The 2026 AGM happened on April 29. It was reasonably well attended, indicating that owners are interested in the future of the property they share. The meeting was fairly cordial, though some strong opinions were expressed.
It was clear that one of the main concerns of the owners was the lack of proper maintenance over the past few years. This was expressed by several owners, and is a concern that the newer members of council shared as well. Although monthly strata fees may be somewhat on the low side to do everything we need to be doing every year, it is possible to handle key maintenance tasks with the existing budget. Past councils had focused too much on big construction needs, with unnecessary expenditures and delays on unimportant issues, such as spending $12,000 on unnecessary audits, just because. As a result, prior to the fall of 2025, far too many things didn’t get done at all.
Five of six resolutions were presented at the AGM (one was not needed). Here’s a look at how the owners felt in regards to these projects.
Gutter Replacement
The first and second were resolutions on gutter replacement. These were both voted down, but the reasons were sound. Owners were concerned about the gutters being replaced before the roof could be addressed. It’s a good reason to be concerned. While good roofers would not damage the gutters, it’s generally better to do the roof first, followed by the gutters after, so that there is no risk of impacting the gutter warranty due to damage that could be caused during the roofing project.
Council had been concerned about the roof project taking a long time before it could proceed. They felt that if the roof would take several more years, we could not really wait that long with the gutter replacement.
An unofficial straw poll was taken to see if owners would be interested in entertaining a roof replacement project in the near future. It was expressed as a general idea, which would likely be done in stages to minimize the impact of levies. There was enough support that council will be able to proceed in this direction. Whether the roofing project will pass is unknown, as it will require a 3/4 vote, but we’ll see once the quotes are in and a solid plan is put together.
Council indicated that they would run attic inspections on multiple units to see what the condition of the roof really looks like from underneath. Based on the outcome of those inspections, they would bring forward a recommended plan for staggered roof replacement.
Stairs Replacement
The resolution for replacing the wooden stairs with composite materials passed. This will be done in stages, with up to 10 staircases done this year and others replaced gradually over the next 15-20 years as they become due for a rebuild. During that time, the goal is to keep maintaining existing wooden stairs with proper painting so that they do not end up in the terrible visual condition of some of the existing stairs. In that way, the use of composites will be mostly unnoticed. But all the stairs using composite materials will no longer need to be painted, and can be power washed to keep algae and moss from forming. This will save tens of thousands of dollars over the next 20-30 years. The recommended composite material, Timbertech, comes with a 50-year warranty!
The contractor has not yet been decided. It may be McLellan, as this company has rebuilt the other wooden stairs in the past and they provided a reasonable quote. But they don’t have much experience with composites. For example, they didn’t think of adding butyl tape to the stringers to help them last longer against the composite material, something that was mentioned by other contractors who do composites on a regular basis. Council will be getting additional quotes including from firms specializing in composites to see how these compare.
The budget for this has been set at CAD$43,992, which was based on a quote from McLellan & Associates.
The stairs initially targeted are shown below. Click on any image for a larger version. Electrical Room 5 is in such bad shape that the landing is only holding in place because of the vinyl membrane!
Painting Project
The painting project was approved. The owners were willing to have the entire complex painted to avoid the obvious issues of an uneven look due to patchwork attention.
This project includes having broken and rotten trim on garage doors replaced.
Council has not yet selected a vendor. The amount presented for approval (CAD$150,000) was based on one quotation and a rough estimate of how many linear feet of trim might need to be replaced. They will be receiving multiple quotations before making the vendor decisions.
Balcony Repairs
The final resolution was for the decks and balconies. This has been an ongoing project, but because of the high dollar value this needed to go before the owners. The resolution was approved.
The previous balcony repairs were handled on a priority basis, with balconies selected due to their weather exposure and other factors such as their condition. This was fine for the past few years. We are now at a point where so many balconies skipped units that we have situations where all but one unit in a building had their balconies done, leaving a single owner with an old balcony while their neighbours all had new balconies. It was deemed unfair to continue this approach, as the most urgent needs have now been addressed.
The project selected 35 balconies that will complete the buildings for those which were addressed before. 56 will still need to be done, and the plan is to divide those over the next two years, building by building to complete all balconies by the end of 2028. The budget was set at CAD$121,820, which was based on a quotation received from McLellan & Associates. Because McLellan has worked on our balconies in the past, is familiar with our complex, and has proven to do a better job than other vendors, the previous council felt that they are the best choice for this work. The new council may feel differently and may request other quotes.
Here’s a map of the remaining balconies to be repaired (shown in green). Those shown in blue have been done to date.
A new council
The meeting ended with election of the new council. Myself (unit 34), Alan Schianni (unit 84) and Ganessin Virappin (unit 104) are remaining on council. Paula Demerich (unit 20), Ali Datoo (unit 23), Maggie Sze (unit 58), and Christine Stewart (unit 88) have joined council. I’m personally thrilled to see these people on council, as they have all demonstrated wisdom, listening skills, intelligent decision making and an ability to work well with others. Maggie was a very popular strata council president in the past, and from the applause it was clear that owners are happy to see her back.
It is hoped that the owners give this new council a chance to get settled in and show their leadership in moving this strata forward to becoming the best place to live in the Hamilton area.
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