This is a Co-op. Cooperate!

(by Mitch B)

By now, we are all familiar with the trials and tribulations of a major capital improvement project: dust, noise, water and electrical outages, and the unavailability of balconies and parking lots have been and continue to be unwelcome parts of our lives. These necessary ills associated with the ongoing projects are aimed at keeping our building safe, habitable, and affordable. They are not cosmetic, and they are not optional. Wear and tear, new technologies, and local, state, and federal laws demand that this work be completed within a finite period of time.

We have pulled together as a community to accommodate the many professionals who are updating the plumbing, electrical, and façade work, as well as painting, plastering and everything else associated with our capital improvements project. Thank you to the majority of my neighbors who have collectively made this work go as smoothly as possible.

However, there is a small but significant number among us who have been less-than-cooperative as far as the current capital improvements projects are concerned. People who have refused workers access to their apartments, who have vandalized or otherwise impeded the progress of the work, who have not attended the regular update meetings, and who have ignored the other channels available for discussion, raising questions, dissemination of information, and reporting of complaints have delayed the completion of the work, resulting in increased costs, inconvenience, and anguish for all of us. They have also increased the danger of losing our home to developers and speculators who have long had their eye$ on our building as prime real estate to create for-profit, luxury housing in our rapidly gentrifying neighborhood. This can happen if we do not meet the commitments associated with the loans and grants that we have taken on, or if we become insolvent.

When one cooperator chooses to not allow the plumbers to replace the wastewater line in their apartment, they (a) negate the warranty on the work for the entire line and their adjacent neighbor’s line. That’s 48 apartments affected by one uncooperative “cooperator,” (b) they endanger the integrity of the work in the affected lines. Their kitchen and bathroom waste continues to leak or even flood into the walls and potentially into other apartments and (c) they cause us to be out-of-compliance with the terms of the loans and grants we have committed to with all the associated legal and financial consequences.

The contractors, management and the board have spent many hours trying to accommodate those of us with scheduling, health, and other needs, and have bent over backward to accommodate scheduling conflicts. They have even protected your identity from the increasingly impatient and angry members of our community who want the work to be successfully completed. Yes, sometimes the workers and contractors don’t show up when they say they will and sometimes the work needs to be redone due to some problem beyond anyone’s control. This is the sometimes-chaotic nature of a major construction project. But not cooperating and spreading rumors and misinformation does nothing to help us move past this difficult period and on to the better, more comfortable life that completion of this work promises. For example, the heating and insulation in my apartment is better than it has ever been, I can open and close every window. I am looking forward to installing an air conditioner into the new sleeve that has been installed in my living room – a sleeve that no longer leaks cold air into my apartment in the winter.  

In the past few years, I have been disappointed by the loss of the community spirit that I have known at RVT for nearly forty-five years. While many of us have stepped up to support each other through the pandemic, the capital improvement projects, and other challenges, some have not. I don’t like being held hostage by the few who feel that their own needs outweigh the needs of the community. If you have a legitimate, unusual personal situation don’t take offense, I am not talking to you. However, most of the holdouts and otherwise uncooperative cooperators need to put aside those issues and help us get this work done! Management, the board of directors, and the contractors will do everything they can to help you so this work is completed as painlessly as possible. Please, join the rest of us in working toward a brighter future for River View Towers.  You are a cooperator, COOPERATE!