Ambassador II Condominiums

Ambassador II Condominium Board Minutes

http://ambassador2.com

Meeting was called to order at 7:07pm. 

Wednesday, July 17, 2024

President: Jason Alfred	Vice President: Jonathan Budiardjo	Secretary: Amy Zhu
Treasurer: Brian Heuston	Member at Large: Kate Guttridge	Association Manager: Ashley Goodman

Introduction and Sign-in:

• Quorum was not met with the number of persons present and proxies received.
• The Proof of Meeting notice was provided to all attendees.
• The IRS resolution 70-604 was read aloud by the Treasurer as per federal law.
• The membership approved the 2023 annual meeting minutes as written.

Key Business Over Past Year

• Ashley provided some key highlights of what the Board has been spending time and energy on between annual meetings.
• We refinished the 5th floor decks.
• We recovered much of the money owed by Ambassador I residents for garage taxes.
• We engaged with a contractor to repair the alley fence.
• We began the process of replacing the sprinkler lines. We also learned that we were due for the sprinkler systems to be flushed, which has been approved and completed.
• We continued to work with TKE on modernizing and maintaining the elevator.
• A large water intrusion incident with a hot water tank failing was a big event, and mitigation and restoration have been completed and funds collected in full.
• We went through the process of trying to find a new insurer; prospective insurers declined either because they do not cover five storey plus wood frame buildings, or because their quotes (particularly for earthquake insurance) would not be as competitive as our current quot.
• We engaged Lisa Lightner, the site manager for Ambassador I, to do janitorial and onsite management work for us, saving us a lot of money and providing someone who can help with providing vendors access, etc.
• Window and dryer vent cleaning, decks pressure washed.
• We’ve collected bids for the roof replacement and repair and the anchor system installation.
• Multiple astragals have been installed on doors around the property to improve safety.
• No committees to report, and no questions about old business at this time.

New Business

• The Board is generally in favour of focusing on the roof replacement this year. Roof leaks currently affect many units and can cause more water intrusion events. Currently, the bid we have for roof replacement is quoting around 300k for the roof and 200k for the anchor installation. Anchors would be necessary for vendors doing work safely on the side of the building, and would make some types of subsequent work cheaper as well.
  • The roof replacement is due – while the pitched roofs were replaced 8 or 10 years ago, the flat roof hasn’t been replaced since the beginning.
  • We are also considering adding the anchors as a separate action later on to spread out the cost.
• The roof replacement is one of many projects that are on the roadmap.
  • The stairs have had water damage for a long time, and the concern is raised every year.
  • We’ve had an envelope firm come out to assess the situation; the bid has not yet been received.
• We also have smaller-scope matters, such as the fire alarms not working in every unit and needing to fix that.

Nomination & Election of Directors:

• No positions expire this year.

Financial Report:

• We are proposing a 9% increase in dues. The main reason for this is that we have had a 65% increase in insurance costs and despite exploring alternative options, we haven’t found better rates.
  • We are hoping that with the roof replacement, our insurance will either not rise as much, or we can find a decrease in insurance elsewhere.
  • The budget passes as is and dues will be affected August 1.
• A homeowner pointed out that the interest rates from our account with BECU is very low.
  • Brian is actively looking to move some accounts to banks where we would have closer to 5% interest rates.
  • Another homeowner proposed getting in contact with a financial advisor for finding higher rates of return, etc. and has been asked to contact the board to get a discussion going, even if it’s just to move accounts.
• Our insurance increase is directly related to an increase in hot water heaters failing! Please get these upgraded and under warranty. Also, watch out for needing to replace toilets and other appliances and fixtures as well.
• Per a newly enacted regulation we are required to provide the following information:
  • As of the 2024/2025 budget approved at the Annual Homeowner Meeting, we are saving $13,863 per month in reserves. Our Reserve Study consultant recommends saving a minimum of $12,600 per month and a maximum of $15,500 per month to fully fund our reserves to cover the highest repair estimates our Reserve Study predicts. The most recent study spans the period between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025. A new study is pending completion and will be posted to our website when available.

Homeowners’ Forum:

• A homeowner reports continuous noise issues from the Clay apartment building and notes that they are currently suing the manager in small claims court.
• What about the stucco? The stucco is due to be replaced on the east building; the west building was done a few years ago in stages. However, the east building stucco hasn’t been redone in some time (there are conflicting accounts, some say since the special assessment and some say since 2002). So far, stucco hasn’t been a problem yet, but it is something we are actively looking to address in the next few years.
• Reminder that we have a facebook group for the building where neighbors may share resources like plumber recommendations, communicate information about the property, etc. (One homeowner says they will document their water heater replacement journey hese.)
  • However, do note that this is not a method of communication with the board. If you wish to get in touch with the board, use official channels only. 
  • Specifically, please report any security incidents.
    • Having reports helps drive future actions of the board.
• Important precaution: watch out for things being placed on the summit alley, as outsiders can use these to jump onto decks.
• Is there an update on the exercise tax room situation?
  • Unfortunately, we did not find a way to divide up the interest. Ideally, each unit would take a flat percentage so this interest (which costs no money) is evenly distributed, but this would require 100% approval.
  • Right now, the issue is tabled as we did not want to spend legal fees when it was not clear we would get the desired result, especially with our inability to divide up the common element interest.

Meeting adjourned at 8:18 pm.

Next annual meeting is tentatively scheduled at 7pm on Wednesday, July 16, 2025 in the courtyard.