Minutes of the Management/Legal Documents meeting of 09/05/06


Members Present:
Jeanine Kindlien #503
Joshua Hosterman #407
Amy Joy Allen #407
Justin Olson #607
Maxwell Kelsey #207
Kurt Holtze #605
Laurel Cazin #604
Deneen Gannon #608


1. Rent Credit Policy
-Kurt's revision of policy as provided in Jane's e-mail
-concern over deadline placed on proposal
-Item tabled until we can get a hold of Kurt
-How often are 6th floor units supposed to be painted by management co./painting committee?
-Hydraulic lift access so 6th floor walls can be done?


2. Tilsner Liason meeting - review of minutes
-Cardboard storage in common room discussion
-project at another REE property
-Michael (management agent) thinks they should be able to store materials in common room if we're not using it
-why didn't they approach the board about it before assuming?
-Ask permission in the future of co-op, but for now, move boxes out
- Deneen requested that they move boxes into a room we don't have access to
-Window cleaning - only did east side of building get done all sides were supposed to be finished by the 5th
-Rules on these things changing from one management company to the next
-Discussion about why we can't slide rent under Kim's office door
-Liaison meeting Item #6 - Air leaking rather than water on windows
-gap allowing elements in during stormy weather
-where is the line drawn on maintenance issues? Because this is a cooperative, what are the tenants responsible for versus the management company?
- Concern over safety of equipment and Art in units on the 6th floor because of an unmaintained, leaky roof
- renter's insurance not covering damage if the building isn't fixed
-Get someone out to look at the roof, patch it
-concern over how energy and time intensive roof patching is relative to replacing??
-Concern over mold and rot in roofboards - especially in older sections


3. Painting Stairwells
-listed as item #4 on e-mail from Jane
-e-mail Kurt to have painting committee do work in stairwell for rent credit
-Kevin thinks we're stonewalling the issue, not high enough on the agenda
-more important maintenance concerns pending
-discussion over Jane's having said that it's not our decision to make, that because TCHDC decided they want it done, it will be - just a manner of when and by whom
-some people think that they're wasting their time on the issue because it will be graffitied over again anyways
-but it took 13 years to get this bad, so it will take another 13 to get to where its at now
-Take an all co-op vote?
-Kurt's not gotten a response to Jane about what all is to be painted over, what color, where the money is coming from, etc.


4. City Housing Code
-stated plainly in Chapter 34 - Minimum Property Maintenance Standards for all Structures and Premises, City of S. Paul, MN that it is unlawful to store building materials as were done with boxes in common room as discussed earlier in meeting
-further states that the roof shall be tight, without defect, and that they must maintain minimum property maintenance requirements
-essentially the building is not being maintained up to code
-this would be a concern of the fire marshall as well
-if we push the issue with the right people, something will get done - the question is whether that thing will have an undesirable boomerang effect for us


5. Lawyer for the Tilsner
-Jan having done some research - info on pro bono lawyers from springboard website
-making phonecalls to contact these individuals on behalf of the co-op
-e-mail committee members with a formalized statement so we all approach the lawyers from the same angle, intro paragraph
-how are we paying for this? pro bono?
-pay the lawyer a retainer fee to interpret the documents we get from TCHDC
-question of TCHDC's ethics in dealing with the coop in the past, a lawyer would probably pay for itself in the end
- if we follow the city's housing codes, we may not need a lawyer in the end because the issues we're having are covered within the code
- will pushing this issue affect us adversely in the end? i.e, we complain > the inspectors come > too much damage is assessed > building is shut down because TCHDC doesn't want to deal with it


6. Buy- Out Status in 2014
- will likely change to a lease-hold cooperative like Lowertown Lofts wherein you hold your unit like a condo
-originally it was stated that in 15 years there would be an option to buy
-why we need a lawyer, to explain what our options are in 7 years
List of things we could bring to a lawyer
1] rights of tenants in a cooperative
2] responsibilities of TCHDC and partnership to tenants
3] what is the process to buy out building?
4] CRP/MIPR - tax statement - what gives?


7. Renter's refund
-do we file under homeowner's section because we are a co-op, or renters section? CPR form for renters, MPI form for homeowners
-who has determined which way we are to file?
-Management told us to file under homeowners because we get less money back but the state doesn't seem to care either way because the money gets taken from the management company
-Legalities of CRP witholding. Everyone by law should get some paperwork regarding rent paid the previous year by the middle of August
-Kurt just showed up, so we go back to item #1, Painting/Cleaning credits
-if rent credit policy isn't settled by the end of the year, the partnership will drop the program
-when to schedule our next meeting to discuss Kurt's proposed rent credit policy compromise so that it's in place and approved by REE & TCHDC in 4 months?
-budget negotiations start soon, compounding the process
-All Co-op meeting on the 19th, have another Legal Documents/ Rent Credit meeting after
-Play the deadline game with the partnership if that's
how they want it
-We'll hold another meeting on Tuesday, September 26th at 7:00 pm with our goal being to align on rent credit proposal, review Kurt's planned compromise

****Justin is proposing a competition within the building for out Art Crawl poster.

---Jeanine Kindlien