Page 37 - NY Cooperator Expo April 2019

Improve recycling in your apartment building! Enroll your maintenance staff in a FREE training by the NYC Department of Sanitation: on.nyc.gov/zerowastetraining nyc.gov/sanitation NYCsanitation NYCzerowaste COOPERATOR.COM THE COOPERATOR — APRIL 2019 37 prudent example. We had a resident who they started exhibiting short-term memory owned two pets, and we asked them why loss and were violating every rule in the they needed the second one, they said that book. the fi rst emotional support animal itself needed an emotional support animal. You Not vermin or fi lth, but defi nitely stuff – all don’t get to have two! “Th ere are various government agencies stacked. Clearly the association had an is- that might be of assistance, and you do have sue, but no one on hand was a healthcare the option to call those in. But the problem professional, so it fell to us to get in touch there is that they’re oft en reluctant to get in- volved, and the person in question has to shal and the head of social services. It was want them to come in. It has to be a vol- untary thing, unless there’s something quite heavy smoker, they eventually went to sleep terrible going on. “And if there are clear rule violations, the smoke alarm – but fortunately, a neigh- you might want to turn that over to the bor did! Th ere’s nothing like a fi re to get the boards’ attorney to start taking action. In town’s attention – so now they’re helping an extreme situation with a truly ill person, our resident resolve their issues. With our you can fi le for an Article 81 guardianship, help, both resident and community are in a which means that you pursue a court- appointed guard- ian to take over that person’s aff airs. Th at’s a much more involved, time- consuming, public procedure, and the person might resist. But if you are suc- cessful in having a guardian appointed, then the board or manager only has to deal with the guard- ian from then on, rather than the in- dividual.” Jeanne Eberhardt, a property manager at Casagmo in Ridgefi eld, Connecticut “Having been the on-site employee an abundance of complaints and reports property manager of 307 units for the last from multiple owners, as well as a good at- 11 years, I have had to deal with residents torney. and owners with mental health and cogni- tive issues. Fortunately, being on site, I am personal life is a common one in condos essentially the face of Casagmo, along with and similar communities. We have had to an awesome staff of one other offi ce admin- istrator and two maintenance persons. But the association can maintain the common it all helps when dealing with residents. “We had someone who was once very re- clusive, handing in their common charges stress for most people. Regardless, when to the offi ce with barely a word. Th en sud- denly, about three years ago, they woke up prescription is patience – and it should be a completely diff erent person. Elderly and taken regularly.” with a lot of energy, they were somewhat disheveled, but extremely articulate, and this person is now known not only in our community but throughout the town by fi rst name only, like a rock star. It’s been havioral health issues in a sensitive manner. common knowledge that this person deals Walk gingerly and carefully. People have with mental health issues, and they had the privacy rights, and you don’t want to libel memory of an elephant, so it was easy to or slander them; you also don’t want to ex- notice – and somewhat frustrating – when “Eventually, hoarding became an issue. of it important to the resident – that was with local professionals like the fi re mar- slow at fi rst. But, as our rock star was also a with a cigarette in hand. Th ey never heard better place.” Christopher R. Berg, President of In- dependent Association Managers, Inc., in Na- perville, Illinois “Th e local health de- partments have many resources to help people with these types of chal- lenges, but getting some people to request that help can be the most diffi cult step, despite be- ing the fi rst. Mandating that help oft en requires there to be a signifi cant problem, but when you do have one, then the municipality will step in. Most smaller issues oft en come down to proving a nuisance, which usually requires “Th e fear of intrusion into a resident’s rely on local authorities to help ensure that elements, but scheduling and communica- tion can go a long way toward minimizing helping residents with special needs, the Scott B. Piekarsky, Esq., Managing Member of Piekarsky & Associates in Wyckoff , New Jersey “You have to approach residents with be- “I’d suggest that the manager always get clear instructions from a board, and always have a witness with them whenever they go out to visit such a resi- dent.” — Ira S. Goldenberg continued on page 48 See us at Booth 1809 YOU DON’T NEED TO BE A STORAGE ROOM EXPERT YOU JUST NEED TO CALL ONE. CALL BARGOLD TODAY! And we’ll make it all seem so easy. • For secure, state-of-the-art storage facility. • For from start to finish. • For service. • We’ll FREE we’ll turn your wasted space into a clean, FREE we’ll handle the entire renovation process, FREE we’ll handle resident billing and customer PAY YOU monthly. (718) 247-7000 sales@bargold.com WWW.BARGOLD.COM See us at Booth 102