April 2013

Chaparral Pointe
www.thechaparral.weebly.com Email: chaparralpointe@gmail.com

Board of Directors message

New by-laws are now in effect, by this time you should have received them in the mail along with the announcement for the AGM in May and the end of year financials. If you rent in the building, please make sure to ask your owner for a copy of the by-laws so you can familiarize yourself with them or, you can always refer to them on our website. You should now be aware that we have moved our Annual General Meeting from September to May. This helps us align with the end of year financials. We are now sending out a plea to all owners to come forward and volunteer to be a Board member. Two years ago, Tom Brett, our copresident at the time, explained that it was important that people volunteered so that we never had a full Board leave. Our hopes then was to start a rotation; have volunteers serve a two-year term and by doing this we could have half the team leave one year then the other half the next year. By doing this, we never have volunteers that have no idea what is going on or any history. Once again we need to send out this plea, we need volunteers. None of the positions are too time consuming or difficult. We meet once a month and do most of our communication through email so a computer and an email account are necessary. If you think that you would be interested, please talk with one of the members. We do not want the same thing to happen again this year or next by having everyone resign and have people that are not really interested be forced to join under pressure. For one, I, Claudette Coderre, will be retiring once again mostly due to health reasons. We absolutely need someone to take on the secretaries position. This person should have experience as an office administrator; should know how to use word, excel and email; organizational skills are very important to keep track of all the documentation that comes across our computers. I will always be there to mentor and help out my replacement.

SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST:

Board of Directors message Annual General Meeting Parking Lot & Parkade Bylaw refresher Building Updates Social Committee Recycling

In case of emergencies, please contact Condominium First Daytime 403-299-1832 and speak with Carol Lloyd, Beatriz After Hours 403-264-7789

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

MARK THIS DATE Please make note that our next AGM will be held on Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013 at 7 pm in the Friendship room.
Board members Nancy Rand Gae Stevenson Christine Barnes Claudette Coderre Sue Berglund Audrey Cameron Roles and/or duties of the board There are only three (3) positions that have specific duties. The President must chair the meetings and is a liaison with Condo First. The Treasurer goes over the financials every month prior to the meeting and reports on it. The Secretary keeps track of letters out to residents, copies and files documentation. Takes minutes at meeting. Liaison with Condo First. Responsibilities that can be taken on by any member Checking the surveillance room once a week Updating the front panel Creating the newsletter Website administrator Responding to emails from website Monitoring the visitor parking lot and handing out parking passes Walking the building and parkade to check for issues Move-in and outsdoing the walkthrough prior and after with the owner or representative Groundsmonitoring the work that is done by landscaper By-law #7 The composition of the Board shall provide that: a) The Board shall consist of not fewer than five (5) nor more than nine (9) Owners, Spouses, representatives of corporate Owners, or representatives of mortgagees who have notified their interests to the Corporation. The number of members of the Board for the next ensuing year shall be fixed by resolution at the annual general meeting just prior to the election of the Board. Please make note that the Board of Directors now has their own email and you can contact us with any of your questions: chaparralpointe@gmail.com President Vice President Treasurer Secretary Member at large Member at large

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Parking lot & Park ade

Parkade cleaning Be aware that our annual parkade cleaning will occur on Thursday, May 9, from 8 am to 4 pm. All vehicles must be removed from the parkade prior to 8 am to ensure proper cleaning. We will not be responsible for damage caused due to the cleaning if vehicles are left in the parkade. We also apologize for the inconvenience but this is a necessary annual process. Please check your stall and if you have any fluid stains, treat them prior to the clean-up. If your stall still has stains after the clean -up, you will be asked to clean it by a certain date, failure to do so will result in a fine. Parking etiquette As mentioned before, for safety and security reasons, we need to repeat ourselves and ask all residents to please stop once you enter the parkade, allow the door to close before driving away. This will ensure that the person behind you is a resident once they open the door using their own remote. We would also like to ask all residents to please slow down when driving through the parkade. Our bylaws stipulate that you must not go any faster than 15 km. Remember that we have several elderly residents and, many residents that have their young grandchildren visiting and you all know how difficult it is to keep them close by all the time, not the seniors, the grandchildren. Remote control Keep in mind that the battery in your parkade remote is at least 5 year old so it may be good preventative maintenance to change it before you cannot get inside the parkade. This could be the reason for the occasional failure of the remotes recently. Its not the door that needs repair. Also, keep in mind that the cell tower in the car wash parking lot also can cause frequency issues and stop our remotes from working. Storage rooms Those of you with storage rooms, we suggest that you park your vehicle close to the door so that it cant be opened. If we are broken into again, the culprits will not be able to get in and take your precious belongings. Parking passes for visitors Thank you for using the parking passes properly. Please remember to ask for more passes when you use your last one so you are not caught without one next time you have an overnight guest. If this happens, please ask your guest to park on the street to avoid getting ticketed; leaving a note in the suggestion box telling us that you ran out will not stop the Parking Authorities ticketing the vehicle. You can obtain more passes by leaving a note in the suggestion box or email the Board at chaparralpointe@gmail.com. Why not avoid all the stress and leave a note on the last pass when you are putting it in the suggestion box. Remember that the front parking lot is for visitors only and not for residents long term parking. Parking stalls At no time should you leave any items in your stall for example: your cart, your windshield washer bottle, a broom, etc. Refer to by-law 62, xx) N & O and xxiv). We often receive complaints from residents telling us that the person that parks next to them parks over the yellow line or crooked in their stall and this makes it difficult for them to park. Please be cautious of that and make sure that you park in the middle of your stall to avoid any damages done to any vehicle. We would like to remind you that this is also an issue between two people and the Board will not get involved in this kind of dispute.

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Building Updates
Painting The first floor has now been painted. We ask for your help and cooperation in keeping our walls looking great. While going through the halls with large items, please be careful that you dont hit the wall and should you have an accident, please report it. We have extra paint so we would be happy to provide you with some to touch up your mistake. We received the estimate to have the common rooms and stairwells painted. Unfortunately the funds are not available at this time, therefore, we will wait and possibly get one area done at a time as we did with the floors, as funds become available. Sediment in water This has been an issue for several residents, especially on the first floor. Trotter and Morton were here in March and put filters on all of our hot water tanks. We are please to let you know that the problem has been solved. The residents that were most affected were asked to monitor for a week after the repairs and were very pleased to report great improvement. Building is 5 years old Just a reminder that our building is now 5 years old. Things in your suite are bound to start failing. The corporation is not responsible for issues like your toilets not flushing properly, etc. You may contact Condo First with your issue and they will send out the proper trades that we generally hire but keep in mind that you will be charged for the call if this is not a building problem. Exercise room The exercise room is to be used at your own risk. This room is for residents only and you should not have your grandchildren in there to play on the equipment; this is not a playroom. We are not liable if someone gets hurt. Please let us know if equipment needs attention as soon as possible. Also remember to turn the lights off when you are done. Conserving energy It was brought up at our Towne Hall meeting to turn off some of the lights in the hallway but this is not possible due to safety issues. You can help bring our utility bill down by making sure that you turn off any lights in your suite if they are not in use; unplug any appliances that are not in use or on a timer; when going away, unplug all your appliances until you return. This will make a huge difference in our utility bill. Window cleaning Please make note that Crystal Clean Window Washing will be here on Monday, June 17th to do all of the common area windows and those suites that have one window that does not open. Crystal Clean Window Washing will offer to clean your personal windows once again at the cost of $50 per suite; please make your cheque payable directly to them and hand it to the window cleaner at time of cleaning. We will post a sign-up sheet if you are interested or you can email us to sign-up. Christmas decorations If you still have your decorations up on your balconies, we ask that you remove them before the end of April. As a rule, all decorations should be taken down no later than the end of February. Anonymous notes in the suggestion box If you have a question or concern and leave us a note in the suggestion box, please make sure to include your name and suite number. No response or action will be taken for any anonymous notes. Calling 911 or Condo First for emergency What is deemed to be an emergency? If you smell smoke in the building, this is a cause to call 911. If you hear an alarm, this is not a cause. Our building is monitored by Concept and they are connected to all or our emergency panels. If an alarm goes off they take care of it, should there be a need to call the fire department, they will do it. If you are uncertain you may contact Condo First and they will deal with the issue. Every time someone calls 911 and there is no fire, we are charged $500. Should this happen, the resident in question will be charged with the cost.

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Bylaw refresher
The new Bylaws were mailed out the first week in April. If Owners have not received them by now, please contact Condo First. The Bylaws are a huge document but residents need to familiarize themselves with the Use and Occupancy Restrictions more than anything and these will be found starting page 31. Following are a few by-laws that we feel need attention at this time:
We mentioned before about the pets that are already in the building will be grandfathered but we are no longer approving new pets. b) An Owner or Occupant shall not: iv) (A) no new pets will be allowed in the Development after the date of registration of theses Bylaws, with the exception of service dogs qualified in accordance with the Service Dogs Act, R.S.A. 2000, c. S-7.5, no dogs will be approved. Any approved pet residing in a Unit at the date of registration of these Bylaws may continue to do so until its death or vacating the Unit or until withdrawal of its approval upon reasonable grounds, but it may not be replaced; Any renovations done to a suite need to be reported to Condo First and approved by the Board prior to the renos. Also for insurance purposes, these renos and upgrades need to be recorded should there be a fire our insurance would only replace according to specs if your upgrades have not been reported. vii) this bylaw is around alterations or renovations to your suite, please take time to read it since it is too long to include in this area. We often have residents report to us that their neighbours are loud but this is not a Corporation issue, this is an issue between neighbours. Remember that living in a Condo is different than a single dwelling and neighbours hear everything, you have no privacy. As a rule, monitor the level of the sound on your TV or Radio, do not do your laundry before 8 am or after 9 pm. Be considerate of others. xiii) make or permit noise in or about any Unit or the Common Property or allow any odour to emanate or es cape from his Unit or conduct himself in any manner which, in the opinion of the Board, constitutes a nuisance or unreasonably interferes with the use and enjoyment of a Unit or the Common Property by any other Own er or Occupant. No instrument or other device shall be used within a Unit which in the opinion of the Board causes a disturbance or interferes with the comfort of other Owners; You know weve had serious issues with the pigeons and continue to monitor the situation. Last fall we removed several bird feeders from the trees on the south side. Please do not put any bird feeders anywhere on your patio, balcony or on the premises or you will be fined. xxx) feed or harbour squirrels, pigeons, gulls or other birds from the patio or balcony or windows of his Unit or on the Common Property. No squirrel or bird feeders are allowed anywhere on the Development. Every year we need to remind smoking residents about this bylaw. Keep in mind that most Condo fires are started from cigarettes not being disposed of in a proper way on the balconies. xxxvi) smoke or allow smoking anywhere on the Common Property except on a balcony or patio with such Occupant disposing of smoking material into a fire retardant receptacle placed on such balcony or patio which receptacle shall be filled with either sand or water. An Owner shall not throw cigarette butts, matches or other smoking or combustible materials out of windows or over balconies or patios. An Resident shall attempt to re strict smoke from entering adjoining premises;

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Social Committee
On March 26th we held a St Patricks Day pot luck and party. If you attended you know how much fun we had. Watch for the sign-up sheet for the Spring Fling, at that time we hope to welcome back many of our Snowbirds. Upcoming events: May 11 Spring Fling Pot Luck June 29 International Pot Luck September 14 Pancake Day October 26 Halloween Party November 30 Xmas Decorating Evening Ongoing Activities Monday night cards and games @ 7 pm Tuesday night, Canasta @ 7 pm Thursday morning coffee @ 10 am Friday night social @ 7:30 pm Saturday night cards and games @ 7:30 pm

Recycling
Thank you to all that recycle. We would like to ask you to please be careful sorting your bottle and cans. Volunteers should not have to go through the bins to take out any unrecyclable containers for the bottle depot nor should they have to re -sort the materials. Each bin is clearly identified and would only take us a small amount of time to do this.

On Wednesday, April 10th, the lock on the garbage garage had to be changed once again. The new code is 4521, you still need to turn the knob to open it but it will lock automatically when you shut the door.

Since we are doing our best to recycle, we would like to become as paper free as we can. As you can imagine, every notice that we post and distribute to everyone costs us money in our operating budget. We would like to ask that everyone with an email send us their email address through our website. This way we can put together a distribution list that will be used only to send you information about our residence like the newsletter, information on upcoming meetings or emergency notices. If you are interested in helping us reduce our cost in paper please email us and we guarantee that your email will be kept confidential and will only be used for the purpose of updating you on Chaparral Pointe events and important information. Thank you.

If you have any questions regarding any of our articles, please send us an email at chaparralpointe@gmail.com Dont forget that you can advertise any household items for sale on the website and now we are allowing owners to advertise, at the cost of $20 for 3 months, their parking stall for rent or their personal business; www.thechaparral.weebly.com