2020 – The Year That Was
Here’s a quick recap of our activities for 2020, and a preview of major activities for The Pines, coming down the road in 2021.
COVID made 2020 an eventful year, to say the least! We are sincerely thankful for the support and cooperation shown by everyone to fellow residents throughout this difficult past year.
Somehow through lockdowns, visitor restrictions and a seemingly endless stream of government instructions, we managed garden restructuring; unit renovations; flooring installations; pool compliance issues (installation of glass fencing); an upgrading of fire hose reels on every floor; replacement of building security access swipes and an upgrade of holder records to maintain security; we held our first electronic (virtual) EGM; our first hot water tank inspection and audit with all owners receiving individual assessments of the life of their tanks, and historically blocked drains cleared in the B1 garage area. All the while general maintenance continued to be carried out according to schedule: council clean-ups booked; fire dampers cleaned and inspected on all levels, regular lift maintenance carried out; repairs to broken tiling on front steps, and remedial work to remove concrete cancer when discovered as leased units became vacant.
All this has helped The Pines, at over 52 years of age, to be a building much admired for its looks and structural integrity, particularly by the many construction workers and tradies who have come through our doors over the years. The building has seen quick and constant upkeep, designed to both maintain its integrity as a coastal high-rise building, and fulfil compliance requirements as government strata laws changed.
2021 – The Year To Come
However, 20 years have passed since the building was painted and critical protective coverings are breaking down in our salt air environment. In addition, the Pines’ Strata Committee has consulted with our structural and waterproofing engineers to identify a number of balconies whose underlying waterproofing systems have broken down over time, either through being in their original 1968 state, or from having been incorrectly retiled at a time of little awareness of the complexities of balcony slab waterproofing.
These balconies and the building’s aging protective paintwork have become problematic, raising the spectre of significant concrete cancer damage if allowed to progress too far into the future.
The Strata Committee is currently assessing management options and relevant costs to rectify these balconies’ waterproofing, and to address the repainting of the building and other structural issues. We need to prepare for these to be substantial.
COVID restrictions on public gatherings meant that the 2020AGM was not held, and accordingly levies have remained at 2019 levels. Existing capital works planned, which include a replacement of the lift control panel; access to and partial reconstruction of the roof water tank, and replacement of pipes and sprinklers had already been budgeted for, using existing funds.
Under Government strata legislation the 2020 AGM has been rolled in the 2021 AGM, at which time we must address the balconies and building structural issues referred to above, together with their funding.
Further details will be provided to the Owners Corporation on a regular basis as more information becomes available. This will include a range of options on how to proceed, identify processes, costings, timetables, levels of disruption to owners and residents, and ways to address likely costs.
At this stage we are considering holding a 2021 EGM/AGM early next year, where the Owners Corporation will be asked to vote on how to approach these issues, with an anticipated start of work to be towards the end of 2021. This will both ensure an orderly process as well as mitigating inconvenience to residents during the work.
Sincerely,
Pam
Strata Committee Chair SP3840