Ambassador II Condominiums

Monday, January 11, 2016
President: Brien Sherman
Vice President: Venus Chan (absent)
Treasurer: Jay Heath
Secretary: Shaun Ross
Member At Large: Anand Singla
Association Manager: Jack Taylor

Homeowners Forum
● No homeowner was present this month.

Meeting was called to order at 6:32pm. The October 2015 minutes were approved as written. The November 2015 minutes were not official, therefore not approved. There was no December 2015 meeting.

Treasurer’s Reports
For period ending November 30, 2015.
Bank, Savings and Investment Accounts
Checking: $73,942.44
Washington Federal Replacement / Special Assessment Reserve: $178,848.09
Sound Credit Union Savings: $211,339.02
Umpqua Bank 17month CD: $235,000.00
Petty Cash: $100.00
Total Assets: $699,229.55

For period ending December 31, 2015.
Bank, Savings and Investment Accounts
Checking: $82,147.82
Washington Federal Replacement / Special Assessment Reserve: $184,365.15
Sound Credit Union Savings: $211,339.02
Umpqua Bank 17month CD: $235,000.00
Petty Cash: $100.00
Total Assets: $712,951.99

Committee Reports
● Security Committee: The lighting upgrades (garage & courtyard) are complete. After evaluation and adjustments we will consider our next steps. Compared to last year at this time, our electricity usage has dropped by about 15%. We will monitor usage for a few months to get a longer baseline.

Security
● CONTINUED REMINDER TO ALL RESIDENTS: So far in January, there have been two reported car prowls reported in the garage. Once again, please wait for the Summit Ave garage gate to close completely before proceeding to your parking space or away from the building (Rule 3.17). The gate closes in less than a minute. Residential garage burglaries are still up citywide. The most common method of entry into the garage is for one to walk through an open garage gate/door after a vehicle has passed through.
● Please remove openers from your vehicle; it was necessary to recode the gate again this month. Because of the continued rise in residential garage burglaries, we strongly advise residents to not leave anything in lockers or cars that you don’t wish to lose. Leaving valuables in plain sight (lockers or vehicles) is an invitation for thieves. Nonresident owners, please discuss this continued security issue with your tenants, as it’s their security too.
● Package thefts occurred again in December. There were at least 3 boxes rummaged through and left in a stairwell. We continue to advise everyone to consider having packages delivered to your workplace or other address. UPS has a secure drop off location at the King of the Hill Grocery. Please check www.ups.com for more information. Amazon also has lockers at Pacific Place. You may wish to include your call box code as part of your shipping address information.
● There was an attempted breakin. Someone was cutting the wire mesh on the SW corner gate into the Summit Ave garage. Thankfully, they were spooked by something or someone and were not successful in gaining access. We are looking into repairing the gate.

Rules
● Please continue to pickup after your dog (Rule 10.5), consider using a Citronella collar to curb barking (Rule 10.3), keep dogs off balconies and decks when you’re not home (Rule 10.6), and please control their behavior when you are home. While in the common areas, dogs must be leashed at all times. Your neighbors will be appreciative. Fines will be and have been imposed for continued violations.
● Recycling reminders: Our recycling efforts are so successful that about one week in three we are forced to dump recycling into the trash to avoid huge overflows. We are in discussions with the City to pick up recycling twice per week, probably two bins instead of three. That would give us a total of 4 bins per week of space. It is still necessary for boxes to be emptied of non recyclable materials and flattened. The recyclers don’t want your lids from drink containers. Throw away your pop, water, and milk caps.

Old Business
● Please contact Jack Taylor at Property Concepts (contact information is below) to make sure he has current phone number(s), mailing address, and email address for you and/or your tenant. There are still several units in which Property Concepts does not have current emergency contact information.
● The courtyard and garage lighting upgrades were installed 11/10 and 11/11. The city inspection of the lighting was approved.
● The door at the bottom of the north stairwell will be replaced at some point. We are searching for a vendor.

New Business
● Davey Tree Service was on site in December and removed the three Sumac trees from the alley. Now that the trees are gone, the ivy on the east wall will be removed before Spring.
● The Reserve Study has been completed and is now posted on the website. All owners are encouraged to review it. This was a very extensive review and many changes were made to our funding goals. As a result our total percentage funded has dropped. We are likely to need in excess of a half million dollars in maintenance projects in the next 5 years. We have funds saved to meet these needs, however we will likely boost the amount collected to maintain our current strong financial standing.
● Two securement arms on the bike racks have been replaced.
● Nonresident owners are encouraged to inspect their tenant occupied units on a regularly basis. We have seen several instances in the last few years of non reported issues by tenants that caused unnecessary damage to units and common areas.
● A new electrical circuit was installed in the trash room.The previous wiring failed and it was deemed cheaper and safer to run a new circuit.
● Our insurance renewal has been approved by the Board. Premiums are slightly lower for 2016.
● A new account was established at Umpqua Bank to insure that member funds are below the FDIC insured limit.
● The Board is reviewing our janitorial services, as we’re not happy with the current vendor.

Meeting adjourned at 7:29pm.
Next Board meeting is scheduled for Monday, February 8, 2016 at 6:30pm in Unit E108.
Ambassador II Condominium Homeowners Association:
506 E Howell St, Seattle, WA 98122 (not mailing address)