Summer Update

It's summer time in beautiful Crescent Heights!  Hope everyone is enjoying the warmer weather.  Few things to let you know about but generally there is not a lot to report.

1.      IMPORTANT - Annual Fire Inspection - July 25, 2012 - It is crucial ever unit comply, this inspection will not be complete until every unit is inspected.  Notices will be posted around the building and you will receive a note in the mail with instruction on where to drop off a key if you will not be home.  Please help make this a painless as possible for the board and make the appropriate arrangements. 

2.      We would still like to have one or two more board members.  We are running a moderate risk having so few people on the board, one person leaving leaves a significant gap.  Please let us know.  It is an hour or two of your time a month and you would be helping out alot!

3.      Eruption Plates - the only outstanding work is some stucco and the contractor will schedule it now, they were waiting for the rain to stop.

4.      Carpet Replacement -  the board has been discussing replacing the carpet in the building (we are well aware it could use it:).  Couple different things going on here, first there is some work on a water line on the first floor so we wouldn't do anything on that floor till this is fix.  It is also very expensive and a reserve fund line item.  The last reserve fund study schedule replacement for 2015.  This is still on the table but we didn't budget for it and it would come out of the reserve fund, we want to make sure we are doing to right thing and we haven't made a decision yet.  We are however talking about getting the cleaners; the carpet can sure use it!

5.      AGM Meeting - August 14th, 2012 and Connolly & Company - you will receive the official notice in the mail complete with instructions for what you do if you can't make it.

Other than that there is no too much to report, people are out on their decks more so please make sure you are being respectful and kind to your neighbors!  Enjoy your summer, see you at the AGM!

City of Calgary Census Call

Hello Expresso Owners (hope you are enjoying the beautiful weekend!)

Just a quick note, there are a number of units who haven't been home when the Census canvasser has been in the building.  It is required by law you complete the Census.  For information on why this initative is important please click here www.calgary.ca/census. 

We realize you are probably busy and haven’t been home when the Census canvasser came to your unit (she has been here 4 times).  It is required by law to complete the following questions for the Census.  The canvasser has made a special exception for us; you have two options to send this information.

By email: cmaitland@shaw.com

Phone: (403) 289-3627

Include the following information and answers...

1.     Unit address

2.     # of residents in the unit

3.     Do you own or rent?

4.     What school do you support? (public, catholic, private or unknown)

We ask that you take a few minutes ASAP to complete this important task.

Thank you,

Condo Board of Directors

Happy Spring Expresso!

Here are the updates from the last condo board meeting...

1. Board Members - First and foremost, we are looking for more board members.  Our amazing president is selling her condo and there will only be 3 people left on the board.  We need at least one more person.  It is important our building is managed and maintained properly to protect our investment.  Three people is not enough to stay on top of everything (as you know we manage the property in our spare time).  Our property is in amazing shape so the time commitment isn't as bad as you might think.  The board meets for about 2 hours every couple months to talk through important agenda items.  The rest is done through email. The email portion is about an hour a week total and you will be making important decision for you and your neighbors.  Please contact Connelly if you are interested!  Thank you in advance, our property is at risk without additional members
2. Eruption Plates - you may have noticed some work going around on the exterior of the building.  We had eruption plates installed in key places around the building.  These plates are a safety precaution for the post tension cables.  The cable system is in great shape, this is simply our due diligence to ensure we have a safe and secure building for our owners and visitors.  The work is complete, thank you for your cooperation!
3. Balcony Rules - Many of us have bikes and understand it can be frustrating and a bit un-nerving to store bikes in the parking garage.  This is a reminder that bikes are NOT allowed to be stored on balconies.  We don't want to have to take extreme measures to have people move their bikes so please  store them in the garage.  This is a condo and this rule is not unqiue to our building.  A good lock can go a long way.
4. Spring Clean-up - We are going to do the spring clean in the parkade after the streets are swept and the spring stormy season is over.   Please keep your eye out for the notice around the building and make sure your car is parked outside when the parkade clean is scheduled.
5. New carpet - We discussed and received quotes to replace the carpet around the building.  This is a very expensive venture and we have decided not to replace it this year.  We are going to get a good deep carpet clean once the weather clears up.
6. New building lock/keys - Everyone should have their keys, we are pleased with the new locks so far.  If you have any comments, concerns or feedback let us know

Like always if you have any questions contact Connelly!

Happy Spring from the Condo Board of Directors!

IMPORTANT: New Abloy locks being installed - January 31, 2012

New Locks and Keys
As a result of a recent security breach, the Expresso Condo Board has decided to update the building locks with new Abloy locks.  All the entrance points will be equipped with this highly secure modern locks.

New Keys
All unit owners will receive 2 keys free of charge.  Additional keys can be purchased up to and including Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at a cost of $20/key (they will be $75 after Jan. 31).

Additonal Keys
Unit owners wishing to purchase additional keys must contact Connelly & Company by Wednesday, January 25h, to advise how many additional keys are required.

Key Pick-up
Keys can be picked up at Connelly & Company between the hours of 8:30-4:30 between Monday, January 16th and Tuesday, January 31st.  Note: if additional keys have been requested payment must be made at time of pick-up.  Payment can be made by cash or cheque made payable to Connelly & Compnay.

Please Note: After January 31, 2012 the old keys will no longer allow access to the building.

We appreciate your patience during this time and look forward to the added security our building will have once the change it complete.

Board Meeting Updates

Hello Expresso!


You may have noticed we have a new property manager, I know I know we just got a new one!  Let's let the past be the past and embrace our new superstar Darynn!  Darynn has stepped up to the plate like no other property manager ever has (yes he is filling our email inbox but that is how we like it!!!).  Here are some updates for you...

1. Just want to remind everyone, if you are doing renovations in your unit that involve plumbing, electrical or structure you need to submit a request to the board to approve the work BEFORE the work begins.  This is to protect the integrity of the building and to protect your unit from unforeseen issues from inadequate work being done in units connected to yours.  We appreciate your attention to this if you decide to be handy!
2. The radiator pipes in 3rd floor units that we "knocking" should all be taken care of now.  If you live on the 3rd floor and are still experiencing issues please contact Connelly so we can fix the problem. 
3. A recommendation to install plate restraints was included in the last engineering study completed on the post tension cables.  It is important to us to ensure safety and compliance are a top priority so the plates will be installed in the next month.  These plates act as a barrier if a cable snapped (very unlikely) but it is better to be safe than sorry.  This is normal maintenance for post tension cable construction and I can ensure you our cable system is in very good shape and we will continue to be very diligent around ensuring it stays that way.
4. Darynn is making the final arrangements to have a complete security review of our building done.  We just want to make sure we are doing our due diligence to ensue the building is as safe and secure as it can be.  I will post an update once the review is complete so you are in the loop on the outcome.
5. We are looking into the carpet cleaning in the building.  The board feels it has been less than adequate lately and the carpets aren't as clean as they could be.  If we need to look at hiring a new carpet cleaning company we will.  Hopefully you will just be able to see the difference once we get this sorted.  Of course the hallways get a bit dirtier in the winter since Calgary is warm-cold-warm-cold but we just wanted to let you know we are on it (we like clean hallways too)
6. The underground parking garage door can be temperamental in the winter time.  If you haven't noticed the door doesn't always close properly, it comes down half way and then goes back up.  It may have something to do with the metal tracks expanding and contracting with the warm and cold air.  We are still on this and hope to have a resolution.  We understand this is a common problem for buildings in the winter but we would like to get this figured out.
7. We looked into having a keyfob system installed for the parking garage door but it was very expensive and you would still have to stop to swipe the key fob so it doesn't solve the issue of having to stop to insert the key and then not be able to get your car up the ramp.  With this said we are not going to a key fob system but will try to stay on top of the ramp clearing as best as we can so people can access the garage properly.
8. Just want to remind everyone lock boxes on the railing at the front door are only permitted from the Calgary Real-estate board, approved contractors and the fire department.
9. Our past Fire Inspection report showed we have a few repairs to do around the building to make sure we are up to code and safe.  We will be installing a back flow preventor, adding a sprinkler etc.  If you want more details please contact Connelly.
10. Just a reminder if you get a furry pet for xmas you need board approval for it to live in the building.  Please contact Connelly if you want the board to review the potential of having a pet in your unit.
11. The financials are in very good shape so no worries about money.  All the repairs and upgrades being done in the building are covered. 

Happy Holidays everyone, be safe!!!!!!!!!!!

Heat in the Building

Happy Friday Expresso!

It is that time of year again our heaters are starting to kick on.  I am having an issue with a valve in my unit and one other owner is having the same issue.  The value is knocking so we can't turn or heat on (if it gets to cold we will need a place to stay, haha just kidding!)

Status

Kyle is working this out with Excelair and Ainsworth.  We had some work done on the 3rd floor by Excelair and we need to ensure this is not a result of that prior to having Ainsworth fix it (they are our new building maintenance contractor).  With this said it looks like we will have to do a building shutdown to replace the valves in our units.  This will happen early next week so please watch the blog and/or the notice boards in the building for the notice. 

Thanks in advance for your patience to get this work done, supposed to drop below 0 at night next week (burrrr)

If you are having any issues with your heating system please let Kyle know ASAP.

Thanks
Elaina Venechuk
on behalf of the Expresso Board

AGM Update

Hello,

I apologize for taking so long to post the updates from then AGM, have to admit I have been enjoying summer as much as possible!

Before I get into the details I would like to set the stage for you.  The board met an hour before the AGM to meet Kyle, our new property manager, and discuss some items to ensure we were all the on the same page prior to owners arriving.  I have to admit we were a bit nervous about the transition to a new property manager, this is not uncommon for a building to have numerous managers over the years, there is a high turnover rate at all the property management companies in the city.  We arrived to a very warm welcome from Chris Connelly and Kyle.  They were waiting for us to arrive and even brought in sandwiches, chips, pop, coffee, tea...we were blown away, this is NOT common practice for a management company!  The board has a great discussion about things important to each one of us and that we wanted to discuss at the AGM.  I must say Expresso has a very collaborative and hardworking board so you are in very good hands.

A number of owners arrived for 7:00p and  we met quorum no problem!  We got started and approved last years AGM minutes, the financials, the auditor etc.  We got to the new business section of the agenda, here are some highlights...

Safety and Security

Our building experienced a break-in in August on the 3rd floor.  There were carpet cleaners in the building during the time of the incident and we think the door may have been propped open.  We will be contacting all our contracting companies to explain the situation and help them understand they are NEVER to prop the door open while doing work in the building.  Connelly and the board are now focusing our efforts the security of our building going forward.  Connelly is going to work with a security company in town and bring them onsite to do a Safety analysis of the property and building.  They will be considering things such as adding additional security to all the unit doors, upgrading the locks on the front and side doors, reviewing our camera system to see if it is adding value or if they can suggest upgrading the system etc.  Once we complete the walk around we will determine the appropriate solution to make sure our building is safe while being conscience of our budget.  We are willing to spend a little extra in this department to keep us and our things safe.

Water

As you may have notice there was a couple water stains on the carpet on the main floor.  Couple different issues here.

#1 - There were a couple instances where owners we doing renovations in their units without board approval and had caused water damage in a unit below and to the main floor carpet area.  We are working with the effected unit to make sure it is restored.

PLEASE READ:   It is mandatory that you inform the board of renovations you are doing to the unit that involve the structure of the unit.  We need to review the request and make sure you are using experienced contractors to complete this work.  Cosmetic things you choose to do inside the unit are up to you but when you start working on opening walls, floors, ceilings (see bylaws for full detail) you must put in a request. 

#2 - We have a pipe that has a hair line fracture that is causing the leaking near 1st floor door from the main lobby.  Our previous contractor kept patching it rather than fixing it all together which is not working.  We have contracted the work to a new contractor who will be replacing the part of the pipe to eliminate this leak going forward.  Please keep in mind this is going to require a water shut down, keep your eye out for when..will be in the near future.

Post Tension Cables

You may or may not have seen the last Engineering Study completed on the post tension cables in the cement slab in the parkade (if you are interested you can purchase it off Condo Docs).  The report came back that the cables are all in good condition and there was no recommendation to replace any of them or open up and cement for further investigation.  What the Engineer did suggest was that we install heavy duty reinforcement plates at the ends of the cables "just in case" one of the cables did decided to snap.  If this sounds a little contradictory to you, it does to us too.  This study was done during the down turn in the market and we think they may have put this in the stir up business.  Is it a safety measure to add these plates? YES...Is it a good idea "just in case"? YES.  The other issue here is CMHC read the report and had a note on the Expresso Building file that they want to see the board approve this work prior to insuring mortgages for this building.  Needless to say we didn't have a choice but to go forward and do this work.  Jane worked hard wit CMHC and they have lifted all "notes" on our file and our building is back in pristine order, buy and sell away:)  It is not a terrible thing to add these plates, it's just another example of how we can all be proud of well maintained building!

Fall and Spring Walkaround

Starting this fall Connelly will be dedicating some time early fall and when Spring arrives to do a walkaround of the building.  These are both great times to walk the building inside and out to talk note of all the little maintenance things that need to be done.  It is a great way to be proactive rather than reactive.  Thanks to Connelly to stepping up their level of service!

New Board of Directors

A special thank you to Jane, Lindy, Tiffany and Rod for volunteering to stay on as your board of directors.  I (Elaina) will still be attending meetings to make sure we keep you informed through the blog.  Thank you Jane for stepping up as President, Jane brings tons of history to this role as well as a solid business sense and great personality! All of the board members are extremely dedicated and all bring a wealth of knowledge to manage the Expresso afairs. The next year will be just as organized as past years!  Help me thank them if you see them around the halls!

Other than that the board just discussed little things going on that aren't really worth mentioning (if you are curious I guess you will have to join the board lol)!

Enjoy the rest of your summer everyone and if you have any questions, concerns, comments ANYTHING...please let Connelly know!

Bye for now...
Elaina on behalf of the entire Expresso Board of Directors