This page catalogues correspondence, such as emails, between the association and property management, as well as with property owners.
All information involving residents has been redacted to protect their identity, and no correspondence from a resident has been included without their consent.
Date: Fri, 26 Feb 2021 17:59:56 -0600 (CST) Permalink
Subject: No Smoking Reminder
From: The Burlington Apartments no-reply@rentcafe.com
To: ********
Good afternoon Burlington neighbors!
We need your help in identifying the units where the smoking is coming from so we can address those individuals, give out lease violations and fine them. Please let the office know if you know of specific units that are smoking.
Again, as a reminder, Burlington Apartments is a smoke-free community! The smoke free policy covers all individual units, balconies/decks and all common areas/grounds. You must be at least 25 feet away from the building to smoke. All residents and guests are required to follow this policy.
Please refer to the following section in the No-Smoking Addendum:
Smoking anywhere inside buildings of the apartment community is strictly prohibited.
Smoking must be at least 25 feet from the buildings in the apartment community, including administrative office building.
Although we have sent out reminders regarding the policy, we continue to smell cigarette, cigar and marijuana odors within all hallways and stairwells and receive numerous complaints from your fellow residents.
This email is to inform you that residents found in violation of this policy will receive a lease infraction and $250 fine per occurrence. The written notice will be kept in your file. Subsequent infractions and warnings can lead to further action, up to and including termination of your residency. As a reminder, you are responsible for your guests to follow this policy.
Effective immediately, all ash trays located on the property have been removed and additional No-Smoking signage will be installed.
Also, if you notice units smoking after hours you can contact the security officers to go to those units. They will pass on any information to the office of units caught smoking so we can issue the lease violations and fines to those individuals.
Please considerate of your fellow residents; do not smoke within your apartment, on your balconies/decks, and all common areas including stairwells and hallways.
Thank-you for your help in keeping this community smoke free.
Burlington Management
Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2021 16:31:54 -0600 Permalink
Subject: Fwd: No Smoking Reminder
From: ********
To: Deanne Logan Deanne.Logan@excelsiorllc.com, Marco Torres marco.torres@excelsiorllc.com
Cc: Heather Fleetham heather.fleetham@excelsiorllc.com, Jennifer Gordon jennifer.gordon@excelsiorllc.com, burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com
Hi all,
I wasn't sure who to direct this to, but a couple of residents have asked me about this and I've encountered it as well. We are wondering the best way to contact and who to contact at what times when we smell smoke in the hallways or our apartments. I personally feel that the smell can dissipate rapidly, so always want to reach staff or security quickly.
The questions some other residents & I have at this time are:
Please let me know as soon as you can, and I will relay on to the other residents who have reached out to me to ask. Thanks!
Date: Tue, 2 Mar 2021 16:47:50 -0600 Permalink
Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] Fwd: No Smoking Reminder
From: Marco Torres marco.torres@excelsiorllc.com
To: ********, Deanne Logan deanne.logan@excelsiorllc.com
Cc: Heather Fleetham heather.fleetham@excelsiorllc.com, Jennifer Gordon Jennifer.Gordon@excelsiorllc.com, "burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com" burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com
Hi ********,
Jena took the call on Friday and I actually walked the space to investigate. Not sure if you saw that on camera.
My best advice is to call the office and then call security when they are on site. Obviously there is going to be gaps from Saturday and Sunday but that is the best options at this point. The voicemails are checked frequently when someone is in the office. You can also email the leasing email, as that is checked as much as the voicemails are, when we are in the office. We are doing everything we can to try and contain people smoking within our units, we have added a number of signs in each building and have sent out a number of notices. We have also fined a number of residents that have been caught smoking. That being said, it is difficult to try and combat this during an eviction moratorium. Typically, if one is found smoking we would go from fines to possible eviction. However, with the eviction moratorium in place it makes that process much more difficult. I realize that isn’t the answer you wanted to hear but I wanted to be as transparent as possible with that. I appreciate you taking the time to write the email and even more so taking the time to call when you do smell smoke.
Thank you for the continued vigilance.
Warm Regards,
Marco Alonso Torres
Sr. Business Manager
Marco.Torres@ExcelsiorLLC.com
The Burlington
1180 Cushing Cir, St Paul, MN 55108
https://www.burlingtonstpaul.com
P: 651.644.1089
Professionally Managed by The Excelsior Group
Date: Tue, 2 Mar 2021 17:13:06 -0600 Permalink
Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] Fwd: No Smoking Reminder
From: Burlington Residents burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com
To: Marco Torres marco.torres@excelsiorllc.com
Cc: ********, Deanne Logan deanne.logan@excelsiorllc.com, Heather Fleetham heather.fleetham@excelsiorllc.com, Jennifer Gordon Jennifer.Gordon@excelsiorllc.com
Marco:
The eviction moratorium from MN Executive Order 20-14[1] was modified via MN Executive Order 20-79 on March 23, 2020[2]. It allows eviction for limited circumstances, including seriously endangering the safety of other residents. Smoking, due to health problems that some residents have expressed, should fall under this.
However, you should not take my word for it, and I suggest that TEG engage an attorney so that you would have this knowledge going forward.
Regards,
Donny Johnson & the Burlington Resident Association Leadership
[1] - https://www.leg.mn.gov/archive/execorders/20-14.pdf [2] - https://www.leg.mn.gov/archive/execorders/20-79.pdf
Date: Wed, 3 Mar 2021 10:54:08 -0600 Permalink
Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] Fwd: No Smoking Reminder
From: Marco Torres marco.torres@excelsiorllc.com
To: Burlington Residents burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com
Cc:******** , Deanne Logan deanne.logan@excelsiorllc.com, Heather Fleetham heather.fleetham@excelsiorllc.com, Jennifer Gordon Jennifer.Gordon@excelsiorllc.com
Dear Donald and Association,
We are familiar with EO 20-79 and its restrictions on lease terminations and evictions. We have already discussed this with our legal counsel. We understand that residents may be unhappy when other residents who violate the no-smoking policy. However, even though smoking may constitute a lease violation, it must rise to the level of seriously endangering others in order for us to consider evicting a violating resident. For example, if a resident were on oxygen, being around a smoker could seriously endanger that resident.
If any Burlington resident believes that he or she is being seriously endangered by someone’s smoking, the resident should privately contact management to discuss their personal circumstances.
Again, we appreciate you bringing this to our attention and are working diligently to combat the issue.
Thank you.
Marco Alonso Torres
Sr. Business Manager
Marco.Torres@ExcelsiorLLC.com
The Burlington
1180 Cushing Cir, St Paul, MN 55108
https://www.burlingtonstpaul.com
P: 651.644.1089
Professionally Managed by The Excelsior Group
Date: Wed, 3 Mar 2021 11:10:25 -0600 Permalink
Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] Fwd: No Smoking Reminder
From: Burlington Residents burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com
To: Marco Torres marco.torres@excelsiorllc.com
Cc: ********, Deanne Logan deanne.logan@excelsiorllc.com, Heather Fleetham heather.fleetham@excelsiorllc.com, Jennifer Gordon Jennifer.Gordon@excelsiorllc.com
Marco:
How do people being sent to urgent care because of smoking issues not constitute as seriously endangering others? Please explain this to us in detail. I am certain you have heard about this prior. If not, you need to re-read the Attorney General complaint letters you have been sent because at least one of them explains this issue.
~Donny Johnson & the Burlington Resident Association Leadership
Date: Thu, 4 Mar 2021 16:52:10 -0600 Permalink
Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] Fwd: No Smoking Reminder
From: Marco Torres marco.torres@excelsiorllc.com
To: Burlington Residents burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com
CC: ********, Deanne Logan deanne.logan@excelsiorllc.com, Heather Fleetham heather.fleetham@excelsiorllc.com, Jennifer Gordon Jennifer.Gordon@excelsiorllc.com
Donald,
Thank you, I am aware of the letters that have been sent over to the Attorney Generals office. And as stated, If any Burlington resident believes that he or she is being seriously endangered by someone’s smoking, the resident should privately contact management to discuss their personal circumstances. I am more then happy to have a direct discussion with that resident to weight what our best options. Our goal as always to have as many happy and safe residents as possible and we will continue to work on that.
Warm Regards,
Marco Alonso Torres
Sr. Business Manager
Marco.Torres@ExcelsiorLLC.com
The Burlington
1180 Cushing Cir, St Paul, MN 55108
https://www.burlingtonstpaul.com
P: 651.644.1089
Professionally Managed by The Excelsior Group
Date: Thu, 4 Mar 2021 20:58:42 -0600 Permalink
Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] Fwd: No Smoking Reminder
From: Burlington Residents burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com
To: Marco Torres marco.torres@excelsiorllc.com
Cc: ********, Deanne Logan deanne.logan@excelsiorllc.com, Heather Fleetham heather.fleetham@excelsiorllc.com, Jennifer Gordon Jennifer.Gordon@excelsiorllc.com
Marco:
Per my previous email, "How do people being sent to urgent care because of smoking issues not constitute as seriously endangering others? Please explain this to us in detail".
Regards,
Donny Johnson & the Burlington Resident Association Leadership
Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2021 13:02:31 -0600 Permalink
Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] Fwd: No Smoking Reminder
From: Marco Torres marco.torres@excelsiorllc.com
To: Burlington Residents burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com
Cc: ********, Deanne Logan deanne.logan@excelsiorllc.com, Heather Fleetham heather.fleetham@excelsiorllc.com, Jennifer Gordon Jennifer.Gordon@excelsiorllc.com
Dear Donald/Association,
Again, and I am sorry if it isn’t clear, if a resident if feeling endangered they will need to contact us directly and work on a resolution. This is not a black and white case, as until we can find and remove the residents that are found smoking it is a difficult situation. I realize that isn’t the answer you want to hear but that is the best answer in this current climate.
Thank you.
Marco Alonso Torres
Sr. Business Manager
Marco.Torres@ExcelsiorLLC.com
The Burlington
1180 Cushing Cir, St Paul, MN 55108
https://www.burlingtonstpaul.com
P: 651.644.1089
Professionally Managed by The Excelsior Group
Date: Wed, 3 Mar 2021 19:45:06 -0600 Permalink
Subject: Broken door in 1160 garage
From: Burlington Residents burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com
To: Alfredo Almendarez alfredo.almendarez@excelsiorllc.com, Marco Torres marco.torres@excelsiorllc.com
Cc: Deanne Logan deanne.logan@excelsiorllc.com, Heather Fleetham heather.fleetham@excelsiorllc.com, Jennifer Gordon jennifer.gordon@excelsiorllc.com, Mike Maerz MMaerz@whiteoakpartners.com
Door leading into the 1160 E garage that a resident found able to open without a fob. They checked all cars and didn't see any broken or vandalized.
Date: Thu, 4 Mar 2021 11:18:25 -0600 Permalink
Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] Broken door in 1160 garage
From: Marco Torres marco.torres@excelsiorllc.com
To: Burlington Residents burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com, Alfredo Almendarez alfredo.almendarez@excelsiorllc.com
Cc: Deanne Logan deanne.logan@excelsiorllc.com, Heather Fleetham heather.fleetham@excelsiorllc.com, Jennifer Gordon Jennifer.Gordon@excelsiorllc.com, Mike Maerz mmaerz@whiteoakpartners.com
Good Morning,
We have a vendor coming to fix as soon as possible. This is one of the doors that we identified that needs to be replaced. The door has been ordered but as previously mentioned there is a 4-6 week window in order to install. Thank you for the notice, we appreciate it!
Warm Regards,
Marco Alonso Torres
Sr. Business Manager
Marco.Torres@ExcelsiorLLC.com
The Burlington
1180 Cushing Cir, St Paul, MN 55108
https://www.burlingtonstpaul.com
P: 651.644.1089
Professionally Managed by The Excelsior Group
Date: Thu, 4 Mar 2021 11:46:46 -0600 Permalink
Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] Broken door in 1160 garage
From: Burlington Residents burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com
To: Marco Torres marco.torres@excelsiorllc.com
Cc: Alfredo Almendarez alfredo.almendarez@excelsiorllc.com, Deanne Logan deanne.logan@excelsiorllc.com, Heather Fleetham heather.fleetham@excelsiorllc.com, Jennifer Gordon Jennifer.Gordon@excelsiorllc.com, Mike Maerz mmaerz@whiteoakpartners.com
Marco,
In the meeting between WOP, TEG, and myself on Feb 3 you and Deanne stated those were already ordered. In the Jan 22nd newsletter you sent out it stated:
- We have completed another full building walk-through for all entry doors to the buildings, including doors to storage rooms, to assess the need for replacing doors and/or locks. The doors and locks identified for replacement are currently on order, and we anticipate 4 weeks to obtain these doors and locks. While we wait, these doors have been highlighted to our night patrol to ensure additional attention for these areas of concern. We are also ordering additional doors to have on hand for the future should we have a need for an immediate replacement.
A resident called the fire marshall and an inspector to come look at the door. Should I tell the resident that filed the complaint that it will be two more weeks, March 17, (from my calculations of six weeks added onto Feb 3rd)?
Kara and the Association Leadership Team
Date: Thu, 4 Mar 2021 16:35:18 -0600 Permalink
Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] Broken door in 1160 garage
From: Marco Torres marco.torres@excelsiorllc.com
To: Burlington Residents burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com
Cc: Alfredo Almendarez alfredo.almendarez@excelsiorllc.com, Deanne Logan deanne.logan@excelsiorllc.com, Heather Fleetham heather.fleetham@excelsiorllc.com, Jennifer Gordon Jennifer.Gordon@excelsiorllc.com, Mike Maerz mmaerz@whiteoakpartners.com
Hi Kara,
I confirmed with Alfredo that this door was on a different approval batch. My apologies if this was misunderstood. Additionally, we did have a vendor out today that repaired the door. And as if right now it is in working order. For this door, we are still looking at 4-6 weeks per Alfredo. Again, my apologies for the misunderstanding. It is absolutely possible that we get the door earlier but I do not want to set up that expectation. Let me know if you have further questions.
Thank you.
Marco Alonso Torres
Sr. Business Manager
Marco.Torres@ExcelsiorLLC.com
The Burlington
1180 Cushing Cir, St Paul, MN 55108
https://www.burlingtonstpaul.com
P: 651.644.1089
Professionally Managed by The Excelsior Group
Date: Thu, 4 Mar 2021 17:14:31 -0600 Permalink
Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] Broken door in 1160 garage
From: Burlington Residents burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com
To: Marco Torres marco.torres@excelsiorllc.com
Cc: Alfredo Almendarez alfredo.almendarez@excelsiorllc.com, Deanne Logan deanne.logan@excelsiorllc.com, Heather Fleetham heather.fleetham@excelsiorllc.com, Jennifer Gordon Jennifer.Gordon@excelsiorllc.com, Mike Maerz mmaerz@whiteoakpartners.com
Marco,
What is the contingency plan if that door fails to lock again or gets busted open like it appeared in the video? This door has been a problem for months on months now, quite like the 1160 W door that took from Aug-Jan to properly work in which I described the door problem for over 7 min in our 12/7 meeting and you told me "we put a lot of money into that door already" . A camera at those doors that have a high enough resolution to catch details seems appropriate at this point no matter if they get replaced or not. Again, those doors give access to the whole building since, like TEG keeps telling us, you can't put a fob on the door from the garage to the stairwell so those doors are critical for keeping people out.
Kara
Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2021 12:52:30 -0600 Permalink
Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] Broken door in 1160 garage
From: Marco Torres marco.torres@excelsiorllc.com
To: Burlington Residents burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com
CC: Alfredo Almendarez alfredo.almendarez@excelsiorllc.com, Deanne Logan deanne.logan@excelsiorllc.com, Heather Fleetham heather.fleetham@excelsiorllc.com, Jennifer Gordon Jennifer.Gordon@excelsiorllc.com, Mike Maerz mmaerz@whiteoakpartners.com
Dear Kara/Association,
We have on call maintenance and vendors in the event that a door fails for whatever reason. Please feel free to contact the on call team if it is off hours or the weekend. They are all aware that a failing door is considered a maintenance emergency and will act as such. Regarding the stairwell doors, we would love to place a FOB on those but have been instructed repeatedly by the fire department that we cannot.
I thought we had communicated that previously but if we weren’t clear then my apologies. I want to reiterate it is not a TEG decision to not FOB the stairwell door, it is a St. Paul Fire Department decision.
Please let me know if there are further questions.
Thank you.
Marco Alonso Torres
Sr. Business Manager
Marco.Torres@ExcelsiorLLC.com
The Burlington
1180 Cushing Cir, St Paul, MN 55108
https://www.burlingtonstpaul.com
P: 651.644.1089
Professionally Managed by The Excelsior Group
Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2021 13:02:21 -0600 Permalink
Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] Broken door in 1160 garage
From: Burlington Residents burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com
To: Marco Torres marco.torres@excelsiorllc.com
Cc: Alfredo Almendarez alfredo.almendarez@excelsiorllc.com, Deanne Logan deanne.logan@excelsiorllc.com, Heather Fleetham heather.fleetham@excelsiorllc.com, Jennifer Gordon Jennifer.Gordon@excelsiorllc.com, Mike Maerz mmaerz@whiteoakpartners.com
Marco (or Alfredo),
Please explain in detail why this door, which is one of the most damaged, just got ordered? I am genuinely confused as to why you're saying it's 4-6 weeks now which would mean you literally just ordered it. Could you have prioritized doors that were not as damaged to be ordered later? I hope you can understand where this seems like insanity where that door has not worked properly for going on months now. You told us that the doors were on order. I don't think there was any confusion on my side about the doors. You and Deanne in the Feb 3 meeting ADAMANTLY stated that the doors were on order. The amount of lip service we continue to get makes my brain hurt. What would you have done at the Foshay if the front doors didn't lock at night for months? Cameras, extra security, both? So you are aware, one of those one-star reviews that just went up about TEG and how they run the Burlington is from the gentleman that has been here since NOV 2020 that is in the 1160E garage (the garage door we're talking about) and has had his car broken into twice. He doesn't even want to fix it until he moves out now because he doesn't want to pay the exorbitantly higher insurance rates to protect his car here.
Again, per the reply last night:
Kara, The Resident Association Leadership and The Resident Association Members
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2021 12:28:24 -0600 Permalink
Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] Broken door in 1160 garage
From: Burlington Residents burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com
To: Marco Torres marco.torres@excelsiorllc.com
Cc: Alfredo Almendarez alfredo.almendarez@excelsiorllc.com, Deanne Logan deanne.logan@excelsiorllc.com, Heather Fleetham heather.fleetham@excelsiorllc.com, Jennifer Gordon Jennifer.Gordon@excelsiorllc.com, Mike Maerz mmaerz@whiteoakpartners.com
Marco & Alfredo:
We would appreciate a followup to this email. It's been 4 days.
Regards,
Donny Johnson & the Burlington Resident Association Leadership, on behalf of Association Members
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2021 12:56:43 -0600 Permalink
Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] Broken door in 1160 garage
From: Marco Torres marco.torres@excelsiorllc.com
To: Burlington Residents burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com
Cc: Alfredo Almendarez alfredo.almendarez@excelsiorllc.com, Deanne Logan deanne.logan@excelsiorllc.com, Heather Fleetham heather.fleetham@excelsiorllc.com, Jennifer Gordon Jennifer.Gordon@excelsiorllc.com, Mike Maerz mmaerz@whiteoakpartners.com
Please find attached response that was sent to a previous email on Friday. The contingency is spelled out here.
Thanks.
Marco Alonso Torres
Sr. Business Manager
Marco.Torres@ExcelsiorLLC.com
The Burlington
1180 Cushing Cir, St Paul, MN 55108
https://www.burlingtonstpaul.com
P: 651.644.1089
Professionally Managed by The Excelsior Group
Attached: Email
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2021 19:56:44 -0600 Permalink
Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] Broken door in 1160 garage
From: Burlington Residents burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com
To: Marco Torres marco.torres@excelsiorllc.com
Hi Marco,
Please address the underlined portions from Kara's last email. First you stated a different approval batch, yet this is a huge gap for a door that tries to keep the building secure, and that TEG had previously stated doors were ordered. Further, we do not believe you have laid out a valid contingency plan (such as a video camera with proper resolution on the site of the door), because if it were a simple fix, then the door would not need to be replaced, which it obviously does, because of the weathered damage upon it.
Additionally, regardless of if a specific door is replaced or not, it seems prudent to have cameras at every door, entry or exit point, because the current cameras have trouble identifying license plates, and would likely not be able to identify a human. Although, I do have questions on how they were able to identify earlier that cars were unlocked, but I am not a security expert, and would have to see the security system myself for a proper judgment.
Please explain in detail why this door, which is one of the most damaged, just got ordered? I am genuinely confused as to why you're saying it's 4-6 weeks now which would mean you literally just ordered it. Could you have prioritized doors that were not as damaged to be ordered later? I hope you can understand where this seems like insanity where that door has not worked properly for going on months now. You told us that the doors were on order. I don't think there was any confusion on my side about the doors. You and Deanne in the Feb 3 meeting ADAMANTLY stated that the doors were on order. The amount of lip service we continue to get makes my brain hurt. What would you have done at the Foshay if the front doors didn't lock at night for months? Cameras, extra security, both? So you are aware, one of those one-star reviews that just went up about TEG and how they run the Burlington is from the gentleman that has been here since NOV 2020 that is in the 1160E garage (the garage door we're talking about) and has had his car broken into twice. He doesn't even want to fix it until he moves out now because he doesn't want to pay the exorbitantly higher insurance rates to protect his car here.
Again, per the reply last night:
1. We demand an answer as to what the contingency plan is to protect the residents with those doors.
2. We demand an answer and proof of the date that door was ordered.
Regards,
Donny Johnson & the Burlington Resident Association Leadership on behalf of the Residents in the Association
Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2021 9:30:06 -0600 Permalink
Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] Broken door in 1160 garage
From: Marco Torres marco.torres@excelsiorllc.com
To: Burlington Residents burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com
Dear Association,
Thank you for the email. I have spelled out what our contingency currently is, in the previously attached email and have shared what the property has planned already. Thank you for the recommendations.
Warm Regards,
Marco Alonso Torres
Sr. Business Manager
Marco.Torres@ExcelsiorLLC.com
The Burlington
1180 Cushing Cir, St Paul, MN 55108
https://www.burlingtonstpaul.com
P: 651.644.1089
Professionally Managed by The Excelsior Group
Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2021 09:35:19 -0600 Permalink
Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] Broken door in 1160 garage
From: Burlington Residents burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com
To: Marco Torres marco.torres@excelsiorllc.com
Marco,
Kara and The Association Leadership
Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2021 9:37:28 -0600 Permalink
Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] Broken door in 1160 garage
From: Marco Torres marco.torres@excelsiorllc.com
To: Burlington Residents burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com
Thank you and we have been in contact with the resident already this morning. We will communicate with them directly in regards to their door.
Warm Regards,
Marco Alonso Torres
Sr. Business Manager
Marco.Torres@ExcelsiorLLC.com
The Burlington
1180 Cushing Cir, St Paul, MN 55108
https://www.burlingtonstpaul.com
P: 651.644.1089
Professionally Managed by The Excelsior Group
Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2021 17:52:49 -0600 (CST) Permalink
Subject: Burlington Community Newsletter
From: The Burlington Apartments no-reply@rentcafe.com
To: ********
Burlington Community Newsletter March 6, 2021
Happy first week of March! Don’t put your parkas away quite yet... Minnesota weather is predictable for being un-predictable!
*Please be reminded that if you find yourself locked out of your apartment after hours, there is a fee that is charged for after-hours apartment lock outs and/or lock changes. The fees are as follows...
After-Hours Lock-outs/Lock Changes: $100
Replacement fobs: $100
Replacement apartment/mailbox keys: $25
Please call the leasing office for all lock-outs. For after-hours lock outs, choose the emergency maintenance option.
A few community reminders:
Pet of the Month
Meet Chloe, March's Pet of the Month!
<picture>
Don’t forget to enter your pet for April’s Pet of the Month!
Your furry OR scaly family member if chosen will receive a gift and the spotlight for the entire month!
Submit your pet to leasing@burlingtonstpaul.com
Have a great week ahead, neighbors!
"Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly and most under-rated agent of human change."
-Bob Kerrey
Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2021 11:59:12 -0600 Permalink
Subject: Fwd: Burlington Community Newsletter
From: Burlington Residents burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com
To: Marco Torres marco.torres@excelsiorllc.com, Alfredo Almendarez alfredo.almendarez@excelsiorllc.com
Cc: Deanne Logan deanne.logan@excelsiorllc.com, Heather Fleetham heather.fleetham@excelsiorllc.com
Marco and The Excelsior Group,
While we appreciate the new anti-crow bar devices, knobs, etc to the interior doors of 1160 I wanted to use this as a prime example of the TEG communication issues. My neighbor needed to get into her unit this wknd (The one whose ************) and she found her key didn't work. She went to the office and they were with a prospective resident and told her that no one would be available to take care of this until Monday for her. This is the same resident that has a van in ******** garage that has been broken into * times in the last year, had her access number get programmed to a different number last week (she realized it when her ******** tried to get buzzed in), and just got a lease renewal that is HIGHER despite there being tons of apts open on the property. But I digress, my point is that everyone at TEG needs to ask themselves questions like this, "if I had a storage unit on the property that I need a key for and locks were being changed what kind of communication would I want if I was living on the property?". I have a feeling if you were paying $1600/month and you couldn't get into your storage unit when you needed to because of the lack of communication from your landlord you would be upset, even if she was paying $700 it shouldn't matter. It falls in line with the fob audit that got started, residents were locked out at night and then the newsletter went out telling people the audit was starting. I think this is the core of where the communication fais with TEG, you don't stop to think if that was you living here how would you feel? We APPRECIATE the new door security measures in 1160, we really do! But it is these small things that then overshadow the improvements you are making. You say you want to build trust with the residents but you aren't making it any easier on yourselves, and the residents are so tired of these examples of communication failures over the last 17 months.
This is just coming from me personally as my neighbor has had so many things she has had to deal with and she came directly to my door in the building to express her frustration after she was told that there was no solution to her getting into her storage to get things she needed.
Kara
Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2021 12:40:15 -0600 Permalink
Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] Fwd: Burlington Community Newsletter
From: Deanne Logan deanne.logan@excelsiorllc.com
To: Burlington Residents burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com, Marco Torres marco.torres@excelsiorllc.com, Alfredo Almendarez alfredo.almendarez@excelsiorllc.com
CC: Heather Fleetham heather.fleetham@excelsiorllc.com
Hi Kara,
I saw your email and want to assist with getting a key to the resident that needs to access her storage unit. I’m terribly sorry this has happened to her. I can imagine it was frustrating to go to her storage and not be able to get in for items that she needed.
I’m going to reach out to you for the resident’s information so I can arrange for a key to be brought to her today. I will have the Burlington team communicate the proper steps for getting everyone in the 1160 building new storage keys tomorrow but want to address this situation as soon as possible with this particular resident.
Again, I apologize for the communication on the transition of the locks on the storage rooms to the residents and will have the site team address tomorrow.
Regards,
Deanne
Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2021 13:35:41 -0600 Permalink
Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] Fwd: Burlington Community Newsletter
From: Burlington Residents burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com
To: Deanne Logan deanne.logan@excelsiorllc.com
Cc: Marco Torres marco.torres@excelsiorllc.com, Alfredo Almendarez alfredo.almendarez@excelsiorllc.com, Heather Fleetham heather.fleetham@excelsiorllc.com
TEG:
I think it's time we schedule weekly meetings between TEG and the Association Leadership to go over happenings on the property. With this most recent gap in communication, as well as consistently poor communication in the past, and finally as being one of the fundamental reasons that this tenants' association was started, we cannot in good conscience believe the standards of communication with tenants are getting better due to the resolution of this incident. While we appreciate you making it more right by restoring the tenant's access to their storage unit during a Sunday when the office is closed, we need more assurances.
This meeting is not to say this waives responsibility on your part to communicate in good faith to the tenants. This is to be used as a stop gap in order to ensure you attain proficiency in communication until the association sees fit to dispose of the weekly meetings. This will also be used as an opportunity to communicate misses of information to residents while we also address directly with property management on how this gap happened, and what steps will be taken to rectify it for the future.
Let us know a few different times inside of business hours when this meeting can be arranged. We need to schedule this for the same timeslot weekly.
Regards,
Donny Johnson & the Burlington Resident Association Leadership
Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2021 15:17:09 -0600 Permalink
Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] Fwd: Burlington Community Newsletter
From: Jennifer Gordon Jennifer.Gordon@excelsiorllc.com
To: Burlington Residents burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com, Marco Torres marco.torres@excelsiorllc.com, Alfredo Almendarez alfredo.almendarez@excelsiorllc.com
Cc: Deanne Logan deanne.logan@excelsiorllc.com, Heather Fleetham heather.fleetham@excelsiorllc.com
Kara,
Good afternoon. Your opinion and feedback are noted.
Thank you,
Jennifer Gordon
952-239-7276
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2021 10:07:53 -0600 Permalink
Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] Fwd: Burlington Community Newsletter
From: Burlington Residents burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com
To: Deanne Logan deanne.logan@excelsiorllc.com
Cc: Marco Torres marco.torres@excelsiorllc.com, Alfredo Almendarez alfredo.almendarez@excelsiorllc.com, Heather Fleetham heather.fleetham@excelsiorllc.com
TEG:
Would appreciate a followup to this.
Thanks,
Donny Johnson & the Burlington Resident Association Leadership
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2021 10:26:24 -0600 Permalink
Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] Fwd: Burlington Community Newsletter
From: Marco Torres marco.torres@excelsiorllc.com
To: Burlington Residents burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com, Deanne Logan deanne.logan@excelsiorllc.com
CC: Alfredo Almendarez alfredo.almendarez@excelsiorllc.com, Heather Fleetham heather.fleetham@excelsiorllc.com
Regarding your email dated March 7, 2021, we decline to meet with the Association. If the Association wishes to send us communications in writing, we will respond as we deem appropriate.
Thanks.
Marco Alonso Torres
Sr. Business Manager
Marco.Torres@ExcelsiorLLC.com
The Burlington
1180 Cushing Cir, St Paul, MN 55108
https://www.burlingtonstpaul.com
P: 651.644.1089
Professionally Managed by The Excelsior Group
Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2021 15:04:11 -0500 Permalink
Subject: United Security
From: Burlington Residents burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com
To: Marco Torres marco.torres@excelsiorllc.com
Cc: Deanne Logan deanne.logan@excelsiorllc.com, Heather Fleetham heather.fleetham@excelsiorllc.com
Hi Marco,
Again, thank you for removing Crystal from the property the resident said they felt a huge relief when I told them.
Quick question, one of the residents was provided the United Security owner's phone number as a back up in case we can't get a hold of security when they are supposed to be on. I am just wondering what the gaps in coverage will be (days/times) so I can let the association and residents know what days they need to call non-emergency police because there is no security on site. Or should the residents just call non-emergency police until United is replaced? The only reason I'm asking is a lot of residents have wondered if it's just smarter/faster to call police now especially with the inconsistent performance of United.
Thank you,
Kara
Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2021 16:51:29 -0500 Permalink
Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] United Security
From: Burlington Manager burlingtonmgr@lincolnapts.com
To: Burlington Residents burlingtonresidentassociation@gmail.com
Cc: Deanne Logan deanne.logan@excelsiorllc.com, Heather Fleetham heather.fleetham@excelsiorllc.com
Good Afternoon Kara,
My apologies for the delay. My recommendation has always been that should a resident feel unsafe that the police should be called. We have security here on site to assist and to act as a deterrent and but they are not a replacement for the police. I know you were on the call with Patty, and she stated a number of times that you should call the police multiple times, if you feel the need. As of right now, United is going to try to fill the gaps with Crystal gone but usually these schedules are done a while back and we are asking them to pivot in order to meet our residents needs. That likely means potential gaps and officers that are new to the site being trained. So to answer your question, if something looks suspicious, try the security number first and then non-emergency police. If something feels or looks unsafe, call 911 immediately.
I hope that helps.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Warm regards,