A PLACE TO BE
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
TRUE COSTS
Owners were informed that Village Director Bergsma had renounced his intentions to sue our Village. This December Coffee update by President Halbach came on the heels of an upset owner saying that Director Bergsma used exclusive information from the dredging questionnaires for his personal agenda against our Village.
Due to this abuse of protocol, Vice President Pelletier reluctantly said this Board will ask for Director Bergsma’s resignation at the following Regular meeting.
A week later the Regular Meeting was empty of any censure to Director Bergsma. One had to be absolutely braindead not to think that something gave way during the past seven days. The Board turned mute to the abuse issue while being overly harmonious to Director Bergsma and his dredging agenda.
After giving a very convincing budget presentation, the Board expressed a new mindset of taking a dredging expenditure of three hundred thousand dollars and combining it with seven other infrastructure expenditures totaling six hundred eighty two thousand dollars. This is a similar concept our beloved Congress does when a piece of their legislation can’t pass on its own merits.
As if scripted, Vice President Pelletier solidified this new approach by getting the Board to approve a “package concept” and immediately cued Director Bergsma to make a motion. That motion was to begin the hydrographic survey and while the Board was vying for start times, an owner raised her hand to ask the Board a question. After Vice President Pelletier was given permission by Director Bergsma to let her speak, she asked if the Board was going to include all the related extra costs she remembered being in the original CRA survey proposal.
Wham, bam, thank you mam.
The stymied look on all the Board member faces made it quite clear that few if any knew of these extra costs. This means that back in April our Board with Pat Burke as the overseer, approved doing a $15,000 segment of this $25,000 two part survey without disclosing or knowing of these additional costs.
For over a year this Board has said the CRA survey costs $25,000, not $25,000 plus open end expenses. Only by accident have owners learned the cost may be more than twice what had orginally been quoted. Adding insult to injury, Director Bergsma told everyone at the meeting that spending fifty to sixty thousand buckaroos for this kind of survey was not that unreasonable.
Can you believe this?
It would be interesting to know just how many Directors received a copy of the CRA proposal.
If not, why?
If they did, why didn’t they read it?
In a nutshell, owner’s trust for our Board has been shaken by an attempted lawsuit, misuse of membership information, misleading dredging information, and Board members saying one thing while doing just the opposite? How can anyone determine true costs for one infrastructure item when it’s package with seven others? What message does one receive when our Board ignores and apparently succumbs to a Director’s detrimental actions?
Your comments
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Thursday, December 16, 2010
Pledge of Allegiance
Roll Call
Absent were President Halbach and Director Montalvo
Owners Speaking
None
Presidents Remarks
None
Managers Report-Rick Horner
For the month he had 34 work orders, 13 uncompleted, 5 building permits, and a great improvement for condo fee arrears that only totaled $15,170. Dir. White inquired about any contact with the owner of the two year vacant lot 761. The GM said there was only one address to contact and have received nothing back.
Comments from the Board
Dir. White said from owner donations each employee receive $110 each for Christmas and thanked everyone. She awarded a special “get off the rope” Christmas gift to Armando.
Approval of Minutes
Treasurer’s Report & Financials-Treas. Steffensen
There was nothing out of the ordinary with the Financials. No P&L info.
Committee Reports
D&E- WhiteThere were 195+ people who attended the Leslie party and now have some new tables for the Rec. Hall activities. Join the New Year’s Eve Party for only $35.
Golf- PelletierThe raffle winner for the golf cart will be drawn on Jan. 10th. Golf cart paths are near completion.
Pool –Steffensen Maintenance is starting to put the pool statues in and the 16 chairs are here for the gazebo.
Unfinished Business
Major Improvement Fund Budget- Steffensen
Treas. Steffensen said the budget is broken down in pieces
“First Piece” after shaving off $173,000 from the original $369,000 Major Improvements amount, there’s still a $76,000 deficit the Board is working to fine money for.
“Second piece” is to have the Board pass a motion to establish a reserve fund out of the current condo fees for future infrastructure needs that would include roads, sewer, water, canals, and common buildings. Treas. Steffensen made that motion, passing unanimously.
“The third piece” is how to pay for the current $682,841 infrastructure needs for the Park that encompasses the Rec. Hall roof, Welcome Center /Rec. Hall parking lots, road patching, if approved by owners limited dredging, Activity Center windows, solar panels for the pool, and street lights.
The Board said the choices were a monthly addition to condo fees or a special onetime assessment. Discussions of getting firm bids for everything to present at the Annual Meeting started talk on doing the $15,000 topography survey.
Dir. Bergsma gave his dredging rendition and out of the blue mentioned he was President of a very large association in Iowa when they borrowed eight million dollars for their dredging project and then passed an automatic 5% condo fee increase each year so owners knew what they were going to pay each year. He expressed it be a good idea to do that here. Dir. Gagan said he thought a $10 increase in condo fees was the way to go in lieu of the onetime assessment. Loans for the Village were lightly discussed.
VP Pelletier suggested presenting the $25,000 dredging survey as part of the total package for the owners to approve. The Board then approved a motion to create just the concept to have a package with a onetime assessment.
After being coax by VP Pelletier, Dir. Bergsma made his motion to do his topography survey and Dir. Gagan said he would like to second that but only if it could begin somewhere in January.
While that was being discussed the owner from lot 288 was recognized and made a request to the Board that while making this motion with cost figures that they insert what she understood the additional per-diem extras and travel costs. She thought that these items were over and beyond the $25,000 total costs being currently expressed for this survey and felt they should be included.
The Board appeared somewhat perplexed to this small can of worms opening but VP Pelletier got everyone back on track with saying we know we need to dredge and began to once again push for the approval of the survey motion. The Day the Earth Stood Still happened when Dir. Guerra specifically asked Dir. Bergsma if the two part $15,000 and $10,000 survey costs totaling $25,000 was the bottom line and Dir. Bergsma replied that the total package I gave you was from $50,000 to $60,000 dollars. This perplexity expression returned on what seemed to be every Board member’s face as one after the other said they didn’t recalled such a figure.
The Board quickly tabled this motion for additional updated information on the survey costs, but Dir. Bergsma argued his motion for the survey had already been seconded by Dir. Gagan, who in turn asked where did this fifty- sixty thousand dollars come from? Dir. Bergsma claimed these figures were in the folders handed out to the Directors and then professed that only fifty thousand for this kind of work is not that unreasonable. Motion passed that Dir. Bergsma is to provide the Board with an updated proposal for this survey.
Responsibility of Directors-Bergsma
Dir. Bergsma had nothing to say.
New Business
TGLO Oil Spill Stickers-Gagan
Motion approved to display four stickers so owners have somewhere to report when seeing oil or anything similar spoiling the canals.
Election Committee-Gagan
Motion passed to have Election Committee Representatives Liz Deitrick, Linda Fasching, Sue Smith, Shirley Wilson, and Marianne Kobie.
Other
Building Committee members are Armando Zamora, VP Pelletier, Bob Davidson, Ken Waller, and Jim Thorpe.
Dir. Martin presented an American flag to our Village that once flew over the Capital. This flag had originally been given to honor Henry Hackman’s service during WWII.
Adjournment
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Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Is COOL gang’s motto “every two we sue”?
During last Wednesday’s Coffee, we were told that once again a Board member had talked about or started some sort of legal action against our Village. It seems like only yesterday when previous directors Leroy Mulch and Reta Priest sued six Village Directors to circumvent their majority. Our Village shelled out tens of thousands of dollars for that 2008 frivolous lawsuit and subsequent insurance hikes.
Elected in 2009, Tom Bergsma was deemed a COOL gang aspirant who’s first five months serving resulted with just two Board meeting appearances. His first accomplishment coincidently was changing the attendance protocol for meetings via teleconferencing and then he diligently went to work on trying to get a high ticket dredging item done.
For a year owners had to hear what would happen if we failed to maintain our canals. First it was people would not buy Village property and then it was property values would drop. When those fizzled, it was let’s spend $15,000 for a topography survey so we know what we are really talking about and April’s 2010 meeting saw the Board finally succumbed to this survey, a virtual stepping stone to a humongous $900,000 plus full dredging plan.
In Bergsma’s absence four months later the Board unanimously voted to delay the survey because they thought it best to get Village sentiment and mailed them an elaborate dredging questionnaire. Later Director Bergsma said sending out this questionnaire to the membership regarding the issue of should we dredge or not was totally chicken shit. He stated during October’s 2010 meeting that the Board has to make this decision to dredge or face potential legal litigation and alas we were informed at last Wednesday’s Coffee that Director Bergsma himself had recanted an initial legal action against the Village. VP Pelletier added that Director Bergsma may have also misused sensitive owner information from the recent questionnaire. This made the Board announce that they will ask Director Bergsma to step down at tomorrow’s Regular Meeting.
The Cool Gang graciously gave us Mr. Bergsma back in 2009, so who will they endorse next? My money is on some power hungry all items most go through me non-owner with an “if I can’t be President I’ll quit” attitude.
And you say?
P.S. Less than half the membership responded to the dredging questionnaire, but the information collected from it clearly draws this simple conclusion. A decision to full dredging will make 1,024 owners spend almost a million dollars so THREE owners with big boats having deep drafts can navigate our canals better.
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Thursday, December 9, 2010
Pledge of Allegiance
VP Pelletier praised the Christmas Parade, Chile Dump, and the $932 donation for the St. Stevens food pantry. He asked for owners to attend the Employees Christmas and White Elephant parties. He mentioned the Christmas light contest and the Party with Leslie. He continued with saying the repair to our roads has been delayed due to the asphalt plant being temporarily shut down and that there are $35 New Year’s Eve tickets available. Rick Horner said the people of the Village donated $3,884 to the Security employee who had lost his home due to a fire.
Later in this meeting he discussed the Port Isabel’s annexation of six acres by the old causeway.
Comments from the BOX
Lot 482 praised the Village Thanksgiving Dinner but said others told him they would have attended if the cost was lower.
Lot 614 said taking the TV out of the exercise room and closing the pool on the day after Thanksgiving was ludicrous.
Lot 288 told the Board that Tom Bergsma should be taken off the Board immediately. Owner expressed that besides suing the Village, he used the confidential emails from the Dredging questionnaires for his personal agenda. Owner gave examples of his misuse and quoted the Board policies about personal information they obtained. Owner asked for the Board to show they will not tolerate this behavior.
In giving a current update Pres. Halbach stated that the Village Attorney had told him she received an email from Mr. Bergsma recanting what he had started. It was said that he had dropped out of the lawsuit and now has no part of it although there may be other people pursuing it.
From the Directors
Treas. Steffensen mentioned there was an art show at the Port Isabel Community Center and Causeway run walk is right around the corner.
Dir. Gagan asked to be able to distribute information on who to call when owners see diesel fuel in the water.
From the Audience
Lot? Introduced a person selling tours and the Board allowed her to give her pitch
Lot 828 commented that she was concerned for the Security officer who was verbally abused by an owner. GM said he had talked to this owner and said owner will personally apologize to that officer.
Jessie Salazar, the manager for Securitas wanted to thank everyone for the donations to his employee Fidel and said they will make sure he will receive his paychecks on time missed due to current health issues.
Lot 834 said there’s rental property not being taken care of.
Lot 96 said she would like to be put on the list to pay someone to keep her property weed free.
Lot 574 asked what was going on behind the Village. Treas. Steffensen said TxDOT is putting 30 acres of wetlands to replace the 30 acres used for a highway.
Lot 25 had concerns about the wear and tear on our swing bridge due to this heavy equipment TxDOT brought in. He also said the chicken dinner sign was tacky and there are junky vehicles parked in our Village that have three flat tires.
Lot 638 questioned the water and sewage for new development outside our Village.
Lot 828 wanted the Board to fine those properties that violate the appearance rules.
Lot 106 said she was embarrassed to have people from out of town over with all these junk lots.
Lot 288 questioned the manner in which we can get something in our documents regarding the "ever present" FINE situation. Owner's question was in regards to how many members it takes to change the By-Laws (which depends on the number of BOD members who vote in favor of a change). DP advised that the fines are addressed in the Declarations document.
Workshop
Our GM asked for help on his list of forty non owners coming in every Monday for a dance class that made it difficult security wise and caused problems at setting up the Rec. Hall for later events. After a very long discussion they decided that the sign in and maximum guest’s rules will be enforced along with an appropriate ending time to accommodate the later setups.
VP Pelletier wanted to have on the agenda a request by the Board for Tom Bergsma’s resignation. Pat Burke interrupted the proceedings saying only the membership can remove a director, not the Board.
Lot 828 asked to put the animal article back in the Newsletter.
Treas. Steffensen said the Board needs to address the budget breakdown. She said the Major Improvement section is $369,000 currently; infrastructure section (Rec. Hall roof, roads, and canals) is $575,000. All avenues for revenue will need to be explored including grants from the government. She said the swing bridge assessment will go up $24,000 next year to a total of $501,000 annually. Aramark will increase their cost by $4,950; Time Warner by $8,468, Red Ryder trash will probably go up $3,000 (5%), Security another $18,000, and who knows how much more for the Village insurance. There was talk about the swing bridge takeover TxDOT and an owner said she was confused with all this talk when the people in authority say they are not interested. It was explained that the county would take it with the knowledge it would then be given to TxDOT.
The Board intends to use $5 out of the condo fees for infrastructure repair along with discussing a future earmarked assessment to cover as many projects as possible that could cost owners in the range of $300-$500.
End
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Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Pledge of Allegiance
Owners Speaking on Issues
None
President’s Remarks-Halbach
It was once again noted that maintenance received November’s “Yard of the Month” award.
Manager’s Report-Horner/Zamora
GM Horner said there were 61 work orders, 10 still open, 1 new violation letter sent out, seven new building permits given, and condo fee arrears were $44,046.
Manager Zamora said no smoking signs were put up in the Pool area, Bath House #1 yellow lines will be done this week, and four of the street lights were repaired.
Director’s Comments
Dir. Guerra gave a compliment to management.
Dir. Gagan asked about the plans with this new Congressman. Start over was the answer.
Approval of October’s Minutes
Done
Treas. Report- Steffensen
Nothing stood out. Dir. Montalvo asked for a running report format. No P&L report. There was talk about the changes in the bookwork due to the liquor license and the possibility of a loan or reserve fund for infrastructure repair will be discussed with Aramark.
Committee Report
D&E-White
Dir. White was absent but a fill-in said there will be a Dec. 5th concert, followed by a golf cart parade the day after, and an employee Christmas party on the 10th.
Golf-Pelletier
VP Pelletier made the audience know that there is a golf cart raffle and memorial garden fund raisers happening. It was said that the cart paths are near completion.
Pool-Steffensen
The dolphin statues will soon arrive along with some chairs, new lights, etc.
Hurricane-White
The final hurricane meeting was proponed.
Unfinished Business
Absentee Policy-Guerra
Dir. Guerra asked for an owner vote at the March Annual Meeting that a Director can’t miss more than three meetings total for a year. All agreed on the motion except Dir. Bergsma and VP Pelletier.
Bids
Bids were received from Rubio Brothers for asphalt repair of the roads. Pelletier said the Rubio Brothers were the only ones that show up to give a bid. Motion was approved to OK the lowest bid up to $14,000 to do a 4500 sq. ft. patchwork on the roads with asphalt breakout.
Request
VP Pelletier said 401 made a request for concrete curbing. The answer is forthcoming.
Rec. Hall Roof
Manager Zamora said the Casa engineering firm gave recommendations for the best way to fix the Rec. Hall roof/gutters and may cost around $80,000. Roofing bids are also forthcoming.
New Business
Proposed Loan for Maintaining the Common Grounds-MontalvoDir. Montalvo basically said a loan for dredging or other common ground maintenance projects does not look viable. Conversations seemed to strengthen the need for setting up a fund. This then started up the conversation on dredging for Tom Bergsma. This will resume in late December.
Other
Executive Session
To discuss Attorney status
Adjournment
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NOVEMBER 10, 2010 COFFEE WITH THE DIRECTORSPledge of Allegiance
Questions from the Directors
Dir. White mentioned Thanksgiving Buffet, trash and treasure, and other activities
Comments from the BOX
SC 77 asked why smoking is allowed in the swimming pool area. Answer, it is not.
Lot 248 asked to paint the yellow lines at Bath House #1.
Lot 301 said the street lights have been out for quite some time on Sea Shell Blvd and wonder when they will be fixed.
Lot 398 praised Security and maintenance for finding her bike and storing it over the summer.
Lots 37, 712, 638 praised the management over the appearance of the Park.
Lot 389, 571 said the curve/turn at the south end of the letter lots is a little hazardous to maneuver and should be looked at.
Lot 870 said he was not going to apologize for his past claims of a sewer smell. The new GM backed him up by saying that this was a serious problem the owner had been experiencing and it is now being fixed.
Lot 329 did a public service announcement about Veterans Day and a local event.
Lot? Owner wondered if meals from the restaurant could be catered to owners.
Lot 744 said there will be a final wrap up Hurricane meeting.
Lot 41 wanted an update on the dredging issue and was told that it was set for a vote by the owners at the upcoming annual meeting.
Lot 97 said there is a safety hazard with bushes obstructing your view as you leave the Park.
Lot? Owner complained about the commercial dumpster area looking dumpy.
Workshop
Dir. White wanted the dog poop baggies to be used more often.
Dir. Guerra wanted owners to obey the road rules and asked when the parking lot area where the Marquee was removed is going to be repaired.
VP Pelletier brought up the need of maintenance for the bath house fencing around the dumpsters.
Pres. Halbach declared that maintenance received the “Yard of the Month” award for November. He wants to form a new building committee and brought up some names. He also said the Jack Collins lawsuit will not be covered by our insurance and wants our directors to think about the need to having a different attorney to represent the Village in the future.
Treas. Steffensen asked the Board if several financial advisors could do future presentations to our owners.
Armando said he was getting as many bids for the Rec. Hall roof as possible.
Dir. Guerra had a novel idea of doing maintenance to one common ground building per year. Treas. Steffensen made it clear there is no current reserve fund for infrastructure repair but plans to pursue one.
GM Horner mentioned the food items to be served at the Thanksgiving buffet.
End
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Wednesday, November 3, 2010
A TIDBIT
Can one legitimately claim that Village Directors have constantly ignored the canal maintenance? Do the majority of owners wish to dredge the canals? We heard a Director say this at the last board meeting, so here are a few facts.
Larry Schroeder was elected in 2002 and became Director overseeing the canals and security.
The March Annual Meeting had a Rec. Hall full of owners who raised their hands indicating they didn’t want to spend money on dredging this year but would be open to discuss it further at the next 2011 Annual meeting.
The Board passed a $25,000 dredging survey motion five months later with the understanding that its findings is a waste of money if not acted upon within three months of the survey. So in a nutshell, most owners felt doing this survey meant dredging was a certainty.
The Board shelved the survey after receiving a ton of negative emails and immediately passed a second motion to mail questionnaires that asked each owner where they stood on dredging (none, partial, or full), their priorities (roads or canals), about boat ownership (no or if yes, what size and draft), and to explain what type of problem if any they were experiencing in the canals.
Less than half of the membership responded. Findings were that only four percent of the membership had problems getting their boats on/off their private boat lifts and less than one third of one percent (0.3%) 0f all owners had problems navigating through the canals.
Director Bergsma was technically correct with saying it is unreasonable to make the owners responsible for the dredging close to their sea walls because the Declaration of Covenants says that area is part of the limited common elements (Declaration of Covenants, Article II, “Canals or channels, up to but not including bulkheads, are included as Limited Common Elements”).
Should one feel it is unreasonable to make owners not owning waterfront property be made responsible to pay for canal upkeep since our Declaration of Covenants specifically says that these canals can only be used by waterfront property owners (Declaration of Covenants, Article II, Canals or channels, up to but not including bulkheads, are included as Limited Common Elements for use by the owners of lots abutting the canals or channels).
To make the Villagers pay for maintenance on a canal that’s not owned by the Association would not only be totally unreasonable, but unacceptable as well.
TechnicallyDirector Bergsma is also correct when saying it is the Board’s responsibility at making assessment decisions. (Bylaws, Section 10. Powers and Duties -The Board of Directors shall have the powers and duties necessary to make Assessments). One might note that nowhere in the Bylaws does it say that it is the Board’s sole responsibility.
To my understanding Dir. Bergsma alluded to a twenty some year old brochure from the Bennet Development Corp and not Long Island Village as the reason he bought his property. It refers to deep water channels 80’ wide and 6.5’ deep and he said he would not have bought if he knew the canals would not be maintained.
Is there a big enough problem here to spend a million buckaroos on or be sued over?
Your comment
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Saturday, October 30, 2010
Pledge of Allegiance
Absent were VP Pelletier, Dir. Guerra, and Dir. Bergsma was fifteen minutes late
Owners Speaking
None
Presidents Remarks
None
Managers Report
GM Rick Horner said 73 work orders were issued, eight not finished, and 142 owners are in arrears totaling $93,998. There will be an open house this Friday between 9am – 11am at the Welcome Center.
Comments from the Board
Treas. Steffensen talked about the Port Isabel Camber gathering and learned that many Parks are getting early traffic this year.
Dir. Gagan expressed a dock problem to the GM. (no lot number)
Armando said they had worked on the sewer problem at the Lot 870 location. Rick Horner described the way they inspected and resealed the sewer lid and feel they fixed the problem. The large filter pump for the outdoor pool is currently under repair.
Approval of Minutes
After minor corrections they were approved.
Treasurer’s Report & Financials
Everything appeared normal in the T-report. The P&L showed that all the Revenue Centers except our Newsletter were losers. So far this year the Golf Course has spent $25,000 less on water. Fewer rentals are going through our Rental Dept. making the Rental Revenues $110,000 less.
Major Improvement folders were handed out to each Director. It was said our water costs are less but our attorney fees are far more. Dir. Montalvo is of the opinion the legal fees are up because the Board had been putting us in situations where litigation had to be involved and added that the Board had challenged owners on issues that shouldn’t have. He said he feels that now we are moving in the right direction. Treas. Steffensen agreed.
Committee Reports
D&E- Dir. White said we a Saturday 4pm Halloween Party. Profits will go towards new Rec. Hall tables
Golf-None
Pool –None
Hurricane-One more meeting left.
Unfinished Business
Pool Rules-Treas. Steffensen made a motion that was approved to add open wound and Texas stipulated warnings to the pool rules.
Dredging Questionnaire- after quoting most of how 490 members voted on the dredging questionnaire, Dir. Bergsma emphasized that a majority of owners voted to dredge. He noted that he was one of the 49 owners who had a problem getting their boats on and off their lifts and followed with a lengthy personal analysis of our dredging situation. He felt that it was unreasonable to make owners responsible to pay for the removal of the debris around their own boat lifts and wants that to be included in our estimated $985,000+ or a $1000 plus assessment cost.
Secretary Montalvo said anything of this enormity in cost should be included in the Annual Meeting packets for the owners to decide. Dir. Bergsma argued that this is a Board responsibility towards the care of our common facilities and should not include the vote of the people. He added that any owner who doesn’t want to spend the money towards this should go somewhere else.
Dir. White agreed that the canals are important but our roads are more of a priority at this time. Secretary Montalvo reiterated that this should be voted on by the Village membership.
Dir. Gagan said the way he sees it was that Dir. Bergsma had three potential motions to make, an engineering study, partial dredging, or full dredging and asked him what was his choice. Dir. Bergsma said an engineering study since we are unsure of what exactly needs to be done.
Treas. Steffensen said she had just given out the budget and major improvement packets and that it is an important time to list things like this that needs to be done. She said she thought a study needs to be done first and that it be set up budget wise.
Dir. Bergsma responded with saying that we have been looking at this for a year now and then talked at length about what a study provides. He went on to say that the cost of dredging is nothing compared to cost in ignoring the issue and if this continues our property values would fall. We have to do this because we have a legal and moral obligation to do it and leaving it up to the people is wrong. Dir. Bergsma added that those people have nothing to say about it. It is our responsibility to take care of this facility.
After the Board talked about making a motion for a Annual Meeting membership vote, Dir. Bergsma appearing upset said I bought my property based on the fact that I would have access to these canals and now I don’t because these canals are not being taken care of. Whether you like it or not, you are going to get legal action from this meeting. When you say we need to put it off to the membership you are really saying is we don’t have the guts to make a decision. He again said the membership has nothing to do with it. Motion was made to present this to the membership to vote for full dredging of canals at our Annual Meeting. All but Dir. Bergsma approved. Dir. Bergsma concluded with saying that we failed in our responsibility and should fully expect a lawsuit from our members.
Rental Agreement-Treas. Steffensen said as a result of owners excessively blocking and unblocking their property while in a rental contract, we have the right to limit that number and charge for exceeding it. Motion approved to charge $35 for each change after (1 for a 3 mo. contract) (2 for a 6 mo. contract) (3 for 9 mo. contract) (4 for a 1 yr. contract).
New Business
Boat Lift- Dir. Gagan brought up that the dock placement rules doesn’t state the distant between the concrete pilings and want it the rules to read up to two feet. His second issue is to have flotation and reflector markers on boat lift arms. He wants the codes to read that lifts don’t exceed 21 ft. or one third of the canal width for narrow areas. This will be tabled for the new building rule committee.
Board of Directors Absentee Policy-Since Dir. Guerra was absent this was not discussed.
Second Reading of Policy Changes- VP Pelletier was also absent.
Adjourned
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Thursday, October 21, 2010
Pledge of Allegiance
Comments from the BOX
Lot 810 wanted curtains in the bathhouse showers.
Lot 249 wanted speed bumps because of speeders on Sand Dollar.
The Laguna Madre Water District General Manager Gavino Sotelo was introduced to explain the reasons why LIV should vote yes for the $39.3 Million Capital Improvement Bond. Bottom Line is that the bond will not raise taxes. Current tax rate is $0.0808.
Questions from the Directors
Dir. Bergsma said he would like to discuss the dredging questionnaire at the regular meeting.
Pres. Halbach said there will be a meeting this Saturday at 3pm with CONGRESSMAN SOLOMON ORTIZ to discuss our swing bridge situation. This will begin at the bridge and move to the Rec. Hall. Word is that he’s the money man.
Treasurer Steffensen said new fabric was ordered for some pool chairs.
Dir. White said Walgreens has a holiday flags where the proceeds go to different charitable organizations.
Rick Horner said the food the trapped Chilean miners ate came from Aramark.
Questions from the audience Lot 870 said for two years the stench has been terrible from his street sewer and wants it fixed. He said the previous manger sent some guy in a pink Cadillac over to fix it and that obviously that didn’t work. From that point forward he has been given nothing but excuses and had no choice but to call the Cameron County Health Department who by his account said if it isn’t fixed, they will shut down the Park’s sewer system. The new GM who has not given an excuse since knowing of this problem said by next week there will be someone out to scope this sewer in order to pinpoint where the problem is.
Lot 155 complemented Rick Horner on the way the Park looks.
Lot 870 the co owner reinforced that there is a terrible odor there and she too want action.
Lot 256 complimented the landscaping done near the Welcome center.
Rick Horner gave an update on the remodeling at the Welcome Center and said there will be a grand opening next Friday (29th) from 8-11am. There will be free food.
Lot 229 said this remodeling puts a lot of class back into this place.
Dir. White said the Halloween Party will be from 4-7pm this Sat. and features the Good Times Band. The early time was selected so owners had time to party elsewhere on the island.
SC 57 wondered when the solar heating of the pools will be addressed. The answer was it is scheduled next year to be addressed. She had a concerned that the party table signup sheets seems kind of a clique thing and that many owners don’t ever ask new owners to be at their table. Dir. White said that was brought up in a Pat Diebold’s Village Newsletter article.
Recess
A Special Meeting
This meeting was called to resolve a 3 inch height problem for lot 241. Dir. Montalvo brought up many valid points as to why this should be approved, such as there were mixed communications and vague building rules. After the Board deliberated about this for twenty five minutes it was determined to ok the variance and at the next meeting look to start a committee that will include builders input to make the building rules clearer.
Meeting Adjourned
Workshop
Dir. Gagan had concerns about a new boat lift sticking out too far in a canal and said it was dangerous. He went on to say that this lift should have buoy markers when submerged and reflectors on the lift arms when out of the water. He also thought a new sailboat docking in canal F may have such a wide breadth that it might make it difficult to navigate between it and other boats that are docked across from it.
Treas. Steffensen reflected on revised pool rules and had problems with the open wound rule. She also wanted the no skate boards and no hanging on the depth rope to be added. Dir. White said the main concern when this all started was to reword the rules so they all don’t start with a “NO” and eliminate such a negative impression. Treas. Steffensen brought up the procedural problems in the Rental Office.
Dir. Guerra wanted to get started on making sure that the winter people get their swim bands.
Dir. White wants everyone to use poop bags. (Pets)
Pres. Halbach wants the old Arroyo cable material disposed of. He said Port Isabel Chamber of Commerce wants two Park representatives to attend their Oct. 26th party and Treas. Steffensen was selected to attend all COC meetings.
End
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Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Drop the jaw, relax the lips, and use that tongue for something other than covering a nostril. It's comment time.
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Thursday, September 23, 2010
A TidbitI feel our current Board did a great job on the Arroyo Cable lawsuit settlement and deserves a tremendous amount of credit. For years many knew upon its cancelation that the Arroyo Cable’s contract was a lawsuit waiting to happen. It became a reality when a bare majority on the 2008 Board finally voted to cancel Arroyo Cable and replaced them with Time Warner. That Board brokered a 10 year contract with a max price increase of 5% per year. The deal provided twice as many better quality channels for $50,000 less annually. As I see it the savings has paid for this lawsuit. Great job!
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Why was this not
Ratified ?
When one looks at this year’s Budget, they will find a $21,000 Major Improvement item described as the “Maintenance Bldg. Repair”. This was no repair, it is an addition to the maintenance building.
Why is that?
Owners would have easily ratified this addition if given the chance. Describing this construction as a repair when it's clearly a substantial addition suggests that those in charge don’t want to be bothered with the ratification process.
Why is that?
One wonders why every Board opts to disobey Article X in the Declaration of Covenants and Article VII of the Bylaws. These Articles are the only checks and balance tools the concerned owners who care about the appearance of our Village have. Our Village has had major changes in appearance and substantial additions in the past eight years during which our membership has never been asked to ratified a single one.
Why is that?
I’ve heard the excuse that you need 75% of the Association membership to say yes in order to ratify. As I read it, all you need is to call for a ratification meeting and have 75% who show up to vote say “yes”. It is that simple as the condensed Covenants and Bylaws confirm below.Declaration Article X: Although the Association may construct additional facilities, there shall be no material alterations or substantial additions to the Common Elements except as authorized by the Board of Directors and ratified by the affirmative vote of Voting Members casting not less than seventy-five percent (75%) of the total votes of the members present at any regular/special meeting called for that purpose.
Bylaws Article VII: There shall be no substantial additions/alterations to the Common Elements unless authorized by the Board of Directors and ratified by the affirmative vote of the Voting members casting not less than 75% of the total votes of the owners present at any regular/special meeting called for that purpose.
These are the only Articles that specifically require the affirmative percentage of the voters present at a meeting while all the others specifically require an affirmative percentage of total membership (1024 owners) as these additional condensed Articles below will confirm.
Covenant Article IV. Amending the Declaration: the affirmative vote of the Voting Members casting not less than three-fourths (3/4) of the vote of the members of the Association.
Bylaw Article III. The Calling for Special Meetings: Members representing a majority of the Unit Owners' total votes
Bylaw Article IV. The Removal of Directors: by the affirmative vote of the Voting Members casting not less than a majority of the total of members in the Association.
Bylaw Article X. Amendments to the Bylaws: If the amendment has received the unanimous approval of the full Board of Directors, then it shall be approved upon the affirmative vote of the Voting Members casting a majority of the total votes of the Unit Owners.
If the amendment has not been approved by the unanimous vote of the Board of Directors, then the amendment shall be approved by the affirmative vote of the Voting Members casting not less than three-fourths (3/ 4ths) of the total votes of the Unit Owners.
In closing, concerned members of the Association who care about the appearance of our Village should not be denied their lawful right to ratify the decisions made by these elected few. So far what’s done is done, but from this moment forward, let us have a concerted effort with understanding and following the Declaration of Covenants and Village Bylaws.
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Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Board Meeting 9/22/10
Pledge of Allegiance
Owners Speaking
Lot 744 spoke about the issue of our Board wanting to make it mandatory for small children to wear life jackets. His position was that there are already too many rules, they couldn’t be enforced properly, this would increase our liability, that it would upset those youngsters who swim like a fish, and most of all, it is the parent’s responsibility to care for their own children.
SC 120 agreed with Lot 744 and added that parent awareness is the answer. She also said the rules are a blur. She said the noodle size that is used in the Activity Center as an example did not make sense.
Lot ? said he had managed motels and hotels for many years and has yet to see a life jacket rule.
President’s Remarks-Halbach
Here is the update on the dredging questionnaire.
There were 490 lots that responded, 190 of them (43%) owned boats, 34 have on-off boat lift problems in which dredging will not address, and there are only 3 owners who have trouble navigating one or more canals. Their boats, a 32ft. cabin cruiser w/4ft draft, 24ft sailboat with 5ft draft, 30 ft tug with 3.5ft draft.
Pledge of Allegiance
Owners Speaking
Lot 744 spoke about the issue of our Board wanting to make it mandatory for small children to wear life jackets. His position was that there are already too many rules, they couldn’t be enforced properly, this would increase our liability, that it would upset those youngsters who swim like a fish, and most of all, it is the parent’s responsibility to care for their own children.
SC 120 agreed with Lot 744 and added that parent awareness is the answer. She also said the rules are a blur. She said the noodle size that is used in the Activity Center as an example did not make sense.
Lot ? said he had managed motels and hotels for many years and has yet to see a life jacket rule.
President’s Remarks-Halbach
Here is the update on the dredging questionnaire.
There were 490 lots that responded, 190 of them (43%) owned boats, 34 have on-off boat lift problems in which dredging will not address, and there are only 3 owners who have trouble navigating one or more canals. Their boats, a 32ft. cabin cruiser w/4ft draft, 24ft sailboat with 5ft draft, 30 ft tug with 3.5ft draft.
The questionnaire showed 52% have docks and half of those use boat lifts.
Over 43% did not want to dredge, 39% limited, and 17% wanted full dredging.
Over 63% of the responders prefer the stick method over the $25,000 survey.
There were 48% of the responses saying any assessment would be a hardship while 25% said hardship for them started after $500.
More than 67% wanted dredging money to be spent on Village infrastructure or roads.
SC120 asked about dredging near the sea walls.
Lot 870 said it should be up to eacg owner to dredge near their sea walls.
This ended with Pres. Halbach saying it looks like partial dredging of bad areas is where things are at now. The Board talked about starting a contingency fund for the dredging expenses.
The Arroyo Cable lawsuit had been settled.
SC120 asked about dredging near the sea walls.
Lot 870 said it should be up to eacg owner to dredge near their sea walls.
This ended with Pres. Halbach saying it looks like partial dredging of bad areas is where things are at now. The Board talked about starting a contingency fund for the dredging expenses.
The Arroyo Cable lawsuit had been settled.
LIV's insurance did not cover this lawsuit. Arroyo Cable originally wanted $300,000 from LIV. The settlement was that LIV will give Arroyo Cable $25,000. The attorney fees at the time of settlement were near $45,000 and the continuing of Village Attorney fees would have exceeded $25,000 if this case went to trial, so the Board decided this settlement was finacially the best route for LIV.
Lot 591 asked why the insurance didn’t cover this. Treas. Steffensen said the insurance does not cover any contracts that the HOA makes outside the Association.
SC120 asked what our attorney had recommended. Pres. Halbach said that it was to settle with giving them the $25K.
Lot 744 asked if Arroyo still had equipment here. Pres. Halbach said whatever's left is ours and as we'll disposed the stuff as we find it.
Update of the Bridge Board Meeting.
Lot 591 asked why the insurance didn’t cover this. Treas. Steffensen said the insurance does not cover any contracts that the HOA makes outside the Association.
SC120 asked what our attorney had recommended. Pres. Halbach said that it was to settle with giving them the $25K.
Lot 744 asked if Arroyo still had equipment here. Pres. Halbach said whatever's left is ours and as we'll disposed the stuff as we find it.
Update of the Bridge Board Meeting.
Pres. Halbach said Mr. Freeland was in attendance and wanted LIV to pay half of the $10,875 bill he received from the firm he asked to file a protest towards the Corp of Engineers conclusions over realigning the intercoastal. Decisions about this were tabled.
There is a letter going around for owners to sign and send individually to Congressman Ortiz to protest this conclusion of the study by the Corp of Engineers. That study said a realingnment of the intercoastal waterways around Long Island would not result in having a good benefit to cost ratio. Villagers know better having had to live with the results of barges damaging the swing bridge and also know that sooner or later some major accident will occur.
Selba Campbell talked at length about her progress in trying to negotiate a new bridge. Go Selba! She also said it was very important that everyone votes this year.
Manager’s Report-Horner/Zamora
Rick Horner said he had 94 work orders with 77 of them completed, 5 building permits, condo fee arrears were $23,703, down $13169 from the previous month. Violation letters were basically replaced with courtesy letters because of the recent but light storm damage. Aramark is now drug testing everyone. Armando was recognized by Aramark for lasting 25 years and was awarded a watch. Time Warner tried to increase their rates 15% but Horner reminded them because of the contract, they can only increase them a max of 5% annually.
Director’s Comments
Dir. Martin said the gazebo's tile is extremely slippery when wet. Armando said it will be replaced.
Approval of August Minutes
August minutes were approved
Treasurer’s Report-Steffensen
Nothing stood out. Every revenue center except the newsletter were losers and the Rental rhetoric stayed the same. Dir. Montalvo voiced his concerns about the extremely high ratios of cost of goods to revenues.
Manager’s Report-Horner/Zamora
Rick Horner said he had 94 work orders with 77 of them completed, 5 building permits, condo fee arrears were $23,703, down $13169 from the previous month. Violation letters were basically replaced with courtesy letters because of the recent but light storm damage. Aramark is now drug testing everyone. Armando was recognized by Aramark for lasting 25 years and was awarded a watch. Time Warner tried to increase their rates 15% but Horner reminded them because of the contract, they can only increase them a max of 5% annually.
Director’s Comments
Dir. Martin said the gazebo's tile is extremely slippery when wet. Armando said it will be replaced.
Approval of August Minutes
August minutes were approved
Treasurer’s Report-Steffensen
Nothing stood out. Every revenue center except the newsletter were losers and the Rental rhetoric stayed the same. Dir. Montalvo voiced his concerns about the extremely high ratios of cost of goods to revenues.
Pat Burke politely pointed out that the $38,714 insurance check added to 2009 revenues effects the comparisons.
Committee Reports
D&E Committee-White
Oct. 30th Halloween cocktail party
Committee Reports
D&E Committee-White
Oct. 30th Halloween cocktail party
Trash &Treasures on Nov.13th
Nov.15th a cocktail party with Mike the Piano Man.
Golf Committee-Pelletier
N/A
Pool Committee-Steffensen
N/A
Hurricane Committee-White
Hurricane manual is in the Library.
Other
Unfinished Business
Owner’s Lounge Policy/Second reading of policy changes-Pelletier
Motion was passed to rescind the current $50 fee and return to the original lounge policy of having a $50 refundable deposit. A period of time to reflect and then conduct a second reading of a new policy change will go into practice.
Road Paving-Pelletier
There were discussions about not being able to find pavement contractors and Treas. Steffensen said the Board has $34,000 left this year to spend on road improvements.
Pool Rules and Monitors-White
Dir. White handed out 10 easy to understand rules to replace the current "NO" wording type rules. It was emphasized that owners should leave all problems in the pool area to Security.
.
Golf Committee-Pelletier
N/A
Pool Committee-Steffensen
N/A
Hurricane Committee-White
Hurricane manual is in the Library.
Other
Unfinished Business
Owner’s Lounge Policy/Second reading of policy changes-Pelletier
Motion was passed to rescind the current $50 fee and return to the original lounge policy of having a $50 refundable deposit. A period of time to reflect and then conduct a second reading of a new policy change will go into practice.
Road Paving-Pelletier
There were discussions about not being able to find pavement contractors and Treas. Steffensen said the Board has $34,000 left this year to spend on road improvements.
Pool Rules and Monitors-White
Dir. White handed out 10 easy to understand rules to replace the current "NO" wording type rules. It was emphasized that owners should leave all problems in the pool area to Security.
.
New Business
Child Life Vest Requirement-Gagan
Dir. Gagan said last week everyone thought this was a good idea and now it is not. This was dropped from going forward.
Director Absentee Policy-Guerra
Dir. Guerra wanted to change the current three in a row absent rule to a so many within a year rule. In order to do that, a resolution to amend the Bylaws is needed abd that is now in the works. The Board will be discussing this further at the next meeting.
Board use of SKYPE-Guerra
Dir. Guerra said he feels Board members should be physically at the Board meetings. Treas. Steffensen agreed and said signatures are necessary from every Director almost every month. Dir. Bergsma who is the only Director using the internet teleconferencing called SKYPE, said the Board originally didn’t approve this, it was our attorney who said it was legitimate communications for Board Meetings. He asked the Board to address this next month when he will be physically back. Different Board members gave their thoughts and a motion was approved by every Director except Bergsma that using SKYPE will not count as being present at a Board Meeting.
Lot 288 said if you say a Director is not viewed as present at a meeting using SKYPE, you would find it difficult to say this Director would be able to cast a valid vote at that meeting. That sent the waves rolling.
Adjournment
Child Life Vest Requirement-Gagan
Dir. Gagan said last week everyone thought this was a good idea and now it is not. This was dropped from going forward.
Director Absentee Policy-Guerra
Dir. Guerra wanted to change the current three in a row absent rule to a so many within a year rule. In order to do that, a resolution to amend the Bylaws is needed abd that is now in the works. The Board will be discussing this further at the next meeting.
Board use of SKYPE-Guerra
Dir. Guerra said he feels Board members should be physically at the Board meetings. Treas. Steffensen agreed and said signatures are necessary from every Director almost every month. Dir. Bergsma who is the only Director using the internet teleconferencing called SKYPE, said the Board originally didn’t approve this, it was our attorney who said it was legitimate communications for Board Meetings. He asked the Board to address this next month when he will be physically back. Different Board members gave their thoughts and a motion was approved by every Director except Bergsma that using SKYPE will not count as being present at a Board Meeting.
Lot 288 said if you say a Director is not viewed as present at a meeting using SKYPE, you would find it difficult to say this Director would be able to cast a valid vote at that meeting. That sent the waves rolling.
Adjournment
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Thursday, September 16, 2010
Coffee with the Directors
Pledge of Allegiance
Comment Box
Lot 463 was upset over the newly passed $50 fee to use the Owners Lounge. VP Pelletier said this was passed due to the volume and constant non cleanup of the lounge during the summer and will put it on the next week’s board meeting agenda.
Lot (no number given) wrote that the large windows by the ping pong table in the Activity Center leak bad. Armando said it’s the frame and hopes that it can be put in next year’s budget.
Comments from the Board
Dir. White said she has updated the activity schedule for D&E.
Dir. Martin asked about this activity going on south of our island. VP Pelletier said the Port Authority are building a road to their newly donated 35 acres from Mr. Freeland that will be made into wetlands.
Pres. Halbach gave the latest rundown of responses from the Board dredging mailer. He said out of 431 lots, 182 own a boat and 244 don’t. He said that “no” dredging so far has the majority over the other two categories individually but not combined. Limited dredging and total dredging are these categories. The stick method is preferred over the Dredge Survey. There are 152 owners who want to see the money spent on infrastructure and 164 on paving. Out of 431 owners, only 33 had problems and 30 of those problems were with their boat lift areas which would not be dredged. This means only three boat owners so far have said they had problems navigating the canals and these three have boar with over 4 foot drafts. He said they were still waiting for more responses to arrive and this weekend he will provide a report.
Dir. Gagan described an incident where a 3 year old girl nearly drowned in the outdoor pool. He wanted to see if the Board would entertain a new rule where if you are under a certain height you will be required to wear a Coast Guard approved life jacket. He brought up his dissatisfaction with Security’s response time to this incident. Discussions took place and went on at length, ending with this will be on the agenda next week.
Comments from the Audience
Lot 145 had problems with maintenance cutting the grass too low and butchering the grass instead of trimming it correctly. He said the Village Grill, Golf Course, and Rental Office losses are due to mismanagement. He brought up that Port Mansfield bought their own dredger and we might consider doing the same.
Lot 744 said if the Board could give a breakdown of salaries and all other expenses, owners may better understand the true costs of the golf course.
VP Pelletier said the Rental Office is a required by our Declaration of Covenants. Lot S said the Rental Office made a profit during its first years, but owners have since been allowed to rent their property without going through the Rental Office. Dir. Gagan said he at times does not rent his propertys through the Rental Office because his yearly renter couldn’t afford it. Lot 145 said once again that it’s a management problem.
Lot 329 said that this heavy equipment crossing our swing bridge should have more oversight. He was disturbed when the tractor towing two pieces of equipment (see photo below the polls) got hung up. He was told to go to the Bridge Board Meeting on Monday.
Coffee ended
Comments from the Board
Dir. White said she has updated the activity schedule for D&E.
Dir. Martin asked about this activity going on south of our island. VP Pelletier said the Port Authority are building a road to their newly donated 35 acres from Mr. Freeland that will be made into wetlands.
Pres. Halbach gave the latest rundown of responses from the Board dredging mailer. He said out of 431 lots, 182 own a boat and 244 don’t. He said that “no” dredging so far has the majority over the other two categories individually but not combined. Limited dredging and total dredging are these categories. The stick method is preferred over the Dredge Survey. There are 152 owners who want to see the money spent on infrastructure and 164 on paving. Out of 431 owners, only 33 had problems and 30 of those problems were with their boat lift areas which would not be dredged. This means only three boat owners so far have said they had problems navigating the canals and these three have boar with over 4 foot drafts. He said they were still waiting for more responses to arrive and this weekend he will provide a report.
Dir. Gagan described an incident where a 3 year old girl nearly drowned in the outdoor pool. He wanted to see if the Board would entertain a new rule where if you are under a certain height you will be required to wear a Coast Guard approved life jacket. He brought up his dissatisfaction with Security’s response time to this incident. Discussions took place and went on at length, ending with this will be on the agenda next week.
Comments from the Audience
Lot 145 had problems with maintenance cutting the grass too low and butchering the grass instead of trimming it correctly. He said the Village Grill, Golf Course, and Rental Office losses are due to mismanagement. He brought up that Port Mansfield bought their own dredger and we might consider doing the same.
Lot 744 said if the Board could give a breakdown of salaries and all other expenses, owners may better understand the true costs of the golf course.
VP Pelletier said the Rental Office is a required by our Declaration of Covenants. Lot S said the Rental Office made a profit during its first years, but owners have since been allowed to rent their property without going through the Rental Office. Dir. Gagan said he at times does not rent his propertys through the Rental Office because his yearly renter couldn’t afford it. Lot 145 said once again that it’s a management problem.
Lot 329 said that this heavy equipment crossing our swing bridge should have more oversight. He was disturbed when the tractor towing two pieces of equipment (see photo below the polls) got hung up. He was told to go to the Bridge Board Meeting on Monday.
Coffee ended
Regular Board Meeting was called into session.
Pertaining to the Arroyo Cablevision lawsuit, the Board voted on their executive session mediation decision from the previous week. No information other than that was disclosed. The votes were Directors Gagan,Pelletier, Guerra, Martin “yes” and Dir. White “no”. Motion passed.
Adjourned
Workshop
Dir. White wanted a Security Committee formed plus clarification on pool policies. Pres. Halbach said there was no need for a Security Committee because its managements job to oversee but will have on the agenda the pool policies.
Dir. Guerra wants to bring up the use of Skye, which is the internet conferencing that Dir. Bergsma has been using. He wants to talk about the need of Directors being physically at Board Meetings.
Pres. Halbach said he will discuss the results of the questionnaire.
VP Pelletier wants on the agenda the $50 fee policy for the Owner’s Lounge. He asked about road repair bids and Armando said nothing new yet. He also wishes to discuss second Regular Board Meetings when necessary, to keep from rushing a vote on important issues.
Dir. Gagan said he wanted this life vest issue on the agenda.
Armando asked if the Park can have directional signs for new people pointing towards where the amentias are.
Lot ? was confused on the rental form and asked for clarification.
Lot 744 asked the Board why the Rental Office won’t block off the time periods when owners want to use their own home unexpectedly and no renters are scheduled. The GM said that so many double bookings resulted when owners failed to notify the office of their unexpected arrival that we instituted that policy. If you sign it up in the rental pool for 3 months, it’s available to rent for 3 months, no exceptions. Owner from lot 744 thought this may be another reason why many owners don’t go through the Rental Office and continued to express other ideas when Pat Burke interrupted and gave a lengthy speech as to why do we have rules if you want to change them. Burke was asked to give her name and lot number and she said I’ll give it later. More owners said for her to do like everyone else does and give her lot number. She reluctantly gave her lot number.
VP Pelletier made a comment on the palm tree issue brought up by Lot 145 earlier and basically said we will not go on personal property to cut owner’s palms but instead possibly fine owners who display slipshod care.
Adjourned
Pertaining to the Arroyo Cablevision lawsuit, the Board voted on their executive session mediation decision from the previous week. No information other than that was disclosed. The votes were Directors Gagan,Pelletier, Guerra, Martin “yes” and Dir. White “no”. Motion passed.
Adjourned
Workshop
Dir. White wanted a Security Committee formed plus clarification on pool policies. Pres. Halbach said there was no need for a Security Committee because its managements job to oversee but will have on the agenda the pool policies.
Dir. Guerra wants to bring up the use of Skye, which is the internet conferencing that Dir. Bergsma has been using. He wants to talk about the need of Directors being physically at Board Meetings.
Pres. Halbach said he will discuss the results of the questionnaire.
VP Pelletier wants on the agenda the $50 fee policy for the Owner’s Lounge. He asked about road repair bids and Armando said nothing new yet. He also wishes to discuss second Regular Board Meetings when necessary, to keep from rushing a vote on important issues.
Dir. Gagan said he wanted this life vest issue on the agenda.
Armando asked if the Park can have directional signs for new people pointing towards where the amentias are.
Lot ? was confused on the rental form and asked for clarification.
Lot 744 asked the Board why the Rental Office won’t block off the time periods when owners want to use their own home unexpectedly and no renters are scheduled. The GM said that so many double bookings resulted when owners failed to notify the office of their unexpected arrival that we instituted that policy. If you sign it up in the rental pool for 3 months, it’s available to rent for 3 months, no exceptions. Owner from lot 744 thought this may be another reason why many owners don’t go through the Rental Office and continued to express other ideas when Pat Burke interrupted and gave a lengthy speech as to why do we have rules if you want to change them. Burke was asked to give her name and lot number and she said I’ll give it later. More owners said for her to do like everyone else does and give her lot number. She reluctantly gave her lot number.
VP Pelletier made a comment on the palm tree issue brought up by Lot 145 earlier and basically said we will not go on personal property to cut owner’s palms but instead possibly fine owners who display slipshod care.
Adjourned
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Thursday, September 9, 2010
A SHOW OF HANDS
Tom Bergsma and M.O. Berry appear to be the only owners spearheading this dredging issue.
Mr. Bergsma has tried various ways to sell his dredging agenda. Things like, we use to see porpoise in the canal and caught a lot more fish. This dredging will improve property values. Dredging will remove all that nasty construction material from the canal water. Dredge now, Mr. Freeland will only give us a certain window of opportunity to save millions. This $25,000 hydrographic survey will pay for itself. Our Park has a legal and moral responsibility to dredge.
Nearly every owner showed an opposing hand and they left our March Annual Meeting thinking the dredging issue was on hold until the next Annual Meeting. Mr. Bergsma’s persistence and Mr. Berry’s threat of possible legal action somehow convinced our Board to change that perspective. They approved the spending of $15,000 to obtain survey results to back up any dredging decision before the 2011 Annual Meeting.
After the Village Voice alerted its mailer list on this decision, the Board was overwhelmed with emails that prompted a Board decision to send an owner opinion mailer on dredging before going any further with this dredging survey.
A provocative email from Mr. Bergsma described the Board’s action as being “totally chickenshit”. He conveyed the “lawsuit card” throughout this rejoinder with the use of a M.O. Berry correspondence to the Board last March. In Canal “A”, Mr. Berry claims to have problems navigating his custom made twenty-four foot sailboat with nearly a six foot fixed keel and did mention that unfulfilled dredging matters may require legal attention.
Tom Bergsma and M.O. Berry appear to be the only owners spearheading this dredging issue.
Mr. Bergsma has tried various ways to sell his dredging agenda. Things like, we use to see porpoise in the canal and caught a lot more fish. This dredging will improve property values. Dredging will remove all that nasty construction material from the canal water. Dredge now, Mr. Freeland will only give us a certain window of opportunity to save millions. This $25,000 hydrographic survey will pay for itself. Our Park has a legal and moral responsibility to dredge.
Nearly every owner showed an opposing hand and they left our March Annual Meeting thinking the dredging issue was on hold until the next Annual Meeting. Mr. Bergsma’s persistence and Mr. Berry’s threat of possible legal action somehow convinced our Board to change that perspective. They approved the spending of $15,000 to obtain survey results to back up any dredging decision before the 2011 Annual Meeting.
After the Village Voice alerted its mailer list on this decision, the Board was overwhelmed with emails that prompted a Board decision to send an owner opinion mailer on dredging before going any further with this dredging survey.
A provocative email from Mr. Bergsma described the Board’s action as being “totally chickenshit”. He conveyed the “lawsuit card” throughout this rejoinder with the use of a M.O. Berry correspondence to the Board last March. In Canal “A”, Mr. Berry claims to have problems navigating his custom made twenty-four foot sailboat with nearly a six foot fixed keel and did mention that unfulfilled dredging matters may require legal attention.
This daughting email reminded our Board that Mr. Berry filed a “no contact” court order against Pat Burke for harassment which caused Mr. Bergsma to query; do you think Mr. Berry is looking to sue LIV for harassment or for punitive damages due to negligence? How do you think a law suit for LIV's failure to maintain our canals will play in the press and do you think that might hurt our image as well as property values?
He expressed that sending out a questionnaire to the membership regarding the issue of should we dredge or not is totally chickenshit, especially when asking the question "would the assessment be a financial hardship on you?" Why don't you ask if paying dues to LIV is a hardship too? Give me a break. It is time for the Board to stand up and do the job we were elected to do instead of trying to pass our responsibilities on the membership. It is time to pass on doing the survey and quit stalling before we get sued.
We don’t know if Mr. Berry will sue LIV if our Board decides not to dredge canal "A". He might even sue for the damages to his boat. Who knows?
We don’t know if our Village will be handed a class action lawsuit if our Board decides to do major dredging. It’s been mentioned.
Here are the things we do know.
We do know the last Annual Meeting had an overwhelming show of owner's hands who opposed dredging.
We do know the Board thought that spending $15,000 for a dredging survey would help to back their decision.
We do know the Board President said on April 28th during our Regular Board Meeting that Mr. Berry’s claim of entitlement isn’t correct.
We do know Mr. Bergsma is correct when saying Directors on the Board are elected to do a job, but fails to understand that this job is one of being a representative who speaks, acts, or votes on behalf of the very membership that elects you. With that said, didn't our Membership make one of their wishes very clear last March?
We do know if the Board uses this mailer to truly validate that owners have changed their minds, it should require an affirmative 75% of a total that’s equal to the quorum total we had at the last Annual Meeting.
We do know silt problems expressed by both spearheads were on property not owned by our Association.
We do know Mr. Bergsma has expressed that it is not right to pay and get nothing out of a dredging assessment, then turn around and pay extra to dredge canal H. Could that be one reason why he has mentioned that owners shouldn’t have a problem with Canal H and the Intercoastal being part of the dredging assessments.
We do know a show of hands from owners is currently being considered meaningless by our Board.
We definitely know Mr. Bergsma owes his friends on the Board an apology.
Care to share a comment?
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Friday, August 27, 2010
August 26, 2010 Board Meeting
Pledge of Allegiance
Pledge of Allegiance
Directors Bergsma, Montalvo, and Pres. Halbach were absent.
Owners from the Audience
Lot 288 spoke about the Village’s reasons and history in acquiring our current security company. She said the old security committee found that out of eight security company bids, Securitas fit the Village criteria the best. She asked that certain members of the Board to reconsider the notion in looking at other companies and try to work out the problems with our present one.
Lot 145 gave his background and then spoke at length with the way the grass is being cut and edged incorrectly. He had issues with the Village roads and how they were repaired. After hearing twenty minutes of this, VP Pelletier asked him to wrap it up. he concluded with some thoughts on how to handle the dredging.
Lot 665 had concerns about Aramark workers cutting the common ground palms. He said there is liability issues here not to mention OSHA having a major problem with it. He explained that he would like to do more than just cutting palms around the pool area, is insured, and can do this work cheaper. He asked that the Board consider this.
Lot 288 spoke about the Village’s reasons and history in acquiring our current security company. She said the old security committee found that out of eight security company bids, Securitas fit the Village criteria the best. She asked that certain members of the Board to reconsider the notion in looking at other companies and try to work out the problems with our present one.
Lot 145 gave his background and then spoke at length with the way the grass is being cut and edged incorrectly. He had issues with the Village roads and how they were repaired. After hearing twenty minutes of this, VP Pelletier asked him to wrap it up. he concluded with some thoughts on how to handle the dredging.
Lot 665 had concerns about Aramark workers cutting the common ground palms. He said there is liability issues here not to mention OSHA having a major problem with it. He explained that he would like to do more than just cutting palms around the pool area, is insured, and can do this work cheaper. He asked that the Board consider this.
Presidents Remarks
VP Pelletier, sitting in for Pres. Halbach, said yesterday his email was flooded with owners expressing their thoughts on the dredging issue. He said other Board members experienced the same. He said that someone sent dredging information out via emails to owners and gave them the Board members email addresses. He asked why none of us, the Board members never received one of these emails so we could have a chance to get some answers together to give to these owners? We are owners just like you and are here to represent you.
VP Pelletier, sitting in for Pres. Halbach, said yesterday his email was flooded with owners expressing their thoughts on the dredging issue. He said other Board members experienced the same. He said that someone sent dredging information out via emails to owners and gave them the Board members email addresses. He asked why none of us, the Board members never received one of these emails so we could have a chance to get some answers together to give to these owners? We are owners just like you and are here to represent you.
Manager’s Report
GM said he had 60 work orders; fifty six were completed, 5 building permits, 4 violation letters, and condo fee arrears totaling $36,872. This was $35802 lower than the previous month. Armando gave the updates on several current projects.
GM said he had 60 work orders; fifty six were completed, 5 building permits, 4 violation letters, and condo fee arrears totaling $36,872. This was $35802 lower than the previous month. Armando gave the updates on several current projects.
Tony Mendoila , an employee that does most of the Village plumbing, was honored for his twenty-fifth year of service at LIV.
Director Comments
Dir. Martin thought the court mediation on Wednesday was exciting.
Dir. Guerra said the Marquee was looking good.
Dir. Martin thought the court mediation on Wednesday was exciting.
Dir. Guerra said the Marquee was looking good.
Approval of June’s Minutes
Motion was approved.
Treasurer Report
Treas. Steffensen went through the August Treasurer Report and nothing stood out. In the P&L, the Restaurant is doing $13,986 better than last year, the Golf Course is doing $13,915 better than last year, the news letter is doing $2,023 better than last year, and the laundry is doing $1,352 better than last year. The Rental Dept. was doing $35,206 worse than in 2009. Treas. Steffensen was quick to point out that the large disparity in Rental Revenues was due to the $38,712.23 insurance settlement check and said that less people are renting through the Rental Dept.
Lot 288 asked if the Rental Office through the Village website is any further along. Treas. Steffensen said not at this time because of the changes being done in the office.
Pat Burke asked for the audience to give a big hand to Treas. Steffensen for her work towards the newsletter.
Committee Reports
D&E-Dir. White said she has received all of the entertainment contracts. She thanked the summer people for their support.
Golf -N/A
Pool -Treas. Steffensen said since things have slowed they are going to start on the pool statues.
Hurricane -N/A
Unfinished Business
Treasurer Steffensen made a motion to update policy 3.5, so that boat trailer three day parking passes may be renew one time if the renter is staying a maximum of one week. Motion was approved.
Treas. Steffensen said that Hurricane Alex's final cost to the Village was $2,789.
Dir. White asked VP Pelletier where are we going with this dredging issue. VP Pelletier said the Board had talked originally about doing some type of action in September, but I now recommend that the Board mail each owner a letter or post card, asking for a yes or no answer on dredging instead of the Board asking for a show of hands. He said this way we have documentation to prove that our actions are in line with what the majority want. Dir. Gagan wanted to owners to provide input on trouble areas . VP Pelletier also wanted to make it clear that only the middle of the canals would be dredge and not under the boat lifts. VP Pelletier wanted owners to know that at mean (medium) tide Dir. Gagan’s 24’ boat traveled through all the canals and got mudded up in only three locations. VP Pelletier said that we all know the need to maintain our canals but with this economy, do owners want to do it now? Motion was approved to send letters or post card to owners.
VP Pelletier talked a little about the recent road repairs and wanted to make sure a letter is sent to the patch work contractor, telling him that the Village will not pay him his final one third of the money unless he finishes the work properly.
New Business
Dir. White brought up the parking violations on Lot 70. The decision was that his will be addressed by sending them a letter from the Board.
Lot 714 motion for a variance was turned down.
Dir. Guerra thanked Liz Deitrick for her earlier comments and said he was going to change his mind about looking for new bids. He did want to establish a new Security Committee that would work with management. Motion for a new security committee was approved.
Other
Treas. Steffensen made it clear that the 11pm quiet time in our Park is everywhere except for activities in the Rec. Hall. This became an issue after an owner complained about karaoke noise at the Pavilion. There was some discussion on how quiet does quiet time have to be and ended up being left open for later discussions.
Dir. Guerra said there is still this problem about canopies that has not yet been addressed. This ended up with the Board needing further time to rethink and discuss in the Sept. meeting.
VP Pelletier said the parking lot lines need painted and Armando said he has already bought the paint.
The Securitas Manager said he has made a working document that will be reviewed each month by his staff .
VP Pelletier said there will be a Saturday evening buffet and Sunday omelet breakfast at the Rec. Hall for Labor Day weekend.
VP Pelletier said the Board is going into an executive session for information gathering.
Adjourn
Motion was approved.
Treasurer Report
Treas. Steffensen went through the August Treasurer Report and nothing stood out. In the P&L, the Restaurant is doing $13,986 better than last year, the Golf Course is doing $13,915 better than last year, the news letter is doing $2,023 better than last year, and the laundry is doing $1,352 better than last year. The Rental Dept. was doing $35,206 worse than in 2009. Treas. Steffensen was quick to point out that the large disparity in Rental Revenues was due to the $38,712.23 insurance settlement check and said that less people are renting through the Rental Dept.
Lot 288 asked if the Rental Office through the Village website is any further along. Treas. Steffensen said not at this time because of the changes being done in the office.
Pat Burke asked for the audience to give a big hand to Treas. Steffensen for her work towards the newsletter.
Committee Reports
D&E-Dir. White said she has received all of the entertainment contracts. She thanked the summer people for their support.
Golf -N/A
Pool -Treas. Steffensen said since things have slowed they are going to start on the pool statues.
Hurricane -N/A
Unfinished Business
Treasurer Steffensen made a motion to update policy 3.5, so that boat trailer three day parking passes may be renew one time if the renter is staying a maximum of one week. Motion was approved.
Treas. Steffensen said that Hurricane Alex's final cost to the Village was $2,789.
Dir. White asked VP Pelletier where are we going with this dredging issue. VP Pelletier said the Board had talked originally about doing some type of action in September, but I now recommend that the Board mail each owner a letter or post card, asking for a yes or no answer on dredging instead of the Board asking for a show of hands. He said this way we have documentation to prove that our actions are in line with what the majority want. Dir. Gagan wanted to owners to provide input on trouble areas . VP Pelletier also wanted to make it clear that only the middle of the canals would be dredge and not under the boat lifts. VP Pelletier wanted owners to know that at mean (medium) tide Dir. Gagan’s 24’ boat traveled through all the canals and got mudded up in only three locations. VP Pelletier said that we all know the need to maintain our canals but with this economy, do owners want to do it now? Motion was approved to send letters or post card to owners.
VP Pelletier talked a little about the recent road repairs and wanted to make sure a letter is sent to the patch work contractor, telling him that the Village will not pay him his final one third of the money unless he finishes the work properly.
New Business
Dir. White brought up the parking violations on Lot 70. The decision was that his will be addressed by sending them a letter from the Board.
Lot 714 motion for a variance was turned down.
Dir. Guerra thanked Liz Deitrick for her earlier comments and said he was going to change his mind about looking for new bids. He did want to establish a new Security Committee that would work with management. Motion for a new security committee was approved.
Other
Treas. Steffensen made it clear that the 11pm quiet time in our Park is everywhere except for activities in the Rec. Hall. This became an issue after an owner complained about karaoke noise at the Pavilion. There was some discussion on how quiet does quiet time have to be and ended up being left open for later discussions.
Dir. Guerra said there is still this problem about canopies that has not yet been addressed. This ended up with the Board needing further time to rethink and discuss in the Sept. meeting.
VP Pelletier said the parking lot lines need painted and Armando said he has already bought the paint.
The Securitas Manager said he has made a working document that will be reviewed each month by his staff .
VP Pelletier said there will be a Saturday evening buffet and Sunday omelet breakfast at the Rec. Hall for Labor Day weekend.
VP Pelletier said the Board is going into an executive session for information gathering.
Adjourn
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Thursday, August 19, 2010
August Coffee with the Directors
Pledge of Allegiance
Comments from the Box – Dir. Pelletier
The Fishers (no lot#) said the Fri. Night Chicken sign on the main drag is beyond trashy.
The Fishers (no lot#) said the Fri. Night Chicken sign on the main drag is beyond trashy.
Director Comments
Treasurer Steffensen had a problem about the June’s minutes not being approved yet.
Treasurer Steffensen had a problem about the June’s minutes not being approved yet.
Audience Comments
Lot 828 thought the fountain looked really good in the miniature golf area. The comments, minutes, and financials were being taken from the Village library.
No name or Lot # Owner suggested the Board ask at the beginning of each meeting if there are any newcomers in the audience and if so, introduce themselves to the newcomers along with their positions.
SC120 said there are still problems with the pool on Monday and Tuesday. Dir. Pelletier said it was due to volume, but the lot owner was adamant that it's the pool. She also said that no one seems to be attending to the pool on those days. The GM said this had been brought to his attention and he will take care of it.
Lot 834 asked if the tent structure in her neighbor’s yard is going to be taken care of as promised. Evidently the frame to a canopy has been left standing for years.
No name or lot # said no one is attending to the pools on Monday and thinks it’s better to not change another employee’s schedule to solve the problem but instead make the employee scheduled for that day do his job.
Director Guerra chastised at length the security manager. This is the same person who has attended both the Coffee and Regular Meetings since taking over that position. He did this to make sure to address instantly any security problems. Director Guerra and Director Gagan after the censure talked about looking at other Security Companies for our Village.
Lot 828 wished the Board would entertain the thought in moving the guard house to the north side of the swing bridge. Pat Burke yelled you can’t do that because it is against the law to stop Sun Harbor people. The owner then asked the Board to please look at what he said and not listen to what is not true. Burke yelled that is what the Village attorney said. VP Pelletier said the Board will review it.
Lot 834 complained about a lot having too many people staying overnight.
Lot S asked when quiet time in the Park started because she had a problem with the last Karaoke party at the Pavilion. When finding out quiet hour was at midnight during the summer, the owner asked if quiet hour could be changed to an earlier time or possibly move Karaoke indoors.
SC 57 complimented our GM on this year's Village Grill and chicken nights.
President Halback asked if anyone in the audience knows someone named Jack Collins. Pat Burke said she did and gave her pointed view. The President said he received an email from the Village attorney that this man supposedly is entering a federal lawsuit against the Village or the swing bridge, or both, along with Port Isabel, the Laguna Water District and whoever else there is out there. Pat Burke yelled, and a prostitute to which no one seemed to know exactly what she meant.
VP Pelletier said there will be an executive meeting at 11:30 today in preparation for next Wednesday's litigation with Arroyo Cable .
Lot 828 thought the fountain looked really good in the miniature golf area. The comments, minutes, and financials were being taken from the Village library.
No name or Lot # Owner suggested the Board ask at the beginning of each meeting if there are any newcomers in the audience and if so, introduce themselves to the newcomers along with their positions.
SC120 said there are still problems with the pool on Monday and Tuesday. Dir. Pelletier said it was due to volume, but the lot owner was adamant that it's the pool. She also said that no one seems to be attending to the pool on those days. The GM said this had been brought to his attention and he will take care of it.
Lot 834 asked if the tent structure in her neighbor’s yard is going to be taken care of as promised. Evidently the frame to a canopy has been left standing for years.
No name or lot # said no one is attending to the pools on Monday and thinks it’s better to not change another employee’s schedule to solve the problem but instead make the employee scheduled for that day do his job.
Director Guerra chastised at length the security manager. This is the same person who has attended both the Coffee and Regular Meetings since taking over that position. He did this to make sure to address instantly any security problems. Director Guerra and Director Gagan after the censure talked about looking at other Security Companies for our Village.
Lot 828 wished the Board would entertain the thought in moving the guard house to the north side of the swing bridge. Pat Burke yelled you can’t do that because it is against the law to stop Sun Harbor people. The owner then asked the Board to please look at what he said and not listen to what is not true. Burke yelled that is what the Village attorney said. VP Pelletier said the Board will review it.
Lot 834 complained about a lot having too many people staying overnight.
Lot S asked when quiet time in the Park started because she had a problem with the last Karaoke party at the Pavilion. When finding out quiet hour was at midnight during the summer, the owner asked if quiet hour could be changed to an earlier time or possibly move Karaoke indoors.
SC 57 complimented our GM on this year's Village Grill and chicken nights.
President Halback asked if anyone in the audience knows someone named Jack Collins. Pat Burke said she did and gave her pointed view. The President said he received an email from the Village attorney that this man supposedly is entering a federal lawsuit against the Village or the swing bridge, or both, along with Port Isabel, the Laguna Water District and whoever else there is out there. Pat Burke yelled, and a prostitute to which no one seemed to know exactly what she meant.
VP Pelletier said there will be an executive meeting at 11:30 today in preparation for next Wednesday's litigation with Arroyo Cable .
Workshop
VP Pelletier started the workshop conversing with Dir. Gagan and Guerra, saying that it always seems that security last about two or three years and then you have to make a change. It’s been that way all these years I’ve been here said VP Pelletier. Dir. Gagan said sad, sad and Dir. Guerra said I just want them to do their job. Pres. Halbach said if you want to bring it up at the meeting next week, do so.
VP Pelletier said Lot 714 is requesting a variance and gave the info to the Board members.
Treas. Steffensen said the approval for the Hurricane changes will need to be on the agenda. She brought up an article found in USA that Texas passed a law this year that people who violate mandatory evacuations can now be arrested.
Dir. White said our Board has sent Lot 70 letters that they were parking too many vehicles on their lot and wondered if this needs to be put on the agenda. A letter from the lawyer was decided upon followed by long discussions of vehicles parking illegally in our Village.
Dir. White asked if there was any progress on the dredging bids. Pres. Halbach mentioned he was trying to talk to Port Isabel to use the dredging rig they supposely purchased. The answer was not much progress.
Treas. Steffensen brought up the problem in having three day boat trailers parking passes for five day fishing tournaments. The GM said there’s the same problem weekly renters. This may be on the agenda.
VP Pelletier made the suggestion to have a certified letter be sent by the Sect. to notify the asphalt contractor that he has 30 days to finish his work correctly or not be paid the last one third of the money.
VP Pelletier started the workshop conversing with Dir. Gagan and Guerra, saying that it always seems that security last about two or three years and then you have to make a change. It’s been that way all these years I’ve been here said VP Pelletier. Dir. Gagan said sad, sad and Dir. Guerra said I just want them to do their job. Pres. Halbach said if you want to bring it up at the meeting next week, do so.
VP Pelletier said Lot 714 is requesting a variance and gave the info to the Board members.
Treas. Steffensen said the approval for the Hurricane changes will need to be on the agenda. She brought up an article found in USA that Texas passed a law this year that people who violate mandatory evacuations can now be arrested.
Dir. White said our Board has sent Lot 70 letters that they were parking too many vehicles on their lot and wondered if this needs to be put on the agenda. A letter from the lawyer was decided upon followed by long discussions of vehicles parking illegally in our Village.
Dir. White asked if there was any progress on the dredging bids. Pres. Halbach mentioned he was trying to talk to Port Isabel to use the dredging rig they supposely purchased. The answer was not much progress.
Treas. Steffensen brought up the problem in having three day boat trailers parking passes for five day fishing tournaments. The GM said there’s the same problem weekly renters. This may be on the agenda.
VP Pelletier made the suggestion to have a certified letter be sent by the Sect. to notify the asphalt contractor that he has 30 days to finish his work correctly or not be paid the last one third of the money.
Adjourned
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