Paying the Piper

Break a rule and pay the piper! There are so many rules! Living in close proximity to neighbors makes infringement and infractions glaringly obvious, sometimes to the point of distraction. There is only one punishment an HOA can impose: fines, payable in dollars.

Condo rules are established to maintain property value and marketability. They are designed to promote neighborliness and peaceful living. There are covenants, bylaws, and policy – all packed with rules. There is no such thing as condo living without rules.

So how are infractions made known to the powers that be?

Some infractions can only be reported by the unit owner who falls victim to infringement, such as frequent late night noise intrusion. Other infractions are more visible, noticeable by many, such as door mats and personal belongings in hallways, or signs or decorations on doors, smoking in common areas, etc. The list of possible infractions is long.

The unwelcome door mat.

We have a property manager who is paid to keep the building running smoothly and in compliance with the many covenants, bylaws, and policy. We have an on-site janitor who is an employee of the property management company. It seems logical for the on-site property management employee to be the eyes and ears of the property manager, and that he would be the one to report obvious violations. In so doing, infractions would be minimized, even eliminated, and necessary reports would be impersonalized. Neighbors would not report neighbors. However, noticing violations is apparently not undertaken by property management.

It seems counterproductive to have neighbors reporting neighbors for rules violations. Yet rules go unenforced day after day and year after year because neighbors do not want to report neighbors; they do not want tensions to escalate. Those who are unlucky enough to have unfriendly neighbors, however, are the ones who receive notices and fines. Those are the condo owners who pay the piper.

Put A Damper On It

Joe called to arrange a time when a service technician would come out to investigate the microwave problem. According to Joe, investigating the problem will take 45 minutes and a subsequent 4-hour appointment will be required to actually fix the problem. Although the situation had not been formally evaluated as of our conversation, and Joe claimed not to have any information, Joe did not hesitate to discuss these appointments.

Because our building coordinator had expressed interest in accompanying the service technician, it was required that an 8:00 A.M. appointment be set. Two service techs called from a cell phone at 8:20. They were unable to gain access via the gate code and we had to meet them outside and escort them through the building to our home. The building coordinator was not a part of the team and apparently the technicians were not aware of that arrangement. Thank you, Mr. Building Coordinator. It was only because of your expected participation that this appointment had to be in the wee hours of the morning – definitely not our preference.

We briefly summarized the problem of the clothes dryer venting into the microwave – the moisture collection, the flashing lights, the array of sounds that were produced. The technicians nodded. They understood. The leader volunteered that he had been involved in the building conversion a few years ago and was aware then that the duct work was “not up to code,” according to him. Our technicians performed no inspection, no tests. The two men set to work right away, disengaging the microwave from its home above the oven. The sounds of electric screwdrivers and drills could be heard. The men huffed and puffed. An hour later they were done.

They placed a damper in the duct such that the microwave would force open the damper when in use, moving exhaust air through the duct and to the outdoors. That same damper prevents the dryer exhaust from entering the microwave and keeps the dryer exhaust on its path to the great outdoors. A simple flap.

The dryer-to-microwave problem is a building problem. It has shown its ugly face time and again and will continue to present itself in one unit or another until the problem is no more. One can only wonder why this fix is not being applied to every microwave throughout the building in an organized fashion. So simple: put a damper on it!

Crackle, Knock, Pop, Boom

More exciting than the snap, crackle, and pop of a bowl of Rice Krispies at the start of a new day is the sights and sounds of a microwave oven at unrest. These are sound effects we have only heard occasionally over the course of the last 4+ years. We had been startled by a rare loud popping sound to the point of discussing what may have been the cause of the sound and each time decided it was either the upstairs neighbor dropping something on their floor or perhaps our microwave (which was in operation). The noise did not persist and so we dismissed it.

Last October we were made aware that the popping sounds do in fact come from the microwave and that the clothes dryer was indeed involved. At that time, it was not an isolated popping sound but rather a chorus of bangs, pops, and crackles accompanied by flashing lights and sparks, all centered in the microwave oven. Fortunately, pressing the CANCEL button ceased all microwave activity and we then flipped its circuit breaker to off. We were within minutes of having to leave for a trip to Minnesota and so left the problem to be investigated further on our return. This incident was first reported on October 18, 2010, here. 

A number of units in our building have reported problems using the microwave oven and the clothes dryer at the same time. There have been reports of moisture accumulating inside the microwave and even some reports of microwaves breaking beyond repair. Investigation into these specific units uncovered a problem in the duct work responsible for the cross contamination. Those specific units were addressed and the problem was fixed – in those units only. There was no building-wide investigation. Since I normally do not cook and do laundry at the same time, the problem was not apparent to us and we did little more than note what was happening around us.

We have since heard the loud popping sounds a number of times even though we now try to avoid using the microwave and the clothes dryer at the same time. It has become an issue to consciously remember to avoid performing these two tasks simultaneously. Therefore, we reported the problem to the property manager last week. 

The property manager responded quickly. We were advised that the appropriate service company would be contacting us to arrange a visit and that the property manager’s building coordinator would like to be present. (Being new to our building, our building coordinator undoubtedly would like to take the opportunity to gain first-hand knowledge of the problem, I presume.)

In the meantime, to avoid the light and sound show, we plan our cooking and laundry chores carefully so that they do not overlap. And so we wait.

Dissipating Clouds

“This place is institutional” – four words that have resounded at board meetings time and again. Surely the new carpeting and repainting slated for next year will transform the condohood. Perhaps other suggestions will come to light, too.

Our Arts and Interior and Exterior Committee to the rescue. They have posted a notice of an upcoming meeting (see our Online Calendar). Deinstitutionalizing the condohood is sure to be a priority.

It has been a while since we have seen notices of this nature for any committee. Nevertheless, committees continue to report progress and new proposals at board meetings.  It is unlikely that such announcements will result in greater participation, but the possibility is there.

Sunshine!

Gate Psychology

The gate installed at the foot of the Broadway entrance at the start of winter seemed to be working well. There had been no indications that the concrete steps had been used for leisure. Less trash has been spotted. There has been free access to and from the building . . . until today!

This evening the gate failed. Upon exiting the building, there was a gentleman sitting comfortably on the steps. He was talking on his cell phone and smoking a cigarette. He appeared relaxed. He was too busy to hear us approaching and so made no attempt to clear a path. He did not apologize or even acknowledge us as we squeezed by.

Metal protrusion is ready to strike.

And then there is the doorstop! The gate has a metal protrusion approximately 2″ long that was deliberately placed apparently to stop the gate from swinging. Upon entering from the street, the gate must be pulled awkwardly toward you and you then circle around it to enter. But there’s a catch! Literally. That piece of protruding metal will strike or scrape your leg as you round the gate if you are not paying careful attention. I wonder how many shins pass through this gate now scarred.

The rude, cell-phone-talking smoker probably lives in our building. It is likely that the gate made him feel more secure and gave him a sense of privacy. He probably does not pass through this gate with its protruding metal rite of passage when he comes and goes. Instead we trespassed his smoking room.

The Eyesore

“It’s an eyesore,” one board member snapped at two homeowners, referring to the privacy screen on their balcony. The meeting room was filled with homeowners at this unusually well-attended board meeting. Many in attendance had been threatened with fines for having erected privacy screens on their balconies which did not comply with new policy. The offending owners had received letters regarding the new policy, their noncompliance, and the impending fines they were facing if compliance was not met. Owners were present to be heard and to appeal.

New policy for privacy screens on balconies was adopted only recently. The board approved the new policy to avoid having the building look like “a tenement” and to “standardize appearance.” Our Arts and Interior and Exterior Committee recommended concise criteria for balcony screens which included specifications for height, material, color, and even direction as to where to make a purchase. However, official policy defines only height  and approved methods of securing to the existing railing.

 Eyesore has not been defined.

Squeaky Clean

I have been a homeowner for many years and washing exterior windows has been one of those chores that stays on my To Do list longer than it should. I confess – I have not washed all of my windows every year. There are some windows that I have washed more often than others – like the kitchen window. That one always seemed to get more attention than the others. Sometimes I hired someone to do all the windows on the outside. Sometimes I did them myself. Either way, I loathe the chore.

One thing I like about living here is that the outsides of all windows get washed and I do not have to do it or look for someone else to do it. It is in the HOA budget and it gets done and not by me. Of course, I do have to remove the screens and replace them, and so I feel compelled to clean the screens then, too. And if the outsides are being cleaned, well, then I want the insides cleaned too, and so I wash the insides of the windows at that time. Consequently, window washing day is still a big deal and a lot of work, and I still do not look forward to it even though I have far fewer windows here than ever before and the exteriors are outside my cleaning territory.

Our HOA pays a window washing company $6,000 to wash all the windows for the building. The first time I heard that number I was stunned. After all, they wash all of my windows, all 6 of them (a double window in each of 3 rooms), in under 2 minutes. However, they do bring trucks and equipment to raise the window cleaners up to each window, they bring equipment to trim the trees out of the way of their trucks, and who knows what else, and the whole process takes a week or two.

A few months ago, a board meeting was held to review and approve the 2011 proposed budget. The proposal allowed for one window cleaning in the spring. One woman showed up specifically to appeal to the board for a second window washing. She just cannot tolerate her dirty windows and must be able to see the sunshine, she implored. In addition to the budgeted spring window cleaning, she wanted a fall window cleaning. Fall – with lots of falling and blowing leaves and debris, and the beginning of six months of rain, rain, and more rain! She got her way. However, it will take more than a newly washed window to see the sun before springtime in Portland.

Clean and Safe

Our building is situated in the heart of the downtown core area. We are affected by surrounding businesses and their needs. The streets are filled with high-heeled shoes and attaché cases during business hours. Police and sanitation workers intermix with street performers and beggars. While people dart about and traffic moves along, the uniformed Clean & Safe teams can also be spotted.

Clean & Safe operates under the Portland Business Alliance, effectively the Chamber of Commerce. Clean & Safe was established to augment services provided to the downtown core area with the goal of keeping the business district a safe and desirable place for living, working, and visiting. Uniformed Clean & Safe workers meander through the downtown streets pushing carts filled with cleaning products, ready to remove sticky spills from sidewalks, graffiti from walls, and trash from along curbs. Their “Safe” counterpart is comprised of uniformed patrolmen, ready and willing to maintain peace and security throughout the downtown area alongside the city’s own uniformed police.

So who pays for all of these additional clean and safe services? We do! Services that were designed for the business community, that exist under the direction of the Portland Business Alliance, and that operate during business hours were funded by the businesses in the district. Last year, however, the Portland Business Alliance figured out how to increase their revenues. So simple! Just collect fees from all of the condo owners living in the area in addition to the business owners. Mandated by the city, our homeowners association, made up of just 125 residential units, now pays $17,000 per year to Clean & Safe.

My world is now cleaner and safer, I hope.

No News

Following the brief two-meetings-only run of the House Rules Committee, I found myself as editor of the soon-to-be condo newsletter. I had edited and published newsletters before and I was pleased about this. I thought, based on past experience, that the newsletter would be embraced by the board of directors, committees, and residents.

I arranged to publish a quarterly online edition of the newsletter. The property manager routinely collects all email addresses, and they agreed to circulate the newsletters. I posted notices on the condo web forum and on the lobby bulletin board to recruit volunteers to partner with me. I prepared a website to house the newsletters and pertinent information relayed in the newsletters.

March 2009 - page 1 of 2

The first issue went fairly well. I queried each board member, every committee member, and the property manager for contributions. One board member had material to submit, one committee reported, and the property manager suggested I include a reminder to all unit owners to clear their balcony drains. Because I attend all board meetings, I had information to work with. For interest, I took pictures and added them as well as a column featuring something new or interesting in the neighborhood.

That first newsletter published in March 2009 was well received. A number of people relayed positive opinions. However, nobody stepped forward to work on the newsletter itself or to contribute ideas or information. I pushed on. I published a newsletter faithfully with the change of seasons. Last December, I received only one response to my queries: the chairman of the board said he would have a paragraph about the new annual budget. That paragraph never materialized.

Last week I notified one board member that I am not moving forward with the newsletter. He did not bother to respond.

Security: Real and Imagined

We first saw our condo unit from 3,500 miles away. We were planning our move to Portland and found this unit for sale on the Internet. I knew then, having never even been to Portland, that this is exactly where I wanted to be. It was early in the planning stages, however, and whether this unit would still be available when we were ready was not known.

Months later, we arrived in Portland and headed over to this building to get a first look at the unit still for sale. Before we even got through the entry gate, I was certain this was the perfect place. Situated on Portland’s South Park Blocks, in the heart of downtown, the location could not have been better. The entry gate made me feel secure from the hustle and bustle of an urban area.

The unit we were interested in was on the second floor, which was exactly what I wanted. I wanted to be able to exit easily in an emergency and one flight of stairs seemed reasonable as we looked ahead to our advancing years. I did not want to be on an upper floor for just that reason, nor the ground floor for the lack of security I perceived. This tiny unit was less than half of the house we came from, which was already downsized from the house before that. Yet the layout of the unit and the building seemed perfect.

Security factored into the purchase. I didn’t want to live in a fortress, heavily protected, with only one guarded entry. In fact, such high security makes me feel less secure, more nervous that there is much to feel insecure about.  Such security is stifling, too constricting, and even dangerous in the event of emergencies.

In spite of careful monitoring of keys and codes, a patrol service that sweeps the building periodically, a prominent entry gate, and a large sign boasting security, there are breaches in security. One day we found an elderly woman wandering in the corridors. She seemed lost and confused and indeed she was. After talking with her for a while, it became clear that she did not live in our building, did not know where she was, or where she belonged. Yet she managed to gain access. Another time, when bringing recyclable materials to the garage area where they are collected, we encountered a beat-up old car oddly parked by the recycle containers. The driver  did not seem to belong there and it appeared that he was going through the trash possibly looking for things he could turn into money. He may have been harmless, but he still managed to gain access where he probably did not belong. Car prowls (including burglary, vandalism, and theft) have occurred intermittently.

Security isn’t perfect, but the goals and the discussions continue. Real and imagined, security  is a priority and gets everyone’s attention.

It’s Moot

About a year ago, light fixtures and bulbs were replaced above every unit door throughout the building with an anticipated energy savings and payback in related costs said to be several years out. When questioned at a board meeting upon the announcement of this then upcoming change, the board assured all present that the lighting would remain at the same level of brightness, that there would be no discernible difference. This turned out to be an untruth. When the bulbs were replaced, white light was replaced with yellow light, reducing the effective  light and increasing glare. The new lighting was clearly a downgrade. Most residents seemed to accept the change.

When the lights dimmed in the stairwells a few months ago, I reacted immediately. This was not a small change. Each stairwell light fixture holds 2 flourescent bulbs. However, one was removed from each fixture and the remaining bulb was swapped for a bulb of fewer lumens. The total decrease in light was greater than 50%. The stairwells now appear dingy.

I contacted our management company by email to protest the dimmed stairwell lighting. I also posted about it on the condo web forum (which is largely unread). Emails went back and forth. I was informed that this change would mean an annual savings to our homeowners association of $1,350 and that I could express my concerns at the next board meeting. I was informed that the subject was placed on the next meeting agenda. After careful consideration, I decided to “withdraw my concerns” and the subject was pulled from the meeting agenda although it still appeared on the printed agenda because time did not allow for its removal. At the board meeting, the subject was announced followed by the statement that the “concerns were withdrawn.” One board member was heard to say, “It’s moot anyway.”

Business is discussed out of sight and oftentimes only wisps are disclosed at open meetings. Owners may be heard, their opinions voiced, but apparently all is decided before each meeting begins. Discussions, arguments, and appeals may be made, however moot.