Friday, April 17, 2009
Parkridge Votes NO on Assessment
My memory of the announcement is 45 votes against the assessment, 40 for and the number that surprises me most...51 units did not vote at all. Thanks so much to Sally, Kelly and Kim for all the time, dedication, research and preparation. When asked if they would stay continue to volunteer or resign, Sally & Kelly said the board intends to to go back to the drawing board to attempt to come up with a plan that 45 no votes can handle. Actually 3 converted votes from no to yes would do the trick. No other residents, including myself, volunteered to run for a board position in the election.
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3 comments:
I just hope none of those "no voters" are complaining about their roofs leaking, their plumbing, the empty pool, or the dry rot.
Greg, #86
I think the board did not do the worlds' greatest job of communicating the purpose and goals of the various projects described on that special assessment.
For example, consider the pool and spa. I was on the board for 8 years and I don't think we spent $1000 total on the pool during that time. Why?? Because it wasn't necessary. The grout and top trim tiles weren't falling apart five years ago like they are now. So if we would have voted to spend this money now on the pool, and if the scope and quality of the work were properly done, we probably wouldn't have to spend any major money on the pool for another 30 years.
Same thing for the roofs. We already have 4 garage buildings and 2 of the residence buildings done. Flat roofs last 20-25 years and the sloped roofs last much longer. I think the board just wanted to get them all done now and save expenses in the future.
The so-called water issue can be broken down into two parts, each separate and distinct from the other. The rusting pipes causing slab leaks under the buildings and the inconsistent quality of the hot water. This board was proposing to fix both problems in on swoop with a very comprehensive plan to re-line the mains and pipes with a vinyl coating and to replace every shower valve and angle stop in the complex.
Lining the water mains and pipes with vinyl will not solve the flaky hot water problem and changing the shower valves will not solve the slab leak problem.
They did not have to be addressed at the same time, but that's what the board wanted to do. By the way, the hot water issue is not actually an Association issue and could be solved tomorrow if EVERYONE got new shoer valves (or cartridges for the old ones). Not talk about it, not wait for your neighbors to do it, just do it!!!
This is exactly the same situation as the pool and the roofs. The water was just fine here for 25 years before valves and pipes began to wear out and we as a community decided to put up with this for the foreseeable future by voting no on the special assessment.
It took a lot of guts to present this special assessment to the Association at this time of a crappy economy. I would have had to dig deep to come up with the dough at this time, but I would have done it to increase the value of my unit, and I voted yes on that proposal and I'll vote yes on the next proposal.
Todd in 122
There was more than a 5 vote difference. 51 people didn't vote. Those were "No" votes. True, they didn't cast a ballot, but if they really wanted the assessment to go through (if they had the $10,000 to spend), they would have voted yes. So really it was 40 Yes votes vs 96 No. That's only 1 out of every 3 homeowners that wanted this assessment to happen. We're not done yet though. The board will keep tweaking the proposal and we'll re-vote again and again until they get it passed.
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