President's Message - November 2005

Norman Salisbury
President

Dear Fellow Owners:

Seasons Greetings to all. Another year is coming to a close and it certainly has been an interesting year. As the saying goes, “There’s never a dull moment at American Towers.” In that regard, I’d like to take a minute, on behalf of all of us, to express our appreciation to the staff for their great work and support in getting us through our recent fire, floods and pestilence. Thanks to their work and responsiveness, we all seem to have survived this unique year in rather good shape. I certainly wish to encourage all residents to give generously to the Holiday Employee Gratuity Fund. Last years response was wonderful and I would like to be able to exceed that this year. Please make your contribution soon. The fund will be distributed to all employees at Thanksgiving time under a formula based upon position and tenure here.

I would like to remind all to please take advantage of our angle valve change-out offer. The old plastic angle valves that sit under your vanity and your toilet have been a problem for quite some time in that they frequently leak or fail to shut off the water when needed. Many owners have found the $150 water shut-off fee a deterrent to moving ahead with this important maintenance that will benefit us all. In that regard, the Association will waive the $150 water shut-off fee if we can schedule the work in your unit in conjunction with other units in order to accomplish as much as possible with as little disruption as possible. Remember, owners will still be responsible to pay for parts and labor. We have already begun and this month will be your last chance to take advantage of this offer. Please see the sign-up sheet in this newsletter for details.

In recent weeks we’ve had a spate of water leaks, most of which were not mechanical failure, but human error. Please remember that people and property in abundance are below your condo and that all water runs downhill. Take precautions when running water to turn it off and to keep it contained where it can drain.

Now for a few updates on several recent issues and projects. The last “cook and flush” operation effectively killed our resident Legionella bacteria in our hot water, however, just as our consultants expected, it has begun to grow back slowly. We are still addressing several issues regarding dead legs of water pipes where they grow and re-seed our system. We are still evaluating our progress and will keep you informed of future cook and flush operations when conditions require.

The Hamilton Partners lawsuit seems to have evaporated for the foreseeable future. Hamilton Partners seems to have come to the conclusion that their best option for ingress and egress to and from their future garage will be to tie in to our own existing garage underground and use the alley for it’s intended purpose of service and maintenance. In that regard they offered, and your Board of Trustees approved a tolling agreement which will dismiss the lawsuit without prejudice and any statute of limitations issues will be frozen as of the date the lawsuit was originally filed. Our attorney believes that this effectively ends the litigation.

The plaza waterproofing and water management project is nearing completion. There have been some delays due to concrete shortages locally. They still anticipate that the project will be completed by years end.

Once again, thank you all for your support and cooperation during this extraordinary year. It is a testament to our resilience and sense of community that we have come through it all in remarkable better shape than before. I congratulate you all and again, please remember one of our most important assets, our staff, and give generously again.

Sincerely,