Present
Board members present: Myron Davis, Harold Engold, Dennis Horazak, Cookie Symons, John Tenney, and Ron Wiley. Also present were property manager Judith Meldrum, Newsletter Editor Sandy Horazak, and homeowners Claudia Rilea, Gail Strachan, and another homeowner.

1. Call to Order: President Ron Wiley called the meeting to order at 6:33pm.

2. Certify Quorum: Six of the seven Board members were present, thus establishing a quorum.

3. Proof of Notice was given.

4. President's opening remarks: Ron summarized the meeting protocols, then briefly mentioned statutory changes affecting collection procedures and committee operations presented at the Orange County Community Conference on July 14th. Judith distributed summaries of the 2007 Amendments to Florida HOA Laws. (See Attachment A.)

5. Approval of Agenda: Three items were added to the agenda under New Business. Dennis moved to approve the agenda as modified, John seconded, and the modified agenda was approved unanimously.

6. Announcements: Cookie reported that at some unknown time, someone stole the No Trespassing signpost from Crystal River Drive. On July 11, 2007 at 12:30 p.m. an SUV was spotted dumping the pole and concrete footing without the sign into the area between Cypress Isles and Bradfordt Lakes. An alert neighbor photographed the SUV, but was not able to capture its license number.

7. Approval of minutes: After review of March 20, 2007 minutes, John corrected one of the items. Harold made a motion to approve the corrected minutes and Ron gave a second. Minutes unanimously approved by the Board.

8. Financial Report: Myron Davis gave the Financial Report.

• Myron presented the income/expense statement and balance sheet.
  
• Regarding late payment charges, Dennis noted that the Cypress Isles Bylaws (ARTICLE VI, Obligations of Owners for Assessments, Section 4. Collection Procedures) allow only interest charges and costs of collection to be assessed against homeowners who do not pay on time, but not the charging of late fees. Costs of collection reflect additional work performed by the property manager in pursuit of payment, so the cost of collection goes to the property manager when it is received from the homeowner. Homeowners requesting relief from cost-of-collection charges, such as in the case of erroneous entries by the property manager, need to resolve their dispute in writing with the property manager. The Association does not receive costs of collection, and therefore does not have the means to grant refunds to homeowners.
  
• The account for Lot 21 (13213 White Cedar Court) shows $77.70 in current charges, which seemed odd. Judith will investigate that account and resolve the charges into their correct age categories.
  
• Myron offered to contact the owner of Lot 70 (636 Divine Circle), to whom an intent-to-lien notice has been sent, to try to resolve the matter and stem further escalation of charges.
  
• An invoice for $35 was received from a handyman who was asked to fix the entrance lights. The handyman was contracted informally and at variance with Board policy of reviewing all expenditures prior to authorization (Board Meeting Minutes, September 19, 2006). John moved to pay the handyman, who acted in good faith, and Harold seconded the motion, which was approved unanimously.
  
• Payments made to Sir Speedy were questioned because Myron had agreed to pay for newsletter printing and Lee Blackwell had agreed to pay for mailing. Ron, Myron, Sandy, and Judith will research this expense issue. Judith will email copies of the bills and other relevant documents to Ron, Myron, and Sandy.

9. Architectural Review Committee: Cookie Symons gave the ARC report.

• One application was received for house painting and the addition of an attached structure. The application was approved.
  
• The recent neighborhood inspection resulted in 34 new citations and in 24 repeat citations.
  
• Ron noted that the July 2006 laws require that permissible house colors be displayed in a book that is available to homeowners as well as to the ARC. Myron moved that the ARC produce a book of baseline colors schemes, based on the color scheme book that WLCA is producing. Dennis seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
  
• Referring to ARC violations discovered during inspections, Ron moved that the property manager email a list of first-time violations to the Board, for the Board to address with the homeowner within seven days, and that all properties not in compliance after seven days, as reported to the property manager by email, who then receive normal violation notices by mail. John seconded the motion. (This motion also included an amendment made by John and seconded by Harold.). The amended motion passed unanimously.

10. Newsletter: Editor Sandy Horazak confirmed that the deadline for the August issue will be August 1st, but articles can be submitted anytime up to that date.

11. Neighborhood Watch: Cookie reported that a homeowner in the 600 block of Divine Circle discovered unidentified youths swimming naked at night in his pool. The homeowner began locking his screen enclosure after the incident, after which the screen by the lock was cut to enable entry.

12. Traffic Committee: John Tenney reported that the Traffic Committee met on July 11th, and will meet on July 18th at Cookie's house. He also reported on June 27th Orange County Land Use Amendment meeting to discuss plans to change the parcel at the end of Jade Forest (Tract N-19B) from a future elementary school to a development of 71 detached single-family houses. Local homeowners objected to the collateral problem of increased traffic volume by email and in person, and as a result the developer was denied permission at that time.
The Traffic Committee sent an email to the Orange County Traffic Engineering Division proposing five possible ways to reduce traffic volume through Cypress Isles: (1) implementing a statute prohibiting cut-through traffic at certain hours; (2) adding 3-way stop signs on Spring Island Way at Lakes Way and/or Crystal River Drive; (3) Adding a "No Left Turn" sign from Spring Island onto Lakes Way and a "No Right Turn" sign from Lakes Way onto Spring Island; (4) closing off the north (back) end of Spring Island Way; and (5) adding chicanes on Spring Island Way. (www.ite. org/traffic/chicane.htm defines "chicanes" as a series of narrowings or curb extensions that alternate from one side of the street to the other forming S-shaped curves). Ron noted the need for prompt action to reduce traffic volume, and John reiterated that persistent engagement with Orange County is the best approach, since Orange County owns the road, makes the laws, and engineers the traffic.

13. New Business: Four of the seven New Business agenda items were tabled until the next meeting, as indicated below.

• OCHAA Annual Conference (New Laws that went into effect on July 1st, 2006) - Both parts of this item was tabled.
  
  • a. Bill #902 (HOA & Homeowner Mediation Process Change)
    
  • b. Bill #1844 (Collection of Assessments Process change in regard to filing liens)
    
• Review of Committee Process (Responsibilities / Reporting to Board / Decision Making) Ron stated that no committee has the power to make decisions that bind the Board.
  
• Clarification on Recreational Vehicles within CI (As written in WLCA & CI Docs today) - Discussed the need for possible courses of action leading to reasonable interpretations in regard to temporary parking. No action taken.
  
• Ground Maintenance (Current contract / Performance / Recommendations) - This item was tabled.
  
• Proposal for cleaning Entrance Signs - Claudia noted that the entrance signs had water stains from the irrigation system, and submitted a proposal to clean the bricks, signs, and brass for $175. She also mentioned that the back entrance signs were made in two halves connected by small bolts, and suggested adding more tie rods to the back entrance signs during the next major entrance rehabilitation.
  
• Other Contract Renewals - This item was tabled.
  
• Other Updates on the disposition of Tract N-19B - This item was tabled.

14. The next meeting is scheduled for September 18, 2007. Subsequent board meetings will be on November 20, 2007; January 15, 2008; and March 18, 2008. The next Annual Meeting will be on May 20, 2008.

15. Motion to adjourn was made by Denny, seconded by Harold, and unanimously approved. Meeting adjourned at 9:22pm.

Submitted by: Approved by:

______________________________ ______________________________
Dennis Horazak, Secretary Board of Directors

 

 

Attachment A - 2007 Amendments to Florida HOA Laws

Florida Statute Sec. 720.3085 Collection Procedures

o Interest accrues on unpaid assessments at 18% if covenants are silent.
o Late fees capped at $25.00 or 5% of the past due payment
o Payments must be applied in the following order:

1. Interest
2. Late fees
3. Cost and attorney's fees
4. Delinquent assessment

Florida Statute Sec. 720.3085 Collection Procedures

o 45-day written notice of delinquency prior to filing a claim of lien
o 45-day written notice prior to filing a foreclosure action
o Owner may stay foreclosure case for up to 60 days upon service of a "qualifying Offer"

1. A "Qualified Offer" is written offer to pay all amounts secured by the lien plus interest accruing during the pendency of the offer

Florida Statute Sec. 720.303(2) (a) Committee Meetings

o All meetings of the association regarding the spending of association funds or to approve or disapprove architectural decisions must be open to all members.

Florida Statute Sec. 720.303(5) (d) Inspection of Records

o Authorizes an association to charge a reasonable fee, plus photocopying and attorney's fees, for providing good faith responses to requests for information.
o The fee cannot exceed $150.00 plus the reasonable cost of photocopying and attorney's fees.

Florida Statute Sec. 720.303(6) Reserve Accounts

o Provides for the maintenance of reserve accounts in the annual budget.
o Provides a method for calculating the reserves.
o Establishes the conditions for waiving the maintenance of reserve accounts.

Florida Statute Sec. 720.3035 ARB Procedures and Rights

o An association can only review and approve building and improvement plans that are specifically stated or reasonably inferred in the declaration.
o An owner's rights and privileges as provided in the declaration cannot be unreasonably impaired concerning the use of the property, and the construction of permitted structures and improvements.
o If the association or its ARB committee unreasonably, knowing, and willfully infringes or impairs upon an owner's rights and privileges set forth in the ARB section of the declaration the owner is entitled to:

1. Recover damages
2. Recover costs and attorney's fees

Florida Statute Sec. 720.305 Entitlement to Attorney's Fees and Costs

o Any member who prevails in an action against an association and is awarded attorney's fees may be awarded an amount sufficient to cover the member's share of assessments levied to fund the association's litigation expenses.

Florida Statute Sec. 720.311 Mediation Process

o Clarifies that you do not have to attend pre-suit mediation in collection matters.
o No pre-suit mediation if the association is seeking emergency relief.
o Establishes a procedure and form for demanding pre-suit mediation.
o Eliminates the need to file a request for pre-suit mediation with DBPR.
o Owner's failure to participate in pre-suit mediation or pre-pay their required ½ of the mediator's fees may result in the owner having to pay the association attorney's fees and costs incurred in attempting to obtain mediation.
o The parties must mediate within 90 days of written demand.
o Mediator can be any Florida Supreme Court mediator.