In this May 2007 Edition of the Venetia Voice:

  • Board Update - Town Meetings
  • Pool and Elevators
  • Trash Chute - Your Help Needed!
  • Cooling Towers
  • Audit

Download:

To read the full text version…

BOARD UPDATE. The recently created Residential Town Meetings have proved to be a great success. Residents in attendance have voiced concerns and discussed solutions with fellow residents and board members. We encourage you to attend these constructive forums.

POOL DECK. We are pleased to announce that the pool deck is scheduled for a “soft� opening within the next few days. Initially the pool gate will be open from 6 am - sunset. Watch for the “Grand Opening� announcement.
NOTE: The pool is for resident use only.

ELEVATORS. We have completed the new steel cabling of the four residential elevators. We are waiting for detailing of the cars, and the final inspection from the City. This will allow Elevator Number 4, the large service elevator, to be returned to service.

TRASH CHUTE. Three weeks ago, our trash chute was jammed shut irreparably, by the illegal dumping of construction debris. As a result, approximately one and a half tons of garbage backed up in the chute, shutting down our trash system. This has required that an outside contractor be hired to demolish the entire length of Venetia’s exterior wall from the 1St to the 8th floor.

The wall is open now and the garbage has been removed, but the chute cannot be restored to use until the garbage chute’s sprinkler system has been rebuilt, and the exterior walls rebuilt.

Until further notice, trash chute doors will remain locked and we will need to continue to carry our garbage bags down to the garbage receptacles located next to all Parking Lot entry doors.

Anyone with information regarding the person or persons responsible for the illegal construction and dumping that created this situation, is encouraged to report to the management office or to the police department. The parties responsible will be prosecuted. If you hear or see any off-hour construction, please call the front desk and let us know immediately.

COOLING TOWERS. A new AC System for Floors Four and Five has been added to the proposal specs for the new cooling towers. The engineering is now complete.

Remember that AC could be down for as long as two weeks during the installation of the new towers. In preparation, several residents have experimented with portable AC units - An “Ever Star� brand Portable AC unit, obtained from Home Depot for $400 is reported to keep 1 large room in your unit very cool, even cold. Dates of install will be announced as soon as they are made available to us.

FINANCIAL AUDIT. The firm of Deloitte & Touche of Washington D.C. has been engaged by the Venetia Condo Assoc. to conduct an independent, comprehensive forensic audit of our buildings’ finances and expenditures over the last few years.

Anyone interested in an “up close and personal� view of this process is encouraged to volunteer for the Financial Committee. Contact Sharon Dodge at sharondodge@gmail.com or leave a message in the Management office.

My Turn

“RENTERS ARE RESIDENTS, TOO�
By Steffani Martin, Unit 31-B

I was having a drink downstairs at Mike’s with some condo owners here at the Venetia and one of them said to me, “You are unique as a renter. You care about the building.� She said that as if it were an unusual attitude.

I thought about it for a moment, trying to grasp why it was odd to care about where you live. The answer is that I am new to Miami, in fact to Florida. I come from Manhattan, where almost everyone is a renter. I don’t know the statistics, but would bet that it is only around 20% of the building units in NY that are owned by the actual residents. What that means is that one can live a lifetime in the same apartment, with pretty much the same neighbors, but nearly everyone rents.

Venetia is my home, just as it is yours. I want to be proud of it, and keep it up just as you do, since I live here exactly as you do (except that, for some unfathomable reason, I could not have a dog if I wanted one). I don’t want one, but I take umbrage at the fact that owners believe that a renting dog owner would not make sure his/her dog was as well behaved as the dog of an owner. Of course, that won’t change, since renters don’t have a voice.

It is my fond hope to buy an apartment in this building to forestall the possibility of being asked to vacate someday by my owner, or begin to long for a dog and have to find a new home. I cannot really afford to buy right now. I CAN afford to be a good, responsible renter for life. I hope to have a long tenure here, whether as a long-term renter, or perhaps as a buyer, if prices come down still more (or if anyone has a real deal for me).

*** My Turn is a short, occasional, column in the Venetia Voice, written and submitted by a Venetia resident or owner with a unique viewpoint, which is then selected for inclusion by the editors because it might be of interest to all. Please submit articles by email to sharondodge@gmail.com or by print at the Venetia Management Office.

LECTORES HISPANOS - La version en español de “La voz de Venecia” estará disponible en la concergeria este fin de semana.

Venetia Condominium Association

    Sharon Dodge, President
    Stacey Stokes, Vice President
    Jay Hess, Commercial Director
    Susan Gale, Property Manager