“Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems.” - Rainer Maria Rilke
While the winter always appears to be a slow time around the complex, the Board was busy with preparations and planning to make further improvements, both physical and financial. The rising sale prices of our units across the board are increasing shareholder value and that, at the end of the day, is the Board’s primary fiduciary responsibility.
BUDGET
We are pleased to let you know that we are back on track with our budget, thanks to the recent assessment, maintenance increase and the relatively mild winter which, despite the blizzard of January 23rd, resulted in only two days of snow removal overtime and lower heating costs due to generally milder temperatures and lower gas / fuel prices.
MORTGAGE REFINANCING
Although we re-financed our mortgage four years ago, the elevator refurbishment project, extensive re-pointing of the buildings and other improvement projects left us with a dwindling reserve fund that might not have seen us through the six years until the next re-financing. To shore up reserves, the Board took the step of re-financing the property’s underlying mortgage to lock in the current historically low interest rates for the next ten years. This allows us to lower our rate (and our monthly mortgage payments) which will benefit our operating budget and to pull down well over a million dollars to the reserve fund to give our co-op a comfortable cushion for future improvements and any unforeseen capital expenditures.
INSTALLATION OF HOT WATER HEATERS We are in the process of developing a Request for Proposal for this project, under the aegis of shareholder Michael Ashkenazi, P.E. and hope to begin this project in early June. As previously communicated, this should help to extend the useful life of our aging boilers and allow us to maintain hot water to the buildings even when they are down for maintenance and repair. More information on this once the vendor and dates for installation are determined.
GARDENS
We will be looking into updating, modifying and improving our sprinkler system, especially on the 118th Street side of 83-83 to prevent water run-off due to the steep slope of the lawn. Hopefully, this will save money on water usage and make our system more efficient. Also on tap will be replacing the tree guards in the bench area of the courtyard as the wood is rotting and becoming loose.
Once again, we ask that all dog owners relieve their dogs at the street curb and not on the fences or planting areas as this destroys the metal and kills the plants.
HOUSE RULES
We have updated and revised the Co-op’s House Rules and will be distributing them by the end of the month. Please be sure to read them thoroughly as there are some new items and more details on others. They will also be posted on the website for easy reference.
May all residents find poetry in the beauty that is Spring!