Meeting attendance (8 persons in attendance)

Item 1:        Update on Vista Kiara Resident Owner Committee (VKROC)

·         A meeting was held on 5 Jan 2002 between Triomphe Vista Management Sdn Bhd and the resident committee members who had volunteered. Minutes of this meeting were distributed to those in attendance

·         Following that introductory meeting, TVMS initiated steps to formalize the VKROC and had requested elections to be held. As such the following persons were elected unanimously:

·         President – Lee Po Shing (A-19-02)

·         Vice Presidents – Danny Ee (B-19-01) & Ong Chee Howe (A-05-04)

·         Treasurer – no nominations received: post remains open to any volunteers..

·         The members present held a discussion regarding whether or not to officially register and incorporate the VKROC. The pros of formalizing the VKROC would be that we would be the official association representing the residents and owners of Vista Kiara Condominium. The cons are that significant time is required to finalise the memorandum and articles of association as well cost involved. In addition, there are some technical complexities – for example, normally a quorum is required for a meeting to have validity, and based on the attendance at previous meetings, this may be a problem. Since we expect the strata titles to be released in the near future, we concluded that there is no immediate need to formalize the VKROC. If circumstances change, then we can review this matter.

Item 2:        Development of land between Vista Kiara and Lanai Kiara

·         TVMS had put up a notice on the urgent noticeboard informing residents that DBKL had received a proposal for the land between Vista Kiara and Lanai Kiara to be developed into the following:

-         One 27 storey condominium with  53 units
-         Two units of three storey bungalow
-         16 units of three storey townhouse
-         One double storey club house
-         One swimming pool

·         VKROC recognizes the right of the developer to go ahead and build on its site. The current proposal appears to be for a fairly high end development and would probably boost the asset values of condominiums in Vista Kiara condominium. However, it is our hope that the 27 storey building be trimmed in line with neighbouring condominiums as well as offset and placed as far away as possible from Vista Kiara block B. In addition, during the devlopment phase, we hope that the developer plans minimizes the disruption to the neighbouhood including traffic congestion as well as ensure parking does not become a problem

·         Therefore VKROC has prepared a petition and will place this petition besides the lift at the ground floor of each of the four lobby areas. We will fax these petitions to DBKL on Monday 25 Feb 2002 (the deadline) and submit via the post afterwards

·         Assuming the normal procedure is followed, DBKL will invite those persons with objections to a hearing during which time, we will be allowed to review the proposal in more detail including the site plans. DBKL will then make a judgment on the development and we can only try our best

Item 3:        Security

·         Since our last meeting on 24 November 2001, there have been three reported break-ins. All three incidents occurred during daytime hours and the thieves were able to enter using a simple screwdriver since those three units did not have a padlock or grille. Residents are reminded to safeguard their own units and consider the following:

·         Change the front door lock (the police commented that the thieves were very proficient and able to open the lock, which was provided at handover by the developer five years ago)

·         Install a grille and use a padlock to lock the grille

·         The VKROC also held a detailed discussion on some of the existing security procedures and recommend that TVMS implement the following:

·         Security guards patrolling floor by floor to cease immediately. The chances of these guards actually stumbling on a break-in is remote. Secondly, these security guards are costing money (if the two guards a day are being paid RM 4 per hour, this would be RM 5,840 per month). Thirdly, the recent break-ins suggest the criminals have inside knowledge of the movement of residents and having guards patrolling inside the condominium would not be of much help

·         Security guards at lobby to no longer have access cards. This item had already been discussed at the first meeting between TVMS and the resident committee members and it had been minuted that this action would be taken. We discussed this matter again, and voted unanimously that this recommendation remains valid. The recent break-ins have highlighted that unwanted persons have been able to enter the lobby and access apartments and the fact that there are so many people with access cards combined with the fact that the security guards have been opening the door for genuine and unknown visitors. There has also been recent incident whereby three persons knocked on a resident’s unit at around 7 pm and claimed to be from the DBKL and demanded money. This incident has highlighted the risk that is present with which people can enter the condominium buildings with ease. If only the lobby security guards are more alert and have stricter scrutiny of visitors, such incidents would not have happened

·         We recognize that if the security guards no longer have access cards, this will cause inconvenience since residents will now have to come down to the lobby and open the door for their visitor. However, we feel strongly that this action will be for the benefit of all residents security. Compromising security for convenience must not be the case

·         In addition, we request that TVMS look into the possibility of adapting the intercom system so that it is possible to activate the door system from inside individual units. If this were possible, then the resident would not have to come down to the lobby to open the door.

·         The role of the guards at the lobby would then be the following:

·         Ensure no loitering of suspicious persons

·         Assist genuine visitors with using the intercom

·         Be a deterrent to would-be criminals in entering and leaving the buildings

·         Monitor cars parked in front of the lobby

·         There is some fine-tuning to be done to allow access by persons such as newspaper delivery, milkman, postman, etc and we can discuss this with TVMS in more detail. For example, maybe the security supervisor be allowed two access cards – one for himself at all times, and the other for specific individuals for a short period of time e.g. newspaper deliver. Also, the cleaner supervisor may require an access card to allow the cleaners in and out of the premise. The objective of this is that as few outside people as possible should have access to within the condominium buildings. All security access cards must be strictly controlled and accountable by the respective holders

Item 4:        Parking

·         There have also been some incidents where some residents have been particularly loud, rude, or even abusive towards security guards. VKROC condones such activity and remind these residents that these guards have a duty to stop visitors and residents at the guardhouse, check if the Vista Kiara car sticker is displayed, and in the event they are not, then the guards MUST request that suitable identification be handed over in exchange for a visitor.  We appeal for the residents co-operation and understanding. The guards are doing their job to ensure our safety

·         The incidence of cars parking improperly within the Vista Kiara compound, e.g. parking outside of marked visitor bays, parking in visitor bays without displaying visitor badge, seems to have improved. Nevertheless, there are still a few repeat offenders and we recommend that TVMS put up a notice listing these repeat offenders and informing all that this is the last and final warning. Any further repeat car parking violation will result in immediate clamping

·         It is also evident that there are a few cars which are parked extremely frequently in the visitor parking bays. We suspect that these cars belong to residents. This is unfair to those residents who have rented a second or third parking bay, as well as unfair to genuine visitors since you are depriving visitors of their bays. We request TVMS to send a final reminder to the owners of these cars to either rent an additional bay or park outside the condominium, failing which the clamp will be used

·         There are two gates at each side of the guardhouse for cars entering and leaving the compound. Both gates are supposed to be utilised, except for one hour (1pm to 2pm) during school pick-up. However, our experience is that this is not the case and often one of the gates is blocked off. This has created long queues at the one side nearer to the guard house when scrutinizing visitors,. Instead residents should be allowed to enter using the left gate. Can TVMS review this matter?

·         VKROC believes that installing a card access system may be a practical solution to improve productivity allowing access to genuine residents allowing security guards to focus on visitors and allowing them enough time to use the intercom and make the proper screening. Earlier teething problems may be avoidable e.g. installing a canopy above the readers to protect users and the equipment from getting wet, installing lightning surge protectors to avoid breakdowns during thunderstorms, making such a system available to all residents, etc..

Item 5:        Proposed installation of sand filter at main water tanks

·         We understand that those residents who had responded to TVMS for contribution towards installing a water filter system have had their cheques returned

·         We notice that the water quality has continued to be a problem and the water has a brownish colour. Installing a water filter would benefit all units and therefore VKROC request that TVMS utilize the sinking fund and install a suitable master water filter system so that all units can have cleaner water. We also request that TVMS obtain multiple quotes and ensure these quotes are competitive and that these quotations do meet our needs and will arrest the problem. Finally,  we must ensure that the appointed contractor provides satisfactory after sales service and maintenance of this system must not be compromised

Item 6:        Other matters

·         We applaud TVMS in putting recycling bins in the lobby areas. We hope that residents do utilize these facilities and do their part in protecting the environment

·         We also applaud TVMS’s decision to permit these minutes to be posted on the general noticeboard

·         The badminton court light bulbs have been changed very frequently and seldom are all the lights working at the same time. This problem has been going on for year now and changing light bulbs does not seem to be an appropriate solution. Can TVMS look at the wiring system as opposed to just changing the light bulbs each time the bulb fuses?

·         The tennis courts seem to have quite a number of cracks and home to a large number of ants as well. Can TVMS look at this situation?

·         We discussed the policy that residents wishing to book the squash courts, badminton courts or tennis courts have to pay RM 3 if they want the lights to be turned on. We concluded that this seems reasonable and consistent and should remain. However, we have noticed that the tennis court lights are turned on even when there is no-one playing. Can TVMS remind the guards to turn on the lights at the tennis court only when someone has paid RM 3, and to turn the lights off whenever the booking is over?

·         A resident brought up the point that the plants around the condominium seem to be withering. We understand that we have had particularly hot weather or the plant has not been sufficiently watered – maybe fertiliser would help. Can the gardener look into this?

·         A resident raised the point that the cost of installing the canopy at he car wash was from the sinking fund but that the revenue for renting that space was not reflected in the sinking fund accounts. We do not have the official accounts yet, but we suspect that the revenue appears in the maintenance accounts. We understand that TVMS will be submitting the accounts to the auditory in March and when they have been completed, VKROC will obtain a copy and we can discuss again

·         There seems to be hardly any sunbeds left anymore. We also understand that parasols are not suitable because we sometimes experience strong winds. Nevertheless, one resident has volunteered to assist with looking into these items

·         Vandalism is still a concern and we have also seen children climbing dangerously on top of the water fountain in the swimming pool. We suggest that since we have security guards who patrol the premises, can they also remind any such persons that they are breaking house rules and give a verbal reprimand? Residents can and should also perform such a role. The indoor playground has been under utilised ever since the netting was vandalized and the subsequent balls not ordered. This area may be renovated with more durable non-moveable play equipment which may be harder to vandalise

Item 7:        Next meeting (usually held on the last Saturday of the month)

·         In the areas of security and parking, we feel that we should explore creating positive incentives for the security guards to perform better. As it currently stands, the incentive system does not reward superior performance. We will discuss this item further in next month’s meeting and any suggestions are very welcome

·         The next meeting will be at 4pm on Saturday 23 March 2002. All residents are encouraged to participate and provide views and comments