Condo Association Management Blog

We have had a children's play ground, tennis coutys and swimming pool for years. These facilitiesd are included in our comdominium insurance and we've never had any trounle. I suggest you review your bylaws to ascertasin if there is a mandated limit for a new project above which a vote of the council of unit ownners would be required to fund your new progrqam.In these tough times Ithink you'll find opposition to yopu playground because it's cost will increase your monthly condo fee. Good luck

A playground might be a good or bad idea, as your posting suggests. 
 
 
 
Here's my take based on how I think you present the issue. 
 
 
 
First, when residents come before the Board with a proposal like that, it doesn't necessarily mean that a great big burden of responsibility is now placed solely onto the shoulders of the already time-consumed and overburdened volunteers who serve on the Board. 
 
In CT, our bylaws (based on state law) permit a Board to appoint committees as it feels necessary to do. Any committee reports to the Board. 
 
My suggestion to you then is for the Board to delegate responsibility for the investigation into the feasibility of this project to a committee. Perhaps one Board member could serve on the committee or not. But the idea would be that any ultimate decision making about the project wouldn't be made until the Board was presented with all the facts. of course, it would be the Board's responsibility to require a sensible and objective effort from the committee.  
 
But it makes sense to me to give some responsibility for project feasibility and project design to those who want the project. Get them involved. 
 
In the final analysis, the Board may need to go to the Unit Owners for a vote to expend the money. If the Board delgates now and gets interested parties actively involved, I think that most people may come out of this more satisfied and less stressed.

We have 10 parks in our HOA (not a condo; a single-family home planned community). The playgrounds are not costly to maintain;however can be quite costly to set up. Playground equipment is quite costly. Also the rubberized "turf" that is installed on the ground under the playground equipment is EXTREMELY expensive. You may want to start small with just a few benches and tables; perhaps a sandbox. Other playground equipment can be added over time.

Our governing documents require that any capital improvements - and what you suggest would be a capital improvement not a repair or replacement of something that has reached the end of its useful life - requires approval by a majority of the owners. The Board has no authority to authorize a project like this, so check what is so where you are.  
 
Good luck. 
 
Also, if owners want to propose a project, let them do the work necessary, including cost estimates, rather than adding one more project to all the Board has to do.

Thank you for sharing your great article and I like it very much. Welcome to Canada Goose Parka.

Impressive post,keep it up.

Thanks to all of you for your feedback on playgrounds. You gave some great advice, especially on getting the "requesters" to do some of the legwork rather than only the Board members. It is wonderful to have this forum and I appreciate your willingness to share.

If you never had a playground this could be considered a capitol improvement and you must follow the rules for approval as set up in your by-laws. If approved it could be paid for thru a raise in fees or a one time assessment. We just relocated our playground for safety reasons and built a new one. The new playground equipment cost approx $28,000. This would depend on how elaborate you wanted it. We put down blue rubber mulch( do NOT use black as it absorbs too much heat and it will burn the kids on a hot summer day). With ground breaking and landscaping I would say $35,000 is about right. It is beautiful. Your assoc would now has a safe area for the children to play, and it enhances the value of your property. It would be covered by most assoc policies.

I would love for someone to forward me a copy (pdf) of the lein letter they used to place a lein against a property for not paying their regime fees. I'm kinda new at this but I know this can be done without going through a lawyer. The county does not provide a form or sample. I have already done the debt letter and pre-lein letter. Please respond!