Summary: October 31, 2011 Annual Meeting

The Annual Meeting of The Fort Sumter House Association was called to order by the president, George Boniface, at 6:30 on Monday, October 31, 2011.

Members of the Board of Directors in attendance were:

George Boniface – President
Dick Donohoe – Vice President
Jay Jacobs – Treasurer
Beth Dixon – Secretary
Joy Jarvis – Member

Also present at the meeting was Joe Yetsko – Manager of FSH.

On behalf of the FSHA Board of Directors, George Boniface took a moment before the meeting to recognize Jay and Helen Jacobs for their many years of service to the Association. Jay has served on the Board and Helen on the Building & Grounds Committee for many years. Many thanks to both of them!

1. Calling of the Role and Certifying Proxies
Joe Yetsko and another homeowner confirmed that there were 12 owners in attendance and 10 owners who sent in a proxy. This represented 46.47% of owners and did not satisfy the quorum requirement (> 50%) for a valid meeting. The percentage of ownership is based on square footage owned, not headcount.

• Present:                              12  (28.04% of ownership)
• Proxy:                                  10  (18.43% of ownership)
• Not present / no proxy:   31  (53.53% of ownership)

2. Proof of Notice of the Meeting
Proof of notice of the meeting was confirmed. The letter scheduling the meeting was dated and mailed on October 10, 2011, meeting the requirements of the Master Deed.

3. Approval of Last Meeting Minutes
The minutes from the 2010 Annual Meeting were approved.

4. President’s Report:
Welcome to New Owners:

• We have 3 new owners this year:

Blase and Cathy Carabello (#105)
Justin and Cherie Corbett (#208)
Patrick Abarta (#504)

Status of Balcony Repairs:

• The repairs to the balconies and railings are almost complete. We began the project with repairs to the 31 balconies and are now finishing the railings on the second floor south terrace. We had an engineer inspect the railings on the 6 larger balconies on the west side. Previously we had repaired the vertical support columns on these balconies. The engineer confirmed in a letter that the railing repairs are cosmetic and do not pose a safely concern. Joe Yetsko and staff employees will follow the engineer’s instructions to repair these railings on the 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th floors. The board expects the total cost of this project to be approximately $300,000.00.
• An owner asked if there were other safety issues that needed to be addressed in the building. The board is not aware of any other safety issues that we need to address, however the elevators do present a concern. Recently 2 residents got stuck half-way between floors and had to be assisted to exit the elevator.

Assessment Beginning in 2012:

• We have used the money in the reserve account to pay for the repairs to the balconies and railings. This account is now down to about $50,000.00. Banks and mortgage companies expect homeowner associations to maintain a healthy balance in their reserve account.
• Each association member will be assessed for the $300,000.00 that was spent to repair and recondition the balconies and railings based on their percentage ownership. The assessment will be billed with the regime fee in equal payments for six months beginning in January, 2012.

Maintenance / Repair List:

• The maintenance / repair list was mailed in the October 10, 2011 mailing to all owners.
• Elevator protection devices were installed last month after the incident with two residents getting stuck on one of the elevators. This fix cost $4200.00 (for both elevators) and is forward compatible with any upgrade made to the system.
• One item we expect to address in 2012 is the air handler that heats and cools the lobby. It needs to be replaced.
• The board is interested in getting surveillance cameras to help with security concerns. We anticipate investigating this further in 2012.
• We will also investigate an upgrade to the fire alarm system.
• One item on the list, cooling tower start up motor, would reduce the motor noise, but may not be needed if we upgrade the HVAC system.

Financial Report:

• The financial statements were mailed in the October 10, 2011 mailing to all owners.
• We have spent 90% of the 2011 budget. We should be closer to 83%. But this is partly due to our setting aside money for the reserve account each month. We budgeted to build up the reserve account anticipating that this will facilitate scheduling maintenance items instead of assessing owners for them.

New Employees:

• We have hired two new employees. Joseph McNeil is the new building custodian and Chris Weiner is the new maintenance technician.

5. Amendment for Limits on Commercial Units (Vote):
The amendment to Section 6, Nuisance, of Exhibit G of the Master Deed to restrict usage of the 1^st floor commercial units did not pass. The ballots returned represented 68.81% of total ownership. We need to have 66.66% of 100% ownership vote in favor of an amendment for it to pass. The percentage of ownership is based on square footage owned, not headcount.

• Here are the results of the voting:   34 of 53 ballots were returned.

• Approve:                         26  (50.58% of ownership)
• Disapprove:                      8  (18.23% of ownership)
• No ballot / No proxy:    19  (31.19% of ownership)

6. Amendment for 6 Months Minimum Rental of Apartments (Vote):
The amendment to Master Deed Paragraph 17 (i) Sale or Lease did not pass. The ballots returned represented 68.81% of total ownership. We need to have 66.66% of 100% ownership vote in favor of an amendment for it to pass. The percentage of ownership is based on square footage owned, not headcount.

• Here are the results of the voting:  34 of 53 ballots were returned.

• Approve:                        26  (52.48% of ownership)
• Disapprove:                     8  (18.08% of ownership)
• No ballot / No proxy:   19  (29.44% of ownership)

7. Unfinished Business:
There was no unfinished business.

8. New Business:
There was no new business.

9. Election of Board Members:
A notification letter about the Annual Meeting and election of officers was duly sent out on October 10, 2011, as required by the Master Deed. Dick Donohoe, Glenn DeBiasi, and Beth Dixon were elected to the Board for two (2) year terms by majority vote.

10. Adjournment
A motion was made to adjourn the meeting and it was seconded.