AMERICAN TOWERS OWNERS ASSOCIATION
Minutes of the Board of Trustees Meeting
Wednesday, November 2, 2005
5:00 P.M.
Norman Salisbury called the meeting, convened in the Community Room, to order at 5:00 p.m.
Residential Trustees present and participating: Norman Salisbury, Sandra Lee Sterns, and Mike Gravitz.
Commercial Trustees present and participating: Larry Shelton, Donna Boes and Taymour Semnani.
Excused: John Patton
Approval of Previous Minutes
The Minutes of the September 28, 2005 Board of Trustees Meeting, upon motion duly made and seconded
were unanimously approved.
Finance Committee
The Financial Statements for September 30,2005 were reviewed by the Manager. The Association reported
an unaudited operating surplus of $25,522.20 Year-to-Date as of September 30, 2005. The Common Reserve Fund
has an unaudited balance of $275,319 and the Residential Reserve Fund has an unaudited balance of
$212,562 as of September 30, 2005. The Board also reviewed the delinquency report.
The Finance committee met on October 19, 2005 and reviewed it's progress on updating our Reserve Studies
for the coming fiscal year and recommended insurance coverage and policies for owners and
renters to insure their personal property and liability.
The committee also reviewed and approved expenditures for a new treadmill in the exercise room
to replace the eight year old model that failed and now requires substantial repairs.
Building Improvement Committee
Mike Gravitz reported that following our last cook & flush, recent testing
shows that the legionella bacteria has
slowly begun to grow back in the return lines of our recirculation system. Our storage tank,
supply lines and pumps are still consistently testing negative. This tells us that the bacteria
has begun to grow in several dispersed dead legs that are re-infecting our water as it returns
to the boilers to be reheated. The bacteria levels are still far below the threshold levels
that OSHA recommends for additional cook & flush procedures.
The plaza construction is behind schedule due to the concrete shortages in Utah but they
anticipate that they will still be able to finish by years end barring major disruptions with
severe weather.
For several years the committee has been analyzing and wrestling with the
problem of water that penetrates some windows during severe storms. We have recently conducted a successful test of a procedure to
seal the window frames with expanding foam. The committee intends to conduct some additional
testing to confirm that this repair will be successful for this difficult problem. If successful
we will then begin to design a strategy for repairs.
A recent critical issue is our largest hot water pump motor recently burned
it's windings and has to be replaced. We are currently operating with our backup
motors. There is evidence that the load on the pumps has increased
due to high usage during certain time periods and due to piping that is rerouted from the large
amount of recent remodeling. Our mechanical engineer, John Frank has been asked to evaluate the
problem and specify an appropriate replacement motor and pump system for our hot water.
Recently our elevator service company, Otis Elevator, and our manager have been in a dispute
over rusted and corroded equipment in our elevator pits. Otis has finally agreed to replace the
damaged equipment under the terms of our service agreement but will require American Towers to
find a way to remove moisture and seal the pits to prevent a recurrence of the problem. The
committee will be addressing this issue in coming weeks.
The committee continues to monitor progress on a relatively new and persistent roof leak in the North
Tower that has been very difficult to locate as the water from the leak appears to travel quite
some distance before penetrating the roof. Having conducted some significant repairs unsuccessfully,
we will now begin an extensive water testing procedure on the roof.
Mike also reported that we have received a very positive response to our angle valve replacement program in which the
Association will waive a water shut off fee in order to replace the valves in
several condos in batches to try to do as much as possible as efficiently as
possible. We anticipate beginning the replacement program shortly and
expect to take several months to work our way through all of the condos that
have signed up to participate.
Hamilton Partners Litigation
Hamilton Partners appears to have finally come to the realization that their best option
for traffic to and from their future garage will be through a tie in to our garage in some manner
and not through our maintenance alley.
Consequently, they have agreed to dismiss their suit without prejudice if American Towers would
agree to sign a tolling agreement. The tolling agreement essentially freezes the statute of
limitations for both parties as of the date the suit was originally filed. After extensive
consultation with our attorney in executive session, the Board of Trustees approved the
tolling agreement. We expect the suit to be dismissed shortly.
Assessment Apportionment
In response to some questions recently raised regarding our method of apportioning the
monthly assessments according to the square footage of condos, Sandra Lee Sterns reported that
this method is expressly dictated by section 11 of our Declaration of Condominium and that this
method cannot be changed without the unanimous approval of all owners. It was subsequently
reported that this is also the method prescribed by the Utah Condominium Act.
Rooftop Furniture
The Board has received several requests from residents for some chairs on the
rooftops in addition to the lounges and for some
small grills for those who wish to grill only one or two items instead of using the large grills.
Our manager reported that he had located some steel patio furniture as well as two small grills
on some end-of-season clearance. The Residential Trustees unanimously approved the expenditure of
$900 per rooftop from the Residential Reserve Fund for the patio furniture and grills.
American Plaza Parking Board Meeting Minutes
The Board reviewed the minutes of the American Plaza Parking Board meeting of September 28, 2005.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 6:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Mike Gravitz
Secretary