The Quarterly Board Meeting for Hawthorn Park was held on Thursday, February 28, 2008. Here are the topics and highlights of the meeting.
Please note: These are not the official meeting minutes. The official minutes are recorded by Stephanie Chapman Property Manager, and are archived at the offices of Sentry Management. Ray Dalto, Director - Assistant Secretary, also maintains a file of the official minutes.
Attendees
Board of Directors:
Ray Dalto (present)
Lee Fioretto (present)
Mike Hogan (present)
Tyler Linkenhoker (present)
Frank Maruca (not present)
Frank Miles (present)
Pat Whitesel (present)
Sentry Management
Stephanie Chapman (present)
Other interested residents of Hawthorn Park -- Agnes Kullmann, Nan Fioretto, Cheryl Harrington, Tom Falcone, Art Stadlin.
AGENDA
1. Call to Order
2. Establish Quorum
3. Proof of Notice
4. President Report (M. Hogan)
5. Treasurer Report (F. Miles) -- Frank reported good news and bad news. The good news is that the Association ended 2007 with a surplus (actuals over budget) of ~$6,400. The bad news is that 13 Association members have not paid January dues as of 1/31/08 (a total of ~$7,300). Stephanie explained that Sentry Management reviewed the timelines and procedures for notifications and liens. Ray suggested a dues rollback before the July dues payment to give back the surplus. Mike said the rollback will be discussed at the next Board meeting, 5/22/08. In other business, the Board decided to close one of the Association bank accounts, and merge the funds in that "reserve account" into the general fund account, but with the reserve fund allocated via budget line 6162, which was set up for this purpose. As of 1/31/08, the Association had ~$55,500 in the expense fund and ~$900 in the reserve account.
6. Management Report (S. Chapman) -- Stephanie reported the completion of sidewalk repairs by Manatee County, at no cost to the Association! Sidewalks near the front entrance and in front of the vacant lot in Phase II have been repaired. Sentry has set up FPL on auto pay, which will prevent us getting late charges going forward. There was one home sale since the last meeting. The backflow inspections are completed, and ten (10) homes failed. Sentry will mail notification to those homeowners. The Board made a decision to terminate the Association's contract with our current backflow vendor, in order to get a better price next year. The SWFWMD (Southwest Florida Water Management District) recertification is not due until November. There was a written complaint received from Fiddler's Green. The complaint regards a dispute between a Fiddler's Green homeowner and a Hawthorn Park homeowner or his contractor over the trimming of plants in the border area with the Fiddler's Green pond behind Hawthorn Park Phase II. The Board decided the best course of action is to remind our homeowners not to hop the fence to clear or trim growth on the banks of their pond. The banks of the pond belong to Fiddler's Green homeowners.
7. Committee Reports
a) Activities Fund (F. Maruca) -- No report (Frank was ill).
b) Social (L. Fioretto) -- Lee reported that the Garage Sale is on for Saturday, 3/8/08. Advertisements are being placed in two newspapers. Also, a cost comparison between Palma Sola Botanical Park and equipment rental to create our own facilities, it will be cheaper to hold the Annual Picnic at PSBP. The date will be Sunday, 4/6/08 at 3:00 PM.
c) ARC (L. Fioretto) -- Lee reported that 6 applications have been approved, and 2 are in process. A two-story home addition in Phase I has been approved by the Board, pending all County approvals. Lee assured a neighbor of the construction that it would not block the view of the pond that they paid extra for when they originally bought their lot.
d) Landscape/Common Grounds Maintenance (F. Maruca) -- No report (Frank was ill). However, the Board members present reviewed bids for tree work, and selected the low price vendor (pending proof of license and insurance). The tree work to be undertaken is described as "Categories A and B" in the 2006 Common Grounds Plan. Trees in Category A line the front entrance. Trees in Category B include the north and south sides of the front pond (behind lots 15-19 & III.7-III.10), the lift station at 12th & 92nd, the trees between Phases II & III (lots 60-64 & III.18-III.20), and the trees on the east side of the north pond (behind lots 55-60). The tree work will be requested to be done on weekdays only, to preserve the tranquility of the neighborhood on the weekends. The work is expected to get underway shortly after proof of license and insurance is obtained by property management.
9. Action Items Review -- None.
10. OLD BUSINESS -- None.
11. NEW BUSINESS:
a) Dog poop has become a problem. One Phase III homeowner in particular has been observed not scooping the poop. Property management will follow-up with a letter.
b) A homeowner complained about the appearance of the north pond. It seems the Lake Doctor is using Round Up on the vegetation around the pond, which allows erosion. Property management will discuss with Lake Doctor.
c) The fence posts supporting Hawthorn Park's chain link fence (running north-south) at the Fiddler's Green boundary have rusted out. The repair will be relatively inexpensive if done soon. It will involve installing new posts and attaching the existing horizontal caps and chain link fencing. If repairs are delayed, the whole fence may collapse either of it's own weight of from someone trampling it. In that case, repair costs will be much higher. Pat suggested that nothing be done on the fence until Hawthorn Park contacts Fiddler's Green.
d) Many mailboxes are rusty or otherwise deteriorating. Property management will follow-up with offending homeowners with a letter.
12. OTHER BUSINESS -- None.
13. Next Meeting
14. Adjournment
Summaries of previous meetings:
10/2/07 (Special Meeting - Budget Workshop)
[This page last updated 2/29/2008]