Brothers,
The Housing Corporation has been working meticulously to
resolve the issue concerning the chapter property. To provide a quick overview of our current
status please refer to the bullet points below;
- University
Police investigated claims of hazing by the Undergraduate Chapter
- Legal
courts threw out the case as evidence did not support the University’s
claim
- University
sanctioned the Chapter with 1 year suspension and 2 years probation.
- We
are currently in our second of 4 semesters of probation
- Due to
various reasons in June of 2007 the City revoked our Certificate of
Occupancy for numerous minor code violations.
- The
Housing Corporation decided to keep the building vacant over the summer to
focus on developing a detailed plan and estimates to renovate the building
- On or
around September 21st of 2007 the building was vandalized for
Copper Piping removing a vast majority of the necessary piping for heating
and running water.
- Over
the past few weeks HC has approved minimal work to successfully restore
the heat to the property to maintain the structural integrity of the
building and life safety systems.
- A
recent inspection by the Burlington Building Inspector, a “Cease and
Desist” order was made until damaged Asbestos was properly removed.
- This
new requirement has added an estimated $8,000 for the complete abatement
of all asbestos throughout the building.
- During
the course of our investigation Champlain
College has made an
offer for the sale of the building and property; $1.3Million outright, or
$1.1Million to add a condition that time for an alternative property is
found for our organization.
- At the present time we have rejected
these offers as our months of research have resulted in confirming that
no viable option exists in Burlington
that is zoned for “Fraternity Use”.
We will be able to re-evaluate this offer in May when we believe
all other alternatives will be exhausted.
(Internal Renovation Feasibility Planning)
FINANCIAL STATUS
Checking - $2,000
Accounts Payable - $5,000 Overhead
Insurance Deductible - $5000
Accounts Receivable - $28,000
-
$20,000 Bad Debt, Remaining $8K will take 3 years to
collect
Pledged - $8,000
-
Received - $1000
Management Fees
Appraisial
- $1850 – Resulted in $500K assessment
Private Building Inspection - $600
–
Resulted in $750 required for long-term code
improvements
Architect - $
– Plans for
General Contractor to complete renovations
City
Inspections - $1000
Construction
Manager – 10 – 15%
Expenses to
secure building - $500
o Completed
12/4
Expenses to
restore heat - $7,500
o Completed
2/1
Expenses for
code compliance -
o Phase
1 of renovation plan - $250,00 – Electrical & Sprinklers
o Phase
2 of renovation plan - $500,000
o Phase
3 of renovation plan - $500,000
Expense for complete renovation
o $1.5
Million
OPTIONS
The Housing Corporation has been
meeting weekly via conference call throughout the majority of the nine months
since last years Pig Dinner. We have
been thoroughly investigating every possible option to ensure we have done our
due diligence and present a clear and concise solution to providing quality
housing to our undergraduate chapter.
1) Sell,
Trade or Swap buildings with Champlain
College for a property
that is up to code and of equivalent size and property value.
a. This
option resulted in identifying 3 ideal buildings that would serve as suitable
substitute buildings and quality chapter houses. As discovered more specific details it became
evident that the City of Burlington’s zoning
laws would not allow FIJI
to relocate to buildings presently zoned in the Residential District, even
though they were once Fraternity Zoned.
b. Champlain College made an offer to purchase the
building for $1.3 Million or $1.1 Million with the condition that we are able
to find a suitable property to purchase before closing. Due to the scarcity of Fraternity zoned
housing in Burlington,
the HC turned down Champlain’s offer as we were
unable to secure a viable alternate building.
2) We
have asked Champlain
College to come up with
terms for a lease agreement that would be for 7 to 10 years at the cost of
renovating the building and all other related overhead expenses such as
property insurance and property taxes. We
have still not heard back from Champlain
College regarding this
option and are operating under the assumption that this will not be viable
either.
3) Phased
plan to conduct all minimum housing requirements as required by the City of Burlington to provide safe
and comfortable living.
a. This
would require a minimum of $200,000 initial investment which would provide 5
years until further improvements would be necessary.
b. Phase
2 of this plan would require an additional investment of $500,000 for other
long term improvements (10 years) that would ensure the building is properly
maintained.
c. Phase
3 of this plan would require up to an additional $500,000 for aesthetic
improvements that would help to mitigate wear and tear on the property and
restore the building to its appropriate condition.
4) A
full up-front complete renovation, investing $1M - $1.5M to completely restore
the building to its prestigious condition and rent it out to up to 40 tenants
to support the financing against the building.
5) In
conjunction with aggressively maximizing the occupant capacity of the building
a Capital Campaign to offset the up-front borrowed financing.
HC Decision
As a result of not being able to
find an alternate building zoned for Fraternity use in Burlington regardless of our investment
capital, the HC has deemed internal renovation the best course of action to
resurrect 158 to its prominent condition.
To accomplish this we have been
further investigating the exact details to conduct a phased renovation whereby
we will address the immediate code and life safety issues first and then if
time and money allows, provide the much needed aesthetic overhaul of the
building.
Code compliance has become a
significant issue as a result of repairing the damage that was done to the
building when in late September vandals stripped us of our copper piping.
The HC has consulted with DG Construction
owned and operated by Beta Upsilon alumni Donald Morin
’76 who has been instrumental providing accurate estimates to repair damage,
working with City officials and inspectors to detail all code upgrade
requirements and detail a plan to re-obtain a certificate of occupancy.
Pictures of the vandalism can be
viewed by clicking on the link below; this website will also serve to keep you
updated of all our work and decisions.
For those of you interested all legal documentation, insurance certificates,
quotes, estimates and other related research are also available by navigating
to the Document Manager page of this site.
To view these images and other
related surveys, research, or discussions, please register to become a user of
the new FIJI GRAD Website by clicking the “Register” button on the top right of
the home page.
Navigate to “House Images” to view
the photos of the damage and other past events
http://www.fijigrad.org/HouseImages/tabid/55/Default.aspx
CONTRIBUTIONS
The HC has decided to institute a
volunteer graduate dues program in hopes to raise funds to provide a
semi-annual newsletter in HTML Email and Postal Mail form. In conjunction with the new website we aim to
make sure that every alumna that is interested is able to stay current with the
events and issues surrounding Beta Upsilon.
Based upon the success of this program we will allocate funds to support
other HC committees as needed to provide quality management of 158 to ensure
safe and quality housing to our undergraduates.
Brother Michael Weiner UVM ’95 has
volunteered to lead our Capital Campaign Committee which he will be creating
over the next few weeks to conduct an internal feasibility study to determine a
target goal and timeline to raise money to renovate the building. During his research he found an organization
that may allow us to receive Tax Deductible donations that can be used to
renovate the house. The Penn State FIJI
Chapter has had great success with this program and we hope to implement a
similar strategy.
VOLUNTEERS
Attached below is a copy of our
revised organizational structure and responsibilities of each new
committee. The HC would like to formally
thank those of you that have contributed your time and money over the last few
months which enabled us to achieve a significant amount of work towards
developing a long term solution to maintaining 158.
Thank you to Brother Morton Alling
’00 for checking up on the house and serving as a local contact, allowing
contractors and inspectors into the building over the last few months.
Thank you to Brother Don Morin ’76 for
providing timely and well managed estimates and repairs to keep us on track and
to develop a long term detailed plan.
Thank you to Brother Gerry Morin
’88 for helping to create an active communication and oversight committee to
organize the deployment of our message to the entire graduate body.
Thank you to all volunteers in
elected positions, Board of Chapter Advisors, Housing Corporation and Purple
Legionnaire.
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OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
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Communication, Transition,
Accountability
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Gerry Morin
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HC - HOUSING CORPORATION
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BCA - BOARD OF CHAPTER ADVISORS
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Roy Simpadian - President
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Jason FitzGerald - Chairman
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Finance Committtee
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Property Management
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Committee
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Day-to-Day Finances &
Investments
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Day-to-Day Management
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David Rous
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Brian Bellesheim
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Treasurer
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Rich Pashby
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Property
Manager
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Joseph Thibault
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Roy Simpadian
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President
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Martin Quatt
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Property
Manager
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Andrew Turco
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Dave Laman
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Mort
Alling
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Chris Mitchell
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David Ryan
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Secretary
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The Foundation
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Fundraising Committee
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Renovations Committee
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Educational Fundraising
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Capital Campaign
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10 - Year Planning
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Chris Mitchell
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Mike Weiner
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Chair
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Roy Simpadian
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Chair
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Bill Tickner
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70's Rep
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Brian Bellesheim
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Recruitment
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80's Rep
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Don Morin
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Construction
Advisor
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Lee Souter
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90's Rep
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Sam Judge
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Construction
Advisor
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IHQ
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2K Rep
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David Rous
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Financial
advisor
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Undergrad
Recruitment Chair
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Brad Hess
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Advisor
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Chapter
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Pledge Education
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Legal Counsel
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Local Grad Support
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Grad Volunteers
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Joeseph Thibault
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Dan Hill, Chair
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Mort
Alling
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Brad Hess
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Chris Lattuca, Undergrad PE
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Gregory Foster
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Kevin Graber
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Gary Headman
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Committee
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Luke Bovill
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Jodi Knapp
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David Tepper
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Greg Tosi
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Kyle LaVigne
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GRADUATES
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CHAPTER
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Ryan McDonald - PL, Chapter Advisor
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Bryan Hallet
- President, Scott
Curley - Treasurer, ??? - Rec.
Sec, Tyler McGill
- Corr. Sec,
Luke Harmon - Historian
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UNDERGRADUATES
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OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
The “Oversight Committee” will be created to serve as an
advisory committee to the Housing Corporation and Board of Chapter Advisors to
ensure quick and efficient corporate and volunteer officer transitioning. This committee will also serve to maintain
effective oversight of volunteer resources ensuring that; documentation,
manuals, notes, pictures, minutes, and other resources are properly and
regularly stored and updated (www.fijigrad.org). This committee will also serve to act as a
communication hub between the present Beta Upsilon Volunteers and the entire
graduate body. This board will not only
serve as a litmus test to gauge the response of the graduate body to important
HC & BCA decisions but serve as an advisory board to help the HC and BCA
achieve their vision.
This committee will be appointed each year at Pig Dinner by
the outgoing Housing Corporation 4 – 6 members for a two year term. First year 2008 2 – 3 members will be
appointed for 2 years 2 – 3 members will be appointed for 1 year. Subsequent years, Housing Corporations will
appoint 2 – 3 members for 2 year terms as necessary. In the event of a vacancy the remaining
members of the Oversight Committee have the ability to appoint a member for the
remainder of the year until the next Pig Dinner Annual Meeting.
HOUSING CORPORATION
The
“Housing Corporation”, hereafter known as HC, shall be composed of 4 or 5
members voted upon at the annual meeting held during the annual Pig Dinner (President,
Treasurer, Property Manager, Secretary, Advisor). The President shall serve as ex-officio
members to every HC sub-committee. These
members shall serve as the Board of Directors for the HC and be responsible for
maintaining and providing safe housing for the members of the Beta Upsilon
Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta. (See HC
By-Laws for further detail).
Finance Committee – (HC Sub
Committee)
The
“Finance Committee” shall be chaired by the HC Treasurer and shall be
responsible for the day-to-day operations as related to ensuring that Property
Insurance, Taxes, Utilities, and other building related expenses are satisfied
as well as working with the Undergraduate President and Treasurer, or other
property manager to ensure that Tenants are paying their bills on a timely
manner.
Fundraising Committee – (HC Sub
Committee)
The
“Fundraising Committee” chair shall be appointed by the HC and be responsible
for creating a committee composed of up to two members who graduated in the
70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and 2K class years and work to determine a feasible
fundraising goal. The fundraising
committee will update the graduate body via email (fijigrad@list.uvm.edu) on a monthly
basis and send out quarterly postal mailings to those that have not “Opted
Out”. The “Capital Campaign” as detailed
by the HC will be communicated to the graduate membership with the assistance
of the “Oversight Committee”.
Property Management – (HC Sub
Committee)
The
property manager is responsible for working with the tenants to ensure that the
building remains in compliance with all City, State and Federal codes. Landscaping, snow, and yard maintenance, as
well as addressing any tenant issues relating to plumbing, electric, appliance or
any damage caused by tenant actions.
Renovations Committee – (HC Sub
Committee)
“Renovations
committee” is responsible for detailing and providing a long term solution to
the current housing condition. The
building needs to be renovated to comply with City housing ordinances as well
as to improve the living quality of its tenants.
Legal Committee –
The Legal
Committee chair shall be appointed by the HC and be responsible for providing
legal counsel and advice to all graduate volunteers. Work that is not provided on a “Pro-bono”
basis must be voted on by the HC to
approve payment to any legal counsel.
Local Volunteers –
Local
volunteers have been listed to demonstrate the current steady source of
manpower volunteers. These volunteers
have been utilized to help clean and maintain the property.
Grad Support
“Grad Support”
has been listed to show consistent sources of man power over the last year who
currently live outside of the Burlington
area and are not currently listed in any committee.
Board of Chapter Advisors –
Is a
graduate board of advisors elected at the annual meeting during Pig Dinner that
work to serve the undergraduate chapter, provide guidance and assistance to
supporting their mission and work towards providing resources to successfully
promoting all chapter functions and visions.
Ed. Fundraising – BCA Sub Committee
The
Educational Fundraising committee, hereafter known as “The Foundation” will
work towards seeking “Tax-Deductible” contributions to the chapter for scholarship
and other educational related resources
Recruitment – BCA Sub Committee
The
recruitment committee will work to assist the chapter in ensuring a successful
recruitment by providing guidance, resources, and tracking previous successes
and failures to ensure future growth.
Pledge Ed
– BCA Sub Committee
The pledge
education committee will work to assist the chapter in ensuring a successful
new member education by providing guidance, resources, and tracking previous
successes and failures to ensure future growth.
CHAPTER
Scott
Curley UVM
’08 the current undergraduate president recently sent out an email update that
details their goals and events for the upcoming Spring semester. The coming weeks will be a crucial time for
the future of Beta Upsilon as half of the 16 active undergraduates will be
graduating and leaving Burlington. The
BCA has been working diligently with the new Undergraduate cabinet, members and
International Headquarters to ensure a successful recruitment and sustainability
of the membership.
Below is the email sent from the Chapter President;
February 4, 2008
Brothers,
I would like to take a minute to update you all on the status of the Chapter.
As most of you already know we elected a new cabinet at the close of
last semester. This new cabinet was trained at their positions by
the
Field Secretary on his recent trip up to Burlington.
Jan 18-20 the Chapter went up to the NEK and held a two day retreat at
Ryan McDonald's family cabin. In all
there were 11 Brothers, the
Field Secretary, Ryan McDonald (PL) and Chris Mitchell (BCA) in
attendance. The focus of the retreat was to get organized for the
semester, set some Chapter goals, recommit ourselves to the learning
and meaning of ritual, and do some leadership training. The weekend
was very successful and everyone is on the same page and holding each
other accountable.
The past two weeks the Chapter has been focused on recruitment. We
have done an excellent job of getting our name back onto the campus,
through information tables, flyers, advertisements on the new Davis
Center flat screen TVs,
and encouraging Brothers to wear letters as
often as possible. After about two weeks of recruitment we have
handed out 16 bids. The Chapter set a goal of having a pledge class
of 16 members this semester (1 pledge for every brother). We are
well
on our way to achieving this goal.
A major focus of the new cabinet has been to empower the other
Brothers in the Chapter by making sure they all hold important roles
within the Chapter. To achieve this goal last week the cabinet
taking
into consideration everyone’s skill sets and ambition placed Brothers
at the helms of Pledge Ed, Recruitment, Philanthropy, Public
Relations, Community Service, and Scholarship.
In the weeks ahead the Brothers will be participating in the following
events...
Feb. 9th Penguin Plunge (We will be helping to set up and break down
for this event)
Feb. 10th 16 Brothers will be working 5 hours at Vermont Teddy
Bear.
They will be paid $10/hr and all $800 will benefit the Kids on the
Block organization.
Feb. 23rd all Brothers will be working crowd control at the annual
Mardis Gras Parade.
April 12th-13th all Brothers will be participating in Relay for Life
and throughout the semester raising money to fight Cancer.
April 19th All brothers will be participating in a Burlington wide
community work day with the Field Secretary.
May 1st Founders Day dinner at Vermont Pub and
Brewery.
May 3rd all brothers will be participating in the Burlington City
Green Up Day. We hope that the Brothers attending Pig Dinner will
come out to help
Thanks for your time in keeping you all informed. We are working
hard
to restore the good name of this Chapter and climb our way back to the
top of the mountain.
Fraternally,
Scott Curley PC
LXXII
Perge!
Scott M. Curley
scurley@uvm.edu
President
Phi Gamma
Delta Fraternity
Beta Upsilon Chapter
158 S. Willard
St.
Burlington,
VT
05401