Dear Fellow Homeowners,

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We are sending you this letter because we want to make you aware of what we believe to be very significant information we have recently learned.

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The $4.5 million deal to buy the former Copper Health building was sold to the community largely based on the claim that the current Welcome Center was a temporary modular structure in poor condition that needed to be replaced soon at a cost of $4.6 million. But a year before the vote on buying the Copper Health building was held, management had paid for an independent engineering report stating that the Welcome Center was structurally sound.

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That structural engineering assessment, done by a professional Engineering firm and submitted to our Facilities Superintendent on November 29, 2021, did not indicate whatsoever that the Welcome Center was a modular structure in poor condition. On the contrary, the report states, unequivocally, that the building is slab-on-grade that is structurally sound and needs only minor repairs. This report was obtained recently from the General Manager in response to a resident’s HOA records request. The General Manager received it from the Facilities Superintendent by email on November 30, 2021. A copy of that email was also obtained pursuant to the HOA records request.

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The report states in part: “The wall and slab cracking are primarily aesthetic and do not pose a structural concern because the cracking occurs in non-load bearing walls (all of the structural walls appear to be in good condition and do not exhibit signs of settlement) and because the slab on grade is considered non-structural.” [Emphasis added]

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As you know, the community voted in January 2023 to purchase the Copper Health Building for $4.5 million, above asking price. Prior to the vote, the board and the administration made many statements to the community stressing the supposed merits of the purchase.

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A major selling point was that it would result in huge cost savings. The reasoning was that the occupants of the Welcome Center could move into the newly acquired Copper building, eliminating the need to spend many millions to tear down and rebuild the Welcome Center – which, according to board members and the general manager, was at the end of its life after more than 35 years and would be impractical to repair and renovate because of its (supposed) modular construction.

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The board claimed it would cost $4.6 million to raze the Welcome Center and build a new one. But if its occupants moved into the Copper Center instead, the community would save that $4.6 million, plus an additional $2 million it wouldn’t have to spend on site preparation for the new hard courts that could go into the old Welcome Center site.

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The discovery of the 2021 engineer’s report raises some crucial questions:

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The General Manager received a copy of the report over a year ago. Did he consult it before informing the community that the Welcome Center needed replacing and that we needed to move ahead to purchase the Copper Building? If not, why not?

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We asked the General Manager by email on September 5 whether he sent the engineer's report or any information about it to any board director and if so, when. We also asked him why he did not disclose the report to the community during the pre-vote period or correct during that time any of the inaccuracies being communicated by the board about the Welcome Center’s condition. We gave him a 24-hour window to reply so that we could incorporate his response into this letter to you.

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As of the time of the mailing of this letter, we have not received a substantive response from the General Manager although we did hear from his executive assistant that he was very busy and couldn’t respond to us within our time frame. We hope that when he does have the time, he will respond to the community with the answers.

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Were the Board of Directors aware of this report? When asked on September 5 whether he received a copy of or knew the results of the engineer's report during the pre-vote period, the Board Pres. stated: “The board does not receive copies of these type of reports. These fall under Maintenance, hence the Facilities Superintendent as the addressee.” A brush-off answer, for sure.

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But the real question is not whether they received this “type” of report, but did he or any other board member at the time learn about this particular report’s findings before the community vote? And if so, why did they not correct the inaccuracies they were communicating to the community? If they did not know about this report, then the question is why not, since it was sitting in the files of the General Manager.

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A second engineering study done after we purchased the Copper Building confirmed the findings of the pre-purchase study and concluded that the building was a permanent structure made of concrete block - not a temporary string of modular trailers - and was structurally sound, needing only minor repairs.

“Only after we received the (second) structural report in June of this year did we know the Welcome Center was not modular,” the General Manager and the Board Pres. claimed in a community-wide email on August 11, 2023. We say - BS.

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A second community email from the Board Pres. on September 5, stated:

“During the CC presentations, did we get it all right, perhaps not. The leadership did what they could, with the information available at that time. The information presented at that time about the (WC) being a modular building, was incorrect. Everyone learned that, only after the structural engineer inspection was completed in June.” We say - BS.

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Of course, we know now that for one year before Copper Health came up for sale, there was proof in the hands of management that clearly contradicted their claims about the Welcome Center’s condition. Because many of us voted for the Copper Center purchase based on inaccurate information about the Welcome Center, this new discovery raises very serious questions about accountability and whether the Copper Center vote should be allowed to stand. We believe we need to have the board admit the errors and sell the asset as they had promised to do, if it didn't work out.

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Please contact the Board of Directors and the General Manager with your concerns about this matter, and please attend Board of Directors meetings with your questions and comments.

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Signed,

Concerned Residents