The Tolka Vale Apartment complex is located in the heart of Tolka Vale, between Glasnevin and Finglas on the Old Finglas Road. It was built in 1999 and is comprised of 3 blocks housing 100 apartments in total. The development is positioned in a pretty leafy valley , beside the Tolka River.

 

The Complex is privately owned and managed by a management company, Tolka Vale Owners Management Company CLG (294179), referred to as the OMC. The function of the management company is to ensure that central services are provided to keep the buildings and common areas insured, cleaned, maintained and in good repair. The OMC also provides waste collection services and adequate power supply to the common areas for the purposes of lighting and service provision. In addition to these obvious services, the OMC is also responsible to ensure that the Complex meets statutory and legislative criteria. Examples of this would be planning, fire safety and pollution regulations imposed by the various government bodies.

 

To this end, the OMC employs professional property managers who assist in the provision of the aforementioned services and advise the Board as to how to carry out its functions. The professional property manager is a paid manager who also acts as a liaison between the owner and the Board. The property manager will deal with individual owners on a variety of issues from common area cleaning issues to disputes between owners/occupiers. The manager will also carry out many administrative functions.

 

 In order for the OMC to complete its duties, it needs to collect the cost of providing these services from the apartment owners.   It does this by levying each apartment with a service or management charge.  The management charge is calculated by the Board on the basis of a budgeted expenditure for the forthcoming year and it is applied to each apartment on the basis of floor area. This means that the larger the apartment, the higher the service charge. Before the levy can be applied, it must firstly be approved by the members at an AGM (annual general meeting of the members).  This means that the budget is presented to the members, discussed and can only be levied when approved by the members. Members can only vote if they are paying or have paid their service charge. The service charge is designed to cover the actual costs of operating the complex and does not include a profit element. There is also a mandatory levy (governed by law) called a sinking fund charge which is to be set aside for non routine capital expenditure. The purpose of this is to ensure funds exist to maintain aging buildings.

 

The OMC is a limited company (CLG) operated by a Board of Directors (BOD). The board are appointed by the members. Each apartment owner is a member by virtue of apartment ownership. The board is usually made up of members, but it is not a necessary condition to be a member. The board members carry out their duties without payment and do so for the common good of the complex and  fellow members. Because the members of the board are unpaid and not professional property managers, it is essential that the forementioned professional property manager is employed. In the case of Tolka Vale, the property manager is Benchmark Property.

 

 

The current Board is made up of 7 individuals and they are;

 

Niall Gormley

Carl Ryan

Damien Murphy

Denis Kavanagh

Anna Leslie

Clara Marley

John McCann