Page 12 - CooperatorNews Chicagoland Spring 2022

C W OIN ASHER C . O Old Fashioned Service with Modern Laundry Room Technology •Proudly Serving the Chicagoland and Midwestern Area since 1958 •Multi-Family Housing Laundry Room Sales, Service, Leasing, and Rentals. •Laundry Room Lease and Rental Programs Custom Tailored to Your property’s needs and expectations •Coin/Smart Card/Credit Card/Payment App Activated Equipment •Laundry Service with Integrity and Reliability For the “Best Laundry Service in the Business” Call Coin Washer at (800) 338-COIN | Elmhurst, Illinois 60126 what you have to do—but get those floors cleaned,” he urges. Behind the Scenes Spring is also a time for other types of “housekeeping” that are not necessarily part of an association’s or corporation’s physical plant, but should be included on that annual checklist, say the pros. These include: • Inventory—Make sure you have an ample supply of inventory and make note of what has been depleted over the winter months so you can reorder. • Fire safety—Have all fire safety equipment cleaned and serviced; send notices to residents about changing bat- teries in fire and smoke alarms. • Audit—These are the months that third-party accountants conduct annual financial audits and tax returns. Sched- ule a shareholder or unit-owner informa- tional meeting to report on the co-op’s or condo’s financial position. • Archive—Gather all of your financial statements, deposit slips, and paid bills for the previous year, whether in physical or electronic form, and file them accord- ingly. This will make the aforementioned audit process smoother and quicker, too. • Disaster preparedness—Communi- cate to residents the building’s or com- with a few fundamental facts in hand: first and foremost, the age of the building or com- munity, as well as any capital improvements that have been made already, and when. This information will give the engineer an idea of which codes could be triggered by the work being proposed, which agencies will need to be involved in inspections and approvals, and which elements might be allowed to bypass certain requirements or restrictions because coming into compliance might be logistically or financially impossible. CAPITAL... continued from page 1 Refat gives an example of a lobby renova- tion at one of his buildings that had to comply specialist: a project manager, an owner’s rep, retroactively with Americans with Disabilities or a construction manager who will handle Act (ADA) regulations. “The lobby entrance everything from acquiring permits to liais- had a little step that the town wanted re- moved, because it impeded wheelchair acces- sibility,” he recalls. “That sounds simple. But course of a project. in reality, we had to remove the entire flooring from the lobby to where it connected with the construction management firm EmpireCore, sidewalk. So now we had to address the side- walk, which had landscaping. And we had to Jersey, and Connecticut, notes that the inter- address the size of the doors—the width and dependencies involved in most capital proj- the height, and what we call the ‘clearance.’ ects require a range of knowledge, connec- How far will the door open into the lobby? tions, and strategies. “The value proposition How many seconds should it take to open we bring is in our expertise,” he says. “Avoid- electronically? Et cetera. Everything we do ing the snags, the headaches, the potentially now in redesigning a lobby or a hallway has major snafus—and the resulting costs—that become attached to some law.” Given this complexity, it is important to expense of hiring a project manager. We are have a point person—someone who is in- volved in the project from inception to com- pletion, who can manage the various vendors them efficiently and effectively.” and agencies and be on site on a regular basis, and who addresses problems or questions when they arise. While these tasks can be as- signed to the property manager (and often has been laid, then it is time to incorporate are), most management contracts stipulate the interior designers, decorators, and/or ar- that the client will incur additional fees for chitects. Those interviewed for this article say such services—sometimes on an hourly ba- sis, sometimes a percentage of the project point a design or decorating committee made budget, sometimes a set fee or a combination up of board members, owners/shareholders, or charges. Given that most board or com- mittee members do not have the time or the ideas and choices and make recommenda- expertise to be engaged in a project on such tions to the full board. a granular level, even though it’s an extra line item in the project budget, it pays to hire a ing with residents to finding innovative ways to cut costs and create efficiencies over the John Dimaras, COO of New York-based which has clients throughout New York, New can occur on most any project outweighs the aware of those pitfalls and can preempt them; where they are unavoidable, we can navigate Design By Committee Once the groundwork—and paperwork— of permits, codes, logistics, and requirements that the majority of condos and co-ops ap- or both to do this outreach and to research Gia Milazzo Smith, owner of Designs by 12 COOPERATORNEWS CHICAGOLAND —SPRING 2022 CHICAGO.COOPERATORNEWS.COM munity’s plans in the event of a natural disaster or other type of emergency. Check any updates to municipal pre- paredness guidelines; ensure insurance and broker information is up to date; and register staff and board members as re- sponders if appropriate. • Homeowner/shareholder remind- ers—Send a newsletter or notice to unit owners/shareholders reminding them to declutter balconies and terraces, clean up pet waste that wasn’t picked up over the winter, have air conditioning units installed properly, and any other limited- common-element upkeep that is their re- sponsibility. n Darcey Gerstein is Associate Editor and a Staff Writer for CooperatorNews . SPRING... continued from page 10