Hillcrest Country Club No. 15 - Condominium Association
Bulletin Board
A/C Pump and Red Light
(April 21, 2019)
Due to a recent outage on April 19th, it’s important that I send this reminder regarding your A/C Unit …
That mysterious red light on top of the pump in front of our building indicates that the A/C Pump is operating. That pump supplies the cooling water for our air conditioning system in our individual condo units.
When that red light is not on, it means the pump is not operating and thus our A/C in our units will not be able to cool your condo. If you notice that the red light on top of the pump is not on, please advise one of the board directors so that they can address it and correct the situation. The A/C Pump fuses would have to be manually reset.
In such cases it is recommended that when the red light is back on, turn your condo A/C off, wait 20 seconds and then turn the unit back on again to reset the unit. Some of the newer A/C units may do this automatically but the older ones may not.
Snowbirds should arrange to have someone check their condo unit monthly to ensure everything is operating as intended.
Hillcrest Compliance Committee
(March 27, 2019)
A meeting took place at Parkview Club House 2 with Pulte, the Castle Group and the Hillcrest Compliance Committee to discuss status, issues and concerns related to the park area. Details are available in the attached document.
Low Flush Toilet Rebate Program
(March 21, 2019)
The board encourages everyone to consider installing low flush toilets for their homes. Our water bill is one of the most expensive costs for our building and it will only continue to increase over the years.
Some of you have already taken advantage of the Multi-Family Toilet Rebate program offered by the city. In our last audit of our building, more than 50% of our building residents have converted to low flush toilets.
The Multi-Family Toilet Rebate program is designed for multi-family properties (e.g. apartments, duplexes, condominiums, and townhomes) built in 1992 or earlier and served by a single master meter. The goal of the program is to provide an incentive for property owners to replace older toilets that use more than 3 gallons per flush with high-efficiency WaterSense labeled toilets; maximum of two (2) rebates. (Toilets purchased prior to February 6, 2013 for Multi-family, master-metered buildings are not eligible.)
Check it out at Toilet Rebate for details.
When making your submission for the rebate, please make a copy and submit to the board as well so that the credit received on our water bill can be identified and then credited to you.
Pest Control / Audit of A/C and Plumbing
(Mar 10, 2019)
This Monday March 11th will be our monthly Pest Control. At the same time we will be conducting an audit of all A/C units and plumbing fixtures to ensure there are no leaks as a preventive measure. A practice we want to do annually.
Board of Directors
Notice
(Mar 10, 2019)
Prior to the Board Meeting on March 21st, there will be a Closed Board Meeting with Legal Counsel to Discuss Pending Legal Issues. The Board is authorized to hold a closed board meeting with their attorney for the purpose of discussion pending or threatened litigation.
The meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 13th, 2019 and will be held at the offices of Eisinger, Brown, Lewis, Frankel & Chaiet, P.A.,
Tree Trimming
(Feb 16, 2019)
Rock & Rose will be thinning all canopies of our larger trees, trimming our palms, removing seed pods and dead fronds and spreading mulch throughout.
On Thursday February 21st, for those of you in parking spots from 18 to 45, your cars will need to be moved.
Please move your car to a location not in the tree trimming vicinity.
If you park on the sways please ensure your car is parked in a safe area and that a note is placed on your dash board indicating that Bldg#15 is having work done.
Town Hall Meeting with the Mayor
(Feb 4th, 2019)
A Town Hall Meeting was held at the large clubhouse at 4600 Hillcrest Drive.
Mayor Levy updated us on the city’s March 12, 2019 special election for the “Let’s Go Hollywood” bond opportunity for citywide investments in neighborhoods, traffic calming, public safety, parks, our city golf courses and much more.
Additional discussion covered the latest city news, including the potential for the transition of the city’s old Public Works site on Park Road and Hillcrest Drive toward a new use that may further complement the neighborhood.
Visit the website http://hollywoodfl.org/letsgo and be informed.
2019 Candidates for the Board
(January 11, 2018)
Dear Residents
I just wanted to keep you all informed as to the election process for 2019.
We have had a total of 6 candidate applications received by the deadline December 7th. Peter agreed to stay on for the time being but has requested to step down this year. Four from the board had not submitted. They all have decided to retire at least for 2019. I had approached Marylin Lieberman of Condo Unit 111 to consider submitting her candidacy and she agreed. Marylin is a new resident but not new to the building. She had provided care for Bruce Wood for many years.
After such a strong showing for candidacy (11) for the 2018 elections, I am somewhat disappointed this year with only 6 submissions. I am concerned. If we are to continue as a self managed condominium then we need residents to be involved, especially from those that live year round at Hillcrest. We will have four snowbirds on the board for 2019 which makes maintaining the building much more of a challenge.
Three candidates will be new to the board and have a limited knowledge of the workings of the building. Not having a part time janitor/handman adds to the challenge.
Overall, we have enough to create a board for 2019 with 7 directors and 1 secretary. Positions will be assigned at the next annual meeting.
The Candidates that submitted are:
202 Marc Roy
306 Alain Dallaire
308 Nancy Kurosky
406 Gene Sanquini
407 Dieter Merk
414 Rick Lesser
Verbally agreed to stay on for the time being
205 Peter Stein
Approached to volunteer to the board
111 Marylin Lieberman
Have retired from the board but still willing to volunteer their services if available
409 Jerry Bowen
503 Alicia Ferrer
310 Andrea Tubin
309 Joseph Wims
There will be no elections for 2019. The 2nd Notice and Ballots normally submitted prior to the annual meeting will no longer be required.
Our annual meeting is scheduled to be held Feb 7th, 2019 and the new board will be announced after the meeting. More details to follow.
Board of Directors
Laundry Rooms - Changes
(Dec 14, 2018)
In efforts to minimize vandalism and theft, the board had made changes to the laundry room areas.
All laundry rooms will now automatically lock when the door is closed. New hydraulic door closures were added to the 2nd to 5th floor laundry rooms and all foot stops and hooks to keep the doors open have been removed.
We ask all residents to close the laundry room doors during and after use. The first floor laundry room would be an exception during the day, since it also used by the caretaker.
Please remember not to leave your keys on the counter otherwise you may lock yourself out.
Landscaping
(Nov 17, 2018)
Dear Residents
You may have noticed that there had been some activity around our building grounds by the board and contractors.
In our last board meeting, we discussed the need to repair our irrigation system both front and back. At the same time, the plan is to digitize the timers and include rain sensors. No sense watering the grounds when it’s raining. Currently, that is the case unless we manually turn the timers off. Jerry Bowen has been getting quotes for the work required and it looks like Rock & Rose, the current gardeners for the Hillcrest President Council, will be chosen.
Backyard Landscaping
We need to act soon as the dry season approaches. Yesterday we installed a new pump for the backyard irrigation system. The old pump lasted more than 45 years and finally died and could not be repaired. The irrigation lines will be repaired, since some lines and sprinkler heads have been damaged during the summer months. The older lines and sprinkler shields along the building will be removed as they are no longer active.
In time, we will do a clean up of all the ground floor units, straighten the grass edges, relocate the trees that are against the building and lay white crushed stones. Those on the ground floor that have their own potted plants & trees should move them inside their units otherwise they will be discarded.
A new hedge will be placed around the shed and pump area, similar to the one we already have for the building's main water station. The irrigation pump will be relocated with new plumbing and a cover to protect it from the elements and it'll minimize the sound when running. Our hopes are to clean up this area dramatically.
Pulte indicated that they will have the park completed by or before February 2019. At the same time a fence will be installed and a possible gate for access between Bldg’s 15 and 16. We currently have foot traffic behind our building in the unfinished park and we see more and more of this everyday. These landscaping improvements will make our building look good from the park as well.
Front Landscaping
As with the backyard irrigation system we will do likewise upfront.
The garden in front of our lobby has been cleaned up with additional flowers.
The garden/catwalk in front of Unit 108 tends to flood regularly during heavy rains with no way of draining away properly. The area needs to be squeegeed each time. This is a safety concern and we need to address it to prevent any slippage. This area will be corrected and landscaped to allow for proper drainage. The hedge will be extended in this area and will replace the bushes there now.
The trees in front of our building along Hillcrest Lane will be trimmed, probably in Feb/March, to keep them healthy and strong, prior to the sealing and re-striping of our parking lot. Mulch from the trimmings will be used throughout the hedges along Hillcrest Lane.
Jerry is overseeing these projects and we all appreciate his time, his expertise and his connections in getting the job done.
Dieter Merk
Fraud and Identity Theft
(Nov 7, 2018)
At the recent HLC meeting, Hollywood Police presented a range of interesting topics concerning our neighbourhood. Of particular note is that regarding Fraud and Identity Theft a pamphlet worth reading.
Parkview at Hillcrest
(Nov 2, 2018)
A meeting was held with Minnie Whitehead, Community Manager for the Castle Group to discuss the Hillcrest Community's access to Parkview's amenities and an update on the park behind our building. Comments were reported at the Budget Meeting but are also available as a separate report.
Rules for usage of the Parkview Clubhouse 2.
Flood Insurance Declaration Page
(Oct 23, 2018)
The Flood Declaration Page from the McNeill Group for 2018-19 has been posted on our website. Please note that a login is required to access the policy.
Repair & Painting of Catwalks Status
(May 31, 2018)
The work is now completed. A thank you to everyone that accommodated the painters in the process to ensure that the paint was allowed to dry before any foot traffic.
A special thanks to Peter Stein (205) for overseeing the project, helping the contractors and ensuring that we received the best coating product and pricing available.
Repair & Painting of Catwalks
(March 30, 2018)
Beginning next week, Adam (the Painter) will be conducting repairs of our catwalks, 10 rail footings and the bridge gaps on floors 2 to 5, all prior to painting.
During this time, please be aware of possible detours necessary to allow for proper drying of the flooring repairs which may require you to take the stairs via one floor to get to your condo. The inconvenience will be short lived but will allow, especially the bridge gaps between East and West wings of our building, adequate time to cure properly.
The painting will take place once the floors have been repaired. When painting takes place, although light foot traffic is permitted a couple of hours after the coating is applied, please refrain from moving shopping carts or heavy items for at least three days.
Any contractors you are using need to be informed of this event and need to take accommodate us as well.
Garbage Disposal
(March 29, 2018)
A reminder of our rules regarding waste disposal. Please adhere to the rules.
The rules are there for all of us. When boxes are not broken down they make less space for other waste items. Outdoor garden waste must not be placed in our trash bins. Large pieces of furniture, appliances, shelves, carpets and electronic waste must be taken to the local Broward County's permanent drop-off stations. The trucks that pickup our waste refuse to remove anything other than what is in our bins.
Our waste disposal bins are not to be used for excessive construction waste due to large renovations. You need to inform your contractors of our rules.
Yesterday the rules were ignored. It is not the responsibility of the board or our custodian to deal with the removal of unapproved waste items. Our only recourse is to fine the homeowner for the cost of removal.
V. GARBAGE DISPOSAL
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Do not place boxes, cartons, or old rugs into garbage chutes
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Be responsible, clean up your accidental spills.
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Only place garbage secured in plastic bags in trash chutes.
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Do not place glass items like liquor, beer and wine bottles down the chute. Place recyclable items into the appropriate recycling containers provided.
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Break down cardboard boxes to minimize space used.
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Commercial waste (old carpeting, tiles, refrigerators) are to be removed from premises by contractor.
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Construction waste must be removed by the owner when major renovation takes place. Small amounts are acceptable as long the bins have enough room for normal residential household waste.
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Large items like beds and sofas are to be disposed of by the owner at the municipal waste locations. If replaced with new furniture, arrange to have the old items removed by the store you bought them from.
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Electronic waste - TV's, Computers, Monitors, Keyboards, Printers, Audio Equipment, DVD's, VCR's etc., must be droped off at the Broward County drop-off site at West Park—5601 W. Hallandale Beach Blvd.
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Abide by the recycling rules posted.
Rules Related to Absentee Owners, Vacationers, Snowbirds
(March 28, 2018)
Whether or not you are an absentee owner, a snowbird or on an extended vacation, the following recommendations and facts should be considered.
Rules Related to Absentee Owners. These rules may require owners who leave their units vacant for many consecutive weeks or months to:
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Keep their AC on at a certain level to avoid conditions which would encourage mold growth.
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Shut off water to the unit to avoid leaks.
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Engage a caretaker to check on the unit at regular intervals to ensure that the unit's condition is maintained and to afford access to the association for pest control and other services/inspections as needed.
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Engage a caretaker to close up the unit in the advance of a storm which should include removing all items from the balcony or patio, putting up shutters or other storm protection and returning the unit to its pre-storm condition in a reasonable period of time after the storm passes.
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Provide updated contact information which the association may use in case of an emergency.
If you haven’t already, please ensure that you have filled the Emergency Contact form and forward it to the board president.
The Sign Crew - Parking Lot Update
(March 26, 2018)
All that banging everyone is hearing has to do with our new sign posts being installed.
The Sign Crew consists of Alain Dallaire, Marc Roy, Yves Lalonde, and Gene Sanquini as post installers and Paul Gallo as the sign maker. All Bldg#15 residents.
True team work. Hopefully by the 27th most of the signs will be up.
We plan to have a contract with a towing company which will supply us with the infamous "Towing Warning" signs.