New Officers Elected

The new Officers for the MacLaren Hill Board of Directors are:

President: Rich Robbins
Vice President: Carolann Winther
Treasurer: Erv Berg
Secretary: Caitrin Mullan

Members at Large are:
Greg Barron
Craig Buske
Betsy Kremser

The Board page of this website is also updated with these changes

New Board Members Elected

A voting majority of the residents of MacLaren Hill was reached through the recent ballots that were mailed to residents. These 4 individuals were elected and will serve 2 year terms:
* Craig Buske
* Betsy Kremser
* Rich Robbins
* Carolann Winther

The Board of Directors section on the website will be updated soon with the new Board and their positions.

March 2011 Minutes

*The below notes are NOT official minutes and are a recap. For full text, contact a board member.*

MacLaren Hill Board Meeting March 29^th 2011

Homeowners Forum

Residents Present: Craig Buske, Joan Meneghal, Mike Brown, Fran Dao, Dick Madigan

• Forum began at 6:00 pm
• Greg Barron updated residents on future meeting times starting at 6:00 pm
• Joan thanked the Board for their time and volunteering, and asked about the new process for online maintenance requests. Online maintenance requests can now be found through Cities Management website by logging into your homeowner account.
• Greg gave a further update to residents about the current status of maintenance and the goal of handing off more to Cities in the coming days and weeks.
• Craig spoke and told residents that he wanted to observe a  meeting and was pleased to meet the new Management company
• Joan asked about how many Board spots were up for reelection at the annual meeting in April. 4 slots will be up for a vote: Carolann Winther, Jon Guyer, Rich Robbins, and 1 vacancy.
• There was discussion about turf and lawn damage that had occurred over the winter. There will be further discussion at the next landscape meeting, but the Board expects to have replacement happen this Spring.

Business Section of Meeting

Board Members Present: Rich Robbins, Greg Barron, Carolann Winther, Caitrin Mullan, Jon Guyer, Erv Berg.

Property Manager: Crystal Pingel

• Business began at 6:30 pm
• Welcome to MHCA’s new property manager, Crystal Pingel

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

• Jon made a motion to approve the February minutes, Erv seconded. Motion passes.

NEW BUSINESS

Insurance (D&O and Workers Comp) Discussion

• Bob Mickelson from American Family Insurance came and gave some information on the Associations overall policies. Erv Berg gave a summary of the status of MHCA insurance and renewal
• The D & O policy was not renewed in time and needs to be addressed
• MHCA’s original policy that was in effect for years covered the management company
• The new Cities contract shows that MHCA does not have to cover the insurance of Cities
• Workers Comp insurance will need to be increased because we expect to hire Chris Schugg (maintenance) and the cleaners through Cities.
• The new expected premium will be approximately $1500 for Workers Comp
• Part of the new coverage can be reimbursed if there are no claims
• The Board had approved the new insurance at a prior meeting, but was brought up for vote again to be official. Greg made a motion to approve Erv’s proposal, Carolann seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Ice Dam Update

• Crystal led the summary of the status of ice dams in the atrium
• Building 1392 had almost $5000 worth of damage. $1000 deductible and MHCA received a check for $1800
• Building 1390 had almost $6000 worth of damage. Paid $3000 deductible and received a payment of $3000 from insurance
• 1372 had $3300 worth of damage. $1000 deductible paid, and MHCA received a payment of $2335 from insurance
• Regarding the snow raking/steaming claim, Bob will be following up with Giersten and be getting us more details.
• Moving forward with any future damages like this, we need to have a more consistent policy applied. Homeowners should be contacting their personal condo insurance first before Association funds are utilized in repair work.
• Crystal will be rolling all the numbers into 1 spreadsheet for a better summary
• Bob complimented the existing Maclaren Hill website and asked to be on the vendor list. The website will be updated with his information since the Master Association Policy is through his office.

Management Transition Report

• Erv, Rich, and Jon met with Cities to discuss financials and other outstanding issues @ Cities main office. Result of this meeting is the homeowner letter sent to residents regarding account balances.
• Some individual ledgers seemed to be inaccurate and difficult to read. It is hard to know when exact payments had been made.
• A common theme from the ledgers is the townhome electricity credit. There is some inconsistency in its application and some owners are being billed incorrectly. Cities is correcting this moving forward.
• Spring Newsletter: Being put off until more of the transition is completed

Monthly Financials

• Do not exist for this meeting, Cities is working on getting the allocations setup
• There is a proposal from the Mullan group to audit the Jan-Feb 2011 financials from the transition timeframe.
• Greg makes the motion to approve the transition audit, Cait seconds. Approval is unanimous.
• Cost for the transition audit will be $480 and that amount will be deducted from the fiscal 2011 audit at the beginning of 2012.
• We expect to see the 2010 audit results in mid April

MANAGEMENT REPORT

• Discussion occurred regarding when meeting minutes will be posted online. The new idea is to post a note on the MacLaren Hill site stating that full minutes are available at the Cities Management site. Doing this will allow for residents to see more minute detail by using their resident accounts.
• A small group of Board members (Erv, Greg, Caolann) will be meeting separately with Crystal to go over maintenance logistics and supervision responsibilities
• Delinquencies were not addressed at this meeting, but will be at future meetings.
• Cait asked about the way special assessments are rolled into the monthly square footage assessments. Unfortunately, Cities does not have a way of breaking these components out in their system. They are added together to reflect 1 balance.
• Cities is suggesting we update the rules and regulations in section 6.4 to not show a dollar amount for resale disclosure. Cost of association documents is being removed since online access to the documents is available through Cities website. Crystal will be suggesting a rewording of the rules and regulations regarding the order in which payments are applied. Greg makes a motion to approve, Carolann seconds. Motion carries Jon will update the Rules and Regs to reflect the changes.
• Moving forward, late paying resident collections will be handled by Dan Greenstein. Current legal action will continue to be handled by the existing legal group.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

• Crystal is looking for the original Energy Park contract that Rich signed. Board members will see if they have a copy.
• Architect Report from Greg: The architect is looking in the attics and is seeing numerous items of concern. Wall caps are showing damage and vents are closed. A recommendation and presentation are expected in mid April. Plan is to have a special meeting to go over the results.
• For the hiring of Chris and the cleaners, Cities will be conducting a background check. The cleaners have not been paid since February, so a check is being proposed to make them current. Greg makes the motion, Erv seconds. Motion passes
• Annual meeting is going to be held Thursday April 21^st at 7:00 pm in the 1392 lounge
• Boilers: There is a need for an atrium boiler tank to be replaced. Three bids were received, and Jayhawk had the lowest and most comprehensive proposal. Dowm time is expected for 24 hours but advance notice will be given to residents. The total cost for the work is $21,500 and will be split 50/50 with Bigos. Erv makes the motion for approval, and Carolann seconds. Motion carries.
• Invoices were received from Fred Kreitzman regarding the work he did for us on the Cities contract. These bills will be paid from the legal/accounting funds.
• Northern Air: This winter townhome heating in a cluster of homes. To repair this, some costs were fronted by residents. We have received final billings. Rich is proposing that $280 each be charged to two TH residents, and balance paid by Townhome funds. Rich proposes, Greg seconds. Motion carries.

May 2011 Board Meeting Agenda 5.24.11

Agenda for MacLaren Hill Condominium Association

Input
Homeowner open forum

Treasurer's Report

(1) Review April's Financials from Cities Management
(2) Review previous financials from JSP Management
(3) Update on progress of 2010 Audit and Transitional Audit

Committee Report
Provide updates on committees and projects planned for summer

Manager's Report
(1) Review Homeowner Correspondence
(2) Updates from Chris Schugg on Maintenance and Violations
(3) Discuss Painting Bid- Scholdenfelder is updating
(4) Summary recent maintenance expenses
(5) Benefits package for onsite maintenance personnel

Unfinished Business
(1) Update on Atrium Building Attic Insulation Project
a. Bids received
b. Board decision to be made a June meeting

(2) Attrium Carpet Cleaning Bids- Review and vote to proceed with one

New Business

(1) Container Gardens- Atrium Buildings
(2) Landscaping plans

(3) Board decision- replace existing maintenance vehicle

Next Meeting Date 06/21/2011

Special Landscape Meeting: Saturday May 7th

What: Special Landscape Meeting
Location: 1392 1st Floor Lounge
When: Saturday May 7th 10:00 am

Spring is upon us and with it comes a chance to enjoy the outdoor spaces at MacLaren Hill. Join the Landscape Committee and other residents for a special meeting to discuss seasonal outdoor maintenance issues and get your questions answered!

This is your chance to get your opinions and feedback heard!

Did we mention the refreshments and opportunity to have your morning coffee with other residents?

Plan on joining your neighbors if you have:

• Feedback on snow removal or lawn care services

• Ideas for enhancing our outdoor spaces

• Curiosity regarding what’s on tap for landscaping projects and plans this summer

Guests on-hand (or the hot seat!) to answer questions:

• Outdoor Images Manger & Certified Arborist, Paul Lulic!

• All new, on-site Maintenance Supervisor, Chris Schugg!

• Various board members!

We hope to see you there!

Unable to attend or want to get more involved in the Landscape Committee? Contact Greg Barron (651-917-9927) or Carolann Winther (651-246-0878) for more information.