JT – I assume Slap Shot’s first comment is referring to the “topic” being “EC and Strata Manager decided not to attend mediation”. I am pretty sure I have seen previous posts from Slap Shot possibly referring to the same issues (specifically the “insurance claim”.
Slap Shot – there is no reason for the OC to pay the strata manager hourly rates to attend a mediation session where the parties do not believe any common ground exists OR if there is already a process in place to bring about a resolution to the issue in dispute.
I treasurer can not claim categorically that there will be no expenditure from the sinking fund. Perhaps they did not expect any expenditure but this is different.
Voting rights have no correlation to unpaid miscellaneous invoices only unpaid/overdue levies. If you are making levy payments, ensure that you specify that the payments are for levies only and NOT the miscellaneous invoice.
If the OC believes that the gate was damaged by an impact from a vehicle they should lodge a claim with the insurance company for accidental impact damage. Feel free to give them the details of the removalist company and both parties insurance companies can fight it out. No reason for you or the EC to get involved any further. Unless you intentionally damaged the gate personally there is no reason for you to be held liable.
If the water penetration can be rectified with an outlay of around $3k this is likely to be more cost effective than lodging and fighting over a builders warranty claim. It will undoubtable fix the issue much sooner than following the insurance claim/litigation path. Ultimately the OC are responsible to maintain common property and if the easiest, quickest and most commercially viable option to do this is to pay for the repairs themselves then there is not reason to lodge builders warranty claims.
As for asking for a compulsory appointment of a strata manager, be careful what you wish for. The strata manager will be given ALL powers of the OC with NO voting rights by ANY owners. This only ever results in special levies…