March 2 / 2014
Alpine Strata Council Letter to Owners:
Alpine Village Strata Council would like to apologise to all
owners whose email addresses were inappropriately cc’d on email correspondence
on Jan 8 2014. We had instructed our office manager to email Council Meeting
Minutes to all owners that we have email addresses for. Unfortunately, all the
email addresses were cc’d rather than bcc’d, and everyone on the group email
list was then able to see everyone’s email address. Immediately we took steps
to prevent that from happening again by directing both the outgoing and the new
office manager to never ‘cc’ emails but
to ‘bcc’ them. A bcc is a ‘blind’ cc whereby none of the recipients are able to
see any of the other recipients on the email. That is our policy and it was our
intention to email the Meeting Minutes in that way. We believe that a breach of
your privacy occurred on that day and we sincerely hoped that there would be
zero affects to owners caused by that breach.
Unfortunately, it has
come to our attention that some Alpine Village homeowners and possibly someone
who is not a homeowner here may be using that email list for their own reasons
to communicate with owners at Alpine Village. Any email that is sent to you
from any source other that Alpine Village Strata Office or from Council is unauthorized.
We would like the unauthorized correspondence to you via the email addresses
that were ‘shared’ from the Jan 8 2014 Alpine Village email, to stop. We are
looking into what can be done but we need your assistance. If anyone has
received ‘unauthorized’ correspondence, please let us know by contacting us at
the Strata Office and also by sending us a copy of what you have received. You
can forward it to us or copy and mail it or bring it down in person to the
office. For this, we need your help and with that we will let you know what
action can be taken.
We have been communicative to owners by sending out all the
Meeting Minutes and also a Letter to Owners on Jan 3 2014. We email
correspondence to everyone that we have email addresses for and for those
owners who do not have email, we print and mail via Canada Post which IS
expensive. We are trying to obtain an email address for everyone. So please, help us to save costs, be ‘green’ –
help the environment, and let our office know if there is an email address for
you that we can send our correspondence to.
We received the final Depreciation Report and we have
emailed it out to everyone that we have email addresses for. It is a very big report, 113 pages long, so we
have not printed it or put it in the mail. We will be discussing the Depreciation
Report at the ‘SGM’ when it is called. A full report and presentation is
required so that owners are fully informed of the current maintenance condition
of the buildings and infrastructure in the complex.
Our Maintenance person, Mike is invaluable. He is capable,
competent, knowledgeable and is self-motivated. He helps out in every way
possible. During the flooding that occurred this winter, Mike mitigated the
impending water damage by pumping away all the pools of water. He has a plan
drawn for water diversion as well, to mitigate the cost and damage for next
winter. Mike alerted us that “many” down-pipes
were fallen off the ‘blue’ buildings and water was spewing everywhere. We
directed him to reattach all the pipes. In the spring we can assess if the
gutters still need to be replaced. Mike is on the ‘front line’ when there is a
flooded basement, when sewers back up, when a foundation is cracked and water
is leaking in, when pipes are broken, when gutters are plugged, when windows
are leaking, when steps are broken. The list is endless and he doesn’t just
pick up cigarette butts as an uninformed homeowner has stated elsewhere. . Mike
has brought to our attention that there is some sinking happening…..ground
giving way around the buildings. He has pointed out that the roots from the
trees are causing cracks in the roads, sidewalks and possibly foundations. We
get numerous emergency phone calls from
owners to the Alpine Village Office about cracked
foundations and flooded basements. As it is the Strata’s responsibility to
repair foundations and the outsides of the buildings, we generally always end up calling CrackMaster to
come and make the necessary repairs. This winter, due to flooding everywhere in
the Prince George Region, CrackMaster has been so busy that they have not
returned our phone calls. Though foundation repairs are costly, they need to be
done….. We directed Mike to identify trees that he feels need to be removed for
safety reasons or for maintenance reasons. We have called for quotes to remove
the trees and we have noted that in our Meeting Minutes. The issue of tree
removal will be discussed at the SGM when it is called, however if trees are
causing a safety issue or if removal of trees prevents further damage then it
will be necessary to remove them without owner’s approval and owners would be
advised as soon as possible that this has happened. Tree replacement with a
dwarf type tree species can be discussed at the SGM, when it is called, and
would be part of the 2013/2014 budget. We do not want to take down any trees.
It is not our intention to de-nude the complex, but some trees taken down may
be necessary.
Sewers in some
locations in the complex are routinely plugging up causing flooding in
basements. On a regular basis, Strata arranges
to get the sewer lines cleaned out. We have been advised by Douglas A. Niemi,
CRA, CRP from NLD Consulting Reserve Fund Advisors, strongly urging us, to have
the sewer lines scoped to identify any damage or cracks in the pipes.. We are
concerned about tree roots growing into the lines causing cracks. In a phone
conversation, Doug said that if the lines are cracked and are leaking, it could
cost us millions of dollars to repair or replace. We are taking his advice
seriously and we will have the lines scoped and the results presented at the
SGM when it is called. In the case of a sinking foundation (s), we will have
that investigated by a structural engineer. The report will be presented at the
SGM when it is called, unless the required repair is of an emergency nature.
We are still working on the 2013/2014 Budget and Contingency
Fund Contribution. Major maintenance
costs need to be funded from the Contingency Reserve Fund however the budget
that was presented at the AGM did not include a schedule or plan for that.
Though the 2013/2014 budget presented at the AGM was flawed and incomplete, the
budget had to be passed or else Strata bills could not be paid. We are aware of
this limitation and we were given instruction by owners at the AGM that all
major (unless emergency) costs need to be approved at an SGM. We are working
within the approved budget and we will be presenting a new budget for you
to vote on at the SGM when it is called.
We have been actively working towards collecting all unpaid
strata fees, totalling almost $30,000. We are taking legal action such as
placing liens, small debts court, etc. in efforts to collect all the money, as
well as all associated administrative and legal costs, that are owed to Alpine
Village Strata.
We have had our existing Strata by-laws vetted by C.D.Wilson
law Corp to bring them into compliance with the BC Strata Property Act. We will
bring these by-law changes to the SGM, when it is called, for you to vote on.
Regarding our council member Emily Bain, it is with sadness
to report that she has stepped down immediately after finding out she was in
fact not registered as a homeowner. She apologises for the "honest
ignorance regarding this matter", and her "lack of assumed
knowledge". She has acted in good faith and with honesty during her time
on council and will be greatly missed. Emily has submitted to the Council of
Alpine Village Strata, her letter of resignation. With Emily’s permission, we
will be posting it on the blog at: alpine-village.blogspot.com
As far as another accusation that Licar has been involved in
our daily decisions, it is false. We have had Helen DeGroot under contract
separately from Licar, to inform us as to what is expected from a properly
functioning council as we are new to these legalities and wish to offer you decisions
and actions based on current rules. Helen is one of very few licensed
individuals who would offer her time, so to keep it from seeming like it was
something it was not, she is under contract and has signed confidentiality
documents regarding this.
We have not started any audits and that can be a topic to
add to the agenda for the SGM when it is called.
Snow removal and garbage collection are major costs to the
strata. These topics will be addressed in the budget at the SGM when it is
called.
We endeavour to keep owners informed of the work that we are
doing as your elected Strata Council. We are volunteers and we are not
profiting in any way individually from being in these elected positions other
that when Alpine Village becomes a great place to live and is well maintained
and well managed, then we all will profit.
We wish to thank you for your understanding and support
during these past few months as we have been learning what our responsibilities
are as Council and we have been striving to fulfill our obligations to you.
Sincerely,
Alpine Village Strata Council:
Derek Fullerton (President); Beth Beeson ( Vice-president
& Treasurer); Sharon Hordy ( Secretary); and Franci Meerholz.