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      Flat Chat -Jimmy Thomson

    I am a Member of the Exec Committee of a medium sized block.

    1.  The Owners Corp was charged over $150 for a 1 hour meeting with our Strata Manager (SM) on a specific date in 2012.  When the Chair questioned this, the SM said he had met with the Treasurer.  The Treasurer denied it.  The SM then said he had met with ‘me’.   I denied it with diary evidence.  The SM then changed the date of the meeting to ‘sometime in the previous 2 weeks’.  The Chair questioned me a second time.  Again I denied it ( with diary evidence).  Approx 6 weeks ago I emailed the SM requesting substantiation of his claim.  He has ignored my request.    What can I do?
    2. The Chairperson is the ‘contact’ person for our Strata Manager.  He refuses to hold Exec Committee meetings with a publicised agenda and minutes. During the past 18 months , and without a Committee resolution, he has issued work orders for eg:-

    • Pruning of 2 large trees and removal to ground level of 1 large tree (all on our property and approx 30yrs old and 3 storeys high).  There is no record of Council approval. Cost over $2000.
    • Upgrading of lighting and smoke alarms in common areas at a cost of well over $8000.  Necessary but there are some irregularities.

    Please comment.

    1. The Chairperson said that he alone is allowed to have a key to access the common switchboard.  He is away nearly every week-end.

    (a)    On two occasions there was a fuse which any of us could have rectified by flicking the tripper switch, but the electrician had to be called to access the switchboard. Please comment.

    (b)     Also, on one occasion he disconnected power to a unit in the middle of the night because of a noisy party.   Please comment.

     

    1. Three months ago I reported an exit security door needing repair.  The chairman ordered quotes to have the exit doors replaced with current fire rated doors.  I contacted  :-  our fire compliance company, the fire door company who gave the quote, a licensed builder, our local Council, and the ‘Dept of Building, Fire and Safety’ ( the latter referred by the Dept of Fair Trading).  The first three mentioned had inspected the site and said fire doors were not required.  I was also advised by ‘Dept of Building, Fire & Safety ’and by Local Council that fire doors were not required at the last point of entry/exit in our 1970s building and they would save us from nothing. The chair wont accept these findings.   How can I secure this in writing?

    Meanwhile the security door remains in a state of disrepair and does not close securely unless ‘lifted’ into position.   Are safety and insurance being compromised? Under Sec 62 of the Act shouldn’t the repair be done?

    My licensed builder will repair it for $267 and I asked the Strata Manager, Chair and Treasurer to have it done but they insist on waiting for the AGM in August, to pass a motion for fire doors.   Please comment.

     

    Thank you

     

     

     

     

     

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  • #19050
    Jimmy-T
    Keymaster

      There a re a lot of different issues here but they all seem to come back to an autocratic chairman and a compliant strata manager working in cahoots.

      What you can do is either organise a coup at a general meeting – get the chairman voted off the EC, or you can persuade the EC to vote him off or, if he is holding a clutch of proxy votes that would make normal democratic procedures redundant, apply to the CTTT for the statutory appointment of a strata manager to take over the running of the building becasue it isn’t being run democratically or in the best interests of the majority of owners..

      Assuming the latter option, I would first tell the members of your EC that if they don’t pull the chairman into line, you will apply to the CTTT for a statutory appointment.  

      But first we need to know if he holds power by virtue of a stack of proxies because that will make a big difference.

      The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
      #19056

      You may want to check your strata managers agency agreement. I would be very surprised if they have the authority to spend such sums of money with out a committee resolution.

      Also, speak with your other committee members and demand regular meetings. OC’s elect EC’s at the AGM to make decisions on their behalf. The Chairmen is not able to make decisions without agreement of the committee despite the fact that he/she may be the designated point of contact between the committee and the strata manager.

       

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