11/03/21 BOD MEETING: SYNOPSIS AND COMMENTARY BY VICKI ROBERTS WITH ASSISTANCE FROM ARTHUR ANDELSON
Posted November 5, 2021. Your Editor provides the following synopsis of the November 3, 2021 Board meeting, with assistance from your Roving Reporter, and with commentary and satire indicated in bold blue and pictures.
SPECIAL NOTICE: PAP WALKATHON 2021:
Elaine Cramer, on behalf of PAP, requested that we include this notice to everyone, and we are pleased to do so. Cancer affects everyone. No one is immune. Help everyone and your own immune system by participating and contributing to this worthy cause while engaging in a healthy walk.
The Walkathon is Saturday, November 13, 2021 at 9:00am, is outdoors, and travels along Cascade Lakes Blvd. You can sign up as late as the morning of the event at the pool deck. There are also registration forms in the spinners. Or click on the link at the bottom of this synopsis for the flyer and more information.
Editor’s note: this is the Annual Budget Meeting and a regular Board Meeting all in one. As an homage to the annual budget meeting, we welcome you to Moolah Rouge:
Editor’s Opening Monologue:
This edition, which coincides with the Board’s Annual Budget Meeting, is entitled
“Moolah Rouge ~A Burlesque Show About Your Money”
- and –
“Punches and Counterpunches”
– and -
“Getting To Know You”
Part I: “Moolah Rouge ~A Burlesque Show About Your Money”
The famous Moulin Rouge of Paris, France, founded in 1889, was a cabaret house known for its decadent burlesque shows, and it is considered the birthplace of the modern can-can dance.
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This Board meeting was also the annual meeting to approve the 2022 HOA budget, and we thought it would be a perfect time to review some items on the list. So, let’s all kick up our heels, because we can-can dance through the money list with, oddly, both grace and decadence!
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The first thing we noticed is that the quarterly dues are going up, which might not be great for potential buyers who might blanch at the fees.
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But getting beyond that issue, the first question we have concerns the source of the funds being utilized to pay for certain things. We certainly don’t want to “break the bank,” regardless of which bank we’re talking about.
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Another issue concerns the reserve fund and how the HOA is making sure it has enough for all contingencies. Obviously, having a good plan is critical to cover for rainy days.
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Budget items include a lot of money put aside for landscaping. And we understand that some trees and plants are more desirable than others; that’s just a fact of life.
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Then of course another big-ticket item is the management firm, FirstService Residential. This includes the property manager and her staff. Do we really need all those people?
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Still another item that seems to have generated a large chunk of change is the line item for legal fees, but that’s because certain members of the Board keep going after your Editor and your Roving Reporter. We figure if you cut out all the legal fees spent on the failed attempts to shut us down and to harass us, you could save about $10,000 a year!
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Not everyone on the Board is happy about that, because these fees were incurred without the knowledge of the entire Board. So, for future note, when you implement your decisions, it’s probably wise to make sure everyone is on the same page before you execute your plan.
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Another noteworthy item is the increase in funds to the Welcoming and Caring Committee. We’re not sure what these additional funds are for; all the new people need to do is call me and I’ll explain to them everything they need to know.
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Repairs are always a necessary budget item. Before signing contracts for repairs, clear estimates should be obtained which includes a breakdown of both materials and labor.
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Good budgetary decisions should not be rushed but rather should be decided after thoughtful and careful contemplation, so the Board should take its time and not feel as if it has to rush through the intersection of where expenses and funds collide.
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And let’s face it, you’re never going to please all the people all the time; some will get what they want, while others will feel short-changed and are going to complain no matter what.
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And yet others will not see their requested moneys on the budget at all, and will be left scratching their heads, wondering what happened.
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But it is important to remember that the Budget Committee can only be so creative with how they divvy up the limited funds they have and how they make the numbers work among all the different line-item categories.
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But fear not; if the HOA runs low on money, it has options available to it to raise cash.
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Finally, decisions should be well thought out, with the best interests of the community at heart, including those decisions that may occasionally prohibit you from spending your own money on your property as you see fit. We understand that this can be very frustrating, but it’s all done in the name of keeping the place attractive to the eye.
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And just like that, our budget cabaret is over. We hope you enjoyed the show, and it was our pleasure to analyze and break it down for you.
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And now on to the show of all shows, the Annual Board Budget Meeting, where some of you will be breaking out the champagne while others of you will be left grumbling on the floor. So relax, and some of you cool cats have a fish martini and call me to commiserate.
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Annual Budget Meeting (Now Don’t Get Nervous, Folks!):
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Annual Budget Meeting: Audio and Video Up and Running; Zoom meeting online starts at 9:30am.
Board Members Present:
Jeff D. Green, President (Equal Board member)
Harvey Ginsberg, VP (Equal Board member)
Richard Greene, Treasurer (Equal Board member)
Alan Silver, Secretary (Equal Board member)
Linda Arbeit (Equal Board member)
Bob Dingee (Equal Board member)
Sue Schmer (Equal Board member)
Call to Order: Jeff D. Green.
[Editor’s note: Jeff called the meeting to order.]
Pledge of Allegiance: led by Jeff Green.
Residents’ Input Session on Budget Only:
1. Judie Delman: Is it in this year’s budget for 2021 or for 2022, which one do we include for the lanterns, stones, electric bill… Jeff: not in 2022; put in 2021. We had money available…
[Editor’s note: Judie then asked about the front entrance to make sure everything matches; Deborah stated the pillars will be totally wrapped around.]
Jeff: Do I have a motion to accept the budget? Linda. Second? Harvey. All in favor? Unanimous.
Alan: move to adjourn. Second: Sue. [Editor’s note: no vote was taken.] Jeff: we are now adjourned from the budget meeting.
Regular Board Meeting:
Jeff’s Opening Remarks and Announcements:
II. “Punches and Counterpunches”
[Editor’s note: Jeff added three items to the agenda, all of which appear below. Harvey added one item, which also appears below.
Jeff stated that the HOA’s website “is the only official HOA website.” That makes sense and we agree; this News Site is also the only official News Site serving the community, and that also makes sense. So now that we’ve established that we’re all official with respect to our own websites, let’s move on.
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Jeff then stated, “we do not have an official resident of the month, roving reporter, or Facebook page.” He didn’t mention not having an editor, but he is correct in what he said (he and his colleagues don’t have those), but we over here most certainly do. Maybe he left out editor because the HOA’s official magazine does have official editors.
However, Jeff reiterated this mantra including the word “editor” in the most recent HOA magazine, News & Views, using all lowercase letters: “There is no resident of the month, editor, or roving reporter…”
There is, however, a Resident of the Month, an Editor, and a Roving Reporter, using uppercase first letters, when properly referring to us and our feature page honoring you, our fellow residents.
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The Residents of the Month are official winners, your Roving Reporter is the official reporter for this News Site, and yours truly is the official Editor of what you’re reading. Would Jeff claim that the Sun-Sentinel doesn’t have an official Editorial Board? Just curious.
Closer to home, would Jeff claim that the News & Views Editors are not official Editors of that magazine? We think not; he likely views those as the official editors of the HOA’s magazine, which they are. So, stop denigrating us, who also happen to be residents to whom you owe a fiduciary duty. Note to Jeff: this is getting very old, and people don’t like it. They’re afraid to tell you to your face, so we will right here: Old. They no likey.
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Jeff, please stop walking around with your eyes wide shut; we are so very disappointed in you. (Eyes Wide Shut, Stanley Kubrick’s final film, while it grossed a lot of money, was largely considered a box office disappointment as well.)
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The above comments were in direct response to Jeff’s singling us out again in the latest News & Views and in this latest Board meeting. He punched; we counterpunched.
Jeff also thanked the (official) Entertainment Committee for the (official) Boots and Bling party on the (official) pool deck, and he welcomed new residents, who are also now (officially) residents. He also stated that COBWRA {which is an (official) organization,} is working on keeping the (official) AgReserve as it is. (Actually, they’re opening up a small portion of it to developers).
Interesting Development: the property manager and a Board member, Sue Schmer, asked for a meeting with us; the meeting occurred on the afternoon of Thursday, November 4, 2021. They came seeking a truce between the Board and us. They didn’t bring a peace pipe, but that’s ok, we don’t smoke. They did make some offers which were potentially workable.
We also had some counteroffers which were imperative in order to move forward with a workable truce where we could all peacefully co-exist.
So, is a possible truce on the horizon? Be still my heart.
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There are some peace points, and here they are in a nutshell, in random order:
1. Board and Adjuncts: Stop disclaiming the existence of this News Site, the Editor, the Roving Reporter, and the Resident of the Month and stop bashing us. We are real, we’re not going anywhere, and almost everyone is tired of hearing this bashing. This needs to include Committee Chairs and Committees, which are Board adjuncts. Stop talking smack about us to new residents and all residents.
2. We agreed to clearly put on our Home Page that we are independent from the official HOA website and that we are not the HOA website. Board member, Sue Schmer, suggested the language we used under the referee picture from the October 6, 2021 synopsis, and that’s what we did. In fact, if you’re reading this, it’s already been done. Here is the language inserted on the Home Page per Director Sue Schmer’s suggestion:
“The entire News Site, including its various pages, is privately owned and wholly independent. It is not affiliated with the official HOA. Likewise, the HOA is not affiliated with the official News Site. They each operate officially independent of each other.”
3. Treat residents equally.
A. This includes stopping the discriminatory behavior of some of the webmasters, such as allowing clearly offensive posts by others but removing and sending warning notices to us for innocuous posts (similar to the warning which was reversed in full recently by the Grievance Committee concerning the webmasters’ inappropriate violation notice to your Editor).
B. Also, tell Editor Marion Weil to lose her blacklist of your Editor from the News & Views magazine. It’s a community asset, not her personal magazine. Recall that it took several months and a lot of back and forth just to have her add your Editor under COBWRA and the Legal Advisory Group. An Editor ought not be vindictively and selectively editing out official assignments approved by the Board unanimously.
C. And give your Editor access to the HOA website just like Marion Weil has for News & Views. Note that Marion is NOT the Chair of News & Views; that’s the wonderful Leslie Connell, the best next-door neighbors we’ve ever had (plus Adrienne Glasser on the other side). Your Editor is a COBWRA representative and yet she was denied access to blast her COBWRA flyer. Anyone else would have been granted access, rest assured.
4. Board and all adjuncts: Understand that if the Board or its adjuncts breaks the rules or doesn’t follow the existing rules, or if either engages in actions which clearly target certain residents (such as us, such as siccing the lawyers on us without good cause), they will be called out. This criticism is not personal. Don’t break the rules and we’ll have nothing to write about in that regard.
5. Board and all adjuncts: Understand that we are counterpunchers. Stop punching us and requiring us to punch back in response to protect our legal rights and our credibility and our good names. This means no punching us either directly or indirectly through surrogates.
6. Days of clubs making their own rules need to end. Days of rigging pickleball ladders need to end; days of rigging pickleball elections need to end: the Board has control over the clubs and the common areas and needs to make sure that there is a zero tolerance policy toward this nonsense.
And further, if this kind of behavior continues, there should be swift adverse consequences by the Board as opposed to gleeful celebrations or hands off policies which actually protects bullies and therefore is complicit with them, and which is not only inappropriate, but also puts the HOA at risk and hurts the community at large.
7. Separately, harassment at Board meetings, the pool, pickleball courts, club functions, Committee functions, and elsewhere needs to end.
In that regard, we understand that one or more residents is not controllable by the Board, however, once the Board becomes aware of this happening on common areas, including the HOA Message Board, a swift response should ensue in compliance with the Rules & Regulations concerning levels of punishment for violations on campus.
Now we hope that the good will which the four of us (Deborah, the property manager, Sue, the Board representative, your Roving Reporter, and your Editor) brought to the table will be infectious and spread to others. Is a truce possible? We hope so. Ground Zero for that potential begins and ends in the Board room.
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Now let’s officially move on to the official First Residents’ Input Session of the official Board meeting.]
First Residents’ Input Session:
If you want to speak, kindly raise your hand.
By the way, moving the comma from after the word “speak” in the last sentence to after the word “kindly” creates an interesting but decidedly different result: “If you want to speak kindly, raise your hand.” The rest of you can also raise your hands.
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[Editor’s note: no takers.]
Approval of Minutes: October 20, 2021 Board meeting: Alan Silver
Alan: Motion to approve the Minutes of the October 20, 2021 Board meeting. Jeff: seconded by Richard. [Editor’s note: nope, Sue said it first; check the tape.] All in favor? Unanimous.
Property Manager’s Report:
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Deborah: mow…November 19-20… tree trimming almost complete for the year…sidewalk replacements…trip hazards…walk on hard surfaces, the gutter, street, because the grass is uneven… health fair is March 29th from 10 to 1 in the ballroom… the county has now lined the rear exit lines…
Entertainment Committee, Saturday evening, a big thank you to this working committee; there were over 150 residents and their guests… thank you to the residents who corrected their violation notices; if you haven’t, a second notice will be sent… holiday lighting will be turned on some time in November…
Committee Reports:
1. Lakes: Barry Gordon: very good, everything is in good shape… Going to do one lake this winter… if anyone sees something wrong with the lakes… put in a work report…
2. Entertainment Committee: Boots and Bling party - 152 residents, family, friends attended… the pool deck looked magical… thank all those that attended and helped set up…
[Editor’s note: see flyers for future events.]
Old Business:
[Editor’s note: Many items and issues are still being ignored. Details are found on our page entitled “Agenda Items.”]
NEW ENTRIES ON THE LIST:
[none at this time.]
1. Update on facilities openings: Ginsberg
[Editor’s note: no motion was made; just a status report. Harvey hopes that in December they can increase capacity and then at the end of December or beginning of January be up at full capacity.]
2. Update on GateKey: Ginsberg
[Editor’s note: Harvey stated that the guards love the online system. No one apparently took a poll of the residents, however, who really should have been considered first in our opinion. The CIT committee (Community Information Technology) is going to offer training; Alan moved to accept the training program he read out loud which Harvey seconded. Sue apologized to the residents for the glitches.]
[Harvey stated as for the residents who have not yet picked up their paperwork:] “pick up your paperwork… we are not ever going back to the… old system… please try to get used to the system because it isn’t going away.” Jeff: All in favor? Unanimous.
3. APC’s proposal for sidewalk repairs: [agenda add-on]: Jeff: $1,280… there’s a spot on Landon Circle… saving about $500-600 currently, motion to approve. Second: Linda. All in favor? Unanimous.
New Business:
1. Kiln maintenance- $1,577: Ginsberg
[Editor’s note: this is for kiln maintenance, $1,576.73. Harvey moved to accept it, Linda seconded it, Richard stated:] “it’s not included in the original budget, but we have contingency in repair and maintenance to cover this.” Jeff: all in favor? Unanimous.
2. Sarge Contract -Greene
Richard: the Sarge contract for 2023… it’s unusual because it’s based on attendance… residents want Sarge… he’s asking for a considerably larger deposit, will not refund it, but will apply against a future show; I propose we approve. Second: Sue.
Richard: other one [this is an add-on to the agenda]: the contract for Family Feud… looking for food vendor… hopefully indoors… he already has a deposit because we cancelled last year. I propose we approve the Family Feud contract also…the show is early April. Linda: Second.
Richard: already contracted last time; we didn’t give him a deposit last time. Harvey: how much is it? Richard: I can’t tell you. I’d rather not discuss; you see it. He needs it right away. People are booking for shows… Jeff: all in favor of accepting the two contracts? Unanimous.
[Editor’s note: technically, the Board should have voted on each contract separately, because they are unrelated. Sarge’s contract, which we have, has a show date of April 2, 2023, from 7-8:30pm, and he requires a tuned piano to be provided by the HOA per his contract.
Is the ballroom piano in tune? When was the last time it was tuned? Certainly, after the length of time that the ballroom has been closed, it most likely needs to be tuned.
Here’s your guy: www.apianotech.com - TJ Terricola is registered and certified, has tuned our baby grand, and is a very nice guy and is very reasonable. 561-602-7197, TJTerricola@yahoo.com. He also plays a mean piano, which we learned after he tuned ours.]
[Editor’s further note: Jeff then wanted to skip #3 for the moment and go to another add-on.]
4. Jeff: Hydro flow meter display, Glenville: another proposal, we need a new flow meter display on Glenville [the current one appears to have failed], motion to accept $1,811. Second: Harvey. Deborah: 2017 was the last time it was replaced. Jeff: All in favor? Unanimous.
3. Agenda and date for "get to know the board for new residents” - Silver
III. “Getting To Know You”
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[Editor’s note: Getting to Know You was a show tune from the 1951 Rodgers & Hammerstein’s musical The King and I. It was also sung in the 1956 film adaptation.]
Agenda and date for "get to know the board for new residents” – presented by Alan Silver
[Editor’s note: this is a proposal for new residents to get to know the Board. Alan proposed that the entire Board meet only with new residents, first doing the newest residents from this year which totals about 60. This would blatantly violate the open meeting law, which is a really, really bad thing to do.
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Nevertheless, Alan made the motion and Linda seconded it. Then the discussions began.
Bob said he didn’t like the formal-type atmosphere and would rather see two to three Board members with 10-15 guests during the day.]
Alan: it was part of the original plan; the Board decided it didn’t want to. Bob: You wanted my opinion; I gave it to you. Harvey: it’s impersonal to do it on Zoom… I agree with Bob not having a quorum, because then you have an issue that we’re having a meeting…
Richard: how much is this going to cost us? The Caring Committee already set up a couple of things. How does this differ?
[Editor’s note: great question, Richard, and more importantly, why is this being added to what was already added to the Welcoming and Caring Committee’s new activities for new residents? It almost seems like overkill.]
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Alan: best to do this in person… Sue: I’m all in favor, the only question is whether or not you can have all seven of us, whether it can be an open meeting… is it a violation of the open meeting laws. Harvey: no Board business is being conducted.
[Editor’s note: FALSE, your whole purpose per the print-out in your Board packet is to explain HOA business and what the Board does; we have the print-out. It is the quintessential example of Board business.
Here’s a thought: have the new residents in the ballroom and open it up via Zoom to everyone else. There, problem solved. Oh, wait, then you can’t privately tell them negative things about this News Site, your Editor, and your Roving Reporter, and Alan, isn’t that really the motivation behind your efforts? Seriously, Alan, you seem to be twisting into a pretzel trying to get control of the situation.
You all never worked this hard for any new residents when we moved here in May 2019, and in fact this whole thing started when you felt you were losing control of the narrative. Why not just be honest about it?
That’s why one or some members of the Board threw more money at the Welcoming and Caring Committee for the 2022 budget; that’s why there is an additional $3,000 to the legal fees budget for 2022, and that’s why you’re twisting in the wind and bending over backwards with all kinds of programs for the newbies to make sure they know that you run the show and that your narrative is the gospel.
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We think it’s quite inappropriate that you take these HOA funds to try to discredit residents and to denigrate residents who just want to have an equal voice in this community, to which they are entitled, especially when this equal voice actually calls out your bad behavior.
You have Committee Chairs and stand-ins literally bashing us during their Committee presentations to the Board. This needs to stop, and the way you stop it starts at the top with the Board members who are leading the brigade and fanning the flames. These Board members are igniting the fire and then pouring fuel on it.
These Board members are actually causing the divisiveness within certain segments of the community, such as falsely claiming that your Roving Reporter’s t-shirt is somehow controversial. That statement by Board member Alan is actually creating a non-existent controversy out of thin air and then circulating that fake controversy to others to create even more controversy and discord. How does this help the community?
So, every time you take money from the community, you’re taking our money and everyone’s money to try and silence us, shut us down, or dilute our message to control your narrative, which is actually something that needs to be exposed, because sometimes it’s abusive and wrong.
You’re spending more and more of the residents’ money because you’re losing the battle, and who or what are you losing it to? You’re losing it to the truth. And you want most residents to just go along with what you want them to know, your narrative, without knowing what’s really going on.
So, we dare you: open up these planned meetings with new residents to everyone so everyone can watch and listen on Zoom, and we can at least see, perhaps, when you’re having private conversations about us. We have residents telling us what some of you are saying to them about us specifically, behind our backs of course, and they don’t like it.
So, if you want your credibility to continue to nosedive, by all means, please continue with what you’re doing: attacking residents to whom you owe a fiduciary duty and bashing them to other residents to whom you also owe a fiduciary duty.
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Using these new resident meetings as an excuse to bash certain residents is wrong, especially when you are supposed to be representing all residents, including us.
Another good example of this divisive pitting residents against other residents is the webmasters picking and choosing whom they allow to continually bully other members on the HOA Message Board with seeming impunity, while sending violation notices to other members who have not actually violated the Terms of Service, and who then have to go to the Grievance Committee to reverse this discriminatory action.
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A third example is a Board member congratulating a resident over his divisive posts on the HOA Message Board which were later removed by the webmasters. This Board member, Jeff, actually came onto the pickleball courts, the first time he was ever seen on said courts by a lot of people, to congratulate this wayward resident/thug about said offensive posts.
This is a political Board, make no mistake about it. And nothing says politics more than a politician bashing a news report.
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Now it gets worse: let’s look at the proposed document Alan has prepared for the purpose of introducing the new residents to the Board and “how things are done around here” in the words of former Board member Mark Goodman. The document states:
“Each board member will speak for no more than 5 minutes, introduce him or herself, state what their function is on the board…”
News flash: they all have the SAME function. They are all EQUAL Directors. None of them has any special function at all! If you don’t understand this, then you have no business being on the Board. The wording of this document states that Directors have different functions from each other, and that is blatantly FALSE. This document is definitely heading the wrong way.
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There are four Officers, but that’s entirely different because those officers can be removed by the Board at any time, whereas Directors can only be recalled by the residents at large. That’s a huge difference, wouldn’t you say?
Two officers must be Board members (president and vice-president); two do NOT have to be Board members (treasurer and secretary) – they can be any resident in the community.
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The vice-president has NO functions at all other than to fill in if and only if the president is unavailable, otherwise that office (vice-president) has NO function. The officers’ functions are spelled out in the By-Laws on pages 3-9 and 3-10, Section VIII, OFFICERS AND THEIR DUTIES, Subsections A and G. The document is clear and unequivocal: the vice-president has NO duties of his own.]
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Sue: some of this stuff may be business – our role responsibilities… this is not a party… three of us… Linda: Welcoming and Caring Committee’s high tea, Board members have been invited, and usually over four members. No voting… I don’t see that would be a problem.
[Editor’s note: it’s a big problem. It violates the open meeting law the moment you start talking about yourselves and your official capacities: “hello, new residents, I’m so-and-so and I’m on the Board here where we decide things that affect you!” Now that’s a conversation starter. And it goes on from there.]
Richard: I can’t see having new residents and not asking me questions on finance… indirectly that is Board business.
[Editor’s note: Bravo. Richard is spot on. Thank you, Richard. At that point, Alan realized his best course of action at this juncture was to table the motion until the next meeting.]
Harvey: I wanted to call the question, but you’re tabling it, so it’s moot.
[Editor’s note: well of course you wanted to call the question; you desperately want this motion to pass so you can try and get a stranglehold on all new residents. But don’t worry, it will pass next time when it’s tweaked a little. Then go ahead and give it your best shot.
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That’s a boomerang for those of you who are unfamiliar.
We hope that this kind of behavior will cease and that all members of the Board and their adjuncts will participate in the peace process outlined in Part II. We are cautiously optimistic. We hope never to have to write about this kind of stuff again.
And that concludes Part III of our presentation entitled, “Getting to Know You.”]
5. Install Amazon Key on residents’ gate: [this is also an add-on]:
Harvey: …Amazon driver comes in a car or a company vehicle…push a button… gate opens up… it will speed up the line… if they show up without packages, they can’t get in, controlled by Amazon, they keep records. Motion to accept, install the system on the residents’ gate… and if it doesn’t work out, we can take it out. Second: Alan.
Sue: I don’t know if this is a solution looking for a problem…
Jeff: all in favor? 5. Oppose: Sue. Abstain: Linda. [motion passes.]
Second Residents’ Input Session:
Arnie: Roving Reporter, go ahead.
1. Vicki Roberts: Regarding the new resident meeting with the Board, Richard Greene is 100% correct. He’s absolutely right on the money, no pun intended. It is impossible to have this without Board business coming up, and if it were done at a High Tea in the past, or for years in the past, then it was done incorrectly and wrong.
This absolutely violates the open meeting law, and even if you’re not having a vote, that’s irrelevant; that’s not what the statute says. If you’re discussing business, which you necessarily are because you’re answering their questions about how the Board functions, you’re engaging in an open meeting.
So, if you’re going to have this, you need to give notice to the community, and you need to make it available to everyone, or, you can’t have a quorum there. Thank you.
2. Lillian Astrachan: I’m a relatively new resident. The deposit, Family Feud, when asked how much, you said you’d rather not say. Why in an open meeting would someone not say what the deposit is? Jeff: because with the entertainment, if we say, someone tells a friend in another development, so then they can’t negotiate a lower price than we get, and usually it’s covered y the cost to the individual.
3. Barry Gordon: UPS and FedEx come in through our gate or guest gate? Deborah: guest gate. Barry: you just started a bad precedent… a lot of people coming in here… Harvey: it’s a good possibility (they will) … it speeds things up. Garbagemen go through the resident gate… it speeds it up. I’d be more than happy to have the other two delivery companies… Barry: I respectfully disagree.
4. Arnie Green: I have a question, Harvey. How many communities have this with Amazon and has there been any problems since they have installed it?
Harvey: Oscar told us he’s put in over 200 of them and he’s had no problems whatsoever.
Arnie: not him having problems, the community. In other words, a guy takes this device, whatever he’s got, takes it home with him, comes back at night with his friends.
Harvey: he can’t come in.
Arnie: there’s no such thing as “can’t.” There’s always a chance.
Alan: if I can take that question, please.
Harvey: go ahead, Alan.
Alan: I asked that specifically of Oscar is to, whether any of the hundreds of communities that he’s installed this in, had had any problems, or if there’s anything we ought to be watching out for. And his answer was that there have been no problems, and as far as he can see, there are no downsides for us.
Harvey: the bottom line is if, when Amazon loads them for the day for their deliveries, they load into the system that they’re using what’s going into Cascade Lakes. If there’s nothing for Cascade Lakes, they can’t get in. And once they’ve made their deliveries, and they’ve said, ok, you know, they’ve taken their picture and they’ve noted that the delivery has been made, and they leave, then they can’t get back in unless they have another package that’s in their system.
Arnie: Now say Joe Blow has seven packages just delivered. He delivers six. He takes one home with him. And he comes back at night with his friends. They had the seventh package in the system.
Jeff: Deborah will explain that. There’s a time element in there, right?
Deborah: Correct, there’s a time element. They’re only allowed in for so much time, and if they’re not out by a certain time, they contact them directly.
Harvey: and if they haven’t delivered all their packages, they’re contacted.
Arnie: there’s no upside for the community; there’s only an upside for Amazon. I think we’re doing the wrong thing.
Harvey: there’s no downside for the community, that’s the bottom line.
Arnie: ok.
[Editor’s note: the bottom line is that there is no downside for the community? Are decisions now being made based on there being no supposed downside for the community? Is that the new standard? Is the Board clairvoyant? That standard opens up a lot of possibilities for things we don’t want but we might end up getting anyway. Just a thought.]
Alan: there is an upside in that it speeds up the resident gate, the, uh, uh, guest gate rather.
Arnie: well, the gate is there to protect us; now you’re doing away with the gate. You’re doing away with the safety of our community.
Jeff: Arnie, especially during the holiday season when the back up at the visitors’ gate gets to be a long line and Amazon is historically delivering more packages than any time of the year, so it will definitely speed it up at that time of the year. I don’t know how much it’s going to speed it up regularly, but it’s worth a try. If we find that there’s a problem, we’ll get rid of it; that’s very simple, we just tell Oscar to take that app off the system. Ok?
5. Irwin Schenkman: Terrible idea… no speeding in the community… (the current way) our gatekeeper can remind them they’re going into the community with speed limits… I agree with Arnie – no benefits…
6. Joyce Winston: …these companies speed down the street… in a big hurry to deliver their packages… Jeff: speed bumps cost a lot of money… you’re gonna need alignments on your cars… Deborah: the resident gate, because you very seldom see a line on the resident side, always on the guest side… eliminate these deliveries (on the guest side) will alleviate that.
7. Howie Feuer: around the corner, Walmart has speed bumps. The speed limit is 30 mph… you can go through without damage to your car… should be considered… other thing… all… coming in without coming through the guardhouse… RF system stopped residents from giving fobs (out) … proliferation of people coming in without checking with the guardhouse, should be considered… I would reconsider the rush to do this.
Round Table Discussion:
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Linda: flowers, bushes being put in, spending a lot of money, residents are trampling on (them) … we can’t afford to keep replacing what residents are trampling on… walking dogs, and people walking through… not allowing these plants to grow… imploring you… trying to beautify the community… stop walking your dogs and trampling the plantings.
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Harvey: I want to wish Mike Blackman a speedy recovery.
Sue: the idea of having board members present is easily solved by not having all seven present at the same time; two to three at one point, then walk out, and others walk in… logistically it could work out… thanks to the entertainment committee… upcoming pickleball/tennis activity, November 6… thanks to everybody.
Richard: pass.
Alan: The Board is committed to helping new residents integrate; the best tool is the website… fill in profiles on the website… CIT is committed… to help.
Jeff: I agree 100%. Sue: me, too. Linda: me, too. Harvey: me, too.
Bob: [nothing]
Deborah: new homes: I’m giving to Welcoming and Caring, now also giving to CIT?
Alan: we’d be willing to do that. [Editor’s note: of course you would.]
Jeff: motion to adjourn? Linda. Second? Harvey. All in favor? Unanimous. Bob is back now.
[Editor’s note: Meeting adjourned at 10:44am.]
[Editor’s note: A big shout-out to Zoom operator Arnie Green, with assistance available from Anita Goodman if needed, for doing a great job administering the Zoom meeting. We thank them for their continued service and volunteerism.]
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And so concludes the Annual Budge Meeting and the Board meeting of November 3, 2021; next meeting: November 17, 2021 at 7:00pm: NOTE THE TIME IS 7:00pm.
Thought for the Day:
Sometimes misunderstandings can inadvertently lead to wondrous things. Or not.
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Special Reminders:
1. Don’t forget to join the community on the Cascade Lakes Boynton Beach Facebook Page, a place where you can interact and communicate! Click here:
Cascade Lakes Boynton Beach
2. Let’s congratulate our November Resident of the Month! Click here:
Resident of the Month
3. The PAP Walkathon 2021 is here! Pick up a registration form in the spinners, or just show up on November 13, 2021 on the pool deck! Click here for flyer:
PAP Walkathon 2021
Cheerio until next time!
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