The New Mark Commons Homes Association Board of Directors met on March 18 for its organizational meeting, electing John Daroff to serve another year as president, Kathleen Moran to serve as vice president and David Schwartzman to serve another year as Treasurer/Secretary.
The six Board members present voted unanimously for John as president and David as Treasurer/Secretary. There were two nominations for vice president – the current vice president Magnus Turesson, who was not present, and Board member Kathleen Moran, who nominated Magnus for another term. The Board members used secret ballots to choose Kathleen as vice president.
As vice president, Kathleen will tackle formulation of a long-range capital improvements plan, including a rotating maintenance schedule for all facilities, John proposed. Kathleen will be able to draw on her experience with Rockville City government, including a stretch as director of Rockville’s Glenview Mansion.
The Board considered setting aside a special public meeting other than the monthly meeting to discuss long-range planning.
As president, John said he hopes to focus on updating New Mark’s governing documents and monitoring a resident’s complaint about the reserve fund before the Commission on Common Ownership Communities.
In order to bring New Mark’s 50-year-old governing documents into line with current law, John said he envisions a task force of 5 to 7 people, with a maximum of two Board members and 3-5 residents.
Another major responsibility for John will be shepherding through the discussion about a one-million-dollar line of credit to speed up work on ageing infrastructure. Some of the work involves safety issues.
Both John and Treasurer/Secretary David Schwartzman, who have been the main liaisons during the transition to Abaris Realty, said things have gotten less time consuming six months into the new arrangement. Residents have gotten used to the fact that the Abaris team, with Shireen Ambush at the helm, has replaced Jim Denny, the resident manager who retired last year as administrator.
“It has gotten easier,” John said about the amount of work involved as Board president. “I think everyone has figured out that Jim was doing far more than anyone person should be asked to do.”
On committee arrangements, the Board voted unanimously to merge the Community Enhancement Committee, chaired by Magnus, into the Architectural Control Committee(ACC). Both Alex Belida, the ACC liaison, and David said that Magnus, who was absent, supported the new arrangement, as he has been a committee of one for over a year. By merging the two, it may also clear up some of the confusion about which group is responsible for what, Alex said.
The Board also agreed that the recently-established Social Committee, with Board member Alex Manolatos at its helm, would work better under a less formal title, since Alex M. is the only member of the committee. It was agreed that Alex will in the future serve as the Liaison to Community Events, with no obligation for a monthly report. In fact, Alex has served on most of the social committees recently, ranging from 50th Anniversary projects to the International Dinner.
Alex Belida will continue as liaison to the ACC; David as chair of the Communications Committee; Ellen as chair of the Landscape, Tree and Lake Committee with support from Kathleen; and Kathleen as liaison to the Pool Committee.