Ask for contractor references

Recently, there have been several different contractors soliciting work within the Manors for things like replacement windows, interior painting, home security systems, deck maintenance, etc.  A favorite line is that "I'm in the vicinity doing a job for (insert name) and ......." or "I'm doing a job over on the next street and ...."

When they come to my door and give me that kind of line, I let them know that "I'm on the Board and I don't recognize that name" or I ask them the name of the street and their response is always, "I can't remember, but it's two streets over."  In most cases, that is the end of their solicitation and they just turn around and leave.

I also hear about other solicitations from co-owners who call me to tip me off about a suspicious salesperson or ask if the salesman's claim that they are recommended by the Board is true, etc.  I also often hear from both satisfied and unsatisfied co-owners about the performance of specific contractors who did work for them.

Please be very careful before you agree to have work done by any contractor.  Always ask for references and check them out. 

You can ask me or another Board member if the contractor has been doing work in here or if we know the name of a contractor that has performed satisfactory work for a Manors co-owner.   We can also put you in contact with a Manors co-owner if the contractor provides an address as a reference.

If you are satisfied with someone who has done a good job for you, let me know and I can add them to a section of this blog.

Lawn appearance

Note the nice, green swath of lawn behind the tree which received enough shade from the tree on May 17 & 18 to avoid getting dried out like the lawn in front of and farther behind the tree (taken at 3 PM, looking north).

The stressed appearance of the lawns is due to the very low humidity (<30%) we had last Thursday and Friday (May 17 & 18) along with those cloudless skies and temps in the upper 80s.  The blazing sun and hot, dry wind turned the shadeless grass into straw.

While we had received about 0.95 inch of rain between May 7th and 12th, only 0.1 inch of rain fell between May 13th and the 18th.  So the lawn was already dried-out when it got hammered on the 17th and 18th.

The stressed-out areas of lawn will slowly recover now that we are watering it nightly, which began last Friday night (May 18th) after the water meters were installed earlier that day.

BoD Meeting Minutes - March 30, 2012

Approved Minutes of the 30 March 2012

Meeting of the Board of Directors of the

Manors at Central Park Condominium Association

1.      Meeting was held at the offices of Kramer-Triad Management Group, L.L.C.,

      320 East Big Beaver Road, Ste 190, Troy, MI 48083.

2.      Meeting began at 10:08 AM EDT; Quorum was established with three Board Members being present.  Board Members present: President Mike Grobbel, Treasurer Larry Cybulski, and Secretary Bhartan Amin.  Also present: Ryan Dorner (Kramer-Triad property management).

3.      Approved the agenda for this meeting.

4.      The Board formally approved the 22 February 2012, meeting minutes.

5.      Management Report presented by Ryan Dorner.

a.       The Board approved to get the Association’s FHA approval, not to exceed $1,000.  Authorize Wegner and Associates to file for the recertification.

b.      According to the Detroit Free Press, Shelby Township’s water rates can increase by 5% for the 2012-13 fiscal year that begins in July.

c.       There is an issue with the 550 style vents and interior leaks in the unit.  The Board asked Ryan to obtain bids to replace these vents with snow-proof vents.

d.      Ryan to obtain updated lawn repair estimate from Grant Meldrum (GM Prolawn).

e.       Due to damage caused by vehicles at the corners of private access drives, the Board approved to install 3 boulders per corner, for the total of 18 at the cost of $450.  Will not use the crushed limestone.

f.        The Board reviewed an Alteration / Modification Request for a satellite dish installation in the non-approved location.  The request was denied.

g.       The Board reviewed the updated Renters’ report.

h.       The Board reviewed the Violation report.

i.         The Board reviewed the Open and Closed Work Order reports for the month of February 2012.

6.      Discussion

a.       A special election for the final layer of asphalt paving will take place on 14 April 2012.  There are no updates from the Shelby Township.

                      i.      Update:  The election was held on 14^th of April and the measure for the special assessment passed.  Approved by 74.97% of the members in value, with 119 ballots cast in favor and 4 ballots opposed.

b.      The GM Prolawn will repair garage doors in the second week of April.  The notices will be sent out by the 6^th of April.

c.       Need to amend Bylaws to permit recovery of attorney fees.

d.      Radon detector loan policy and use agreement was reviewed and approved.

e.       Window issues at units on Lexington Ave East and Watling.  The co-owners are unable to locate any window repair facility for just one window.  Ryan to get bids from a window repair facility.

                      i.      Update: Ryan obtained a bid from Independent Window Repair, Inc.  The Board has forwarded the bid to co-owners.

7.      The next regular Board meeting is scheduled for Friday, 8 June 2012, at 10:00 AM EDT, at the Kramer-Triad office on Big Beaver Road, Troy.

a.       Update: Meeting is rescheduled for Monday, 18 June 2012, 7:00 PM EDT at the residence of the President Mike Grobbel.

8.      Meeting was adjourned at 12:22 PM EDT.

Visteon demolition update thru May 10. 2012

UPDATED:
Click here for photos showing the demolition progress through July 12, 2012, along with the air monitoring report.

Columbia Technologies appears to have finished their underground soil mapping project for the Ford Motor Company that took place on the vacant parcel to the north of the Manors and Kensington condos.

Your Special Assessment coupon book is in the mail

You should have received your Special Assessment coupon book in today's mail.  This is the Special Assessment that was approved at the election held on April 14, 2012 to pay for the paving of the final layer of asphalt paving on our roadways.

Your first payment is due on June 1, 2012 and a late fee is added if it is not received by the 10th.  You may make your payments in up to six separate installments, with the final payment being due on Nov. 1, 2012.   If you would prefer, you may also make your payments earlier by paying some or all of the installments in advance.  To do so, just include a single coupon with your check and indicate upon the coupon the check number and the total amount it is made out for.

The Board of Directors anticipates that the paving will be finished sometime between August 15th and November 15th of this year.  We will post more paving information on this blog as it becomes available.

Demolition started on former Visteon Plant

East side of Building #16, May 3, 2012.

Demolition of the former Ford/Visteon/ACH automotive trim plant located just to the west of the Manors began on Saturday, April 28, 2012.  Building #16 is the first structure on the property to fall to the demolition crew.  Their work hours are from 7:00 AM until 7:00 PM, Monday through Saturday.  Building demolition should be completed by around September 1st after which work will continue on the removal of underground utilities, concrete slabs and building foundations.  The last phase of the project will involve remediation of contaminated soil, final grading and grass seeding.

I have attended several meetings at the Shelby Twp. Municipal building that have been held about this project to make sure that potential issues with noise, air and water contamination have been adequately addressed. Everything I have learned has been documented on this web page which also includes some recent photographs.  Over the coming weeks, I will be adding weekly air quality testing results and photos to track the demolition progress, so you might want to bookmark that page for future reference.

You may have noticed recent contractor activity on the vacant parcel to the north of the Manors and Kensington.  That crew was drilling additional water monitoring test wells that will be used to check the underground water quality and verify that it has not been polluted by the contaminated soil on the Visteon parcel.

Protect yourself!

Sgt. Cazabon of the Shelby Township Police Department was unable to attend the annual meeting of the Central Park Master Community Association on April 18th.

Click here to learn what he had planned to present that evening.

"Thanks" to our Clean-up Day volunteers

I'd like to publicly thank our Manors volunteers who helped pick up trash off of the Central Park Community Areas on Saturday, April 28, 2012:

• Darlene Sobieski
• Bhartin Amin
• Donna Lombus
• Steve Kozlowski
• Bruce Bouford
• Larry Cybulski
• Kathy Grobbel
• Rita Bonanni

More Clean-up Day information and photos can be found here on the Central Park Master Community Association blog.