MINUTES OF THE JANUARY 11, 2023 MEETING OF THE
BROOKRIDGE CONDOMINIUM AND HOMEOWNERS' ASSOCIATION
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The January 11, 2023 meeting of the Brookridge Condominium and Homeowners' Board of Directors was held at Leslie Molinoff’s house Present at the meeting were: Paul Spindel, President; Monica Teuscher, Vice President; Leslie Molinoff, Secretary; Paul Roberts, Treasurer, and Ann Gittelman, Member at Large - all of whom are Directors constituting a quorum.
Also present was Joe Badolato, Brookridge’s new Property Manager and Michael Leonard, Assistant Property Manager.
Paul Spindel acted as Chair of the meeting and Leslie Molinoff took the minutes.
CALL TO ORDER AT 5:30 PM.
Treasurer’s Report – Paul Roberts: Cash balances as of 12/31/2023:
NCB Operating Account - $19,537
NCB Reserve Account - $88,066
Signature Bank MM Account (1893) - $114,535
(Note: on January 12, 2023, $100,000
T-Bill was purchased for $97,722 effective
interest rate of 4.66%] which will mature on July 13, 2023.
Signature Securities Brokerage Account (6703) - $392,231
(Note: $400,000 T-Bill matures May 2023). =======
Total cash - $613,460
Please see approved 2023 budget.
Tax Grievance Report – Leslie Molinoff: To reiterate what appeared in the November Board minutes….
”AT LONG LAST, PROGRESS!!!
A settlement conference with the City of New Rochelle was held on November 17th at which time NR finally acknowledged that we became a condo in 2018. The basis for our newly calculated tax assessment will be the rental value of our 42- unit condo. We have the 2018 assessed rental value which was prepared by our appraiser and our attorney is now working with him to determine the lowest rental value for the subsequent years that they think the City will accept. Those yearly values will determine how much lesser our taxes would have been and what refund are we due, which will be the substance of on-going negotiations with the City. The appraised rental value of our units will determine each individual unit owner’s tax assessment going forward. Those assessments will be locked in for 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. A second settlement conference is scheduled for Dec. 15th. We will report any progress to the community at that time.”
Update since November – Our attorney has presented to the City Attorney the updated assessed rental value prepared by our appraiser which now includes 2019, 2020 and 2021 (in addition to 2018) and is waiting for a response as to what rental values the City will accept. A settlement conference to further negotiate this issue is scheduled for January 26th.
Entrance Gate Opening: Our gate directory is organized by house number followed by name and telephone number. If someone calls you from the gate, all you need to do is hit “0” then “9” and the gate should open for them. If you would like to update the phone number in the directory (hard line or cell number), please let Michael Leonard, our Assistant Property Manager, know and he will take care of it. He can be reached at 914-816-2386 or mleonard@ferraramgmt.com.
General Notice About Infrastructure Repairs and Replacements – As we all know that we are an aging community (infrastructure only, certainly not us, folks!!!), we can anticipate that repairs and replacements will be needed to such things as drainage pipes, sewer lines, garage doors and the like.
With regard to drainage pipes or sewer lines, should they need cleaning, repair or replacement, please bear in mind that the cost is the unit owner’s responsibility, UNLESS the affected pipes are shared by multiple units and are on common property, in which case the cost would be borne by the HOA/COA. Many homeowner’s insurance policies cover sewer-line cleaning so make sure you check your policy if need be.
With regard to our garage doors, they are 40 years old and some will soon fail beyond the point of repair. Mark Morzello can no longer get parts and can no longer replace them. After an extensive search, the Board has identified only one company, Whitiker Doors in Brewster, NY, that can build a custom wooden door that would match our existing doors. Their base price is $7,000. Adding a new motor, a custom paint finish and factoring in inflation, the cost could run as high as $10,000, if not more. The time required for delivery is 6 months.
Commercial doors are readily available and can be installed for $3,500 or less, including new rails and springs. Unfortunately, none of the commercial door designs match our current door.
Questions:
Should the HOA/COA change its policy of maintaining architectural uniformity for the front of our units and permit installation of commercial doors?
If we go the commercial route, should there be one design approved which all unit owners would be required to use?
Waiting six months for a new, very costly custom door while having to leave the garage open, or having a hodgepodge of different commercial garage door designs sprinkled through the community both seem to be untenable solutions. These are thorny questions/issues which require input from the community.
WHAT WOULD YOU SUGGEST?
Feel free to email your ideas through the Brookridge website system.
The next Board meeting will be held on March 15th, 2023 at Ann Gittelman’s house.
There being no further business before the Board, upon motion made and duly seconded, the meeting was adjourned at 6:30 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Leslie Molinoff, Secretary