A new era of fiscal responsibility

The era of reckless runaway spending at International Village is over.

At its first regular Board of Directors meeting since last month’s watershed election, the new Board majority on Tuesday made clear its commitment to bring our budget under control and avoid unnecessary special assessments by carefully prioritizing spending and resisting calls to take on expensive new projects. (See 3/25/14 video here.)

Our new Board President Marcio Jaspan signaled the sharp break with the past in his inaugural President’s Message, in which he laid out his vision for fiscal responsibility – a new focus that has already resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings.

Marcio, the first licensed engineer we have had on the Board in years, announced that he recently inspected the Nottingham building roof and has determined that it won’t need replacing for a number of years – contrary to Criterium Inspection Engineers’ now-infamous 2012 engineering report. (Owners who need a refresher on the many issues with Criterium Engineers can read my blog post from April 2013 HERE.)

The Nottingham roof replacement – estimated at $300,000 – was one of several projects included in a proposed $1.4million special assessment package that the old Board tried to pass late last year before unit owners bombarded them with complaints. Also included in that list was $150,000 for balcony edge repairs, based on estimated contractor prices. But as Marcio explained on Tuesday, in his expert opinion most of the several dozen balconies that need fixing can be handled by our maintenance staff at a mere fraction of the cost (as has been done in past years). To that end, he has instructed maintenance to begin repairing the first of these balconies as a demonstration project. Combined with a host of operational efficiencies that will be taking place, including energy conservation measures, these savings should leave us with enough money on hand to resume the long-delayed remodeling of our buildings.  

Marcio also announced his plans to tighten the tenant-screening process to address the growing number of complaints about tenants breaking condo rules and lowering their neighbors’ quality of life. By a vote of 5-2, with Frances Mesirow and Marc Richman opposed, the Board approved Marcio’s proposal to develop procedures to require all prospective tenants to undergo an in-person interview prior to being approved for a lease.

In other actions:

• The Board announced the creation of two new committees: A Finance Committee to help make sure every dollar of owners’ money is spent wisely, and a Condo Docs and Rules & Regulations Committee to improve how we govern ourselves as an association. If you are interested in joining either of these committees, please reply to this email so I can let our President know.

• Management has been instructed to begin airing Board meetings and other association-related programming and interviews on Channel 92, our cable access channel. We also will be selling advertising time on the channel. Please let us know if you're interested. 

In other news, International Village residents are being invited to a Yard Sale this Saturday, March 29 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the clubhouse. Bring your used clothes, decorations, kitchenware and other household items to sell for some extra change, or just drop by to check out the bargains.