BOD Meeting, 21 April 2008

Una traducción española está disponible en Web site: www.TAJWatchSpanish.blogspot.com

I arrived late and left early and so cannot say all that transpired, but what I did see was as follows:

The BOD present were WH and John, with Yvonne (too ill to attend) and Ben (at work) joining via speaker phone. One by one the existing BOD motioned and voted to place the three new BOD members on the BOD. Dan Capobianco, Mark Morgenstern, and Dan Vermut have now all been elected-by-default in a community-wide election due to no opposition and also have been elected by the BOD themselves. What other ways can there be to fill the BOD vacancies: lottery, divine appointment, military coup d'etat?

The newly twice-elected BOD members joined the others at the BOD members table and questions and comments were fielded from the audience.

Elliot from bldg 39 congratulated the BOD for their inclusiveness. A bldg 14 unit owner asked questions about the financial situation of her building as it has recently been under construction. After several minutes of repeating the very same information that has been shared, objected to, argued about, and reiterated in previous BOD meetings and has mostly been written about in various places in this blog -- after several minutes of hearing the same-old same-old with new faces I had to leave to attend to other matters.

Construction Nightmares

This story was first published in the TAJ Newsletter
Una traducción española está disponible en Web site: www.TAJWatchSpanish.blogspot.com
by Steve Frahm

The story of Building 14 is fraught with trouble. There is trouble in the work that was done, and more accurately there is trouble in the work that was not done. And there is also trouble in getting the whole story of what happened and why it happened that way. In writing this story I have spoken with several first-hand sources. I give to you what I can decipher from what they have told me.

Refurbishment of Bldg 14 was well underway and going without a major hitch when the question arose, why are we waiting to replace the roof? The roofer was done with the other jobs in the community. He was ready and waiting to do this one. Some unit owners had leaks from the old roof and were anxious to have it replaced. The Property Manager used what she thought was sound judgment and asked the two contractors (refurbisher IPQ and roofer Needham) if there would be any difficulty with them working simultaneously. They agreed that they could work at the same time.

Exterior wall refurbishment work and roofing work are largely independent of each other, apparently, except for one very important area: the drip-edge (the metal flashing that folds over the edges of the roof top). When the roofing job progressed to the point of inspection, the city inspector shut down the roofer due to problems with the drip-edge. That drip-edge was Needham’s responsibility but it sat on top of, and was greatly affected by, the sub-fascia and fascia boards that were IPQ’s responsibility. Somehow they were unable to reach a workable solution other than to do a complete fascia/drip-edge replacement at an additional cost to Bldg 14 of approximately $8,800.00.

There were many long discussions about who should pay the extra expense. In the end, three vendors agreed to shoulder some financial responsibility: IPQ for their involvement with the fascia; Needham for their involvement with the drip-edge; and Crain for their stewardship over construction in general (even though they had been specifically excluded by the BOD from consulting on roofing on that job). They each agreed to pay $1500.00, leaving unit owners with an additional bill of about $400.00/unit (there are 11 units in Bldg 14). Needless to say, Bldg 14 unit owners were not happy and wanted to negotiate a better price for themselves.

While the involved parties have argued, the sun, wind, and rain have worked tirelessly on the tar-papered roof. Water damage has plagued several homes. The new BOD has expressed the fear that even the newly refurbished walls may have suffered water intrusion (which can lead to mold, mildew, and rot) from lack of proper fascia and drip-edges.

On Saturday some patch-work was done to help stave off the roof leaks. It is a necessary measure. But that, too, adds to the overall expense of the job.

Blue Skies For Building 14

Una traducción española está disponible en Web site: www.TAJWatchSpanish.blogspot.com


Building 14 has been under construction for several months. The stucco has been removed and hardi-panel is now up all around the building. The sundeck-roofs (often the last to be completed) are still under construction. The top-roof (normally a one week project) was started some weeks or even months ago, but has still not been completed. Apparently there was some timing conflict such that the roof could not be inspected while the siding was still being worked on, or vice versa, or something like that. In the meantime the building has suffered some leaks and other problems. Sources on the BOD make the assurance that they have obtained letters of responsibility from the relevant contractors and that reparations will be made. The BOD has shown an eagerness to aggressively pursue unit owners' interests in this matter.

In the picture above can be seen a crane that was on-the-job on Saturday, as apparently workers were making repairs to the rooftop of a particular unit. Weather forecasts say no rain on Saturday, 40% chance on Sunday and decreasing chances in subsequent days. Let's all hope for "no rain" for our building 14 neighbors until they get their roof situation worked out.

Construction Progress

Building 26 (above) has progressed from being covered with tarps in the left had pictures to being clad in plywood as pictured on the right. When the T-111 was removed from this building and Building 44 (below) there was no plywood beneath it, leaving the studs and insulation exposed. The tarps served as very temporary protection but were quickly replaced with the plywood. Hardi-panel boards will be the final outer-layer, with a layer of plastic or tar-paper between it and the plywood.

Jim Miles reported that Building 26 had "hurricane straps" already installed, but that Building 44 had none. Hurricane straps are fairly small metal strips that are nailed into the tops and bottoms of wall studs all along the second story of the building, with the outcome that the roof is thereby connected to the foundation. That makes a building much more resistant to wind forces, much less likely to blow apart when a hurricane force wind blows through our area. Those straps are not only a good way to protect our homes, but they are also required by the local building codes, I am told. Before the reconstruction work in TAJ is done, every building ought to be outfitted with hurricane straps.




Building 14 (above) is making steady progress. Hardi-panel has been installed and the building is beginning to look very nice.

Building 14 Sun-Decks

The work continues to move forward on building 14 as sun-decks are being demolished. The pictures above show some areas where water intrusion has produced rotted wood in the trusses and sun-deck flooring.

Building 14: rooftop and all around

Building 14 is getting a nearly complete overhaul as a new roof and new siding is being installed from the south end of the building to the north.

In the picture above can be seen a lift that is used to move workers to the upper levels of the job.

Workers pictured above are stripping the old stucco siding away from the underlying plywood sheathing. The stucco will be replaced with hardi-panel, and rain gutters will be added to prevent rain-water intrusion.

Refurbishments and Re-roofings

Building 1 (above) has a new roof and looks excellent from University Drive, putting a much better face on the TAJ neighborhood than has existed since hurricane Wilma two years ago when much of the old and worn roof was damaged by the wind. A year of opposition by building 1 unit owners resulted in increased maintenance and engineering costs (some estimates are that the delay and repetitious studies cost unit owners a combined amount of over $10,000.00) and was finally put to rest when the BOD recently voted to replace the roof on Building 1, as is being done on other buildings throughout the community.


Building 26 (above and below) is getting a new roof. This building is on the Southwest corner of the neighborhood and is the first thing many passers-by see of TAJ. The new roof will help our community's "curb appeal." It will also correct many leak problems that I was told exist in that building. In the picture above can be seen the large crane they use to haul material up to the rooftop. Below can be seen some of the crew that was working on Saturday. Click on the picture below to see a larger image and you may be able to see where the workers are replacing a portion of what they call the "roof deck" (the plywood that is under the shingles).



Building 27 (above) is nearing completion of the majority of refurbish work. JM Construction faced a delay due to materials, I was told, but they are back on track. Sun-decks appear to be the final stage of the work to be done.


Building 14 (above) is being prepared for re-roofing (shingles piled along the peak) and refurbishment (sun deck walls removed, scaffolding erected).


Building 21 (above and below) is also being prepared for refurbishment. Scaffolding lines the front and back of much of the long building.


Rotted plywood (above) is evidence of water intrusion over the years in building 21. Fortunately there is a concrete truss that is impervious to water-rot (seen under the rotted plywood). Hopefully the other trusses made of wood have avoided the decay that has typically been found in other buildings. Hardi-panel and rain gutters are part of the plan to reduce the amount of water intrusion and the resulting rot that will happen over the next several decades.


A building 27 resident has replaced their windows (above) with hurricane-proof windows that are made with safety glass and wind-rated frames. They are attractive as well as functional.