Winter Furnace Maint.

Silver Lofts Owners/Renters,

This coming Saturday, Nov. 7 starting at 9:00AM, will be the annual HVAC units' inspection/cleaning.

This is a service funded by your Homeowner's dues and is scheduled at this time to have the HVAC units in good shape before heavy winter heating season arrives.

IN THE PAST: a licensed technician did a simple roof walk to determine that things were working and looked OK. Owners/tenants may not have even known that something was being done.

HOWEVER: over a half dozen units have experienced malfunctions in the past two years.......

SO.............

THIS YEAR: a licensed tech with several helpers shall be performing three services:

1) a thorough inspection and cleaning of all 47 roof units (all three buildings)

2) Building One (East Building: Units 801 to 837): an additional inspection of the ground floor portion of your HVAC unit: this will require access to your garage if you have one, or else your first floor utility room: RIGHT NOW, hit the "Reply" button on this email and tell me when you will be available (between 12:00 noon and 2:00 PM on this coming Saturday) and provide me with a contact phone number.

3) Buildings Two & Three (middle and west buildings: Units 839 to 895): an additional inspection of your in-house registers, airflow valves, return air filters......upon prior request only: you must let me know before Friday of this week by hitting the "Reply" button on this email and tell me when you will be available (between 10:00 AM and 12:00 noon on this coming Saturday) and provide me with a contact phone number.

PLEASE NOTE: this service takes care of all service and supplies on the roofs, BUT DOES NOT include providing replacement return airfilters inside of your individual units.

SO........

IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE SO IN THE LAST SIX MONTHS........BUY NEW "RETURN AIR FILTERS" (Lowes, Home Depot) for your unit before Saturday. (Call me, if you can't figure out what you need to get: 818-8164). These filters need to be replaced/cleaned twice per year, otherwise they get blocked by the ubiquitous New Mexico dust....regardless of your housecleaning habits.....and then the furnace fan is overworked because of the blockage and burns out.......expensive!

The Homeowners' Assoc. is obliged (by our Covenants) to offer this service......it is up to you to take advantage of any portion of it beyond the inspection of the roof units.

Later.......

Roger Elsinger

Silver Lofts HOA Board, Pres.

HOA Presidents Report

SILVER LOFTS HOA BOARD MEETING

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

October 15, 2009

Quite a number of items came before the Board at this meeting, so I shall number and summarize each of them:

1) As each of you have been recently notified, HOAMCO is now our new Property Management firm and David Rasinski (505-888-4479) is our specific contact at HOAMCO. David introduced himself in detail at this meeting.

2) Noise issues: City Code is very specific about bothersome noise between 10:00 PM and 7:00 AM, which makes it quite clear that any sounds which disturb a neighbor’s sleep during that time should be dealt with by calling the police (242-COPS) and then notifying HOAMCO the next morning so that there may be followup with owners/tenants later. Along the same line, if graffiti appears anywhere on the property, please call 311 to report it and someone usually appears to remove it within several hours.

3) Pet Poop: steps are being considered to fine those responsible for neglecting to pick up immediately after their pet: few smells are more offensive to non-pet owners than fresh dog poop, not to mention the health issues, especially for folks with allergies.

4) A few weeks back we had perhaps the heaviest rain of the last two years. It was heavy enough to show up major deficiencies on all nineteen roofs of the middle building. In short: $5600 was expended to “finally get it right” on that building. Steps are being taken to seek reimbursement from the roofer responsible (through Beazer Co., the Builder).

5) Last evening, Oct. 14, 2009, a community meeting was held at La Luz School at Second and Griegos seeking input about a proposed mini-treatment plant for two major sewer mains that go from that area all the way to the main treatment plant in south valley. Backup odors from those mains have plagued this whole area (including Silver Lofts) for years and are getting worse. City Councillors O’Malley and Benton organized this meeting and the 25 people who came generally supported the installation of such a facility which would inject ferrous chloride (an iron salt) into the two mains and kill the odors which go through the summer and fall in this whole area. Building plans are purposely incomplete in order to allow local resident input for design. Money for the facility is already allocated. If all goes as planned, the facility could be operational by early next summer, before the odors usually get going. More on this later.

6) Furnace inspections for all Silver Lofts HVAC units shall be scheduled for mid November. More on that later: most of these units are on the roof, but the east building will require first floor access as part of the HVAC unit is there. For now, BE SURE TO REPLACE THE RETURN AIR FILTERS BEFORE YOU TURN ON THE HEAT.

(NOTE: If that last statement puzzles you, if you do not know a “return air” register from a regular register, call me and I will be happy to assist: 505-818-8164. Blocked filters have already been involved in at least seven Silver Lofts HVAC failures.)

7) Window washing shall likewise be scheduled for November. More on that later.

8) Bicycles in the courtyard: allowed, as long as they do not protrude onto the sidewalk or on the gravel. Motor scooters/any motorized vehicle in the courtyard: absolutely not allowed at any time for any purpose. Read your CC&R’s.

9) HOA Reserve Funds: the HOA is responsible for the surface covering of the roofs, the layer of stucco on the external walls and the common areas. To that end, we must plan ahead for repair and replacement costs. And to that end the Board shall in the next month commission an appropriate company to do a thorough evaluation of our reserve funds in the face of our projected needs which are based on the structural makeup of these buildings. More on that later, as we know more.

10) HOAMCO shall immediately begin interviewing landscaping companies to see if we can get good service for the common areas at a lesser cost. More on that later.

11) The Board decided to install ten solar lights in the west courtyard; the same as is now in the east courtyard, and approved the removal of the problematic/expensive underground electric lights from the east courtyard.

This shall be perhaps my last President’s Report to all of you as my Board term ends in December. There shall be an Annual Membership Meeting on Dec. 2, at which time several new Board members shall be elected. Within the next several weeks you shall receive info about that meeting and the voting process (in person OR by proxy). Voting and Board positions are restricted to Loft owners by By-Law, but everyone is encouraged to attend the meeting.

To each of you who have responded to my Reports and work in the past year: Thank you. There are, by my seasoned estimation, some mighty fine neighbors in this complex.

To each of you who have never attended a Board Meeting or other Lofts gathering: you’re missing a bet. I think that your lives could be enriched by such contact.

Roger Elsinger

HOA Board, Pres. 505-818-8164

HOA Meeting October 15th

SILVER LOFTS HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION

BOARD MEETING

OCTOBER 15, 2009 – 6:00PM

Tentative Agenda:

• New Management Company/Records Transfer Update
• Noise Issues
• Pet Issues
• Roof Repairs
• Sewer Odor Update
• Reserve Study Discussion
• Open Discussions

Make a Difference Day

Dear Neighborhood Association:

Friday & Saturday, October 23 & 24, 2009, have been officially proclaimed as Make A Difference Day in Albuquerque. Your neighborhood association is invited to "Make A Difference" by participating in a neighborhood clean-up. Last year, some Albuquerque neighborhood associations sponsored neighborhood clean-ups resulting in the collection of thousands of pounds of debris. If your association would like to hold a neighborhood clean-up on Friday or Saturday, October 23 or 24, please contact Debra Saine at dsaine@cabq.gov, 767-5815, prior to October 2. Arrangements will be made for a dumpster and/or pick up of the debris.

Debra L. Saine

Mayor's Office of Volunteerism & Engagement (MOVE)

P.O. Box 1293

Albuquerque, N.M. 87103

505-767-5815

http://www.cabq.gov/move

New Rear Parking Lot Gravel

Hello All,

As you all may have noticed, the HOA board and some residents worked diligently on last Saturday morning to fill in all the dirt spots behind the lofts in the rear parking lot area. We hope that this effort cleans up the ally to make the area a bit more ascetically pleasing to residents, potential residents and visitors. The board will continue to make such improvements to our lofts through out, so if you feel there is something you may or may not want to see, please email me with a wish list of things so we could discuss them at the next HOA meeting.

Here are some pictures--- I hope to see you all soon

Ciao

Sewer Order

Silver Lofts Owners/Residents,

With the weather heating up, it is expected that a back-flow of sewer odors may again occur in the Silver Lofts area (as well as portions of Ninth St. to the north and the south: the Ninth St. line is the "worst in the City").

Almost a year ago I reported to you that meetings were under way with the State director of Sewer Odor Control in this area.  He began immediately to draw up plans for a small underground treatment facility up-line, which would effectively remove the odors.  In February it looked as though construction would begin in May.  In March the chosen installation location got shot down and he had to consider alternative sites.  One has finally been settled upon, with final approval pending a late July meeting.  I shall keep you posted.  We are assured by State and City officials that "there should be no problem".  The location is already City property (unlike the previous site).

Practically speaking, it will be late Fall before a 60-90 day construction project takes place.  Hence, it will be NEXT summer before this problem is solved.

For now?  If you so desire, you can install on your own roof an activated charcoal filter that removes these odors.  TLC Plumbing (345-5544) can install this type of filter on top of your vent pipe which kills such odors.  It costs $55 plus installation.  If every unit did this it would probably be quite effective.  If only a few do it, I doubt that you would notice a difference.

The above info is the result of a meeting held this afternoon in Councillor Benton's office with him, his secretary, the City Water Authority Director, the State Odor Control man and several of us from Silver Lofts.

Probably, in the broader historical context of how things like this get done in the City of ABQ, this project is moving at a fast pace.  They assure us that plans and funding and approval are all in place.
It just won't help us much through this immediate summer.

More when I know more...

Roger Elsinger
Silver Lofts HOA, Pres.
818-8164

Counselor Meeting June 16th

Folks,
Just got word of this meeting to be attended by:

Councillor Benton, our District
Mark Holspad, State Sewer Odor Control
Mark Sanchez, Dir. of City Water Authority
Reps from Silver Lofts HOA

Purpose: Clear the air, so to speak, re the Ninth St. sewer odor treatment plant plans.  (The sewer main under Ninth St. is the source of huge amounts of gas backflow that has plagued us here at Silver Lofts all thru the summer months: it forces sewer gas out our 47 roof vents whenever the weather pressure systems allow.)

Background: a year ago, meetings with Mark Holspad made us aware of a plan to treat the long-standing odor problem along Ninth St.  The plan formulated then called for the City to install a small underground iron oxide injector system on City property along Ninth St. as a way to kill the gas backflow odor problem along Ninth St., dubbed as "by far the worst in the City".  Estimated installation time was to be "early summer".  By March that time had been moved back to "early Fall".  And then mention of objections by residents near the proposed installation site became center stage.  It appeared time for a joint meeting.  Councillor Benton's able Kara Shair-Rosenfield agreed and next Tuesday is the result.

Place: Ninth Floor of City Hall, in the Councilor's Office, on June 16, next Tuesday, at 3:00PM.

I shall be there.  I encourage any of you with experience in interagency workings or with personal testimony to attend.

I see this as a Lets-all-get-on-the-same-page-with-this-thing meeting.  Councillor Benton as early as January moved the project plans beyond an internal roadblock in the City Planning Dept.  I was hoping until a month ago to be able to send notice of project completion by mid-summer.  But...

Any questions or suggestions, call or write me.

Roger Elsinger
Silver Lofts HOA, Board Pres.
818-8164

DAT Favorite Look Awards

 

 

DAT Latest News

VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE IN DAT LOOK AWARDS, BUY YOUR TABLE TODAY

VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE IN DAT LOOK AWARDS, BUY YOUR TABLE TODAY

Be sure to cast your vote before the polls close for the 2009 DAT LOOK Awards. Go to http://www.DowntownABQ.com/Look to cast your vote today!

Also be sure to buy your tickets or table before we are sold out! Tickets are $100 each or a table for $750.

The 5th Annual DAT LOOK Awards

Saturday, June 27th 
6:00PM 
Hyatt Regency Downtown

This is DAT’s Annual Fundraising Dinner to support he services of our non-profit organization.

This year’s Dinner will feature top restaurants from Downtown in our “Taste of Downtown!” Asian Noodle Bar, Cafe Green, The Grove Cafe, McGrath’s Bar and Grill, Roma Bakery and Deli, Sushi King, Thai Crystal, The Fix and more will be on hand.

Featured entertainment is comedian Sebastian Maniscalco, who has been featured on the Late Late Show, The Tonight Show and Comedy Central!

Also, original Piano compositions by DAT’s very own Giorgio Giannini.

The LOOK Awards is brought to you by the Downtown Action Team, Shamrock Foods, Albuquerque Convention Center, SMG, Hyatt, PSAV, 770 KKOB AM News Radio, mmgdezign.com, Stiped Couch Productions and 93.3 KOB FM. 

Written on Monday 8th June 2009 10:20 am

HOA Meeting June 3rd

Silver Lofts Owners/Residents,

The next HOA Board Meeting shall be held on June 3, 2009 at 6:00 PM at the Flying Star Cafe at Silver Ave. and Eighth St. SW, Albuquerque, NM  in the meeting room upstairs.

Among other items on the agenda, will be:

  -Minutes of last meeting/ Treasurer's Repor

  -Sky Mgmt. report on collection of Homeowner's dues which are past due

  -Sky Mgmt. report on filing and payment of HOA 2008 taxes

  -Update on City plans for installation of Ninth St. sewer treatment plant (to remove summertime odor problems of the past)

  -Discussion of resident Work Project to install landscape gravel in alley on bare ground areas

Roger Elsinger

HOA Board, President

818-8164

CERT

CERT is about readiness, people helping people, rescuer safety, and doing the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Programs such as CERT give opportunities for ordinary citizens to give something back to their community.

 

CERT is a positive and realistic approach to emergency and disaster situations where citizens will be initially on their own and their actions can make a difference in helping others.

 

What does CERT Training Offer?

 

ü     Disaster Preparedness

ü     Fire Safety

ü     Disasters Medical Operations

ü     Triage and Treating Life Threatening Injuries

ü     Assessment, Treatment and Hygiene

ü     Light Search and Rescue

ü     Team Organization

ü     Disaster Psychology

ü     Terrorism and CERT

 

Next class will be held Friday, June 12, 2009 thru Sunday, June 14, 2009.

 

What’s the best part of this training?  It’s completely FREE!

To find out more information about education and training opportunities,

Contact the Albuquerque Community Response Team Coordinator at 505-833-7247.

Or visit us online at www.cabq.gov/emergency/cert.html

RSS Feed URL

Hello everyone.. I was writing to let you know that we could now use RSS to keep track of updates on our blog site. There are a few RSS programs out there that are easy to use. Im using my MAC email client to  keep track of this feed and it seems to work like a champ. There is no real way I could send out an email to EVERYONE every time the site is updated so I strongly recommend using the RSS. On the top of this page are the RSS links that should be strait forward and simple to use.. I also posted some videos there on the right hand side for those of you do are not familiar to RSS. If you are interested in using Outlook or your MAC email client, the URL that is needed is below. Please try it out and tell me what you think. 

http://silverloftshoa.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

PNM Savings Device for your townhome

FROM ROGER ELSINGER, SILVER LOFTS HOMEOWNERS' ASSOC. BOARD OF DIRECTORS
TO ALL SILVER LOFTS HOMEOWNERS

RESPOND TO THIS EMAIL BEFORE NEXT MONDAY EVENING, FEB.23,2009 (Hit "Reply" and type "I request PNM service described herein", with your name.)

MATTER AT HAND:
PNM (our electric company) has contacted us with this offer:
- at PNM's expense, they will install a small book-sized device on each townhome's air conditioner (on the roof)
- this device will communicate with PNM's central control to the end that during peak summer cooling periods all such wired air conditioners in the Rio Grande Valley will come on in a coordinated fashion thereby avoiding "brown outs"
- if enough of us sign up for this, it will lower our rates because PNM will not need to carry excess capacity designed for "a worse case scenario"
- this will not cause delays in our service; customers will notice no difference in service
- they will pay $25 to each owner at installation

I will provide PNM access to each roof. Owners need to do nothing but give consent (and I will need that at least by email, hard copy, in order to have a track record.)

Silver Lofts Recycling

Silver Lofts' Owners/Tenants,

RECYCLING HAS COME TO SILVER LOFTS

(City Ordinance 0-06-46 mandates recycling for "apartment com-
munities with 25 units or more"
Two green lidded containers are in each Courtyard.
Pickup is on Thursday mornings.

      RECYCLABLE MATERIALS:

•   All Plastic Bottles & Jugs
•   Paper - Newspaper
•   Catalogues - Junk Mail
•   Small Collapsed Cardboard (Except: NO cereal or shoe boxes)
•   Aluminum Cans

     PROHIBITED MATERIALS:

•    Glass !  Liquids of Any Kind
•    Doggie or Cat DooDoo
•    Electronics of Any Size
•    Styrofoam
•    Anything with food/drink on it

PRINT THIS OUT & KEEP IT HANDY


PLEASE: If prohibited materials are found in these containers, we will be fined $100 per incident & watched more closely thereafter. Sky Management 332-2722 will be your contact in future.

Roger Elsinger
Pres., HOA Board

HOA Meeting Febuary 4th

Members and all residents of Silver Lofts,

Please be advised that the next Board Meeting of the Silver Lofts Homeowners' Assoc. shall be held upstairs at the Flying Star Cafe at Eighth St. and Silver Ave. SW on Wednesday Feb.4, 2009 at 6:00PM.

On the Agenda at this time:

- HOA Dues Collection Policy; City Noise Ordinance

- Bldgs. 2 & 3 rooftop ladder extensions

- By-Law and Restrictions Review

- Courtyard plantings:
East: agave in circular planter
West: pots

- Window Washing & Furnace maintenance

- new grounds maintenance contract

- project recycling

- new dumpster covers

- street lighting

- Beazer (Builder) reduction in force

- Lofts website development

This is preliminary. The agenda may be shrunk or enlarged by meeting time.

Roger Elsinger
HOA Board Pres.
818-8164