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Showing posts with label Del Property Management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Del Property Management. Show all posts

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Superintendent of TSCC 1446

On August 19, 2010, the Directors of the Board of the 880 building (TSCC 1446, aka Parkside) received an email from Michael Doherty, the property manager, informing the Board that George, the superintendent of TSCC 1446 had resigned, effective September 7, 2010, and that he had taken up another superintendent job at another condo corporation.

At the Board of Director's meeting on August 25, 2010, the Board was made aware then of a letter of reprimand sent by Michael Doherty to George that George was allegedly interfering with contractors. This letter of reprimand was dated July 12, 2010.

Some members of the Board were not happy in being informed of this incident at such a late stage that it would be indifferent to verify the allegations in the letter (because George had already taken up another job), and that there is virtually no leeway to maneuver and take any proactive steps to let the employee to improve himself if any of the allegations were true.

The property manager was then given a clear directive from the Board that the property manager should in the future notify the Board all such written warnings to the employee(s) of the corporation within a week. This hopefully will give the Board more time in the future in similar situations to understand, investigate and take the appropriate course of action.

[Note: The superintendent is an employee of the condo corporation, but the property manager is not. The property manager Michael Doherty, and the assistant Maggie Yim are just contractors providing their services through their employer, Del Property Management.]

The property manager also mentioned that to get a good superintendent, it may take weeks, or even months. He proposed a candidate, Byron, who had previously worked with/under Michael Doherty for over 5 years. And Michael Doherty suggested a higher compensation for Byron in order to lure Byron from his current job.

In view of the possible degradation (if without a superintendent) of the up-keeping of the building in the next many weeks (if not many months), the Board felt that their hands are being tied and had but to agree to hire Byron as TSCC 1446's next superintendent at a significantly higher cost.

So, please welcome Byron, the new superintendent, to TSCC 1446, the 880 building!


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Sunday, August 8, 2010

At the Grandview Tower (MTCC 1132) AGM

This year, the AGM of MTCC 1132 (88 Grandview Way, also known as Grandview Tower) AGM was held on Wednesday, July 28, 2010. In addition to the five directors being present, so were the usual invitees: Michael Doherty (Del’s on-site Property Manager), Maggie Yim (Del’s on-site Administrator), and a recording secretary from a minute-taking service company.

This year Del sends District Manager Michael Sentenai to be present at the AGM. Last year, it was Catherine Murdock.

Also present as an invitee is John Warren, a representative from the auditor firm is Adams & Miles LLP.

This year there was only one director position open, a regular director position, currently held by Sue Stormes. She also stood for re-election. Since there were no other candidates, she was automatically elected for another term of three years.



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Monday, August 2, 2010

At the Parkside (TSCC 1446) AGM

This year, the AGM (Annual Genreal Meeting) of TSCC 1446 (880 Grandview Way, also known as Parkside) was held on June 30, 2010. In addition to the five directors being present, so were the usual invitees: Michael Doherty (Del’s on-site Property Manager), Maggie Yim (Del’s on-site Administrator), and a recording secretary from a minute-taking service company.

Another usual invitee is the auditor. The auditor for TSCC 1446 is Adams & Miles LLP, represented by John Warren.

There were 34 unit owners present in person, 28 unit owners present by proxies, with a total of 62 unit owners present, representing close to 42% of all units. There are 148 units in 880 Grandview Way.

Customarily Del also sends a District Manager to be present at the AGM. In the past many years, it had been Catherine Murdock, a District Manager with Del Property Management.

After the incident at the 2008 AGM (See below), the Board has explicitly requested Del Property Management to send any District Manager other than Catherine Murdock. Last year, it was Michael Sentenai, and this year, it was Michael Sentenai again. Michael Sentenai was the Property Manager at the Grandview residential complex prior to being promoted to a District Manager.

This year, two director positions are up for election. David Yung (then President) and Johnny Hui (then Treasurer) did not seek for re-election. Two people indicated their intention to run for the director positions, and the AGM package included their resumes.

One of the two candidates is Andy Chang, a new name and a new face. The other candidate is David Grader, an old name and an old face that many residents of Parkside 880 randview Way are familiar with.

David Grader’s resume indicates that he is a retired lawyer, and he had been the President from October 2002 to March 2009.

In recent years, as many residents recall, the AGMs have always been held in June each year and that is the only time directors are being elected. Some residents wondered why David Grader served until March 2009 (not until June 2009 as it should have been).

It was because at the 2008 AGM, Catherine Murdock (Del’s District Manager present at the AGM) grossly misinterpreted the Condominium Act, thus distorting the true election results. So, David Grader had been illegitimately (if not illegally) elected as a Director and served as President from June 2008 to March 2009.

After some legal ramifications, David Grader had to resign in March 2009. Then three months later in June, he ran again but lost. This year he ran again.

Andy Chang, as his resume indicates, works in the financial sector, and apparently has the enthusiasm to serve the community of Parkside.

At the AGM meeting, two more candidates expressed their intention to run for the position of director, and their resumes were distributed at the meeting: Peter Jung, a resident owner, and Paran Namasivayam, a non-resident owner, who was not even present in person at the AGM.

During the nomination process before the election, Simon Li (then Secretary) urged Johnny Hui (then Treasurer) to run again and nominated Johnny Hui, but Johnny Hui declined being nominated.

After the election, Andy Chang and David Grader were elected as directors. Andy Chang had the most votes. Peter Jung lost to David Grader by just three votes.




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Tuesday, July 27, 2010

At the Casitas (MTCC 1113) AGM

This year, the AGM of MTCC 1113 (Casitas) was held on Wednesday, June 16, 2010. In addition to the five directors being present, so were the usual invitees: Michael Doherty (Del’s on-site Property Manager), Maggie Yim (Del’s on-site Administrator), and a recording secretary from a minute-taking service company.

Usually Del will also send a District Manager to be present at the AGM. Last year, it was Catherine Murdock, Del’s District Manager, who was also present at last year's AGM. This year, surprisingly, Allan Rosenberg, Del’s Vice-President of Operations, condescended to be present at the AGM.

Another usual invitee is the auditor. The auditor for MTCC 1113 is Adams & Miles LLP, represented by John Warren.

An unusual invitee this year was John Deacon from the law firm Deacon, Spears, Fedson & Montizambert because there were four by-laws to be passed at the AGM: General Operating By-Law, Standard Unit By-Law, Mediation/Arbitration By-Law, and Insurance Deductible By-Law. These four by-laws are either new or replacing existing ones.

It is reasonable to assume that the these by-laws were drafted by the law firm Deacon, Spears, Fedson & Montizambert, and John Deacon's presence was probably to provide any clarifications if needed. The four by-laws were passed as presented at the AGM, and will become effective once registered on title.

This year there were two director positions open: one is the owner-occupied position, and the other one is a regular position. (What is owner-occupied position? click here to find out.)

Since there was only one candidate for each position, so the result was that those two candidates were elected: Debby Nathanson for the owner-occupied director position, and Alan Tam for the regular director position.



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Monday, September 21, 2009

Names and Numbers 2009

All three condominium corporations in the Grandview Way residential complex use the one and same management office. The property management function was contracted out to DEL Property Management.

The people working in the management office are:

Property Manager: Michael Doherty
Administrative
Assistant:
Maggie Yim
Address for service: 126 Grandview Way
Phone: 416-224-2373

The phone number for the gatehouse is: 416-529-6489.

*   *   *   *

The three corporations have had their Annual General Meetings (AGM) in June and July this year.

The Casitas at Northtown (MTCC #1113) had two incumbent candidates running for two positions on the Board of Directors. All candidates were re-elected. These are the members of the Board of Directors for MTCC #1113 for the coming year, and each director also holds an office in the corporation:

President: Hamzeh Roumani*
Secretary: Cathy Vendramin
Treasurer: Alan Tam
1st Vice-President: Amy Choi*
2nd Vice President: Debby Nathanson
*Also serves as a representative to the Shared Facilities Committee.
Source: AGM package and "Board meeting highlights."

The 88 Grandview Way (MTCC #1132) also had two incumbent candidates running for two positions on the Board of Directors. All candidates were re-elected. These are the members of the Board of Directors for MTCC #1132 for the coming year, and each director also holds an office in the corporation:

President: Susan Stormes*
Secretary: Stephen Douglas
Treasurer: Brian Ho*
1st Vice-President: Sandra Sanguinetti
2nd Vice President: Taraneh Foyle
*Also serves as a representative to the Shared Facilities Committee.
Source: AGM package et al.

The 880 Grandview Way (TSCC #1446) surprisingly had four candidates running for two positions on the Board of Directors.

It is very rare, possibly unheard of, that in condominium corporations there are more candidates than available positions on the Board of Directors. Most typically, condominium corporations have great difficulties in finding people to fill the vacancies on the Board. This, perhaps, may be a good sign as more people are getting more enthusiastically involved in managing the affairs of their own condo. After all, it's their homes.

Among the four candidates, only one was an incumbent: Thomas Kwong. The second candidate, David Grader, the former President, resigned in 2008 and declared his candidacy again in 2009. The third candidate, Bill Kay, was a recent new owner to the 880 building.

The candidacy of these three candidates were made known to unit owners in the AGM package which also included their resumes. However, only the resumes of Thomas Kwong and David Grader were translated into Chinese by the Management Office. Bill Kay later confirmed that he was never asked whether he would like his resume translated into Chinese. "I definitely would like my resume in Chinese," he added.

The fourth candidate, Audrey Wai, declared her candidacy at the Annual General Meeting, at which she handed out her resume in English. She was a member of the board for the 880 building since the inception of the bulidng in 2002. She resigned in 2007 to go back to school.

After election, these are the members of the Board of Directors for TSCC #1446 for the coming year, and each director also holds an office in the corporation:

President: David Yung*
Secretary: Simon Li*
Treasurer: Johnny Hui
1st Vice-President: Thomas Kwong
2nd Vice President: Audrey Wai
*Also serves as a representative to the Shared Facilities Committee.
Source: AGM package, Annual Genreal Meeting and notice posted in the lobby.



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Monday, August 3, 2009

Visitor delayed calling

The current procedure dealing with visitors in cars are like this:

When visitors in cars come to visit residents of Grandview Way, they have to stop at the gatehouse, tell the security guard which building and unit number they are visiting. The security guard then has to call the unit to get confirmation that they are expecting the visitors. Once confirmed, the gate-arm is open to let the car pass through to visitor parking.

Sometimes no-one in the unit answers the phone. This could happen for a number of reasons. Perhaps the visitors show up a bit early, and the resident is running some errands nearby but not at home. It could also be that the resident is not expecting visitors but the visitors just show up. The visitors may ask the security guard to try some other phone number (such as a cell phone number). This delays the processing, and if more visitor cars arrive, the cars could queue up and spill onto Doris Avenue, and you probably have seen such a situation.

As you may know, Doris Avenue is currently being extended from Byng Avenue to Finch Avenue as a bypass route for Yonge Street traffic. The construction is scheduled to complete before the end of this year. Then the traffic will be expected to be heavier than now. If visitor cars queue up and spill onto Doris Avenue, traffic would be messy and even dangerous.

The Shared Facilities Committee has decided to implement a new “delayed calling” procedure on a trial basis:

During rush hours (4pm to 7pm, Mondays to Fridays, holidays excepted), visitors cars after giving the building and unit number they are visiting, will be let through to the visitor parking so as not to clog up the entrance. As soon as when it is less busy, the security guard will then call the unit to confirm that their visitors are legits.

This new “delayed calling” procedure has already been in effect since July on a trial basis until September this year when it will be reviewed. A notice is supposed to have been put up to inform residents the change of new procedure.



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Sunday, June 28, 2009

What is Grandview Way?

Welcome to Grandview Way!

But, what is Grandview Way?

Grandview Way is a residential complex located in North York, south of Finch and east of Yonge. Since the amalgamation, North York has become part of the City of Toronto.

This entire residential complex was built by the developer Tridel under the project name "Northtown". It consists of three condominium projects:

• The casitas (or more commonly known as the townhouses), the condominium townhouses completed in 1995 under the project name “Northtown Casitas 1”. Legally it is known as Metropolitan Toronto Condominium Corporation Number 1113 (MTCC 1113).

• The 88 Grandview Way building – the condominium building completed in 1996 under the project name “Grandview Tower”. Legally it is known as Metropolitan Toronto Condominium Corporation Number 1132 (MTCC 1132).

• The 880 Grandview Way building – the condominium building completed in 2002, under the project name “Parkside”. Legally it is known as Toronto Standard Condominium Corporation Number 1446 (TSCC 1446).

If you want to know the difference between MTCC and TSCC, read the article “Condominium Corporation.”

With the addition of the newest and latest building (the 880 building), the Grandview Way residential complex is now complete. This entire complex was managed by DEL Property Management Inc., an affiliation, (if not a subsidiary) of Tridel, the builder of the Grandview Way residential complex.



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