At the expense of residents, there has been an ongoing rejection by the caretaker to fulfill his duties. The Board and management simply condone this irresponsible conduct and have approved of thousands of dollars spent on contractors to perform this work rejected by the caretaker. As the caretaker contract and details of total compensation have been withheld for a number of years, residents do not realize just what this is costing them.
- Base contract compensation with benefits $50,000 plus
- Apartment with parking and services @$2000/month 24,000
TOTAL BASIC COMPENSATION $74,000 plusBillings for for caretaker services now provided by others: 6,000 plus(Billings
include EXTRAS from caretaker, carpet cleaning,caretaker maintenance, lawn mowing and maintenance,grounds care) This does NOT include additional costs paid to contractors for mechanical related maintenance, normally the responsibility of and conducted by the caretaker in the past.
TOTAL ANNUAL CARETAKER COSTS $80,000 plus
Prior to the current caretaker, the position had always been a part time position and the onsite caretaker cared for several other properties at the same time. The building was well cared for and no outside contractor was required for caretaker services. The total annual cost of the caretaker was much less than half of what it is now.
Our front lawn and the parkade have severely lacked attention for several years now and are an embarrassment to residents who expect a much higher standard of care. We have carpet cleaning equipment which our current caretaker has never used and this work is now contracted out as well.
Of further concern, the caretaker’s wife has been billing the Corporation at $24 per hour for “extra services” she claims to have provided. She was also paid $500 for her efforts at the Christmas Party dinner which excluded food purchases. The total cost of the event was $50.00 plus per person while other condos were very pleased with a catered meal at $15.00 per person plus beverages.
Certainly, the Board, and at least our residential Board members, should recognize this very serious and costly issue and act accordingly. A first step would be to provide residents as per their many requests, with a copy of the “top secret” caretaker contract, to which they are legally entitled. This secret contract is proving to be much too expensive for residents who take this matter to be much more serious than the Board.