I work with a large pension plan (over $3 billion in assets). Our Co-op has four reserve funds (or self escrows) totaling $800k separating the funds by purpose: capital, mortgage reserve, annual insurance reserve and annual water/sewer reserve. We earned 80k in investment income last year on a base of $600k or so. We hope to add $900k into the reserve fund this year due to the sale of treasury stock. I don't like a static investment policy as the market is not static.

Right now we are invested in FDIC insured CD's which are timed to release funds on occasion or when the need for the reserve/self escrow fund occurs. For example, we ladder our mortgage reserve fund to have a quarter of the reserve reset annually (become liquid) once a quarter just in case we ever have to use it. We also have the annual water/sewer reserve mature in June each year. We also have a line of credit to tap just in case – not used in three years.

Last year, we put everything in a Vanguard Long Term US Treasury Bond fund and watched with joy when the FED lowered interest rates. Then we moved everything into CD's to maintain principal in anticipation of the FED raising rates in the future. My point is that investments do great if dynamically managed in this way - you just have to have someone watch them for you.

Others may have different ideas too.

First of all, I hope you have the proper insurance coverage in place and that the insurance company is aware of the litigation. Whatever the dispute, as long as the board is acting in good faith and within Business Law the insurance should protect the corporation and the directors against large assessments. If you do not have adequate coverage, get it.

That being said, there should be no legal reason to prevent anyone from selling during the litigation; however if this has been going on for some time, your legal fees would show up in the financial statements which a prospective purchaser would review prior to contract. Even if there is no legal obligation to reveal, in my opinion there is an ethical obligation.

In my experience it may not be worth the rent. I've been in 2 buildings with cell tower experience, in the first there was so much rancor that for the first time there were enough people to hold a special election and almost unseated the board when they had towers installed and the residents, especially on the top floors where not told or asked. In the second case the issue was just dropped for fears of the same happening. So before moving on this you should get buy in from at least the people on the top floor

That said there are cell tower brokers that know who is buying nad how to market you and get you the best price, and as I recall it wasn't that great

Try searching the archives here for cell tower

We have a large roof space with excellent exposure; however last year we rejected offers from one of the major mobile providers. Even after refusing the first offer and having them redesign the unsightly antennae that they originally proposed, their subsequent offer was nowhere near enough to warrant the potential political rancor that Jack in Brooklyn also described.

There is a lot of misinformation out there about the effects of RF and having an engineering background, I am not particularly concerned. However, no matter what evidence you may present to the contrary, you are unlikely to convince those living on the top floor that they should not be concerned. I agree with Jack - it's not worth it.

You haven't posted in a long while. Please don't say you've given up your blog. We need differetn voices!

Sorry for being MIA for the past several weeks; however I have been devoting myself to some business interests. Good news is that I will be back on the blog in the next few days - thanks for asking!!

If the porter calls in sick and the Superintendent has to perform his duties during the same time of work, he should not get OT. Same goes for the porter.
If the porter calls in sick say on a Sat. when the Superintendent is off and he performs the work then he is entitled to OT.

Resident Manager in Manhattan.

This is trickery. If employees are alternatively calling in "sick" and you picked up on their pattern to gain OT pay. The co-op should have the right to fire.

Chubby
Thanks for your response. The board is dealing with the chronic sick pattern between the two employees.
The management company will be responsible for creating this mess.

Trick is to have a porter in a near by building who would like some extra pay at (regular salary of course). Some times a porter is looking for extra work, on his days off, if your porter calls in sick you may be able to call him.

CDT: We're in Manhattan but we also have an apt in a high-rise NJ condo. Every apt has a terrace and we've had trouble with pigeons landing on and messing up the terraces for years. We finally solved the problem!

We hired a company that put a dish of corn kernels injected with a chemical on every terrace. It doesn't kill or poison pigeons and it wears off. It disorients them so they decide (however they do that!) not to return to where they got the corn kernels. That was in spring 2008. We haven't had one pigeon on or even flying anywhere near any terrace in the building since then.

The company is Bird Doctor, Inc. (subsidiary of a large company called Bug Doctor, Inc.) They're in NJ but they work in the entire tri-state area. Their number is 201-599-1007 and their website is www.birddoctorinc.com. We tried many things but this is the only one that worked, and 100% effectively.

BP, thanks for the enthusiastic response. Unfortunately, your description sounds like the bird-disorienting drug called Avitrol, which is no longer legal in New York, though it's fine in many other states.

Any other ideas? I'm very interested in hearing real-life war stories about how pigeon problems were handled, whether or not the results were successful. We'd love to banish pigeons from our building, but we don't want to throw away money on ineffective techniques.

CDT:I don't know if Bird Doctor uses a product containing Avitrol. I was told they use various chemical and other things - mechanical systems, audio-visual devices, wire mesh, etc.

One coop installed small spikes 3" apart along the top of their terrace railings. It seems pigeons usually go on the railings before they go onto the terrace floor, and when their feet land on the spikes they don't like it and fly away. The coop told me this works much of the time but not all the time.

Another coop used "bird netting." It's taut and attached at the top of a terrace railing and at the edge of the terrace ceiling. It's sort of a screened-in porch effect. It's flexi-fiberglass and not a tight weave like wire mesh. The weave is wider but not enough for pigeons to squeeze in. It's clear color so it doesn't interfere with visibility or the look of the terrace, and it allows air to circulate freely.

This coop installed the netting from terrace floor to ceiling. I know people who live there. One has a dog and the other has two cats. They like the full-length netting because it creates an invisible blanket on all the railing posts as well as from the railing top up. They can let their dog and cats out onto their terraces without fear that they'd fall or jump off!

We tried scarecrows that look like hawks which go after pigeons. We tried a glue-y substance you squeeze along the top of the railing like toothpaste so pigeon feet stick to it. That worked briefly until the birds stopped landing there and went straight to the terrace floor. We tried windsocks, hanging plants. Someone suggested painting the railings a weird color to scare the pigeons. He owns 4 apts and tried lime green paint on his railings (without coop permission) which looked awful! The coop made him remove it. I don't even know if pigeons see colors, and if so maybe they like lime green because it seemed to attract even more of them.

As I said, I don't know if Bird Doctor uses Avitrol but if you have pigeon problems it may be worth contacting them for info. It's a large well-known company. "Bird netting" sounds like it might be worth checking to and I would think Bird Doctor would be familiar with it.

Hope something I wrote here is of some help. You should also tell residents not to throw any food/seed out windows or put it on window sills for pigeons or any birds. Some people like to feed the "dear little things" but once they territorialize your place it's very ifficult to get rid of them, and they can carry diseases.

BP, thanks for all the additional details. In particular, the bird netting sounds less odious than anticipated. I'll talk with the rest of our Board about investigating this possibility. (And I promise we won't paint it lime green.)

By the way, although I've had no reports of our residents feeding the pigeons, we live next door to a hotel where pigeon feeding has been a problem in the past. Someone over there may be doing it again.

Thanks again.

Steve, if you have the available cash, there is really no downside to paying early as long as you do not need to liquidate an investment paying a higher rate in order to do so. There is actually a sliding scale of savings - 1.5% if you pay in full by July 1, 1% if you pay the remaining due on October 1, and so on.

In our case we have not been able to take advantage of this discount because our quarterly taxes are over $600k and prepayment would require too large a cash outlay.

Go for it!

This is a great question, and I'll be interested in the replies. It's a tough one!

I know a solid contractor, I work as a resident manager and this contractor does everything by the book. he may take a little longer then your normal g/c, but this guys does it right the first time around he does it all contracting to woodworking. he's not the cheapest but by far not the most expensive.A true gem...

Nick (646) 315-4446

Does this guy named Nick have a construction company name? Sure don't look to good for the Resident manager to recommend a contractor?

Nick's Contracting is the name. Doesn't look good for a resident manager? That's pretty insinuating.

Thanks for the input hopefully I can get a few more contractors to contact