From: Dennis
Sent: Friday, 22 November, 2023 8:14 AM
To: AwesomeOwners@35203034LSD.Org
Subject: CAMPAIGN LETTER REBUTTAL

First, the important thing…have a Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Today, I received a campaign letter supporting Anette and Stephen with the rooftop deck as THE campaign issue. The author suggested, “…there are some residents who think the progress has been too slow…” and “…some of these folks are using this perceived slowness as a political argument for overturning the board…”

Progress on the deck and penthouse has not been too slow. It’s been nonexistent…this is 99% of the activity since 2018:
6/25/19 – Proposal for Penthouse “open house” for owners…is a popular event
9/22/20 – Proposal passes to refinish Penthouse floors; does not happen
1/25/22 – $20K budgeted for study, final drawings shown at Annual Meeting (seating for 125??? That’s over 60% of residents!)
8/23/23 – $14K approved for continued study. No timeline or deliverables are given
1/2/24 – Only $5K budgeted for Penthouse for the entire year
I don’t know why the letter focused entirely on the deck and penthouse when we have so many other, much larger issues to address first:

In 2018, our engineering firm evaluated our building. Their report determined that our roof had only five years of remaining life left, with an estimated replacement cost of over $800,000. Since that report was released, less than 2% has been set aside in reserves for this important task. Five years have passed, and the roof is now at the end of its useful life. Yet Stephen and Anette cut the budget for maintenance on our roof by 30% in the current budget.
The engineer’s report from 2018 also stated that our plumbing system was utterly worn out and would cost $6.1 million to replace. By now, we should be more than five years into replacing the risers, but less than 5% of the work has been done.
The engineer’s report from 2018 said that the carpeting in our hallways was way beyond its usable life. Not a single penny has been set aside in the budget for this overdue interior refresh.

Thanks for listening and your support!

/////////////////

From: Dennis
Sent: Sunday, 26 November, 2023 8:14 AM
To: AwesomeOwners@35203034LSD.Org
Subject: SPECIAL ASSESSMENT 2024

Hi everyone. It’s time for some real financial talk.

I’m attaching a letter everyone will receive in the mail in a few days. I continue to be stunned by the campaign messaging by Anette and Stephen to “keep the team intact.”

Focusing on the non-existent progress on the Roof Deck and Penthouse when they ignore our roof, plumbing, electricity, and the 3520 interiors.
Implying that “keeping the team intact” will keep assessments low when they’ve raised them over 40% in five years.
Implying that “keeping the team intact” will avoid a special assessment when they have steered us back to almost the exact position we were in in 2013, resulting in code violations and urgent safety and structural integrity repairs that required borrowing $3.5 million and passing a $2 million special assessment for repairs, totaling $5.5 million.
“The team” had a chance not to increase assessments this year but chose to raise them anyway. For the 2024 budget, they decided to add $204,000 more to the reserve fund than they did last year. Last year, they put $650,752 into this fund; this year, the total is $854,800. The increase in assessments totaled $122,000. “The team” could have kept the assessments at 2023 levels and still added an extra $82,000 to the reserve fund.

I have no visibility into our actual spending discipline and efficiency, but I would not be surprised if we could do much more with much less.

Thanks for all your input and support!

Dennis Hauser 9C
630-310-1520

NOTE: THERE’S ALSO AN ATTACHED LETTER PDF that we will try and get to you.