PRESIDENT'S ANNUAL REPORT

FEBRUARY 10, 2010 By Marlene Reid

Thanks to all the Board Members. It was a heavy duty year. Thanks especially to Lynn Dopp who is retiring from the Board. She was a wise and indispensable member of our Restoration Committee who had so many decisions to make. I think she deserves a round of applause! Bill Wales, our Treasurer, voluntarily gives up almost every morning of his personal time to tend to Starlight’s day to days business. Arlene Kuhn keeps our records and our Minutes and very willingly pitches in with sundry duties when she is on the premises, often sitting in if Lynn or I were not available for the Monday morning conferences. Bill Isaacs headed up the Rules and Regulations Committee. His Committee report was ratified at our most recent Board meeting. Gina Machado returned home to a disastrous situation with water damage, so was not reachable by email, but took time to arrange some of the phone interviews with potential buyers and renters. Although Lee Brand has a full time job he was here on the premises most evenings and weekends for back-up and input. Thanks are also in order for our Starlight Express Editor Pat Ifft & Webmaster Louisa Simos for their volunteer services on behalf of Starlight.

I want to start out with the best news first! The Restoration Project is now officially completed! Starlight Tower passed inspection with flying colors, the sign-off permit was issued, the check for the balance was written and handed off to CPS, and the lien has been lifted. See Loey for your official recorded copy of the lien release. I have a little appreciation memento for you to thank you all for your patience and cooperation during our invasive surgical over-do, and facelift – a copy of a sunset picture that was taken here on Upham Beach last Friday night. It is a reminder to all of us why we live here at Starlight Tower, and why, though we suffered through noise, debris, confusion, & frustration it was well worth it – having ringside seats for such feats of nature.

I’m certain you are all aware, that while the scope of the Restoration Project was massive, many other improvements happened right along with it, and much of this was done in order to take advantage of a working crew on the premises who was flexible enough to accommodate additional tasks. Others were out-sourced as the need arose, but none were extravagant. Rather than refer to these items as they were done chronologically, I want to list them at this point:

• a) Many of the storage room doors were replaced, including new hinges, knobs and vents, by outside handy men, while others were sanded down by our staff, and prepared for the building’s paint job;
  

• b) There was an additional charge of $4,000 to coat eight floors in a custom color, and almost that much to redo the 10th and 9th floors where the light standard color was found to be unacceptable; Can you believe that just one year ago we were finding alternative accommodations for a few days while the floors were coated. Seems like ancient history!
  

• c) The laundry rooms and trash rooms were scrubbed & painted with appliances removed; then new vinyl linoleum was installed on the floors. As part of this job, A/C drainage pipes were extended on each floor so as to avoid staining the new walkway coatings; also new doors were put on the Verizon cabinets where the doors had fallen off on several of the floors leaving the telephone wires exposed and hanging with lint from the dryers; to prepare for our busy winter season, 8 chaise lounges were sent out for restrapping & touch-up painting.
  

• d) The 10th floor walkway lights which hadn’t functioned for years were re-constituted, electricity re-connected, and new frames and vent covers installed;
  

• e) The brass drain covers on each floor, 36 in all, were sand-blasted to remove at least 15 coats of paint (Norm asked afterwards if we were sure our doors were secure as someone could have made off with a nice haul with all that shiny heavy-duty brass);
  

• f) The garages were all power-washed, scraped and painted by the CPS crew so they would match the building, as were the walls to the north and south sides of the building, and the long white wall in front of the parking stalls;
  

• g) Our maintenance staff painted the garage doors two coats in the new taupe color, and designer numbers were researched, purchased and applied - Thanks to Gigi, Arlene & Bill.
  

• h) As the active part of the project was coming to a close, we were hit with a very hefty, and unexpected expense. The fire alarm system had to be re-connected and brought up to code. This required many new pull boxes, repositioned to avoid inclement weather, some new horns, strobe lights on every floor, and heat sensors in all the laundry rooms. May I remind you here to keep those doors open while the machines are running?
  

• i) The restrooms were scrubbed from top to bottom, and the floor cleaned with an acid wash solution by an outside firm. Some of this expense was carried by CPS since the crew often found the men’s room more convenient than the porta-potty;
  

• j) Likewise, we negotiated with CPS (we really drove a hard bargain) over damaged sod, flowers and shrubs. While Starlight paid to get the flower beds filled with planting soil, and purchased a Robalini palm, CPS was generous enough to cover over 1/2 of the cost of the new sod, 12 Hibiscus bushes, hedges of variegated arbicola, & viburnum, and flats of begonias. Anne and Loran Hiller did a yeoman’s job of keeping the new plantings watered. In about two weeks, when the threat of a heavy frost has passed, our landscaper will be replanting begonias, and the distressed Hibiscus shrubs will be replaced at his expense.
  

• k) The Board wanted a more durable surface than a mere paint job over the concrete in the entryway, so, we accepted a CPS credit, and in May, a sculpted coating, with the dolphin border, was chosen and applied. If it is resealed every two years, the product has a lifetime warranty (i.e. Starlight’s lifetime – not mine). Thanks to Lois Christman for input on this.
  

• l) You are all familiar with the saga of the Air-conditioner grilles. The fancy louvered original ones were a little too fancy, and a lot too inefficient. Of course, this was the fault of our illustrious engineer who never tested the design. After much finger-pointing and more tough negotiating, our engineer finally admitted error, and wrote on August 15th, “…I just want to reiterate that, it is Karins Engineering’s intention to support the Starlight Towers association in the re-design of the AC louvers at no additional cost to the owners. Please, let me know if I can be of any assistance.” Later, true to form, Karins reneged on this commitment, and Mike, our CPS contractor, offered to pay for the replacement louvers so he could get the job finished. After Bill Wales wore a path to the door of the welder, transported design after design to be tested by two A/C companies, we finally found an acceptable design and the vents went into production. They only recently went up. You can bet who will not be getting a glowing reference from Starlight Tower. With the installation of the vents, the Restoration project could be brought to a close.
  

• m) This week we finally saw the frosting on the cake, as the lantern style light fixtures which had been gathering dust in the office, were installed. Aren’t they a nice addition? An earlier frosting, part of the original contract, was the mounting of the railings. Some say they give the building the look of a cruise ship, so enjoy your perpetual sunset cruise!
  

• n) In the middle of the A/C grille saga, the same welder, Todd Lizotte, was working on our new fence while he juggled other jobs. Though it has been delayed well beyond original estimates, Todd has promised us the rest will be completed before Spring Break hits us.
  

• o) We had another unexpected expense of $8,000 for elevator repair when water got into the shaft after Kone elevator had neglected to set the elevators to rest on 2nd floor, leaving them on 1st where they were vulnerable to water damage. In order to redirect some of the water that had been coming into the bldg. from the small patio around Unit #209, new (wider) 6-in gutters with new down spouts were installed around the #209 apartment. Bill Wales over-saw this welcome improvement, and had a kneewall built to hold back some of the water.
  

Now to go back, and regroup - In Feb. of 2009, new pool drain grates were installed. We now have a certificate documenting the fact that we have complied with this law. We purchased two heaters for the pool which have proven to be much more efficient and dependable than the single heater which was over-taxed trying to keep up with our big pool, and broke down often.

Shortly before last year’s ANNUAL MEETING the Board had decided to go with a lawn service.
This meant we could sell our riding mower and other lawn hardware. Frank Gulia and Dan Reid put the equipment into tip-top shape for going on the market. With this equipment finding a new home, and Bill Wales having cleaned out our two storage units that had been harboring a lot of junk, we no longer needed to rent a garage. This savings is reflected in our operational budget.

On that note, more good news - Because our previous manager Diane Falgione is very familiar with co-op law as it differs from condo law she was instrumental in restructuring Starlight’s insurance policies, obtaining a great reduction in premiums, and realizing, significant refunds from previous years’ over-payments. We are awaiting still other refunds. We are pleased with our new agent, Jeff Bajza of Ameriflood, where our insurance policies are now centralized for more efficiency.

If you were here in late April or early May you may remember water bubbling to the surface near the lobby entryway. Scotty, the plumber, burrowed deep and under the concrete about six feet until he discovered the source of the leak, a hole in the cast iron pipe. He repaired it and documented for us his opinion that it had been leaking for quite some time, maybe even a year before finding its way to the surface. I prepared a detailed report, submitting “before” and “after” bills showing our water and sewer consumption as Exhibits, and sent the packet to Pinellas County Utilities for reimbursement. This resulted in $8, 450 being credited to our account.

I also negotiated with the CPT (Cathodic supplier) to reduce our monitoring and inspection fees by ½ this year because they had misdirected the contractor, causing additional time and labor, by not recognizing that the building had the continuity needed for the system before going through un-necessary procedures for 3 floors. These items contributed to the 8.2% decrease in this budget.

After Norm and his CPS crew power-washed and repaired some sinking concrete at our shuffleboard courts, and our volunteer team of “fixer-uppers” (Loran Hiller, Jim Murphy, Denis O’Connor, and Don Schneider) painted the end zones, the courts were ready for our competitive, but enjoyable, annual shuffleboard tournament and dinner on March 21st. Theme-wise, we used the celebration of Starlight’s 50 year anniversary. Sophie Bryk, Gina Machado, and Sharon Isaacs are the best, bar none, for soliciting and producing door prizes. Ursula O’Connor and Verna Murphy made arrangements for the ever-famous pies. It was an all-around smashing success!

Starlight’s first ever (to my knowledge) audit was conducted by Robert Melby in April. Fortunately, Treasurer Wales and I found every single receipt and document of the dozens
they sent us scampering for. Much to the credit of Resource Property Management, the final report demonstrated that our accounts and bookkeeping were without blemish,.

In early Spring the officers had a crash course in roofing. It was determined, without a doubt, that we needed a new roof (patching would no longer do the trick) along with some new and different drainage routes. We signed a contract with Dave Siple to be our roof consultant. We have found Dave to be experienced, thorough, and easy to work with. Getting a report out of our engineer after exploration of the gypsum roof to determine the degree of moisture absorption was another matter. With the report eventually in hand, bids were let out. Tar-Heel, which is a very reputable firm, came in with the most reasonable bid, and was granted the award. First, there was contract review by the attorney and negotiation, plus an addendum for the leaking roof on #209 before final signing could be considered. In the meantime, Diane had been working with Sprint/Nextel to try to get a commitment, and time frame, for raising their equipment 36 inches from the surface of the roof. This was required before the job could be started. At long last all systems were go. It is unfortunate that the actual work coincided with the winter visitor season, but that could not be helped.

During the summer months the officers began the process of trying to obtain a loan to cover the expense of the new roof, and to handle the additional work that became necessary during the wrap-up of the Restoration project. We wanted to avoid a special assessment if possible, knowing that some owners would find an upfront payment a very difficult burden during this economic crunch. We were pleased to learn that many of the owners were willing to pay in advance. The good news is that, because previous administration’s here at Starlight have done a good job of keeping us credit worthy, the loan is now awaiting our signature.

At the behest of John Errigo, the Board dealt with the issue of adopting Wi-Fi accessibility for our building, but it was determined that neither Starlight nor Resource Property Management were set up for the credit card arrangements that would need to be available – at least not at this time.

Before we Northerners returned home, Bill Isaacs’ Committee presented us with a draft of the amendments to the Rules and Regulations. The Board’s assignment was to critique and give feedback, but some of us weren’t diligent enough with our homework. So, although the Rules and Regs may need a bit more tweaking, mostly clarifying language consistency to correspond with our other documents, the Committee’s report was ratified at our January, 2010 Board Meeting.

In August, the Board held a special meeting to consider a resolution opposing the possible closing of the two St. Pete Beach Post Offices. The Resolution passed unanimously and Kevin Hing and Edel Quinn who headed up the campaign in opposition were charged with getting it into the hands of the “powers that be” before a final decision was made. Of course, once Starlight weighed in with our clout there was no further contest, and the post offices have remained open.

In August also we were hit with a thunderbolt when a lien was filed not only on the Starlight Association, but on each owner (that was because we are a co-op, not a condo). While we were well within our rights, and duty, to withhold a percentage for retainage, the contractor was also within his right to file the lien. We were just saddened that it came so suddenly, that we were not able to give the owners fair warning. Lynn Dopp, ever articulate and thorough, prepared a response which was sent to the homeowners, and the Website, explaining the circumstances, and apologizing for the unexpectedness. That lien is now history, but it is most unfortunate that it ever happened.

A Shareholders meeting was held on Dec. 2nd for the purpose of voting on business that had to come before the shareholders before a budget, considering reserves, could be voted on. The results of the votes were: a) full funding for reserves was waived leaving the door still open for possible partial reserves; b) the shareholders voted that surplus funds were to be carried over into the 2010 operating budget; and, c) the voters waived the requirement for a year-end audited statement.

In January, 2010, the Board dealt with the pool and other issues: After researching the issue for over a year, the Board voted to order a light-weight pool cover which comes in four sections, easy to apply and easy to remove (hopefully, retaining heat and saving energy) . In addition, we voted to purchase a vacuum-cleaning robot for the pool, so that, if a pool-cleaning service is hired, a minimal amount of servicing time would be required. Also, we voted to authorize $2,900 for work on the valves in our pumps, and replace a storage tank. It was determined that Nancy Bailey, Apt. #204 owner, had met all the qualifications of a medical necessity her dog on Starlight premises. Thus, the Board voted approval. The matter of two delinquencies was addressed. The Board is aggressively pursuing legal remedies to cope with this problem. One owner in the arrears has filed bankruptcy under Chapter 13. Staff status was also addressed. It was announced that we are presently utilizing a temporary agency to cover our maintenance needs while we consider options.

I apologize for the length of this report, but it has been a busy, productive year. I thank you again for cooperation as we work together in our shared-living community on our perpetual sunset cruise.

~~ Marlene Reid