Condo Media - June 2012 - 47

president, acknowledges, because work was just beginning and results weren’t yet apparent. Particularly with longerterm components of the plan, Lee says, “we continually emphasized the idea of increasing property values.” As work progressed and became more visible, Lee says, “we picked up support from owners, and they sold it to others.” At every step, he emphasizes, the board was aware of the need to keep owners informed and involved.

Setting Priorities
With so many projects vying for attention and funding, the board’s first challenge was deciding where to start. But establishing priorities turned out not to be as difficult as they had feared. “We knew we had to focus on health and safety issues first,” Lee says, which put roof repair and replacement at the top of the list — not only because the roofs were leaking, but because the association’s insurance

company had threatened to cancel its master policy in response to repetitive water damage claims. Prioritizing projects was important, Lee agrees, but the board also had to be willing to adjust its priorities as new problems surfaced. For example, when a dead tree fell on a board member’s car, tree maintenance, which hadn’t been part of the original plan, was placed high in the priority queue. Seven years after the board introduced its “vision” for the community, construction and maintenance efforts are still ongoing and new initiatives are being added to the list. But at this point, the list of goals achieved far outnumbers the list of major projects still to be tackled. Many factors explain how the board members responsible were able to achieve so much in a relatively short period of time. But in listening to Lee, Duchamp and Hammond discuss the experience, four factors in particular stand out:

Communication — Through newsletters, meetings, updates and personal contacts, board members kept owners informed throughout the process. They were accessible to owners and responsive to their concerns, Beauchamp says, adding, “They put themselves out there” for owners. Management and the board worked together “in a concerted effort” to provide accurate information and respond quickly to owner’s questions and concerns, Beauchamp notes. Teamwork — Board members worked effectively with each other and with the management company. It took time to develop that working relationship (the management company was newly hired when the board began developing its plan) but the board recognized and utilized the management company’s expertise, Hammond says. And the company, in turn, recognized the “immense resources” the board provided. Board

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CONDO MEDIA • JUNE 2012

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Condo Media - June 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Condo Media - June 2012