Newsletters

Newsletters

Fall 2011

PLAZA CONDOMINIUM NEWSLETTER

Town Hall meeting

Thanks to all who attended our annual Memorial Day weekend Town Hall meeting. We had an excellent exchange of information. The GM & Board believes that all questions and issues were completely and fully addressed. Plaza staff also conducted a “behind the scenes” tour of the non-public areas of our building following the Town Hall Meeting.

Tour of Plaza non-public infrastructure areas

Based on feedback from the tour following the Spring Town Hall meeting, for those interested or missed the opportunity in the Spring, another tour will be conducted following the Fall Owner’s meeting.

Annual Meeting

As a reminder, our Annual Meeting is scheduled for October 8, 2011 at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, 10301 Coastal Highway, Ocean City, MD. While there are no open Board positions to be filled, there will be a number of important issues for all members to address. Please make plans to attend. The office will be sending the meeting announcement and agenda via electronic delivery on, or before, September 6, 2011. Please let the office know if you do not have an e-mail address so that we may send your packet via the U. S. Mail.

Fire at the Plaza

General Manager Joe Groves reported that his wife noticed a smoldering fire in the tanbark mulch in front of the building as she happened to be driving past. The OC Fire Department was immediately summoned and extinguished the fire thereby preventing a potentially major problem. After investigation, the Fire Department reported that the fire had been caused by a burning cigarette that likely had been thrown from a passing car. Our thanks to the OC Fire Department and Mrs. Groves. If you smoke, please remember to dispose of smoking materials in the proper receptacle.

Parking

Our Bylaws provide for one assigned and one unassigned parking place per unit for the named owner of record. Because of recent requests for multiple additional and open ended parking places, the matter of free parking spaces per unit was addressed.

Renters pay $30/week for (2) parking spaces. If a renter needs more than (2) parking spaces, space permitting, it is $10/day or $50/week per additional space.

The Board decided that, in addition to the spaces provided in the Bylaws, each named owner of record of two bedroom units could receive two additional unassigned free parking space and named owners of record of three bedroom units could receive three additional unassigned free parking spaces, space permitting.

If an owner needs additional parking spaces above & beyond the (4 or 5) free spaces during the peak season, it will be charged at $10/day or $50/week per additional parking space.

Projects

• Indoor pool window update targeted for 1Q2012

• Emergency generator replacement

• Water pump control panel replacement targeted for Fall 2011

• Painting: stacks completed, West wall color selection in process

• South wall restoration targeted Fall 2011

• Lobby renovation planning underway

• HDTV and other advanced digital TV services investigation and negotiations

Financial Update

Through June 2011 the Plaza is operating under budget, this is the result of tight cost control in many of the expenditure areas as well as projects focused on cost reductions. This is an excellent result year to date.

Better interest rate

We recently moved a significant portion of our liquid funds to a different bank that yields an increase of 1.25% higher interest than the previous bank where the money was resident while still maintaining full FDIC insurance protection.

Style Committee

Based on the 2010 Fall Owners Color Survey, 70% of the respondents were in favor of a blue and white building color scheme, thus the Style Committee and Board are proceeding under this guidance. The Style Committee is currently reviewing a blue color recommended by a local design consultant. Once the majority of the committee has confirmed acceptance of the color, Plaza maintenance will paint a portion of two walls, one in direct sun and one in the shade, for all to view prior to the October Owners Meeting. The owner community will be polled at the meeting. We are already making progress in transitioning to the blue and white color scheme as the Garage and North Wall are now once again white.

Smoke detector replacement update

The program to replace the original 27 year old smoke detectors in all units has had moderate success: approximately 50% of units have had their detectors replaced. It is very important that if you have not had yours replaced, to please do so.

The CPSC(Consumer Product Safety Council) estimates the normal life of a smoke detector at 8-10 years.

How can you tell if you have the original smoke detectors? The original 27-year old smoke detectors are square in shape. If you have a newer model, it is round in shape.

In addition, the OC government has enacted laws in cases of false alarms that assess the owner of the cause of the false alarm. This can potentially be in excess of $1,000 per incident.

In the last 6 months, there have been several false alarms due to failing smoke detectors in units. If you have not had your 27 year old smoke detectors replaced, it is in your own financial interests as well as that of the overall building safety to do so. Please contact the office if you would like your detectors replaced.

Kudos

Recently, a water pipe joint failed in a unit flooding that unit as well as several units below. GM Joe Groves and Plaza staff worked for a number of hours to repair the damages and fix the problem. The owner of the unit wrote to President Gene Lew expressing her gratitude for the Plaza staff’s quick action in the middle of the night when the pipe burst.

Licensed Contractors

The State of Maryland and the Town of Ocean City requires contractors be licensed and insured. This is to ensure that the consumer and community are protected should there be problems with the work that the contractor has performed. In the article above, a prior owner of the unit had used a non-licensed contractor who did not follow building codes and did not obtain the requisite permits and inspections when performing the plumbing work. A plumbing joint that was installed ruptured which caused the noted flooding. Since the contractor was not licensed, the new owners have limited recourse. Therefore, when you arrange for a contractor to perform work in your unit, please ensure that the contractor is licensed and insured.

New Condominium Law Regarding Individual Owner Insurance

The Maryland Legislature has passed a change to the Maryland Condominium Act ( 11-104 & 11-114) that makes provision for Association By-Laws to require that each owner maintain a Condominium Unit Owner Insurance Policy and to provide proof of that insurance to the Council of Unit Owners. The policy that the Plaza has covering the building and damages has a $10,000 deductible. Individual owners are responsible for the first $5,000 of the deductible for any damages caused by them to their units or other units. This would be a good time to review your Owner's policy with your insurance agent.

By-Laws Committee

The By-Laws Committee met following the Town Hall meeting in May to review proposed changes to the by-laws and agree on recommended changes. The proposed changes will be reviewed by the Board and a final version will be available for review. The changes fall into five categories: 1) correcting simple grammatical/typographic changes;

2) rewording and restructuring lengthy paragraphs to facilitate reading and understanding;

3) rewording or restructuring to bring the by-laws into conformity with previous amendments and changes to the Maryland Condominium Act;

4) changes necessary to correct longstanding problems within the Plaza;

5) changes necessary to correct outdated language stemming from the original “Condominium Regime” under Mr. Goldstein.

Fire Alarm Inspection

The Ocean City Fire Marshall recently conducted tests of our fire alarm system as required under OC MD Code of Ordinances, Chapter 34, Fire Prevention and Protection, Section 34-23, Authority of the Fire Marshall, subsection (g). As part of the test, the alarm system in every unit was also tested. The Fire Marshall and its designates have both the obligation and legal duty to enter each condominium unit, accompanied, of course, by Plaza staff.

Unfortunately, the inspection was performed during the peak summer season due to inattention by former management personnel when they were notified last year of the required inspection with a mandatory deadline of Summer 2011. Our failure to comply could subject the Plaza to closure and a fine of $10,000. General Manager Joe Groves requested that the Fire Marshall delay the inspections until October or at least until September when the Plaza was less busy, but the Fire Marshall declined and insisted that the Summer 2011 deadline imposed last year be met. We apologize for any inconvenience or disruption that the testing may have caused you, your family, friends and tenants, but we had no choice but to comply.

The inspection discovered (2) major leaks in the 4-inch water supply pipe for our fire suppression system(separate from normal water supply to the condo units) that required $4,000 in repairs.

It was also discovered that the separate booster water pump for the fire sprinkler system needed to be replaced at a cost of $2,300.

The total cost of the inspection including repairs was $8,900.

Security Incidents

We have had the usual summer season of various incidents and issues, including arrests for underage drinking and trespassing on Plaza grounds. All were handled professionally by Plaza security personnel and GM Joe Groves with the OC Police. The GM and security staff per direction from the Board, implemented a strict policy against illegal and abusive behavior.

Plaza website milestone

Board President, Gene Lew, recently noted that the Plaza website has had more than 50,000 unique “hits” (or visits). Gene developed the website in 2008 which means that there has been an average of more than 45 visits every day. Quite a remarkable accomplishment for the Plaza and it underscores the publics’ perception that the Plaza is a very desirable property.

Providing use of Internet to strangers

Everyone should be careful about providing use of their Internet service to strangers. Should any illegal activity occur on an Internet account, it is the subscriber of record that is provided to law enforcement agencies by the ISP and there could be potential civil liabilities involved as well.

Pursuit of enhanced TV services

HDTV and additional 'choices' of channels, packages such as premium movie channels, sports, international programming and services such as DVR is underway that will allow personal customization on an individual condo by condo selection basis.

Earthquake

The earthquake that the Eastern US and Canada experienced on August 23, 2011 was also felt at the Plaza. Fortunately there were no injuries or significant damage. GM Joe Groves provided guidance and calmed owners & renters during and immediately after the earthquake.

Hurricane Irene

Our GM Joe Groves met with and coordinated with OC Town officials to help prepare for Hurricane Irene. The staff is organized with a ‘hurricane’ plan to remove all furniture from ocean front balconies, outdoor pool deck and trash cans when appropriate. Plaza staff will close the hurricane shutters on those units equipped with shutters. As a reminder, if you have hurricane shutters on your unit, you may close them when your unit is empty. This is a change that was instituted a few years ago after Ocean City was hit with a sudden and unexpected storm that did cause water damage to some units.

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