AT&T U-verse service now available in Manors

AT&T's U-verse service is now being rolled out to residents of the Manors.  They have begun to use "pair bonding" to extend the reach of their service from their existing VRAD equipment, which is used to connect to the high-speed fiber optic network.  The U-verse "pair bonding" installation also requires an "intelligent Network Interface Device" (iNID) to be mounted on the exterior of your Unit near the existing land line telephone junction box.

Previously, U-verse was only available to customers located less than about 3,000 feet from the nearest VRAD equipment.  Unfortunately, the Units at the Manors were outside that range, since they are all located between 3,000 and 5,000 feet from the VRAD on 22 Mile Road.  Since "pair bonding" extends the U-verse service envelope to a distance of about 5,000 feet, all Units in the Manors should now be able to subscribe and get a signal with decent bandwidth.

Click here to check the current U-verse availability status for your street address. If it comes back with a "Service Not Available", follow the instructions to "research your address" or check back again in a few weeks as they seem to be continually adding more blocks of addresses to the "Service is Available" category as they do a phased roll-out.

The iNID is housed in an enclosure that is approximately 12" x 12" x 4" in size. Since the iNID must be permanently attached to the exterior of the Unit, the customer must submit an Alteration/Modification Request for approval by the Board of Directors.  All future iNID enclosures at the Manors must be directly mounted to the brick wall at a location directly above the electric meter that supplies the customer's Unit.

Click here to download and print an MS Word file that contains a partially-completed Alteration/ Modification Request form for the iNID installation.  Finish completing the form and follow the included mail/fax instructions to submit the request.

What's Expected of a Board Member?

Control of our Condo Association is about to be transitioned over to the co-owners at the upcoming Annual Meeting, where for the first time, we will be able to nominate and elect three co-owners to the Board of Directors.  This means that we will need to have more co-owners who are willing to be nominated and and serve on the Board if elected.  As I've mentioned this need over the past year, the response has often been, "what's expected of a member of the Board of Directors?"  The following my my best attempt to answer to that question.

Our Condo Association is an incorporated business and as such, it is run by a Board of Directors.  Our Bylaws stipulate that the Board consists of three members, who are each elected to a one year term at the Annual Meeting of the Association.  The Bylaws also state that at the first Board meeting following the Annual Meeting, the Board shall elect from among themselves a President, Secretary and Treasurer.

The Board Members have the powers and duties necessary to administer the affairs of the Condominium Association and to maintain and regulate the use of the Condominium's common elements, property, easements, etc.  These include, but are not limited to, the power to levy and collect assessments for the purposes of the Association, hire a managing agent, enter into contracts with suppliers, establish committees, enforce the Master Deed and Bylaws as well as make and enforce additional reasonable rules and regulations.

The President is the chief executive officer of the Association and presides at meetings of the Association and of the Board of Directors.  The President also has the power to appoint committees from among the members of the Association, with the consent of the other members of the Board.

The Secretary keeps the minutes of all meetings of the Board and of the Association.  The Secretary also prepares the meeting agendas with input from the other Board members.

The Treasurer is responsible for the Association's funds and keeping a full and accurate account of all receipts and expenses.  The Treasurer is also responsible for developing an annual budget for the Board's consideration and also annually prepares a financial statement that is distributed to all members of the Association.

Kramer-Triad has been hired by the Board to serve as the Association's managing agent. A representative of the managing agent attends the Board's Regular Meetings.  The managing agent handles the receipt and expenditure of all Association funds, maintains the monthly financial records for the Board, solicits competitive bids from suppliers for the Board to choose from, handles requests for service from the members of the Association and assigns work orders, handles the mailings to the Association members on behalf of the Board, etc.  The managing agent's representative who handles the Association's account is authorized to spend up to $1,000 on budgeted items without first seeking approval from the Board.

According to the Association's Bylaws, in addition to the Annual Meeting of the Association’s membership, the Board must also hold a least one Regular Board of Directors Meeting each year, at a time and place determined by a majority of the Directors.   In practice, the Board will probably need to meet monthly in most of the months during the September through February time period and only if necessary during the remainder of the year.  A Regular Board meeting is typically between two and three hours in length. Most, if not all, of the Board's communications with the managing agent that happen between Regular Meetings are handled through e-mail.  To expedite certain decisions without having to schedule a meeting, some Board decisions can be made via e-mail and confirmed with a formal vote at the next Regular Meeting so that they are documented in the minutes.

As a Board Member, you will be asked to make collective decisions on issues such as the following:

1. review and approve the annual budget, which sets the monthly assessment amount to be paid by the co-owners and identifies the spending plan for the entire year; identify and approve any mid-year budget adjustments that might be needed due to an unforeseen expenditure; identify and initiate Additional Assessment and/or Special Assessment projects that the Board feels are necessary.
2. review and approve Alteration/Modification Requests that have been submitted by co-owners; often the co-owner would like a speedy response and these cases can be handled by the Board via e-mail review and response.
3. enforcement of violations of our Master Deed, Bylaws and other rules and regulations; enforcement of repeated violations can include the applications of fines; enforcement of the leasing restrictions could necessitate taking legal action against the landlord and tenants.
4. collection of delinquent amounts from co-owners who have not paid their monthly or additional/special assessments; collection could even involve authorizing our attorney to file a lien against the property or initiate foreclosure, depending on the circumstances.
5. what to do about Alteration/Modification Requests that were submitted after the fact and then denied by the Board, yet have not been removed by the co-owner.
6. what to do about enforcement of decorative and landscaping items placed on the general common elements by co-owners without submitting an Alteration/Modification Request.
7. what the Board can do to further enhance the overall value of our property and also promote a greater sense of community here in the Manors. 

I have already been nominated and I intend to campaign for election to the Board at the Annual Meeting in January.   Over the past four years, I have unofficially handled the duties of the Board President, Secretary and Treasurer.  As a result, I have already developed most of the formats and spreadsheets the Board will need to use, so the new Board officers will not have to create everything from scratch, just modify things to suit.

If you have any questions about the role of a Board Member or concerns about whether to accept a nomination for the upcoming Board election, please give me a call or send me an e-mail (see my contact information in the right sidebar).

Final Paving Special Assessment Fact Sheet

The mailing you received today from Kramer-Triad announcing the 2012 Annual Meeting also included a one-page fact sheet about the proposed Final Paving Special Assessment that will be voted upon at that meeting.  I'm reproducing the contents of the fact sheet below so that it is also available on this blog.

At the 2012 Annual Meeting, the current Board of Directors will be asking members of the Manors at Central Park Condominium Association to approve a Special Assessment for the purposes of

a)      Repairing numerous sections of cracked concrete curbing

b)      Paving the final asphalt layer on the remainder of our streets and private access drives.

A Special Assessment requires the approval of more than 2/3rds of all "members in value" (as opposed to "members in number"), since it is levied on the basis of the percent of value assigned to each Unit.   Per the Amended Master Deed, owners of Units 1-14 have each been assigned 0.17422 percent of value and owners of Units 16-167 (including the Carpenters Pension Trust Fund, which owns 47 incomplete units) each have 0.64185 percent of value (owners of all Units each have a vote that is worth 1/166 = 0.60241 percent when voting by number). 

Shelby Township had obtained a letter of credit in 2004 from Sable Realty Ventures to be used in case the company failed to install the final layer of asphalt paving.  However, as previously explained, that letter of credit is no longer valid.   Attorneys for the Carpenters Pension Trust Fund maintain that they are not required to honor the legal agreement that Sable Realty Ventures made with the Township to provide the final paving at a later date. Therefore, the entire cost of the final paving will have to be paid by the owners of the complete and incomplete Units that comprise the Manors at Central Park Condominiums.

Pending the receipt of competitive bids, the Board estimates that the final paving project will cost about $83,700 and therefore, the Special Assessment levy will be about $145 ($83,700 x 0.0017422) for each of Units 1-14 and about $540 ($83,700 x 0.0064185) for each of Units 16-167. The Carpenters Pension Trust Fund owns (47) incomplete Units and they will also pay the Special Assessment amount for each of their Units. 

The current Board of Directors recommends a "yes" vote on the Special Assessment for the following reasons:

a)      The final paving is a capital improvement in excess of $5,000 and it is an addition to the common elements that must eventually be completed.  Therefore the Bylaws stipulate that it be funded via a Special Assessment instead of through the replacement reserve account or the annual budget.

b)      The exposed base layer of asphalt is already seven years old and was not designed to stand up to weather and traffic for that length of time; further delays could necessitate costly repairs that must be made before applying the final asphalt layer.

c)      The cost of asphalt paving has more than doubled since 2004; further delays will likely result in a higher cost to complete the final paving project.

If approved, the curb repairs and final layer of asphalt paving will be completed before the end of 2012.

I would personally like to add one more reason for approving the proposed Final Paving Special Assessment now rather than later and that can be found by reading this post.

If you have any questions about the proposed Special Assessment, please contact me using the phone number or e-mail address shown in the right sidebar.

New Signs at entrances to the Private Access Drives

"Private Drive - Residents Only" signs have just been installed at the six entrances to the private access drives that service Units 1 through 32 along North Central Park.  The Township wanted the developer of the Manors to minimize the numbers of driveway curb cuts along North Central Park so they designed and built access drives to link those driveways to the side streets of Lexington West, W. Broadway, Walter and E. Broadway.  These access drives have been provided for the use of the owners of Units 1-32 and their guests and are not intended to be used by others as a shortcut or for parking and standing.

Recently, a handful of people who do not live in Units 1-32 had been using the private access drives to park their vehicles while dropping off and picking up their children from the UCS School Buses.  The congestion was impeding the resident's use of the access drive, so in response to their complaints and acting on behalf of the entire Board of Directors, I politely informed those non-residents that they were parking on private property and asked them to please park on North Central Park in the future.  Several of them vehemently challenged the right of the Board of Directors to deny them the use of the private access drive, particularly since there were no signs saying they couldn't use the private access drive.  Rather than listen to any more verbal abuse, the Board ordered the purchase and installation of the signs that are now in place.

Please let the Board know if you see any non-residents parking or standing their vehicles on the private access drives or using them as a shortcut to get around the school bus stop.

Carpenters Pension Trust Fund (CPTF)

The "Carpenters Pension Trust Fund - Detroit & Vicinity" (CPTF) acquired ownership of 63 incomplete units at the Manors at Central Park Condominiums from "Sable Realty Ventures - Shelby I Limited Partnership" in August of 2007. Sixteen of those incomplete units were already under construction and the CPTF hired Lombardo Homes to finish and sell them (those were in addition to the incomplete Units 1-14 along North Central Park that Lombardo Homes bought directly from Sable Realty Ventures in May of 2009 and upon which they subsequently built thirteen detached condos).

As of December 2011, the CPTF stll owns 47 incomplete units and has no plans to begin construction on any of them in the forseeable future. The CPTF also controls two of the three seats on the Board of Directors of the Manors at Central Park Condominium Association. Full control of the Board has not yet transitioned to the co-owners and the third seat has been held by a duy-elected co-owner of a completed unit since January 2008.

In accordance with Federal Law, the CPTF employs a Qualified Pension Assets Manager (QPAM)  to manage their investments for them, including the 47 incomplete units at the Manors at Central Park Condominiums as well as the operation of the Manors at Central Park Condominium Association.  Titanium Real Estate Advisors of Chicago, IL has been the QPAM for the CPTF since August 2010 (prior to that Fifth Third Bank had been their QPAM).

Once full control of the Board is transitioned to the co-owners (planned to occur at the 2012 Annual Meeting on Jan. 18, 2012), Titanium will no longer be involved in the operation of the Manors at Central Park Condominium Association.  However, Titanium and the CPTF will still remain responsible for maintaining the appearance of their incomplete units and are also responsible for paying any Special Assessments levied against their units for the completion of unfinished site improvements such as the final layer of asphalt pavement on our streets.

At the beginning of its 2007 plan year, the CPTF was 67% funded [see pg. 3 of this document], meaning that the value of its assets ($1.08 billion) were worth about two-thirds the present value of all accrued benefits being promised to the pension plan participants and beneficiaries ($1.61 billion). During the 2008 plan year, its funding fell below the Pension Protection Act's 65% "critical" threshold, placing it in the "red" zone and initiating the creation of a rehabilitation plan to bring it up to the 80% funded level ("green" zone) by the 2019 plan year [see pp. 4-6 of this document].

In a September 2009 report, Moody's Corporation analyzed the funding levels of the 108 largest union pension plans in the United States, which included the CPTF. A list of those pension plans and their funding percentage is reproduced here. Their report ranked the CPTF in 104th place, identifying it as being only 41.4% funded at that time.

In 2010, the CPTF was again assessed as "critical" and placed in the "red" zone [see pg. 1 of this document].

The CPTF is a multiemployer, defined benefit pension plan that is safeguarded by the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBCG) under their Multiemployer Insurance Program. The PBCG is a Government Sponsored Enterprise, similar to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in that it was created by the US Congress and it carries the implicit financial backing of the US Government.

If the financial status of the CPTF should deteriorate to the point of insolvency, the PBGC will step in and mandate that they reduce their pension benefit payments to a level that is supportable by the current value of its assets. The PBGC also has the authority to provide financial assistance to the insolvent pension plan and to also exercise operating authority over the plan until all loans are repaid.

In the event that the CPTF should become insolvent, more than likely the PBGC would then have the final say on all decisions regarding the CPTF's  expenditures at the Manors at Central Park, including the payment of Special Assessments.

Vehicle and garage break-ins

Nearly a dozen vehicle and garage break-ins have been reported this past week in the Central Park community, mainly in the Gardens and Meadows subdivisions.  They have been occurring during the daylight hours around 4 PM as well as in the 10 PM and later time ranges.  Most of the vehicles were not locked.  Access to some of the garages was gained by using the garage door opener they found once inside the vehicle.  The perpetrator(s) also watch for open garage doors and make a quick getaway with valuables from the garage and the unlocked vehicles parked inside the garage.  One of the daylight thefts involved a purse that was left in a vehicle that was briefly parked in the driveway while the owner went back inside the house to get something. The Shelby Twp. Police ask that you please be vigilant and proactive.  ALWAYS LOCK YOUR VEHICLE when it is parked in your driveway or on the street and keep your garage door closed unless you are actually in the garage, the driveway or front yard.  Also, it is best that you do not leave your garage door opener or other valuables in plain sight within the vehicle.

UPDATE: On Feb. 28, 2012, a local man plead guilty on charges of larceny from a building and receiving and concealing stolen property in connection with these break-ins. He was sentenced to 30 days in Macomb County Jail and 1 year probation. More details can be found here and here.

2012 Annual Meeting

Our 2012 Annual Meeting is officially scheduled for Wednesday evening, Jan. 18, 2012 at the Shelby Twp. municipal building.  Sign-in will begin at 6:30 PM and the meeting at 7:00 PM.

There will be two important elections held that evening. One will be to approve a final paving Special Assessment and another will be held to elect three co-owners to the Board of Directors

Look for an envelope from Kramer-Triad to arrive in the US Mail within the next week or so.  It will contain full details about the time and location of the meeting, plus it will explain the Board of Directors nominating process.

Associerge

Enclosed with our Nov. 2011 newsletter was a letter from Jeff Gourlie, the President of Associa, which is the parent company of our property management company, Kramer-Triad Management Group.  His letter announced the free "Associerge" service that is now available to our co-owners.  There is no charge for this service, either to you or our Manors Condo Association.

According to this web page on their Associerge blog,

Associerge is an exclusive concierge service for Associa residents providing benefits and privileges 24 hours a day. Need help making dinner or travel reservations? Need someone to come walk the dog? All of these amenities and more are available to Associerge members........ Once you’re a registered member, Associerge travels with you online giving you easy, personal access from anywhere you are in the world. Take advantage of the Essential Membership package with over 25 free remarkable services.

Manors co-owners can click here to learn more and also register for the Associerge virtual concierge service.  You can also register by calling toll-free 1-800-560-9015, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Once you are registered, click here to log in to the service.

You might also be interested in making use of another new program called the Associa Advantage.  It offers Manors co-owners the opportunity to enjoy significant savings on the purchase of household goods, services and everyday necessities from selected providers.

Nov. 2011 Newsletter

Message from your Board Member

2012 Annual Meeting

Our 2012 Annual Meeting is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday evening, Jan. 18, 2012 at the Shelby Twp. municipal building [this date has since been confirmed]. There will be two important elections held that evening. One will be to approve a final paving Special Assessment and another will be held to elect three co-owners to the Board of Directors.

During the meeting, the current Board of Directors will be asking Association members to approve a Special Assessment for the purpose of repairing cracked curbs and to pave the final asphalt layer on the remainder of our roads and private access drives. A Special Assessment requires the approval of more than 2/3rds of all "members in value" (as opposed to "members in number"), since it is levied on the basis of the percent of value assigned to each Unit. Per the Amended Master Deed, owners of Units 1-14 have each been assigned 0.17422 percent of value and owners of Units 16-167 each have 0.64185 percent of value (owners of all Units each have a vote that is worth 1/166 = 0.60241 percent when voting by number).

Pending the receipt of competitive bids, the current Board estimates that the final paving project will cost about $83,700 and that the Special Assessment levy will be about $145 for each of Units 1-14 and about $540 for each of Units 16-166. The Carpenters Pension Trust Fund owns (47) incomplete Units and they will also pay the Special Assessment amount for each of their Units.

The estimated Special Assessment levy amount is considerably higher than originally planned. That's because the Shelby Township Attorney informed me on Oct. 28, 2011 via this letter that the $29,600 Letter of Credit issued on Nov. 17, 2004 by the Greco Title Co. on behalf of "Sable Realty Ventures- Shelby I LP" and held by the Township to guarantee the final paving is not being honored by the title company that recently purchased the assets of the Greco Title Co.

The current Board of Directors recommends a "yes" vote on the Special Assessment. If approved, the curb repairs and final layer of asphalt paving will be completed before the end of 2012.

The 2012 Annual Meeting will also be the Transition Meeting at which time the Carpenters Pension Trust Fund will transfer control of the Board of Directors over to the co-owners. Therefore, we will be electing three co-owners to the Board at this meeting.

If nominated, I intend to run for another term on the Board of Directors. Please give some serious thought about who else you’d like to see nominated for election to the Board of Directors and discuss it with your neighbors. I know that we have many co-owners who are capable of serving on the Board and the more nominees we have, the stronger the new Board will be. If you have any questions about what is expected of a Board member, please contact me and I'll be more than happy to answer your questions.

In early December you will receive a mailing that will confirm the time and place of the 2012 Annual Meeting and provide full details about the two elections and the nomination process. A second mailing will arrive in January with the names of those who have been nominated thus far along with proxy forms for those who might not be able to attend the Annual Meeting in person. If you are not sure whether you can attend the Annual Meeting, please fill out and return the proxy prior to the meeting (your proxy will be returned at the door if you later decide to attend in person). It is important that we have enough voting members present in the room and via proxies so that we can properly conduct the Special Assessment and Board of Directors elections.

Parking Reminder

Overnight parking (Midnight to 6 AM) is not allowed on our streets and private access drives from November 1st through March 31st.

Community Area Rules and Regulations

Click here to read more information about the letter and enclosures you should have received in today's mail from Kramer-Triad.

Manors Board of Directors Meeting Minutes 10/17/2011

Minutes of the Oct. 17, 2011
Meeting of the Board of Directors of the
Manors at Central Park Condominium Association
2:00 PM Eastern Standard Time

1) Meeting began at 2:05 PM EST; Quorum was established with two of the three Board Members being present on the conference call. Board Members present: President Amanda Jacobson (Titanium), Secretary Mike Grobbel (Manors co-owner); Board Members absent: Casey Wendeln (Titanium). Also present: Ryan Dorner (Kramer-Triad property management)

2) The Board approved the proposed meeting agenda

3) The Board formally approved the April 19, 2011 meeting minutes

4) The Board awarded the 2011-2012 Snow Removal Contract to GM Landscaping

5) 2011 Budget - the Board discussed

a) performance through Sept. 30, 2011

b) pending and proposed legal actions to collect from delinquent co-owners

6) Proposed 2012 Annual Budget

a) The Board reviewed and discussed the proposed 2012 Budget, particularly

i) Expenses

(1) $11,700 for brick mortar joint repairs above the garage doors on (23) Units

(2) $83,717 estimated minimum cost for completion of final layer asphalt paving on all streets; final paving project is proposed as an add-on to the 2012 budget and will be funded separately; assumes entire amount of Sable’s paving completion bond held by Shelby Twp. will be applied to the project and that an Additional Assessment will be levied on all 166 Units to cover the shortfall; final decision of when and how to proceed will be the responsibility of the new Board that is elected at the Transition Meeting in Jan. 2012.

(3) Expenditures, including final paving project, total $326,481

ii) Income:

(1) $175 and $60 monthly Association fees remain the same for 2012

(2) $10,000 payment from the Carpenter Pension Trust Fund will be deposited in the Replacement Reserve Account at the time of Transition

(3) Final paving project funding:

(a) Approx. $29,600 from the paving completion letter of credit

(b) Approx. $58,100 from the final paving project Additional Assessment

(4) Revenues, including final paving project, total $329,220

b) The Board approved the proposed 2012 Budget as presented.

7) Transition Meeting

a) Transition Meeting and the 2012 Annual Meeting will be one and the same

b) proposed location: “Board Room” in the Shelby Twp. Municipal Building

c) proposed date: Wednesday, January 18, 2012 (Feb. 1^st alternate date)

d) proposed start time: 7:00 PM EST (sign-in beginning at 6:30 PM)

e) Replacement Reserve Account

i) $12,000 estimated balance as of Jan. 1, 2012

ii) $10,000 addition to Replacement Reserve Account will be received from the Carpenters Pension Trust Fund prior to Transition Meeting

iii) $22,000 estimated balance at time of Transition Meeting

8) Old Business - none

9) New Business - none

10) Next Board of Directors meeting

a) no need for a meeting prior to the Transition Meeting

b) next meeting will be called by the new Board of Directors

11) Meeting was adjourned at 3:08 PM EST

What's wrong with this picture?

What's wrong with this picture? The trash was placed at the curb way too early!

The Rules and Regulations of the Manors at Central Park Condominium Association state that refuse and recyclables shall be placed at the curb no earlier than 6:00 PM of the evening before collection day. They also require the empty containers to be removed from the curb no later than 6:00 AM of the day following the collection day. Since our regular collection day is Tuesday, that means that trash and recyclables may go out to the curb after 6:00 PM on Monday evening and empty containers need to be stored away by 6:00 AM on Wednesday.

The Shelby Township waste services web page asks that you have your trash and recyclables at the curb by 7:00 AM on collection day.

Allied Waste has asked our duplex residents to place their trash and recyclables at the curb on the side of their driveway nearest the closest neighboring driveway so that their drivers can pick up from both addresses with only one stop. Click here to view a drawing that shows the preferred placement location.

Your cooperation is very much appreciated.

Exterior garage lights

The other night I counted about 20 exterior garage light fixtures that were dark so the next day I purchased some more 40 watt incandescent replacement bulbs on behalf of the condo association. Tonight I inspected each of the dark fixtures and found that 15 of them had burned-out bulbs (6 of these were compact fluorescent bulbs, which makes one wonder about the claims for their superior longevity). The remaining dark bulbs had been partially unscrewed and I twisted them fully into their socket so that they are providing light again.

The condo association is responsible for the maintenance of the exterior garage lights and their photocell switches while the co-owners are responsible for providing the electricity to light the bulbs. The light from the exterior garage fixtures enables emergency responders and your own visitors to quickly and easily find your address at night and they also serve as a deterrent to vandalism. Keeping the bulb in your garage light fixture completely screwed-in not only helps keep the Manors safe and well-lit, it also assists the Association in identifying photocell switch failures so they can be repaired.

We have already experienced a half-dozen or so photocell switch failures and the only way for the Association to identify them is when bulbs are known to be good and completely screwed into their base. Tonight's inspection and maintenance showed that none of the fixtures were dark because of a photocell switch failure in the "off" state. The photocell switches can also fail in the "on" state and they are easier to detect because they no longer turn the current on and off at the right time. If you notice that your exterior garage light is burning during the daytime, please contact me and I will arrange to have the photocell switch replaced.

UPDATE - why not install compact fluorescent (CFL) instead of incandescent light bulbs?

The Association is installing long-life (2,000 hours), 40 watt incandescent bulbs that cost 60 cents each and which put out 455 lumens of light. Using the DTE residential billing rate from my last bill, I calculate that it costs me $2.12 per year to keep a 40 watt bulb light burning for the 12 month average of 12 hours per night. For $1.80 I can purchase a compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulb that is rated at 8,000 hours life, 13 watts and 450 lumens. The CFL will use only one-third the energy of that 40 watt incandescent bulb, which means that a CFL will save me about $1.40 per year in electricity costs. Since it will last longer than the incandescent bulb, I also need to compare the bulb purchase and replacement costs to estimate the total savings.

If the CFL actually lasts for the 8,000 hours rated life, then over a two-year period we would use (1) CFL versus (4) incandescent bulbs. At $1.80 versus ($0.60 x 4 = $2.40), the CFL purchase savings over two years is about $0.60. When you add that to the $2.80 savings in electricity over two years, I estimate that using a CFL bulb will at most save a grand total of $3.40, or $1.70 per year.

However, based on what I'm seeing here in the Manors, I don't believe that the CFL bulbs in the exterior garage lights are lasting anywhere near the rated 8,000 hours (about two years) because of having to operate in the cold temperatures during the winter. If I assume that they last only 4,000 hours (about one year), the grand total savings over two years is only about $1.60, or 80 cents per year (because the CFL bulb replacement costs are now higher, the savings is all in electricity usage).

Therefore, based on my analysis I believe that:
a) the Association's bulb replacement costs over a two year period is about the same or even slightly lower if we use 40 watt incandescent bulbs instead of 13 watt CFL bulbs
b) the co-owner's cost for the additional electricity to burn a 40 watt bulb over that two-year period is at most $2.80
c) until either the CFL purchase cost comes down and/or their outdoor life expectancy improves, the Association will purchase 40 watt incandescent bulbs for the exterior garage light fixtures.

Neighborhood watch incident - Aug 25, 2011

I was riding my bicycle looking for streetlight outages at 10:40 PM on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2011, when I noticed an older model, light colored Jeep Liberty (Michigan License Plate BJP-2523) with one teenaged male occupant inside that was parked next to the open field on Lexington West between North Central Park and Lexington South. As I approached, I heard several voices coming across the open field from the vicinity of the berm near the west edge of our property. I stopped my bike and shined my flashlight towards the berm, where I observed one male teenager walking slowly towards the vehicle. The occupant of the vehicle told me that his friend needed to relieve himself and I replied that I heard multiple voices and I wasn't buying his story. I then shouted out instructions for all of the persons on the berm to approach their vehicle and leave our property or I would call the police and have them cited for trespassing. With my flashlight I then noticed two more male teenagers quickly moving away from me along the top of the berm behind 49927-49943 Lexington West and shouted for them to stop and come out to the street and leave immediately, which they all did. They only said that they were not doing anything wrong but offered no other explanations for their presence on the rear yards of our property.

Please keep a lookout for this vehicle and any other suspicious cars or people wandering around our property - particularly after sunset. If you see something suspicious, call the police and let me know about it so I can keep track of these incidents.

UPDATE - Aug. 27th: I've been informed that this was at least the second time in the past week that a similar-looking Jeep Liberty has been parked there. A larger SUV has also been observed parked near there with its motor running. A few days ago at dusk, four teenagers were observed riding their bikes across that open field and up to the berm and then back down to the street.

Considering a fence for Units 1-14?

Per the Addendum to the Manors at Central Park Condominium Bylaws, fences are only permitted for Units 1-14 and the Board of Directors has the right to standardize the architectural design of permitted fences.

The Board of Directors of the Manors at Central Park Condo Association has decided to adopt the same standardized fence design criteria as used by the Gardens at Central Park, the Meadows at Central Park and the Central Park Master Association.

The standardized architectural design criteria for permitted fences are as follows:

• Materials: extruded rectangular aluminum (additional ornamental components may be permitted upon request)
• Color: black
• Maximum Height: 48 inches

Owners of Manors Units 1 through 14, inclusive, may request permission from the Board to erect a fence in their rear yard by reviewing the information below and following the instructions on this web page.

The Board's approval will be granted strictly on the basis that the material, color and height of the proposed fence meets the Association's standardized requirements.

Co-owners of Units 1 through 14 who desire a fence remain responsible for

1. making certain that your proposed fence complies with the Shelby Township fence requirements and obtaining all necessary permits.
2. determining that your proposed fence does not encroach on or outside your property lines.
3. familiarizing yourself with the location and nature of all easements that run through your rear yard and obtaining approvals from the easement holder(s) before erecting any portion of the fence within an easement.

The Board particularly wants the co-owners of Units 1-14 to be aware that there are a number of easements that run across the rear of your property and that there is the potential for future problems should the fence be placed on an easement without securing approval from the easement holder. For example, the very rear of each lot contains a "20 foot wide construction, maintenance and operation easement" which grants Lombardo Homes and the Kensington Condo Association the right to use it for access to their property for new building construction and on-going building maintenance. That easement was granted because by design, the existing and proposed Kensington Condo cluster buildings are only about 5 feet away from the rear property lines of Manors Units 1-14.

In the absence of an approval from the easement holder(s), it is the co-owner who assumes all risks stemming from a decision to place their fence within the easement area(s); such risks include but are not limited to having the fence damaged or removed by the easement holder or being sued by them to have you remove it from the easement. Since the Board's granting of a fence approval is based only on whether it meets the specified architectural design criteria, there exists no liability on the part of the Manors at Central Park Condo Association should the easement holders decide to enforce their easement rights.

Did you lose your kitten?

Lost kitten/cat
Please be advised that a lost grey tappy kitten has been found near the intersection of Lexington East and Lexington South. It is a very friendly kitten and it is receiving good care (feeding & water). If you lost this kitten please call 586-xxx-xxxx.

UPDATE: the cat was successfully reunited with its owner, who had just moved out and lost the cat in the confusion of the move. The owner mentioned her missing cat in passing while at the Shelby Twp. DPW to pay her final water bill and the clerk said that she knew someone who lived in Central Park and that she would ask her to keep an eye out for it. When she contacted her friend, the friend remembered seeing the "found cat" notices that had been placed on area mailboxes and went and got the finder's phone number off the notice. The clerk then called the owner and gave her the finder's phone number and the cat was quickly reunited with its owner.

Demolition of the Visteon Plant

On May 25, 2011, the Shelby Twp. Planning Commission approved the demolition permit for Ford Motor Company's contractor to begin tearing down most of the manufacturing buildings on the Visteon property that is located along the east side of Mound Road, south of 23 Mile Rd.

I attended the public hearing and took notes and also received a copy of the conditions the Planning Commission placed on the demolition contractor.

You can read all the details on this web page that I created.

Encore presentaton of "Voices of a Never Ending Dawn"

This film is about the U. S. Army's "Polar Bear" soldiers who fought the Bolshevik Red Army in North Russia during the winter of 1918-1919. My grandfather was one of those soldiers and I had a small role in the production of this film. It will be shown again on WTVS Detroit Public Television, Sunday, May 29, 2011, beginning at 2:30 PM. Click here for more information about the film.

If you would like to attend a Memorial Day service honoring our country's fallen heroes, please join us at 11:00 AM on May 30th on the grounds of White Chapel Cemetery in Troy MI. More details can be found here.

Certificate of Insurance requests

Some mortgage lenders require a Certificate of Insurance for their files whenever the Manors Condo Association's property & casualty insurance policy is renewed. If your mortgage lender is one of them, please follow the information in this posting when they notify you.

First, some background:

I've learned that condo association policies like ours all expire on the same date, nationwide. Our last policy expired on April 15, 2011 but it was automatically extended to May 1, 2011 because of delays caused by volatility in the wholesale insurance markets due to recent catastrophes around the world.

Despite the turmoil and delay, our agent's shopping-around among different wholesale insurers produced an 11.4% decrease in our 2011-2012 premium compared to last year's (and a 14% reduction compared to 2009-2010, despite having added 15 more units since then). Also, the 15 day extension was billed at the new rate. The new policy results in an $1,100 savings compared to last year's insurance costs and a favorable variance of $1,380 in our 2011 budget's insurance line item.

According to our agent at Associations Insurance Agency, Inc. (AIAI), insurance carriers do not track each unit's mortgage lender and thus cannot automatically send a Certificate of Insurance out to them when the policy is renewed. In addition to the added costs involved, it would be very difficult to "due to moves, payoffs and mortgage lenders selling to another mortgage lender", etc. Also, not all mortgage lenders require a new Certificate every time the policy is renewed. Therefore, the Certificates of Insurance are provided on a "pull system".

Here's the quickest way to obtain a Certificate of Insurance for your mortgage company:

UPDATE: As of April 2014, we have a new insurance agent and coverage is now provided by Nationwide Insurance.   CLICK HERE to read the current method for requesting a Certificate of Insurance.


1) Click here to download and print out an MS Word document containing the AIAI Certificate of Insurance Request form
2) Fill-in the required information, including the following

• a) Name of Association: Manors at Central Park Condominium Association
• b) Property Management Company: Associa Kramer-Triad Management Group
• c) Why do you need a Certificate?: my mortgage lender is requesting it
• d) Mortgagee: (insert name & address of your mortgage lender)

3) Fax or e-mail a scan of the completed form to AIAI (their fax number and e-mail address are in the upper right corner of the form). You also have the option of calling their phone number to submit your request.
4) Wait for your Certificate to be faxed or e-mailed to you
5) Forward the Certificate as instructed by your Mortgage Lender (you have 30 days to get the Certificate to them before they can impose a penalty fee).

AIAI typically sends out the Certificate within 1 hour of receiving your request during business hours, except during the 2 week period following the May 1st policy renewal date, when due to AIAI's extra workload it might take several days or more before they can get it sent out to you.

Phase 2 of the Exterior Paint Project is Set to Begin

U&S Painting will be starting work on Phase 2 of our exterior painting project sometime next week, weather permitting. Their first steps will be to powerwash the surfaces to be painted (update: this work started on May 7th), make necessary caulking repairs and replace and prime all dry-rotted trim boards. Then they will begin the painting of the exterior trim, garage doors and front doors. The painting work will probably take all month and perhaps into June. You will be notified in advance of when they plan to paint your front door. Per their advice, I am keeping with the same color for the front doors, since a lighter color will only lower the surface temperature by 10 or 15 degrees when the sun is shining directly on it through a storm door window.

As a reminder, your 2^nd and final payment for the exterior painting “Additional Assessment” is due on June 1, 2011. If you have not already done so, please remit your payment of $420 along with the 2^nd payment coupon you received a year ago.

If you are unable to find your 2^nd coupon, please remit your Additional Assessment payment as follows:

a) add the $420 to the regular $175 amount when you mail in your June 2011 monthly Condo Association dues. It will automatically be credited to your Additional Assessment.

b) If you’ve already sent in your June dues payment or if your dues is automatically withdrawn from your bank account, mail a check for $420 directly to Kramer-Triad’s office at 320 E. Big Beaver, Suite 190, Troy, MI 48083. Include a note listing your name, address and the words "Manors at Central Park Condo Association Additional Assessment payment" so that it will be properly credited.

Additional Assessment payments received after June 30, 2011 will be subject to a $25 late fee.

Click here to view a list of the Units that will be painted in Phase 2 (the units painted in last year's Phase 1 are listed here).

After the painting work is complete, we will have new mulch installed throughout the common elements.

Central Park Master Association 2011 Annual Mtg.

The Central Park Master Association 2011 Annual Meeting was held on April 20, 2011. During the discussion, members asked if links to certain information could be provided. Click on the links below and use your browser's BACK button to return here.

2011 Budget - Central Park Master Association

Parcels along the Van Dyke entrance road that are subject to reimbursing the Association for 40% of our maintenance expenditures in that area (cost allocations shown were initial estimates and are outdated)

Ciena Skilled Nursing Facility rezoning request, east of our 22 Mile Rd. entrance

Lancaster at Central Park (former Kensington Phase 2 parcel) proposed revision to the Central Park Planned Unit Development (PUD)

Declaration of Easements, Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions for the Central Park Master Community

Manors Board of Directors Meeting Minutes 4/19/2011

Minutes of the April 19, 2011
Special Meeting of the Board of Directors of the
Manors at Central Park Condominium Association

1. Meeting began at 1:05 p.m.EDT; Quorum was established with two of the three Board Members being present on the conference call. Board Members present: Amanda Jacobson (Titanium), Mike Grobbel (Manors co-owner); Board Members absent: Casey Wendeln (Titanium). Also present: Ryan Dorner (Kramer-Triad property management)

2. Approved the agenda for this meeting.

3. There were no prior Board Meeting minutes to approve.

4. The Board officers for 2011 are:

a. President - Amanda Jacobson,

b. Treasurer – Casey Wendeln,

c. Secretary – Mike Grobbel

5. 2011 Budget; discussed the current amount and status of delinquencies; MOTION: approve and adopt the 2011 Budget as presented in Dec. 2010; Yeas: Jacobson, Grobbel. MOTION PASSED

6. There were no contracts needing Board approval at this time

7. Transparency Policy for Board Meeting decisions; It was agreed that the

a. Secretary will prepare a synopsis of Board Meeting discussions and decisions for the Minutes

b. Minutes will be published on the Manors blog at http://manorsatcentralpark.blogspot.com where they may be read by Manors co-owners.

c. Minutes will be marked “Unapproved” until approved by the Board Members.

8. Transitional control planning

a. The Association’s replacement reserve account must contain an amount greater than 10% of the annual budget expenses before the Transition Meeting can be held; based on the 2011 Budget, it must therefore contain at least $25,600 (current balance is about $750).

b. President Jacobson stated that the Carpenters Pension Trust Fund is willing to contribute no more than $10,000 into the replacement reserve account at the time of Transition. This leaves a shortfall of about $14,850 that will have to come from the Association’s revenues.

c. The Association’s 2011 Budget shows a favorable excess of revenue vs. budgeted expenses of $12,880. Knowing that our recent operations cash account balance has been adequate to conduct the Association’s business and assuming that our delinquency level does not grow during 2011, this is money that can be moved to the replacement reserve account as it accrues. MOTION: direct Kramer-Triad to begin making $1,000 monthly additions to the replacement reserve account, retroactive to Jan. 2011. Yeas: Jacobson, Grobbel. MOTION PASSED

d. Given $1,000 monthly additions to the replacement reserve account effective Jan. 2011, the earliest the account will contain the necessary $15,600 to enable Transition will be March 2012. This date can be moved earlier in direct correlation with how successful the Association is in collecting the current outstanding delinquencies, which totaled $10,500 as of March 31, 2011. President Jacobson stated that she and/or Treasurer Wendeln will attend the Transition Meeting when it is held.

e. President Jacobson stated that when the Board decides to levy an additional assessment to pay for the shortfall on the final layer asphalt paving project, the Carpenters Pension Trust Fund is willing to pay the per-unit additional assessment amount for each of their 47 units that have not been constructed. This commitment is independent of whether the additional assessment is levied before or after Transition and is based on the Board’s assumption that Shelby Twp. will contribute the full amount of the letter of credit they received in 2003 to guarantee the final paving.

9. There was no New Business to be discussed.

10. The next Regular Board Meeting is scheduled for a conference call to begin at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Oct. 12, 2011.

11. Meeting was adjourned at 1:59 p.m. EDT.

Be on the lookout!

Skunks have been spotted in several different locations on the Manors grounds in recent weeks. The sightings have been around dusk in the rear yards between Lexington East and Watling and in the front yards along Regent. I don't know whether this is the same animal or different ones and in each case, the animal was walking out in the open.

I have spoken with the folks at "Critter Control" and for best results they need to know where the skunk's burrow is located so they can place their trap as close as possible to it. Otherwise, the trap is more likely to collect other harmless species such as rabbits.

If you spot a skunk on our grounds, please let me know when and where. Be particularly on the lookout for evidence of skunk activity, such as lawn damage where they have been searching for grubs and worms or holes under decks or near landscaping where they are creating shelter. Skunks are generally more active at night and retire to their den during the daylight hours, where the female raises her litter of kits that are typically born in the month of May.

Packard Proving Grounds "Spring Open House"

Our neighbor, the Packard Proving Grounds, will hold their "Spring Open House & Cruise-in Classic Car Show" on Sunday, May 1 from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM - rain or shine.

• Listen to the Johnny Trudell Orchestra
• Visit the Petting Zoo
• Ride the Firetruck and the Big Wheel (weather permitting)
• Admire the 200+ classic cars on display including those belonging to members of the Packard Club
• Bake Sale and Raffles all afternoon
• Gift Shop will be open for business
• Hot Dogs, Pop, Water and Chips will be available for purchase at a modest cost.
• Everything else is FREE, but they would never turn down a donation.
• Questions? Call 586-739-4800

April 20th meeting of the Central Park Master Association

You should have recently received the mailing from Kramer-Triad announcing the 2011 annual meeting of the Central Park Master Association, which will be held on Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at the Shelby Twp. Municipal Building. Sign-in starts at 6:00 p.m. and the meeting will begin promptly at 7:00 p.m.

The Central Park Master Association is the homeowners association for the entire Central Park planned unit development, which includes the Manors and Kensington Condos, along with the Meadows and Gardens single family subdivisions. The Association is responsible for maintaining the Central Park ring roads and streetlighting as well as all of the retention ponds and landscaping in the Community Areas. The Community Areas locations can be viewed by clicking on the "Exhibit C" link on this page).

The Central Park Master Association's 2011 Budget can be viewed here. All owners in the Central Park developments pay $190 per year to fund the Master Association's budget. The Manors Condo Association pays the annual $190 fee for all Manors co-owners from our budgeted revenues.

Each of the four developments in Central Park have the right to elect one representative to the Master Association's Board of Directors. The Board members serve staggered two-year terms and it's the Manors and Kensington Board member's terms that expire this year. I have already been nominated to run again and I believe that Ted McCoy also intends to run again for the Kensington spot on the Board.

All owners in the four Central Park developments are entitled to vote for the Manors and Kensington Board representatives. We need to have at least 35% of all the owners represented either in person at the meeting or by their General Proxy in order to legally hold the annual meeting and election. Currently, there is no other business to be voted on at the meeting, however it is possible that someone could bring up an issue from the floor that could be voted on that evening.

If we cannot obtain a quorum on the 20th, we will have to reschedule the meeting for another date and incur the additional cost of another mass mailing to notify everyone. Therefore, if there is the slightest possibility that you cannot attend the annual meeting on the 20th, please sign and return the General Proxy to Kramer-Triad so it will count towards the quorum. If it turns out that you can attend the meeting, your Proxy will be returned to you at the door when you sign-in.

Call me at 726-0317 if you have any questions about the General Proxy or if you would like me to take it to the meeting for you and save a stamp.

See you on the 20th!

Winter's finally over - I hope!

It's been a long, cold and snowy winter! Now that the weather has warmed up - somewhat - I've been out and about assessing some of the snow-removal damage which you may have also noticed.

• I've found (4) broken sprinkler heads that will need replacement. Let me know if you spot any other broken heads that are not already marked with a green flag.
• I also tried replacing many of the pieces of turf that had been peeled back by the snowplow blades. If they don't green-up, the patches will be either seeded or sodded once we have the irrigation system turned on for the season.
• One of the "no-parking" sign posts on Lexington South was hit by the snow removal equipment and will need to be replaced.
  
• Numerous garage doors were scraped and dented by their pick-up snowplow driver. Instead of manually clearing the strip in front of the garage door, apparently the driver tried to drop the blade right next to the door but didn't allow for the pivoting motion and as a result he scraped and dented many of our doors.
  

I personally prepared a list of all garage doors with damage and identified whether or not the doors had already been painted last summer. I also identified several doors that appear to have been damaged beyond repair and which will likely need to have the entire bottom panel replaced. I then held a meeting here last week with Grant Meldrum (the company owner) and Ryan Dorner of Kramer-Triad. We walked the property and inspected the damages. Grant will repair/replace everything I identified and at his expense. The only exceptions are:

• I agreed to replace the broken sprinkler heads so that I know the replacements will be the same brand as the others and that they will be installed slightly below grade so they won't be damaged again next year.
• I will provide him with the one-gallon can of exterior paint that our exterior painting contractor left with me last summer just for this sort of need. He will use it to paint the damaged/replaced portions of doors which were just painted last summer as part of the Phase 1 painting project. He will have all of the other doors repaired on Phase 2 units prior to the start of the Phase 2 exterior painting in May of this year.
  

Grant's personnel will begin working on the garage door repairs mid-month once the weather warms up. Co-owners will be notified in advance if they need to have access to the inside of your garage to perform the door repair/replacement.

AT&T U-verse Update

As I mentioned late last summer, AT&T technicians were prepping the hardware in our rear yards in advance of making their AT&T U-verse service available to residents of the Manors.

Several weeks ago their salespeople were here in the Manors going door-to-door offering introductory pricing to those who signed up for U-verse. A co-owner tells me that she signed up for the U-verse service and when the technician came out to begin the installation, he discovered that there was insufficient signal strength at the connection point in the rear yard. He said that the only way he could make a satisfactory installation would be to mount an amplifier on the exterior of the building and therefore the co-owner declined to have the service installed. She did not want to take a chance on getting a marginal signal plus she didn't want to have to prepare and submit an Alteration Modification Request for the amplifier installation.

I just now entered my address in the "Can I get U-verse?" box on this page and got the following answer (click to enlarge):

Snow removal

Our snow removal contractor here at the Manors tells me that he will be making every effort to keep the roads and drives cleared during the snowstorms that are predicted for tonight, Tuesday evening and all day Wednesday, but that the sidewalks will likely not be cleared until the wind dies down (which from what I am reading might not be until sometime early Thursday). He said that his crew will be bringing in two front end loaders to clear and haul the snow to an empty lot area simultaneously, rather than first clearing it into piles and then hauling it away later.

Please avoid parking on our streets and private access drives until Friday so that the snow removal crews can freely operate their heavy equipment and efficiently clear off our roads and drives.

Minutes of the Annual Meeting held on Jan. 19, 2011

Click here to read the unapproved minutes of the Annual Meeting.