Primrose Lane Condo Association
Minutes
General Meeting
May 21, 2003

James Lawrence – President
Derrick Wilkes - Treasurer
Kelli Jennings - Secretary

Crawford Community Management
Alan Crawford, Proprietor
Lisa Williams, Manager PCA

26 Homeowners in Attendance

The meeting was called to order at 7:45pm

President James Lawrence introduced the new Manager for Crawford Community Management Lisa Williams. Ms. Williams has been assigned to the Primrose Lane Community. Ms. Williams encouraged homeowners to call her with questions, comments and concerns.

MIGHTY MAINTENANCE
PO Box 195, Sayreville, NJ
Mr. Lawrence announced that Mighty Maintenance is now the primary maintenance contractor for the Primrose Lane Community. The scope of their work includes gutters, sidewalk and outside maintenance work.

Several homeowners presented questions
How was Mighty Maintenance chosen as Primrose maintenance Contractor?
Mr. Lawrence responded – Mighty Maintenance had been tested for over 1 year. All references have been checked and so far they have been very responsive to community requests. Having one central contractor alleviates the previous problem of tracking who did which jobs in the community.

How did you hear of Mighty Maintenance?
James Lawrence – I heard about them through Crawford Community Management.

Why didn’t the Maintenance Contract go out to bid?
Mr. Lawrence responded – Several companies were tested, along with Mighty Maintenance before a contract was signed. We found out that one of the companies that did work in the community did not have adequate insurance coverage.

Why can’t we have a maintenance company located on site?
JL – Mighty Maintenance has assigned two men to be on site 1 day per week.

*Note – The contract states All ground maintenance will be completed by one employee two days per week for two hours per day. All work orders will be completed by two employees, one day per week for seven hours per day. Also we will be billed separately from our monthly maintenance bills for large jobs. A large job is defined as one that can not be completed in one maintenance day or requires more than one employee.

Many homeowners responded that one day per week may not be enough.

Mr. Lawrence requested homeowner provide a list of complaints to the management office or himself. If the number of repairs warrants additional days, then additional days may be considered.

Which companies have been tested?
Mr. Lawrence responded – There were a number of jobs and different contractors came in. However, Mighty Maintenance did the best job.

One homeowner made a comparison was made as to how well maintained the grounds of Briar Mills North are as a result of having onsite maintenance workers.

Mr. Lawrence replied that he preferred hiring professionals rather than handymen.

Who is the pick up truck with NY plates that does maintenance work in the Primrose Community?
Many homeowners believed that it is Mighty Maintenance

Mr. Lawrence was not aware of any New York license plates.

Lisa Williams said that she would check into it.

How long will Mighty Maintenance be tested?
Mr. Lawrence – They are under a one year contract. He also commented that Mighty Maintenance was hired because last year we spent $45,000 plus materials. Mighty Maintenance costs $36,000 plus materials.

PROBLEMS IN THE COMMUNITY
Mr. Lawrence stated that he is aware of 3 foundation leakage problems and problems with gutters because of the siding installation. To date we are withholding $20,000 from the siding company until problems can be corrected.

#48 When the pipelines were being installed, several calls were made to the management office regarding the condition of the sidewalks when a family member fell in the repair area. Also, when will the corrals be repaired?

#74 There has been a significant increase in trash in the community. When will grounds be cleaned?

#27 Who mows the lawn? There is a communication problem with the workers not being able to speak or understand English.

One homeowner asked When will cardboard be picked up

#123 - Is Mighty Maintenance ever going to finish their basement job?
#5 - Has been waiting 3 months for topsoil to be put under his deck. He needs approximately 1-2 yards.

#127 – There is no lighting system to the entrance of the Primrose Community.

#94 – There is a mountain of newspapers and bags not in the dumpster next to her building. Also the homeowner asked how is the weeding of the property handled?

#118 – Several tree branches and leaves near the ball field. Landscaper dumped the leaves from last year.

#107 – When will pest control come around for termite inspection?

There is a problem with abandoned vehicles in the community

Several people have been parking in the fire lanes between buildings 3 and 7

SNOW REMOVAL
The community was divided as to the efficiency of Rodney’s crew during the extreme weather conditions this past winter.

Mr. Lawrence stated that no arrangements have been made with the contractors to dig out personal cars. The only personal cars that were dug out were: essential personnel, nurses or people with medical conditions.
Snow removal includes 1. Clearing the road 2. Widening the road. 3. Clearing the sidewalks.

Several homeowners complained that they were not dug out until 2 days after the Monday snow storm.

One homeowner felt that the slow response was due to the landscaper being ill equipped to handle such storms.

$30,000 was spent in snow removal.

POOL
The pool will open June 7th (weekends only). It will open daily when the school year is over.
There have been ongoing problems with vandalism in and around the pool area. Jumping over the fence to receive phone calls and damage to trailers. Possible solutions would be to change the phone service to make outgoing calls only, greater community involvement, parents encouraged to monitor children and video surveillance.

MISCELLANEOUS
There were complaints about children skateboarding in the parking lots.

One homeowner responded that we should be more tolerant of children

Mr. Lawrence stated that there is a major problem with garbage separation between buildings 10 and 15. We must hire someone to separate for the carting company to remove the debris. Also dog feces are an increasing problem for the landscapers. Residents must clean up after their animals.

INSURANCE
Mr. Lawrence stated that our insurance coverage terminates this weekend. State Farm does not want to renew our existing policy because our claims to premium ratio are too high. It is currently at 67%

In the year 2000, $18,000 claim due to flood. 2001, $38,000 claim due to fire. 2003, $4200 due to water damage.

#40 exclaimed they never got paid on a claim from a fire at her next door neighbor’s home

Which companies have been contacted for insurance coverage?
Mr. Lawrence – Mitchell Insurance and Brown & Brown.
The problem with getting insurance is the age of the community and aluminum wiring which is more hazardous.

Currently bids are in at $93,700, up from the $35,000. $93,700 includes a $5,000 deductible per occurrence as opposed to the previous $1000 per occurrence.

One homeowner suggested also contacting Creative Agency from Holmdel. 976-4000

Why weren’t we informed that the insurance policy would not be renewed?
Alan Crawford responded that it took from February until now to receive proposals

How will we raise the additional money to pay for the insurance?
Mr. Lawrence stated that he does not want to raise maintenance fees. If maintenance fees were raised it would be an additional $39 per month.

ELECTION
It was determined that we did not have a quorum in order to run the election.
The by-laws states that we must reconvene within a certain time period.
Notices will be sent concerning new election date