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GASSA Conference - Huge Success!

GASSA Hosts Successful Conference and Expo in Atlanta More than 185 self-storage industry members from Georgia and across the southeast gathered in Atlanta, Georgia for the 2018 GASSA Conference & Expo. With 10 hours of education, 43 industry leading exhibitors and five hours of Expo exposure, the event allowed for more networking and collaboration between exhibitors, speakers and attendees than ever before. Education was a major draw for conference attendees. An array of experts in the industry provided managers, owners, and vendors with tips, tricks, updates and trends across several topics. The sessions delved deep into ways to incentivize employees without spending too much, best practices for self storage success, how to read key management reports and much more. Speakers included Bob Copper, Self Storage 101; Tim Dietz, National SSA; Stacey Gorman, The Gorman Group; Scott Zucker, Weissmann Zucker Euster Morochnik & Garber P.C; and M. Anne Ballard, Universal Storage Group to name a few. In addition to these sessions, attendees were able to access vendor experts through

roundtable sessions. The exhibit hall consisted of 43 industry-leading exhibitors and vendors, representing a variety of services to the self storage industry such as auctions, insurance, brokerage, building and construction, security, technology and more. These companies had an opportunity to network, create and extend relationships with owners, operators and other vendors from across the southeast. GASSA also uses this annual event to recognize self storage excellence through its Facility of the Year and

Manager of the Year awards. The Facility of Year was awarded to StorePro Self Storage in Athens, Georgia. Facility of the Year award winners are judged on their overall excellence in design, construction and operations. The Manager of the Year award, designed to recognize excellence in self storage management and customer service, went to Kristin Bourgeois, Manager at Woodruff Storage in Columbus, Georgia. Congratulations to these two deserving groups.This event could

not have been possible without the support of the sponsors. A sincere THANK YOU to all of the companies who made this event successful, and who support the association and its mission.The dates and location for the 2019 Conference & Expo will be announced in the coming months. For more information regarding upcoming GASSA meetings and events, visit www.gassa.org.

See more photos from this Conference and Expo on page 4.

GASSA President Richard Williams and GASSA Vice President Jasmin Jones present our donation to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta!

LEGAL CORNER - By Scott ZuckerWhen It Comes to Compliance with the ADA: When are Repairs to a Facility Not "Readily Achievable"?

Self-storage facilities are "public accommodations" under the Americans with Disabilities Act. As such, facility operators are required to remove barriers to access when it is "readily achievable" to do so. Unfortunately, that term is hard to define and it creates a risk for storage owners and operators when faced with properties where such barriers exist for disabled customers.

Essentially, the question of whether a facility is required to perform the work necessary to remove a barrier to entry is if the work can be "easily accomplished" or otherwise carried out "without much difficulty or expense". Unfortunately, since all properties are different and the cost associated with the remedies needed for accessibility are different, the question of whether such work is readily achievable is usually analyzed on a case by case basis. Some factors that are included in the consideration include the financial resources of the business using the property, whether the work should be done to create a safe operation, the number of employees working on the property and the effect of the work on the operation of the business.

Examples of work that are typically considered readily achievable include: ramps where stairs are the only option to access, curb cuts in sidewalks, re-positioning tables, furniture and shelving to allow a clear path of travel, widening doorways, installing accessible door hardware, creating designated accessible parking spaces, and lowering light switches, phones and towel dispensers. Again, each of these items might be accomplished easily or, in certain circumstances, may be challenging to accomplish.

Certainly, the work needed to remove barriers to access is not meant to be a burden to the business. The goal is that the measures taken to remove barriers should enhance the usability of the public accommodation to those with disabilities. In certain circumstances, the changes to be made may not be able to meet the guidelines provided for in the ADA, but such deviations still enhance the use of the property by the disabled customer. These types of changes are also permitted as long as the deviations do not cause a safety risk to the users.

In terms of priority, the work to be done should always focus first on the access allowing the customer the use or enter into the public accommodation. The next priority would be the interior changes that are needed, such as with the customer counter and, with self-storage, the units themselves. Based on the ability of the business to perform these changes, it is often helpful to create an overall accessibility plan and implement the needed work as appropriate. Having a "plan" can certainly demonstrate the good faith interest and intent of the facility operator and show their desire to make their facility accessible to all.

At the end of the day, the law does not require that changes be made if such work to the property would create an "undue hardship" on the business to perform the needed changes.

"Undue hardship", like the term "readily achievable", is hard to pin down, but essentially relates to the overall financial impact to the business associated with the changes needed. "Undue hardship" is generally defined as "significant difficulty or expense incurred by a covered entity". In other words, if the effect on the expenses and resources of the business are too great, the facility could claim that they cannot afford the work needed and could seek an exemption to the ADA requirement. Certainly, the larger the company, the higher the bar will be set to obtain a financial exemption from the ADA requirements.

Until next month - Happy storing!

Scott Zucker is a partner in the law firm of Weissmann Zucker Euster Morochnik P.C. in Atlanta, Georgia. Scott specializes in business litigation with an emphasis on real estate, landlord-tenant and construction law. Scott is a frequent lecturer at national conventions and is the author of Legal Topics in Self Storage: A Sourcebook for Owners and Managers. He is also a partner in the Self Storage Legal Network, a subscription-based legal service for self storage owners and managers. Scott can be reached at 404-364-4626 or at scott@wzlegal.com.

Protecting ourselves from Class Action Suits-UpdateM. Anne Ballard, Past President GASSA and President of Marketing, Training and Developmental Services for Universal Storage Group and Glen Nicotra, City Storage Savannah GASSA is working with members to enact a law similar to the ones passed in over 26 states to avoid members becoming parties to class action lawsuits. It will mean our late fees will become standardized to $20 or 20% whichever is greater. This is a large benefit to many operators over their current charges and I see it as a benefit to our operations in Georgia as well. In many of the states where we operate with this in place we break it into two steps, the first one being $10 or 10% whichever is greater and then later in the month the other $10 or 10% whichever is greater. It works well for us in those states and allows us to have legislative power behind our late fee process something we currently don't have. Serving on the legislative committee to assist in this effort are Calvin Byrd of Byrd’s Mini Storage, Glen Nicotra of City Storage Savannah, and myself and we want to make sure we have the full support of membership behind us for this effort. This would be our 5th change to Georgia law to benefit operators in our state and our members. Please contact Glen Calvin or me to give us your thoughts and input as we will be active prior to the legislative session next January in order to have our bill pass smoothly through the various committees and on to the Governor’s desk for approval. The SSA supports and encourages us to get this done in Georgia as they have assisted other states in passage of this important bill. We will receive funding from them for our legislative efforts and are working to have our plan implemented in committee prior to the session start. We thank George Snelling for his actions on our behalf in this important fight.

Respectfully, Anne

Kristin Bourgeois Woodruff Storage, Columbus, GA

2018 GASSA Manager of the Year

Award Recipient

SPOTLIGHT –

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO ENTER THE SELF-STORAGE INDUSTRY?A close friend of mine inspired me to join the industry. Having previous property management experience in apartments, she thought I would excel at the job.

NAME SOME OF THE CHALLENGES AND INCENTIVES RELATED TO BEING A MANAGER IN THE INDUSTRY? My biggest challenge was learning when to do conversions. It took me a solid year to get comfortable with knowing when to make conversions and what sizes to convert in order to increase our revenue. Incentives of being a manager in this industry is always having a continuous growth. Whether it's learning the financial side or the operations, you are always growing in some way with more and more knowledge.

2018 GASSA Manager of the Year KRISTIN BOURGEOIS with GASSA President Richard Williams and

GASSA Vice President Jasmin Jones.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE OF SELF STORAGE LOOK LIKE FOR YOUR CITY AND COMPANY?I strongly believe self storage is going to continue to grow in our city. Columbus, Ga is constantly on an incline when it comes to economic growth. Seeing such a positive increase in more local business expansions gives our company a hopeful path.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A NEW MANAGER? The best advice I could give to a new manager in this industry is never get discouraged by setting clear and realistic goals. Get to really know the ins and outs of the financial side because that is what will help grow your business!

It's not too late to recruit five new members!

Remaining Meetings in 2018

DATE EVENT LOCATIONNov 13, 2018 Regional Luncheon Ask the Experts Panel Hilton Garden Inn ColumbusDec 11, 2018 Metro ATL Luncheon Self Storage Synergy with Bob Wesson, U-Haul The Georgian Club Atlanta

2018 Calendar of Events

Are you a member of GASSA? For ONLY $250 you can join this organization and get access to outstanding member benefits! The networking, education and legal support within the association are worth far more than that -- you won't regret it! Click here to join!GASSA membership offers these distinctive advantages:

• Access to the Georgia Self-Storage approved rental lease – updated annually by our legal counsel.

• Access to member/vendor directories.• Member newsletters which bring up-

to-the-minute news as well as tips and features of GASSA members.

• Unparalleled networking opportunities – GASSA members gain knowledge from each other.

• Discounts on Monthly Luncheons – held the 2nd Tuesday of the month in Atlanta and periodically throughout other Georgia areas

• NationalSSAaffiliation–GASSApartners with SSA to keep you posted on national news to enhance our statewideactionsandbenefits.

• Annual Expo – held in the Fall, the GASSA Convention & Expo offers networking, education and vendor meeting opportunities to help you stay competitive.

• Legislative Advocacy – representation on pertinent issues at the Georgia State Capital.

Click here to join!

GASSA Expo 2018