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Sunday, November 22, 2015

Liberty Center History....An Editorial...by a Resident Who TRIED to Help...and...Rudely Rejected

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We received correspondence from one of our valued readers and former Mr. Fix-It,  Forrest Fetherolf, regarding the problems associated with the Liberty Center.

For those of you unaware of Forrest's extensive 30 year background, he owned a construction company in California for a number of years with his son, and still continues to actively assist that successful venture.

He has asked....and we at Anthem Opinions are most happy to oblige....his request to publish this article he has authored in order for the Sun City Anthem Community to more fully understand the nature and history of the problems associated with that structure.

Sun City Anthem Liberty Center Debacle...
It Could Have Been Easily Avoided
by
Forrest Fetherolff

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Let me first state that I love this community, and have always tried to be available to residents, board members, and management company personnel to guide them in providing them advice in making construction decisions that have been learned from my many years I spent in that industry.

What I have to say is fact, and though somewhat condemning of certain individuals, I pledge to you that all that has been written, is accurate and a result of personal experience.

The current Liberty Center construction defect leaking roof and mold could have been prevented, along with the thousands of association dollars spent on initial repairs and construction defects subsequently discoveredsoon after Pulte turned over the keys to our leadership with the "AS IS" agreement.

Backtracking to 2008 during the time Sun City Anthem Board of Directors, led by then President, Roz Bermanhaving zero background experience in construction, repairs and maintenance, took on the task to negotiate an “AS IS” contract with Pulte to build Liberty Center.

What did that exactly mean?

Pulte would build Liberty Center their way, and Sun City Anthem would have no say or representative during the planning, construction phase. 

In addition, no one would be allowed on the site at any time during the actual construction of the building.

When I moved to the Sun City Anthem Community, I had a background with over 30 years of experience as a general contractor, building custom homes and commercials buildings,  including repair and maintenance.

I attended the Board of Directors meetings regularly, and due to my background, I was quite interested in how our association operated; especially with regard to construction, repair, and maintenance issues.

It was during a meeting in 2008, then Sun City Anthem president, Roz Berman, announced that a Pulte representative would attend a meeting to discuss building the Liberty Center.

During that meeting, I took the opportunity to comment and made a suggestion that our Board consider an "oversight" group to monitor the various Liberty Center construction phases to ensure code compliance and quality building standards.

The Pulte representative gave the idea an affirmative nod, and Mrs. Berman initially agreed that the idea of seeking additional guidance from those experienced in such matters, would make an excellent addition toward the successful completion of the project.

Mrs. Berman and I met to discuss it further, and during that session, she again stated she would support the idea I proposed of creating the "oversight" group. 

Weeks passed and I then approached her for an update on the progress of the "oversight" suggestion. 

This time, the reaction was quite different.

In a short "we're working on it" answer, she then promptly went her merry way.

Another few weeks passed; and I again asked Mrs. Berman for an update. 

This time, the answer was even shorter, "Pulte won't allow it".

And so, there was no attempt by Mrs. Berman to EVER discuss that idea again from that day.

The Liberty Center was subsequently built, but to please those who had tried in vain to ensure a successful structure being built, then management company (RMI) Maintenance and Facilities Manager, Bruno Panek, invited a number of us to examine the new facility and ask our opinion of the construction.

I responded to Mr. Panek:

"It looks good on the surface, we don't know what is hidden. It would take several days to conduct an inspection, and I recommend hiring a professional contractor to conduct a detailed inspection of the facility before accepting the keys."


Neither Roz Berman nor Bruno Panek took my advice to hire a professional to inspect Liberty Center, and they accepted the keys without question.

Within a very short period of time, The Liberty Center began to experience major failures due to the substandard workmanship; and of course that resulted in an immediate cash outlay for those repairs. 

During the first rain, guess what took place?

THE ROOF LEAKED

That roof has been repaired constantly since that time…

.. and now...

WE HAVE MOLD.

There is only one conclusion that can be drawn from this entire, and soon to be, VERY EXPENSIVE RESULT.

Due to the ignorance, incompetence, and refusal to listen to sound advice from experienced Sun CIty Anthem residents who were willing to volunteer their past valuable and extensive experience to avoid future problems, Mrs. Roz Berman and her fellow board members took it upon themselves to breach the fiduciary responsibility given them by the residents of Sun City Anthem for their arrogance in being....

PENNY WISE AND DOLLAR FOOLISH


Sun City Anthem residents, both new and old, should also be aware of these additional facts that resulted from the poor and incompetent management decisions made by that board and those that followed:

1. An Independence Center shade structure designed, built, and installed by an UNINSURED and UNLICENSED contractor, collapsed during a 2008 snowstorm that could have killed anyone beneath it, was not only authorized and fully paid, but after the collapse, the Sun City Anthem Community PAID for the subsequent REPAIRS as well. 

2. Five consecutive restaurant failures.

3. $550,000 replacing nine heating and air condition units that were working properly, simply because a "budget" stated it was time to replace them.

4. An IRS fine of $100,000 plus legal fees as a result of both filing an incorrect income tax return and failing to return excess funds to Sun City Anthem residents.

5. Allowing our management company to spend double the costs for numerous repairs and maintenance items by only utilizing "specific" companies". 

The list goes on and on.
-------------------------------------

We want to thank Forrest Fetherolf for this information and his taking the time to write this detailed summary of the what took place during the construction of the Liberty Center.

What has to be the moral of Forrest's article can best be summarized in a single sentence.

LOOK CAREFULLY AT THE EXPERIENCE OF THOSE WHO YOU CHOOSE TO REPRESENT YOU.

Now...it's your turn...and...we'd like to hear from you.

Send us an email at:



Anthem Opinions Administration
  1. From Tim Stebbins...to...Anthem Opinions

    We have already spent over $500,000 to complete projects in the Liberty Center that Pulte failed to complete.

    The building was accepted too soon and the uncompleted projects had to be done at SCA homeowners expense.

    Now we face the major costs of correcting the leaking roof and mold.
    1. From Tim Stebbins...to...Anthem Opinions

      A couple other points our unit owners should be aware of - -

      1. When the Independence Center was "done", there were several aspects that Pulte did not complete.

      At that time the board negotiated with Pulte and agreed to accept the building after Pulte paid the association $250,000, and the board agreed to do the remaining work.

      2. Pulte charged significant premiums on the lots close to the then proposed Liberty Center.

      Pulte kept those millions, none went to SCA.

      We, the homeowners were stuck paying the deficits.
      1. From Laura...to...Anthem Opinions

        So peeved at our so-called Board of Directors, and especially Roz Berman.

        I think they all should be sued and removed from serving on the Board.

        When will this end???
        1. From Dorothy Albala...to...Anthem Opinions

          Seems to me that history continues to repeat itself. You've pointed out all the failures in the leadership of this community, past and present.

          It looks like we are at the mercy of the board, no matter who that might be. The last election didn't change any of that, so it looks like the residents are just as inept. I don't think this information reaches enough people, or they just turn a blind eye.

          We have enough experience in this community to be able to find a capable board. People seem to be disinterested, because of lack of any attempt at change.

          Anyway, my question is, once again, how do we fix this?

4 comments:

  1. From Tim Stebbins...to...Anthem Opinions

    We have already spent over $500,000 to complete projects in the Liberty Center that Pulte failed to complete.

    The building was accepted too soon and the uncompleted projects had to be done at SCA homeowners expense.

    Now we face the major costs of correcting the leaking roof and mold.

    ReplyDelete
  2. From Tim Stebbins...to...Anthem Opinions

    A couple other points our unit owners should be aware of - -

    1. When the Independence Center was "done", there were several aspects that Pulte did not complete.

    At that time the board negotiated with Pulte and agreed to accept the building after Pulte paid the association $250,000, and the board agreed to do the remaining work.

    2. Pulte charged significant premiums on the lots close to the then proposed Liberty Center.

    Pulte kept those millions, none went to SCA.

    We, the homeowners were stuck paying the deficits.

    ReplyDelete
  3. From Laura...to...Anthem Opinions

    So peaved at our so-called Board of Directors, and especially Roz Berman.

    I think they all should be sued and removed from serving on the Board.

    When will this end???

    ReplyDelete
  4. From Dorothy Albata...to...Anthem Opinions

    Seems to me that history continues to repeat itself. You've pointed out all the failures in the leadership of this community, past and present.

    It looks like we are at the mercy of the board, no matter who that might be. The last election didn't change any of that, so it looks like the residents are just as inept. I don't think this information reaches enough people, or they just turn a blind eye.

    We have enough experience in this community to be able to find a capable board. People seem to be disinterested, because of lack of any attempt at change.

    Anyway, my question is, once again, how do we fix this?

    ReplyDelete