Our Co-op is managed by the following groups of people:
Board of Directors
The Co-op has a five-member Board of Directors, which is elected at the annual meeting of the shareholders. The Board consists of a President, two Vice Presidents, a Secretary and a Treasurer. The title of each Board member confers no special power, but the Secretary is responsible for seeing that this information is transmitted as well as maintaining the minutes of the Board meetings, and the Treasurer is responsible for approving co-op expenses and seeing that all co-op bank and investment accounts are notified when new officers are elected. The Board members are all shareholders themselves, and (usually) have full-time jobs. Therefore, the Board enlists the help of others: other shareholders via committees and a professional managing agent.
The Board is elected “at large” and, upon election, each new Board elects its officers and notifies the shareholders, Managing Agent, accountant, attorney, and Superintendent of the officers elected. Outgoing officers are responsible for promptly turning over to the Board all Co-op files and records. Board members are unpaid volunteers. The Board’s duties include: reviewing contracts, making decisions about maintenance, budgeting, construction, etc. In addition, the Board has over the last few years, spent a great deal of time and energy addressing issues related to the commercial space and its implication on building systems as well as managing litigation.
Committees
From time to time, the Board establishes committees to assist the Board and seeks shareholder participation on the committees. Committees are chaired by members of the Board. All shareholders are encouraged to serve. In this way, shareholders can gain a more thorough understanding of the management of the building and bring a collective and cooperative spirit to the building. Serving on a Committee also helps free up Board members’ time for the duties that must be handled directly by the Board.
Managing Agent
We retain a professional managing agent that manages both the day-to-day aspects of the building, plus assists on capital projects. While they do a lot, they are no replacment for an active and involved Board. At present, Akam Associates is responsible for day-to-day operation of the building, supervision of the Superintendent, collection of monthly maintenance, payment of bills and record keeping. The Managing Agent also represents the Co-op at closings on the sale of apartments.
Superintendent
The Superintendent lives in Apartment 2D and serves the building on a full time basis. The Co-op pays the Superintendent a salary and certain benefits, as determined by the Board. The use of Apartment 2D is part of the Superintendent’s compensation.
Accountant
The Co-op retains a Certified Public Account, currently the firm of Marin & Montanye LLP, to perform the Co-op’s annual financial audits, which are distributed to the shareholders at the annual meeting. The accountant also sends a statement to shareholders by end of January each year, setting forth the amount per share that shareholders may deduct from income taxes owing to the co-op real estate taxes and interest on the co-op’s mortgage.
Attorney
The Board seeks the advice of counsel from time to time on various legal matters affecting the Co-op. The Board does not maintain any particular attorney or law firm on retainer and always strives to keep legal costs as low as possible.