Dear Residents of Green City Lofts,

This has been a long time coming to have a summary of what is going on in our community, these will be ongoing emails out to all owners of Green City Lofts.

Myself  (Scott Anderson) and Elizabeth Chaponot are home owners and are not on the HOA board.  We work with them to provide a summary of what is going on on a regular basis.

Most of us, myself included, have been remiss in not attending the open forum HOA boards, I urge you to do so to gain more insight and see how much our HOA board, who are all volunteers, actually do, you will be surprised!

The HOA does a lot and albeit from the outside moves incredibly slowly, attending these meetings gives great insight into the needed process for each item.

So for the fun stuff, what is going on!

Landscaping/Watering

I was delighted to hear that the landscaping will be moving forward in 2023.   There is a landscape architecture firm involved, drawings are underway, and we’re actively working to finalize & install the landscape renovation as soon as possible

All the irrigation water lines have been checked and fixed where needed.

The board is aware of the damp first step, probably caused by some water leakage on the main entrance of our community.

(Benay on the board has posted on the bulletin board for volunteers to check other areas where water can be saved)

Cosmetics/Upkeep

A touch up painting project has been scoped out to beautify certain areas that look in neglect, timeframe for this to start has not yet been decided.

The concrete walkways with their specialized not slip coating have some areas that badly need scrapped and repainted, this also is on their list and several more estimates are being sought from vendors before this can be executed.

Heating/Hot Water

One large area of concern for us all especially as winter is descending upon us is the on and off again working of our water and heating systems. The board is concerned too, and still deciding the best course of action.  The current priority is towards bolstering the existing system to increase reliability, all the while looking to the future to strategize a more robust, green, and economical system down the line.

Security

Security is on everyone’s mind.  We’re not alone.. crime is rampant all over the bay. We have had numerous mail room thefts and fresh on everyone’s mind are the latest garage incidents. The HOA is not responsible for packages and we should NOT rely on the association to protect you from loss or harm so we must always take our own necessary precautions.

Our board members are residents too and have worked to try and problem solve.  There was discussion around getting a door in the mailroom.  However after some investigation by the board,  there were numerous hurdles, ADA access, fire risks, one way in and out, access for delivery people.  So I think for now that has been scrapped.  Plus it does not address packages at peoples doors.

The board is investigating where people are gaining access.  

• Climbing over the fence at the first entrance on 40th.  They are looking into additional spikes to stop this happening.  

• Above the garage it would be possible to climb up so again they are investigating making this more difficult.

Parking

We would like to remind people that the guest spots are not additional resident spots.   We understand that residents may have more than one car but are asking that we all follow the rules we agreed to.  We are finding that people are getting more comfortable using guest spots or worse, other people's assigned parking.  The board is working on ways to better enforce the policy but in the meantime, a reminder to respect community rules and use street parking or find an owner willing to rent out a spot.

Shoutouts

Elisabeth B. from building 3.  I am sure you have all seen her around.  She does a thankless job of picking up a great deal of litter around our complex and on the street.  If not for her this place would be a lot more dirty!

To our board members who are actively trying to save us money.  One of many examples is that of Benay.  One agenda item this month was  related to the alarms on the garage exit door that needs replacing, one of the bids was $1700. Benay countered that maybe for a repair on the garage exit doors we could send someone to home depot instead of spending $1700 to me hits the nail on the head of a responsible board. Maybe the vendor thought we needed much more than what we really needed.  A sound to trigger when the door is left open!