MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE
BROOKRIDGE CONDOMINIUM AND HOMEOWNERS' ASSOCIATION
https://sites.google.com/site/brookridgehoa/Home
The annual meeting of the Brookridge Condominium and Homeowners' Board of /Managers/Directors was held on June 11, 2024 at the JCMW. Present at the meeting were: Paul Spindel (Unit 1), President; Monica Teuscher (Unit 43), Vice President; Leslie Molinoff (Unit 45), Secretary; Paul Roberts (Unit 40), Treasurer, and Ann Gittelman (Unit 31), Member at Large - all of whom are Managers/Directors constituting a quorum.
Also present were Tom Pallman, Gramatan Management Property Manager, Luisa Ravitch, Assistant Property Manager and owner representatives from units 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, 15, 16, 21, 29, 37, 39, 40, 41, 44, 47, 48, 49, 51, 52, 53, 54 and 55.
Paul Spindel acted as Chair of the meeting and Leslie Molinoff took the minutes.
CALL TO ORDER AT 7:30 PM.
The President introduced the Board and the Gramatan Management representatives. He also acknowledged the passing of Elliott Malki (Unit #47) and announced that we have 3 new grandmothers in the community – MaryLou Leal, Jullie Arkin and Diane Walsh (and, by inference, a new Grandpa, Bruce Walsh!!!). Congratulations to all.
He introduced 3 new owners and welcomed them to Brookridge:
Peter Blumenthal and Lisa Dorman – Unit 41
Tom and Diane Silver – Unit 16
Mark and Margie Solow – Unit 12
On a humorous note, he acknowledged Vivian Rubin as the winner of last year’s Green Thumb Award and announced Monica Teuscher as the winner of the 2024 Green Thumb Award in recognition of all the work she does on an ongoing basis to maintain our landscaping and trees (and just about everything else around the property). She is truly a treasure!
President’s Report – Paul Spindel:
Paul acknowledged the hiring of our new management company, Gramatan Management, in January so that we could maintain an on-going relationship with our former property manager of many years, Tom Pallman, who is now employed by Gramatan. We are delighted to be working with Tom once again and missed him sorely when he retired from Ferrara.
He discussed the role of the Board in solving community problems versus the responsibility of individual unit owners to solve problems themselves. The Board is responsible for the management of the common areas but issues between unit owners or problems arising in an individual’s unit or on his back or front yard area are the responsibility of that unit owner.
Paul mentioned that this year we came to a final resolution of our condo conversion/property tax issue, spearheaded by Leslie Molinoff, who gave a summary later in the meeting. He remarked about how fortunate we are to have the involvement of a number of unit owner volunteers who contribute to the maintenance of and improvements to the community, i.e.:
a) We have a number of people (“the Friends of the Pool”) who help with the testing of the chemicals 3 times daily, a task which would otherwise require the hiring of a professional;
b) We received input from Andi Stix and Elliott Malki, who each did an enormous amount of research on solar panels on behalf of the community, and, as a result, Andi has installed solar panels and several other unit owners are following suit;
c) Andi was also very involved in the color selection for the exterior painting of the units several years ago;
d) We continue to have extensive input from Ned Greenberg, our resident horticulturist, about the upkeep of our plantings in our newly created Natural Meadow which he designed. He gave a presentation about the Meadow later in the meeting.
In summary, it is the involvement of so many of our residents that makes us a cohesive community, and for that, the Board is thankful.
Treasurer’s Report – Paul Roberts
Cash balances as of 5/31/2024:
Webster Bank Checking Account - $172,839
Flagstar Bank MM Account (1893) - $19,406
Flagstar Securities Brokerage MM Account (6703) - $219,437
Flagstar Securities Brokerage Account (6703) - $200,000
(Note: $200,000 CD matures Sept 2024)
Flagstar Securities Brokerage Account (6703) - $100,000
(Note: $100,000 CD matures July 2024)
Flagstar Securities Brokerage Account (6703) - $97,505
(Note: $100,000 T-Bill matures July 2024)
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Total cash - $809,187
Our common charges have NOT increased for the last 5 ½ years and we were able to repaint the community without having to levy an assessment. We do anticipate a major expense within a few years, probably to commence in 2026, which will be the re-paving of the road.
Landscaping Report – Monica
We have competed the planting of 12 pine trees on the perimeter of the community along the spur that leads from Quaker Ridge Road down to Pinebrook Blvd. We have also installed our Natural Meadow below the community vegetable garden. Monica introduced Ned Greenberg who spoke about the Meadow.
Paint Touch-Up, Pool, Tennis/Pickleball Court, and POOP - Ann Gittelman
Paint Touch-Up - Our first of two contractual paint touch-ups will start with Certa Pro doing a walk-through of the premises on June 24th. Please let Ann G. know if you have any particular areas which need attention, otherwise Certa Pro will make note of any noticeable touch up spots.
Pool – Just a reminder that unit owners should have no more than a group of 6 guests (including themselves) at the pool at any one time to avoid general overcrowding, especially on weekends. Please observe this rule and please remember to close umbrellas and return lounges and chairs to the pool deck before leaving. Also take any trash home with you. Trash in the pool receptacle is only picked up twice a week.
Tennis/Pickleball Court - The court continues to get more and more use, which is great since it is one of our primary amenities. It will be power washed shortly to ensure that it is clean and there are no slippery areas. There is a sign-up sheet for reserving time. If you can’t use your time, please remove your reservation in a timely fashion to allow for others to book that hour. You may sign up for two hours a week, as long as they are not consecutive.
Our dog poop problem is getting better!!!!! Thank you to all who are being good citizens and cleaning up after their pooches. Now that we are experiencing the intense heat of summer, it is particularly important for dog owners, their guests and dog walkers to continue to collect their poop and deposit it in the dog owner’s garbage pails, NOT in the receptacle at the tennis court or pool.
Property Tax Reduction – Leslie Molinoff
For the benefit of new unit owners, Leslie did a brief summary of our condo conversion project. The project was started in the summer of 2017 and was not finally approved until July of 2023. The delay was caused by two units being unwilling to participate, the onset of COVID and many technical legal issues. However, a settlement was finally reached last summer and we received our first reduction in our tax bills in October of 2023 (applied to the first half of the school tax bill). The average reduction was approximately 30%, give or take a few percentage points, depending on, among other things, how often the taxes on a particular unit had been grieved previously. Since our settlement with the City was retroactive to 2019, we were also issued refund checks last November for overpayments from 2019-2022. Our newly reduced assessments will be frozen for 2024 and 2025 so our taxes cannot be grieved during that period. Our attorney has advised that any future grievances should be done as a community. Individual unit owners are NOT precluded from grieving on their own, but the process for an individual condo owner is very complicated, expensive and requires hiring an attorney.
Results of Election of 2 Board Members: Two Board members were up for re-election: Monica Teuscher, Vice President and Ann Gittelman, Board Member at Large. Since there were no other unit owners who stood for election, Monica and Ann were re-elected by acclamation. Congratulations!!!
Questions from the Community and Responses from Board Members:
Can we turn on the heat in the pool? It takes 4-5 hours for the heat to increase in the pool. It is wasteful and expensive to heat it when no one is using it. There is no easy solution. The recommendation is to call Monica the night before you would like the heat turned on for you or your guests, and she will turn it on at 7 a.m. so that by 11 am or noon, it will be warmer. Mark Solow mentioned changing to natural gas to get steady heat.
Can the sprinkler system timing be changed to suit an individual unit owner’s schedule? – The system only has one timer which can’t be individualized. It starts at the top of the community and works its way down.
Can we build a bathroom at the pool? The sewage would be a major issue and it would need to be cleaned at least once, if not more times daily, which would become a significant expense.
Can we install more modern speed bumps that are less hard on our cars and our bodies? Tom has looked into it. Any speed bumps we install need to be removable for our snow plows. The cost for that type of speed bumps is excessive. When we re-pave the roads in a few years, we will look into installing bumps as part of that project. Perhaps we will be able to install speed bumps that are built into the paving which can accommodate snow plows.
What is the status of Unit 6? - Paul Spindel explained the history of Unit 6 for the benefit of our new residents but said the bottom line is that the estate of the deceased owner, not the resident “squatters,” is responsible for the fees we are owed. The estate is in the hands of the courts. Wells Fargo, the mortgage holder, is paying the mortgage payments and property taxes and is trying to foreclose, but they are dragging their feet and the courts have been backed up since COVID in setting a hearing date for Wells Fargo to present their numbers for recoupment. We will never recoup our arrears in common charges because we are behind Wells Fargo in the line of creditors, and they are claiming over a million dollars in back mortgage payments and property taxes. The best we can do is try to push Wells Fargo to move toward a foreclosure. Several of our residents have also suggested we once again try to put pressure on the “squatters.” One of the squatters is a lawyer and could be harassed as a “dead beat.” She is clearly not upholding the standards of professional conduct for attorneys set forth by the Westchester Bar Association. Leslie said she would do a deep dive into this situation in the Fall.
Can our street light poles be replaced? Some have rust spots. Tom is dealing with this as a repair issue and is also getting a proposal for the replacement of all the poles.
Can we install solar panels on common property which would supply electricity to the whole community? Andi Stix has looked into this and has been told that our common areas are too wet.
Are we budgeting for major projects? Yes.
Should we be taking out a line of credit for emergencies? We feel our reserves and our insurance coverage is sufficient for any emergencies.
A number of issues were raised requiring Vitti’s input into individual unit owner’s problems with sprinklers not working, capping off sprinklers, drainage issues, clogged gutters and pruning of shrubs. The Board has been advised that, as of this writing, Vitti has taken care of all of these issues.
The next Board meeting will be held on July 23rd at Monica Teuscher’s house.
There being no further business before the Board, upon motion made and duly seconded, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:30 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Leslie Molinoff, Secretary