The words “aboveground storage tank” are not used, rather “bulk storage container” is used. Summary of Government RequirementsĪSTs used for storing petrochemical products are regulated mainly under the aboveground storage tank regulations set forth in 40 CFR 112. Any AST which stores any liquid from petrochemicals to hazardous waste or other hazardous materials fall under this description. But this is where we are now," board President Jean Wodnicki wrote to residents before the vote.Aboveground storage tank regulations state that those storage tanks which house liquids and are aboveground, regardless of contents. "A lot of this work could have been done or planned for in years gone by. The cost to residents would be $80,000 to $360,000 per unit. That meant the building was short by $15.5 million, which the board voted in April to raise through a special assessment. The board chose not to tap the reserves just in case there was another emergency. But a quarter of the reserves were designated for insurance deductibles, leaving $556,000. It found $707,000 left over from the previous special assessments and $777,000 more in reserves. Morabito began preliminary work and found that the damage discovered in 2018 had gotten worse. News Damage to Miami building was known - but key oversight process was broken, experts sayīy late last year, the board had accepted that there was no safe way forward without doing the massive reconstruction Morabito recommended, along with repairs to a deteriorating roof. Many associations make that choice by repeatedly voting to waive or reduce the funding of their reserves. Such lump-sum levies are indicative of a building whose owners have decided not to set aside enough reserves through regular monthly fees, choosing instead to wait until a big-ticket repair is needed to ask residents to pay for it, experts said. The board imposed a $1 million special assessment in 2016 for hallway renovations and a $350,000 special assessment in 2019 for work on a generator, a fuel pump and a fuel tank. The experts pointed to the board's reliance on special assessments - additional fees on top of residents' normal monthly payments - to fund needed repairs. That is what it appears Champlain Towers South did, lawyers and reserve experts said. The votes are common in Florida condo buildings, condo lawyers say. Once it has passed its annual budget, a condo board can give residents the opportunity to opt out of collecting reserves by a vote of a majority of unit owners. In addition, the law allows condo buildings to waive the reserve requirement altogether. That means condo boards have some flexibility in avoiding saving for repairs that do not need to be made right away. "One of the steps that should be taken by a building, especially an aging building, is having adequate funds available so that when you have to face significant cost challenges there's an appropriate amount of money available," said Gary Mars, a South Florida lawyer who represents condo associations.Ī survey last year by the Community Associations Institute found that most homeowners associations are hesitant to increase residents' fees, anticipating opposition, and therefore fail to plan for long-term infrastructure fixes.įlorida law requires condo boards to maintain reserves for repairs over $10,000, but it does not say exactly how much to set aside. Ten states have no regulations about reserves at all. Thirty-one other states, including Florida, regulate reserves in some way - although Florida is one of three states with loopholes that enable owners to opt out of requirements, the nonprofit said. The repeal left Florida's condo residents less protected than those in nine states that legally require reserve studies, according to the Community Associations Institute, a nonprofit organization that advocates for condo associations. Rescue workers search in the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Fla., on June 26.