A service of:
Community123.com
Professional websites for HOAs & condos, since 2004
🎁 1st year FREE for HOATalk members! →
← Return to Topics List

LandScape Committee Functions

Started by AlexL1 • 14 replies • 2102 views

💬 Join us to post & get advice from 50,000 HOA & Condo leaders.

Create Free Account →

⚡ Takes 30 seconds

Already a member? Log in

AlexL1 (Florida)
Posts: 305
Posted:
Has this happened in any of YOUR areas? We have a newly formed landscape committee and there is a landscape guy hired by the Management company. As the landscape committee, we presented a very nice listing of zeroscape plants that we wanted. He presented his estimate using NONE of the plants from our list and the estimate was approx. 3 times what it should be knowing that the BOD will side with him to profit highly from the job. To my knowledge, we have no recourse but to sign the contract with him.
PaulM (Pennsylvania)
Posts: 1,347
Posted:
AlexL1: From my knowledge, any contract for work done on behalf of the association is signed between the Board (a B-member) and the contractor/company. The Landscape Committee has no authority to sign a contract unless your documents dictate such.

Now, if the budget is presented before the membership for vote and ratification, it is likely at that time that the line item expense for Landscaping can be questioned. The Board then should be able to present back-up and reasoning for the budgeted amount. Be prepared to counter the position the Board has taken with other recommended plantings and their costs.

GeraldT4
Posts: 1,022
Posted:
AlexL1 - Isn't signing the contract a function of the Board, not the committee? Either way, I'd make the landscape committee recommendations to the Board and let the Board sign an inflated and unrecommended contract.
DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671
Posted:

Alex,

How much is your annual budget and how much is the amount the landscaper wants? Fl. has a bidding statute requirement if the amount is 10% over the annual budget.

Your committee requested Xeriscape to be done. A VERY SMART MOVE!! with the water shortages that we have had.

Bring it up at a meeting,let the Board know of your unhappiness and especially with the P.M. that your committee reccomended something other than what he presented. The Board will sign the contract, not your committee and I would assume that you have let the Board know that the estimate was not what you asked for in plant material and that the Budget does not allow the amount of money that he wants. How much is allowed in your Budget and how close or far off is this estimate? That might be the answer.
SusanW1 (Michigan)
Posts: 5,202
Posted:
OF COURSE the landscape company wants to max out the site with shrubs, etc. - and I bet there will be follow-up maintenance, too.

Get a handle on how this is supposed to be done. If the Landscape Committee is supposed to be making these decisions - then presenting them to the Board, don't let the landscape company tell you how it's going to be!

He works for you - not on you!!
PaulM (Pennsylvania)
Posts: 1,347
Posted:
AlexL1: In re-reading your situation, I see that the Mgmt. Company hired the Landscape Company/guy. The Board would not be acting in the best fudiciary manner to take the one bid. Why not have the Landscape Committee go out and seek other bids for the proposed xeriscape plantings, as well as the plantings the first landscaper wants to put in. The prospective landscapers can walk the area, measure, whatever, and then submit their bids for the same work. You will then have backup and other costs for your proposal to review other contractors, as well as having comparisons to show.

It is always in the best interest for an assn. to seek bids on their own rather than to 'use' the mgmt. company's hired contractor. This can be a sticky situation and one which can possibly bring hidden 'layered costs' for the assn. while you are not getting the most for your money spent. I'm not saying this is going on here--just be aware it can happen.

In the best possible Assn. World, the mgmt. company makes recommendations for good, reliable landscapers and the Board and/or Landscape Committee is free to choose the one most desirable based on their costs, value, reputation and services needed.

AlexL1 (Florida)
Posts: 305
Posted:
Grreat ideas to take into consideration. Keep in mind that the landscape committee had no sayso in the choosing of the landscaper.. that was all done by the Management Company.
cpoulin (Colorado)
Posts: 35
Posted:
If the Association or the BOD created the Landscape Committee then they should have some say in the matter, otherwise why have the Landscape Committee?

The P.M. for your association maybe very honest, but remember they are a business and not your friends, so keep it on a business level. Your Declaration probably states that all employees(management, hirees, etc.) for the HOA are selected by the association, not the P.M.

The Declaration was created to avoid the pitfall of just such instances, so refer to your Declaration(Covenants, C.C.&R., etc.) The final decision will be decided by the BOD, but cheapest isn't always the best choice.

Have the company offering bids provide proof of their work and contacts of their previous customers. Don't use anyone who won't supply that information. A good, honest contractor should be proud of thier work and willing to prove it.
SusanW1 (Michigan)
Posts: 5,202
Posted:
Your Committee may not have any say in choosing WHO does the work, but do you have say on WHAT they do?

Better confirm with the Board exactly what the Committee's powers are. Otherwise, it looks like the landscaper is taking directions from the management company, and your Committee is out of the loop.

AlexL1 (Florida)
Posts: 305
Posted:
Yes... unfortunately, the landscape contractor is listening ONLY to the Management company that hired him(using HOA funds) and has not listened to anything said by the landscape committee. In other words, the landscape committee should probably be disbanded as it has all the appearances of being a farce with the landscape contractor laughing on his way to the bank
DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671
Posted:

There is chink in the chain of command here. The landscape company should only listen to the requests of the BOD, accessed thru the P.M. It is the P.M's job to deal with the contractor BUT only as the BOD instructs.

So now the BOD is failing to follow the reccomendations and suggestions of a committee that works for them. How dumb is that. Alex, do not lose heart in this matter. Ask the Board , "what gives"? So I would certainly fault the BOD as they have relinquished it's say so to the P.M.
AlexL1 (Florida)
Posts: 305
Posted:
The major problem here is..... the contractor can charge anything he wants and he is going to walk away this year with about $30,000 for work he says he is doing.. just to trip one tree is $300.. to plant one 5-gal plant $40 to include the plant. It is unrealistic and we have no sayso
DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671
Posted:

Alex,
Here again, as hard as it is to hear, your committee as well as every committee has NO say so in any decision making process in the community. It is all on the shoulders of the BOD. BUT, those stinkers are really messing with a good thing. You have a duly appointed committee who is willing to do all of the research and hard work of getting the reccomendations together for your Board. And what do they do? Ignore you? That is really hard to understand, especially when you all have donated your time and ability to the project.

I was on a Docs committee once, that requested some documentation from the association attorney in order to make a statement in writting that the Board had requested. The President said No to the request.

The committee drafted a very nice but stern letter, stating the hours devoted to the project and then the Board by refusing to provide relevent information, tied our hands and we felt that the Board did not respect our research, therefore, we would like to be dismissed from our duties. That scared the hell out of them because committees are so hard to get and good ones are even harder to find. They reconsidered and we got what we needed.

So, I guess that if the Board is unwilling to start heeding some advice, other than trying to intimidate them, you might just walk away. But I would try to press them into some negotiations with your committee. You are doing an important service to the community.
GeraldT4
Posts: 1,022
Posted:
AlexL1 - Your issue is with the Board for accepting the bids and the costs presented. If you feel there is highway robbery occurring, by all means, provide your recommendations as owners to the Board. They are to serve the owners using the owner's funds. If they aren't listening, you can get willing volunteers to begin the process of replacing them. There will always be unscrupulous contractors. Not sure if yours is one however because $300.00 to trim a very mature tree might not be so bad, $40.00 to purchase and plant a decent plant may not be so bad. Depends on what the going rate is in Florida.
DebbieS3 (Colorado)
Posts: 3
Posted:
Alex, If you said the Management company agreed to a contract with the landscaping company for an inflated price and not following the recommendations of the committee, you have another issue. The MANAGEMENT company ALSO works for the Board. Fire the management company. Your Board should be standing behind committe recommendations and not letting the Management company run things. They are there to serve the community and Board.

🎯 You've read this entire discussion

Join the conversation with 50,000 HOA & Condo Leaders:

  • ✓ Ask follow-up questions
  • ✓ Share your experience
  • ✓ Get expert advice
  • ✓ Access 350,000 discussions
Create Free Account →

⚡ Takes 30 seconds

Already a member? Log in here

Terms of Use and Privacy Statement