Bay Indies Homeowners Association, Inc.
Board of Director's Meeting
Friday, February 19, 2016
The meeting was called to order at the Bay House Arts and Crafts Room at 1:30PM by Co-President Dick Lovelace.
Roll Call
Present: Tony Tremonto, Joan Sass, George Alexander, Veronica Wasserman, Barbara Colgan, Rick Petruzzi, Carl Kruse, Greg Schwartz and Dick Lovelace
Absent: None
Approval of Minutes
January 6, 2016 Nominating Meeting, January 15, 2016 Board Workshop Meeting and January 22, 2016 Regular Board Meeting. A motion was made by George Alexander and seconded by Carl Kruse to approve these minutes. Motion passed unanimously.
Treasurer's Report
A motion was made by Veronica Wasserman and seconded by Joan Sass to accept the January, 2016 Treasurer's Report (attached). Joan Sass asked about a check made out to UPS. It was explained that this was for postage and labels needed for the first mailing of dues packets. The check also covers the cost of labels for 2017 mailings as well as the 2016 and 2017 membership decals, along with the expenses associated with a second mailing scheduled for this year. Motion was passed unanimously.
Correspondence
Dick Lovelace received a letter from the law firm of Morgan and Morgan relating to a lawsuit being brought by a resident whose bike hit a pothole causing her to fall and break her pelvis. Last year there was a similar incident and it cost the HOA money for our lawyers to respond and say that we had no responsibility as we do not own the land. This year Dick answered the letter himself thus saving the HOA the cost of having our attorneys involved. It was noted that the Community manager Ron Juneman turned the matter over to the attorneys who represent ELS. The HOA is not involved in this in any way.
Carl Kruse read a letter from the HOA's auditor Daniel R. Calandria. The letter was in reference to the audit conducted by Mr. Calandria which confirmed all HOA treasury related documents to be accurate and meeting all auditing and accounting principles. Carl also read a letter from Dr. Gonzalez thanking the HOA for the invitation to speak at the annual meeting which he was unable to do. He looks forward to another invitation to speak, especially after March.
Committee Reports
Service Committee – Joan Sass
Joan explained that the last meeting with management was a short one and announced that the committee had a new member, John McCall. John was assigned to monitor the Bay House complex. Joan mentioned that Ron brought up the idea of a fence in front of the property along Ridgewood Avenue. Apparently this idea was first proposed by a previous manager. Opinions differ on this idea and the Service Committee at this time has no opinion on this. The committee asked that anyone with a strong opinion on the fence topic pass their ideas and/or opinions along. The present manager is very cooperative, amenable and willing to work with the HOA. The fence idea was never discussed by the HOA. Dick Lovelace, however, was of the opinion that there were better ways for management to spend its money than erecting a fence.
Membership Committee – Veronica Wasserman
Veronica was happy to announce that new members continue to join the HOA and that total membership as of February 19, 2016 was 461. The committee intends to reach out to last year's members who have not yet paid their dues for this year. Along with a second mailing the committee continues to look at and investigate all of the returned packets and hopefully will be able to locate these residents. One idea was to work with block captains to compare names on returned packets with names on mailboxes. A friendly knock on the door was also suggested. Joan asked how this year's membership numbers compare to last year's. Veronica explained that this year's numbers are only down 20 members from last year at this time. Veronica explained, however, that the membership drive this year did not start until 2016 so the actual numbers are much better than 2015. Finally, Veronica noted that last year there were 80 returned packets and this year there are only 50, so our records are getting better.
There were no other committee reports.
Community Manager Ron Juneman and Activities Director Kerri Gibson were unable to attend this meeting.
New Business
Reinvestment of Expiring CD and Temporary Reserve Fund
A motion was made by Carl Kruse and seconded by Greg Schwartz to combine funds located in a temporary reserve fund and an expiring CD at Capital Bank and combine the two together. The motion passed unanimously.
A second motion was made by Carl Kruse and seconded by Barbara Colgan to take the total from the above combined funds and invest it in a new two year CD at Synchrony Bank which is currently offering the best interest rates. This motion passed unanimously.
HOA Cabaret – Dick Lovelace
Dick announced that the “Memories” Cabaret Show scheduled for March 5, 2016 is sold out.
Trivia Nights – Dick Lovelace
Dick Lovelace reported that the last three Trivia Nights set attendance records with 240, 248 and 253 attendees respectively. Dick stressed that these numbers are the most we can handle and asked again that any Board members who are available please come out and lend a hand.
George Alexandria read a letter from Barbara Colgan tendering her resignation as of March 1. It was moved and second to accept her resignation with regret. Motion was passed. Members expressed their gratitude for her service during her tenure on the Board.
Fidelity Dishonest Bond Insurance Policy Motion – Veronica Wasserman
Veronica reported that our policy expires on April 14, 2016. She made a motion we increase our coverage from $100,000. to $160,000. which would result in a premium increase of $59.00 per year. Since the Brown Insurance Agency is unable to increase our coverage Veronica also proposed moving the policy to the Key Agency which can handle the increase and also provides all of our other policies. Rick Petruzzi asked just what a Fidelity Dishonest Bond Policy was. Veronica explained that his policy covers the HOA if someone should steal from the Association. Barbara Colgan commented that these policies are common with HOA's and Joan Sass confirmed that the policy was taken out originally a few years ago. Veronica stressed that $100,000. was inadequate and the coverage needed to be raised to $160,000. Joan Sass asked why the extra coverage was necessary and Veronica explained that $160,000. would cover the HOA's total assets. Dick Lovelace mentioned that the last HOA he was involved in before coming to Bay Indies had an office worker steal $75,000. The individual went to jail and is still involved in paying the Insurance Company back for the theft. The policy not only replaced the money stolen but also covered the legal fees involved in the investigation and the case in general. The motion was made by Veronica Wasserman and seconded by Greg Schwartz. The motion passed unanimously.
Professional Insurance Systems Presentation – Dick Lovelace
Dick announced that the March 18, 2016 HOA meeting would be moved back to Indies House. The first 20 minutes of the meeting would involve a presentation by Professional Insurance Systems on why Manufactured Home Owners need insurance. The presentation will also cover options available for homeowners who are dissatisfied with Citizens. The presentation will be for information only and representatives will be available to answer individual questions at the end of the business meeting.
Negotiations Update – George Alexander
George noted that the February 9, 2016 negotiations meeting was canceled by ELS because one of the Vice Presidents involved was unavailable. The committee has put in three requests for a rescheduled meeting and is waiting to hear back from management.
ELS/HOA Comprehensive Plan Meeting with other Parks in Venice - Dick Lovelace
There is a meeting scheduled for March 7, 2016 in Indies House. It will be by invitation only and is being hosted by ELS and the HOA. We are inviting two representatives from each of the other Manufactured Home Parks in Venice. Hopefully the attendees will include the HOA president, the park manager, or both. We will be working with other parks and management to try and effect changes in Venice's proposed new Comprehensive Plan. One aspect of the plan is to reduce density in the parks which could affect our ability to rebuild in the event homes are destroyed by fire or natural causes. Ideas will be discussed and will hopefully be presented to the city. We will be joining with other parks to hopefully have a louder voice. George Alexander noted that the Venice City Council will meet on March 8 or March 27, 2016 to discuss these proposed changes. The HOA will find out the actual date and time and let residents know. Hopefully we will have a large turnout at the meeting to help get our concerns across to City Council.
Code Red Emergency Notification – George Alexander
The City of Venice has in place a “Code Red” program whereby residents can sign up to be notified of emergencies, natural disasters, weather emergencies and the like. Residents are urged to go to www.venicegov.com and sign up for these notifications. The form is clear and easy to complete. Residents who do not have a computer can call the city to sign up.
Public Comments
Paul Hannings
Why doesn't ELS have liability insurance to cover injuries? Joan explained that they do have insurance. The woman injured filled out an RCF but did not hear back in a timely fashion so she hired Morgan and Morgan to represent her. But it was noted that ELS does have liability insurance.
Why must the Dishonesty Bond need to be increased? Dick explained that the increase, which would cost the HOA around $60.00 per year, will cover the entire assets of the HOA which is money held for all Bay Indies residents.
Harold Pennington
Harold asked if the two year CD would have a 1.45% interest rate for the entire two year term. Carl answered and confirmed that the rate was for the whole two year term and that a one year CD had an interest rate of only 1.2%.
Harold also suggested a possible workshop on Estate Planning and Wills. The Board agreed this would be a good thing but that ELS and not the HOA must organize this. It was noted that ELS has had these workshops in the past. Greg Schwartz also commented that AARP also held workshops on this topic.
A question came up as to why the HOA did not have a copy of the liability policy held by ELS. Carl Kruse said that in the past he has asked for a copy of the policy but was declined. Veronica Wasserman also stated that past managers and even regional managers, including Shelia Gunderson, have been asked for copies of the policy but were denied. John McCall suggested that perhaps this would come under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIL) but it was noted that insurance policies are not included in the Corporation's documents or annual report. Veronica did comment that she was sure that Morgan and Morgan would most certainly have a copy of the policy because of the lawsuit.
A motion to adjourn was made by Carl Kruse and seconded by Greg Schwartz. The meeting was adjourned at 2:30PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Fred Ceruti
Recording Secretary
Joan Sass,
Secretary