Brickell Key One
NOVEMBER 20, 2019
2020 Budget Approved
Partial Reserves voted for by members
For the first time in many years we have an annual
budget approved prior to the beginning of the fiscal
period. The top line combination of the HOA and
Condo budgets is $4,000,000. This is essentially the
same amount of the 2012 through 2018 budgets, so
you will pay approximately what you paid in 2018.
There were some increases to Cabanas and
Garages. There was also a 17.4% increase to the
Brickell Key Two owners in the HOA budget. This
increase brings their payments in line with the
contractual conditions set forth in the By-Laws.
The new budget adds two full time shifts to security
staff, and a part time position to housekeeping.
There will be no staff raises. Instead there will be a
bonus fund. The plan is for two performance bonus
payouts during the year. No / low performance
equals no / low payout. There will also be a holiday
bonus. The budget has $180,000 going to reserves.
There are accommodations for the unbudgeted 17%
increase in insurance in 2019 with a similar increase
expected in 2020.
The members voted for partial reserves by 174 votes
to 2 votes for full reserves. Please see the
commentary on the last page.
Other Meeting Business
Welcome new tenants: A1210, A1519, A2012, O305-
307
Welcome new owners: A514, A1110.
There were two garage transfers: G-063 and G-076
Two architectural modifications approved; A1015
(New Carpets) and A1207 (Electric, plumbing, paint
and cabinets).
Legal: A cease and desist letter to a guest of an
owner and initiation of a law suit to remove a guest of
another unit.
Brickell Key One Condo Association November 20, 2019
ISSUE #18
The board approved raising the rent of some storage
units. Now all units will pay the same based on
square footage. There is a 50% discount for storage
that has no air conditioning. This is effective 1/1/20.
There are two storage units that two owners claim to
have access to in a manner similar to garages and
cabanas. That would be a limited common element.
They have had these for years yet never paid any
dues on them. Effective 1/1/20 they will pay quarterly
dues on these spaces as they would on a garage or
cabana. The association incurs associated costs on
these units that include; electricity, maintenance, air
conditioning, and insurance. It is not proper that they
have exclusive use of these elements while the
remainder of the association carries the burden.
Eisner Amper was approved to perform the 2019
audits of the HOA and Condo associations.
New upholstery for chairs in the card room will take
place in January.
Repairs to an office roof along with mansard repairs
on the 20th floor were approved.
Project Management
The board agreed on a motion to send contracts to
our law firm to start an engagement with Colliers
International to function as project managers.
Why professional project managers you may ask? In
the past there was a “Project Management
Committee” that existed of no one who had
professional experience in construction or renovation
of any type of building. As such many projects were
left incomplete, a pool was wrongly resurfaced, new
elevators did not and have not yet passed
inspections.
Our project manager will oversee all work to be sure
that we get the best and complete workmanship that
we pay for. They will start with the three roofs. The
problem right now is that the new HVAC system is
still incomplete. We cannot replace the main tower
roof until that is done. Had there been one company
overseeing that project it would have been completed
years ago.
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 Brickell Key One ISSUE #18
NOVEMBER 20, 2019

Next will be concrete work, pool and surveys to pass There will be a required meeting, followed by the
the forty-year certification. “Organizational Meeting” where the board selects the
officers. There will most likely be a standard
business meeting after that.
Nonpaying Resident in
Jail Employee Holiday Fund
The day after the announcement of this year’s
Okay, that might be click bait! Here is the resident: employee holiday fund we started to receive your
The checks. Thanks to those who made such a quick
racoon response!
was As in 2018, the association will match the holiday
caught. funds received from the owners.
Not so
little. He Contributing to the holiday fund ensures that all our
or she employees receive a bonus. There are 35 employees
weighed thus, for every $100 donation from you each
35 pounds employee receives less than $3.00. Please be as
and loves generous as you can.
pork. Our Our goal is to distribute the funds on December 27th;
own Juan therefore, we ask you to please bring your checks to
Flores the office no later than Friday, December 13th.
moved the
trap after a
week,
added his
Risk Adverse
own lunch Commentary from board president Ken
(Pork) Tannenbaum
inside then we had the critter within an hour.
At the recent board meeting I was asked why was I
He or she is to be examined for signs of rabies, if so risk adverse. I was not given the opportunity to
there are no appearances of the disease it will be answer the question.
turned loose at Brickell Key Two. Of course, that is a
Before I answer the question let’s clarify one thing; as
joke to see if you were paying attention. The critter
Condo Board President I have no more power than
will be freed in a wooded area. any other member of the board. I have one vote of
the total five votes. I have no extra influence or say in

Next Meeting matters. To do otherwise would be a monarchy. We

Our next meeting will be “The Annual Meeting” which
is one of two meetings required by FL condo law.
This is where votes in a board election would be
counted. As only five people submitted candidacy
forms there will not be an election.
Next Board Meeting
Monday December 2nd
had that in the past, it did not serve us well.
The question then is how can this board be so risk
adverse? Shocking to me is why this particular owner
would ask the question as she and her husband
almost never miss a meeting.
Here is why (Forgive me for rehashing items
previously discussed): The prior board took out a
is $2M HVAC loan without plans on how to pay it back.
They then contracted with more than five companies
to purchase and install the HVAC. This should have

Brickell Key One Condo Association November 20, 2019 Page | 2

 Brickell Key One
been done with one vendor who did everything
(supply equipment and install). As such one vendor
who would be held responsible. Had that been the
case we would have a completed and fully functioning
HVAC unit on our roof in six months instead of the
mess we are dealing with after a five-year odyssey.
Yes; that is correct the system that has been running
for only twenty months is still NOT complete, not fully
functioning and requires future spending.
The prior board chose to resurface the pool for
$89,000 without asking the paid engineers if this is
something that should be done. Had they asked the
question they would have been told not to do it as the
pool needs to be replaced. There is so much more
like; a non-competitively bid $67,000 carbon
monoxide detector that still has yet to be turned on in
over two years. There are no user manuals.
There was no focus on the spending, nor was there a
treasurer on the board. There were over $11,000 in
late penalty fees paid to vendors in a six-month
period, let’s not forget the $83,000 in waived late
fees. There was a sweetheart deal given to a
delinquent owner to over pay for the purchase of
items for the association. Add in over $800,000 of
bad debt to be written off; this association was
teetering on disaster. Am I risk adverse? You bet!
Now combine the issues above with the fact that we
have a forty-year certification to pass in 2022. The
owner who asked the question said we will pass the
certification, without reading any of the
documentation or looking at the list of items needed
to be addressed. Keep in mind the motivation for her
argument is that she wants a new $1,250,000 lobby.
It should be noted that her unit is currently for sale.
At the meeting she was not in the room when I
detailed the $2,675,000 in planned spending over the
next two years. This spending is on necessities for
the certification and some improvements. That
spending did not include the cost of the required
mechanical and electrical surveys. More importantly
the costs of the repairs found in those studies that will
need to be addressed. The $2.7M does not include
the increased spending on the incomplete HVAC
system or the office complex that needs to be re-
painted as it was painted the WRONG color (under
the watch of the prior board). We have the money for
these projects, with some room to spare. Don’t forget
Brickell Key One Condo Association November 20, 2019
ISSUE #18
NOVEMBER 20, 2019
that once we begin spending reserves, we have to
replenish the reserves.
While we have started a recovery and have money in
the bank, we are still underfunded in reserves based
on FL statues. That is plain bad business. This
causes higher insurance rates and longer time to be
paid on insurance claims. It exposes us to potential
emergency special assessments.
For someone looking strictly at financials this building
will be appealing for the first time in many years.
That will happen after the 2019 audited financials are
released in 2020. No more HVAC loan, no more $1.8
million liability to the HOA, plus decent reserves on
hand. Reduction in liabilities over $3.4M plus
increases in assets over $2.5M.
This board wants to make improvements, we want to
increase the value of our property. As such we would
like to embark on a multiyear plan with spending
under $400,000 per year to accomplish these goals of
improvements. By doing it this way we can maintain
reserves, stop spending if there are surprises while
refreshing the look of the property and adding to the
value of our homes.
The truth is that we do not know what you the owners
really want. We hear from very few owners at the
meetings. To learn about your opinions; in the near
future we will be sending out a web-based survey. To
be clear this is NOT A VOTE. It will be your
opportunity to be heard as to your desires for this
association and in what priority. Maybe you do not
want to spend our money on a refreshed lobby or
updated hallways. Maybe there is something else
more important to you.
This will move us all in the correct direction over the
next few years carefully and methodically.
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