Editor's note: This post below was actually published on the blog 2 years ago...I hate being a prophet, but here is what I tried to say then! )
In the Manager's Office just off the lobby at Opal Towers, Ray Smutniak keeps on his wall a Planning Board which shows each year and what expenses are expected to be incurred during that year.
For the most part, these expenses are the MUST DO's-- or the expenses we all need to face to keep the building standing and maintained.
The lists include major cost items like a new roof, elevator repairs and replacements, the cooling towers that provide air conditioning etc. These are all things that must be done and must be paid for.
Have you ever seen these lists on the walls in Ray's Office?
If not, you are welcome to do so and I encourage you to make an appointment and go by when Ray can explain to you what the future holds for your wallet. Meanwhile, here are a few examples with actual photos of the postings on the Manager's wall.
Here are a few examples of projected MUST DO projects...these are NOT pipe dream projects but (in some cases long overdue) maintenance issues...like the cooling towers repairs, the concrete and railings work, outdoor repainting, upgrading the kitchen, repair and upgrade the pool showers and the bathrooms that serve the party room and pool areas, needed library and card rooms repairs and updates, etc. etc.
There are lists posted up to year 2022- like these shown below. PLEASE GO SEE THEM FOR YOURSELVES!!!!!
(Wouldn't you like to catch your breath against higher and higher quarterly fees and assessment bills?)
The 2017 Cooling Towers (about $1/2 million according to Ray) and the Paint and Concrete etc. for 2019 representing another $1 million means another $6224. per unit in assessments coming up for Opal Owners only 3 years from now (just as they wind down paying off the fiber optics project and the lobby/hallway windows!!!)
AND, only 2 years after 2019, they can look forward to a new roof, the 50 year County Inspection and whatever repairs that mandates -- meaning even MORE assessments!
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If you moved here -- in 2010 you have paid approx. $14,300. in assessments
- in 2005 you have paid $ 19,350.
And those of us lucky enough to have been here since 2000
have paid $28,200. in special assessments
...plus our (ever-growing) quarterly fees
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Take a look at your old checkbook registers
Did you realize that
in 2006 quarterly condo fees were $1308. per quarter
in 2011 quarterly condo fees were $1556. per quarter
in 2016 quarterly Opal condo fees are $1706. if you paid the fiber optics fee in full...otherwise they are $1865. per quarter
That is a 29% increase ($557. per quarter more) in 10 years.
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Loss of Owner Participation in Spending Decisions
The Florida condo law requires that any "material change" to the property be approved by a majority of the ownership. The current lobby redecoration, the proposed rebuilding of the beach decks, and the redesign of the lobby security desk area are all projects requiring owner approval.
The recent habit of this Board of calling every capital expense at Opal an "emergency" project, or telling the owners that their safety is somehow at stake if certain projects are not done and done NOW demeans the owners and insults their intelligence.
The Board met on Jan. 21st 2016. As usual, there weren't a lot of units represented in the audience, and the official Board minutes posted on the Opal web site will NOT give readers a good idea of what was actually said and done at the meeting.
Here is a very brief summary of a few important parts of that night's discussion.
(Any of you who attended a have other thoughts to add, please write them and submit them to
(Any of you who attended a have other thoughts to add, please write them and submit them to
opalowners@yahoo.com
with your name and unit number, please. Thank you. )
1/21/16 Bd. Meeting Topics
1) Rentals....we are now a 23.7% of units that are rental units. This situation as a red flag for banks and other loaning institutions (eg: FHA etc. ) Once we reach 25 % and alarm will have been founded that can effect all of us
The Board says it will "monitor closely" the rental situation and now wants voters to vote on a proposed change in the rules so that new buyers must now wait THREE years from date of purchase before they can rent their units. Please be thinking about how you wish to vote on this.
2) Proposed "Update" to Beach decks - The Board has decided it wants to "update" the two wooden decks closest to the beach at the end of the existing cement walkway. They refuse to put this project up to a vote by the owners. They have already committed to a $13,000. "engineering proposal" for this construction project, and that amount does NOT include the costs of the actual construction, materials, etc. The $13K is only for research, design drawings etc. so factor in how much more it will actually cost to build.
(As is their habit now, the Board is arguing that this MUST be done for "safety" reasons that can't wait for owners to be asked to vote on the project. Tom Dion chairs this deck committee.)
3) Al Shore is chairing a front parking deck "fountain" redo committee of 3 (with Ann Waldron and Kathy Johnson). He is now floating a few ideas that are not yet firmed up for how that hole will be refilled, but he is clear that whatever happens this is also NOT A MATERIAL CHANGE so the owners will not be asked to vote on what is done or how much it costs . Stay tuned for another project that results in another $30-50,000. expense you will have no control over. (So far, the "public health and safety" excuse for ignoring the Florida law requiring voter approval on such projects has not been raised in this case. Apparently this Board is even past having to explain doing whatever it wishes without your votes.)
3) The original electrical panels were installed in each unit more than 40 years ago. The company that made them (ZINSCO) is no longer in business. Ray suggests all owners check their panels and, if they have not been upgraded since they were installed, plan to do so ASAP. (This is a REAL safety issue owners ought to address. It is also an issue that WILL be looked at by the County in 2022 when the 50 year inspection is mandated for Opal Towers. Ask Ray if you have questions.)
There were many other discussions at the meeting on Jan. 21, but these are just a few matters that will mean more $$$$$$$$$$$$$ out of your pocket and beyond your control unless you start to take action to hold the Board to the Florida Condo Law requirements regarding owner approvals.
CONCLUSION:
If owners continue to play the fool and write endless checks or take on endless loans to pay for expensive projects that are neither thoughtfully planned with a reasonable budget in mind nor prioritized to be addressed ONLY AFTER necessary maintenance issues are taken care of, then those owners have only themselves to blame for the current state of affairs at Opal Towers East.
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YOUR COMMENTS AND FEEDBACK for this blog
ARE APPRECIATED
Please send them to
opalowners@yahoo.com
with your name and unit number, please
Thank you
________________END of Post__________1/24/16
