BOD Business

The usual board business transpired from the officers...minutes, financials, and the usual president's message on.....guess what? ..... CHANGE.

Other News:
There will be a slight delay in completing the sealcoat project until after August 27th because the equipment will not be available for rental until that date.
A $4700 bid was received to fence the hot tub area from the pool area, so the whirlpool can be legally be used after hours when the pool is covered. Maintenance claims they can do it for half the cost. No board decision ensued.
Family members who inherited a house on Blvd 2 asked the board to buy their share. The board determined that the family should put house up for sale instead.
An additional $3k will be moved from the mortgage loan account to complete the sealcoat project.
Kayaks/canoes et.al. no longer need to be hung from carport rafters. Considerable discussion was made on the "neatness and tidiness of carports" issue, and quite frankly, was never resolved. Many people in the audience expressed concern about the clutter visible from their homes and from the street, and the vessels becoming projectiles in strong winds. The board voted to accept the wording of the Marine Committee amendment to the rule.
Another apartment renter was approved to move in Oct 1.
The 2011 Hilsborough County Mini-Grant was written by yours truely to provide 8 new benches around the park. Resident volunteers will assemble the benches, and repaint/stain the existing ones. We will be notified in November if we have won the $2500 grant.
R and R changes need to be mailed out to residents before they can be enforced. Upon the mailout, all rule changes immediately go into effect.
A board panel, comprised of Rose, Susan, Betty, and Cheri, was voted on to investigate an accounting program for use by our Office. Our president wishes to outsource our accounting and financials to an outside firm, much like our payroll.
* Our president outlined his proposal to eliminate our standard method of funding our reserves, and instead, suggested that we adopt a reserve-pooling system. Rather than hold money for future improvements, he suggests that we pay down our debt now, so we can borrow in the future. No board decision. (see commentary below)
Residents with continuous and uncorrected non-compliance issues in the park will be turned over the our attorney. Some sloppy homesites have persisted for over a year. There was much vocal resident approval on this issue. Several other non-compliance issues were brought up by the residents. Some are in litigation and can't be discussed. Some require an affidavit signed by a resident to begin the correction process.
And then, right out of the blue, after some board discussion and loud disapproval from some members of the audience, the board voted to approve a new $15,000 roof on the shuffle courts. The approval is contingent upon a warranty regarding water runoff and potential damage to the new solar panels. The work must be done before the shuffle season begins in November.
Meeting adjourned.

A few comments: (Allow me to indulge myself)

* In the past, our board of directors have attended seminars on pooling vs. non-pooling of reserves. Our past boards have consistently stood by our existing policy of reserve funding, in order to avoid the possibility of over-spending the general fund, or any other unnecessary spending.

We have several new board members, and a few old ones serving right now who have never had the opportunity to participate in one of these educational opportunities that present both sides of the Pooling / Non Pooling picture . (CAI or ROC Forum)

This is truely a moot point because by law, our membership must vote to change existing reserve policies. The only way that this can be done is by educating our shareholders on this important issue, and then coming to a consensus that will be presented to the membership for a vote, either at the annual meeting or by letter. Hell, we haven't had a quorum at our annual meeting for several years. It will be interesting to see how our president plans to make his vision a reality.
I am concerned about the spending that has occurred in the past few months since our March election. We have witnessed the installation of a new West Shore fence, and two new gates. In the past, our sealcoating was done annually, every third blvd., so the job was completed in about 3 years. This year, our crew took it upon themselves to sealcoat the entire park without an outside contractor. Much money was saved. Today the BOD turned right around and spent that savings on a project that never came up at budget review for the last 3 years, or even appeared on the past board's Wish List. .. a Shuffle Board Roof
Our residents have, for years, expressed a need for security cameras. Again, most of the current board members rarely attended our Town Hall Meetings in the past, where this on-going dialog ensued.
Today it was determined by our board of directors, that our shuffle court will be roofed. The shufflers on the board and in the audience were pleased. Photos of our neighbor Americana Cove's shuffle court roof were passed around. (By the way...they have over 700 units.) We learned today that 3 or 4 other resident-owned communities in Pinellas County also have roofed shuffle courts. No one mentioned that there are between 70-80 resident-owned communities in Pinellas County without roofed shuffle courts.
In my opinion: we could build a shuffle roof-over from MacDill Air Force Base to West Shore Plaza. Our storms usually come in West to East, or East to West. That's going to douse anyone sitting under that skimpy little roof. And in response to the heat that the poor shufflers suffer in the summertime, no one mentioned that A/C was being installed. With or without a roof, the courts will be 90 to 95 degrees in the summertime afternoon, with humidity also in the mid-90s. No roof will correct that.
No one mentioned what wind strength this new structure will withstand. I imagine it will need to be included on our insurance. What willl that cost us annually?

To Our Association President: Everytime you open your mouth, you continually bring up the concept of CHANGE within our park. Most of us were very satisfied with the condition of Regency Cove before you assumed your office. You state that the park will now be run in a business-like manner. This park has been run in a business-like manner long before you sat in that official chair. The problem is : what is your definition of business-like? You need to include resident feedback, but you have totally eliminated this.

We have yet to see any change. So far, all we have seen is SPEND. Spending isn't changing. You need to focus your attention on the comments of the residents of the park at the meetings. One very positive item at today's meeting is that the notoriously non-compliant residents will soon meet face-to-face with the association attorney.
Many of the US citizens and most of the citizens of the state of Florida have had it "up-to-here" with the concept of "change" in our country. Maybe you need to alter your focus from CHANGE to "Listening to the People". Both you and Obama could learn a thing or two from listening to the PEOPLE, not your friends, on what this park/nation really wants and needs.

And by the way, quit spending my money like you own it.