BLMH October Association Meetings

 

Portal Contents and Posted Meeting Agendas 
October 14, 2021  10:30 am

I went to the official Association portal to get the agenda for tonight's meeting. There was none posted. That would be the only place because of the shutdown by the board of the official BLMH.org website. 

The only agenda posted was the one for the meeting of September 9, 2021.  See the screen shot taken above.

I sent an email to the property manager and the service manager. 

I got an email reply from the service manager at 10:37am.  "please check now".  I could not find the agenda. I was told to go to the calendar.  By clicking I was able to get to a link. It is not yet in the documents section.

To get to the agenda, go to the calendar, click on the block on the 14th "Briarcliffe Lakes Bo...." and it will open a text box. Scrolling to the bottom, there is a download link. Using that, I was able to get to the agenda for tonight's meeting.  The Zoom login is also in that text box. 

BRIARCLIFFE LAKES MANOR HOMES CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION BOARD MEETING AGENDA

October 14, 2021

I. Nomination of Board Positions 

II. Approval of the September 9, 2021 Meeting Minutes

III. Treasurer's Report 

IV. Work Orders

V. Sales Report

VI. Correspondence

a. 4 emails correspondence 

VII. Old Business

a. Front Entrance (email)

b. Sealcoating Schedule (update)

c. 1661 Dover Ct Foundation repair (update)

d. Water Main Proposals (pending)

VIII. New Business (action items)

a. Tree Removals Revised (Sava Tree)

b. Plumbing Proposal (Hydro Jetting)

c. 2022 – 2026 Landscaping proposals

d. 2021 – 2023 Snow Removal Proposal

e. Management agreement 

IX. Committee Reports

a. Rules & Regulations 

b. Architectural & Maintenance

c. Newsletter

d. Landscaping 

e. Welcome

f. Water Main

X. Homeowners' Comments

XI. Executive Session 

a. Violation report (hearing for census fine)

b. Board Member Oath

c. T606B Legal Opinion (Board discussion)

d. Delinquent accounts

XII. Adjournment

BLMH Portal Calendar - October, 2021

HOA Meeting October 2019

Well, we had an "Annual Meeting" in September and the board was not elected due to a failure to achieve a quorum of owners. According to management a newly scheduled election would be in November. There are two agendas for October on the official HOA website. This is the page which one sees on going to the site. Apparently the third and fourth lines (underlined by me) are in error because the actual agenda on the "Association Board - Meeting Agendas" Tab does not have those lines.

I asked management via email what "board" would be attending as none had been elected. I asked via two different emails:
My question: "Who is on the board and signing checks?"
Management's response: "I will pass this along to the Board for next weeks meeting."

I did not attend the October meeting.  Why bother?

BRIARCLIFFE LAKES MANOR HOMES CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION BOARD MEETING AGENDA

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE

BRIARCLIFFE LAKES MANOR HOMES CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION 

October 10, 2019 7:00pm Wheaton Community Center 1777 S. Blanchard

I. Approval of the September 12, 2019 Meeting Minutes

II. Treasurer's Report 

III. Work Orders

IV. Sales Report

V. Correspondence

        a. 1 architectural request

        b. 6 emails from owners 

VI. Old Business

        a. Fireplace legal lawsuit (update)

        b. Reserve study (pending)

VII. New Business (action items)

        a. Landscaping proposals (tree pruning, removals, mapping)

        b. Proposed 2020 budget

VIII. Committee Reports

        a. Rules & Regulations 

        b. Architectural & Maintenance

        c. Newsletter

        d. Landscaping 

        e. Welcome

        f. Water Main

IX. Homeowners' Comments

X. Executive Session 

XI. Adjournment

We need a Meeting Agenda

The association has not provided the owners with a meeting agenda for Thursday's open meeting.  Currently the April, 2019 meeting agenda is posted on the association website.

Owners are to be notified of the meeting in accordance with the Illinois Condominium Act.  Such notice must be posted at least 48 hours prior to the meeting as follows. Note that the Association has decided to post the notice of the meeting via the monthly assessment bill to each owner. However, that doesn't provide owners with an agenda, and it has been the method of the association to post the agenda at the association website.

http://www.blmh.org/

Here is the pertinent text of the (765 ILCS 605/) Condominium Property Act:

(765 ILCS 605/18) (from Ch. 30, par. 318) 
    Sec. 18 (a)(9)(B)

"(E) that notice of every meeting of the board of

managers shall be posted in entranceways, elevators, or other conspicuous places in the condominium at least 48 hours prior to the meeting of the board of managers except where there is no common entranceway for 7 or more units, the board of managers may designate one or more locations in the proximity of these units where the notices of meetings shall be posted; that notice of every meeting of the board of managers shall also be given at least 48 hours prior to the meeting, or such longer notice as this Act may separately require, to: (i) each unit owner who has provided the association with written authorization to conduct business by acceptable technological means, and (ii) to the extent that the condominium instruments of an association require, to each other unit owner, as required by subsection (f) of Section 18.8, by mail or delivery, and that no other notice of a meeting of the board of managers need be given to any unit owner......"

I've alerted management to this via email.  Apparently no one on the current board is monitoring this situation.....

Here's the image of the beginning of the currently posted agenda on the official association website. The agenda is for April 11:

BRIARCLIFFE LAKES MANOR HOMES CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION BOARD MEETING AGENDA

April 11, 2019

Wheaton Community Center 1777 S. Blanchard

7:00 pm

"We will no longer film the meetings"

Screen Shot - My Board video Nov 9, 2017
 That's my PC - I was adjusting the camera.

I received the January 2019 newsletter. This is the first issued by the association since the one published for August-September 2018, when I was on the board.

The President's Message in the newsletter included this statement:

                               "We will no longer film the meetings."

The Illinois condominium property act allows such recording as follows:

 (765 ILCS 605/18) (from Ch. 30, par. 318) 

(C) that any unit owner may record the proceedings at

meetings of the board of managers or portions thereof required to be open by this Act by tape, film or other means, and that the board may prescribe reasonable rules and regulations to govern the right to make such recordings;

In fact, one or more owners were doing the recording. The newsletter implies that this was a board function. It never was. I and any other owners who filmed the meetings did so using our personal technology.  There has never been a board "approval" of such recording, nor is it necessary.  It is no secret that some board members disliked the recording of the meetings.  

I began recording the meetings in 2007 or 2008 and I recorded most meetings that I attended from then until the annual meeting of September 2018. I began recording as an owner and I continued as an owner function, even after I became a board member. There were objections by owners and by various board members throughout that period.

I had two interests. One was to tone down the rancor in the meetings. The other was to hold the boards accountable.

I began recording when the meetings were quite contentious and at times uncivil. It is amazing how people will modify their behavior when they know their every word will be a part of a recording. I took steps to minimize those captured within the field of the video, focusing on the board.

Recording brought objections from several board members. Some boards don't want to be held accountable. I am convinced that some of our boards ducked by discussing issues in closed (executive) session instead of open session with owners present.

As a board member I continued to video the meetings. I consider these videos to be my personal property. I provided the technology and the digital storage. It was my initiative and I asked for no permission. When boards attempted to prevent me I quoted the Illinois condominium act.

I'm not surprised the current board president made the statement that meetings will no longer be recorded. She disliked my recording of the meeting and said so. Some interesting things occurred and were captured.  I think I've got a recording of her giving me a verbal "F@ck You" when I was president and she was rules director.   

I suspect that's why one of the first actions of the new board was to attempt to gag me and prevent distribution of the videos.

(c) 2019 N. Retzke

January HOA Meeting Cancelled

January 11, 2019:

"The National Weather Service has also issued a Winter Weather Advisory starting at 6 p.m. Thursday until midnight. The advisory is for the counties of Kane, DuPage, Cook, Will, Kendall, Lake and Grundy. According to the NWS, "the brief period of freezing rain, along with crashing temperatures and wet roadways, will likely create hazardous travel conditions on untreated roads this evening." "The best advice is stay home," Meteorologist Edward Fenelon told the Herald-News. Local police were also warning drivers to use caution as temperatures plummeted."

Some local activities were cancelled. The Theosophical Society cancelled all events for the evening. The BLMH association meeting scheduled for 7-9pm was also cancelled.

The weather was to worsen from 6pm with freezing rain and a combination of rain and ice pellets and ice pellets. Snow was predicted after 9pm.