An update from management about the water filtration tanks contains the good news that our water is free of E.Coli.

The original water complaint — that water pressure around the coop seems low and that sediment is clogging up the aerators in our apartments — is not addressed by these test results.

Remember, you may be able to increase your own pressure by cleaning the aerators in your faucet.

Dear East River Cooperators:

Following up on the my mail from October 31, 2014, we have completed and posted the test results of the water in East River Housing. Samples were taken from every section in all buildings, including the water tanks.

Please find the detailed report here on our website.

http://coopvillage.coop/eastRiver/pdfsForDownload/index.php

Thank you for your continued interest in this matter.

Sincerely,
Harold Jacob
General Manager

Just being slipped under doors now, from board president Gary Altman, is a warning of phone call scams to seniors:

From general manager Harold Jacob:

October 31, 2014

Dear East River Cooperators:

Various complaints have been brought to my attention regarding the decreased water pressure and the fact that sediment or dirt was found in the water filters.

Please be advised that East River has three large water filters in each building housing a water tank. These filters contain charcoal, granite and filtering earth to remove the dirt. Therefore, this problem should not be happening.

Please understand the water, which comes into our buildings travels through antiquated pipes originating from reservoirs in Upstate New York. There is ample opportunity for dirt and sediment to be gathered in this way.

To attempt to resolve the issue, I contacted the filter company to request that they replace all the components of the filtration system and see if that solves the problem.

Below you will see a copy of the specifications of our filtering system. Please be assured that I will continue working on this matter until I have it resolved. We will keep you updated.

Sincerely,

Harold Jacob
General Manager

Also, don’t forget that you can probably clear up your own water pressure by cleaning the aerators in your faucet.

We got a typically taut and clear email from Management yesterday about our electric bill.

From what I can gather, the part of our electric bill determined by ConEd for delivery is going up 20% and the part of our electric bill determined by contract for the power itself is going up 22%.

Here it is in full … if you know what to make of this, please comment below.

October 28, 2014

Dear East River Cooperators,

You will be receiving your carrying charges bill in the next day or two. Part of the bill shows your electricity usage. The price of electricity is determined by two factors, one is the commodity which is the electricity itself and the second is the delivery cost. Since Con Ed owns the electric lines it is the one who determines what the delivery charge will be. The commodity portion is a fixed cost since we have a contract with Direct Energy/HESS. This contract was bid out with the three lowest bidders being Plymouth Energy, Con Ed Solutions and Direct Energy/HESS which won the bid at 10.51¢/kWh. This was approximately two cents higher than the previous contract of the three years ago which was 8.59¢/kWh.

The problem is that we cannot get a contract from Con Ed to lock in the delivery cost, it fluctuates each month. They have no competition and they can charge what they wish based on the tariffs of the public service commission.

The bill you are receiving now is for the electric usage for the month of September. The delivery cost was 15.5¢/kWh. The previous month of August was 12.9¢/kWh and in July it was 12.25¢/kWh. This is the highest electricity cost that we have ever had. The cost this month will be 26.8¢/kWh including delivery, commodity (electricity) and taxes.

If you have any questions please feel free to e-mail our office at contact@coopvillage.coop, or call me at 212-677-5858.

Thank you.

Harold Jacob
General Manager

A very useful memo from board president Gary Altman informs us that free flu shots will be provided to any cooperator over the age of 18 at 465 Grand Street, 4th floor, on October 27 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

You must call to register for the flu shot and priority will be given to seniors. The number to call is 646-395-4270.

The Coop Village NORC (Naturally Occurring Retirement Community) is a neighborhood non-profit supported by all four Grand Street coops, NYC, NYS, UJA, and Educational Alliance. (As of the coop’s last reported financials, East River contributed $42,444 for senior care.)

It’s a helpful resource — and free to join — for any cooperator over the age of 60. Call that same number above — 646-395-4270 — if you would like to join or want information for a neighbor.

Mr. Altman’s full memo is below. Click for larger image.

Notice from the board of directors appeared at our doors this afternoon that fees for various administrative tasks will be going up as of June 1.

For most of us, these sorts of fees don’t come up very often — mostly they will affect new shareholders, whose application costs will increase.

The types of applications affected are as follows:

Purchase application
Sublease
Sublease renewal
Addition to stock
Removal from stock
Guarantor
Criminal/credit check
Home visit
Occupant
New stock/lease
East River Housing questionnaire

Since these feed are not singled out for itemization in our past financial statements, it’s not clear how much revenue these fees typically provide the coop.