The Monthly Board Meeting for Hawthorn Park was held on Thursday, March 25th, 2010 at the First America Bank. Here are the topics and highlights of the meeting.
Please note: These are not the official meeting minutes. The official minutes are recorded by Susan Thimmes, Property Manager, and are archived at the offices of Sentry Management.
Attendees
Board of Directors:
Ray Dalto (not present)
Wendy Edler (present)
Mike Hogan (present)
Frank Maruca (present)
Mike Sandstrum (present)
Sean Simpson (absent)
Pat Whitesel (present)
Sentry Management
Susan Thimmes (present)
Several interested residents of Hawthorn Park.
TOPICS DISCUSSED:
Activities Fund -- Frank reported a balance of $592 before the subtraction of an advertising fee for the Community Garage Sale.
Social Activities -- Sean reported good participation in the recent Community Garage Sale. He also reviewed the dates of upcoming social events (please see Calendar page). The "Ladies Tea" has been renamed the "Ladies Social."
Landscaping / Common Grounds -- Frank reported on the progress of the landscape project at the front entrance. After the old shrubs were removed, there were many favorable comments heard that the "clean look" is attractive. Therefore Jamie suggested changes to the previous plan. In the new plan, from the curb in, there will be grass, then low shrubs, then the wall. There is a new wall in front of the front pond, which creates a new focal point that will be very attractive. The whole effect of these changes should make the landscaping look more elegant. The weather has slowed the progress in getting all the work done. The new revised plan will be done for the same budget as the original plan.
SWFWMD Issue -- Mike reported that Karen from the engineering company has been working with SWFWMD, and the construction work will not begin until after Thanksgiving. This means that the Board and Property Management will have sufficient time to prepare to follow procedures to implement the Special Assessment that will pay for this pond repair work.
Hawthorn Park's Amendment 3 -- The Board invited Ken Hill, Phase 2, to read a statement regarding the situation surrounding the recent failed sale of his home to an eager cash buyer. At the core of the issue is the legal wording in the Amendment, which requires all people (family, friends, and strangers) living in a home without the homeowner in residence, to be subject to the lease restrictions and process. The Hill's buyer and their lawyer view the Amendment to be overly restrictive, with no loop holes for very close friends and close family members. This issue generated extended discussions and opinions from Board members, Property Management, and Association members in attendance. Mike Hogan may have summarized it best when he said that the current problem resulting from the Amendment is an unintended consequence of a previous action to solve a different problem. Susan reminded everyone that the Amendment had passed by a vote of 69 to 11.
We then discussed how the Amendment might be changed, and the legal expense and timeline required to execute the change. While it may not be a legal requirement to use a lawyer's services to add/change wording in legal documents, the current Board felt strongly that their feduciary duty could not be fulfilled with integrity without legal counsel in this situation. Susan recommended that the Board put in place an Amendments Committee who would carefully review our Association documents, and make recommendation for a laundry list of needed changes. In any event, with the small chance that the Hills might get their buyer back if this issue were resolved quickly, it became clear that it would take too long to change our legal documents.
Art Stadlin, Phase 3, reminded everyone that the 2005 Board, realizing that the legal wording in the Amendment would be confusing, created a "Lease Policy", which can serve as the Board's interpretation of the Amendment and how it shall be implemented in practice. The Lease Policy document can be reviewed again, and updated by the current Board to document a practice that would be more suitable. Unfortunately a copy of the Lease Policy was not available at the meeting, but Art said it was put on line last week after Ed Goff, Phase 2, kindly scanned it in. The Hills and the Board will take a look at it.
New Neal Development -- Len Sirotzki, Phase 3, spoke passionately against the Neal proposal to rezone the neighboring property from RES-1 to RES-3 (3 homes per acre). Len mentioned several concerns, including noise of heavy earth-moving machinery, dust from construction, and the uncertainty from not knowing what the build-out density will be and the fear that the homes and lots might be smaller than Hawthorn Park, which would drive down our home values. It is believed that Hawthorn Park is zoned RES-3 and built-out at approximately 2.1 to 2.5 homes per acre. Len invited everyone to sign a petition that will go to the govenment authorities who can stop this rezoning from moving forward. Peg Mazza, Phase 1, and George Morse, Phase 3, are also collecting petition signatures.
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