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It has been less than 15 months since the last non-democratically appointed trustee resigned from the BOT, and about 13 months since Janet Sedaka was hired as Radburn's new manager. During this time frame the board of trustees has had to deal with many challenges, not least of which was to organize all paper work and records from the previous manager, determine a new election date and staggered terms to fill the 5 trustee slots that were vacant at the end of 2018, and to prioritize all additional action items that the BOT would be working on in 2019. Needless to say, this was a challenge unlike any previous board has had to face in what is most likely decades.
Below is a list of items that our new manager and democratically elected BOT was able to accomplish during this period. It is important to note that the mix of trustees did change after the election that was held in December 2018.
- Replaced the law firm of Ferro Labella, who the previous trustees remitted over $350k to year after year (partially financed from the investment account), with a new law firm that specializes in community associations - and at a fraction of what was paid to the old firm.
- Hired a new accounting firm to audit Radburn's financials, and hired a separate new accounting firm to manage the ongoing accounting needs of the RA.
- Hired The Falcon Group, an engineering and architectural firm that specializes in reserve studies. It took two months to complete the Reserve Study, which contains an audit of all the physical structures that are owned by the Radburn Association - pools, pathways and sidewalks, children's play areas, fences, sheds, the tunnel and the Grange itself. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the condition of each structure, create a schedule for repair or replacement, and estimate the cost of the work. The study, available in its entirely on radburn.org, also suggested setting up a Capital Reserve Fund to provide long-term funding for the needed work.
- Repaired the B-Park electrical box by the stage, along with all underground wiring. This wiring hadn't been inspected or replaced in decades, and the electrical box itself wasn't up to code.
- Replaced the old chain link and barbed wire fence around R-Pool with an architecturally approved new fence.
- Painted the interior of the Grange and its exterior around the front door, and added a new sign that was hand crafted by Luciano DiGeranamo.
- Updated the radburn.org website and is keeping it maintained on a regular basis.
- Rolled out an online payment option for residents to pay their quarterly dues.
- Hired Renee Testa Adams to organize and oversee recreational programs for residents.
- Hired the Pleasure Pools pool company to manage both pools and to oversee the hiring and staffing of life guards. The Board has even acknowledged that there were some issues with this company last year, and they will be discussing ideas to improve things for next summer.
- Sandblasted, repaired, and resurfaced both pools; B-Pool in fiberglass and R-pool in plaster. Both pools had serious structural issues, to the point where chlorine water was leaking into the ground at R-Pool for years, and rough surfaces in both pools were causing injuries to bathers. The board interviewed a number of professional pool companies and then hired the specialists to properly fix both pools in early autumn so as to not delay the opening of the pools in the spring. This is a stark departure from the hasty and dubious patch jobs that had been occurring under previous boards.
- Replaced the gym mats in the Grange, which probably dated back to the 1980s if not older, with brand new gym mats.
- Purchased new tables and chairs for the Club Room in the Grange.
- Purchased and installed a big screen TV for the Club Room in the Grange to be used for indoor movies and presentations.
This list is not even comprehensive and doesn't account for improvements to existing programs and events such as Playgroup, Tot Lot, Family Day, movies, music, etc. but it's still a pretty good view into what has been happening around here over the course of the past 15 months. There will always be those who pine for "the way it used to be" and wax poetic about "the good ol' days." But to borrow a line from Billy Joel, "The good ol' days weren't always good and tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems." I'm grateful to the many diverse volunteers who willingly dedicate their time and talents to our community and I am excited for the future of Radburn.
