Window on Maintenance History

I was the Chairperson of the Maintenance Committee for three years. This was my first Annual Review in September, 1995.

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The Maintenance Committee has been up and running for one year and this gives us a chance to view our progress objectively, and hopefully feel a sense of accomplishment. At the same time we will review our individual roles on the Committee. I have prepared an overview of our accomplishments, which is kind of lengthy, but it provides a written account for the record.

Being on the Maintenance Committee has been a learning experience for all of us, and I am sure that we have come to know the co-op's maintenance needs quite intimately. I call her the 'Grand Old Lady', and we need to guide and protect her now and in the future. We should create a mission statement to ensure that she ages gracefully.

All our Co-ordinators' positions changed hands during the past year. I would like to thank the past co-ordinators for their contributions and I thank the new co-ordinators for accepting these challenges as the co-op could not function without committed volunteers. Each of these positions allows the co-ordinators to develop sub-committees which are very weighty unto themselves. Please use your imagination and creativity. This is how policies are made, by-laws created and work gets done ...

Last September we had to put into place, rather quickly, very essential contracts. They were the furnace and snow removal from roadways/roofs contracts. Last fall we paved potholes on our roads, and had 20 tons of pea stones delivered and hand-shovelled into the play park. In the springtime we had the roads power-swept, had our sanitary and storm sewers flushed and pumped out, our sump pumps inspected, as well as our fire hydrants serviced. We signed a contract with XXX to help us with our wasp and bee problems. We are in the process of receiving quotes for eavestroughing repairs.

We have repaired the inter-locking stones and driveways. We have revamped our parking lot signs and are redesignating our parking areas. We are also in the process of carpet replacement for approx. 60 bedrooms. Quotes are now being received for snow removal and the process of inspecting the co-op's furnaces will begin on September 25th.

We purchased 2 lawnmowers and a weedeater, established some precedents for equipment handling and are in the process of seeking professional advice concerning our lawns, trees and shrubs. We will also be looking at Site Plan alternatives. Our volunteers mowed the grass and kept the equipment running.

Basement repairs were done to two units. Our community hall has been painted. We had the 4 bdrm. porches repaired, the painting of Phase II exterior was completed and the fences & shed doors were painted in Phase I. The infamous fence between us and City Living was at long-last replaced at a cost of $2,000. (co-op's share). We are in the process of finishing the lawnmower shed, putting unit numbers on the backs of the units and shoring up the decks in Phase II. Some windows were replaced and four oak-parquet floors were refinished in Phase II.

We hired a permanent contract worker and we are very satisfied with his work. He has stocked up on things in the Maintenance Room like hosebibs, appliance parts, screening, closet tracks, etc. Our Routine Maintenance Co-ordinator did some repair work and offered advice as to the course of action we should take regarding other repairs. He is organizing mini-workshops on basic unit repairs to be held this fall.

We looked at the safety issues in the co-op such as following up on fire hydrant reports, inspection of fire extinguishers, emergency lighting, enlisting the help of the fire department, making sure that smoke detectors are hard wired.

We succeeded very well in the paper trail department. We created new forms such as our Maintenance Calendar, Maintenance Request Form, the Paint Waiver, the Clean up Check List, Paint Chit form, a sign-out sheet for lawnmower use, a key list, & possibly a new inspection sheet cover. We used the map of the co-op to determine security bar installation, toilet dams, sump pump locations, etc. We reviewed and revamped the Maintenance & Improvements By-law and we are in the process of updating our Maintenance Committee Handbooks with new information. We process work orders quite efficiently and are documenting external modifications to the units, i.e. fence additions, etc.

Work orders have been generated from previous Annual Inspections and we will begin organizing Annual Inspections soon. This year our office building will be included in the inspection process. We had the ducts cleaned out and will be signing a contract to have the central air-conditioning serviced yearly.

Through the process of property management in our Co-op we familiarized ourselves with the budgetary process, like it or not. We revamped our maintenance budget lines in order to pump up our Building Supplies & Contracted Painting lines & to include inter-locking brick repairs. We have established very good guidelines for next year's budget.

Projected work includes window/patio door replacement, some exterior painting, roof repairs, siding maintenance, & improved lighting in the co-op. We have looked at some long-term maintenance concerns, but fell short of establishing an active Long Range Planning Committee.

In all we have tried to make the process fair, have listened to our co-op neighbours and have tried to address their needs. The Maintenance Committee dealt with approximately 65 different issues at a given meeting. I am in the process of creating a Maintenance History file which will be a permanent record of our co-op's physical needs. I would like to thank all the co-ordinators for their contributions to make this committee work and hope that I, as Chairperson of the Maintenance Committee, have succeeded in creating a continuity and have established enough of a paper trail for succeeding chairpersons and Maintenance Committee members to act upon. That was my goal.

One extra note - the Maintenance Committee strives to handle complaints that come from members in an efficient manner. I wish that members could understand the scope of what the Maintenance Committee does. We are neighbours helping each other, each assuming equal responsibility for the upkeep of our Co-op.

Thank you.

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I co-chaired the Maintenance Committee twice thereafter. The Maintenance records either no longer exist or are wilfully ignored.