The board’s first year

“In the relations of a weak government and a rebellious people there comes a time when every act of the authorities exasperates the masses, and every refusal to act excites their contempt.

—John Reed


The present board has been in power for almost a full year now (August 2013) and the board is like the Toronto Bluejays, not living up to expectations.

Fixing the parking garage
It appears that repairs to the garage have been delayed because the engineer the board hired did not give the city enough information for them to issue the necessary permits. It is not certain if the work can start this year.

Vermin
The board has a couple of serious vermin issues that need to be dealt with.

Property management
Tech Iasi Management Services will not start on 01 August 2013 as was expected so a few days before the present contract expired, the board asked the management company to remain on a temporary basis until they find another replacement.

A commercial lease
A commercial lease was signed between Ataul Haq Malick, president of
YCC #42, and the wife of one of the corporation's superintendents for the occupancy of the Unit #2, the ex-dry cleaning shop on the ground floor of
330 Dixon Road.

The terms of this contract contained the following clauses:
The term of this lease commences on June 1, 2013 and ends on June 1, 2023. (Ten years)
The tenant may use the premises for any lawful business purpose that is not unreasonable and that does not interfere with normal use and enjoyment of the neighboring units and properties.
The tenant shall pay the landlord rent of $3,972.00 per year in equal monthly installments of $331.00 in advance on or before the first of each month commencing on June 1st, 2013
The said rent is fixed and shall not be increased over the duration of this lease and any renewal.
The said rent is all-inclusive and includes all condo maintenance fees, property taxes, HST, TMI, and utility bills excluding hydro.
The following services and expenses are the sole responsibility and expense of the landlord:
- Taxes, maintenance and building Insurance.
- Repair and maintenance of the property and the leased premises,
  including repair-work such as replacing burnt light bulbs etc,
- Property tax for the property.
- All utilities usage excluding Hydro.
- HST payments.
- All electrical and glass work,
- Repair of any physical damage caused to the leased premises as a result
  of vandalism or theft.
The landlord shall also be solely responsible for repairs or improvements to the structure and to the exterior of the building,
The landlord covenants with the tenant that so long as the tenant complies with the terms of this lease, the tenant may occupy and enjoy the premises without any interruption from the landlord.
The tenant may assign or sublet the premises, or allow the premises to be used by any other person without the consent of the landlord.
If not in default under this lease, the tenant has the right to renew this lease for a further ten years.... The renewed lease is granted on the same terms and conditions as set out in this lease including the rent amount.

This leased, signed on 27 May 2012, and its has only Ataul Malick signing for the corporation. He signed that he had the authority to bind the corporation.

An owner has questions
When a few owners saw this lease, they had some questions such as:
1.
When we have been blaming Shah Jahan Khan for signing the agreement with various parties, does it not apply to Malick? He signed this agreement supposedly on May 27, 2013 and witnessed by Harris Ali (YCC 42 Manager) but the fact is that Harris Ali was not working on the site on the said date.
2.
Why the rent fixed ($331/monthly) and shall not be increased over the duration of the lease and any renewal?
3.
Why the rent is all inclusive including all sorts of taxes, HST, Property Taxes, Utility bills (excluding hydro), maintenance, all electrical and glass work? We all owners and residents have to pay all of them ourselves, so why the exemption has been given  to Sohail's wife?
4.
The previous lease signed in 1972 mentions the rent of $250 plus the 6 % rental of all gross sales over $2500. So how come the amount of rent is less in terms of CPI even after 40 years?
5
Malick signed the lease for literally 20 years as if he owns the property, does he own the said space?

The owner goes on to say:
"I hope this will give all concerned owners some more issues to think about our BoD seriously.

I have attached another lease agreement and you can have some questions regarding that well. Here, I would like to mention that none of the leases have been renewed for the past 10 or 15 years.

No one has taken it upon himself to renew these leases including the convenience store and Kingsview Child Care Inc.

I could not up load these because they are on legal size paper. YCC 42 is losing revenue for the last ten years just because these leases have not been renewed.

We could have negotiate better rates with all these entities."

Hallway painting
The board authorized an owner to lead a group of volunteers to paint the hallways in all three buildings. The board will pay for the supplies and the volunteers will donate their labour.

Parking enforcement
On this issue, the board has made a good beginning. The parking in front of 330 Dixon Road is now limited to:
1.
The commercial unit customers.
2.
Contractors.
3.
People visiting the corporation's management office.

Those authorized to park in these spots are given parking permits. All vehicles without a permit are being ticketed by Toronto Police Services.

Parking Enforcement love showing up as they are issuing 15-20 tickets at a time and they are showing up several times a day. The residents and their guests are not so pleased.


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