A PLACE TO BE
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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