties.

iii. As mentioned in the October minutes, in order for the proposed

amendment to pass it will require a “yes” vote from at least 67%

of the Atrium homeowners (at least 40 yes votes).

b. Special Assessment Meeting:

i. Notice will be sent this week to all homeowners that a meeting

will be held in the Community Room at 6:30 p.m. on December

9th to approve the special assessment of $1750.00 per unit which

is needed to cover the costs of the roof and skylight

replacements while maintaining sufficient reserve funds to cover

both ongoing expenses and unforeseen emergency expenses.

ii. Approval of the special assessment will require a vote of

approval by the majority of those owners voting, in person or by

proxy.

c. Annual Meeting:

i. The Annual Homeowners’ Association meeting will be held on

December 11th at 7:00 p.m. at the Shoreview Community Center.

ii. The purpose of the meeting is to pass the 2025 budget and to

elect two new members of the Board to replace those whose

term has expired. A notice about the meeting will be sent to all

homeowners this week. It will include instructions for proxy

voting and for those wishing to run for a Board position. All

homeowners are encouraged to seriously consider running

for a Board position so we all continue to enjoy a well-run

condominium community.

iii. Anyone needing a ride to the Shoreview Community Center to

attend the meeting should let Board president Sarah Wise know

and she will find a ride for you.

d. Ridwell: Going forward, the signs notifying homeowners of the Ridwell

Recycling schedule will only be posted on the bulletin board at the

front entrance and on the bulletin board in the elevator lobby in the

basement. Homeowners are encouraged to use Ridwell to recycle

items that the Shoreview recycling program will not accept.

VII. New Business:

a. HOA Fee Increase in the 2025 Budget: It was moved, seconded and

voted to approve an increase of $10.00 per month per unit in the HOA

fee for 2025, with the condition that if the special assessment is not

approved the monthly HOA fee will have to be adjusted upward.

b. Missing Black Cart: One of the three small black carts in the garage has

been missing for a couple weeks and the Board suspects that it most

likely is in someone’s unit. Please return the cart to the garage so it is

available to all homeowners.

c. Garage Door Remotes: Recently garage door remotes have functioned

only sporadically when trying to enter the garage. Automated Door

Service, the vendor who maintains our garage door, was contacted and

explained that our current parking garage entry system is old and was

installed at a time when there were far fewer electronic and digital

signals in the atmosphere than there are today with our modern

technology (e.g., Wi-Fi, older generation cell towers, newer generation

5G towers, microwave towers, etc.). These signals interfere with our

antiquated system and it most likely will only get worse. Automated

Door Service recommended that we replace our existing entry system

with new sensors and new remotes that will not be affected by the

signals that interfere with our present system. It was moved, seconded

3and approved to accept Automated Door Service’s proposal to replace

our existing parking garage entry system with a new receiver (sensor)

and 62 visor transmitters (remotes) for our current parking door at a

cost of $3410.00.

d. It was moved, seconded and voted to give year-end bonuses of $100.00

each to our two cleaning women, along with an expression of gratitude

for their service at the Atrium.

VIII. Homeowners’ Questions and Comments:

a. A homeowner raised, through a suggestion box note, a question about

the keypad entry door locks that some homeowners have installed.

They were concerned about potential dangers in the event of a fire or

medical emergency. It was noted that—as in the case of a keyed,

deadbolt lock—in an emergency, responders would break down the

door. As homeowners with deadbolt locks are encouraged to give a key

to their unit to family members and to another Atrium homeowner

that they know, homeowners with keypad entry door locks are

encouraged to share their entry code with family members and

another Atrium homeowner in case an emergency situation should

occur.

b. A homeowner suggested through a suggestion box note that the sign-

up sheet for volunteers to manage recycling be made available at the

annual meeting. The sign-up sheet will be available at the Annual

Meeting and the Board encourages all homeowners to consider

volunteering. If you haven’t done it before, in ten minutes you can

learn all you need to know, and it takes no more than about ten

minutes a day to manage the recycling. You can sign up for either half a

month or a whole month—whatever works for you. Thanks for

considering volunteering for this essential service to the Atrium

community.

c. A homeowner questioned the status of the Atrium handyman on a note

in the suggestion box. At the present time we do not have a handyman

who comes to the Atrium on a regular schedule, however, we do have a

handyman on call who is willing to respond when needed.

d. A homeowner asked in a suggestion box note if we could adjust the

temperature in the common areas up or down in a more timely

manner depending on changing weather conditions. This can be done

during extreme temperature changes.

IX. X. The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m.

The next Board meeting will be on January 13, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. It will be

a board member only meeting.

Respectfully Submitted

Hank French, Board Secretary

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