November 2024
I’m a board member and our condo manager has come up with a lot of ideas for things such as EV charging stations and energy audits where we submit all our bills and some reseller performs some extremely complicated calculations to allegedly save the corporation money.
Why would a condo manager worry about EV charging stations or hedging utility rates when we never asked them to? These suggestions seem somewhere from bizarre to inappropriate.
Further, the manager never asks us what we want on the board meeting agenda.
D. G.
Response from Toronto Condo News
It sounds as if you have a good condominium manager trying to get your board to consider practical opportunities for lowering costs (and condo fees), improving your home and increasing property values.
Electric vehicle charging stations can be a good investment for attracting interest of those who own electric vehicles. Energy audits and metering systems lower electricity costs. With electricity being the largest expense for many condominium corporations, this is an excellent approach.
A good condominium manager should be aware that their job includes seeking ways to improve operations and reduce costs while providing a comfortable home to residents. They should be encouraging their condo board to delve into and deliberate on how this is best achieved. An effective condo board should be proactive and seek out these opportunities for research, evaluation and deliberation prior to making informed decisions.
Regarding board meetings, your President should be in control of both the agenda and board meetings. If the manager has been asked to take on this role, agenda items should be approved by the President in advance of the meeting.
It sounds as if your condominium manager is doing exactly what is needed to manage and improve your community. I suggest your board spend more time considering and researching these recommendations.
Best of luck.
