Presidents Report as at
23rd June 2007 (Click to
open)
NOTES OF MEETING
Present:- Arthur Brown, President
Alan Burgess, Treasurer.
Homeowners :-
Brian & Valerie Impey,
Angela & Alan May,
Hayden James,
Tony & Carol, Evans,
Sharona Semlali,
Chris & Andy Giles,
Flora Mascarenhas,
Joan Burgess,
Rita & Frank Darch,
Sarah Cleaver,
John Dutton,
Warren Campbell,
Sue & Dave Turner,
Barbara Hones,
1. Introduction and Status of Meeting
Arthur welcomed the Homeowners to the third UK
resident’s meeting and explained that because Florida
law required any meeting attended by three or more Board
Members to be an official meeting to which Florida
Homeowners should have access via teleconferencing
facilities, this meeting was an informal gathering of UK
homeowners who may not have the opportunity to attend
the AGM in Florida in November.
2. President’s Report
Arthur reported that it had been a very successful year
and that the Manors was looking in very good condition
which the Board would strive to see maintained, although
there were still some properties which had their
irrigation turned off which spoiled the overall
impression. The amount of delinquencies had been reduced
and procedures had been put in place to help eliminate
the build up of large debts and it was hoped that owners
would realise that not paying their fees on time would
cost them money unnecessarily.
Since the last UK meeting, various projects had taken
place including the trash can replacement from kerbside
to property entrances, clearance of rubbish left by
trash collectors, clearance of rubbish from retention
ponds and weed killing of these areas, placement of
collection screens at the entrance to storm drains,
landscaping around the Clubhouse and installation of a
CCTV security system in and around the Clubhouse linked
with an alarm system. Other improvements had taken place
to the website and the installation of the wireless
internet facility.
To improve the service to the community, the Board had
agreed that Manors Maintenance should occupy the office
space at the Clubhouse as part of their contract and
provide a concierge service. This would enable owners
to have direct contact with them at the Clubhouse if
they had problems which needed to be attended to. Forms
would be available at the counter in the entrance
between the hours of 9am and 4.30pm. If problems were
not attended to in a reasonable time owners should
contact the Board via the website or the Management
Company for the Community.
Finally, the opening hours of the Clubhouse had been
extended to enable owners and guests to use the fitness
centre and the internet connection until 10pm each day.
Arthur referred to a recent problem with the pedestrian
gate to the south side which he said was being attended
to by Florida Door.
Future projects would include a pool table to be
installed in the reading room once the Clubhouse was
occupied during the day and arrangements could be made
for cues/balls to be handed out by Manors Maintenance
against a refundable deposit. The possibility of having
an outdoor table tennis facility was still being
investigated.
Quotations were also to be obtained for the repainting
of the pool deck area outside the Clubhouse to finish
off the refurbishments as this now appeared in need of
smartening up.
3. 2006 Year End Accounts and Auditor’s Report
Alan explained that Reserves at the beginning of 2006
had been $126,000 and the Operating Balance was $79,000
of which $50,000 had been allocated to keep fees
unchanged from 2005 levels. At the year end Reserves had
increased to $190,000 as planned and Balances stood at
$40,000. During the year delinquencies reduced from
$43,000 to $21,500.
A number of improvements had been funded during the year
for which no separate funding had been raised, the main
items were the redecoration of the Clubhouse, carpeting
and equipping the fitness centre, installing the
security system and the wireless internet facility.
A draft of the CPA report on the 2006 Accounts had been
received and gave us a clean bill of health.
4. 2007 Current Budget Position and Delinquencies
Alan reported that the Reserves at the beginning of the
year were $190,000 and Balances were around $40,000 of
which $30,000 was being used to help maintain the level
of fees unchanged again for the 3rd year running. At the
end of May expenditure was in line with the budget and
the finances were sound. Delinquencies on the 22nd June
were $22,500 and since last month end a longstanding
large debt of about $12,800 had been recovered and the
remaining debts were of smaller amounts and any that
exceeded two quarter’s fees were in the hands of the
Attorneys to pursue under the collection procedures.
In 2007 the various improvements mentioned in the
President’s report had been built into the budget ad
ongoing services without increasing the Homeowner fees.
5. Change to Management Company w.e.f. 1 August
2007-06-28
Arthur reported that for the last 18 months the Board
had been concerned about the efficiency and service from
the Community Management Company. Things had been
improving whilst we had Deana Hamill as the Manager for
the community but since she left CMP there had been a
number of personnel changes and two changes to the
allocated Manager and this together with the lack of
continuity led to a deterioration in service over the
last five months. The Board had received a number of
complaints from Homeowners and to avoid all the hard
work of the last couple of years being wasted decided
that a change of Management Company was needed.
He announced that from 1st August 2007 the Association’s
affairs would be managed by Don Asher & Associates who
would shortly be contacting all owners detailing what
they were required to do to assist in achieving a smooth
transition. A lot of hard work needed to be done in a
very short timescale to transfer all records etc and
owners were urged to cooperate with the new Company and
deal with any matters promptly. As part of the transfer
the allocated Manager for the Association would be our
former manager, Deana Hamill. If owners had any problems
they could contact the Board via the website or Deana at
Don Asher on the contact numbers which would be issued
in the near future.
6. Payment of Fees – Timetable
Alan reminded owners that the regular assessments were
due and payable by the 1st day of each quarter (January,
April, July and October). Because the Board had allowed
a period of grace to enable postal payments to reach the
USA and be posted to owners’ accounts before a late
payment fee of $50 was applied on the 16th day, some
owners had exploited the situation by paying by the 15th
and complaining if a payment which had been sent after
the due date of the 1st had not been in their account
and they were charged a late fee. In future it would be
necessary to pay by the 1st day of the quarter and late
fees would only be waived if proof of posting in time
for the fees to have reached the bank by the 1st could
be provided.
Owners were urged to ensure that payments by post were
sent sufficiently early to reach their accounts by the
1st, or preferably to pay by direct debit to avoid any
risk of delays occurring.
7. Manors Maintenance Work Schedule
Arthur circulated the following Schedule detailing when
the various grounds maintenance tasks would normally be
carried out.
Weekly Schedule – The Manors
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday – Grass Cutting etc North &
South sides
Thursday & Friday – Miscellaneous tasks
Monthly Schedule
Week 1 - cutting in Retention ponds
- Drains strimmed, trash collected
- Weed killing spraying retention ponds/drains
- Entranceways to North & South
Weeks 2 & 3 – All bushes shrubs and beds cleaned, pruned
and sprayed (including
rear bushes), pool screens perimeters sprayed and edged.
Week 4 – Irrigation checks.
Arthur referred to the new restrictions on the use of
waste water affecting the south side and said that the
check of all properties had been carried out and he was
waiting for a list of any where there were problems or
where timers were locked and could not be adjusted to
comply with the new rules. He would be contacting
relevant Homeowners.
8. Website Recent/Proposed Enhancements
The website had been gradually developed over the last
year and new sections would be added in future if it was
felt they would be of benefit to owners. The objective
of the website was to improve communication between the
Board and owners and between owners themselves.
A rental section was now available on the site to which
owners could include their villa for a fee, and a
bookings referral section had been added so that any
owners who receive an enquiry they cannot accommodate
because they are already let, can enter the request for
other owners to make contact where they have villa
availability. An events diary had been added to the site
and owners could use this to arrange things such as
owner get togethers at the Clubhouse or community
functions that guests could join in.
9. Open Business
Arthur reported on the tree trimming of lower branches
which had been carried out but not the crowns as this
could accelerate growth.
A question was raised about the proposal for a water
tower south of Montana and Casterton. It was supposed to
be at least 400 feet from the nearest development and at
the public meeting it had been said that the manors was
the furthest away from the proposal. No timescale for
the development was known.
An owner asked if there was any proposal to construct
walls to replace the fencing around parts of the sites.
Arthur said that an estimate had been obtained and that
it was extremely expensive and beyond the Association’s
means to fund this. We would be concentrating on keeping
the fencing in good order.
An owner asked if it was still possible to have a 2 bin
enclosure constructed outside their villa and Arthur
replied that the quote was about $80 and if they wanted
one constructed he could get manors Maintenance to get
the work done.
In reply to a question about whether Polk Utilities
still proposed to bring waste water to the north side,
Arthur said that no date was known and that this would
be expensive for Polk to do and would cause a lot of
damage to lawns etc if the experience of the south side
was repeated.
An enquiry was made about possible children’s play
areas. Alan explained that there were two problems,
firstly nobody wanted them near their properties and
secondly it would be very difficult and expensive to get
insurance cover in case anyone tried to sue if a child
was injured.
Comments were made about the shortness of the filter
lane on the Hwy 27 approach from the south and whether
the highway authority could be requested to extend the
length of this. Arthur said he would ask Deana to
contact them after the transfer had taken place. Alan
reported that the original Westridge Association were in
favour of putting a further sign for Westridge on the
north side, like the one on the south side and may
request Manors HOA to contribute. They were still
investigating the costs and the need to relocate their
irrigation well in view of the possible development of
the land between Manors North and the Hwy 27. An owner
asked if further planting outside the wall of manors
North could be carried out and Arthur said it could be
looked into.
Presidents Report as at
20th November 2007 (Click to
open)
MANORS AT WESTRIDGE HOMEOWNERS
ASSOCIATION, INC.
ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2007
HELD AT THE MANORS AT WESTRIDGE CLUBHOUSE
MINUTES
Alan Burgess, Treasurer called the Annual Membership
Meeting to order at 6:03 PM.
Alan Burgess, Treasurer, Stacy Opiela, Vice President
and Sallie Goff, Director were present representing the
Board of Directors. Alan gave Arthur Brown’s apologies,
as he was unable to attend the meeting in person.
Deana Hamill, representing Don Asher and Associates,
Inc. relayed that a quorum had been certified, as 42
members were present in person and/or by proxy.
She provided proof of notice. All members were sent
notification more than 14 days in advance of the Annual
Membership Meeting via first class mail.
Stacy Opiela made a motion to approve the minutes from
the 2006 Annual Membership Meeting. Alan Burgess
seconded the motion. All Directors voted in favor of
this motion to approve the 2006 Annual Membership
Minutes.
Alan introduced Rich representing Pioneer Pest Control.
Rich provided an open question and answer forum
regarding lawn fertilization and pest control. Owners
relayed questions about red weed, cinch bug control and
fire ants. Rich answered that he had recently treated
all lawns. However, due to lack of water and Polk
County’s watering restrictions that the weeds are
abundant this time of year. Rich relayed to the owners
that currently Polk County allows each home to water
their lawn one hour per zone once a week and twice a
week at an hour per zone for reclaim water. Lack of
irrigation contributes to pest control issues. An owner
questioned positioning of irrigation heads and Rich
explained that although the water may land of the
driveway, the heads must run a full cycle and sometimes
to get effective coverage this may occur. Rich finished
his presentation by stating that he will continue to
treat the lawns for weeds. He informed the owners that
he is using the best chemicals on the market and will
continue to monitor the health of each lawn.
Alan Burgess then explained to the Board of Directors
and owners that last year that having held the annual
assessments unchanged since 2004 by using $130,000 of
cash balances from accumulated underspendings and the
successful collection of unpaid fees that some increase
might be necessary in 2008.
Current expenditure in 2007 is in line with the approved
budget and a significant under spend is not anticipated
at the year-end. The Operating Account balance or cash
in hand can therefore only prudently contribute $10,000
to help offset expenditure in 2008 compared to $30,000
in 2007 and $50,000 in 2006 and 2005.
There has been a very careful scrutiny of all
expenditure planned for 2008 to keep spending to the
minimum possible whist ensuring that funds have been
provided to meet known expenditure commitments.
Last year, he explained that they faced a large increase
in insurance and electricity costs, together with other
minor increases. Although the Board budgeted for a 30%
increase for insurance, the final cost in 2007 will be
almost double the amount charged in 2006. Fortunately,
this year they have not been notified of any significant
increases in these areas or for other utility costs. The
budget for next year reflects the anticipated actual
expenditure this year.
Alan relayed that he has reviewed carefully the amounts
to be collected to build up our Reserves and believe
that we can reduce the amount to be set-aside in 2008 by
over $8,600 compared to 2007. Most of the amounts
planned for 2008 are token sums of $1,000 or $2,000 with
the only significant amount being $20,000 for the Roads
Reserve.
A contingency sum has been set aside for an actuarial
study of the amounts required for Reserves for each of
the contingent liabilities to enable an informed view to
be taken next year on the amounts required in future
years based on likely replacement costs and projected
lifecycles or timescales.
Taking all these factors together regarding final
budget, Alan proposed a 2008 budget reflecting no fee
increase. This is the fourth year running that this has
been achieved and whilst he is delighted to be able to
do so, the budget is now very tight and owners must
expect some increase to be likely in 2009. Alan
therefore motioned that the Board approve the budget as
presented. Stacy Opeila seconded the motion. All
Directors voted in favor of the 2008 proposed budget.
Several owners present in person presented questions
regarding the insurance and reserve study which Deana
Hamill provided answers and explanations. She relayed
that the reserve study is a compilation of community
facts and figures performed as a due diligence exercise
to ensure that the community is properly funding the
reserve accounts and expenditures.
Deana then announced the candidates who had submitted
forms prior to the meeting. Alan relayed that Stacy
Opiela did not intend to run for election. Alan thanked
Stacy for her dedication to the community. Deana relayed
that Stacy will be greatly missed as she contributed
much effort and time to the community. Deana then
introduced the candidates that were present in person
and then read the candidate goals indicated on the forms
submitted. She asked if there were nominations from the
floor. There were none. Deana then relayed that each
owner would vote for 5 Directors by secret ballot. She
advised the owners that they should not write their
owner information or address on the ballot. She asked
that they fold the ballots and turn them in personally
to her.
While the votes were being tallied, Stacy Opiela read
Arthur Brown’s President Report in his absence. Arthur
provided the following report prior to the meeting.
Manors at Westridge HOA – AGM 20 November 2007.
Arthur Brown - President’s Report
I must first apologies for not attending the 2007 Manors
at Westridge AGM due to personal family problems in the
UK. I would however like to welcome you all here to the
clubhouse to discuss and hear the projects which have
taken place during the year to improve the appeal for
the resident owners and for those owners who rent their
property on a short term basis whilst on holiday in
Florida.
I think this year has been a consolidation of the
gradual improvement of Westridge with the Directors
working together to ensure that our community is sought
after by residents and holiday renters. Our finances are
in good order but I will leave our Treasurer to give you
full details and the Directors agreement of the setting
of next years HOA annual fee.
This summer has a been challenge for our landscaping
company who have had to deal with the abnormal high
temperatures with poor rainfall and the severe
restrictions which have been imposed by Polk Utilities
with both the ordinary and reclaim water supplies.
During July Polk decided to make further restrictions
for reclaim water and employed an independent contractor
who without any warning visited our community and locked
off the water meters and just placed a note on the
property doors which did not get forwarded in many cases
to either the owners or their management companies.
Manors Maintenance negotiated with the contractor and
had the meters unlocked and rectified any faults to
enable the systems to comply with the new restrictions.
Unfortunately there were a number of properties, which
had been locked off unknown to Manors Maintenance until
the irrigation check in August and the lawns by then had
suffered.
Extra attention and work by both Pioneer Pest Control
and Manors Maintenance has taken place to keep
everything ticking over during these hot months and just
recently all the grass has been treated for weeds and
areas resodded to bring our community back to standard.
Where areas have been resodded it takes about 3 to 4
weeks to blend in and with the cooler weather
improvements should start to be noticed.
As you all know we changed Management Company as from
the 1st August 2007 and although we made prior
preparations to enable a smooth transition to the new
Company, Don Asher Associates Inc, we have encountered
problems with owners finding difficulty in being able to
pay their fees with VISA credit card which unknown to
the Directors had also been applied by Smartstreet for
the July fee. To assist owners who could only pay their
fees by Visa I have offered to purchase dollars against
a sterling cheque, which has been taken up by a few
people. Any owners who only have the facility to pay
their fees by Visa and are having difficulty in clearing
their account should contact the Board via the HOA
website for assistance.
Under the circumstances where owners have fallen into
debt as a result of the October payment, the Directors
have taken a lenient approach to this problem and have
allowed an extended period to enable owners to get their
fee account cleared. It must be understood that this is
only a temporary arrangement and will be reviewed by the
Board at the end of November 2007.
During the year we have replaced the fitness equipment
and installed CCTV in the clubhouse and repainted the
interior. We now have all trash bins returned to the
villa porch after collection and the retention areas are
being kept clear of rubbish and the flood pipe exits
surrounded by a screen to collect most of the rubbish
We hope to install a pool table in the near future now
that the office space is occupied by Manors Maintenance
as part of their contract with the HOA and a deposit for
the use of the balls and cues will be made when the
equipment is in position.
Owners can now complete a form available outside the
office with any queries that they have with landscaping
or irrigation. Any request will be dealt with promptly
by Manors Maintenance and if owners do not get complete
satisfaction you have the option of contacting the Board
by completing the appropriate form on the HOA website at
www.westridgemanors.com which will then be investigated
by the Board.
Future projects are in hand to repaint the pool deck and
surrounding areas, further pruning of the large trees,
palms and shrubs and a border cut out around pool cages
which will then eliminate the danger of netting being
damaged by the strimmers. I would like to say at this
point that there have been a number of complaints about
netting damage and it has been found that it is not
strimmer damage but purely deterioration with age and
the netting becoming brittle and splitting from ball
games by renters. In all reported cases the netting has
been replaced free of charge anyway as a gesture of good
will
I would like to draw your attention to the HOA website
which has been built by Johnathan Cleaver who is one of
your current Directors and I would like to thank him for
all his efforts and compliment him on the quality and
content of the site and I hope you all take advantage of
the information provided therein.
Once again I would like to draw your attention to the
benefits to both yourself and the HOA in paying your
fees by direct debit from your bank each quarter for
this not only eliminates the late arrival of your fee
but there is no chance of penalties for the late arrival
of the money and it does assist the cash flow of the
HOA. I would also like to remind all owners that the
fees are due ON THE 1st DAY OF THE GIVEN QUARTER AND
PENALTIES CAN BE APPLIED FROM THAT DAY. It does appear
that some owners believe that they have until the 15th
of the month to pay their fees and not expect to incur
penalties, which is not the case.
In conclusion I would like to thank my fellow Directors
for their support during the year and look forward to
further improvements to the Manors in the future.
Dean Hamill then announced the newly elected Board of
Directors:
Arthur Brown
Alan Burgess
Albert Hahn
Sallie Goff
Jonathan Cleaver
Deana welcomed them to their annual term.
Alan then proceeded to provide a current financial
overview. Alan explained that at the end of October the
budget for 2007 was fairly much in line with the
spending plans originally set for the year.
Alan relayed that as the community has had another year
without hurricanes or serious tropical storms the sums
budgeted for repairs and maintenance were not spent and
these have helped offset some areas of expenditure such
as Insurance, which was more than expected.
At the year-end the under spend for 2007 is between NIL
and $10,000. On current projections. That represents
0-2.4% of a total budget of over $421,000.
A number of improvements and additional services were
built into this year’s budget for trash can replacement
on collection days, clearance of spilt rubbish after
collections, and the clearance and weed killing of
retention areas. These services are retained in the new
budget. Also some tree trimming on both sides of the
Community was carried out at no extra cost to homeowners
and a security CCTV system was installed in and around
the Clubhouse. This has assisted the Police after one or
two incidences of vandalism.
Alan indicated delinquencies started the year at an all
time low of $21,522 including one large debt of almost
$12,000. The Board successfully recovered that money in
the middle of the year. However the sums due in unpaid
assessments has fluctuated during the year generally
between $20,000 and $40,000. The hiccup in setting up
new direct debit payments and the absence of Visa as a
method of payment following transfer of management and
banking arrangements caused a lot of accounts to go into
debt when the October payment became due.
The position at the end of September was that
outstanding fees were under $30,000. This had risen to
about $71,000 by mid October, and most of the additional
$41,000 was for the October fee payment. The President,
Arthur, is working with everyone to try to resolve the
problems as quickly as possible and to get in place
payment arrangements that are satisfactory for
homeowners. Hopefully this will enable the outstanding
debt to be reduced to a more acceptable level quickly
and the next payment in January to be collected on time.
Where owners have lapsed into debt solely for the
October payment a lenient approach is being adopted as
far as late fees etc are concerned.
An open discussion period was then announced. An owner
present requested the Board look at the opening between
the Westridge signage and fencing located at the rear of
her lot. Several owners also requested the Board address
the trucks parked in Manors South on the road. One of
the trucks is a tractor-trailer and is creating a safety
concern as the truck blocks the street and impairs
vision. An owner also requested the Board looking into
the covenants file on the website as it is stating that
the file is corrupted as well as look in an email blitz
system to provide communication to owners on a regular
basis. Several owners discussed retention pond
maintenance, again trash within the community, a pool
table, the pedestrian gate on the South side and
finally, the owners present relayed that that it would
be helpful to have recycling and watering information
posted on the website.
Alan Burgess adjourned the meeting at 7:30 PM. All
Directors voted in favor of adjourning the meeting.
