I am so proud of my home and my community that I have put my thoughts online in this presentation. It is my wish that everyone should know about the best kept secret in Westland, Michigan — Holliday Park Townehouses Cooperative. I have lived there for 16 years.

For many people, cooperative living can be a great way of life which is very cost effective. When you first become a member, you purchase the Membership from the vacating family. After that, you make one payment a month which covers operating costs, maintenance expenses, taxes, and insurance on the property.

Holliday Park is a non-profit corporation which is MORTGAGE FREE. Each resident has an equal vote in the cooperative, which holds title to the property. Our corporation has 694 resident shareholders, whom we call members. The member pays very low rent/carrying charges of $241 to $353, depending on the size of the unit you choose.

Cooperative living is different from single-family home ownership because we have an on-site maintenance staff. The maintenance staff caters, not only to the exterior of our town houses, but they also maintain the needed repairs on all that is owned by the Cooperative within the four walls of our individual units. If the maintenance problem is an emergency, our maintenance staff is on-call 24-hours a day, seven days a week.

You don’t have to worry about cutting and maintaining the lawn, or any snow blowing, eaves cleaning, and numerous other homeowner tasks. Plumbing, electrical, and even squeaky doors or chirping smoke alarms are all a quick fix for the staff, NOT YOU.

The school age children that live at Holliday Park attend the Livonia Schools, and have the option of taking the school bus transportation that is provided. The Livonia Schools are known throughout the state for giving children great encouragement to excel; and they also offer an excellent atmosphere for learning.

Volunteers at Holliday Park give of their time to serve on vital committees to help defray costs, and keep our carrying charges low. One of these Committees, made up of 55 hard workers, is the Status Quo Group. They type up reports, copy and collate the quarterly publication which informs all residents of any new projects, policy and procedure changes, coming events, and much more. This publication is called the “Status Quo.

Another group which adds to the quality of life here is the Neighborhood Watch Night Patrol. Every night of the year, a team of two members drive the Patrol Truck within our complex, to look for and identify any unusual activity, as well as to report street and security light outages. Holliday Park is one of the safest communities in Westland due to the efforts of our over 260 Night Patrol volunteers.

The Board of Directors is voted into office by the membership, and serves for either a 1or 2 year term. They are responsible for the financial stability of the Co-op, for policy making and for supervising an ONSITE PROPERTY MANAGER, who, with a staff of 7 employees, carries on the day to day operations of Holliday Park.

The Membership Committee, made up of volunteers, assist all applicants with the process of qualifying to join the short waiting list, and become a new member. The WELCOME GROUP provides each new member with an informational packet which helps to make the transition to our community much easier. Welcomer’s are kind and caring people, who live near by and answer questions, offer assistance, and deliver a sincere greeting to every new neighbor.

Last year, we accepted about 26 new Move-Ins, which is about the average turn-over rate. People come to our community, embrace the life-style, and they STAY!! WE HAVE NO VACANT UNITS!!!

The residents have the use of all the common facilities on the property:

1. There are 4 large park-like green areas with Gazebos,

2. a beautifully appointed clubhouse with many gathering rooms for social activities,

3. an Olympic size heated swimming pool which is operated with life guards during the summer season.

4. Swimming classes are available for children; and water aerobics is offered for anyone wanting to stay in great shape.

5. A Picnic area is adjacent to the Pool. It has a water fall feature, and is surrounded by umbrella tables.

6. A Tennis Courts is located near the Nature Preserve.

The clubhouse has ongoing community activities, such as: card playing, movie night, a shared lending library, book and craft clubs, golf, dominoes, and regular Monday morning coffee hour. Member-organized community events take place on holidays, and seasonally, such as: the Kids Summer Olympics, the Walk-About Yard Sale, Annual Pool Party, and of course, Christmas Parties.

The Travel Club has been to over 30 countries, and manages to offer wonderful planned trips for very reasonable prices. Short trips to enjoy the theater, cruises, and much more are also offered throughout the year. You may bring your friends and other family members to many of these festive occasions. Members are encouraged to start their own clubs, if they wish to do so.

HOLLIDAY PARK IS OPEN FOR ALL AGES; AND WE ARE SEEKING NEW MEMBERS. THE APPLICATIONS ARE EASY TO FILL OUT, AND THE WAITING LIST IS OPEN!

I moved in 16 years ago, and I never looked back!

The main reason many people move into Holliday Park is the fact that we have an on-site maintenance staff. The maintenance staff cater, not only to the exterior of our townehouses, as is prevalent in condominium complexes, but they also maintain the needed repairs within the four walls of our individual townehouse … providing that we do not change or modify from Co-op standards.

Whether we have a furnace problem, an appliance problem, a plumbing problem, or an electrical problem … down to a doorknob falling off, or a door sticking … our Holliday Park maintenance staff is there to repair or replace it. This is quite a relief off our shoulders.

It is also nice to know, that if the maintenance problem is an emergency, our maintenance staff is on-call 24-hours a day, seven days a week. A non-emergency maintenance item is performed during the normal maintenance hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

During the snowy winter season, maintenance is there to clear the main sidewalks and the parking lots, to allow us to conveniently enter and exit our complex.  The member is responsible for keeping the walkway and porch to their unit,  snow free for personal safety and mail delivery, of course.

Many people at Holliday Park have no tools, or garden shovels, providing we maintain the Holliday Park outdoor standards. However, some people prefer to do some gardening , to personalize and beautify their townehouse. This is solely up to the individual. Obviously, as we age or become incapacitated, we again revert to Holliday Park standards, and depend upon Holliday Park maintenance to do most indoor and outdoor work for us- with the exception of leaf raking, if we took responsibility for an existing tree, or planted one.  We are responsible too for keeping  our planting beds, and patios weed-free

Last year, the new roofing of the units was completed; and the new siding program was finished. This year, Holliday Park will be replacing all furnaces, and will paint all the front and back doors. It’s nice to know that all of this is included in our normal monthly carrying charges.

I believe Holliday Park was properly named, as it truly is — “a Holiday From Maintenance Headaches.” We rely upon our good maintenance staff to handle most of these matters for us. This gives us time to do the more pleasant activities that personally appeal to us, as individual members at Holliday Park.

Please come and join us, and experience your “Holiday From Maintenance Headaches.” We believe you will love it.

If we think about the things that belong to us, we may come up with a lengthy, all inclusive list of items — cars, homes, jewelry, HD Televisions, computers, I-Pods, CD players, art work, antiques, books, and much more. However, if we reflect more deeply, we realize that the invisible realities which are constant, such as — time, comfort, emotional support, encouragement, good friendships, concern, and sharing — are more essential and have greater meaning for us than material things provide. These immaterial gifts are the lifeblood, the energy, the sustaining forces in interpersonal relationships, and in community and Co-op living.

Here at Holliday Park Townehouses, we are fortunate in possessing the material, as well as the intangible qualities of life. We are gifted with great generosity, magnanimous care and concern, and unflinching service from numerous members. Starting with the Board of Directors, we have members who serve unselfishly, day in and day out; they care for this community and lead us so that we can sustain and maintain both our material and immaterial possessions.

We also have the numerous committees with their host of members, who assist the Board and the cooperative, and generously give their time, knowledge, support, encouragement and compassion to every process that they undertake, in following the policies and procedures of this community.

Along with all of these volunteers, we are also grateful for the very responsible Property Manager, and our excellent maintenance department. It is such a great comfort to have on-site assistance for any kind of problem, from a dripping faucet to a squeaky door, or a little chirping bird sound, which turns out to be the battery in your smoke detector. These fine people are there for all of us, and they care.

This writing is a testament to everyone here who gives of themselves for the continued well- being of the membership. Let’s keep these numbers growing. Please join these volunteers in whatever way you can, whether it’s being a lot representative, or Night Patrol, or whatever fits your schedule and lifestyle — to share the material and immaterial realities that are a part of human existence, that are part of the great life we have at Holliday Park.

Remember, the invisible things – care, sharing, time – are the things we really keep; that are ours forever.

A Property Manager is responsible for “EVERYTHING” pertaining to the efficient day-to-day management and operation of the Co-op. The duties of the Property Manager are to be performed, so as not to violate or usurp any written policy and guidelines as set forth by the volunteer Holliday Park Board of Directors, and by various state and governmental agencies.

Because of the amount of knowledge that a Property Manager must have, as the Job Description clearly says — “EVERYTHING,” most Co-ops and Condo Associations usually hire a Management Company to fulfill this responsible position.

Here at Holliday Park, we started using Management Companies, but soon discovered that one day a week did not provide sufficient time to carefully handle our Co-op, as they represent many other Associations. Therefore, the Board decided to hire a Property Manager to report directly to the duly elected, volunteer Holliday Park Board of Directors.

The Board decided that any competent Property Manager must have “hands on” knowledge of the maintenance aspects which comprise most of the problems of any cooperative. Maintenance expenses make up most of the Annual Budget of our Co-op. The Board discovered such a unique personality in one of our maintenance staff.

The first thing the Board did was to promote an intelligent, energetic maintenance worker to the role of Maintenance Property Manager. At the same time, we hired a temporary Administrative Property Manager for the Office. The Maintenance Property Manager not only developed his maintenance supervision skills, but also his administrative skills; thus, qualifying him for promotion to full Property Manager, a job which he has held for 27 years.

Our Property Manager:
1. Develops the software for the Holliday Park computer system. Realizing the importance of having the detail and history on each of the 694 units in Holliday Park, in the maintenance area, he is responsible to keep a detailed database current.

2. On any given day, our Property Manager can produce for the Board of Directors, all data on individual appliances, water heaters, furnaces, roofs, garbage disposals, plumbing, kitchen cabinets, etc., detailing the age, the type, and other any pertinent information on maintenance; besides the normal administrative data.

3. Oversees the accounting, the maintenance, the purchasing, and the contracted services; as well as special projects, the resale of units, the pool, and informational technology that is always changing with the times.

4. Analyzes Financial Reserves necessary for our aging Co-op. His expertise enables Holliday Park to avoid special assessments for future needed projects.

5. Researches all governmental housing laws that are forever changing, such as the Boca Code and Legal Opinions; and composes Policies as directed by the Holliday Park Board of Directors, for the Board’s review and approval.

6. Is self motivating, and upgrades his skills by taking new courses in various matters needed for the efficient operation of our Co-op. His courses led him to become a Certified Property Manager.

7. Writes specs for major contracts when going out for bids on major projects, rather than having an engineering service do this for a fee. Among the latest projects, was the new energy efficient, vinyl siding contract that was completed in 2008. He is now planning for the new energy efficient, furnace replacement program for 2009.

8. Knows the ins and outs of all aspects of Holliday Park, to include the infrastructure of the Holliday Park underground plumbing, water, and electric.

9. He is responsible to hire and manage all other employees of Holliday Park; while the Property Manager, himself, works for the Board of Directors. In this regard, he is the “front man” for enforcing all Board Policies, which can sometimes put him in an unpopular position, even though he is just enforcing Board Policy.

10. Our Property Manager is a private person, who possesses an inner confidence which is needed for this position. He rightfully takes great pride in his work and his accomplishments.

Holliday Park is very, very fortunate to have such an able-bodied, unique, and knowledgeable Property Manager. He has been a great asset in the success of Holliday Park. We know of no Management Company that would spend the time, have the interest, and provide the personal service as our Property Manager does for its Board of Directors, and in the best interest of the membership.

Come and join us as a member of Holliday Park; and you will get to know and appreciate the qualifications and loyalty of our Property Manager.