The sign that the owners painted in new colours still looked not too bad. No doubt front entrances make important first impressions.
The 2009 council inherited such a lot of residue and budget constraints from Mr Mac that they did better than I would have expected under some of the circumstances. I didn't see them destroy any common property, or engage in misconduct that could be expected to add excessive costs. Compared to other years, 2009 looked more positive overall.
Unfortunately, even after all the new landscaping in the front entrance area the first thing that meets the eye upon entering the complex is a chain link fence and plastic covered deck extension. Leaving this unsightly first impression is in no one's best interests.
I don't think it was the fault of the 2009 council. They did the best they could.
In the photo below I outlined in red the chain link fence and plastic covered deck extension - which could be easily hidden if a few evergreen shrubs were planted in front of the chain link fence at the front entrance.
I also outlined in red where these shrubs were planted instead of matching the lawns that were planted in front of all the other strata lots along the front entranceway. It's not all bad, of course. If any of the foreseeable lawn maintenance problems become unsightly these shrubs will at least prevent the problems within the complex from being viewed by passing traffic. 
We have new curbs, which look great. At least one (1) of my suggestions from 7 years previous was finally acted upon. Too bad the pavement got cracked and patched all over the complex in the past couple of years as the roots of the trees decomposed and the underground pipes broke. 
After 5 years the weeds in front our unit were finally scraped off in the middle of January 2010. By the beginning of February the dandelion roots, which could be as much as a foot long, were growing lots of fresh green dandelion sprouts. By the first day of spring the new flowers were getting ready to go to seed. I don't know if someone was still acting to ensure that the historical standards in front of our strata lot remain below the strata lots along the entrance and elsewhere in perpetuity - or if this was just an accident, rather than a plan.
New top soil was delivered and spread along the entrance way.
Looks good for these lucky owners.
It looked deep enough for grass, so that's good.
In the fall the strata corporation planted grass inside the complex for the first time. It's beautiful. I hope it stays beautiful. I love lush green grass. Maintenance may pose a foreseeable problem; I expect it will be a far more expensive burden to keep up lawns within the complex than the original ground cover. I don't know what these other plants are, but they seem better than the bare dirt and weeds. I would have planted something to mask the slope of the wall, even though it has nothing to do with our history of sinking; but it doesn't look like the bushes planted in that area are an evergreen species.
No privacy shrubs for the lower windows were reinstated.
Lots of rocks.
Extended Splash Guards should keep the dirt off the buildings.
New Splash Guards.
Valiant St John's Wort ground cover still trying to find a place to live in spite of unexplained and very aggressive efforts to destroy what had always been a troublefree thing of beauty.
Same Old Weeds all around our front entrance.
The bushes between the driveways were replaced with red "lava" rocks.
A surprise. As usual. 
Rocks without roots. Better than pavement without drainage. I guess.
Council inherited Mr Mac's decomposing tree roots, breaking underground pipes, slope destabilization, and funding shortfalls.
It took 4 years after the strata's trees were clear cut, but in 2009 council finally planted some grass. It's far better than we got in this complex during the 4 years previous. From the look of things it's better than the people in Haiti got after their trees were all cut.
The strata manager's minutes continued to be like a "hear no evil - see no evil" conspiracy of silence on the whole tree issue. Rainwater that the roots of trees used to absorb collected in pools or rushed down drains.
FOR CRYING OUT LOUD - PLEASE - LOOK AT WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING!!
We can't afford all these extra costs. Please reinstate the trees, which Mr Mac cut down in spite of all of the foreseeable damage, without permits or votes.
Money was short in 2009 even after 4 years without landscaping. Reinstatement of the trees around our strata lot and in other critical areas was delayed for the 4th year.
DECKS
People painted their unfunded extra decks; so that was nice.
They chose to paint common assets that the strata corporation is entirely responsible for because they had exclusive use and paint was required to cover up the patches. They were under absolutely no obligation, but obviously thought it important to cover up their patches and additions. Paint is a great way to cover up additions that were never reported in the minutes or approved by the owners. Like Mae Reid's new gate. 
Likewise, painting all the decks hid from ongoing view the fact that Mr Mac had his painted when painting decks was prohibited. Although there is nothing in the minutes to indicate who did the work, or who paid, I suspect that it was not Mr Mac. No motions; no votes; no way to know.
He painted his stairs too. So his neighbour did the same. Concrete stairs. I can tell your from my life as a letter carrier what a slippery safety hazard painting cement stairs creates, and I can tell you from my life as a home owner with painted cement stairs how impossible it is to remove the paint to end the unsightly look of peeling flaking paint and the constant need for added maintenance and insurance.
What do you think? If I have to paint my deck to match others, should I paint my cement stairs too? The same colour as theirs?
Twenty years' without paint and our original strata plan deck always looked better than the peeling paint on Phase 2's front stairs. We took care of this top quality deck with preservative, not paint.
Creating unmanageable maintenance costs contributes to the stigmatized reputation of this complex. The facts speak for themselves - year after year after Phase 2's professionally painted front stairs are always peeling. Look at the embarrassing mess greeting visiting family and friends, as well as prospective buyers - year after year. What could they be thinking?
We didn't paint our strata plan deck for other reasons. The strata was supposed to paint it; but the 2009 council didn't, probably for the same reasons we didn't. 20 years experienced proved that unless it was constructed from junk wood, there would be no legitimate need to paint it.
Our main objection is the excessive cost, not just the initial cost, but the needless and irrepairable damage caused by creating a permanent need to paint a deck that for 20 years never needed more than a preservative stain. If unscarred strata plan decks ever need paint it would be only because the good original wood was thrown away and replaced with an inferior product. We paid a special levy for all the work to be done on our deck to at least the same standard as all the work on the balconies; It is unfair for the strata to impose extra costs on the lower units only to transfer them onto us to pay for over and over again forevermore. In any event, there is no sense painting before our deck is extended, as it is not until then that our deck would truly require painting.
Mr Mac's scheme effectively split the limited common property into 2 different types in disregard of the relevant special levy and prescribed unit entitlement formulas. His own balcony was fully repaired and fully funded in accordance with unit entitlement formulas. Once he got his strata plan balcony fixed and paid for, he imposed cost burdens on our strata plan deck, which he himself did not share. I don't think unfairly splitting the limited common property into his fully funded balcony and my suddenly unfunded strata plan deck is allowed under the Act, especially since the strata failed to budget for or satisfy its own painting obligations for years, just leaving the front stairs of the strata lots in Phase 2 looking horrible with paint peeling for so many years that it is all but entirely gone in some cases. Nor do I think such a bylaw is legally binding when a long history proves paint on our strata plan deck is not required, and more importantly, that our deck looked and performed far better without paint for 20 years, than others with paint peeling in just one year. Paint was required on scarred deck additions only at the time the painting bylaw was passed. Not that Mr Mac gives 2 hoots about the law if it doesn't suit his purpose.
Mr Mac had this new funding obligation imposed on all strata plan deck owners, an obligation that could never be imposed on himself because his strata plan balcony was already fully fixed and his unfunded illegally added fully painted extra deck will always be the strata corporation's responsibility, never his own. The Strata Property Act makes it impossible to enforce the painting bylaw with respect to any of the extra decks because of them all squatting on common property rather than being designated as limited common property. His painting bylaw is enforceable against only the strata plan decks because they are limited common property as opposed to common property. I don't think he is entitled to enforce it in any event because it would split the limited common property into 2 classes: pay-less-and-get-more for strata plan balcony owners, and pay-more-and-get-less for strata plan deck owners. My pal Al. What a deal. What a guy.
The continual pattern of disparity in Mr Mac's schemes cannot be ignored. Sorry. Neither can the risks. All it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing when they see evil. Even worse, is not to see it and vote to approve it.
Even if the strata plan decks, patios, and balconies had not been funded by strata fees as they were, we could not paint our deck. It is dangerous to coerce, or flatter, elderly people into climbing up to paint a high deck, especially those with disabilities, like myself; particularly with no, or inadequate, insurance against personal injury.
I would be foolish to voluntarily assume such risk, and I think the strata corporation is negligent to engage unqualified, underprotected owners for such jobs; especially when the paint on the front stairs of the main entrance strata lots, which was the work of professionals, peeled off so quickly and was just left for 4 years ... and counting.
It is plain to see from the bare dirt and gross inequity here that what our deck needs most is not paint. It is landscaping and reinstatement of the lost common property and the tree and bushes that originally surrounded it. The special levy funds we paid were wrongfully diverted to build extra decks for those who already had their strata plan balconies completely restored and fully funded, and the repeatedly expanding burdens arising from such unfair allocation of funds creates terrible hardship, to the point that seniors on fixed incomes say they can bear no more.
Painting our deck would be detrimental for other reasons also.
- It needs an extension; painting it first and extending it second is perverse.
- A special levy was paid to reinstate the surrounding trees and shrubs; once they are replanted, comparatively little of any strata plan deck, including this one, will be visible.
- Our strata plan deck looked good without paint for 17 years; blending naturally with the surrounding landscape, and would have continued to for years to come if hadn't been demolished to repair sinking retaining walls after the adjacent tree was removed.
Our new fence didn't need painting yet; but this is how the fence in front of one of the houses on Rambler Way looked in 2009.
MINUTES
Mr Mac stopped writing the minutes during 2009; but strata records continued to vanish and be withheld. I don't know if Mr Mac kept a key to the strata mailbox, or what exactly his involvement with the strata manager is; but as an example, my letter dated November 5, 2009, submitting proposed resolutions to council for consideration at the AGM, was never mentioned in the minutes as even existing.
The minutes stopped reporting on cracking buildings; but doors and gates kept sticking, and buildings kept sinking, as the land seemed to keep slipping. It was plain to see underground pipes and water mains continued breaking throughout 2009. It may take another year or two for the roots to decompose completely; they say it usually takes about 5 years, if the trees are not replaced.
The City of Coquitlam said they expected that the trees would be replanted. We are looking forward to 2010 to see where, and when, what kind, and how many. It is amazing how much money we would have saved since 2003 if the Strata Property Act and our bylaws had been obeyed. As it is, whatever happens with the common property is a surprise, as always.
SHADOW BOXING
Our deck was needlessly demolished repeatedly - at enormous expense - while my reports to council that the land was sinking were persistently ignored. I blamed council; but the minutes show that council wasn't making these decisions - they were just blind; the issues were not reported to council. A reasonable person would not ignore such warnings. It flies in the face of common sense to ignore such warning. This was no accident. It was like a conspiracy of silence and misrepresentations to wreck havoc on my interests at all costs.
Now there is every indication that the same mistakes will be repeated if our deck is painted and grass is planted before our deck is extended and the trees replaced. A reasonable person would not ignore such warnings - and that includes professional advisors - unless the issues were not reported - or unless they were misled. It flies in the face of common sense.
Something is wrong. Something hidden. It contaminates reasonable decision making. We are trying to fight it blindfolded; without information. No photo. No minutes. Nothing to explain it. It is like fighting a shadow. I'm hoping some good can come of it is if the process is laid bare and exposed. It's all I can do.
In 2009, the silence from council was deafening. Measuring dogs took priority over honouring the strata corporation's duty to repair water damage to the structural elements of our strata lot, reinstate the trees that were removed without authority, and remedy the nuisance caused by actions that destroyed the function of our deck.
In 2010, I hope the owners manage to put an end Mr Mac's pattern of passing the baton back and forth under the care and control of his hand-picked strata managers.
I hope that at least one person gets on council who will stand up to the opposition and make motions to replace the birch trees and extend our deck before grass is planted. If even one member of council acted to ensure that motions and votes on all the issues are recorded in the minutes, pass or fail, that would be progress.
