President's Message - January 2010

Janet Fisher
President

My Fellow Owners and Residents:

The gavel has passed once again as Mike Gravitz, while still remaining on the Board, graciously steps down as President and immerses himself in our many building issues. I am honored and humbled to serve as the HOA President. Sincere thanks to Mike for his guidance as the HOA President over the past five months.

We also bid farewell to Jon Dunn, Commercial Vice President of the Board of Trustees after many years of service. We welcome SK Hart employee, Heather Bowen, as Jon's replacement. Donna Boes will move into the Board of Trustees Commercial Vice President role.

Thanks to all of you for your patience as we continue to move through the South Lobby and second floor renovations. I am happy to say we are two-thirds of the way there! Kudos to Steve Campbell and his Decorating Committee for their time and efforts. I think everyone will agree the South Lobby and the second floor are much improved.

The next phase will consist of the South Lobby elevator enhancement and new mailboxes to be installed in both the South and North lobbies sometime in mid-February. A new key will be issued with your box. Our locksmith informs us that the mailboxes cannot be re-keyed to fit your Unit door key. You will now have a door key and a separate mailbox key.

The final touch will be adding the South Lobby furniture after Otis has installed new elevator doors. Hopefully, everyone will take "extra" care as they move about so the new furniture will last for some time. You may have noticed that some of the grocery carts are being outfitted with foam to help avoid damaging the walls in the hallways and elevators.

It seems the community room dishwasher ran its last cycle! The decision has been made that as we replace appliances, we will upgrade with future renovations in mind. We hope to have the new dishwasher installed in the next few weeks since we know the room has been reserved for some activities in March.

A Silent Bid Auction featuring replaced furniture, lighting, and pictures will be held shortly. Look for posted updates in the elevators.

As for our Building and Maintenance Team (which includes our Building Committee), we have two major projects going on at this time. The domestic hot water pump replacement is underway. Meanwhile, we are sad to say that our domestic hot water boilers have been refurbished for the last time. We are currently obtaining bids to replace the system. We really do appreciate everyone's understanding with this issue. Special thanks to Billy and his crew for working quickly to provide hot water to us. The required repairs to our pool and spa drains are now complete. The North Roof spa, however, will be closed until the weather warms up allowing us to complete the necessary work. Speaking of "roofs", bids have been obtained for North Penthouse shingle roof replacement this spring. The Commercial rooftop is being evaluated for the need for replacement in the near future. Lastly, an Emergency Preparedness Plan update is underway. AT owner, Melissa Wilson approached Mike Gravitz and volunteered to undertake this task. We should hear more from Melissa at our next HOA meeting.

The Finance Committee is sharpening their pencils as we review an updated Reserve Study and as the annual budgeting process gets underway. We will do our best to keep any monthly dues increases to a minimum, but rising operating costs and the need to save for future replacements make it appear impossible to avoid an increase after three years of holding our fees at their current levels. Please be informed that the Audit Report for the last fiscal year has finally been approved and if you are interested in a copy, you may pick one up in the Management Office. To save on the considerable expense, we are withholding printing and mailing a copy to all Owners but will provide a copy upon request.

As of March 1, 2010, our new Comcast contract will take effect. There should not be any change in your TV reception and programming except for the loss of the HBO programming on Channel 6. Individual Unit owners may still obtain HBO if desired by subscribing separately to one of the many add-on services offered by Comcast. Since last year's changeover to digital TV, you may have noticed that we no longer have Channel 3 for AT alerts. Unfortunately, there is no other channel available to use for this purpose. We were able to negotiate a seven year term with maximum 6% annual increases. Our monthly rate will increase to $23.85 per unit (from $19.06 which we have paid for the past 8 years). In signing the new contract, we will receive a credit of just under $10,000. Attached is a list of channels available as of March 1, 2010. The * (asterisk) denotes what channels are available at no extra charge in High Definition or with a Additional parking updates: American Plaza Parking will increase the overnight and weekend rates from $1 to $2 on March 1. The price of the hourly parking validation stamps for daytime parking is also being raised from $1 per hour to $1.20.

Special thanks to Kevin and his Housekeeping Team. They have worked very hard in their efforts to clean up after the construction crews every day; it must have seemed like "Groundhog Day" to them for the past two months. It is not easy keeping the "Towers" tidy with so much foot and construction traffic (especially during the winter months).

A friendly reminder: Hallway trash chutes are for "BAGGED" trash only. Please do not throw items down the chute that are not properly enclosed in a trash bag. Also, DO NOT place boxes in the trash closet. All boxes are to be broken down and thrown away in the P-2 trash dumpsters.

Early morning workout enthusiasts are inquiring if someone is hoarding the TV remote controls????? It seems the remote needs to be replaced weekly! On another note, please be courteous to others who use our workout facility and wipe and replace all equipment after use.

And finally, a special thank you to all who contributed generously to the Employee Holiday Gratuity Fund. During these hard economic times, you helped make the holidays merry for them and their families.

Your Board of Trustees is working hard at providing the best in downtown living and we greatly appreciate your support in these efforts.

Sincerely,

Janet Fisher,
Board of Trustees President
American Towers Owners Association.