The Board understands that some owners still have questions about the upcoming renovation project.  So that everyone can understand the community’s situation and the project, below are answers to the questions we have heard most frequently.

Does the community have a say in the contract or selection of contractors?

The community elected the Board to act in its best interest and on its behalf.  Thus, the Board will designate, hire, and dismiss contractors.  This is discussed in detail in Article 3 of our Bylaws. 

An elected Board of Directors carries a mandate to manage the legal and business interests of their organization.  Board members are fiduciaries of the organization who have a legal duty to act in the best interests of the organization.   This is a feature of many types of organizations including churches, parent-teacher associations, social organizations, and even large corporations.

Board members take their responsibility seriously.   That is especially true when working on this project.  In total, Board members have spent hundreds of hours researching the design, legal, and financial impacts of this project.  It has sought out the assistance of professionals and participated in a competitive bidding process on behalf of the Association.

The Board welcomes owner participation in committees.  The Architectural Committee is working now on selecting the colors of siding and roofing, and the palette for front doors and bay windows.  You can join that committee by contacting Corinne Ritsick at 703 585 8521.

The proposed project budget increased by $900,000 but the scope of the project has remained essentially the same.  Why did it increase so dramatically and how can the community be confident in the new budget?

In mailings and at the community meeting, the Board explained in detail why the estimated costs of the project have increased.  First, the original scope incorrectly excluded the replacement of the windows and sliding glass doors.  A detailed legal analysis determined that the Association has a legal obligation to maintain or replace those items.   Most units have original windows and sliding glass doors that are failing.  The Board had a legal responsibility to act, so these items were added to the project at an additional cost of $230,000.

Second, the original scope excluded professional services for general contracting, architectural design and quality control, and construction administration.   The original idea was that ProCAM, the Board, and an Architectural Committee could manage those aspects of the project.  While that assumption was well meaning, it was not realistic.  The more research the current Board put into the project, the more we realized we needed significant professional services to ensure the project was done correctly.  The total cost of these services totaled $630,000.

The Board has confidence in the current construction estimate of $2,100,000 for two reasons.  First, we were led through the process by an architect who has the experience and expertise to evaluate the various components of the construction process and to solicit competent bids from the local construction industry. 

The Board and Association also benefitted from a legitimate, bona fide competitive bidding process.  The Board received 3 construction bids with very similar proposed costs.  With the help of Kerns Group Architects, the Board verified the bid of Therrien Waddell and further negotiated with them.  The prices in their bid will be honored provided we sign a contract by September 8, 2010.

To put it another way, the Board has spent 8 months gathering facts and analyzing the project from a design, legal, and financial perspective.  The total accumulated knowledge gained from this process, as well as the professional help we received; give the Board confidence in the current budget.  The previous Boards that started this original process did not benefit from the work we have put into it in the last 8 months.

It is important to note that there are risks.  The biggest risk is that we uncover hidden problems once the roofs are inspected and the original siding is replaced.  We have a somewhat modest $108,000 contingency built in to help buffer the costs of hidden risks.   

Is an architect really necessary?

The architect is absolutely necessary.  The original thought was that the community could do a lot of the work ourselves, which is why we stood up an Architectural Committee. The Committee spent 4 months researching designs and materials, but they realized early on that we would need professional help.

After about 30 minutes of meeting with our architect Brian Frickie, the entire Board knew that we had no business trying to manage a project this complex ourselves. Frankly, if we had tried to manage without an architect, we would have spent a lot of money and still not solved our problems. 

One of the biggest benefits of hiring Brian was that he immediately diagnosed all of the original design problems of our community.  The original builder did not do a very good job, which is why we have so many problems now.  As current Board member Corinne so rightly says, "Water is the biggest problem facing Dundree Knolls."  Brian designed our project to ensure that water is properly channeled away from the houses. 

His water solutions are fairly straightforward, but critical.  The first was to ensure aprons were installed to channel water away from the siding. The second was to redesign the entry way of our basement units so that water didn't just run off into their stairwells. 

Brian edited the contract to protect us.  If the contractor doesn’t follow his design standards and does it incorrectly, then they will have to do it again.  Without this type of protection, we could easily have had contractors just slap up siding and move on.

Brian also managed our bid and proposal process.  He helped select the field of competent contractors, prepared the bid documents, including detailed material specifications so that everyone was bidding the same thing.  That way we knew that companies were not bidding inferior products in order to lowball the bid.  That is a critical piece, but only he had the necessary expertise.

He also proposed beautiful design options.  Some ideas we rejected early on because they were cosmetic or too expensive.  Others we researched via the bidding process and then rejected because the costs were too high.  Of all of the design ideas he discussed with us, we chose these specific design options:  (1) the shingle feature which has a very minimal cost, (2) the multi-family entrance redesign which totals $22,000 for all units, (3) proper siding installation design which has no additional cost, (4) additional insulation which has a low cost but high impact for owners’ energy costs, and (5) an updated color palate which has no additional cost.

Overall, the benefits of having an architect extend well beyond the actual design and drawings.  The real value he has already added was leading us through the proper design, bid, and procurement processes.  Once construction starts, he will monitor quality control.  Procuring and managing proper construction services is a daunting process filled with potential landmines.  Well meaning, volunteer Board members are simply not equipped to handle it.

If the architect and ProCam did such a poor job of estimating the costs of the project then why are they still involved in the project?

The architect was not involved when the original project scope was defined.  Brian Frickie was not brought into the process until after the Architecture Committee had done its work and the Board was ready to discuss things with a professional.
ProCAM and previous boards were involved in developing the original project scope and budget, but unfortunately, underestimated the amount of professional services we would need.

The Board still decided to hire ProCAM for Construction Administration for two reasons.  First, our research on construction administration showed that ProCAM was the most affordable option, and cost is a primary concern for everyone.  Second, ProCAM understands the issues facing our community.  Their knowledge of our community is very valuable and anyone else would always be playing catch up. 

To help you understand the breadth of the project, below is a partial list of the services ProCAM is already providing or will provide:
•         Perform site inspections to assist in identifying problem areas
•         Serve as liaison between the Board, our legal counsel, and our architect
•         Review project documents and bring issues to the Board’s attention
•         Draft notices of pending work and notify unit owners when work will begin in their section
•         Assist in the bid and proposal process
•         Be on site daily for construction oversight and to help ensure project coordination and execution
•         Assist in managing the change order process
•         Assist the Board with developing financial analysis to support loan requirements
•         Establish bank accounts to manage loan funding
•         Manage the contractor payment and approval process
•         Manage reporting and documentation for project

These functions are critical to the project, and clearly the Board is not equipped to handle them.  The Board understands that many in the community are disappointed with ProCAM and we will be working closely with them to get the job done right and keep the community informed, especially during construction.

Why is the Board rushing through this process?  Can’t we delay some of the work?

Throughout this process the Board had fielded concerns that the project was moving too slowly.  Recently, the Board has heard concerns that the project is moving too quickly.  It has been a challenge to manage unit owner expectations.

The Board and community are under pressure to get the project started soon.  The first issue is that our bid from Therrien Waddell will expire on September 8, 2010 -- we need to secure funding (via loan) and sign a contract before then.  If the bid expires then we have to start all over again.

Many local contractors, subcontractors, and trades are aware of our project.  Allowing the bid to expire, and putting it back “on the street” raises a red flag for them.  If we allow our bid to expire, and then issue the project again, contractors will wonder why the Board couldn’t sign a contract in 90 days, and likely think we are an unreliable organization who may not be worth the risk.

This uncertainty would be compounded by the fact that we are a condominium.  As we have learned, many companies refuse to work with condominium Boards because organizations like ours have a long history of funding problems, indecisive Boards, or aggressive owners who overpower their Boards.  We have worked hard to fight these stereotypes, but we are still tainted by them.

The second factor is that our infrastructure is failing, and getting worse every day.  Siding has already fallen off of one unit and several units have roofing problems.  The longer we delay our project, the worse the condition gets, the more money we have to waste putting expensive band aids on items that will still have to be replaced.

While the current activity feels sudden to some owners, it is the culmination of nearly two years of hard work.  As we move closer to the start of construction, time becomes more valuable and we have to move with a sense of urgency. 

Finally, we can't just pick and choose one element here and another element there.  Everything is failing and everything is inter-related.  For example, most of the windows are failing.  The Association has a legal obligation to replace the windows, and the best to guarantee a water-tight seal is to replace the windows along with the siding. 

Most of the balconies are in bad shape and really none of them can be maintained in their current condition.  In order to fix the siding, we have to remove the balconies.  Once removed, they will be partially or completely destroyed.  We have to replace them.

Most of the privacy fences around the back patio areas are in bad shape.  Some gates are so warped they won't open, others won't stay closed.  For those units that face Columbia Pike, this is a security as well as aesthetic problem.  We thought about choosing ones to fix, but since many of them will be damaged during construction because they will be in the way, it is much more cost effective to replace them all at once.

We all agree that the roofing and siding are the key elements to be addressed, but as you can see, a lot of additional items -- professional contractor fees, permitting fees, failing windows and sliding glass doors, and deteriorating external wood work  -- all need to be taken into account.

Finally, it has taken so long is because the Board wanted to do all the necessary research and analyses to make sure things were planned correctly.  We analyzed the design, studied our bylaws and state laws, consulted with our legal counsel, and spent hours working on the financial analysis. Given the condition of our community, we believe that it will take $2.1M to completely repair and revitalize our community. 

We want more transparency and communication!

The Board has received several comments on the need to be transparent and be better communicators.  We agree that transparency and communication is important for the health of the association and for the legitimacy of the Board. 

The difficulty will always be judging when and what to communicate.  If something unexpected occurs, the Board will generally delay communication until we can answer the following:
•       What happened and why?
•       What can be done?
•       How does it affect home owners?

Communicate too early and we run the risk of providing incomplete or incorrect information.  Communicate too late and we run the risk of homeowners feeling ignored or disenfranchised.  It’s a difficult balance that the Board is striving to achieve.

However, this Board has developed two venues to improve communication.  The first is our dedicated email address at dundreeknolls@gmail.com.  Every email sent to this address is monitored by all Board members.  Typically we discuss the question amongst ourselves and draft a response together to address the question.

We have also launched a website at www.dundreeknolls.com.   The site is in its early stages and we are still learning what to post to it.  However, we plan to post a lot of information about the construction project on it.

If you have ideas on how we can be more transparent, especially during the construction project, then please send those comments to dundreeknolls@gmail.com.   We will do our best to implement them with the time and tools we have available t o us.

We hope this helps answer your questions.  Watch the mail and email for updates as the project moves ahead.  And remember, you can voice your concerns or ask questions by sending the Board an email at dundreeknolls@gmail.com.   The work we do now should last well into the future and add significant value to each and every owner for a long time to come.