A recent TV story in the San Francisco Bay Area singled out a Public Storage self-storage facility for allegedly defrauding tenants in regard to insurance, which it requires all tenants to purchase. With the investigation ongoing, no conclusions of wrongdoing have been drawn for this particular facility; but this type of negative press causes concern in the industry and discussions about whether to require or provide tenant insurance to customers.

A notable discussion is occurring on Self-Storage Talk, the official online forum of Inside Self-Storage, about which methods are best when it comes to tenants and insurance. Several members have noted they do not provide insurance but they require tenants to attest to the fact that they will obtain their own coverage.

One member goes out of his way to explain to tenants that his insurance policy covers only the storage physical structure, not the contents of the unit. He also provides customers with numerous brochures for tenant-insurance providers and lets them decide which to use.

The discussion is also providing several opinions about Public Storage Inc., a self-storage real estate investment trust, and its policies. Several of the posters have experience working for the company.

Would you like to say your piece regarding requiring insurance? Are you looking to learn more on the topic from your peers? If so, log on to the discussion thread. You must be one of Self-Storage Talk's 3,700-plus registered members to post, but registration is free and takes only a few minutes. Visit www.selfstoragetalk.com for details.

REB Storage Systems International, a designer, manufacturer, distributor and installer of records-storage racking and materials-handing systems, has added six industry professionals to its sales team.

Jeff Howard, formerly of Excel Storage Products, has been hired as director of western U.S. sales. A 12-year veteran of the racking industry, Howard will provide leadership in REBs California office.

Joseph Kane, also from Excel, joined the company as a senior account manager. Kane has more 13 years of industry experience and will work with prospects and clients from REBs Pennsylvania office.

Lori Pieszala, with 23 years of experience in materials-handling products sales, will serve as an account executive and sales consultant in the Pennsylvania office. She most recently worked with Elite Storage Solutions.

Joe Onda, also from Elite, joined REB as a senior project manager. He has 12 years experience in archive storage-rack systems and will work from the Pennsylvania office.

Ed Shedlock, formerly of Boston Rack and WC Cardinal, will bring his 15 years of expertise as a Project Manager to the company. Working out of the Pennsylvania office, Shedlock will support new and ongoing racking-system projects.

After an 18-year absence, Kenneth McCann returns to REB as a sales engineer. McMann previously worked for four years as a special design engineer at REB. He left the company in the late 80s to pursue a career as a project engineer for Conveyor Craft.

REB was launched in 1962 by partners Roger Sandstrom, Ed Lesko and Bill Klowsk. Klowsk passed away in the early 70s. Lesko and Sandstrom retired in 1983 and sold their stock to Tom Lesko, the companys current president. REB moved to its 100,000-square-foot Chicago facility in 1988. The company has five branches and is working on a sixth. It sales are more than $25 million.

The Colorado Self Storage Association, with financial support from the national Self Storage Association, is aiming to update the Colorado lien-law statute during the 2011 legislative session. The association has hired lobbyist firm Colorado Communiqué Inc. to help shepherd the bill and get it passed.

The current law, Section 38-21.5, was enacted in the 1980s. CoSSA believes the proposed changes to the law will create a more efficient and less expensive lien-sale process for the states facility operators. Suggested modifications include:

• Notice of lien may be satisfied by Verified Mail or electronic mail instead of Certified Mail, creating a significant annual savings in postage costs.
• Lien sales will be advertised in a commercially reasonable manner, eliminating the need for costly advertising in a general circulation newspaper.
• Language will specify that a motor vehicle or watercraft may be towed from the facility if rent and other charges remain unpaid for 60 days.

CoSSA is appealing to its members and other state self-storage operators for financial support and encouraging them to contact their legislative representatives to discuss the merits of the bill once it is introduced. The association is also asking facility operators to complete a one-question survey that will help it determine how the public learns about self-storage lien sales in the state. To participate in the survey, visit the Members Only section at ColoradoSSA.com and choose Take the Survey Now. Members needing help with their username and password should e-mail [email protected].

CoSSA will periodically update its members via e-mail to keep them apprised of the bills progress.

StorageVault Canada Inc. released operating results for the third quarter ending Sept. 30, 2010. Highlights include:

• Revenue increased by $224,998 to $751,997, representing a 42.7 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
• Net operating income from properties increased by $96,661 to $406,044, representing a 31.2 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
• Cash flow as measured by Funds from Operations increased by $45,746 to $200,519, representing a 29.6 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

The company entered into an agreement to manage a portfolio of six self-storage properties in the province of Ontario. It also acquired Parksville Mini Storage in the Parksville/Nanaimo region of British Columbia.

"The Q3 results demonstrate and further validate StorageVault's strategic objective to own, acquire and operate self-storage facilities across Canada, and to develop a complimentary and nationally branded Canada-wide portable-storage business to serve an untapped market in the Canadian storage industry, said CEO Alan Simpson. StorageVault will remain focused on acquiring and operating self-storage facilities with proven cash flows, superior location in relationship to markets, and excess physical space, to allow the continued deployment of PUPS portable-storage operations."

StorageVault owns and operates several self-storage facilities in Canada. The company also owns Canadian PUPS portable-storage franchises. 

Barons Self Storage in Galway, Ireland, is collecting toys for needy children this holiday season.

The self-storage operator will collect and store the unwrapped, new toys for infants to young adults until Dec. 10. The toys will then be distributed through St. Vincent de Paul, a charitable organization.

Toys can be dropped off Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

David L. Rogers, chief financial officer of Sovran Self Storage Inc., will present at the 2010 FBR Capital Markets Fall Investor Conference in New York City on Nov. 30, at 3:05 p.m. ET. The presentation will focus on Sovrans financial results and business strategies going into 2011.

Interested parties can listen to the presentation via webcast by accessing www.wsw.com/webcast/fbr24/sss/ or visiting the events page at www.unclebobs.com/company/investment/events.cfm?ec=1. The presentation will be archived for 90 days.

The FBR conference, held at the Grand Hyatt New York in New York City, will feature presentations from more than 80 public and private companies include financial, real estate and insurance institutions.

Headquartered in Arlington, Va., FBR Capital Markets is an investment bank that  focuses its investment banking, advisory, trading and research efforts in seven broad industry sectors: consumer, diversified industrials, energy and natural resources, financial institutions, insurance, real estate and technology, and media and telecom.

Sovran is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust in the business of acquiring and managing self-storage facilities. The company serves more than 160,000 customers and operates 371 self storage facilities in 24 states under the name Uncle Bobs Self Storage.

More than 320 U-Store-It Trust self-storage facilities are making a difference in their communities by participating in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve's Toys for Tots Program this holiday season. Local residents are encouraged to donate new, unwrapped toys at a participating location now through Dec. 15. U-Store-It will collect, store and deliver the donations to a Toys for Tots representative for distribution to children within each community.

Over the past 63 years, Toys for Tots has distributed more than 400 million toys to more than 188 million needy children. "Building on last year's success, our managers are excited to collect toys and make a contribution to children in their local communities again this holiday season," said Steve Hartman, U-Store-Its senior vice president of marketing.

A heavy concentration of participating stores can be found in Albuquerque, N.M.; Canton, Ohio; Chicago; Frisco, Texas; Indianapolis; Jacksonville, Fla.; Memphis, Texas; San Bernardino, Calif.; Tucson, Ariz.; and West Palm Beach, Fla.

U-Store-It is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust that owns and or manages 487 facilities across the United States, and operates the U-Store-It Network, which consists of approximately 684 additional self-storage facilities.

A Board of Appeals last week denied a request by a self-storage developer in Urbandale, Iowa, to amend the fire code. The developers asked for the amendment so they wouldnt be required to install an automatic sprinkler system at the proposed site.

The board unanimously turned down the request by Brad Vander Linden and business partner Eric Vander Linden.

The city code was changed in 2007, requiring sprinkler systems for self-storage buildings from 6,000 square feet or greater. Any facilities built before 2007 are not required to add a sprinkler system.

In August, Eric Vander Linden asked the Urbandale City Council to consider changing that requirement to 12,000 square feet, which is the requirement in nearby Ankeny, Des Moines, Waukee and Windsor Heights.

The Vander Lindens are concerned about the high price tagabout $200,000for installing the sprinkler system. The proposed site plan includes 650 or more units. Under the current fire code, each unit would be required to have a sprinkler head.

Brad Vander Linden suggested the development be constructed as two compartmentalized structures, each with fire walls, interior fire doors and centrally monitored fire alarms in lieu of sprinklers.

Urbandale Fire Chief Jerry Holt told the board the building should be treated as one because a metal building could still lose its integrity and collapse, even with a firewall.

Board member Rod Stevens urged the self-storage developers to work with city planners to find a compromise. Brad Vander Linden said his team would work toward a solution.

Companies nationwide that are eager to take advantage of federal grant program providing owners of solar projects with a 30-percent cash incentive are rushing to complete by Dec. 31. Fortunately, Michael Kane of 126 Self Storage in Ashland, Mass., was able to finish his $2.2-million system, which will generate enough power for more than 400 homes per year.

This summer, Kane contacted a solar consultant to investigate the installation of electricity-producing panels on his facilitys 57,000 square feet of roof space. In Kanes case, the grant program created a savings of about $660,000. Programs such as this are often the only way companies can make a renewable-energy project financially viable.

Massachusetts businesses have already received $13.5 million in cash grants from U.S. Treasury Department Program 1603, an unlimited amount of funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to encourage renewable-energy generation. Nationwide, $387 million has been awarded, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group that has been tracking the incentive.

After the grant expires at the end of the year, companies can still apply for a tax credit worth up to 30 percent. But the credit is not nearly as attractive as a direct cash reimbursement sent to the business owner within 60 days. The tax credit doesnt benefit the business until the next tax season, but it can be carried forward up to 20 years.

There is a small loophole. If 5 percent of the cost of a solar project is spent before the Dec. 31 deadline, a company can apply for a safe harbor provision, which would allow the project to qualify for the 30-percent cash grant. Businesses have to file the request with the federal government before the end of the year, and each application is considered on a case-by-case basis.

Some solar companies are concerned that the program will create a hangover effect that will dampen the solar installation market in 2011.